Tag: camping

First-Night Shrimp Tacos From the Cooler

Three shrimp tacos on an enamel camp plate with a bowl of cabbage slaw beside them in an enamel camp plate on a wooden picnic table.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 40 grams of protein in three tacos, from shrimp, with a bowl of cabbage slaw on the table that nobody is asked to eat.
  • Corn tortillas and cabbage bring about 7 grams of fiber, and shrimp brings iodine, selenium, and vitamin B12.
  • The trade-off: shrimp and corn tortillas carry some salt, and the card shows the amount; frozen shrimp is a cooler food, so this is the first night’s dinner rather than the third’s.

A bag of frozen shrimp goes into the cooler at home and is thawed by the time the tent is up. Patted dry, tossed with cumin, chili powder, and a little oil, and seared in a skillet on the camp stove for three minutes, then finished with lime.

Corn tortillas warm in the same pan. A slaw of shredded cabbage, lime, and a pinch of salt goes on the table in its own bowl, next to the tortillas and the shrimp, where everyone can see it.

Why These Tacos Are Great for a Child Who Will Not Eat the Green Thing

Picky eating changes through repeated exposure, and it changes very slowly. A new food usually has to appear on the table, visibly, eight to fifteen times before a child will taste it. Pressure of any kind, bargaining, praise, one-bite rules, slows the process down or reverses it.

A vegetable that shows up in its own bowl at every taco night, with no comment, gets eaten eventually. A vegetable that is hidden, pushed, or negotiated does not.

The Tenth Taco Night

Camp dinners are a good place for this, because the same meal repeats and the mood is easy. The cabbage slaw goes on the table beside the tacos, the adults take it, the child builds tacos with only shrimp, and nobody says a word.

By the tenth taco night, at camp or at home, a shred of cabbage ends up in a taco, and the tenth night is the point. In the meantime, the shrimp alone carries about 40 grams of protein in three tacos, so the dinner is complete whatever the child decides.

How to feed a picky child and an adult from the same pot without cooking twice is in One Dish, Two Plates: Feeding Adults and Children From the Same Recipe.

Three shrimp tacos on an enamel camp plate with a bowl of cabbage slaw beside them in an enamel camp plate on a wooden picnic table.
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First-Night Shrimp Tacos From the Cooler

Frozen shrimp thawed in the cooler on the drive, tossed with cumin, chili powder, and oil, seared three minutes on a camp stove, and finished with lime, in warm corn tortillas with a cabbage-lime slaw set out in its own bowl. Four plates of three tacos with about 40 grams of protein each; the slaw goes on the table every taco night, and the child decides.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Keyword: cabbage slaw tacos, camping shrimp tacos, cooler dinner, family camp meal, first night camping dinner, picky eater dinner, shrimp tacos
Servings: 4 plate (3 tacos with slaw)
Calories: 356kcal

Equipment

  • Camp stove or grate
  • 10- or 12-inch skillet
  • Cooler with ice
  • Tongs and a bowl for the slaw

Ingredients

Shrimp

  • 1 1/2 pounds frozen raw shrimp peeled and deveined, packed frozen in the cooler
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 lime half for the shrimp and half for the slaw

Slaw and tacos

  • 4 cups shredded green cabbage (about 1/2 small head shredded at home and bagged)
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • a pinch of salt
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • hot sauce and plain Greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)

Instructions

  • At home: bag the shrimp frozen, shred and bag the cabbage, and mix the cumin, chili powder, and salt in a small container. Pack all of it in the cooler with ice; the shrimp thaws over a day's drive.
  • At camp, toss the cabbage with the lime juice and a pinch of salt in a bowl and set it on the table.
  • Pat the thawed shrimp dry. Toss with the oil and the spice mix. Heat the skillet over the camp stove on high until hot, add the shrimp in a single layer, and cook 90 seconds a side until pink and curled. Squeeze the lime over. Tip into a bowl.
  • Warm the tortillas in the empty skillet, 20 seconds a side, and stack them in a towel.
  • Everyone builds their own: 3 tortillas, shrimp, and slaw from the bowl for those who want it. Nobody is asked to take the slaw.

