Camp Recipes

While Mark sits next to me and acts like a silly fool ("...and here we have April Crocker's Camping French Cuisine!"), I'm going to just smile, nod, and post some recipes. (No, Mark, I'm not going to title this "Camping Recipes for the Zombie Apocalypse". Sorry.)

Using the ingredients I listed yesterday, here's some of our standard camp meals. Note - our mess kit pans all hold 3 cups of liquid, so if you want to make more than the quantity listed and you have a bigger pan, feel free to do the math.


Instant Vegan Mocha
Mark says I should start with this one because it's the easiest. (Also, it's what we start our camping days with, so there's that.)

2 Tbsp soy milk or rice milk powder
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
3 Tbsp sucanat or raw sugar
1 tsp instant coffee
optional - 1/8 tsp vanilla extract (or just use vanilla-flavored non-dairy milk powder)
also optional - dash of salt (Mark says he's done it with and without and hasn't noticed a difference)
1 cup water

Bring water to a boil. While it is heating, mix all dry ingredients in a cup/mug. The better you mix them, the better they dissolve. (Also, the soy milk powder dissolves better than the rice milk powder, though the rice milk is slightly healthier.)

A quick note about instant coffee - The Nescafé instant classico roast is almost as good as Starbuck's Via instant coffee, but not quite. It is, however, less than 1/10 of the price. We've also used an instant espresso (Medaglia d'Oro) that was pretty good - we liked it better than the others. We found it at our local food co-op, and we think we've seen it at some Whole Foods, but it's a bit harder to find than the other two types. Also, because it's espresso, it's technically a better choice for a mocha than plain instant coffee.

Put mixed dry ingredients into the boiling water. (Mark says it works better if you put the dry ingredients into the water instead of pouring the water into the dry ingredients, but it dirties up an extra dish). Mix in vanilla extract (if using) and drink.

Makes 1 cup.


Oatmeal
This is very basic, but I'm going to list it anyway.

1/3 cup quick oats
1 Tbsp soy milk powder
1 Tbsp sucanat or raw sugar
1 cup boiling water
optional - raisins (or other dried fruit), cinnamon, Earth Balance (Earth Balance is good in this, but not so great for bringing on an outdoor camping trip)

In order not to dirty any pans, we mix the dry ingredients together directly in the bowl, add dried fruit if desired, and then add boiling water, stir thoroughly, and let sit for 2 minutes. Add a pat of Earth balance (if using), and eat.


Breakfast Orzo
This dish is a good alternative to oatmeal.

2 cups water
1/2 cup orzo
2 Tbsp soy milk powder
1 Tbsp sucanat or raw sugar
dried fruit (we usually use raisins)
optional - cinnamon, to taste

For best results, bring water to a boil before adding orzo, but to save fuel, pasta can be added first; this reduces the fuel used but results in pasta that isn't cooked quite as well. After bringing to a boil, reduce heat and simmer orzo until done; about 15 minutes. Mix soy milk powder and sugar together and add to orzo. Mix thoroughly, add dried fruit and cinnamon (if using), remove from heat, let cool, and eat.


Chreesy Orzo & TVP
This recipe is a basic starting point, and can be used as is, or livened up with extras, such as broccoli, diced tomatoes/salsa, or whatever else you might have on hand. Note - this recipe is how we make it when we only have one burner and are only using one pan. This dish comes out better if the orzo, TVP, and Chreese sauce are cooked separately, but can be cooked all together if only one burner is available (to prevent one thing from becoming cold before another is cooked) and to dirty fewer dishes.

2 cups water
1/3 cup orzo
1 packet Chreese sauce (we usually use cheddar)
1/4 cup chunky "chicken" TVP
1 Tbsp soy milk powder
salt (to taste)
optional - 1 tsp of oil or Earth Balance (Earth Balance is very good in this, but not so great for bringing on an outdoor camping trip)

Put water and orzo in a pan on the stove and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the TVP and a couple dashes of salt, stirring constantly. Cook for 8-10 minutes. Add the soy milk powder and Chreese sauce, and mix thoroughly. If the TVP is not completely covered with sauce, or if the sauce is too thick, add a bit more water. Add oil or Earth Balance (if you brought it along for the oatmeal), and mix. Continue stirring until the orzo is cooked to your liking (tasting is essential), and add salt to taste.

