Summer Calls for S'mores for Dinner!
Whatever your idea of camping, those hours outdoors make your family time more adventurous and delicious. Whether in your own backyard, in a boat, in an RV or a tent in the woods, building a fire and being together is the best way to unplug.
You don’t have to be the outdoorsy type to enjoy outdoors. Packing a bag and cooler with the right supplies is the key to relaxation. You can get lighters to light the campfire, wood logs are for sale at your grocery store, and RVs are truly the un-campy way to camp—a sort of rolling home away from home. Kids will enjoy a tent, which you can find at Wal-Mart, in all shapes and sizes. This time on the sleeping bag is perfect for a flashlight and a book or for coloring and snacking together.
A variety of local lakes offer campgrounds, complete with restrooms and showers, where your family can fish and swim. Depending on whether you will be camping in a tent or RV, you can find a location that suits you. Check websites and call ahead to make sure you will be comfortable.
“I definitely have a passion for the great outdoors and truly love seeing kiddos learn to love and enjoy being outside,” says Renee Kon Dobbins, a local, very youthful grandmother, who enjoys horseback riding with friends and family in many natural locales around Kansas City and including little ones in the adventure. “I have a deep respect, loving compassion and heart full of enjoyment for the great outdoors and everything within it. It seems every time I step out of the house and into nature I am given gifts from above. Nature presents in such a beautiful gentle spirit,” she says. “When I am on a float trip, I search the rock banks for rocks that will represent something special in my heart. I found rocks that look like dogs and have dog prints on the first float trip we took our beautiful black lab on, and so many other objects that are so important to me. I love feathers and have found many on my property, from turkey feathers, hawk feathers, beautiful blue bird feathers, even a cardinal feather. I find nests blown down from atop tree limbs during heavy winds. Never pick one out of a tree. It must be a gift! I have even found whole Terrapin shells.”
We can follow Kon Dobbins’ lead and make every outdoor adventure memorable.
Tamara Stagg Wise is another local outdoors-loving gal, and she and her hubby, grown children and friends often trek in their fifth-wheel camper to spots both nearby and around the United States. They also camp at the Kansas Speedway campground, and she prepares a spread of creative delights that are sure to please all the racing fans in her crew.
“I always cook hamburger meat with seasoning before I go. It’s difficult to drain off grease when you’re camping,” she advises. “We cook soups and stews on the fire in an 8-gallon stock pot. It’s best to soap the outside of the pot with Dawn dish soap. The black from the fire will come right off. We do shrimp boils in a 16-gallon stock pot with a strainer in it. We also do Philly cheesesteaks in foil packs on the grill. You simply open them when they are cooked and add cheese to the top. Another idea is to take bananas and cut the skin, leaving them in. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, mini marshmallows and crushed-up graham crackers. Make a foil boat for them to sit in and grill them until the chips and marshmallows are melting.”
Since the age of cowboys and homesteaders, people have been cooking in tin foil or pots over an open fire. For a novice, the task may seem difficult, but it’s actually incredibly simple. Personalize your meals to your family’s taste. For example, if you have a meat-and-potatoes hubby, place hamburger seasoned to your liking, with slices of potato, in a foil packet and grill over the fire. Or, for veggie lovers, place cut-up ears of corn, red potatoes, green and red peppers, sliced squash, carrots and zucchini in a foil packet, seasoned at will, and heat over the fire. Adding hot dog slices, sausage slices and steak slices are all ideas for these foil packets.
Imagination. We all have it. Tap into yours this summer and take it outdoors. The memories will be worth lots more than TV shows or text messages!
Super campfire meal ideas:
Campfire Macaroni and Cheese. Prepare macaroni noodles; place in foil containers. Bring along Velveeta cheese and milk. When you arrive, slice half the Velveeta cheese into chunks and mix in with the noodles. Mix in about ¼-cup of milk for each container. Cook over fire until boiling.
Shredded Rotisserie chicken with barbecue sauce. Pour in a foil container before you head on your trip. Tip: put any foil containers in large plastic bags in your cooler so they don’t get wet. Heat and eat.
Campfire Fruit snacks are creative healthy snacks. Simply place sliced pineapple, apple slices and orange slices in the center of a plate, then stack stick pretzels around the fruit. It looks like a campfire.
Jiffy Pop Popcorn. It pops great over an open fire!
Wrap hotdogs in crescent roll dough and place a slice of cheese inside, then cook on foil or on a stick over the fire
Campfire Cones are sweet surprises. Bring ice cream cones, then fill them with broken chocolate bars, banana slices and marshmallows. Wrap them up in foil, then heat them over a campfire or grill until they are all melty.
Amped Up S’Mores. Try taking along flavored marshmallows, like key lime flavor. Then use Hershey’s Cookies & Cream chocolate bars on those graham crackers.
An avid outdoors girl, Judy Goppert live in Lee’s Summit and enjoys all seasons, especially summer. She enjoys drawing on her personal experiences to write about the nuances of everything wonderful about life.
Sources: Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons, Come Together Kids, Chelsea’s Messy Apron.