Notes

For picky eaters: the slaw goes on the table in its own bowl at every taco night, with no comment, no bargaining, and no one-bite rule; the research says visible, pressure-free exposure, repeated eight to fifteen times, is what changes what a child eats. Frozen shrimp are safe thawed in a cooler that stays cold, about 40 degrees F, and should be cooked the first night. Cabbage keeps a week in a cooler where lettuce would not. Lower-sodium version: skip the salt on the shrimp; the lime carries it. Frozen fish fillets, cut in strips, work the same way with about 4 grams less protein a plate.

Nutrition

Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 6.7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 452mg | Potassium: 743mg | Fiber: 6.7g | Sugar: 3.1g | Calcium: 207mg | Iron: 2.8mg | Magnesium: 125mg | Phosphorus: 616mg | Choline: 18mg

Gluten Free

Shrimp, corn tortillas, cabbage, lime, and the spices are naturally free of gluten. For people with celiac disease, check the corn tortillas for a gluten-free label, since some are made on lines shared with flour tortillas. Check the chili powder and cumin for wheat flour used as a filler. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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Campfire Breakfast Scramble With Pinto Beans and Cheddar

A cast-iron skillet of campfire scrambled eggs with pinto beans, broccoli, and melted cheddar in a plain black cast-iron skillet with no lettering or brand marks on it.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 27 grams of protein and 380 milligrams of calcium in one plate, from eggs, cheddar, and pinto beans, cooked in one skillet over a fire.
  • Pinto beans and broccoli bring about 9 grams of fiber, and the beans and cheese carry more calcium than most people expect from a breakfast with no milk in it.
  • The trade-off: cheddar is the salty and saturated-fat part of this plate, kept to an ounce a person. The card shows the figures, and the notes show how to lower both.

A cast-iron skillet goes on the grate over the coals. A bag of frozen broccoli that thawed overnight in the cooler cooks until it browns, and a can of pinto beans is stirred in to warm. Eight eggs are poured over and scrambled until they are firm and dry.

A handful of cheddar goes on top and melts under a lid for a minute.

It is served from the skillet with warm corn tortillas and a jar of salsa, and it feeds four teenagers, or two teenagers and two adults, in fifteen minutes from a cold fire.

Why This Scramble Is Great for Teenage Bones

Almost half of a person’s adult bone is laid down between about 11 and 18, and the bone built in those years is the bone a person has at 60. Building it takes calcium and protein together. That falls in the years when many teenagers have stopped drinking milk, eat breakfast standing up if at all, and would not touch a glass of anything for their bones.

The way through is to put the calcium and protein into food they already want. Cheese on eggs is that food. An ounce of cheddar, a can of beans, and two eggs a person put about 27 grams of protein and 380 milligrams of calcium on a camp plate.

No one at the fire has to be told it is for their bones, and a second helping, which teenagers take on their own, doubles it.

How to feed adults and teenagers from one pot, and what each age needs more of, is in One Dish, Two Plates: Feeding Adults and Children From the Same Recipe.

A cast-iron skillet of campfire scrambled eggs with pinto beans, broccoli, and melted cheddar in a plain black cast-iron skillet with no lettering or brand marks on it.
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Campfire Breakfast Scramble With Pinto Beans and Cheddar

Frozen broccoli browned in a cast-iron skillet over the coals, a can of pinto beans warmed through, eight eggs scrambled firm over both, and cheddar melted on top under a lid. Served from the pan with corn tortillas and salsa; four plates, about 27 grams of protein and 380 milligrams of calcium each.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Course: Breakfast, dinner
Cuisine: American, Tex-Mex
Keyword: campfire breakfast, camping breakfast scramble, cast iron breakfast, eggs and beans, high calcium breakfast, one skillet breakfast, teen breakfast
Servings: 4 plate (about 1 1/2 cups with 2 tortillas)
Calories: 471kcal

