Outdoor Cooking - Young Boys

I like pocket pizzas. You have to get pita bread that you can cut in half and make into a pocket. Then you give the boys the chance to spoon in some sauce, cheese and pepperoni or maybe some veggies and then wrap it in aluminum foil and you can put them on the grill or in the campfire.

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I like pocket pizzas. You have to get pita bread that you can cut in half and make into a pocket. Then you give the boys the chance to spoon in some sauce, cheese and pepperoni or maybe some veggies and then wrap it in aluminum foil and you can put them on the grill or in the campfire.

I see your point but what about those that haven't eaten dinner...you don't just want to have a snack for them. Why not notify them to either eat dinner or not eat dinner before arriving after you decide what you want to fix?

You can cook almost anything on the grill (in foil you can quickly cook boneless chicken or pork chops, potatoes, corn on the cob) but boys that age typically do like hot dogs. My son was in Boy Scouts and they learned to cook lots of things outdoors (even cobblers).

If you can cook in a cast iron dutch oven then the cobbler is a great dessert. You use a cake mix, a pie filling, stick of butter and bake. Works best if you line the oven w/ foil.

If you really want to use the grill, why not a variety of grilled fruit? Grilled peaches are awesome and the grilling process releases many of the sweet sugars. By trying a variety of fruit they are exposed to differences in cooking times and learning how to identify when a food item is "done".

Have fun teaching the cooking class! =)

C..

My kids love cinn raisin bread toasted over a fire and then smeared with butter. I just slide a slice onto the camping fire fork and it takes less than a min to toast both sides. If you want to make it even more special like a desert, sprinkle with cinn/sugar mixture after you smear on the butter!!!!

When I was a Boy Scout Scoutmaster, one of my scouts' favorites was Banana Boats.

Take a banana with the curved side down (skin on). Take a knife and make a slit in the banana on the inside of the curve from the stem to the end. Push minature marshmellows and semisweet chocolate chips into the cut from one end to the other. Use BBQ tongs to place the bananas in the coals (not in the open flame fire). When you see the marshmells melt, the banana boats are ready. Remove them from the coals and place on a plate. Give the plate and a plastic spoon to the kids. They use the spoon to eat the banana, and the melted chocolate chips and melted marshmellows.

The skin will be black and maybe charred, but the banana will be fine and may be cooked. The chips and marshmellows will be melted. Semi-sweet chocolate chips are preferred over other kinds.

You can go to your local Boy Scouts of America office and get the book, "Campfire Cooking". Or go to Amazon and buy it. It may even be in your public library. It has hundreds of ideas. You'll be amazed on what you can do with so little.

Good luck to you and yours.

They make those little pie cookers where you can put pie filling in between 2 slices of bread or you could try this dessert:

Campfire Surprise
Ingredients
1 banana (per serving)
chocolate chips or chocolate bar (like hershey's)
peanut buter chips
miniature marshmallows
butter
aluminum foil
Directions
Peel and slice a banana lengthwise. Place two or three slices of butter on a small sheet of foil (this is important as it keeps everything from burning). Lay the banana on top of the butter and cover with the rest of the ingredients. You can take away any ingredients that you do not like or add different ones that you do like. Wrap the whole thing up and place on the hot coals of your campfire for 3-5 minutes. Using a set of tongs, remove the package and eat right from the foil with a spoon.

I agree with Lynn--let them know ahead of time whether or not they should eat dinner. I'm sure the mothers of the boys who are coming are wondering the same thing. Or worse--assuming one way or the other! Then you'll really be on the hook (in their eyes) for not giving better directions.

Do you have to use the grill? My favorite campfire food is "hobo dinner." Have some meats ready (or just choose one; ground beef works great) and have a variety of veggies cut up on hand. Let each boy choose what veggies he wants, then wrap them up in foil with the meat, and a little butter or margarine to keep the meat from getting too dry. Then put them on the coals for 45 mins or so (you might check them at 30 mins; just depends on how much meat you put in the pouch). You could cook this on the grill, too, if you wanted.

You also might have a "spice bucket" on hand; that is, a few spices to let them try. It might be a chance to introduce them to something new. Just have an adult help them so no one puts, say, too much cayenne on his food. Some suggestions: garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, adobo seasoning (you can promote that one as your "secret" seasoning, and tell them what it is at the end of the night), anything mild and green like oregano or parsley or pizza seasoning (that one won't be hard to sell!).

If you want to go with hot dogs, I'm sure the boys will like it. You might consider a weenie roast over the campfire. Just make sure you have enough roasting sticks. You can make your own or buy some pretty cheap at Wal-Mart.

I had a birthday party where we did the "hobo" dinner idea with pasta. Have cooked pasta and all the fixings. Then I used small bread tins. They put all the ingredients in the tin, mixed it and topped it with cheese. When the cheese was melted it was ready. Some boys made two. You can use the tins with the hobo pies as well. You can also take sticks and wrap refrigerated rolls around the stick and let them cook them over the fire.

Hi Jodi,

A favorite of ours when we're camping is making camper pies using pie irons. We usually do it over the fire, but it would probalby well with a charcoal grill. I'm not sure about gas.

Give each boy two slices of bread (cheap, square white bread fits the best), and provide a variety of fillings like pizza ingredients for savory pies or canned pie fillings for dessert. Keep the fillings in the middle of the pies (not spread all the way to the edge). Butter the outside of each slice of bread, and spray the pie iron well with nonstick spray to keep from sticking. Close the iron, and put it down in the coals. Check frequently. It's done when the outside of the bread is golden brown, like grilled cheese.

Flip the pie out on a plate and start again. The iron seals the bread into a pocket, and the filling will be HOT! You should only need a few pie irons if you have the boys work in shifts with assembling ingredients and toasting their pies.

Have fun!