I love sausage, but I also love getting the most mileage out of the food I pack for camping as I can, so planning a day’s camping menu around a common theme – in this case, sausage, makes a lot of sense. We camp a lot, so even though we like to keep our meals simple, a steady camping meal of pancakes, hamburgers and hotdogs gets old fast. Here is a quiche, a pasta dish and a calzone that will add a little pizzazz to your camping menu.
Hamburgers and hotdogs are a regular camping meal for most people, including our family. Sometimes, though, the regular meals get a bit boring and we like to spice it up with beer sausage, which is equally simple to prepare and tastes a lot better than a hotdog. The biggest problem with cooking a decent beer sausage is actually finding good sausage. For this meal, we tried “Hofbrau Brats” from Trader Joe’s® and they were just okay. Like almost all sausage that you can buy in a grocery store, they were a bit greasy. You are much better off sampling the sausages from local meatpackers and sausage makers in your local area. If that does not pan-out, the next best option is to go mail order from a reputable sausage house, like the Mt. Angel Sausage Company, in Mt. Angel, OR. I really like their Fricadelwurst, which is a very lean, spicy chicken sausage.
There are few things more traditional about camping than the camp kitchen. Whether you are baking beans over a campfire, grilling steaks, or cooking up a perfect Saturday morning breakfast in the backcountry, equipping yourself with the right camp cooking tools is an essential part of whole camping experience. These camp kitchen accessories will go a long way toward helping you ensure that your next camping menu is a success.
Foil packets on the campfire (photo by TheRogue)
Barrett Baffert, the Web Editor over at Bon Appétit, gave me a heads-up on an article they are running by master chef Maria Helm Sinskey on a “Campfire Menu for 4” that is definitely worth your time to investigate. I know that on our family camping trips, we tend to focus on hamburgers, hotdogs and fajitas, so it’s refreshing to see what can be done with healthy alternatives like chicken. I’m definitely going to try the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Stacks, which look like a great meal for hot weather camping.
4 3/4 Cups of trail mix goodness
Popcorn and s’mores provide plenty of nighttime enjoyment around the campfire, but trail mix is the fuel that keeps the family going, on hikes and excursions during the day. There are as many variations of trail mix as there are stars in the sky, but the classic mix is peanuts, M&Ms, and raisins. The M&Ms tend to melt in hot weather, though, so it is a good idea to substitute additional dried fruits, such as bananas, apples, mangos, or apricots.