Equipment

  • 10- or 12-inch cast-iron skillet with a lid
  • Campfire grate or camp stove
  • Heat-proof glove or long tongs

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
  • 1 bag (12 ounces) frozen broccoli florets thawed in the cooler overnight and drained
  • 1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium pinto beans rinsed and drained
  • 8 large eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
  • 4 ounces sharp cheddar shredded (about 1 cup)
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • 1/4 cup salsa plus more at the table
  • hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

  • Set the skillet on the grate over medium coals, or on a camp stove over medium heat, and let it heat 2 minutes. Add the oil, then the broccoli, and cook, stirring now and then, until hot and browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Chop any large florets with the spatula.
  • Stir in the beans and cumin and cook 2 minutes to warm through.
  • Beat the eggs with the pepper in a bowl or a jar with a lid. Pour over the pan and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom, until the eggs are fully set with no wet spots, 3 to 4 minutes. Pull the pan to the cooler side of the grate if it is cooking too fast.
  • Scatter the cheddar over the top, cover with the lid, and leave 1 minute to melt.
  • Warm the tortillas on the grate 20 seconds a side. Serve from the skillet with tortillas, salsa, and hot sauce.

Notes

At home, the same recipe works on a stove over medium heat in the same time. Lower-sodium, lower-fat version: use 2 ounces of cheese and no-salt-added beans, which cuts the sodium by about a third and the saturated fat by half; the calcium drops by about 150 milligrams. Canned beans are convenient; a pound of dried pinto beans cooked ahead at home and frozen in 1 3/4-cup portions travels well in the cooler and skips the can. Black beans work in place of pinto. For a bigger crowd, a second can of beans and four more eggs in a 12-inch skillet.

Nutrition

Calories: 471kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9.3g | Sodium: 567mg | Potassium: 651mg | Fiber: 8.8g | Sugar: 3.3g | Calcium: 380mg | Iron: 4.3mg | Magnesium: 94mg | Phosphorus: 584mg | Choline: 333mg

Gluten Free

Eggs, beans, broccoli, cheddar, salsa, and corn tortillas are naturally free of gluten. For people with celiac disease, check the canned beans for wheat-based thickeners, the salsa for malt vinegar, and shredded cheddar for wheat-based anti-caking starch. Corn tortillas need a gluten-free label, since some are made on lines shared with flour tortillas. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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Dutch-Oven Pork and Mushroom Stew Over the Fire

A camp Dutch oven of pork and mushroom stew with an enamel bowl beside it in the pan.

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 42 grams of protein in one bowl, from lean pork and white beans.
  • Mushrooms, carrots, and beans bring about 6 grams of fiber, and there is no potato or bread padding the pot, so the bowl is large for its 374 calories.
  • The trade-off: canned beans and broth make this a moderately salty stew even with low-sodium versions. The card shows the amount, and the notes show how to lower it.

Pork tenderloin cut in cubes and browned hard in a camp Dutch oven, then onion, a pound of white mushrooms, carrots, garlic, thyme, a can of white beans, and low-sodium broth. The lid goes on with coals on top. Forty-five minutes later the pork is tender, the mushrooms have given up their juice, and the broth has thickened toward gravy.

A squeeze of lemon and black pepper finish it.

The pork rides frozen in the cooler and acts as its own ice pack; everything else is a can, a bag, or a vegetable that does not care about the cold. The same pot cooks on a stove at home in the same time.

Why This Stew Is Great for Losing Weight After 40 Without Losing Strength

After 40, weight lost without enough protein comes partly from muscle, and that muscle rarely returns on its own when the weight loss stops. People who have lost weight several times over the years often feel weaker each time for this reason, and the weight is easier to regain, because less muscle means fewer calories burned at rest.

The protection is protein at every meal while the weight is coming off, in an amount large enough that the body has no reason to take it from muscle.

