Prepping Camping Foods

We are heading out to the High Sierra Music Festival for 4 days of hippie heaven--peace, love, and music. We don't want to mess with food too much while we are out there, so I pre-made a lot of it yesterday morning. Because I wanted to be done before it got hot, I started the oven the minute I got out of bed.

First order of business--quiche. In the mixer, blend ricotta cheese, 7 eggs, fresh thyme, bacon, spinach, lots of bits of cheese. Pour into a pie dish. Cook in 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes.

Next, sundried tomato pasta salad from Pioneer Woman. Try it, amazingly delicious. I added prosciutto and left out the fresh tomatoes because we are traveling and will probably eat it over several days.

Also, Stuffed Bell Peppers. I just steamed two bell peppers and then packed them with cooked hamburger, sauteed onion, pasta sauce, Worcester sauce. Topped with smoky Gouda cheese and wrapped in foil, we can just pop them in the solar oven.

Then, these Energy Bars that are simply over-the-top rice crispy treats, and the perfect camping food.

Energy Bars

1. Warm the following in 250 degrees oven

2.5 cups of Rice Krispies
2 cups of instant oatmeal
1/2 cup to 1 cup of raisins
1/2 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
1 package of sesame seeds


2. While the above is being heated, melt the following:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 to 3/4 cups peanut butter
2 packages of 10 oz marshmallows (I just buy 2 bags as they don't come in 10 oz size anyway)
Add: 1 cup coconut to melted mixture and stir.

3. Combine the heated ingredients to melted mixture.

4. Butter or Pam spray a 9 x 13" pan. Put 1/2 of the mixture into bottom of pan and press down. Sprinkle 1 cup of chocolate chips and press down. Then spoon the rest of the mixture on chocolate chips, spread and press.

HINT: Whatever tool you're using to spread the heated mixture, dip it in water before spreading each time as it's sticky as heck. Even a rice paddle is totally the bomb to do this.

Since the hot stuff was done, I could now cut up a pineapple, and a jicama to go with the fresh berries, watermelon, and cherries. We will also bring Smoked Chicken, Apple, and Chardonnay sausages and Mango Passion Granola from Trader Joe's. Sun Tea, Beer, Wine, Chai and Limoncello to drink.

Had everything done, dishes cleaned, and kitchen in order before noon. I didn't feel guilty about laying around in the hammock all afternoon at all.

Two Quick Camping Food Ideas

Sludge--Just like always, you can vary the ingredients all you want--use Parmesan or any hard cheese, use green onions, use more red pepper or less. Just add olive oil to cover and store in your frig for a bread spread, or topping cooked veggies.

Copper Pennies--everyone loved this dish at our family reunion potluck. Steam carrots until just barely cooked. In a saucepan saute some diced onion and bell peppers in a little olive oil, add a can of tomato soup, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 3/4 cup of vinegar (any kind), 1 tsp. Worchester sauce, 1 tsp. dry mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and pour over carrots. Chill.

Goodbye God, I'm Going to Bodie

A famous quote from a young girl's diary, "Goodbye God, I'm Going to Bodie," was used commonly to express the complete wickedness of the town during its heyday. At the time of its gold rush in 1879, there were 10,000 residents, numerous brothels, and 65 saloons, with daily murders, robberies, stage coach holdups and street fights.

Now, Bodie is a state park with about 5 percent of the original buildings (most of the town burnt down) in a condition of arrested decay. At over 8,000 ft in evelation without a tree to be seen, the climate is brutal. We listened to the docent explain what life was like back in the days of the "wild west." He told of the the notorious Bodie 601 vigilante group who lynched a man, the prostitute who was buried right along the fence of the "respectable" cemetery, the 3 year old boy who burned over half the town because he didn't get cake and ice cream on his birthday.

All of the photos here were taken by my niece, Allison. She asked to borrow my camera and we went around together discussing what would make an interesting photo op for her.

Teepee Camping

This very cool teepee is available for camping at Camp Lotus near Coloma, California. Can't you just imagine sleeping here under the stars? Dreamy!

Smoky Meatloaf

Just imagine it -- your favorite meatloaf recipe smoked with woody flavor and glazed with a brown sugar/vinegar/mustard finish. Yum!

Put the meatloaves in the smoker for a two to three hours--to an internal temperature of 160 degrees. You don't over smoke them because they are porous, not dense, like a chuck of meat.

Make extra to freeze.

Camp Food

Yes, we are camping again. I thought I'd talk about some of the things we like to eat when we are camping. The criteria is that they must be easy to cook and easy to clean up too.

First, Brad pre-makes a few meals. These can be things like lasagna or enchiladas that can be cooked in the solar oven. He put them in disposable pans, so the mess was all in our home kitchen, where the dishwasher is.

I tend to make the dessert items. This time I baked a batch of homemade oatmeal/raisin cookies. I also pre-made the crumble for the Cherry Crumble recipe and put it in a ziplock bag. I will layer it later and pop it in the solar oven too.

Sometimes we make dishes like a pasta salad or a Mexican corn salad. It's wonderful to just spoon it right out when you want something delicious to eat.

At Trader Joe's I bought a package of sliced salami and cheeses, a little container of marinated mozzarella, and another one with mixed olives. Along with a baguette and some fresh tomatoes, this will make a delicious antipasto for cocktail hour.

Other than that, we BBQ a lot. Eat cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast, sandwiches or quesidillas for lunch. We clear out our frig and bring almost everything with us. No point in having it rot while we're gone.

Santa Cruz is a Great Place to Camp

I LOVE SANTA CRUZ!!!!

The Monterey Bay is ideal for Central California beach camping. There are three wonderful state parks to camp at--Sunsets, New Brighton, and Seacliff. Seacliff only accepts self-contained vehicles. All have access to wide flat sandy beaches.