Camp Food FTW: HOBO MEALS

Camping with babies is so fun, but really busy, so finding efficiencies is key. Mealtime is one of those places where a little extra prep goes a long way. We do a lot of meal prepping at home on the weekends to make our lives really easy during the week so we extended this increased level of organization to our camping plans.

I did some research about easy camping meals and nothing has made me quite as excited as “Hobo Meals”. These are honestly some of the easiest meals to make but also are increasingly kid-friendly as they grow, allow for creativity and dietary restrictions, and are just all around the bees knees.

I made a couple of variations for our trip to Joshua Tree – a beef and a turkey – and you’ll see just how easy it is to mix these up and get either down and dirty or pretty fancy. But first…. Prep is everything.

I made a batch of roasted potatoes at home before we left that we could use in both dinners and as breakfast potatoes. You could easily substitute sweet potatoes if that’s your fancy but for this round I just used good old red potatoes. I also cut a number of vegetables and kept them in their own Tupperware – this way when assembling your hobo pouch, you can pick and choose exactly what you want and how much. I had an assortment of peppers, onions, garlic, and butternut squash.

Here are the 2 variations we made on the trip:

Beef and Veggie

• Ground Beef
• Garlic
• Onion
• Peppers
• Potatoes
• Butter
• Salt and Pepper

Turkey Dinner

• Ground Turkey
• Garlic
• Onion
• Butternut Squash
• Potatoes
• Butter
• White Wine Herb Seasoning Packet

As you can see, you can go a million different directions with these pouches – a “beef stew” version with carrots, celery, onion, and potato (maybe even some canned tomato); a “thanksgiving medley” with corn, potatoes, onion, green beans, and cranberry sauce and corn bread on the side! You can also make a breakfast version with eggs, potatoes, sausage, cheese, and veggies. I mean seriously…. Let you imagination run wild with this.

Ok so to make these gems, you’ll need some aluminum foil and cooking spray. I actually got some Reynold’s Heavy Duty nonstick aluminum foil and let me tell you – that stuff is amazing. It always helps to add some cooking spray but I forgot on one of the meals and I almost couldn’t tell. Take 2 pieces of foil (about 18” each) and place them perpendicular to one another. Start layering your food in the middle, I generally start with onions then add the meat, potatoes, and other veggies on top. Plop some butter around and seasoning. Fold up the foil to form a pouch and make sure it’s nice and sealed. Pop that sucker over the fire for about 15 minutes, flip it over and give it another 15 minutes, and voila! Warning: it’s really hot, so be careful opening the pouches.

What other recipes have you used camping to make your life easier?