There鈥檚 nothing wrong with eating mac and cheese at your campsite or chomping jerky as an hors d’oeuvre. While it can be tempting to stick to old routines, with a little planning and the right gear, it鈥檚 easy to create tasty meals in the outdoors and elevate your car-camping experience. 鈥淲herever you can bring a stove and a cooler, you can create an amazing meal,鈥 says Linda Ly, a lifelong adventurer and author of The New Camp Cookbook, which helps people take chef-inspired meals into the outdoors. The key to cooking well, says Ly, is to be organized and think ahead.
Break Some Eggs
Break and whisk your eggs at home and store them in a leakproof container like , with its screw-on thermal lid. It鈥檒l save space and keep you from having to fret over fragile eggs all weekend. Start by cooking crumbled sausage in a cast iron skillet, then add the eggs for a quick scramble. Load the eggs and meat into flour tortillas and sprinkle with cheese and salsa.
Pack a Portable Picnic
Rugged soft coolers like , which has backpack straps, make it easier than ever to get fresh ingredients and cold drinks to pretty places in the outdoors. For a simple but tasty lunch, pack some salami, cheese, and strawberries and use the as a backcountry cheese board. Pair that with your聽favorite beer or canned wine and you鈥檝e got lunch with a view. Have a smaller group? Opt for the聽聽which is perfect for quick trips聽and聽has a wider opening for easy access.
Pre-Batch a Cocktail
Beer and wine are great, but sangria can be even better, especially when you mix up a batch at home, store it in the , and then surprise your friends with a backcountry cocktail. Follow this no-frills recipe.
Campfire Sangria
1 bottle red wine
1 can seltzer
1 cup orange juice
陆 cup brandy
录 cup sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1 cup strawberries, sliced
Mix all ingredients in a pitcher, muddle the fruit, and then pour it all into the Elevation 64 Growler. Serve over ice in .
DIY Pickles
Ly loves to ferment vegetables鈥攁 process that can take weeks鈥攂ut she also loves to 鈥渜uick pickle鈥 veggies at camp. Slice some cucumbers really thin and put them in a jar with white vinegar (1/3 cup), water (1 cup), and sugar (1/3 cup). Let them rest in the cooler until you鈥檙e ready to eat them as a pre-dinner appetizer.
Keep Everything Organized
If you鈥檙e heading out for a long weekend or camping with a big group, you鈥檒l want at least one big, hard-sided cooler with a slew of user-friendly features, like the聽 or . A dry storage tray and bottle opener come standard, and optional separators slide into grooves on the inside of the cooler, so you can keep dry snacks or your bags of marinated meat and cut vegetables away from the beer and ice. Once you get situated at your site, the Venture鈥檚 exterior mounting points make it easy to keep track of everything: a bottle opener, drybox, double cup holder, and side table all can slide on and off easily as needed.
Bake Crescent Rolls on a Stick
Keep the rest of the crew busy making crescent rolls on a stick. Wrap crescent rolls (we鈥檙e fans of Pillsbury) around the oiled end of a s鈥檓ores stick and cook over a fire, rotating the rolls often so they cook evenly. When they slide easily off the stick, they鈥檙e done.
Do Some Prep Work at Home
Ly likes to go all out for dinner, but she also 鈥渃heats鈥 and does all of the prep work at home. She鈥檒l chop and marinate meat for Korean barbecue and pre-cut onions, peppers, and pineapple, and divide them into baggies. Cook a big batch of rice at camp while you鈥檙e grilling the meat and veggies and you have Korean rice bowls with a side of pineapple.
Make a Cake
That鈥檚 right. Bake. A. Cake. All you need is a Dutch oven and a few charcoal briquettes. While your coals are heating, line the Dutch oven with aluminum foil. Pour in premixed chocolate cake batter and cover with the lid. Set the oven on 10 hot coals on the edge of the campfire, then carefully place 10 more hot coals on top of the oven. Now, patience: let it bake for 40 minutes before checking. Top with tiny marshmallows and chocolate chips for bonus points. There鈥檚 no better way to cap off a great day in the outdoors than with a freshly baked cake.