This stew is built for that. A bowl carries about 42 grams of protein, most of it from pork tenderloin, which is as lean as chicken breast and stays tender in a long simmer. The white beans add more protein and the fiber that makes the bowl filling, and the mushrooms add bulk and flavor for almost no calories.

There is no potato, because on a night when the goal is protein first, the potato is the part that pads the bowl.

How much protein a meal needs after 40, and why the size of each meal’s dose matters more than the daily total, is in How Much Protein in One Meal Builds Muscle After 40.

A camp Dutch oven of pork and mushroom stew with an enamel bowl beside it in the pan.
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Dutch-Oven Pork and Mushroom Stew Over the Fire

Cubed pork tenderloin browned in a camp Dutch oven, simmered over coals with a pound of mushrooms, onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, white beans, and low-sodium broth, finished with lemon. About 40 grams of protein a bowl, no potatoes.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time55 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American
Keyword: campfire dinner, camping stew, dutch oven pork stew, high protein camping recipe, one pot camping meal, pork and mushroom stew
Servings: 4 bowl (about 2 cups)
Calories: 374kcal

Equipment

  • 10-inch or 12-inch camp Dutch oven with lid
  • Lid lifter
  • Heat-resistant gloves
  • Can opener

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds pork tenderloin cut in 1-inch cubes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 1 pound white mushrooms quartered
  • 3 medium carrots cut in 1/2-inch pieces
  • 4 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 can (15 ounces) low-sodium white beans rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 lemon cut in wedges
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Instructions

  • Light about 24 charcoal briquettes or build a bed of coals. Set the Dutch oven over a ring of about 14 coals and heat the oil until it shimmers.
  • Season the pork with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Brown it in two batches without crowding, about 3 minutes a batch, and move it to a plate.
  • Add the onion and mushrooms and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the carrots, garlic, and thyme and stir 1 minute.
  • Return the pork with its juices. Add the beans and broth. Put the lid on, move about 8 coals to the lid, and simmer 40 to 45 minutes, until the pork is tender and the broth has thickened, lifting the lid once to stir.
  • Take the pot off the coals. Taste for salt. Serve in bowls with a squeeze of lemon and parsley on top.

Notes

Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added beans and unsalted broth and skip the added salt; the lemon and thyme carry the flavor. Freeze the cubed, seasoned pork in a bag before the trip and let it act as the cooler’s ice pack; it thaws in a day. At home, the same pot cooks on the stove over medium-low heat in about 45 minutes. Chicken thighs, cubed, work in place of pork. Leftovers keep 4 days cold.

Nutrition

Calories: 374kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2.3g | Sodium: 665mg | Potassium: 1560mg | Fiber: 6.4g | Sugar: 6.6g | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 4.9mg | Magnesium: 95mg | Phosphorus: 577mg | Choline: 146mg

Gluten Free

Pork, mushrooms, onion, carrots, beans, thyme, and lemon are naturally free of gluten, and the stew is thickened by the beans and mushrooms rather than flour. For people with celiac disease, the broth is the ingredient to check: choose one labeled gluten-free, since some broths and bouillon list wheat or barley-derived flavorings, and check the canned beans for wheat-based thickeners.

Use a Dutch oven that has been scrubbed since it last held biscuits or breaded food. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any broth.

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Dutch-Oven Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew Over the Fire

Nutrition Snapshot

  • About 21 grams of protein and 8 milligrams of iron in one bowl, from black beans and sweet potatoes.
  • The lime and the tomatoes are the vitamin C that lets the body take up iron from beans, and about 22 grams of fiber a bowl keep it filling.
  • The trade-off: canned beans and tomatoes make this a salty stew even with low-sodium cans. The card shows the amount, and the notes show how to lower it.

Onion and garlic softened in oil in a camp Dutch oven set over coals, then cumin, smoked paprika, three cans of black beans, a can of diced tomatoes, cubed sweet potatoes, and chopped peppers. The lid goes on with a few coals on top. Thirty-five minutes later the sweet potatoes are soft and the stew has thickened, and lime juice and cilantro go in at the end, off the heat.

