Recipes - cooking with limited resources

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duckmoon, Feb 12, 7:48am
Right.
We are heading camping. Which we have done a couple of times, but only when we have had food provided.

This time we will be cooking for ourselves.
With limited cooking equipment

We will have a power site, and have a
Frying pan and
Hot water.

So, what dishes meet this(limited) cooking equipment!

duckmoon, Feb 12, 7:49am
Stir fry
Mince - with baked beans or chickpeas or couches
Sausages in bread
Hamburgers.

Any other ideas

245sam, Feb 12, 7:56am
duckmoon, the following is a recipe that even now in our well-appointed caravan we use as a fall-back option because apart from potatoes and onions it uses always on hand 'store cupboard' items but it has served us well for many years when tenting.

This recipe, from the Children's page of our daily newpaper of the time (many years ago) is a great option for camping, especially if there is limited or no available refrigeration and/or no shops nearby - it's a one-pot meal so it also keeps the washing up to a minimum.

OUTDOORS STEW
potatoes – the number required dependent on size and the number of people to be served
water
1-2 onions, chopped
1 or 2 x 440g can(s) baked beans
1 x 340g can corned beef, trimmed of any fat and cut into chunky pieces

Peel the potatoes and cut them into even-sized chunky pieces. Put the potatoes on to cook in water to just cover them, then chop the onion(s) into chunky pieces and add them to the potatoes. Boil until the potatoes are just half cooked, then pour off most of the water. To the almost cooked potatoes and onions add the baked beans and the corned beef. Allow the mixture to bubble gently for 10 minutes, then serve - we have always liked it best when sprinkled with grated cheese and topped with a dollop of tomato sauce but the dish is great without any extras.

Tortillas are a great option to have on hand for both lunches and dinners. Wraps, using the tortillas, make such easy lunches if you have items such as hummus or dip, cooked meats, canned fish (tuna, salmon, etc.), salad greens, tomatoes, beetroot, cucumber, cheese, eggs.

Do you have a portable barbecue that you can take!If you do have a barbecue it makes all meals so easy for not only meat and vegetables but also things such as pancakes/pikelets, griddle scones, French toast - a nice and filling lunch can be French Toasted Sandwiches,cooked on the barbecue.

Hope that helps.Have fun and enjoy - it can be fun having to 'make do' with less or limited mod cons.:-))

uli, Feb 12, 7:58am
If you have a power site then you have power - right!

So you can plug in an electric cook top with two elements - that will cost you about $40 to buy and you can cook absolutely everything you could cook at home.

No problems at all!

duckmoon, Feb 12, 7:58am
Don't have a BBQ to take.
But the ideas you list can all be done in the frying pan.
I am now pleased I got a large rectangular one (rather than the smaller square one )

nauru, Feb 12, 8:05am
We have one of those small gas stoves we use for picnics etc.They are quite cheap around $24,

nauru, Feb 12, 8:16am
We have one of those small fold away gas stoves we take along on hols., also use for picnics etc.They are quite cheap around $24, the gas canisters are about $4 each. Gives you another option for cooking.
Boil in the bag rice and make a quick curry in your FP using a cook in sauce.
Any one pot meals with pasta, rice and a few veges thrown in will be easy enough with your frypan, cook in the pot sauces are good for these.Couscous only needs boiling water and some herbs etc & standing time to have with stews or curry type meals. There are heaps of recipes on the net for one pot meals.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/occasions/camping/

wendalls, Feb 12, 9:30am
Well we thought we had a power site camping this year but turned out we needed special camping extension RCD cord. I thought our normal outdoors cord would do the trick. Ended up using my sisters fridge and their bbq for the whole week.

bcnd, Feb 12, 10:22am
Take your toastie sandwich maker if you have one. You could make a 2minute noodle fritta kind of meal. Pancakes. Cook mince or chicken & make wraps!

cgvl, Feb 12, 10:34am
duckmoon. anything you can cook in a pot will be fine int he pan.
a couple of tips,
1) if you have room pop your chilly bin in your freezer several days before you go.
2) make up meals at home first and freeze.
Some of the meals we have.
night/day 1) a bacon and egg pie or quiche that can be eaten cold.
then sausages, steak, rice rissotto, pasta (can be the sort in a packet you just add milk and water to). Chicken tenders or strips.
I make a mix up or dry ingredients for scones (do them in the frypan)
Same for piklets/pancakes.
We tend to eat burgers, wraps and sausage in bread when camping. I hate cooking vegies. A good standby that I do take is a couple of tins of stew, not my favourite but great for a quick meal.

