Camping Foil Packets

One of the hardest parts about camping is often organizing the food.  Since you won't have a fridge or appliances, its all about getting resourceful and figuring out the best meals to make over a campfire or charcoal grill.  Sure, you can go the traditional hot dog and hamburger route, but that can get a little boring.  When we go camping, we love making tin foil packets filled with unique and delicious meals!  They are essentailly a whole meal bundled up in tin foil that you can throw in the fire or on the grill to be cooked.  If you prep the packets at home and then keep them in the cooler until meal time, it makes getting dinner ready so much easier!

You can do loaded baked potatoes, vegetable stir fry, chicken & corn, and even fish.  One of our favorites is this lemon herb steak with veggies.  You can use any sturdy veggies (asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, broccoli, etc) and it is such a crowd please :)

 

Ingredients (for one packet):

 
1 thin cut steak (i used rib-eye)
1/2 lemon
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Dried Thyme
Salt (Kosher) & Pepper
Butter & Olive Oil
Heavy Duty Foil – 2 sheets (approx. 12″ x 12″)
Asparagus or your choice of vegetables

Instructions:
Preheat your grill or heat your coals on your campfire to medium high. 

On a piece of heavy duty tin foil (approx. 12″ x 12″), lightly coat with olive oil and dot with butter. Season both sides of your steak with salt and pepper.

Place the steak in the center of the foil. sprinkle with thyme, rosemary leaves and a slice of fresh lemon.

Place fresh vegetables and lemon next to the steak. dot with butter and cover with the second piece of foil over the top.

Seal each side of the foil shut. once your packets are sealed and marked, place them onto the grill at medium-high heat.

Grill them for 8-10 minutes (depending on how you prefer your meat), flipping them over halfway through cooking.  When they are finished grilling, let stand for 2-3 minutes before you open foil in the middle and enjoy!

{recipe and image via}

Camping Essentials

When it comes to packing for a camping trip, it can be tricky to decide on what to bring.  Over packing means having to haul around excess items that won't get used, but under packing could lead to unhappy campers.  At Our Green House we have lots of great items that are perfect additions to your camping trip.  Here are some of our favorites!

It is also great to have a checklist like this one.  Properly preparing for your trip will make it much more enjoyable, and you can find lots of checklists online, or you can create your own to use year after year once you know what your family's specific camping needs are :)

 

Happy Camping!

Summer Camping

With all of the kids finally out of school, and summer in full swing, now is a great time to plan a fun family trip!  We love camping every summer because it is a great way to spend quality time with the family and to unplug (read: no electronics!)  Camping is a great weekend activity and you might be surprised at how many local campgrounds are nearby.   You can often reserve a spot at a campground online to help make the planning process much more convenient.  Today we wanted to share some camping tips that will make your trip a little easier and more fun!

A little planning before your trip can go a long way.  Create a fun scavenger hunt bag by putting pictures on a brown bag and have your kids find all of the items during your camp trip.  This will help them learn about plants and flowers!

 

 Bundling up dried sage and burning it every once in a while will help repel the mosquitoes.  This is a great alternative to spraying yourself with big spray or burning citronella candles.

 

Create single use soap slices by  using a potato peeler to shave pieces of soap off of one bar.  Try to use a natural organic soap that won't harm the natural elements of your camp ground.

 

Create your own large batch of trail mix that you can then divide up into individual bags and containers for snacking.  We love nuts, dried fruit, chocolate covered raisins, sturdy cereals, and granola.  We love making our own trail mix because then we don't end up with items people don't like, plus it is usually healthier than what you buy in the store.

Camping is such a fun summer activity and the proper planning makes it easier and much more fun!