Camp Breakfast Is In the Bag - total time 30 minutes

Have you seen those pins on Pinterest where they show a paper bag sitting over the campfire to cook breakfast?  I definitely have.  But have you ever seen the end result?  So many pins about allegedly being able to cook a camp breakfast without any clean up... sounds too good to be true.

So I tried it out...

To my surprise, no Pinterest fail occurred, which is good because we were hungry.  I shouldn't really be a surprised that the layered cooking works on a campfire because I did it with bacon, onions, and potatoes last year... but had to clean my cast iron afterward.  So now we can go pan free!

I love breakfast sandwiches, so the ingredients in this are perfect after a night sleeping in tents or really any time.  The bacon acts as a liner to the paper bag preventing the eggs from leaking out and the fat prevents the bag from burning in the fire.  I also add a little cooking spray just to be in the safe side.   The biscuit on top gets just enough air through the paper bag that it cooks perfectly (unlike covering a pan of biscuits with foil... if the steam can't escape, your biscuits will be soggy).  Where to put the bag once you have everything ready becomes the tricky part.  You don't want flames constantly hitting the bag... the bacon can protect the paper that well.  But you also need it close enough to cook before you get hangry.

Campfire Breakfast in a Skillet - total time 30 minutes

Until this year, I thought everyone went camping when they were kids.  I just thought that was part of growing up, your family spending a couple weekends, some times weeks, at a campground having fun outside.  I remember organizing our family's "field day" competition one year complete with SkipIt and paper ribbons hand colored and cut by yours truly.

Maybe that's why I love to be outside, get my hands dirty in the garden, stare at the night sky, and why bugs really don't bother me (unless they're mosquitos, mosquitos bother me a lot).  While I'd like to think of myself as a somewhat technically savvy individual, I can also disconnect from the interwebs and be okay (unlike these kids).

Since it is summer time, it's the perfect time get off the grid and recharge your batteries, literally and figuratively!  :)  Time to go for a hike, sleep under the stars, and cook over the fire.

For me, breakfast recipes need to be easy.  I'm not fully awake, and if it isn't easy, I might accidentally cut off a finger or something.  This recipe requires very little effort and includes minimal involvement of sharp objects.  It is very similar to the breakfast in a bag recipe (that I forgot to post, so, coming soon), but no chance of the cooking vessel breaking or burning in the fire.  If you like breakfast sandwiches, but would rather clean one pan instead of three... this is the recipe for you.

Campfire Eggs-periment

When you're camping you can't take your whole kitchen with you, so it requires some minimalist cooking techniques.  We were planning our meals a couple day before we left (meal planning is an absolute necessity for camping) we found this interesting technique for cooking eggs.... right in the fire... using just the egg itself.  Can't get more minimalist than that!  So we packed an extra couple eggs to try this eggs-periment.  :)

First you poke a hole in the top of the egg shell.  You could use a safety pin, push pin, or even a metal skewer.  This allows for the heat to escape to prevent the shell from cracking under the pressure.  Then you carefully place the egg in the coals of the fire (not the flame).  Wait about 10 minutes for the eggs to cook.  You'll see the steam escaping from the small hole and maybe even little egg whites bubbling out.  Remove the eggs from the fire and let rest for at least 5 minutes before pealing the shell away.  

Lessons Learned
1.  Do not shake the egg before cooking... this doesn't create scrambled eggs in the shell... it creates explosive eggs.
2.  Poke a big enough hole, maybe two... or the shell will crack.
3.  Bring backup eggs just in case!

regular egg verses shaken egg... oops

Or just use your castiron... it is a camp cooking essential.

 

Fajita Campfire Packets - total time 40 minutes

You know that perfect spot in a campfire to roast marshmallows?  Right by the red embers not too close to the flame.  It gets the marshmallow gooey and lightly toasted without catching them on fire.  Well, that same spot is the perfect place to cook your dinner too!  Just wrap the ingredients in heavy foil, spray with cooking spray, carefully put the foil packet in that perfect spot, and enjoy some perfectly cooked dinner in about 30 minutes.

I made this dinner while we were camping last weekend.  As soon as I got everything on the campfire to cook, the sky opened up and it started to pour.  We took cover in our Jeep and checked every single weather app on our phones... possible tornadoes.  Eek!  Thankfully the storm passed by pretty quickly.  There were a lot of puddles and the ground was muddy, but the campfire was still hanging in there (thanks to good tree cover)... but only by a little bit.  The rain made the whole fire those perfect red embers for cooking.  Surprisingly everything cooked just right and as the sun came out, we were chowing down on some delicious camp food.  :)

Campfire Potatoes - total time 40 minutes

Although our camping weekend was cut short due to storms and possible tornadoes (no real safe spot from lightning and tornadoes in a tent with metal rods), we still had a great time while we were there!

The first night was really just getting down there, setting up camp, making some dinner, and eating some s'mores.  :)  While we were sleeping, something took Snoop's water bowl... probably a raccoon.  And then Snoop was out wandering campsite for who knows how long before we noticed he slipped out of the tent!

The next day was full of kayaking, a short hike, and cooking on the campfire.  I don't have a lot of experience cooking with fire, but everything turned out really delicious.  Maybe it's because bacon was involved... maybe it was campfire.

These campfire potatoes are really easy!  Just slice everything up, layer it in a cast iron pan or dutch oven, cover it, and enjoy the fire and the smells of yummy potatoes.