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What are your favorite elk camp meals? Looking for frozen, home prepared meals that we can boil in bag and eat ? Easy prep and cleanup after long day hunting. What's your favorite?
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Google "bowsite camp meal"....lots of good suggestions
We make a chicken stew and vegetable stew. We put servings for 2 guys in a 1 gallon zip lock. Basically just warm up and clean pot out when done. Real fast and handy. Easy clean up and to bed. Don’t have to cook anything that way and not much camp trash either. Been doing that for years. We also pre boil some brats for a change of menu when a guy gets tired of soup. Freeze them up as well.
Smoked brisket and pulled pork in boil-in-bag, then throw on a bun are a couple of my favorites. Chicken and noodles, spaghetti and meat sauce, any kind of casserole you like. I always have some small bags of cooked veggies and potatoes for sides, too.
My go to meals used to be chili, casseroles, enchiladas, any pastas… all reheat well. I’m so busy anymore and too many hunts in the fall to keep up with the prep. I just use Peak Refuel meals now out of laziness/ease. Taste great and don’t wreck my stomach like others report.
Looking for new ideas for meals we can make at home, freeze in gallon Ziplock freezer bags, boil water and drop in freezer bag, and eat at main camp after a long day of hunting. Easy prep and cleanup. We have done previous stews, chili, noodles & meatballs, etc. What are your favorites to bring along?
My three favorites are spaghetti (although I cook the noodles in camp cuz I HATE mushy noodles!), chicken and sausage gumbo with rice, and taco soup.
Make them thin or it can take an hour! Lasagna, mac and cheese, chicken paprikash, meatloaf and mashed pot., pasta & cheese. Think carbs and protein. Low sugar so you can sleep. Leading up to a trip I make huge batches eat some and freeze the rest.
Homemade Kalua pork and cabbage with steamed white rice
Individual servings of lasagna
Individual servings of lasagna
Old school shit….peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Red beans and rice w/ ham or smoked sausage chunks. Easy to heat, filling and great bear repellant at night. Your tent will have a gaseous cloud oozing from it.
Right now I have ghoulash (sp) , spaghetti, a shrimp and stuffed pasta, cheeseburger soup, green chile chicken spaghetti, green chile/cheddar bratwurst, pulled pork, beef brisket, beef tongue. I might throw in some beef steaks or pork chops for a celebratory meal or maybe a recovery night. Also have a squash and zucchini dish with cheese, gc, and bacon.
How are y’all keeping the frozen meals frozen?
^^^^ That’s easy…my fridge has a freezer. ;-)
Ice chest with frozen water bottles or pvc pipe filled with water and frozen. I can reuse the pvc “sticks” over and over. Some of the meals don’t stay completely frozen after 5 days or so but they stay partially frozen or really cold like a fridge.
For what fishrick is asking, one of my favorites is Knorrs Fettucini Alfredo with cocktail shrimp, or stroganoff, in a non-vaccumed vacuum seal bag. Just be sure to cook the pasta al dente so it doesn't get mushy when in the hot water.
Otherwise, simple stuff like pulled pork, brisket, chicken wings, etc.
"How are y’all keeping the frozen meals frozen?"
I put all my frozen meals with a jug of ice or two in my smaller rotomolded cooler (I think it's 45qt) then put that in my 160 qt cheap cooler with as many jugs of ice as it can hold. I like to use the gallon Gatorade jugs they're thick and less prone to splitting plus have a handle attached. Like butcherboy said things eventually thaw out after so long but I've kept food good this way for up to 2 weeks in weather with highs in the 70s without issues. Always thought if things began to thaw to early I could just drop in some dry ice and freeze them back up but have never found it necessary. Once/If I kill something the small cooler comes out and the meat goes in the big one.
