Hot Dogs and Beans! A Winning Combo!

July 13 was National Beans and Franks Day. Today, July 15, is National Hot Dog Day.

Hot dogs are a camping and backyard grilling classic. They’re also a beloved protein of just about every kid I know.

In the summer, we’re probably grilling dogs at least once a week either in camp or in the backyard. In the winter, I’ll slice them in half lengthwise and fry them for a sandwich or a bowl of ramen or I’ll serve them alongside a pile of macaroni and cheese. I don’t know where I learned that but I love those two side by side; however, I’ve never mixed them together. I might have to try that!

Speaking of mixing together, two things that go really well when combined are hot dogs and beans. I remember eating a lot of beans and wieners on camping trips as a kid. The easiest way to make them is to open a can of your favorite baked beans and add sliced hot dogs to them and heat them together. It’s a tasty, hearty meal that is super simple to make and is easy on the budget. It makes a winner dinner for a beginning grub master. This is a great meal for a Friday night roll into camp because you can have dinner on the picnic table in less than 30 minutes. It also uses only one skillet for easy cleanup.

If you want a little more control over the ingredients, beans and franks are also easy to make from scratch. Again, it’s simply a can of beans and some sliced hot dogs and then the fun begins as you dress it up any way you like. Here’s one of my favorites. It is sweet and savory, and has complex flavors. Every spoonful is a little different.

This recipe is easily scalable. Cut the recipe in half for 2 or scale it up for as many as you need to feed (and your skillet can hold)! We use all beef hot dogs and, depending on the size of your hot dogs, you may want to halve or quarter them lengthwise before you slice them. I use a 4-ounce can of fire roasted diced green chiles, but you could substitute something fresh and as mild or as hot as you like. I use red bell pepper and yellow onion because we almost always have those on hand, but you could substitute to your liking. For some additional heat and flavor, you can add a splash of your favorite hot sauce or some red pepper flakes.

Ingredients
4 bacon strips, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 all-beef hot dogs, sliced
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (red, yellow, orange or green)
1/2 cup onion (yellow or white), diced
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
30 ounces Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup (4-ounce can) fire roasted diced green chiles, mild or hot

Prep
Slice the hot dogs, and dice the bell pepper and onion. Pop the top on the can of diced green chiles or, if you’re using fresh, dice those. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, black pepper, and salt. To this, you’d add your splash of hot sauce or red pepper flakes, but that’s optional.

On medium heat, warm a large skillet or cast iron pan. Fry the bacon to your liking, remove, and set aside on a paper towel. Drain off any excess bacon grease, but leave enough to sauté the hot dogs and vegetables. To the skillet, add the bell pepper, onion, chiles (if using fresh), and sliced hot dogs, stirring until the hot dogs are browned and the vegetables are soft and caramelized. Slice bacon and add to skillet along with Great Northern beans, chiles (if using canned), and sauce. Continue to heat and stir until all ingredients have combined and sugar has fully dissolved. Serve hot with a cold potato, pasta or green salad on the side.

Serves about  4.

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On Top of Spaghetti

I’m not sure why, but spaghetti seems to be one of the most popular meals young scouts make on their first campout. I suspect one reason might be that mom or dad actually made the sauce at home and, in camp, all the scout has to do is warm it, cook the pasta, and combine the two.

Another reason might be that spaghetti can be pretty easy for a young chef if they are simply using a jarred sauce. Again, all they have to do is warm the sauce, cook the pasta, and combine. Meat is optional. But if they wanted a meat sauce, it’s not difficult to brown ground beef, sausage, turkey, or plant-based protein before they add the sauce or they could add a bag of Italian-style meatballs to their sauce. And, let’s admit it, meatballs are just fun! Who doesn’t like a plate of spaghetti and meatballs?!

The dish is actually named for the type of noodle used, which is long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta. The sauce is a tomato sauce with meat and/or vegetables. A meat-based sauce is typically called a ragù and is a type of sauce, which should not be confused with the brand of jarred sauce found in most grocery stores.

