Sweet Love and Ginger

Camp Food

Back Country Creamy Orzo and Ginger Roasted Carrots

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This is one of my favorite meals from this trip. It was
delicious and so much like eating at home.

One of the main goals of backpacking food is that it is
filling; you can easily loose 1000 calories in a day of hiking, and believe me
sandwiches get old fast. I like cooking orzo a lot because it is lightweight,
cooks quickly and can be altered to any flavor or taste based on what you add.

This recipe is probably the most basic recipe that I have
made with it. I personally prefer to lug around things like onions and garlic
for the sake of health and flavor, but if you are going for more lightweight
then you don’t really need them, the bouillon adds a lot of flavor in itself.

Back Country Creamy Orzo

2-3 gloves of garlic, peeled & chopped
1 onion (or shallot)peeled, and chopped
2 bouillon cubes, crushed
1 cup orzo
2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Combine all ingredients in a pan and cover with water. Place
over hot coals and allow the mixture to simmer, stirring regularly, as well as
scraping the bottom to stop the pasta from sticking. Cook until the pasta is
aldente. You may need to add more water for this, how much water you need
depends on hot your fire is, however you only want enough liquid in the pan
when the pasta is done to keep it creamy. Stir in parmesan cheese and serve
warm.

Another thing that I don’t mind lugging into the woods is
fruits and veggies; it feels so good to refuel with good healthy, and natural
foods. Not all of them travel very well however, so the options can be limited.
Most root vegetables, and harder fruits (think apples, pears etc.) are good
options. For this particular meal I got a little fancy. I saw this recipe in my
Irish Pub Cook Book *** and knew I had to make it while we were camping, I mean
we usually bring a little whiskey anyway ha!

Ginger Roasted Carrots

2 cups baby carrots

1 tbsp extra virgin
olive oil

1 inch cube of fresh ginger,
cut into matchsticks

1 tbsp honey whiskey

Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients
in a large piece of tin foil, tossing to ensure the carrots are completely
coated. Create a packet with the foil and place over hot coals for 20 to 30
minutes, turning regularly. Once the carrots are tender remove from heat and
serve.

Hikers Stroganoff

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This recipe is one that came to me while standing in the
premade mix isle at the grocery store. I was standing there trying to think of
new and inventive things I could bring on our backcountry camping trip, that
were delicious, easy, and light weight. These premade mixes, though not the
healthiest are a huge help in this department because they cut down on the prep
time before you leave, are lightweight, and add a lot of flavor to what could
otherwise be just bland food. I have used them before, though I mostly just
stick to the plan gravies, I decided this time to branch out.

Unfortunately
sour cream doesn’t travel well without a refrigerator, so I had to leave it
out. I also replaced the traditional beef with dried mushrooms, because they
don’t need refrigeration either, and are super lightweight. Fresh mushrooms
could easily be used as well, but they don’t travel as well as the dried which
can be mashed and mangled and still produce the same flavor and texture.

Hiker’s Stroganoff

½ a cup of dried mushrooms, chopped

1 shallot

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1 package dried stroganoff mix

1 cup egg noodles

1-2 cups water

Place the mushrooms in 1 cup of water to rehydrate (roughly
10-20 minutes), while chopping the shallot. Combine all other ingredients in
the pot, with enough water to cover pasta. Cook over the open fire until the
pasta has reached desired doneness. You may want to add more water if you want
a soupier result. Serve warm.

Camp Breakfast Burritos & Fire Roasted Onions

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The long holiday weekend was a much needed break for me, despite only being a short distance from home, just that little time away from it all was amazing.

The actual holiday of July 4th was rather busy, with 5k’s to be ran, parades to attend, massive food commas to induce, innocent bystanders to splash and of course fireworks to watch, the rest of the weekend was restful and restorative.

I didn’t get to work in the hiking I had hoped, but my body needed some rest after all the festivities so a few days camping in the Adirondacks was a nice trade off. I think the excitement of the weekend had Brody all tuckered out anyway, a hike might not have been so fun for him. He’s been doing nothing but sleeping for two days now.

I don’t have much to share in the way of pictures from the whole weekend; I was too busy enjoying myself. But I do have a few camping recipes that I’m excited to share.

Breakfast Burritos

 

½ lb breakfast sausage

6-8 eggs

¼ cup milk

4 large tortillas

16 oz shredded cheddar cheese

 

In a large skillet cook the sausage thoroughly, and drain,
set aside. In a small bowl whisk together eggs and milk, then pour mixture into
a preheated pan to cook for roughly 5 minutes, stirring often.  Lay tortillas flat and evenly distribute the
sausage eggs and cheese. Roll tortillas into burrito form and then wrap in tin
foil. Place over fire for 3-4 minutes until all ingredients are warmed, and
cheese is melted. (Make ahead up to 2 days in advance)

 

Now I can’t take all the credit for this one. I got the idea
from this post, and it was so awesome I had to share! My recipe is obviously alot simplier, but we liked it alot. There is also a video
that helps showcase this awesome camping recipe, plus i’m kind of obsessed with the blog.

