By Amanda Goetz

I used to go camping, a lot. Any long weekend or holiday you could find me at a provincial park, in a tent, sleeping on the ground (gasp!) and cooking over a campfire. We’ve only been once since we’ve had kids, when my oldest was 3 and my middle child was 9 months old, and we stayed in a little cottage because toddlers and tents are more than I can handle. While it was a lot of fun, we decided to wait to go again until our youngest is walking (crawling on the dirt and pine needles is enough to drive any mom mad).

Even in those early days of camping, when I was in my 20s and more than half the cooler was reserved for beer (remember those days?), I made an effort to eat well while camping. Hot dogs over an open flame are ah-maze-ing, but they’re my 2am-I’m-starving-I-don’t-need-a-bun-eat-it-right-off-the-stick treat. For meals I like to try to think outside the box in terms of what can be considered “camping food”. My friends sure enjoyed camping with me (all they ever seemed to bring were chips and bacon) and it truely was the beginning of my love of cooking for others.

All you need to cook some amazing meals while out in the wilderness is a large pot, a grill pan (a double-sided one with a flat griddle on one side and a grill on the other is perfect), plastic storage bags, tin foil, foil pans and tongs… oh yeah, and an imagination! Anything that you can cook by boiling can be done over a campfire. One of my favourite dinners is spaghetti. I boil the noodles over coals and drain when they’re al denté. I bring pasta sauce from home already made and add to the pot with the noodles and heat through. A loaf of garlic bread can be wrapped (I recommend double wrapping anything that’s going into the coals) in tinfoil and placed over or near the coals to warm through, and a caesar salad can be tossed together with prewashed and chopped lettuce and leftover bacon from breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, there is no need to rely on cold cereal and bread for the most important meal of the day. Poach some eggs and fry up some peameal bacon on the grill pan and sandwich between a toasted english muffin for a yummy breakfast sandwich. Pancakes and french toast are easy too, homemade pancake batter can be made at home ahead of time and brought in a squeeze bottle. Try adding Bailey’s to your french toast egg mixture (if you have kids with you, you’ll have to make theirs separate) instead of milk to really change up the flavour.

I like to bring my meats in plastic storage bags, already in their marinade. Steaks and chicken can be cooked on the grill pan and seafood like shrimp can be skewered and cooked right over the flames. I love the smokiness that a campfire adds to meats, it really is a wonderful flavour enhancer. I also like to bring veggies like peppers, onions, mushrooms and zucchini already chopped and in plastic bags with a bit of seasoning added. I spread them out in a foil pan and roast over the coals, they make a great side to go along with the meat.

With a little planning and prep at home before you leave, camping can be a truely gastronomic experience. Here are some camping food ideas and camping cooking ideas.  I’ve included a list of some of the meals I like to bring with me while camping as well as a little meal plan if you’re headed out into the wilderness and want to try some more adventurous cooking while enjoying all that nature has to offer.

Breakfasts

Pancakes topped with mixed berries:  Bring batter premade from home

Irish Cream French Toast:  Substitute Irish Cream for milk in egg mixture

Steel Cut Oats:  Cook like you would at home over the campfire for a hearty breakfast

Bacon and Egg Breakfast Sandwiches:  Poaching your egg and using peameal bacon reduces the greasiness

Breakfast Burritos:  Scramble eggs with pre-cut pepper and onions, add to warmed tortillas with strips of cooked peameal bacon, shredded cheese, green onions and salsa and roll up

Lunches

Grilled Paninis:  Make your fave sandwich, heat up your grill pan and grill on both sides weighing down your sandwich with a rock wrapped in tinfoil

Salmon Burgers:   – Bring premade salmon cakes from home, grill and place on warmed rolls with lettuce and tartar sauce.

Pizza Pockets – line both halves of a cast iron sandwich press with bread buttered on both sides, fill one half with pizza sauce, pepperoni and cheese, close and roast over the fire

Pasta Salad – make your favourite recipe, cook some rotini and add veggies and salad dressing

Dinners

Chili:  Reheat premade chili in a pot over coals

Spaghetti:  Mix your cooked noodles and sauce and heat through

Tacos: Make these just like you would at home and top with precut veggies and cheese

BBQ Chicken:  Roast chicken in a foil pan and brush with BBQ sauce

Steaks:  Pre-marinade for tender, tasty steaks

Meatball Grinders:  Bring precooked meatballs and simmer in tomato sauce, toast sub buns and top with meatballs, sauce and provolone

Amanda Goetz is a WAHM to 3 kids under the age of 5. Her love of cooking was fostered when she was a preschooler helping her grandma in the kitchen. After a year long stint as a sous chef, she left the industry to continue cooking as a hobby before the stress and politics of a professional kitchen killed her love of cooking. Now she creates delicious dinners and delectable desserts for her family and friends and blogs about it at The Best Mom on the Block.