The great thing about ragù sauces is that there are a million variations. Some are heavy, hearty and much more suited to cold, winter days. Others are light, herby and more suited to the warmer spring or autumn seasons. I can’t say that we eat a lot of spaghetti in the middle of summer although we have been known to toss together some vegetables and pasta with diced tomatoes, but it’s not what I would call a traditional spaghetti and ragù sauce.

If you don’t want to or have the time to make a sauce from scratch, jarred sauces are great to use as a base. I call them a base because they are middle of the road as far as flavor goes so they can appeal to a mass audience. If I am using a jarred sauce, I always tweak it and I encourage you to do the same.

Even though most jarred sauces have oregano and basil in them already, I always add more. I’ll add parsley, and maybe some onion powder and garlic powder. Sometimes I’ll add some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat. Other options include marjoram and chili powder.

Here’s what I do when I’m not following a recipe and I’m starting with a jarred sauce: I taste the sauce and then I start grabbing spice jars and sniffing and my nose tells me what to add. Let your nose and your taste buds guide you and you’ll end up with a great sauce.

So, if you’re looking for a quick and easy spaghetti sauce grab a jar and go for it. When you’ve got it to your liking, add some meatballs and pasta and serve it with a salad and some garlic bread. Your hungry campers will love it!

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Chicken Chow Mein

When we go out for Asian food whether it is dine-in or take-out, chow mein is always one of the dishes we order. It is great as an entrée or as a side dish. It also makes a great camping dish because, for the most part, it is a one-pot recipe. And, I don’t think I’ve met a kid who didn’t like noodles.

We’ve made this recipe a few times and we love it. My son has even gone back for thirds! It is loaded with healthy vegetables and the flavors, particularly the ginger, really pop.

If you need to cook gluten-free, you could easily swap out the Yaki-Soba for gluten-free spaghetti. The flavor and texture will be subtly different, but with all the other flavors going on, you probably won’t notice.

You could serve this as a stand-alone dish or as a side dish. As a stand-alone, it serves 4-5. As a side dish, you could probably double that. If you’re serving as a side dish, you could omit the chicken and do something else with it like Teriyaki Chicken or my Kung Pao Chicken.

You could also serve the chow mein (with or without the chicken) with my Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry. You could serve this with an Asian marinated flank steak. You could serve this with pot stickers, egg rolls or just a simple Asian salad. Really, the possibilities are endless.

A lot of the prep for this could be done at home before you go. In camp, you could make this in a cast-iron wok on a big camp stove or in a Dutch oven on the stove or over coals, or in a large, deep skillet. If all the prep is done at home, you can get this meal on the picnic table in less than 30 minutes, depending on what else you serve with it.

Ingredients
¼ cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger or ½ teaspoon dried, ground ginger
¼ teaspoon white pepper
3 (5.6-ounce) packages refrigerated Yaki-Soba, seasoning sauce packets discarded*
1 onion, sliced into half or quarter moons, depending on your preference
3 stalks celery, sliced diagonally
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 cup carrots , shredded or julienne sliced
4 green onions, sliced with whites and greens separated
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons sesame oil
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

Prep
At home before you go, prep the chicken and load into a resealable bag or container. Prep all your vegetables. If you don’t want to shred all the cabbage, you can purchase a bag of pre-shredded (the kind used for coleslaw). The amount of cabbage will look like a lot but it will cook down. The onion, carrot, and celery could all go into a resealable bag or container together since they will all be cooked together. The cabbage and bean sprouts could also be transported together. The green onion should be packaged separately. Mix together the soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and white pepper and load into a container that can be sealed. Make sure you pack salt, pepper, and sesame oil. You should also pack some extra soy sauce and a hot sauce that folks can add at the table if they choose.

In camp, add some boiling water to a pot or a bowl and add the Yaki-Soba until loosened, about 1-2 minutes; drain well.

