Articles
Cook-Ahead
Campouts
by Rachel Paxton
When you're out in the woods spending some quality time with
your family, the last thing you want to do is spend a lot of
time cooking and washing dishes. I've found that the best way to
make the most of your campouts is to cook some of your food
ahead of time, and to make the cooking you have to do as easy as
possible.
Fish you can wrap in a double layer of aluminum foil and cook in
the coals of your campfire. Potatoes and corn on the cob (still
in the husks) can also be wrapped in foil and cooked in the
coals. Spread the coals around your packets of foil as evenly as
possible so the food will cook evenly. Corn will take 10-15
minutes to cook, and potatoes about a half hour. The fish
doesn't take long at all--15 minutes or less depending on the
thickness of the fish. And, don't forget the hotdogs! We always
bring along some hotdogs or sausages to roast over the fire on a
stick. Watermelon can be brought along and kept cold in a cool
shallow creek.
The
following recipes are great to prepare ahead and take with you.
The chicken you can eat cold and the shredded roast beef you
just warm up in a pan or in foil and serve over hamburger buns.
The fruit salad keeps well for a couple of days in a cooler.
Yum!
OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN
3 pound fryer chicken, cut up
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash chicken and pat dry. Melt the
butter and shortening together in the oven in a 13x9x2-inch
baking dish. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, salt,
and pepper. Coat chicken pieces in flour and arrange skin side
down in the baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Turn
chicken pieces over and cook for another 30 minutes.
EASY ROAST BEEF
6 lbs. rump or chuck roast
1 (14-oz.) bottle ketchup
3 onions
1 stalk celery
3 tbsp. BBQ sauce
3 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. pepper
3 c. water
Cut onion and celery in large pieces. Dump all ingredients in
large roast pan. Bake in oven about 6 hours at 300 degrees. Add
more liquid if necessary. When beef if done it should pull apart
and shred easily with a fork. (It seems like there is a lot of
liquid, but when you pull apart the meat it absorbs most of it).
Serve on fresh buns that won't fall apart easily.
FRUIT SALAD
1 cup mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese (optional)
1 cup miniature marshmallows (optional)
1 cup coconut (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and refrigerate.
About
the Author
Originally
published at Suite 101. Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and
mom. Visit her site http://www.organized-mom.com, featuring the Easy Organizer, loaded with tools to help you
plan, schedule, remember events, keep in touch, get your family
on an organized schedule, prioritize, and more.
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