Makes about 3 cups.


Vegan Chreesy Frito Pie

1/4 cup tiny "beef" TVP
2 cups water
1/4 cup instant refried beans
3/4 cup instant chili mix
1 packet cheddar Chreese sauce
salt and chili powder (to taste)
optional - jalapeño slices or hot sauce
Fritos (or other chips if using as a dip instead of a topping)

Put TVP and water in a pan on the stove and bring to a boil. After 5 minutes, add the chili mix and refried beans. mix thoroughly, and reduce heat to simmer. Add Chreese sauce and mix thoroughly. If mixture is too thick, add water; if it is too thin, add more chili mix. Add salt and chili powder to taste. Add any optional ingredients and serve over Fritos (or use as a dip with other chips).


Other Dishes That Don't Quite Have Recipes

Instant Mashed Potatoes - We usually mix a packet of instant mashed potatoes with a packet of cheddar Chreese sauce, a packet of vegan gravy mix (both Golden and Brown varieties are good), 1 Tbsp of soy milk powder, and garlic salt and pepper. These are also better with Earth Balance, though (as mentioned above) it's not very travel-friendly. We've also added tiny "beef" TVP to the mashed potatoes (which needs to be cooked first), but vegan "bacon" bits also work really well.

*Note about TVP - TVP works best if cooked separately from the other ingredients and then mixed in. When cooking the chunky "chicken" TVP, we usually add liberal amounts of salt or garlic salt to add flavor. When cooking the tiny "beef" TVP, we add Braggs or soy sauce and salt in the boiling water to add flavor.

Italian Orzo & Sausage - This is usually one of our 'first night' dishes, since the sausage doesn't last long unrefrigerated. We cook some orzo (which just needs boiling water and a little salt) and add marinara sauce. We then slice some Tofurky tomato & basil sausages in half lengthwise, grill them in the pan, chop up two of them to use in the orzo dish, and save the other two for sandwiches the next day.

*Note about orzo - Orzo packs much better than long pasta (like spaghetti), and cooks much more quickly than rice. It also mixes better with powdered sauce than pasta shells, which can collect the undissolved powder.

Hummus - The hummus mix that we buy in bulk is quite bland on its own, so we have played around with various additives to try to try to improve the taste. Unfortunately, I don't remember exactly what I've done that's turn out great, but I do know that we've added curry powder, chili powder and/or cayenne, a lot of garlic salt, and oil. The right chips will also make a big difference here; my favorite is the Food Should Taste Good brand sweet potato chips.

Heat & Eat Indian Meals - We've tried several different brands, though Tasty Bite seems to have the best variety and is the easiest to find. We can cook two or three of these packets in one of the mess kit pans on the stove; in order to heat them all the way through, they need to be rotated and juggled a bit in the boiling water. Our best result came from having another pan to put on top of the packets, which trapped the heat and kept the tops of the packets from cooling off as the bottoms cooked. Tasty Bite also makes packaged heat & eat rice, which cooks quicker than regular rice but is much more expensive and has more packaging.

Camping Pans & Basic Food Items

Yesterday, I talked about the different stoves Mark and I use while camping. Today, I'm going to touch on the different cookware we use, and also list some of our camping "pantry" staples.

We use French army aluminum mess kits as our cooking pans. Mark would *love* to find steel pans that are configured as well as these are, but they don't seem to exist. The one that we've found isn't configured quite as well, and it's *way* expensive. Titanium, which is nice and light, is unfortunately not as good at conducting heat evenly - it actually conducts it too well, so you get hot spots. Thin steel pans also can have hot spots, but nowhere near as bad as titanium; Mark has seen some titanium pans that are literally glowing where the flame is hitting, but are cold on the edges. Cast iron is great for cooking, but is heavy and doesn't pack well. Teflon coated pans should never be used for high heat or camp fire coals - they can produce toxic chemicals and will degrade.

The mess kits consist of three pans that nest together like Russian dolls. They're also some of the few mess kits that are rectangular instead of round, and so are much better for packing (for us, anyway). Besides cooking, two pans can fit together and form a container for sandwiches and such. Mark has also made a couple of lids for the pans which nest in with everything else.

