Camping Organization with Recipes

We went camping a few weeks ago for the first time this summer and while we were mostly prepared I thought I'd put together a checklist of sorts to use as a guide for our future trips and thought you might benefit as well.

We have 2 bins, 1 has all the eating/cooking items and the second has all of the overnight camping type items. We refer to these as the picnic bin and the camping bin. We also have all of our first aid items in a large tackle box at home that we store in the front closet, it's always together so we can just grab the first aid box and go.

Picnic Bin Checklist:
4 varying sizes cast iron skillets
1 pot
spatula
1 paring knife, 1 large serated knife
1 cutting board
cutlery for 8
serving utensils
can opener
cork screw/bottle opener
trash bags
paper towels
napkins
8 plates, bowls & cups picnic set
4 mugs
tableclothes and tablecloth clips
pitcher
heavy duty aluminum foil
dish pan
dish soap
scrubbing sponge
dish towel
hand sanitizer
Nature's Seasoning
Lawry's
matches
potholder
Ziplock Bags (small and X-large)
lawn rockets game
frisbee

Camping Bin Checklist:
small hatchet
rope
clothespins
small propane tanks
propane lantern
propane lantern mantles
lighter fluid
halogen lantern
batteries
flashlight
whisk broom
gloves
tarp
duct tape
toilet paper
citronella candles
tongs
BBQ set
scissors
campfire roasting skewers
small shovel
blanket
playing cards
matches
long lighter
air mattress repair kit

First Aid Tackle Box:
Band-Aids
bandages
gauze pads
rolled bandage
butterfly bandage
tape
cotton balls
purse size Kleenex packs
gloves
alcohol
hydrogen peroxide
Epsom Salts
hydrocortizone cream
Neosporin
burn ointment
Bactine
calamine lotion
Abreva
Tiger Balm
hand sanitizer
towelettes
thermometer (digital and head strip)
small sharp scissors with point cover
tweezers
strong magnet
safety pins
stick pins
matches
emergency thermal blanket
first aid book
cold compress
Visine
Tylenol
Advil
Aspirin
Excedrin
Sudafed
Nyquil
DayQuil
Imodum-AD
ExLax
Benadryl
Tums
cough drops
Sunblock
Sunburn aloe gel

When we go on a picnic we just grab the picnic tote and first aid box, our collapsible lawn chairs, camp stove and coolers.

When we go camping we just to grab the above totes and first aid box, our collapsible lawn chairs, camp stove, coolers, tent, sleeping bags, air mattress and clothes/personal items.

In addition to the normal food cooler(s), we have a 5 gallon round cooler to keep drinking water handy at the picnic/camping site, to do a quick handwash, or to mix up a beverage pitcher. So much easier than going back and forth between the campsite and water supply for each meal and throughout the day.

We freeze bottles of drinking water, and use reusable freezer blocks in the cooler to keep everything cold with having melted water all over the place in the bottom of the cooler. I also have a few Chillzanne pieces from The Pampered Chef that I use in the cooler and for serving.

Food is always a matter of personal preference, I stay away from anything involving mayonnaise, and try to pick items that are made on site. Certain recipes just lend themselves so well to picnics and camping. Granted they are delicious at any time, but for some reason we always do them over the campfire or camp stove.

Favorite Camping Recipes

Roasted Reds
B-size red potatoes (small, maybe a bit bigger than a golf ball)
Nature's Seasoning

Cut red potatoes in quarters with the paring knife
Place in large Ziplock bag
Sprinkle generously with Nature's Seasoning
Seal and shake
Pull off sheet of aluminum foil about 18 inches long
Pour about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of potatoes into center of foil
Pull foil up around potatoes lengthwise to meet and roll down tight to the potatoes, then roll up each end to seal (You need to be able to flip the packet without having them fall apart)Repeat making foil packets until all potatoes are in packets
Place foil packets upside down above fire on grate, turn after 10 minutes
Check every 5 minutes until done (open a packet and stab the biggest potato piece, should go through easily)

Roasted Steaks
Thick Steaks (ribeye is best... mmmmmm...)
Salt or Nature's Seasoning

Sprinkle meat with salt or Nature's Seasoning
Throw meat over fire til done, turning once halfway

Breakfast!
It seems dumb probably, but camping is the only time I make biscuits and gravy and I cheat! But it's so good when it's still cold outside and you are eating Biscuits & Gravy cooked over a fire.

Camping Biscuits & Gravy
Refrigerator Biscuits (I use Pillsbury)
White gravy mix (We are going for things like sausage country gravy, peppered country gravy, or country gravy by McCormick's, for example. If you find a white "southern" gravy mix use that!)
1-2 sausages cooked, chopped up

After you make your sausages in the morning in a LARGE cast iron skillet (assuming you didn't burn the sausages), pour off the fat (if there is any)
Place the biscuits in the skillet around the outside and what fits in the middle
Cook them over the fire for 4 minutes (or until brown but not burned on the bottoms) Flip the biscuits over
Take the pan off the fire, the pan will still be hot and will slowly finish up the biscuits
While you are waiting for the biscuits to finish, prepare the gravy according to the package (If you are guessing on the amount of water, it is better to have too much to start and let it cook off, than to have too little and end up with thick clumps that you have to try to fix!)
After the mix is added to the liquid and stirred thoroughly, basically during the stir until thickened stage, add the chopped COOKED sausage
Stir until thick like pudding
The biscuits are probably done by now (4 minutes or so), check the bottoms. If they are lightly brown, we're good!
Split the biscuits and spoon some gravy goodness on them.