Fancy Camp Food #5

So here's what happened...I actually made a REAL camp breakfast...and didn't take pictures.  I meant to, but everything just happened so fast and I chose to avoid burning eggs rather than getting the picture.  Here is the "prep" set up as proof!

As always we made awesome coffee in our camping french press.  It really does come out the best coffee we ever make.  And while waiting for the water to boil, the eggs to cook, and any other waiting "opportunity" we munched on donut holes.  It's not camping without them.

So breakfast itself was simply breakfast burritos with goat cheese and basil (left over from last night's caprese bites!)  I scrambled the eggs and just before they were done, scooped some soft goat cheese in and sprinkled with sliced basil.  Wrap that baby in a tortilla, and eat!

Just after breakfast we headed down to the lake so the kids could fish, play in the water, ride in the kayak, and bask in the sun!  It was a great way to spend the morning.  The dogs loved it too!

Lunch was virtually the same plan as all camping trips this summer (see posts here and here) and was comprised of picky-pick items.  Hubby isn't a fan of bread in general (I know, I only WISH I had that same problem) and definitely isn't interested in eating it while camping as it always dries out.  So bite sized food with crackers makes him very happy.  And for me, it makes for easy clean up and doesn't take much "work" before you get to dig in.

Ingredients

• Heirloom baby tomatoes (from last nights caprese bites)
• String cheese
• Sliced avocado
• Edemame
• Crackers
• Deli turkey slices for him
• And admittedly some cookies....

After a thrilling game of Apples to Apples and a half game of Yahtzee, it was time to start prepping for dinner.  In order to do this, we needed wine.  We splurged and brought a nice bottle of wine as a treat.  And then were super classy drinking it in the yellow plastic cups.  

 Dinner tonight was another "do-again" from an earlier camp trip with an asian style bowl.  The variation which makes this different is that instead of rice, I used some of my pre-made quinoa to save time and effort.  And hubs skipped the bowl completely and made an actual plate of food.

Ingredients

• Quinoa
• Bell Peppers
•  Edemame
• Tofu
• Stir Fry sauce
• Salmon (for him!) 

 Directions

1. If you didn't prep ahead of time- you should make your quinoa, rice, couscous, or grain of choice now.  It will take the longest and it can sit and wait for the rest to catch up!
2. Drain tofu- I layer a plate, couple paper towels, tofu, more paper towels, another plate and then anything you can use as a weight.  This will squeeze the moisture from the tofu and get it ready for grilling while you prep the rest of the items (and maybe have a glass of wine!)
3. Marinate the salmon steak in sauce
4. Chop your bell peppers into bite sized pieces
5. De-shell your edemame
6. Cut tofu into medium-small, thin pieces.
7. Set your pan to medium heat (which I know is impossible to really regulate on a camp stove!)
8. Add a little butter or oil to the hot pan, and drop in your tofu.  Leave it alone for a three to five minutes and flip once it has started to get a golden color.
9. After another couple minutes, push tofu to the side and add the veggies to let them stir fry for just a few minutes.
10. Pour in enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan.  
11. Stir to coat and let simmer for another three to five minutes
12. Meanwhile- add the salmon steak to your grill and cook on each side according to the size and your "wellness" preference.
13. Add some quinoa to your bowl, and top with stir fried tofu and veggies & salmon

Josh decided to have quinoa and veggies on the side!

This was such a GREAT day at the lake.  Wonderful friends, sunshine, and great food!  Next up- camping chocolate tacos!  This is the kind of dessert I can't resist!

Grammie's Zucchini Squares- "Healthy" comfort food

This is one of those recipes that gets asked for and passed on through family and friends time after time.  I scored this years ago by way of my friend Sheri from her mom, Loydene, aka Grammie. And I had it safely written on two pieces of note paper...  Needless to say those two precious papers have been misplaced over the years, no doubt tucked away in a cook book so I wouldn't loose them!!!

Through the powers of Facebook, I'm now hooked back up with Grammie!  And a random chain of thoughts today led me to a craving for these, a quick post on Grammie's wall, and within a couple hours I was at the store picking up the few items I needed to make these babies.  Than you Grammie, mwah!

Ingredients

• 3 cups thinly sliced zucchini (I used two large zucchinis)
• 1 cup Bisquick
• 1/2 cup diced white onion
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I eyeballed this one, cause well...extra cheese never hurts!)
• 2 Tbsp parsley (I used dry)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Dash of pepper
• 1 clove finely chopped garlic (I use pre-chopped Christopher Ranch in a jar!)
• 1/2 cup veg oil
• 4 eggs (I use eggs from a carton)
• Butter (for your 9x13 baking dish!)

Directions

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prep your 9x13 baking dish with a layer of butter.  Or use spray if you are able to contain that mess.  (I'm not!  And get in trouble when specks of the spray are later found on nearby surfaces!)
3. Combine sliced zucchini and Bisquick in a large mixing bowl
4. Add onion, Parmesan, parsley, salt, oregano, pepper, and garlic
5. Mix well.  It will be a bit clumpy looking. And the slices may stick together.  Don't fret. Just feel sure your spices are mixed up!
6. Add the veg oil and stir 
7. Fold in your eggs
8. Pour batter into your baking dish, put in the oven, and set the timer for 30 minutes
9. Finished product will be a beautiful golden color, with a firm "crust" and moist, but not sticky, in the center.

Technically this is an appetizer, but it's completely appropriate to have for dinner.  It's light but hearty, with protein from the eggs.  Make a nice side salad, top your square with a little dollop of sour cream if you want,  and call this a meal.  Great for a summer night.  And seriously it's so good and versatile that I'll be taking a piece with me to work for breakfast tomorrow!

"Fancy" Camp Food #3!