And now, for what you've all been waiting - the food! Since we usually don't have refrigeration or ice, we stock up on things that are shelf stable. Our typical stash consists of things like -

From the bulk section of our local co-op -
*quick oats
*orzo
*instant refried beans
*chili mix
*TVP (both "chicken" and "beef" / tiny and chunky varieties)
*hummus mix
*dried fruit (usually raisins, but sometimes also cranberries, dates, or blueberries)
*Braggs liquid aminos
*canola oil
*sucanat or raw sugar
*mixed nuts

From the rest of the store -
*peanut butter (I love the Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams)
*jelly (this is a bit on the dicey side, since it can spoil after opening, but we've been lucky so far, other than one time when it leaked all over the inside of our cooler)
*bread
*chips (usually tortilla or Fritos - these go well with the chili)
*Chreese sauce (this goes well with just about everything)
*vegan gravy mix (in packets)
*instant mashed potatoes
*soy milk or rice milk powder (we get the Better Than Milk brand - 2 tbsp make 8 oz of milk)
*cocoa
*instant coffee
*spices (we have a multi-spice shaker with salt, pepper, cayenne, curry, paprika, and garlic salt, and we also bring cinnamon and chili powder)
*heat & eat packaged Indian food
*ramen noodles or other instant noodle dishes
*marinara sauce
*snack/meal bars (usually Cliff and/or Luna, but ProBar and Halo have some very tasty options as well)

If we're camping when it's cool outside, or for shorter periods of time, we will occasionally bring fresh fruit and/or veggies to add to meals or for snacks. Refrigerated meat analogs (like the Tofurky sun-dried tomato and basil sausages) are wonderful additions to meals, but we have to use them on the first day. Though we try to stay away from canned food, we have used canned veggies, canned soup, and canned dolmas in the past to round things out.

Tomorrow, I'll post some of our basic recipes using the ingredients above. If you have suggestions for great camp food staples, let me know in the comments!

Camping Stoves - Pros & Cons

Happy Vegan MoFo, everyone! Last year, I unofficially participated (I was a day or two too late in my registration, so I wasn't including in the blog roll), and I blogged every day except the first day (though I made two posts the next day to make up for it). This year, I'm *officially* participating (my, but I feel so important and stuff!), and I've made a promise to myself to blog every day, even if it's something short and simple.

For my first posts, I've decided to focus specifically on vegan camping. My boyfriend/musical partner, Mark, and I are a little over halfway through our contracted run at the Kansas City Renaissance Faire, and we're camping there every Saturday night. This time, we were lucky enough to be able to stay on the top floor of a friend's booth, so we've actually got electricity and even a small refrigerator! *gasp* However, most of the time, our faire camping consists of just a tent. Since faires go for a weekend, and we're usually camping for Friday-Sunday nights (and there's not really any place to get ice), our camp foods include things that need no refrigeration. For our trip to Pennsic (an SCA event in Pennsylvania), we brought a big bag of grapes, but ended up having to throw part of them out after they molded after a couple of days.

As far as cooking goes, Mark has four of camp stoves that he likes using. They're all pretty compact, which is useful when one is trying to fit a lot of stuff in a fairly small car (I've got a Chevy Aveo). The first stove is a single burner that screws on to the top of a propane canister. Since our lantern uses propane as well, this is convenient. The next stove uses esbit tablets, which are supposed be non-toxic. However, you have to use an entire tablet once you light it, so some of it may be wasted if you're only cooking a small amount (for example, it's not good for heating just one cup of water). This stove is also the smallest, and is always in Mark's kit - we mainly use it when we run out of propane or when we're "cooking on the go"; it's the easiest to take with us to places other than our campsite. The third stove is a bit bigger, but has two burners (useful for cooking two things at a time) and runs on multiple types of fuel (mainly camp gas). The fourth stove is kind of neat - it has a catalytic heating element instead of an open flame, and can also be configured to act as a stool, a lamp, a tire chock, an emergency reflector, or a heater. It's supposed to be able to be used as a shovel, but no one has ever figured out how (to our knowledge). Unfortunately, the company that produced this stove has since got out of business. This stove runs off of isobutane mixtures (which are expensive), and doesn't get as hot as the other three.