In your chosen cooking vessel (wok, Dutch oven, skillet) over medium-high heat, add a couple tablespoons of sesame oil. Add chicken, season it with salt and pepper and stir fry just until cooked through (it will continue to cook as you add other ingredients). Add onion, carrot, and celery, and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and the bean sprouts until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in Yaki-Soba, soy sauce mixture, and white parts of green onion until well combined, about 2 minutes. Total cook time in camp is 15-20 minutes.

Garnish with the green parts of the green onion.

Serves 4-5 as a stand-alone dish or 8-10 as a side dish.

*Yaki-Soba is ramen-style noodles and they can be found in the refrigerated aisle of your local grocery store. In camp, all you need to do is place them in a bowl and pour hot water over them and let them rest for a few minutes to “loosen up.”

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Ramen Remakes

 

I may be going out on a limb here, but I believe most adults and youth know how to make ramen. Many of my backpacking buddies and scouts rely heavily on ramen because it is lightweight and cooks quickly in boiling water. In college, many of us lived on ramen (if we couldn’t afford mac & cheese). Some adults still live on ramen. Just sayin….

And, while we all love ramen as a quick, simple meal, it’s not a very well-rounded meal. That being said, it is a blank canvas for creating a great, nutritious, well-rounded meal.

For the photograph featured in this blog, I went to my kitchen to see what I could find. From the pantry, I pulled out a package of chicken ramen. I always have a bottle of sesame oil sitting on the counter. In the refrigerator, I found romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, baby carrots, green onion and a piece of leftover grilled chicken. I sliced the romaine and green onion, julienned the pepper and the carrot, and chopped the chicken.

I started the pan of water and added the seasoning packet and a couple dashes of sesame oil. From the fridge, I added a dash of lime juice, a dash of soy sauce, a dash of sriracha (okay, I’ll be honest; it was half a dash of sriracha). I also added a heaping teaspoon of miso paste and a little minced garlic. The leftover grilled chicken was heavily seasoned so I didn’t feel I needed to add any other seasonings. When the water came to a boil, I added the noodles, vegetables, and chicken, and let it all cook for 3 minutes.

As you can see from the photograph, I loaded my bowl. It was an awesome lunch for a typical cold, rainy Northwest day. For the first time in my life, I wanted to drink all the broth after I fished out all the goodies.

For my ramen fans, this would be so easy to do in camp and campers could even customize their bowls. At home before you go, prep a variety of vegetables (dice and julienne small so they will cook quickly), and decide on your flavorings and your protein (because they will influence each other). Pre-cook and dice your protein.

You could also make and pre-cook meatballs for a fun way to add protein to your ramen bowl. For meatball ideas, please see my blog post, “Make Your Own Meatballs.” Eggs are also a great protein to add to your ramen bowl. For ways to add an egg to your ramen bowl, please see my blog post: “Add an Egg to Your Ramen Bowl.”

In camp, set everything out and make your broth. You could further enhance your broth by using beef, chicken, or vegetable broth in place of the water. Each camper throws whatever they want into their bowl, including a package of noodles (folks will need good-sized bowls or you can break the ramen to make it fit). Get the broth up to a good rolling boil and then add a generous amount of broth to each bowl, cover the bowl, and let rest for 3 minutes. Done!  Such an easy lunch and it is nutritious and will sustain you until dinner.

For backpacking, you could use freeze-dried and dehydrated meats and vegetables. Some of the flavorings like soy sauce and sriracha can be found in single-serve packets. We also found powdered sriracha in the spice section of our local grocery store.

Below is a list of ideas. Mix and match to your liking.

Protein
Beef
Beef Jerky
Chicken
Egg (hard-boiled, soft-boiled, poached, fried, or drop)
Hot Dog
Pork (ham, bacon, etc.)
Tofu

Flavorings
Lemon or Lime Juice
Miso
Rice Vinegar
Sesame Oil
Soy Sauce
Sriracha

Vegetables
Bamboo Shoots
Bell Pepper
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Corn
Edamame
Green Onion
Mung Bean Sprouts
Mushroom
Onion
Peas
Radish
Romaine
Snow Peas
Spinach
Water Chestnuts

Seasonings
Black Pepper
Garlic
Ginger
Salt

Ramen may be one of the cheapest foods in the grocery store, but with a little imagination, it can be one of the most versatile staples in your home and camp pantry, and makes a great launching point for some fast, easy, nutritious meals.

