By Janet Groene, F47166
July 2016
Camp cooking is more than a culinary art. It’s a skill that teaches children about working with finite resources while paying attention to nutrition and the environment.
RV travelers learn to have a Plan B, because we may be boondocking this time, have full hookups next time, and camp with partial hookups another time. We may run out of this or that, find that the campground has an unexpected fire ban, or otherwise have to change plans and simply make do.
The following recipes allow kids — with the help of a grown-up — to create easy, fun, and rewarding meals and treats in the motorhome galley or on the campfire. And, these are foods that the whole family will enjoy.
Grandpa’s Fish Stew
After a day of fishing, the reward for the motorhome crew is a big meal that makes the most of the catch. Complete the menu with crusty rolls, coleslaw from the deli, and Tootsie Pops for dessert.
1 pound boneless, skinless fish
¼ cup lemon juice
1 onion, diced
2 to 3 ribs celery, sliced
3 slices bacon, cut up
1 or 2 14.5-ounce cans diced potatoes, drained
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 10-ounce can whole-kernel corn with red and green peppers, drained
1 3-second squirt from a ketchup squeeze bottle
½ teaspoon thyme
3 bay leaves
2 cups water (or more to taste)
Hot sauce
Cut the fish into bite-size pieces on a cutting board. Drizzle lemon juice on the fish and the cutting board. Pushing the fish aside on the cutting board, cut up the onion and celery. Set aside. In a large saucepan, sizzle the bacon until it’s well browned. Stir in the onion, celery, and potatoes to brown them. Add the tomatoes, corn, ketchup, thyme, bay leaves, and water.
Cover the pot and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Bring back to a hard boil and stir in the fish until it firms up, about 1 or 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove the bay leaves. Add water if desired. Pass the hot sauce. Makes four to six servings.
Lessons to teach: 1. Bay leaves don’t soften in cooking. Their sharp edges could be harmful, so it’s important to remove them before serving. 2. Count seconds by one-a-thousand, two-a-thousand. 3. After removing foods from the cutting board, sprinkle it with baking soda, scrub, and rinse.
Campfire Ham Steak
1 3-second squirt from a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise
1 2-second squirt from a squeeze bottle of mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 ham steak, about 16 ounces
Prepare a grill or campfire for medium heat. Lay out a large square of foil and spray it with nonstick spray. Squirt the mayonnaise and mustard into a zip-top sandwich bag. Add the seasonings, seal the bag, and squeeze it to mix everything. Cut a small corner off the bottom of the bag and squeeze out half of the mayo mixture onto the foil to make a circle a little smaller than the ham. Put the ham steak on it.
Squeeze the rest of the mayo mixture on top of the ham steak and spread it around. Fold the foil to make a leakproof package and place it on the grate for 10 minutes. Turn the ham steak and cook for 5 minutes. Be careful when opening the packet, because steam will be dangerously hot. Makes four servings.
Lessons to teach: 1. Fold foil in a “drugstore wrap” and open the hot package carefully so as to avoid steam burns. 2. Use squeeze bottles to save time and mess. 3. Use a prepared fire or grill to make the whole meal by adding baking potatoes, vegetable kebabs, or additional foil packets filled with vegetables.
Rice Noodle Salad
Unlike wheat noodles, rice noodles can be cooked without plunging them in a large amount of boiling water. They save water and are a natural for kids to cook, but they do need special handling, because they are very brittle.
1 8-ounce package medium rice noodles
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 12- to 16-ounce package fully cooked chicken bites
1 to 2 cups cut-up vegetables (tomato, sweet pepper, celery, sweet onion, etc.)
4 to 5 cups lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
Carefully unwrap the noodles and put them in a flat-bottom pan. Cover them with very hot water. Watch the clock. Thin noodles take about 7 minutes; thicker noodles take up to 10 minutes. While they soak, move them gently with a fork so they don’t stick together, but be careful not to break them. When they are soft and wiggly, drain them in a sieve or colander.
Whisk together the soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, and garlic powder and drizzle over the drained noodles. Toss gently with chicken bites and vegetables. Put a bed of torn lettuce on each plate and top it with the noodle mixture. Makes four to six main dish servings.
Lessons to teach: 1. Rice noodles require special handling. 2. Lettuce is better torn than cut. 3. Whisk the salad dressing and other small mixtures in a disposable paper cup to save dishwashing. 4. Use a timer or clock for cooking accuracy.
