In scouting they taught young campers to cook a single meal in a large, clean metal coffee can. This cooking method is especially handy if you don't own any camping cookware. Layer your food, a hamburger patty and raw vegetables like sliced potatoes or onions, for example, in the coffee can. Cover the can with heavy duty foil and place in the campfire for 30 to 45 minutes. Add some coals to the top of the foil to speed cooking, and be careful when you remove the hot can from the fire.
Stew is a hearty food for campers, evoking images of pioneers gathered around a campfire, dishing up ample ladles of steaming meat and root vegetables. Combine canned or fresh ingredients, such as meat, carrots, potatoes, green beans or other vegetables, with beef broth in a large pot on the campfire. When heating the stew on the fire, add dollops of dumpling batter, made with Bisquick baking mix (see link below for recipe). Let it simmer for about 10 minutes, then cover the pot and allow it to simmer for another 10 minutes. This will thicken the stew's juice while making dumplings.
Use a single pan to make breakfast on the campfire or cook stove, and serve up the meal in large flour tortillas so you will not have any extra dishes to clean after the meal. Cut bacon into bite-sized pieces and place it into a large, hot skillet. As the bacon sizzles, open a can of whole, peeled potatoes. Drain the potatoes and cut them into slices, then add them to the skillet. After the bacon is cooked and the potatoes are crisp, add raw eggs and scramble until cooked. You may need to remove some excess bacon grease before adding the eggs. Top the dish with grated cheese before spooning into the tortillas. If you like it spicy, add onions or peppers to the potatoes or add salsa to the tortilla.
If you plan to cook a meat dish over a campfire or barbeque, prepare your vegetables in the fire, too. Leave corn on the cob in the husk and place it directly on the coals to cook for about 20 minutes, or remove the husks and wrap the ears in foil before placing on the fire. Wrap Idaho potatoes or sweet potatoes in foil and cook on the coals for about 30 minutes. This also works for other vegetables, such as carrots and squash. Cooking time may be longer in higher altitudes.
