Easy clean up meals?

[gatorgrizz27]

Following this. I tend to go one extreme or the other. When car camping it’s a full meal really no different than we would make at home. Steak on the fire, boil some broccoli on the stove, baked potato in foil on the coals, etc. When backpacking it’s nuts, jerky, bars, and a mountain house at night.

I’d like to find more of a “middle ground” where it is hearty, satisfying food that’s somewhat special to camping and fun for the kids, as well as easy prep/cleanup. Stuff like chicken, potatoes, and carrots in a foil packet on the coals. Hot dog on a stick over the fire and a can of beans on the stove works too, but gets old.

As busy as I am during the week, a bunch of prep at home before heading out doesn’t really make it ”easier”.

 

[CSG]

Disposable everything that's possible to dispose (plates, napkins, utensils, drinkware. Cookware is a single non-stick pan and a water kettle. Silicone spatula and Yeti style coffee mugs with Melita pour over filter holders. I eat most cold food (sandwiches primarily but often eggs for breakfast). Otherwise, I do like one other poster suggested - freeze dried Mountain House. Food is of little interest to me when camping/overnighting while traveling.

 

[ZMagic97]

Bag tacos are awesome. Essentially add ground beef (or turkey) into a bag of chips like Beanfields or Doritos along with whatever you want to add. We usually throw in pre-chopped onion, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, sour cream, and hot sauce. Minus the meat, everything can be prepped and put in small containers or bags, except for the shredded cheese and lettuce. Even if prepping on the spot, it requires little work and clean up.

I believe I've also heard these called walking tacos. I heard about these some years ago from a co-worker that would make them for his daughters softball games. He would simple grill the meat on a Coleman stove on his tailgate and put he rest of the toppings out.

 

[displacedtexan]

Disposable everything that's possible to dispose (plates, napkins, utensils, drinkware. Cookware is a single non-stick pan and a water kettle. Silicone spatula and Yeti style coffee mugs with Melita pour over filter holders. I eat most cold food (sandwiches primarily but often eggs for breakfast). Otherwise, I do like one other poster suggested - freeze dried Mountain House. Food is of little interest to me when camping/overnighting while traveling.

Then you have to manage the trash... Washing dishes isn't that hard.

One of the few hard rules I have when camping is no disposable plates/utensils/cups. I can be flexible with the napkins. If you have a disposable plate, you're not eating anything I cooked.

 

[CSG]

Then you have to manage the trash... Washing dishes isn't that hard.

One of the few hard rules I have when camping is no disposable plates/utensils/cups. I can be flexible with the napkins. If you have a disposable plate, you're not eating anything I cooked.

Burning trash is better than carrying water that gets wasted IMO. Guess I won't be eating any of your cooking or ever camp together. Judgemental people aren't much fun to be around...

 

[Ragman]

We did a long trip recently and relied on home dehydrated meals which were delicious and so easy to make. For a bit more complexity but still keeping with a simple theme we do a lot of dutch oven cooking-one pot (generally) and clean up is pretty easy as we often use the pot as our dish washing sink (yes we use soap-gasp!). We found one recently that we thought was really good and is super easy-just beware lots of sugar in this one. Have a look and I hope you like it!

 

[Regcabguy]

Bean and cheese tostadas. Heat a can of refried's up and heat the tostada shells in a covered nonstick skillet. Add lettuce,cheese guacamole and salsa. Maybe a half hour prep max. Very quick after a long day's driving.

 

[dstefan]

We did a long trip recently and relied on home dehydrated meals which were delicious and so easy to make.

Can you tell us more about these?

 

[Ragman]

Can you tell us more about these?

Sorry I just saw this question. I have never been a dehydrated meal guy but we found ourselves taking a month long trip in our JKU after dropping our son at college which meant that we had no room for a cooler. This turned out to be a bit of a blessing as it forced us to rethink our packing and meal plan. I have dehydrators because I make a lot fo beef jerky however we upped our game by buying a book on dehydrated meals called "The Dehydrator Cookbook For Outdoor Adventures" by Julie Mosier. We made multiple recipes including Lemony Lentil Salad which required only cold water to rehydrate which made for an easy meal when on the trail as well as Porter Infused Chili With Bacon and White Bean and Chicken Stew with Poblanos. All were excellent and we were able to control what went into them. Since we were only gone for a month we packed each two person portion into a zip lock back (rehydrated right in the bag) and just ate right out of the bag. This was honestly a great way to go. They are proper stews so there is some pre-dehydrator cooking involved but well worth it to get it done at home.

I also recently purchased "Recipes For Adventure" by Glenn McAllister but have not tried any of the recipes yet.

I am actually pondering making a video on my YouTube channel Dickin' Around Outdoors on making these meals so curious if you think that would be interesting?

 

[dstefan]

Thanks, thats helpful info. Sure, think that would be a great video.

 

[shays4me]

We always carry a little Weber lightweight gas grill (the cheap one). I like to premake and freeze breakfast burritos for my daughter and I. Our favorite use the largest flour tortillas we can find, potatoes O’Brien, two sausage links, scrambled eggs for her, over easy fried for me, and country gravy. You can substitute anything you want for a breakfast meat and add cheese instead of gravy. They’re totally customizable! One evening to premake them all, wrap them each in aluminum foil and then straight to the freezer. When we want to go I just grab however many we want out of the freezer and stick them in a ziplock bag to keep the cooler ice from melting into them. It really makes for a no mess breakfast warming them in the bbq or on the intake manifold if we move out early.
Lunches are usually sandwiches and fruit as well as kind bars and nuts or other healthy snacks I keep in the console so we don’t need to stop if we’re burning up the miles. That leaves dinner which my wife likes to make ahead of time and pore into a foil pan on the Weber like spaghetti, plate tacos with Spanish rice and Fritos, etc.

 

[Ragman]

Thanks, thats helpful info. Sure, think that would be a great video.

The video on dehydrated camp food went up today if you want to have a look.

 

[dstefan]

The video on dehydrated camp food went up today if you want to have a look.

Great video, very informative! Thanks.

 

[4000lbsOfGoat]

We often eat like 18th century French peasants - salami, cheese, nuts, crackers, some fresh vegetables, maybe some hummus. Totally filling and fairly balanced meal with no cooking and very little cleanup. If we're lucky enough to have access to an indoor kitchen prior to heading out we'll often steam a whole bunch of shrimp before we go. The shrimp goes nicely with the "farmers' plate" dinner!

 

[Groverland]

I just have been using the backpacking pouches of food you can get at REI. Not as tasty as some of the other mentioned options, but all I need is a small stove to heat up some water and 20 minutes of time(just enough to finish a beer) to wait. This method can't be beat for lack of clean-up!

The Skottle has me intrigued, however. I've seen pictures, but never really understood. Is it a grill or a wok? Both? If the pan is cast-iron I suppose that eliminates the need for washing afterwards. I would be nice to have some homemade tacos...