Mark says he'd like to start using a solar oven, which is very eco-friendly, and can get very hot. The downsides are that it's much bigger, takes up more space, and has to be used in direct sunlight (so it's not so great for cooking at night, obviously!)

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at some of our favorite camping "pantry" staples, as well as cookware. Do you have a favorite camping stove? Let me know in the comments!

Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes & Breakfast "Sausage"

A while back, I bought some Bob's Red Mill gluten-free baking mix and have been using it for all sorts of things. My favorite, so far, has been pancakes. (Strangely enough, one of the intended uses for the mix is biscuits, and I haven't made those at all. I think I'm a little afraid to!)

Today, I decided to make some pancakes for lunch today, and the bf made some breakfast "sausage" with "beef" TVP (that's Textured Vegetable Protein, for those that don't know), vegan chili mix, onions, garlic, Braggs, and liquid smoke. He mixed it all together and fried it in a little bit of canola oil until he decided it was done. Upon tasting it, he decided that the "sausage" had too strong of a flavor on its own, but that it tasted great wrapped in a pancake with a bit of melted Earth Balance.

I've never been one for savory pancakes (I ate most of mine with some lavender syrup, and I've been regularly known to eat them with 100% fruit jelly), but I decided to give this whole "faux pig in a blanket" thing a go.

It was surprisingly tasty.

So much so that I ended up eating *two* of my precious pancakes topped with "sausage".

Granted, it was very nice to eat the rest of them with the lavender syrup, but those sausage pancakes were an unexpectedly awesome way to start off lunch.

(Unfortunately, I was too hungry to take pictures. I'd say "bad blogger, no biscuit", but you already know that I'm not making biscuits. Scared to, you might say.)

Vegan Spotlight on Pennsic and Vegan Camping Food

Remember me saying that I travel a lot, since I'm a musician? Well, I just got back from Pennsic (an SCA event in Slippery Rock, PA), and though I bought very little food while I was there (we packed more than enough food for the entire run), I wanted to mention that Rose's Bread Boule (in the Pennsic food court) has vegan chili and vegan stew in bread bowls (I had the vegan stew last year, and it was very good), Pennsic Produce (also in the food court) has lots of fresh veggies and fruits, including a chopped raw veggie mix in their cooler, and Your Inner Vagabond (at the end of the isle with Calontir Trim, next to the Market Stage) has lots of coffee and non-coffee drinks which are vegan as-is or can be made with soymilk, as well as several vegan food options (all of which are marked V on the menu), such as dolmas, baba ganouj, tabouli, and a couple of sweet deserts.

Mark (my boyfriend/musical partner) and I performed inside Your Inner Vagabond (and got a great response), and decided to order a coffee drink (one with iced coffee, soy milk, and pearls like you get in bubble tea). We went to the counter and ordered it, but when the gal found out that we wanted it for there instead of to go, she gave us a menu and told us to sit down. I thought perhaps she was giving us the chance to figure out what food we might want to order to go along with the drink, but about 30 minutes later, when the drink never came out (and no one came over to us to take our order), we finally gave up and left. The drink sounded like it would be delicious; I'll just have to try again next year.

Since Mark and I were trying to conserve money, we did a couple of shopping trips at Wheatsville Co-Op to prepare our camping food. We bought two jars of Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter for sandwiches, two boxes of Clif Bars (for future reference, I like the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut bars, and am not nearly as fond of the Oatmeal Rasin or Crunchy Peanut Butter), several packets of Tasty Bite vegan Indian food, and some containers of food from the bulk section - rice, orzo, TVP (both "chicken" and "beef"), chili mix, and refried beans mix. We also bought a few packets of Chreese sauce and a box of instant mashed potatoes. Along with our soy milk powder, oil, and spices, we were able to make some decent dinners - "cheesy" orzo and TVP, "cheesy" mashed potatoes, and bean/chili mix with rice. For dinner the first night, we had thin rice noodles (donated by one of my friends who was cleaning out her pantry before moving), pasta sauce, and sliced Sweet Italian with Tomato and Basil sausages by Tofurky. Since that meal only used two of the four sausages, we sliced the other two length-wise and had them on sandwiches for lunch the next day. Another dinner was made with the rice noodles, pasta sauce, canned sliced mushrooms, and a yellow squash that we bought from the produce section. We also bought a couple cans of Amy's vegan soups, a can of green beans, a can of organic peas, and a can of vegan dolmas to round things out. For breakfast, we had either oatmeal (also bought from the bulk isle) or breakfast rice or orzo (rice or orzo with soymilk, raisins, and a little raw sugar). The one thing that we were missing was bread - we were worried that the regular bread I get (with very little or no preservatives) wouldn't travel well - so we bought a bag of potato bread from the Cooper's General Store at Pennsic (which happened to be vegan - yay!) Speaking of the General Store - they also have frozen strawberry bars (which seem to be relatively healthy) for about $1.30 or so. These are *wonderful* when the weather is hot outside!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Car Cookies