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Add an Egg to Your Ramen Bowl

We’ve been on a ramen kick lately. We love to make ramen noodle bowls with whatever we have in the house. Making ramen bowls in camp takes a little more planning and prep because you can’t just open the fridge and see what floats your boat.

For ideas on how to up your ramen game, please see my blog posts, “Ramen Remakes” and “Make Your Own Meatballs.”

In true Asian fashion, my daughter loves to add soft boiled eggs to her ramen bowls. The picture above is hers. Eggs are cheap, delicious, a good source of protein, and in most cases, can be cooked directly in the same pot with the noodles or the broth. Here are a few simple ways to do it.

Hard-Boiled Eggs
This is the easiest way to do it. Start with eggs in a pot of cold water. I add a little salt and baking soda (not sure of the science behind this, but it seems to help them peel better). On high heat, bring water to a boil, turn off the heat or turn it down really low and let the eggs cook for about 10 minutes. Have a bowl of ice water standing by and, using a pair of tongs, remove the eggs from the hot water and plunge them into the ice bath. Let them sit in the ice bath for about 5 minutes. Remove from the ice bath, peel, slice, and add to your ramen, or store in your refrigerator.

Soft-Boiled Eggs
These are a little trickier, because the timing has to be a little more precise. Gently drop the eggs into the pot after it’s come to a full boil, start a timer, and pull them out after 3 minutes for super-soft, or 5 for a fully-set white and semi-liquid yolk. I like to cut the eggs open and stir the yolk into the broth as I eat it. My daughter let’s her eggs go about 7 minutes because she wants a more solid yolk.

Egg-Drop
Lightly beat an egg in a small bowl. Once your noodles are cooked, swirl the noodles and hot broth gently around the pot. While the broth is moving, slowly drizzle in the beaten egg. It will create little wispy ribbons of egg that float in the broth and coat the noodles.

Poached Eggs
If you don’t mind an irregular shaped egg, this is an easy way to add an egg to your soup. Cook the noodles until they’ve just started to separate from each other (about halfway through their total cooking time), remove the pot from the heat, crack a raw egg into the center, place the lid on the pot, and let it sit for 3-5 minutes until both the noodles and eggs are cooked. Experiment until you get the egg poached just to your liking.

Fried Eggs
If all of the above sounds too complicated, you could just a fry an egg in a separate pan and lay it on top of your ramen, but it will require dirtying a second pan and you’ll need a second burner. We fry eggs in a small skillet, on medium-low heat, with just a little butter. I put a lid a on the skillet and let the egg cook 1-3 minutes depending on how hot my pan is (sometimes the camp stove is little twitchy). I give the egg a flip and let it go about 30 seconds more and it’s a perfect over easy to over medium egg.

So, the next time you make a ramen bowl, at home or in camp, add an egg to it. It’s yummy!

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Simple Swedish Meatballs

When we roll into camp on a Friday night, it’s all about getting our kitchen set up, getting our tents pitched, and getting our gear unloaded. Our Friday night dinners need to be quick and easy to get onto the picnic table with minimal clean up.

Meatballs and rice is an easy meal that we can get onto the picnic table in less than 30 minutes and we only dirty two pots. It’s a hot, hearty, and flavorful meal. This is also a super simple meal for young and/or inexperienced camp chefs. You can buy a bag of frozen meatballs or you can make your own at home before you go. For meatball ideas, please read my blog post: “Make Your Own Meatballs.”

So, this is our take on simply made Swedish meatballs. You can serve them over rice, like we do, or over noodles. To serve, just lay down a bed of rice or noodles, pile on some meatballs, and spoon on some sauce. Serve with a nice salad and you have a quick and easy meal guaranteed to fill your tummy.

Equipment
Pot for the rice and a pot or skillet for the meatballs.

