Rising Dough

Menu Planning

One of the most important things we do to prepare for a campout is to plan what we will eat. You should be able to make anything outdoors that you can make at home. The important thing to remember is that the meals need to be cooked, they need to be balanced, and they need to be good food that you like. The following is a list of suggested menus that you can us to assist you in your menu planning.

Breakfast

Breakfast can be the best meal of the day if you take time to plan and prepare it. Always serve a main dish, fruit (fresh or dried), and juice. Poptarts, granola bars, and dried cereal are not suitable for Boy Scout breakfast.

• Breakfast Burritos - Use flour tortillas, scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese. You can also add chopped onions and green peppers. Serve with hot sauce.

• Instant oatmeal or grits - This is a good meal when you are backpacking or for Sunday mornings when you are getting ready to break camp and go home.

• Biscuits and Gravy - Use the canned biscuits and instant gravy mix. You can cook about 12 biscuits in a #10 Dutch oven. The instant gravy mix uses only water to make. Fry sausage patties or bacon to eat with the biscuits.

• Pancakes - Use instant batter and make on the griddle from the chuck box.

• Cinnamon rolls - Use the canned cinnamon rolls and bake them in a Dutch oven, box oven, or pie pan oven. These are a good meal with fruit and juice.

Lunch

As a rule lunch should be a light meal that can be prepared with the minimum of utensils and effort. Always plan to have some type of bread products, vegetables, fruit, and a protein. Plan to make some type of Kool-aid or punch. Canned sodas, boxed juices, and bottled drinks are not allowed at Troop campouts.

• Soup and sandwiches - The best type of soups to make are the instant noodle soups like Ramen Noodles or Lipton Chicken Noodle soups. They are easy to prepare and they taste good. You can add canned chicken to them if you like. Keep the sandwiches simple. Grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, or tuna salad are good suggestions. Plan to serve carrot sticks or a green salad.

• Burritos - Burritos are very simple and very good. The beans can be heated right in the can (if you are careful). Wrap them up with grated cheese and a little hot sauce. Serve with vegetable sticks dipped in salad dressing and juice.

• Pizza - Pizza is a favorite of just about everyone. The best way to make pizza is in the Dutch oven or pie pan oven. Use canned biscuits or Boboli pizza shells for the crust, bottled Pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and your choice of toppings. Serve with carrot sticks, fruit, and juice.

• Tacos - Make tacos or taco salad using hamburger meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and taco sauce.

Dinner

Dinner needs to be the meal that you make the fanciest meal of the day. At dinner you really want to show off the cooking skills of you Patrol. You should serve a meat, vegetable, bread or pasta, fruit, and juice.

• Foil Packs or Silver Turtles - These are the easiest and most foolproof of the dinner menus. You can make you meat and vegetables at the same time. You can be very creative with Silver Turtles. Use a variety of meats, such as hamburger, sausage (links or packaged), chicken, pork, ground turkey, or fish. Any type of vegetable can be used. Traditionally silver turtles are made with sliced potatoes, carrots, onions, and mixed vegetables (canned). Season them with any type of appropriate spice, They are very good with a little BBQ or A-1 sauce poured in them. For dessert you can wrap up an apple that has been cored and filled with brown sugar or redhots and cook it with the foil pack. Be creative since you won't have to spend a lot of time cleaning up.

• Spaghetti - Spaghetti is a good dinner meal. There is only one catch . . . you cannot use sauce from the jar. If you are going to make spaghetti you must make your own sauce from scratch. It is very easy to do with browned hamburger or Italian sausage, Italian spices, and tomato sauce. You can spice it up with onions and garlic. Serve it with green salad and garlic bread. Make garlic bread in the box oven or Dutch oven. · Stew or soup - During cold weather a nice stew or soup is very good and easy to make in Dutch oven. It is best with beef cubes, potatoes, assorted vegetables all cooked together until they are done. Serve with bread and juice.

• Fajitas - Chicken or beef fajita are simple to make and even better to eat. They can be made over charcoal on a grill or in a skillet or griddle. Be sure to make some sautéed onions with them. Serve with tortillas, green salad, grated cheese, hot sauce, and juice.

Desserts

The favorite meal of the day has got to be dessert. Keep in mind that anything you can make at home in your stove or oven you can make on a campout. You can bake cookies, pies, cakes, cobblers, turnovers in a Dutch oven or box oven You can make pudding or pop popcorn. Plan to make at least one dessert on each campout. The most popular is Dutch oven cobbler, but don't limit yourself.

Drinks

Plan to drink juice or Kool-aid on every campout. Orange juice (Tang) is great for breakfast and Kool-aid will be your drink of choice for all other meals. Have packets of Hot Chocolate in the Patrol gear for cool evenings and mornings. Remember, no sodas, boxed drinks or canned drinks. Less to dispose of.

Snacks

Plan to have snacks for the Patrol. Do not bring candy or junk food unless you bring enough for the entire group. Good snacks for campout include Gorp, trail mix, jerky, and chewing gum.

Vegetables

It is important that you eat some vegetable with lunch and dinner. If possible, try to cook the vegetable with the meat. Carrot sticks are always easy and good.

Fruit

Fruit should be planned for every meal and snacks. Oranges, apples, bananas, and raisins are the most common. Baked apples make a great dessert.

Meat

Try to have a meat dish for every meal. Remember that fresh meat can spoil quickly in the Texas heat so freeze it before you bring it. Use canned meats whenever possible (canned tuna, chicken, or SPAM). They do not spoil and if prepared properly they are very good.

Breads and Pasta

Breads and pasta are where we get the energy we need to keep going all day. Plain white bread is okay but it can be smashed very easily. If possible, substitute tortillas or pita bread. English muffins are good also.

Scoutmaster Rule #3: "Take seconds only after the rest have finished firsts" Fred Wantsommor

Scoutmaster Rule #47: "No Boy Scout ever starved to death on a weekend campout." -- Roger Morris, Scouter