Even after I made the chocolate chip cookies a few weeks ago, Mark was still craving cookies today. Since last Sunday was his birthday, I decided to indulge him while also trying out this awesome technique for baking cookies in one's car. I figure it's a win-win - we get cookies, and I can take advantage of our 102º F sunny weather *and* not heat up my apartment by using my oven!

Since I only had 1 cup of flour left in the house (and practically no oil), I wanted to find a cookie recipe that called for a nice round number of cups of flour. I chose Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies from VegWeb, and halved the entire thing. Instead of chocolate chips, I used the last remaining 2/3 of a puck of Ibarra Mexican drinking chocolate. This also gave me the opportunity to dance into the living room where Mark was working and proclaim "Stop! Hammer Time!" after I'd borrowed his hammer to smash the chocolate. (Yes, I'm a geek. What gave me away?)



After halving the recipe, I ended up with 9 cookies. I figure this is ok - if the experiment doesn't work, then we haven't wasted too much, and if it's even a partial success, then we've got 9 cookies!



I put the cookies into the car around 3 pm. At 4:30, my car was in full shade (the only time I've ever regretted getting the Good Parking Spot (tm)!), so I moved it to a bank of spots diagonal from my apartment, which meant that the sun was coming in the side instead of the front. I moved the cookie sheet from the passenger's side dash to right in the center, balanced on top of the clock console so that it was getting full sun again.



As you can see, the cookies had flattened out a bit at this point. I left them in the car until about 7:15 pm, and then brought them inside.



The tops of the cookies were done - solid and just slightly crispy. The bottoms weren't really all that done, and one or two cookies lost the middle part of their bottoms when I picked them up off the cookie sheet. (This wasn't the end of the world; I just scooped up the middles and stuck them back where they belonged.)

The verdict? These cookies were actually pretty tasty - soft yet slightly crunchy on the tops. Next time I make them, I'll make sure to put them in the car earlier in the day so that they'll have more time in direct sunlight (and it'll be hotter for longer). All in all, I'm calling this one a win!

RECIPE REVIEW - Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Earlier today, my boyfriend Mark expressed a desire for chocolate chip cookies.

Now, I'm not really a cookie person. I'm a big fan of vegan baked goods - I make great pies, cupcakes, and have even tried my hand at scones. However, every time I've tried making cookies in the past, I've ended up with badly burned crunchy pucks or under-baked blobs.

However, I love my boyfriend (and I was also craving something chocolate-y and sweet), so I started leafing through my cookbooks in search of that elusive Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie That Even April Can't Mess Up (tm). I finally decided on "Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies" from page 137 of "How It All Vegan" by Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer. I was a bit dubious about using 1/2 a cup of Earth Balance and 1/2 a cup of oil, so I opted to use only 1/4 a cup of oil and use 1/4 a cup of water to make up the difference in liquids. Also, I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I used the same thing I did when I made my chocolate chip scones - two pucks of Ibarra Mexican drinking chocolate, put into a ziploc bag and smashed with a hammer. (Take that, chocolate!) After mixing everything, the batter was *really* crumbly and didn't want to hold together well. I used a couple of spoons to transfer it to the cookie sheet and smush it into vague cookie-like shapes. Even with the reduction in oil, I was worried they'd be too oily, since they were leaving quite the film on my silicone baking mat. However, after baking and cooling, the cookies developed a decent texture and tasted pretty good.



I think next time I'll replace the 1/4 cup water with non-dairy milk of some sort (coconut or almond, most likely), and perhaps add just a tiny bit more liquid overall. But hey - yay, cookies!