make a list and pack everything into a box and label, all perishables into the chilly bin.
I have several box's just for camping and they remain well stocked so all I have to do is check and grab.
Love camping going soon also.

pickles7, Feb 12, 6:52pm
I see you have a powered site, use the camp kitchen, they have ovens, hobs, fridges etc.probably a dish washer two or more.

claudds, Feb 12, 9:05pm
myfamilyusedtogocampingwentheywereveryyoung. weused
thecampkitchenforcooking. frigforpersiablefoodmake sureitis
labeld. agreewithpicklesyoucanhaveamorerelaxingholiday
andmeetsomeverypeople.mostofthetimewewereinatent.
dadandmumandtwosmallchildren,thatswhatholidaysarefor.

sunnysue1, Feb 12, 9:34pm
Camp kitchens are wonderful.not just for cooking but to meet others. Find out what they have been doing and then heading off to visit the places others have suggested. Many great spots are discovered in camp kitchens!
Also you can see what others are having and put on your list for next yr! Lol

mumstu, Feb 12, 11:33pm
What about taking the crock pot!

cgvl, Feb 12, 11:49pm
might depend on where going not all camps have a kitchen the one we go to doesn't. We have a powered site and hot and cold water but no cooking facilities, so have to take all with us.
like the crockpot idea, the frypan is good. A single burner gas stove is great, can then take a pot/billy.
We are close to Glampers, take heaps of stuff. For a powered site we take a small bar fridge, along with our 2 cookers, a 3/4 bed (getting too old and stiff to roll out of the airbed). 2 comfy chairs, several tables of differing sizes and the chilly bin (well frozen for the beer). The extra's we take for a non powered site include a shower tent and firewood for the wood bbq's. We leave the bar fridge behind.
have 2 great camping spots both DOC type camps so only very basic amenities, one has power the other doesn't, one is also donation for fees.

duckmoon, Feb 13, 12:07am
Space is an issue, I am tempted to take the crock pot,rice cooker, and the microwave

But think it has stopped being camping if I do.

uli, Feb 13, 3:10am
Amazing - when I went camping I made a fire and had a few stones to prop up the pots and frypan. Nowadays people cannot cook even if they have electricity and a fridge . the mind boggles.

I always thought of NZ as the frontier country - but that generation has already expired by the looks of it.

kay141, Feb 13, 3:20am
Fires are banned in a many areas of this country at this time of year. The fire hazard is extemely high, maybe not in your area but certainly in the places I have been lately.

uli, Feb 13, 3:28am
We have a complete fireban.
So I wouldn't light any fires.

However that was not the question.
The question was how to cope with just an electrified campsite . my answer to that is in post#4.

The above post just made clear how far we have come from the pioneers that made NZ what it is today and that is only a hundred years or a bit more ago - or 4 generations back . very amazing to my thinking. How fast we can lose knowledge. How long will it take to get it back I wonder!

kay141, Feb 13, 3:40am
uli wrote:
We have a complete fireban.
So I wouldn't light any fires.

However that was not the question.
The question was how to cope with just an electrified campsite . my answer to that is in post#4.

Exactly, so why bring up what you used to do! It has no bearing on the original question.

pickles7, Feb 13, 4:24am
dose your post!

uli, Feb 13, 4:29am
Kay - please re-read your post:

I said: "The question was how to cope with just an electrified campsite . my answer to that is in post#4."

You answered: "Exactly, so why bring up what you used to do! It has no bearing on the original question."

The original question was: "We will have a power site, and have a Frying pan and Hot water."

My answer at post#4 was: "If you have a power site then you have power - right! So you can plug in an electric cook top with two elements - that will cost you about $40 to buy and you can cook absolutely everything you could cook at home."

I think you need to go and have some animal fats to get those brain cell synapses working again :)

pickles7, Feb 13, 4:32am
You may find even BBQ's are baned in some areas. We are tinder dry here in Hawkes Bay. You may need to look at an electric fry pan, maybe two.

uli, Feb 13, 4:33am
Up here it is only gas BBQ's now - which I do not consider REAL BBQ's - may as well cook in a fry pan for all the flavour they impart LOL :)

kay141, Feb 13, 4:35am
Animal fats! Why would you say that! You really have no idea what I do or don't eat.

My comment related to your bringing up what you used to do which was irrelevant.