Ingredients
26 ounce bag of frozen meatballs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can beef consommé
2 cups rice, uncooked
4 cups water
½ teaspoon salt

Prep the Rice
In a 2-quart pot, on medium high heat, bring the water and salt to a boil. Add the rice, turn the heat down to low, and cook for about 15-20 minutes or until rice is done.

Prep the Meatballs
In a large skillet, on medium heat, add the meatballs, cream of mushroom soup, and consommé. Cover and cook 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until meatballs are heated through. In the time it takes for the rice to cook, the meatballs should be done.

Serves 6

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Dutch Oven Nachos

On our last scout campout, Scoutmaster Murray was cooking for the scoutmasters. For lunch on Saturday, he made two Dutch ovens of nachos with turkey chorizo, diced white onion, cilantro, diced tomatoes, and lots of cheese. They were a yummy lunch, filling but not too heavy, which was perfect going into a busy afternoon of teaching outdoor skills.

Nachos make a great meal or an appetizer. They are easy, fun, and completely customizable. You can build them any way you want to. They are great for an evening cracker barrel because they are finger food so there are no dishes to wash late at night.

If you line the Dutch oven with foil, when the nachos are done, you can carefully lift them out of the oven using the foil. Set the foil “bowl” directly on the picnic table and spread out the foil. Campers can just dive right in and start pulling off clumps of loaded tortillas.

The recipe below is for fully loaded nachos. While the list of ingredients is by no means comprehensive, it includes a lot of options. Use some or all of them. Use more or less of something. Treat this as just a guide for helping you decide what you want on your nachos. And I’ve included all the classics to serve with your nachos. Have fun!

Equipment
12-inch Dutch oven, large skillet.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef, turkey, chicken, or pork
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package taco seasoning, or your own mix
12 ounces tortilla chips
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted
1 ½ cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 ½ cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 (15-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (4-ounce) can black olives, sliced
¼ cup red onion, diced
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro, fresh, chopped
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces salsa
8 ounces guacamole
1 (15-ounce) can refried beans, heated

Prep
Line a 12-Dutch oven with foil and start 25 coals.

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add ground meat and garlic. Cook until meat is browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the meat as it cooks. Stir in taco seasoning. Drain any excess fat.

Place about half of the tortilla chips in the Dutch oven, spreading evenly. Sprinkle on 1 cup of cheese and add the remaining tortilla chips. Top with 1 cup of cheese, ground meat mixture, black beans, corn, tomatoes, black olives, and remaining cheese.

Bake in a 350°F oven, using 17 coals on the lid and 8 underneath, for 10-15 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately, topped with onion, jalapeno, and cilantro. Serve with refried beans, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.

Serves 8

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Pizza Pasta One Pot

Our family loves pasta and we love pizza so this was a lot of fun to make. And, just like pizzeria pizza, this pasta dish could be customized to your personal taste. Make it like your favorite pizza. You could use gluten-free pasta or a whole wheat pasta. You could change up the meats, add some vegetables like bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives, or make vegetarian pizza pasta.

This pasta dish really did taste just like a pizza and everyone loved it. Another great thing about this dish is that it is a one pot recipe. One-pots are great for camp because you’re only using one pot and one burner, making for less mess and less cleanup. And, this meal goes together fast. We were able to get dinner onto the picnic table in less than 30 minutes, which makes this recipe great for a roll-into-camp night or an evening meal after a busy day of outdoor activities.

Serve this with a salad and some bread sticks and you’ll feel like you’re sitting down to eat at your favorite pizza place.

Equipment
Large skillet with lid or 12-inch Dutch oven, cutting board, knife, measuring cups and spoons.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
16 ounces Italian sausage, casing removed, mild or spicy
1 cup mini pepperoni or regular pepperoni quartered
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
16 ounces rotini pasta
12 ounces hot water
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Red pepper flakes for serving
Parmesan, grated, for serving

Prep
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in half of the pepperoni and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Stir in tomato sauce, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, pasta, and 12 ounces hot water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 12-14 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure pasta is absorbing the liquid. Add more water if needed.

