Roam With Friends

Tag: Camp Food

  • Mother’s Day Weekend 2021

    Mother’s Day Weekend 2021

    To camping fanatics and outdoorsy mom’s there isn’t a much better way to spend Mother’s Day weekend than at the campground. We spent the holiday at Wallace State Park in Cameron, Missouri.

    Thanks to a well placed Missouri State holiday (former President Harry S. Truman’s birthday) we got a three day weekend and an extra day of camping. Is there a better Mother’s Day gift than a day off work?

    Thursday night was cold but clear. As we sat outside talking our 5 year old points out the most bizarre site. Lights traveling across the sky in a straight line. Very uniform. Very bright. Well after moments of uncertainty we started googling. Have you had the opportunity to see Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites? Well, we can say we have!

    We spent Friday traveling to Jamesport, MO to the annual May Days festival. We visited the Amish community for baked treats, spices, and flowers. Then we visited all the venders in town for extra shopping. We found a small town grocery store that makes fresh deli sandwiches for lunch. Try not to judge but I was able to have a childhood favorite: white bread, liver cheese, Mayo, lettuce, and onion! Best sandwich for $3.99!

    Saturday, my son and daughter-in-love and his best friend joined us at the campground. The sketchy weather kept changing to our favor and we ended up with a sunny, windy, slightly chilly day. So we made the best of what we were given by playing bags and sharing a few meals.

    The forecasted storms found us late Saturday night early Sunday morning. The rain, thunder, cooler temps made for perfect sleeping weather! The only person disturbed by the storm was our dog, Moose. I woke to find he and I nose to nose and he sought comfort from the thunder.

    Sunday morning was cold, damp but full of friendships, food, and fellowship. The men made us moms a wonderful camp breakfast with Mimosas and chiliquilas!

    • The whole gang soaking up sunshine and company.
    • Beautiful Mommas

    Food:

    Just sharing some of the yummy food we consumed on this camping trip!

    Top left: Elote on the Blackstone. Definitely a do-over! Top middle: what goes better with Elote than homemade guacamole! Top left: Bloody Mary Grilled Cheese with bacon and pickles. A crowd pleaser! Bottom: chiliquilas with a over medium egg and mushrooms
    We also enjoyed the heck out of a new cocktail! A Raspberry Mint Smash! We used a 3 ounces of a local Raspberry Liqueur, 1 3/4 ounces of a local Rosemary Mint simple syrup, 3/4 ounce of lime juice, and a splash of tonic water. You may not have access to the local ingredients but I think you should be able to find easy substitutions. Otherwise order online!

    Random Photos:

    • We got the new Yeti colors (Aquifer Blue and Prickly Pear) customized!
    • How cute is this burrito?
    • S’more fun!
    • Pretty red bird came to bid us farewell.
    • This guy is new to RV’ing and is excited!
    • Moose the camping dog.
    • Ruby Lou ready for the weekend
  • Tin Can Ice Cream

    Tin Can Ice Cream

    Nothing beats the heat of a Midwest summer than sweet creamy cold ice cream. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to bring that to a camping trip. Unless you have an RV with a fridge, keeping a gallon of ice cream from melting while camping can be a real challenge. Tin Can Ice Cream is a way of making ice cream any where with minimal equipment which makes it perfect activity for summer camping.

    IMG_0439I learned to make tin can ice cream from my friend, Meeghan. Meeghan and I began camping together shortly after we met in graduate school. She always told me stories about how she grew up camping. Every time she reflects back on her childhood camping trips, tin can ice cream is there.  She said she can’t remember a camping trip that her mom did not break out the tin cans and put Meeghan and her three siblings to work making ice cream. I think Meeghan’s mom was probably the smartest mom ever. She might have ended up with a cool afternoon treat but she also knew that making tin can ice cream would keep her four children entertained for a half hour (or so) and that they would likely meet other kids from the campground to play with during their stay. Meeghan reports that every time they made ice cream other kids would come by to see what they were doing, end up helping, and they ended up making new friends.

    IMG_0440Making tin can ice cream is easy. There is no machine to carry around. No intricate parts to be washed afterwards. In fact, you don’t even need electricity. You simply need 2 different sized coffee cans; one large and one smaller to fit inside the large one. You will need ice and rock salt. Easy. The recipe is perfectly portioned, you will easily eat all the ice cream in one sitting and have no need to deal with leftovers.  Of course, if you have a crowd, you might plan to make a couple of batches.

    icecream4

    icecream3

    Meeghan says she has no idea where her mother got the recipe from or even how old she was when they started making it. We have made it a few times at on group camping trips and the kids love it. We hope you will as well.

     

  • Dutch Oven Cooking: Tater Tot Casserole

    There are many reasons why I love camping but camp cooking ranks up there as one of my top reasons and one of my favorite things to do when camping. We do a lot of cooking in our dutch ovens. Anything you can make in the oven can be made in a dutch oven.

    Today, I am sharing with you our YouTube video on how to make Tater Tot Casserole in a dutch oven. Tater Tot Casserole is not a new casserole, I am sure we have all grown up on a variety. When Wayne and I got married we had to find a way of blending of the tater tot casserole he grew up having with the one I grew up having. Of course, neither of those are the tater tot casserole Allen grew up with.

    This is a very kid friendly recipe. The Short Chic started requesting this meal a few days before our first camping trip of 2016.  We saved it for our Saturday evening meal knowing it would be perfect to cook in the dutch oven.

    Our version of Tater Tot Casserole includes one can of soup per pound of ground beef. I prefer Cream of Mushroom Soup but Wayne prefers Cheddar Cheese Soup. We have compromised and added a can of each using two pounds of ground beef. We like to add a can of drained corn to the ground beef. You certainly do not have to. Or you could add something else. How about a can or two of green chilies? We like put a layer of cheese down before we line our casserole with the tater tots. Some folks just throw them on the top in a pile but we prefer them to get even amounts of heat and all brown nicely. But hey, you can check out our video

    Making memories for my children is so important to me and memories have many components. Sometimes a sound can trigger a memory, or a smell, or a place, or even a taste. With every meal prepared at the camp site, I am hoping that we are creating memories my children will remember for decades to come.

    I look forward to sharing more recipes with you over the summer.

    mePamela