Wednesday, August 31, 2011

grand camping fare...

What's a camping trip without good food?  They say fire is the most important aspect of the camp experience...but our gang thinks food ranks right up there.  We combined food and fire and came up with a few treats that we all enjoyed!

We tried cooked banana boats on the open fire...with both sets of campers.  They had great fun preparing them...



...and we all agreed they were delicious! 

To make a banana boat, slice down the inner curve of the banana (with the skin on)...but do not slice right through the skin on the other side.  Gently open the slice wide enough to stuff with your chosen toppings.  Use your imagination!  My favorite boat was one stuffed with peanut butter and milk chocolate chips.  The grands preferred coloured mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips.  Wrap the banana in heavy duty tinfoil and place in the coals of a fire for about 2 1/2 minutes per side...or  roast on a grate above the campfire.   Five minutes later...unwrap and enjoy the ooey-gooey goodness right out of the boat.  We added a scoop of ice-cream...for a dessert that was hard to beat!

Another first for us...was cooking up bush pies. A bush pie is basically bread stuffed with a filling of your choice...and then cooked inside a cast-iron bush pie maker (available at any sporting goods store).



We used pizza toppings inside our bush pies...and cooked them two at a time inside a double bush-pie-maker.  The girls would have liked them for every meal!  We never tried the dessert version...which is filled with any pie filling or Nutella and bananas.

The cinnamon snakes for breakfast were a big hit as well.



We covered our wiener sticks with tinfoil...then wrapped long strips of dough around the foiled end (used refrigerated Pillsbury crescent dough) and roasted them over the open fire until golden. We brushed the cooked 'snake' with butter and rolled in a cinnamon/sugar mixture.  So good!

We never needed the fire for this quick lunch...but walking tacos are always a treat. Purchase the single-serving size nacho chips...slit the bag...and make up your nacho plate right in the bag. (The recipe can be found at the link above.)

And of course we had wiener roasts...


 ...and smores. 

Food and fire...a good camping combo!  Though the camping season is nearing an end...I just thought I'd share these campfire food ideas for you to store away until you have need of them.  My recipes for banana boats, cinnamon snakes and bush pies have been in a file waiting to be tried since 2008.  They have now been tried and approved!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

15 comments:

  1. Judy - I just read your post and this is delightful! What wonderful ideas for camping with children. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love this post Judy. Again. .it is so handy to have you go ahead of me and make being a Grammie just that much easier. Next year.. .don't be shocked when you wake up in the morning and see a red truck and a trailer parked beside you ..I told Terry that you make it look awfully easy and you might not notice a few more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those bush pies look yummy - so do the bananas and breakfast twists. I wonder if I have to go camping to enjoy these?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Judy you have a half of a kid's go camping cookbook here. Great resource for family campers. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh, I like these ideas! You almost have me wishing to be a kid again! We don't even have to go camping .... we have a firepit at the Lakehouse and will have to try these. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great ideas and great fun. I love your little camping buddies.

    I just picked up the phone and called my son to tell him about the walking tacos. He said they will definitely be trying that one.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Camping food ideas could be a chapter in your next cookbook! These are great. I love bush pies!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Consider them stored away, my friend, and thank you very much. What a fun camping experience. It almost made me wish I was one of your grandchildren. Everything looked so good, especially eating it in the great outdoors. Loved the pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm definitely taking notes. Love your walking taco idea - perfect for camping!! Even an outdoor bday party. Thanks Judy!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You made me hungry again with this post. Everything looks great Judy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well, you all certainly had a great time! We've talked about taking the grands camping one at a time. We need to follow through with that. Thanks for the recipes... they sound great!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I think you just made a hint on a title for a new cook book...cooking around the fire pit...
    We've also enjoyed many of those campfire treats....I'll be checking out that new bush pie...
    What a great resource.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I LOVE all your ideas for fun activities to do with grandchildren! I've been copying all of them into a notebook to refer to in the future, since I'm just a beginner grandma with one 16-month-old. Thank you for sharing - you are a perfect grandma to learn from!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great ideas Judy - I especially liked the one about pizza toppings in bush pies. We've only ever made them with pie filling. I agree with Elsie - you are always coming up with Wonderful esperiences for your grandkids.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Yup, you might just have to get an RV like the Duggars have (19 kids and counting!) so that you can fit all the grands and all the food!!! Thanks for sharing those awesome recipes...soooo fun!

    ReplyDelete

'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson