Campfire Food

The main appeal of camping? The food. I run across yummy camping nibbles on Pinterest all the time. I yearn for the day we cook over the fire in a cast-iron dutch oven or skillet. Until then, we'll stick with what's easy- Hobo Dinner with marshmallows for dessert.

Admittedly, we travel with seasoned camping pros. They come prepared. Without them, we would not eat so well. For instance, we bring cereal for the girls in the morning because Baby Girl is allergic to eggs and doesn't care for bacon. Little Girl doesn't like either. If we had decided to go it alone, without our friends, we might end up eating cereal too. I meant to try these canned cinnamon rolls baked in hollowed-out orange rinds, but if you read my last post, In a Tent, you know why we never made it as far as breakfast on our last trip.

For directions, click here!

However, we did successfully complete another recipe that called for oranges! Did you know you can cook cake batter in hollowed-out oranges? And the cake will have a hint of orange flavor? Neither did I. They are so good. Also, you can use the fruit for freshly-squeezed orange juice. I was lucky Baby Girl was interested in helping because cleaning out the rinds can be a bit time-consuming. While I worked on those, she stirred the batter over, and over, and over again.

For a step-by-step recipe for Orange Cakes, click here! Basically, you slice the top off the orange and hollow out the fruit. Mix in a bowl and pour batter into 2/3 of the rinds. Replace the top of the orange. Cover in foil. Roast and turn over the coals. It didn't occur to me at the time that I might ever blog about our camping trip, and they were too good to stop and take a picture, so I don't have a great shot of how they look when they're done. But trust me, you want to make these.

For Orange Cake recipe, click here!

Our friends introduced us to the whole Hobo Dinner concept. There are tons of recipes on Pinterest, but we love the one they taught us to make! Not only is this delicious, but it is also kid-friendly because love to assemble their own.

Hobo Dinner
Layer in a rectangle of heavy-duty foil,
from bottom to top:
Ground beef patty
Thinly sliced potatoes
Sliced onions
Sliced carrots
1/4 cup cream of mushroom soup
(make sure to get pop-top cans or
bring a can opener)
Salt and pepper to taste
Seal the foil air-tight and place over coals

For instructions on how to properly seal foil packs, and for more delicious foil packet recipes, click here!

Some children, like ours, aren't going to go out on a limb and try something new even if the assembly was fun. Both trips our girls ate grilled cheese sandwiches that were cooked in foil packets over the coals. They were so gooey and delicious I wanted some too.

We made sure to save room for dessert because there were many to try on this trip! Yes, s'mores are easy and delicious, but we have a fire pit at home and make them quite a bit. I wanted to try the Campfire Cones and Banana Boats I had seen so many times before. This was another fun thing to make with the kids because they can assemble these too.

Stuff a waffle cone with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Cover with foil and roast. Or, slice a banana lengthwise, stuff with strawberries, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. Cover with foil and roast. For more about Campfire Cones, click here! You can also add butterscotch or reese's pieces peanut butter cups to the Banana Boats. Look here!

After the kids went to bed, us grown-ups tried one more dessert- strawberries dipped in marshmallow fluff and the roasted over the fire. They were incredible!! We did have to use a spoon to get the fluff on the berry though. Make sure you have wet wipes handy for this one too.

Even if we choose to stay in a cabin nowadays, my mind is set on trying the recipes from the pin below! They look so good! For seven days of camping recipes, go here!