Favorite Camping Meal
I have thought a lot lately of how lucky I was to grow up when I did, the 70’s were a pretty awesome time to be a kid. Yeah I know the internet and video games are super cool I love to use them heck I am blogging for crying out loud, but with all that is happening in the world we as kids had an element of innocence about us in the 70’s.
I grew up spending summers and well into fall camping in the Rocky Mountains ,on the shores of Lake Superior and the banks of the St Croix and Willow Rivers. I could tell you 1000 things I loved about those times “roughing it” as my mom and Dad called it. Yes we slept in a tent and yes we ate our meals out side with the exception of a few greasy spoons and some really cool restaurants. We ate fish we caught, food was cooked over open fire or on a camp stove. It is amazing what you can do with Escargot and garlic bread over a camp fire. Yes that was always one of our meals and yes I loved those little buggers as much as a kid as I do now even after one unfortunate incident with 5 Alive (citrus drink think sunny D but grosser) and 12 Escargot covered in garlic butter.
Those were awesome as was most the other food we ate including the Crunch Berries but my absolute all time favorite meal was Chicken and Dumplings. A creamy mix of Chunky’s Chicken Noodle Soup and Bisquick Dumplings. Ok I know it’s all processed food and it comes from a can and a box but when you are camping many things have to come from a can and a box.
I was given a carton of old cookbooks by a friend to go thru and read. It is hot and miserable here in Ohio and I was thinking how it was awesome to be in the Mountains at this time of year. Warm and beautiful in the day and cool at night perfect for my most favorite meal. As I sit in the air conditioning I found myself rummaging thru the old books and came upon a Bisquick cookbook from 1964. Right on page 14 was the recipe for dumplings. A quick call to my mom to make sure I was not imaging that is was as simple as I thought it was. She confirmed that yes indeed it was simply Chunky’s Chicken Noodle Soup with Bisquick Dumplings. We talked about the places we had this meal. The North Shore of Lake Superior where we woke up to snow on the ground in June. The Mountains Somewhere outside of Glacier Park where we had not seen people in days. By the end of our conversation it was done i was going to cook up a batch of Chicken & Dumplings “roughing it” style.
A trip to the store was in order I would need Bisquick, Milk and Soup. I got out the old Coleman camp stove. I have kept it all these years. A memento of family good times. It has a little more rust on it than I remember but I am a little rusty after 40+ years also. Got myself a deep soup pot and decided to make camping food right here on my porch.
Chicken & Dumplings for around the campfire.
In a soup pot bring 2-4 cans of Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup to a boil. Amount depends on how many serving and how big the pot is.
Mix The Bisquick Dumplings in a bowl.
- 2 Cups Bisquick
- 3/4 Cup Milk
Mix thoroughly with a fork
Drop Dumplings into boiling Stew
Lower heat and cook uncovered for 10 min. After 10 min. Cover and cook another 10 min.
It’s ready to eat!!
It was as delicious as I remember and I think it has given me the energy to go on just one more hunt for Bigfoot before I go to bed!!