Orange Pop Rice
1/2 stick butter
1 small onion, cut up
1 to 2 ribs celery, cut up
1 small summer squash, cut up
1 small yellow sweet pepper, seeded and cut up
1 cup fragrant rice, such as jasmine
1 12-ounce can orange soda (regular or sugar-free)
1 small can mandarin oranges
Water
1 teaspoon salt
In a large pan, sizzle the vegetables in melted butter until they are well coated, then stir in the rice to coat it, too. Pour the soda into a measuring cup and add juice from the oranges and water (if needed) to make a total of 2 cups of liquid. Add the liquid and salt to the pan and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook without peeking or stirring for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in the oranges and serve. Makes six to eight servings.
Lessons to teach: 1. Rice doesn’t like to be disturbed when it’s cooking, but keep the heat low or it might boil dry and burn. 2. When you cut up vegetables really fine and cook them this way, you can get your little brother or sister to eat more.
Angel Thumbs
Pie crust mix in a package is an ideal shortcut for these cookies. Even if Mom does the baking, the shaping of these cookies is a good exercise for young bakers.
1 1-pound box powdered sugar
1 11-ounce package of pie crust mix
2/3 stick of butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup ground almonds, pecan meal, or other finely ground nuts
Set the oven to 325 degrees. Set out an ungreased cookie sheet or baking pan. Lightly spoon a cup of the sugar from the box and save it.
In a large bowl, use a pastry blender to combine the pie crust mix and butter until it’s fine and mealy. Add the ground nuts and extracts. Mix well. Scoop out some dough and squeeze it into a log the size of your thumb. Squeeze really hard, or the cookie may come apart in the oven.
Put thumb-size logs on the baking sheet an inch apart. Bake about 12 minutes or until they are golden brown around the edges. Take the hot pan out of the oven and put it in a place where it won’t burn people or things. Sprinkle some of the sugar over the hot cookies. When the cookies are cool, roll them in more powdered sugar. Makes 3 to 4 dozen cookies.
Lessons to teach: 1. A pastry blender is useful when mixing butter and dry ingredients together. 2. Use a sieve to sprinkle powdered sugar.
Nut Cracker Sweet
This popular idea has morphed into so many variations, it’s a good way for children to learn about adding new elements to a standard recipe. It isn’t baked, but parental supervision is needed for working with the hot sugar-butter mixture.
1 box square or rectangular crackers or matzos
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
Line a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan with nonstick foil. Arrange a solid layer of crackers in the pan, with no space in between. Sprinkle the crackers evenly with chopped pecans. Heat the butter and sugar together to dissolve the sugar. Drizzle the mixture slowly over the nuts. Don’t hurry this. It needs time to soak in. Cool, then chill. Break the cookies apart. Makes 24 to 36 cookies.
Variations: Use chopped Heath candy bars or M&M’s instead of nuts. Freeze the cookies and drizzle them with a hard-shell ice cream topping just before serving. Make double-decker cookies by completing the first layer, then adding another layer of crackers, more pecans, and more butter-sugar mixture. Try brown sugar instead of white sugar. Can you think of more variations? Let me know how they turned out.
Microwave Fudgies
Cut pieces of sturdy cardboard to make disposable cookie sheets. Cover them with waxed paper or parchment (not foil or plastic wrap).
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 tablespoons water
1 23-ounce package brownie mix with chocolate syrup included
3/4 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts or plain M&M’s candies, or both
In a bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, water, and chocolate syrup packet until well mixed. Stir in the brownie mix and flour. Fold in the nuts and M&M’s. Drop dough by teaspoons onto the cookie sheets, 2 inches from the edges and leaving 2 inches between each cookie. (You might bake one or two trial cookies to see how they spread.)
Microwave on high for 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Cool. Makes about 60 cookies.
Lessons to teach: 1. Use two teaspoons to make same-size dough blobs. 2. It’s best for grown-ups to do the baking, especially if the microwave oven is located high in the motorhome. 3. Making disposable cookie sheets for the microwave oven is an easy way to save water and avoid dishwashing.
Additional Kid Stuff
- Fold-top sandwich bags (not zip-tops) allow little hands to slip into disposable “mittens” for yucky jobs such as making ground beef patties. Peel them off and discard when done.
- Wooden spoons and spatulas are light and easy for little hands to grasp, and they are safer to use on nonstick pans. Don’t let them catch fire.
- Cut bread in triangles and dip in sweetened condensed milk, and then coconut. Spear the bread on a toasting fork. Heat it over the coals, turning often, until golden.
- Clear plastic glasses make a pretty showcase for homemade, no-cook parfaits. Make layers with fruit; graham cracker or cookie crumbs; and yogurt, pudding, or whipped topping.
- Individual pizzas can be made on a base of tortilla, pita bread, crumpets, or English muffin halves. Let everyone use the toppings they like best.
The following recipes allow kids — with the help of a grown-up — to create easy, fun, and rewarding meals and treats in the motorhome galley or on the campfire. And, these are foods that the whole family will enjoy.