Fire Roasted French Onions

 

4 medium Onions

1 packet brown gravy

3-4 tbs of water
Peal all four onions, leaving the root in place (this keeps
the onion together while roasting), and cut them into quarters. Place onions in
a large piece of tin foil. Open the brown gravy packet and add water, using the
packet to stir it all up. Pout this mixture over the top of the onions. Using
the tinfoil wrap the onion, gravy mixture up and place over the hot coals of a
fire, roast for 20-25 minutes, turning several times, until the onions have
become caramelized. Serve warm.

 

As if you don’t get enough French Onion Recipes from me? I
love this one, because it is easy, light weight, with little waste, and great
for a back packing trip, plus onions don’t need to be refrigerated!

 

 

Traveling Meatloaf

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Meatloaf is one of Chuck’s favorite things ever. As he says it’s because “it’s like a whole loaf of meat! What could be wrong with that?” When I told him I had found a way to bring it camping he was very excited indeed.

I made this recipe on our trip to Challis Pond for Memorial Day weekend. And it was a mega hit! We both absolutely loved it, so of course I have to share it here with you!

Traveling Meatloaf
½ lb lean ground beef
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
4 large onions
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp Worchester sauce
½ tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 egg
Combine all ingredients, except onions in a large bowl with hands until well blended. Remove papery shell from onions, and slice in half. Remove all but the remaining outer piece. Pack a ball of meat mixture into the onion half and “close” with remaining half. Wrap in tin foil. Cook in the fire for roughly 20 minutes or until the center is no longer pink, turning often. Serve warm. Once wrapped meatloaf can be frozen in order to travel.
I realize that you will have quite a bit of onion leftover after this, but that’s ok. I chopped up the centers for several of the other meals we made, such as Hobo Stew, and Foil Potato Packets. Still having some leftover I simply minced them up and tossed them in a jar with oil. The oil will infuse some of the onion flavor and help preserve the onion so I can use it up in my cooking when we get back from camping.

Also I want to mention some lessons learned. The main thing being that grease drips out and will catch the foil on fire so be sure to wrap them more than once. And use more than one onion shell. The outside onion burned, but we like to eat the onion, so I think having more than one layer would be good so you can enjoy the onion. And yes I put a chunk of garlic in the middle. It was the best idea ever!

Challis Pond Camping

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The path from the lake side

Chuck and I decided to take advantage of the long Labor Day weekend and venture up north to one of our favorite spots. It felt great to spend the days lazing around reading, collecting firewood, fishing and chatting. I really love being able to unplug from society for a while and just enjoy our time together.

I spent most of my time reading, and cooking (surprise!). Chuck spent a lot of his time wondering the woods with his hatchet chopping at trees for our fire or fishing in the beautiful lake. We planned well and only had to go into town once to pick up some more water, which was more due to our laziness in carrying it all into the woods. We may look into a water purifier for future trips to alleviate this. Water is probably our heaviest item! It was only .6 miles in, but still every little bit helps.

We could not have asked for better weather. The skies were blue and the sun was warm. It was pretty chilly at night but a regular sleeping bag was plenty to keep us warm. We had a few visitors on Sunday, which is to be expected with the holiday weekend, but all were pleasant enough.

This boat has been here as long as i can remember. Last year we got to meet the guy who brought it in back in the day and he proposed to his girlfriend that night. Sooo cute!

I think it made Chuck feel better that everyone who came in to fish didn’t catch anything either. We ran into some chaps coming back from another lake with similar luck. I guess the fish are full and happy and don’t need to bother with our silly games.

Fisher Chuck

This recipe is perfect for an evening meal while hanging out near the camp fire, it does take some cooking time, but the results are well worth it. It can be made with simply 2 ingredients, or 15 depending on what you have on hand. This is my favorite version.


Best Ever Hobo Stew
1 lb stew meat
1 largep otato chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots chopped
1 package brown gravy mix
Brown stew meat in large skillet, with oil, butter, or bacon grease (whatever’s on hand). Add about 3 cups of water, and all other vegetables, and cover with foil, or pot top. Allow to simmer for about a half hour or until the vegetables are soft. Stir in gravy mix, and simmer of another minutes or two, stirring until all clumps are gone and mixture thickens slightly. Serve hot.

I also had some leftover parsley I threw in as well as a clove of garlic. Aromatics aren’t necessary, because of the gravy mix, but I had them and decided to throw them in this time around. This was perfect for the chilly nights, so warming and delicious!