Ya... so over in my bio I mention how I try to be healthy, thrifty, responsible, organic, etc...  And how I sometimes just want Oreo's?  Well this post falls into the second category.  If for no other reason than I just took the easy way out.  I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of having an awesome camping weekend.  Especially not guilt over eating badly.  

(For more recipes and camp ideas, check out my earlier and more fancy camping food posts here and here.)

This was a bit of a last minute trip, which included leaving right after work on Friday (after having to stay and work late...sigh...) and getting all prep, laundry, groceries, and new shoe shopping squeezed into a couple hours Thursday night.  The shoes were not for me!  But instead for our dog, Hudson.  He needed hiking boots.  Bright red ones, to be fancy.

We planned to spend most of our time kayaking, hiking, and exploring.  Eating was just going to be a necessary "evil" invading our fun time.  So the plan was to make it as quick and effortless as possible.

Breakfast

I'm not going to lie... we had donuts and French Press coffee.  Shrug.  I will admit I was jealous of a nearby camper who was making what I imagined to be an awesome egg & veggie skillet based on the undeniable smell of grilled onions and peppers.  And as I sadly looked at my chocolate covered donut, I was only slightly sad for a moment.  The morning of Day two we made coffee again, but added a packet of hot chocolate.  Camping mocha!

Lunch

Josh's parents met us at the lake to go kayaking and have lunch.  We had all the "pick-nic" supplies.  Spread it all out on the table and just picked and snacked away!  This is the perfect way to eat lunch.  There really is NO prep.  I suppose it is an "adult-only" type of lunch.  Not because of any scandalous reason, other than dirty little kid hands.  So maybe they can point and you put their choices on a fun and colorful kid plate.  Or maybe if you actually have kids, you aren't freaked out by the germs as it is most likely part of a normal day.

• Hummus
• Cheese- sliced cheddar, & mozzarella string cheese
• Crackers
• Deli Turkey
• Sliced Avocado
• Grapes
• Cherries
• Sliced Apples
• Edamame
• Trail Mix
• Beef Jerky
• Almonds
• Gummy Bears
• Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies- so good!

 

Dinner

We went with classic BBQ.  Josh made a steak, and I had a veggie patty.  Guilty pleasure- Ranch Style Beans and an easy side salad with avocado and 3 beans made it a complete meal.

The only hiccup was the "3 bean" part of our salad.  I normally buy this in a jar with a marinated mix of kidney, garbanzo, and green beans.  And it's a great, easy way to add color and flavor to some greens with no additional dressing needed.  But neither of our two grocery stores had it late on Thursday night.  So I settled for a version that came in a can.  (Which I never do and shouldn't have panicked and compromised.) Sadly, it didn't even come close.  First it didn't have garbanzo beans but instead wax beans which honestly they lived up to their name 100%.  And second, the green beans actually made a rubbery, squeaky sound when you bit into them.  No thanks.  The only edible item in that can was the kidney beans.  So what I learned was, don't buy that again.  Ever.  I recommend you don't try it either.

It was still a great trip.  A quick weekend get away, time with family, kayaking, and exploring the beautiful scenery that is all around us.  Despite the food fail (I won't mention the stop at McD's on the way home...) the rest of the trip was a complete success.  And so it just goes to prove- It really doesn't have to be fancy!  It just needs to fit in your car.

Can you spot Hudson back there with all the gear?!?!?

Grits Muffins

When I was two years old I met my very best childhood friend, Lee Ann.  Her parents moved her and her brother to California from North Carolina. To me, her mom Julie was everything southern.  The thick accent and the odd food, like fried okra and grits was new and amazing to me.  And I loved it all!

I've continued to love grits and have found a few winning recipes over the years.  My absolute favorite, is Dreamy Creamy Baked Grits.  We discovered these years ago (too many to count) while celebrating my birthday at a B&B in Trinidad, CA.  But they take like two hours to make.  No joke.  I do it very seldom.  This morning I really considered spending the time to do it.  But decided to see if I could find a similar, less time consuming version.  And then I stumbled on this muffin recipe at Yesterfood. And I'm all about muffins recently.  A one stop, all ingredients in a small bite, easy to make, and less to clean up, type of meal.  I'll admit, they do not measure up to the insanely delicious, Dreamy Creamy version.  But at about 5 minutes of prep time, and 15 minutes baking...well the time savings alone made these dreamy!

The syrup blobs originally were cute, artisitc drizzle lines.  But then I thought it would be a good idea to add in my coffee cup and by the time that all happened....blobs.  Oh well!

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup quick grits (dry, not cooked)
• 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups sour cream (yes, it's a lot!)
• 6 Tbsp melted butter
• 2-4 Tbsp honey (use less for savory and more for sweet.  I used 2 Tbsp of Agave nectar)
• 3 large eggs

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray (I use butter and my handy baster brush)
3. In a large bowl-combine everything! (Ok, the real directions have you combine the dry in one bowl, the wet in another, and then stir until just mixed and moist.  Whatever, I stirred it all at once and it was fine.)
4. Don't over mix, just like Dutch Babies. I don't know why but it ruins it. 
5. Scoop roughly 1/4 cup into the each of the 12 muffin cups
6. Bake for 15 minutes
7. Let them cool slightly on a wire rack
8. Serve with butter, honey, syrup, or jam of your choice.

 

These were quick and super easy. Came out with a texture very much like cornbread muffins.  I topped with syrup to make them more "breakfast" appropriate, and because my original Dreamy Creamy Baked Grits are served that way.  We also brewed some yummy, strong, French Roast coffee in our french press.  Its always better than regular coffee maker results!

These muffins can easily work for breakfast, or as a hearty addition to soup or even chili!  The one mixing bowl and short bake time make these an easy go-to!