Reduce heat; top with mozzarella and remaining pepperoni, and cover until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley. Serve with red pepper flakes and Parmesan just for fun.

Serves 10-12

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Sausage and Kale Soup

Last week, around dinner time, I received a text from the mom of one of our Boy Scouts, a scout who is close to Eagling I might add. She sent a picture of her youngest son Nathan standing at the stove, stirring a pot. She wrote, “Sausage and kale soup from scratch! The Cooking Merit Badge is the best thing that ever happened to me!” I couldn’t be more proud or thrilled.

This is one of those moments when you dust off your hands and walk away saying, “My work here is done!” Nathan has embraced what he’s learned from a merit badge and he is applying it to his everyday life. His cooking skills will continue to grow and he’ll use them his whole life. And, just at look at that smile. He’s so proud of himself and his smile could light an entire city!

So, after the rave reviews from his family, we had to make the soup ourselves (and so I could photograph it). This is an easy soup to make in camp. It has a little prep and could easily be gotten onto the picnic table in about 30 minutes, making it a great meal for a Friday night after rolling into camp and setting up.

If you are a kale fan, you should like this soup. It’s warm and filling, but not heavy. We served it with our favorite cornbread. You could also make a crusty artisan bread. Any bread would go nicely.

For the sausage, Nathan used turkey sausage. We used a hot Italian pork sausage. Choose your sausage according to your likes and go as mild or as spicy as you want. The recipe calls for wine, which you could omit and just add more chicken stock. I opted to include the wine and used a chardonnay. For the kale, strip the leaves off the stocks and discard the stocks. The leaves just need a rough chop.

Equipment
6-quart Dutch oven or stock pot, knife, cutting board.

Ingredients
20 ounces sausage, ground or links (remove casings)
1 medium onion, diced
8 cups kale, fresh, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine
3 ¼ cups chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can white kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ teaspoon pepper

Prep
Chop the vegetables, drain and rinse the beans, and get everything measured out and ready. Once you start cooking, this one moves pretty quickly. In your Dutch oven, over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the sausage is no longer pink. Remove and set aside. Add the kale to the Dutch oven and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the sausage and onions, and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until kale is tender.

Serves 8

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Beef Stroganoff on a Camp Stove

This beef stroganoff recipe is a nod to my grandmother’s eastern European roots. This is one of my son’s favorite dishes and was the first recipe he asked me to teach him how to make. It is fast and easy, and I can usually have it on the table in less than 30 minutes. This would make a great Friday night dinner after rolling into camp because it is so quick.

It’s a 2 pot dish so you’ll need a 2 burner camp stove. Traditionally, the pasta for this would be egg noodles, but I like to use rotini. You could also use bow tie, penne or whatever you like. You could even swap out the pasta and serve it over rice. Whatever floats your boat.

You could also jazz this up by adding mushrooms and/or a diced bell pepper. Just chop them and sauté them with the onion. I really want to try that but my son keeps refusing because he loves it just the way it is!

Serve this with a nice green salad or some grilled green vegetables like green beans, zucchini, or asparagus and you have a great meal.

Equipment
2 burner camp stove, 6 quart pot for cooking the pasta, 2 quart pot for the sauce, 2 stirring spoons, measuring spoons.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef or cut of your choice cubed
1 pound (16 ounces) pasta of choice
1 (10.5 oz) can beef consommé
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 medium onion, diced, or 2 tablespoons minced onion
8 ounces sour cream

Prep
In 6 quart pot, start water for pasta. Salt the water. When the water comes to a boil, stir in the pasta, reduce heat and cook until al dente. While you are prepping the pasta, start the beef sauce. In 2 quart pot, on medium heat, brown beef and onion. Add dry ingredients and stir until paste is smooth. Add beef consommé. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until pasta is ready, stirring occasionally. When the pasta is ready, drain it. Stir sour cream into the sauce. Return pasta to the large pot, add sauce and stir to combine.

Serves 6-8 hungry campers.

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