Camping tips

upnover

upnover

Grumpy, decrepit Old Man
Moderator
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Morganton NC
This past weekend I went camping/fourwheeling up in Mnt City Tn.
I had watched a good friend of mine many times how she did breakfast. Many times I planned to try it, but never did until this past weekend.

It applys the K.I.S.S. method.(keep it simple stupid)

I cracked my eggs in a bowl, whiped them and put them in a zip lock freezer bag. Added some sharp Cheddar, ans fried up some sausage pattys. Put it in the freezer until I was ready to pack it.

When breakfast time rolled around, I put water in a pot, brought it to a boil, and droped in my bag with my mixture in it. Let it cook until it was visible that it was done. opend the bag and put it on a plate and wha-lah. and awesome breakfast that needed no pans to clean up!

I can see this useful in many different camping meals! I hope to be eating better with less clean up in the future.

So theres my camping tip, what do you have to make it easier, more convinient? post up!
 
Cut things up ahead of time. Season and put in freezer bags.

Place eggs in a little camping holder. Soggy egg cartons suck.

The bacon wrapped filets that come in the 2 packs travel well, cook easy, and are pretty tasty.
 
Go to Bojangles and buy biscuits:flipoff2:
 
Buy those duraflame fire logs, cut into small pieces, makes great fire starters for cheap.

Melt Parafin wax, mix with wood chips, pour into a wax cup and let it set up. When your ready to start a fire, tear the side of the wax cup down a bit, light the torn edge, and add wood. Works great.
 
Another quick one for starging fires, grab some dryer lint on your way out the door, this was always a real quick start for me as long as i actually had the fire wood laid out properly.
 
Completely at random:

-= Canned bacon. Travels well but is very salty. Use it in recipes with potatos - takes some of the salt out.

-= Tin foil is your friend.

-= I get the 3 or 4 lb pack of smoked sausages (Hot dog size)
Fry them up first night
Then you can use them in several ways.:

Package mix Jambalya [sp?]
Cut into chunks and put in scrambled eggs (1 pan breakfast)
Trail food. Good either hot or cold.

-= Yes, the wrap it in foil and put it on the manifold thing works fine.

-= 1 can beans + 1 can hotdog chili + your seasonings = Good hearty chili.

-= Keep a tote of condiments, plastic ware, cooking utensils, trash bags, etc. etc. packed. Leave it packed for camping season. Then you don't think/worry about it/ forget anything. Just pack the cooler and go.

-= Boy Scout style messkits rock.


-= My EZ pot roast recipe. =-
This works in a dutch oven in the fire pit, or a crockpot (if you have elect site)

Tools.
1 Knife
1 Cook pot
1 Big spoon

Prep time 10 minutes.
Cook time 2 hrs in dutch oven.
Or all day in Crockpot on low.

Measures are approximate to feed 4. Adjust to suit.

3 lbs meat. Chuck roast, stew meat or what is on sale.
2 lbs New Potatos (Red skin small kind)
2 lb pkg baby carrots
2 medium onions.
1 Can cream of mushroom soup
1 Pkg Lipton onion soup mix
Salt & Pepper.

Rinse & Cut potatos in half or quarters (No need to peel)
Peel & Cut onions in quarters or smaller.

Put meat in first. Salt & pepper if desired.
Pour dry soup mix on meat.
Pour can cream soup over that.
Put all remaining ingredients in pot.

Rinse soup can with water to get rest of soup loose.
Pour half can water/soup over all.

Cook till done. Stirring once or twice toward end of cook time.

This is great if you can do it in the morning.
Then go wheel all day and come back to a nice hot pot roast waiting for you.


Notes/options:

You can add or substitute different veggies or potatos

Substitute 2 cans of course-cut vegall (drained) in place of potatos, carrots & onions.
If cooking in dutch oven (short cook time) hold canned vegall until half way through cook time. Or they turn to mush.

On cold or windy weather & crock pot.
Cover crock pot with a tarp and or blanket or put in a vehicle, tent or camper..
Otherwise it will not make enough heat to cook.
Learned this the hard way last year opening weekend at URE.
Smelled great, but never got cooked enough to eat it.
What a waste.
=========================


-= Last day pot luck breakfast.
Usually everybody is down to not-quite-enough-to-make-a-whole-meal.
I got one egg. You have a can of Vegall, someone else has a couple potatoes left over etc.
Gather up contributions from everybody

Throw it all in one big skillet or pot and mix in season-salt and your favorite hotsauce. Tastes better than it sounds.

Like "Stone Soup"



-= Square containers fit way better in the cooler than round ones do.

-= Rub bar soap on bottom of pans before cooking over fire pit. Makes cleaning black soot off bottom much easier.
 
