I love to cook when I am camping!  Of course, I always like to cook outdoors, but especially when camping.  I usually cook right on the fire, but sometimes use a grill.  To make it easier, I try to bring foods that are easy to store and keep fresh.  If you are going to do some hikes, plan on bringing some snacks for the trail. If you bring perishable items, you'll need to bring a cooler and have a way to get ice.

Breakfast

Here's a great camping dish to get your started off right.  Slice up mushrooms, onions, bacon and potatoes and grill in a skillet.  Cook until the potatoes are tender.  Mix some eggs with a little milk mushroom-onions-bacon-potato mixture and cook until the eggs are all done. This is a tasty and easy to prepare and clean up meal. Another easy meal to prepare is a breakfast burritos. Cook some eggs and place inside a tortilla with cheese and salsa.  Or, you can try a breakfast pizza using pre-made crusts and eggs.  Cook the eggs any way you like them and then add bacon, potatoes or sausage. Heat the pizza crusts over the fire and top with your egg-cheese mixture.

Lunch

When you are camping, it may be nice to keep lunch easy to prepare and clean up so you have time for other activities.  Sandwiches with some vegetable sticks are nice and easy.  If you want a hot side dish with the sandwiches, take some frozen French fries, chili and cheese sauce.  Combine them and spoon into a sheet of foil.  Wrap the foil tightly.  Toss the package on the fire and cook for 5 minutes (depends on how hot your fire is.  Open carefully and if the fries are cooked, you can enjoy some chili cheese fries with your sandwich!

Dinner

Stew is a great choice for dinner when camping  You can use canned vegetables (easy to bring, don't need refrigeration).  Combine cans of corn, peas, beans, tomatoes (or other favorites).  Add a couple cans of chunky chicken (or other meat that you have pre-cooked).  Add a couple cans of tomato sauce and simmer slowly on the grill or fire for a delicious, filling stew.

Trail Snacks

If you are going hiking or exploring, take some foods to help boost energy.  Popcorn popped over the fire is a fine way to prepare that snack.  Make your own trail mix, using your own set of ingredients.  Consider granola, raisins, chocolate chips, M & M’s, cereal, dried fruits and nuts. Use whatever combinations you like.

A favorite around the campfire is using the pudgie pie makers or pie irons.  They are made of cast iron or metal and have long handles. You can make make tasty dishes with these gadgets.  Bread is a common staple in making pudgie pie dishes.  Butter two slices of bread.  Place the buttered side of one slice down in the pudgie pie maker.  Place a cheese slice on top of that slice and then place other buttered slice (butter side up) on top of the cheese.  The butter keeps the bread form sticking.  Now close the pudgie pie maker and place in the coals of your campfire. It will only take a few minutes for the pie to cook. After about a minute, turn the pie maker over and cook the other side.  Watch it closely.  If your fire is hot, your grilled cheese sandwich will cook very quickly.  You can add other filling to your cheese sandwich (ham and tomato, for example).

You can also do small pizzas with a pudgie pie maker.  Use two slices of buttered bread again and, this time, add your favorite pizza toppings (canned pizza sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese).  Close the pudgie pie maker and put over the coals of your campfire.  There's a fun way to make pizzas when you are camping.

Another favorite thing to cook in a pudgie pie is dessert.  Just like you did with the grilled cheese and pizza, use two slices of buttered bread and spoon in your favorite pie filling (cherry or apple, for example).   Cook in the fire and enjoy dessert!

Probably the most favorite thing to have for dessert when you are camping is S'mores.  They are simple to make.  Roast a marshmallow over your fire.  Once it is golden brown, put in on top of a graham cracker and a piece of a chocolate and then top it with another graham cracker.

Cooking while camping can really be a lot of fun.  Think of foods and dishes that will be easy to cook and easy to clean up and don't require a lot of pots and pans.  Make sure you have some marshmallows to toast and you'll be the hero at the end of the day