Camping Hacks:  Food Prep

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One of the reasons moms and dads like camping is because we don’t have an entire house and activities at home to worry about.  Yes, we still have camping activities but that’s different.  The one job we still take pretty seriously is feeding the crew!  Over our many years of camping we have come up with some time saving tips for food prep and would like to share them with you!  If you have any, which I am sure you do, please share them in the comments!

Food Prep Hacks #1

Make your hamburgers ahead of time.  I like to mix in seasonings and sometimes onions or other yummies.  This is much easier to do at home.  After mixing together the items I lightly pack the meat into a patty, never squish it or over-pat the meat, you want the grease to have room to move through the hamburger.  After making the patties, I layer parchment paper between each one and wrap about four to six together with plastic wrap.  Now I will freeze them in my home freezer.  When it’s time to go I put them in the cooler and they are frozen solid.  Unwrap to thaw or leave frozen and put them right on the grill.  Always remember to sear, cook on high heat for a short time on both sides, then turn down the heat to allow it to cook perfectly.

Food Prep Hacks #2

Pre-cook your brats!  We are from Wisconsin so brats are a part of every camping trip.  Maybe you like Italian Sausages.  Whichever you choose, precook them before you leave to ensure you can feed your crew in a timely manner.  I place the brats, usually 12 in my large pot filled with water.  Then I boil them until I see the ends just pop open a smidge (see the pictures.)  Next, I rinse them in cold water to rid them of the brat foam from cooking and to stop the cooking.  After they have cooled I wrap them in plastic wrap, usually four in a package.  These are placed into the freezer and are ready to be put into the cooler when we head out camping.  We eat brats in the traditional way, in a bun….but we also eat them cut up in our eggs (another camping favorite), butterflied in our foil dinners, shish kabobbed with fresh veggies and the list can really go on and on.  Try these on your next camping trip.

Food Prep Hacks #3

Always take hard boiled eggs with you.  Do you camp with hard boiled eggs?  If you are egg eaters this is a must for every camping trip.  If you do not have an egg cooker, get one!!  They are so simple to use and we like to have our kids doing this job in the kitchen (I lift the lid when they are finished and move them to the cold water.)  We like to have hard boiled eggs for breakfast, in egg-salad sandwiches, on salads, and they are great to pop in your back-pack for a snack while hiking (only eat up to two hours after taking them out of the fridge (cooler).)

Food Prep Hacks #4

Beef nuggets are the way to go!!!  No, I’m not confused….I don’t mean chicken nuggets I mean beef nuggets.  We prep our cooked hamburger before we leave home and we call it beef nuggets.  Here is why, first we brown the hamburger like normal, adding salt, pepper, garlic powder and any other seasoning we like (we sometimes add taco seasoning too.)  Next, we line a large bowl with a few layers of paper towel and pour the cooked hamburger in the bowl.  The grease will soak into the paper towel and you can just toss the paper towel.  Third, we lay out the hamburger on to a cookie sheet and freeze for about two hours.  Fourth, we bag the “beef nuggets” in small plastic bags which hold two servings.  Fifth, we pile up those bags and put them in our home freezer until we leave.  The bags are full of nuggets that are not clumped together.  They are so easy to heat up and use for tacos, pizza, salads, foil dinners and snacking.  When we are going to make let’s say foil dinners, I will just grab two bags out of the cooler or freezer and sprinkle in the foil pack.  Super easy.  I use these at home too!bee

Food Prep Hacks #5

Use a griddle!  Ok, this might not be food prep, but it is definitely a time saver when preparing meals while camping.  The first thing we always think of is pancakes, and yes, we do use our griddle for pancakes.  One of our favorite meals, that I usually make for our first day lunch, once we have set up camp is griddle quesadillas.  I usually have the ingredients ready in a bag inside the cooler, and before we head out to the beach or hiking trail we cook up our quesadillas quick.  Sometimes we use just cheese, or beef nuggets, or pepperoni, or brats.  Through it all on the griddle, flip and serve.

Please, comment below with one or two of your own food prep hacks for camping!  I am always on the lookout for making camping easier.