Thats strange i don't think i would want to cook with a dutch oven.

Dutch Oven: when you are laying in bed with a "significant other" and you fart then hold her head under the blanket.

Thank you urban dictionairy:flipoff2:
 
Dangit my dryer lint and soap-on-pans tricks already stolen. Both work great. We actually keep a tin by the dryer just for collecting it.
If you have the old-school A-style tent, when you set it up, pile lots of leaves on the sides where it meets the ground. This makes nice insulation when it it butt-funky cold in the AM.
Speaking of which - very tempting to climb into bag and sleep in yer clothes. Bad idea! Any sweat from the day will make you colder. Put on fresh long-johns. And take tomorrow's clothes, stuff 'em down by yer feet in the bag. Makes a nice foot warmer, plus in the AM they will be nice and toasty warm to put on.
Nothin' worse than pulling on ice-cold undies!
You can cook soup/ravioli etc in the can beside the fire, no pots to clean. Just either poke a small hole in lid, or (if you wish to stire) open and peal back 2/3 way, then push back down (avoid embers in soup). No hole = explosion.

If you are really roughing it and have eggs (say in baggie) and no pan, you can still cook 'em (have done this).
Find wide, flat rock, remove all loose grit and clean as possible.
Take that bad boy and put it right beside fire, or under if possible w/o getting dirty, for 30 min or so.
once its hot, slide it back out - can cook the eggs right on it. Hm yummy! Sterile from heat.

Dutch ovens are waaaay too fancy. We used 'em to make pizza and pies back in Boy Scouts...

Oh and re: the pre-mixed eggs, if you are going hiking for a few days, no cooler - freeze the bag before you leave, wrap in newspaper or paper towel for insulation. They will be good for a long time that way, maybe thawed just in time and if not set out near fire fo short period. Plus you have newspaper to get fire going too.
 
My fave is the bucket with bottom cut out turned upside down onto a piece of plywood with hole cut out. Mount cushy toilet seat on bottom of bucket. Dig hole and place over. Just like back home but with a view...
 
i prefer just to bitch about not having the right food, shitty toilet paper, and winter bag in summer. repeat each trip. thats my plan
 
SHoot I am to lazy I just bring this :)

It has oven, sink, A/c, heater, fans, TV, VCR, Frig, etc :)
 

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Invite my brother inlaw, he cooks. :flipoff2:

Cook 'taters on the header while riding around.

Let R/T make coffee in the morning.

Invite yourself to other peoples camp for dinner. :lol:
 
speaking of all this great camping info, is there any good camping near Raleigh, or do i need to go all the way to Westen NC?
thanks!
 
I always thought the best camp site was the grass strip between the McDonalds parking lot and the Holliday Inn
 
pheery said:
i pack my wife, who thinks of nothing
Click to expand...

AH HA!!!! I'm tellin'!

A breakfast tip for those of us who sometimes like to camp on the trails and don't want to risk cracking eggs on the way to/from the campsite: try egg-beaters, they're pretty good and much easier than transporting and scrambling eggs, not to mention that they make some pretty decent flavors nowadays.
 
SpydyrWyr said:
try egg-beaters, they're pretty good and much easier than transporting and scrambling eggs, not to mention that they make some pretty decent flavors nowadays.
Click to expand...


and lower cholesterol, better for your heart...:flipoff2:

way too much planning for me. i just kinda pack what i am thinking of and wing the rest of it...
 
CHEESE

Lots of cheese! That way you're not fumbling with TP while you have a cling-on dangling trying not to loose ballance with your pants around your knee's trying to wipe :D

Stops you up enough to make it a day or 2 without having to grow a tail
 
Baby wipes!
Comes in little packages now (no need to carry the 1200 count box)... perfect for stashing with your emergenct trail TP (MickyD napkins) stash. Nothing like a nice alcohol free baby swipe to ward off a case of monkey butt during extended campouts!

:beer:
 
Caver Dave said:
free baby swipe to ward off a case of monkey butt during extended campouts!
Click to expand...

Speaking of that

Just bought a CASE of:

monkey_logo.jpg



for my motorcycle trips as well as camping/wheeling trips this year.

Monkey butt sucks ASS!!! pardon the pun, especially on a bike for 500+ miles a day :mad:

This stuff WORKS!
 
Not really a camping tip as such but...

If you didn't know, in a pinch you can camp for free at Walmart.
In the parking lot, not in the sporting goods section.
;)

They don't advertise it, but is is their policy.

For more on that, and other free places to camp.

Check out

http://www.freecampgrounds.com
 
Bring hotdogs, buns, processed cheese and mustard. Heat to desired temperature, or eat cold. Repeat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
 
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