bashful

Going on canoe trip into wilderness..what you take in, you take out. So we don't want to take in too much. We're responsible for one dinner for 12 people including teens. Any ideas for a delicious dinner using the least amount of "heavy" ingredients, like canned goods. Since we're not scheduled for our dinner until mid-week, need non-perishable items. Any ideas?

FainaAgain

A word of advise: on the trip, in the wilderness, fresh air... plan twice as much food for teenagers! Think wolves

Check sport stores for items and ideas - they should have packages ready-to-add-water-and-eat.

By "heavy" you mean heavy weight, not heavy on your stomach, right? Canned goods ARE heavy. What you're looking for, is dried, de-something... de-hydrated?? I forgot what they are called.

Michael

Black beans, onion, corn, tomato, chili spice and packaged chorizo that need not be refrigerated. If the black beans are dried, you need to soak them first. Brown the onions and mix all the rest together (whether fresh or canned). When using cans, we use equal parts black beans, tomatoes and corn. We usually add hamburger meat, but that might not be practical on a canoe trip.

kureiff

Will you have a cooler?

We usually do fajitas one night on a week long rafting trip. You can cut up the meat (steak or chicken or both) and vegetables and prepare the sauce/seasoning at home. Combine the ingredients in gallon zip lock bags before you leave and keep the bags in your cooler until it's your night to make dinner. Plus, tortillas are flat, light, and take up little space.

Good luck! And have fun!

Jocelyn_P

Beans to soak are a good idea, as they're fairly lightweight.

Growing up, we'd always do campfire casseroles, which was a big cabbage leaf filled with potatoes, carrots, hamburger, salt and pepper, and maybe a couple of other ingredients. We'd wrap it up in aluminum foil and throw it in the fire (I mean, right in the coals). Unwrap the foil and smother your "casserole" in ketchup. Obviously the hamburger wouldn't work (not sure about cabbage, either), but maybe you could do some variation of that with a canned meat?

You could also try a "baked potato" that way, too, and smother it with Michael's chili. Yum.

Byrd

Michael's recipe for the black bean dish sounds good and just right for hungry teens.

One tip: If you are going to be in high altitudes, boiling beans, even when soaked, is a long process!

Several years ago we were camping in Yellowstone, and planned chili for dinner.

We left the red beans soaking, and when we came back to the campsite, put them on to boil. And boil, and boil...you get the idea. Still hard and crunchy after a long time boiling.

We ate something else that night, and I don't think we ever got those beans cooked. I just never thought about the altitude problem.

Just a word of warning!

Have a great trip.

Byrd

seetheworld

Byrd, don't you have that meal in a foil pouch trick?

Bashful, good luck! If it were me, they would all get hotdogs or PB&J for dinner, lol! I had a hard time with meals on our first camping trip.

Byrd

seetheworld, lol now I do, although we don't camp much any more.

But my husband, son, and son-in-law went backpacking in Alaska about three years ago, and bought enough of those little "gourmet" packets to feed an army!
They reported that they tasted better than expected.

Byrd

bashful

Thanks for that recipe. No cooler and no meat. And I'll remember about the hungry teens! Any more recipes?

seetheworld

Bashful, this may seem like a stupid question, but will you have a stove with you or can you make a campfire of some sort? If so, how about pasta? It's light, easy to cook, and you can bring along sauce packets which are also very light (Knorr makes a great pesto sauce and alfredo)

I'm probably the last person that should give any camping advice, lol

wantsomesun

Been racking my brains here for ideas, as I spent most of my kidhood at camp and then through college as a camp councilor.

Stew, is probably the best bet and I would take as much dry as possible, like rice, it makes whatever you are making go further. I would suggest a few cans of stew, soup or chilli.

Also bring some fresh veggies for a salad and maybe a mix for brownies and make a reflector oven, using the campfire, very impressive to everyone else there. Wish I was going along.

Have a great time!!!

suze

Because it is a mid-week meal with no refrigeration possible, I highly recommend checking out someplace like REI or a backpackers supply. Where you buy pouches of foods either ready-to-heat & eat or that need only water added. Something along the lines of a vegetarian chili or stew, and rice or pasta to pour it over. I'm sure you can find this kind of thing mail order or on the net somewhere.

I don't think fresh veggies or foil packet type menus will work if they are carted around for 4 days in the heat.

caniac

With no meat this will be tough! For now, let me offer my suggestion for spices: salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and olive oil. You can add these ingredients to just about everything. Mix all of these ingredients with 10 pounds of potatoes, cut into 1" chunks or larger wedges and wrap in aluminum foil. Cook on a grill or in the pit fire. It will take some time, but this is an easy recipe that will feed a lot of people. If you can bring butter, then add a stick of butter. Shake the potatoes during cooking to keep them well coated with oil/butter.

Wednesday

to lighten the load, empty your cans of beans, corn, etc into heavy duty (the kind that stand up) Ziploc bags, even double bag. Then you don't have empty cans or the awkward space, the bags can conform anywhere into luggage, and result in less trash if you don't have receptacles nearby.

GBelle

For a first day dinner with meat (whether it's your responsibility or someone else's), I suggest: put a FROZEN hamburger, slices of onion, potato (cut to 1/4-1/2" thick), carrots cut on a diagonal for larger slices into a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Add salt and pepper. Fold it into a flat pocket so that seams overlap into each other so no juices get out. (The frozen hamburger steams the packet and it tastes like a stew.) You can cook it directly in the fire if you wish for about 25-30 minutes without turning. Quite tasty for something so simple, but allow more than 1 packet per person because they'll like them. If you bring ketchup packets, you can add some if you like when you eat. We used to have a contest of who could fold the foil the smallest to bring back.

Someone suggested Knorr. My kids have taken the Knorr Penne Pesto and Penne w/Sundried Tomato Parmesan as well as the Lipton Pasta Sides (they like the parmesan and alfredo styles the best)on camping trips. They didn't use any pots but opened the top, poured in a cup of boiling water, stirred it, sealed it with a clip and waited about 10 minutes for it to "cook". These are a lot less expensive than the REI dried foods which can go for about $5 each. The REI packets are supposed to feed 2-3 people, but these are teens, so expect that they will eat one each themselves. That's why I suggested the Knorr or Lipton brands. You can get them at the supermarket for about $1 on sale and then they can have extras.

Part of the problem you may have will be your access to water in the wilderness. If you have to cook pasta separately in water (will you have large enough pots/pans to cook for 12?), you have to haul it in or have access to a well. The dehydrated packets require about a cup or so of water vs a pot of it.

A stuffed potato (filled with grilled vegetables and cheese) could be another option. The cheese may last several days without refrigeration. Clean and wash the potatoes and vegetables ahead of time so all you have to do is cut and grill them.

For other camping recipe suggestions, try http://www.camprecipes.com/

Tandoori_Girl

My sons scout camping group took ramen noodles with cans of tuna for the boys on a hike. They mixed the tuna with the ramen and water in their mess kits, put some alcohol in the tuna can and used it for a burner. The boys loved it but I thought it looked awful (I snuck away to get some fast food when no one was looking).

missypie

If you google some combination of "boy scouts" and camping recipes, you'll get the sites where they give you recipes for all those foil pouch treats, cobbler over the campfire, etc.

OneWanderingJew

What, no S'mores??

Gotta have those. It's mandatory!

Graham Crackers
Choc. Bar
Marshmallows

michelleNYC

Buy 8 or 9 little bags of Barilla dried tortellini (you can find them filled with herbs and cheese, etc.) Boil water, toss in, and then serve with olive oil and a little grated cheese! Sure to please everyone!

cd

Michael
What is chorizo?