Everything but the peppers and the herb is shelf-stable, so the whole meal rides in a food box and the cooler stays for other things. It serves four hungry campers from one pot, and a stove at home works the same way.

Why This Stew Is Great for Iron on a Plant-Based Camping Trip

Beans carry plenty of iron, and the body absorbs only a small share of it, because plant iron comes in a form the gut takes up poorly. Two things change that. Vitamin C eaten in the same meal can double or triple the amount absorbed, and tea or coffee with the meal cuts it sharply.

Neither fact is well known, and both matter more on a plant-based pattern, where all the iron is plant iron.

This pot is built around the first fact. The tomatoes cook in the stew, and the lime goes in at the end so its vitamin C is not cooked away. The camp coffee is the second fact: drink it an hour before or after this meal rather than with it, and the beans do their work.

The protein here is beans and pumpkin seeds, which puts a bowl at about 21 grams, a fair share of a day on a plant-based pattern.

Why plant-based eaters need somewhat more total protein than meat eaters, and which plant foods carry the most, is in Plant Protein That Builds Muscle: Leucine, Pairing, and How Much More You Need.

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Dutch-Oven Black Bean and Sweet Potato Stew Over the Fire

Black beans, sweet potatoes, canned tomatoes, and peppers with cumin and smoked paprika, cooked in a camp Dutch oven over coals and finished with lime and cilantro. Vegan, one pot, no cooler needed. About 21 grams of protein and 8 milligrams of iron a bowl.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Keyword: black bean sweet potato stew, campfire cooking, camping stew, dutch oven camping recipe, one pot camping meal, vegan camping dinner
Servings: 4 bowl (about 2 cups)
Calories: 515kcal

Equipment

  • 10-inch or 12-inch camp Dutch oven with lid
  • Lid lifter
  • Heat-resistant gloves
  • Can opener

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or avocado oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 3 cans (15 ounces each) low-sodium black beans drained, with 1/2 cup of the liquid kept
  • 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with their juice
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds) peeled and cut in 3/4-inch cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped bell peppers (frozen chopped peppers or 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
  • 2 limes juiced
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds for the top

Instructions

  • Build a bed of coals or light about 24 charcoal briquettes and let them ash over. Set the Dutch oven on a ring of about 12 coals.
  • Heat the oil and cook the onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, and smoked paprika and stir for 1 minute.
  • Add the beans with the kept liquid, the tomatoes with their juice, the sweet potatoes, peppers, water, and salt. Stir and put the lid on. Set about 8 coals on the lid.
  • Cook until the sweet potatoes are soft and the stew has thickened, 30 to 35 minutes, lifting the lid once to stir. Rotate the pot a quarter turn halfway through so it cooks evenly.
  • Take the pot off the coals. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste for salt. Serve in bowls with pumpkin seeds on top.

Notes

Lower-sodium version: use no-salt-added beans and tomatoes and skip the added salt; the lime carries the flavor. At home, the same pot cooks on the stove over medium-low heat in about 30 minutes. Canned beans are convenient and travel well; at home, a pound of dried black beans cooked ahead and frozen in 1 3/4-cup portions replaces the three cans, costs less, and skips the can lining. Drink coffee or tea an hour apart from this meal so the iron in the beans is absorbed. Leftovers keep 4 days cold.

Nutrition

Calories: 515kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2.6g | Sodium: 757mg | Potassium: 1624mg | Fiber: 22g | Sugar: 14g | Calcium: 189mg | Iron: 7.9mg | Magnesium: 226mg | Phosphorus: 522mg | Choline: 86mg

Gluten Free

Beans, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, onion, spices, and lime are naturally free of gluten. For people with celiac disease, check the canned beans and tomatoes for wheat-based thickeners and the spice blends for wheat flour. Use a Dutch oven that has been scrubbed since it last held biscuits or breaded food. People who avoid gluten by preference can use any brand.

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