As for favorite meals it's hard to beat BBQ brisket, ham and pulled pork, for sandwiches is a easy and filling meal after a long day. I make chilli from the leftover brisket and ham and beans from the ham bone and spare ham. Chicken or steak fajitas reheats well and goes good with some tortillas and instant rice so doe chicken teriyaki. I sometimes make spaghetti or past sauces but don't pre cook the pasta. I've found that when reheated it just turns into a clump so I bring dried and boil it that night. A new one I tried this January that worked well I call Thanksgiving in a bag made from turkey day leftovers. First I put gravy in the bottom then turkey and followed by stuffing on top mixed it up after reheating and it was great.
I take a deep freeze on EVERY western hunt. It's just too handy. Food, ice, ready for meat at any time. I spent alot of money & time chasing ice before I started carrying a deep freeze. I have several and usually carry a 5 or 7 cu/ft. Works Great!
Jaq I've never tried to just lightly cook the pasta first I should've thought of that. Gonna give that a try.
I'm a little hurt that Midwest didn't say "Whatever Brotsky is cooking us." :(
"Simple stuff like brisket..." Dang some of you guys are living right! "Ah just you know, whatever I can scrounge up...maybe a ribeye, maybe some wagyu beef with some sautéed matsutake mushrooms, a few truffles for dessert, no biggie.
MRE. Cheap easy to pack and use. And there pretty good . Amazon. Try a few at home and decide no harm easy to cook.
Fresh liver Onions and fried potatoes
Thank you guys for some new ideas, they all sound delicious. Now to figure out who's going to cook what. "How do we keep it frozen?" We prepare the meals and place them into one gallon Ziplock freezer bags or vac sealed, lay them flat into a deep freeze to solid. The day we leave they go into a pre-chilled small cooler and into a bigger cooler surrounded by clothes. This has stayed frozen for 10 + days. You usually need to take out a meal package two days ahead of time to thaw.
"Fresh liver Onions and fried potatoes"
Perfect
I went elk hunting with 4 other guys, two were a father and son. The mother had sent lasagna in a Tupper ware container and told the 19 yo to put it in the cooler they were taking. The father kept telling us about the fantastic lasagna his wife had sent but, he couldn't find. On the 4th day the kid finally fessed up he had been eating it everyday as he had put it under the front seat of the truck to hide it from everyone else and save it for himself. How the kid lived thru it with no food poisoning is beyond me.
If you like Thai Food, most of that is good vacuum sealed and reheated.
I have gone out to dinner with the wife, then vacuum sealed left overs to eat at camp
Always great
Elk filets. Elk jerky during the day. It makes me feel smarter than them.
Just one of the favs in our camp..Rocky Mountain Bovine oysters..
Another..baby back ribs with fresh corn on the cob.
A bag of freeze dried beef stroganoff that’s rehydrated eaten and cleaned up in 14 minutes before I pass out. Lol
Ramen noodles has been used for dinner many of times.lol quick and pbj mixed and a spoon.
i wouldn't say it's my favorite but, cold pizza works when you get back to camp in the middle of the night. make it in advance of course (i don't take an oven :)), put a few slices in zip lock bags and throw it on top in the cooler. lasts a long time, no prep time, and no mess.
i've taken it in my pack for lunch and on an overnighter. bread, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni doesn't spoil, within reason.
I like taking rice and or grits and a temperature stable meat like Jerky, pepperoni, country ham and make a one-pot dish.
It's all about prepping your meals ahead of time. Practically anything can be prepped, portioned, and frozen. Stews, chilis, and soups can pull double duty as "ice" blocks as well. Best bet is to get a vacuum sealer then freeze whatever meals you prepare. Those bags can go directly into boiling water for reheating, so no pots to wash!
Many times I did Goulash, Chili, Boxed Augratin or Scalloped potatoes with hamburger in it & pre cooked brats...Spaghetti frozen in water reheated is just like the day you make it I do this at home & freeze extra). just add the sauce then. Everything reheats easy, tastes great & clean up easy.
"Just one of the favs in our camp..Rocky Mountain Bovine oysters.."
Hats off to yo guys bringing fryers etc and cooking up a storm at elk camp.
The fastest prep, of premade meals is as complicated and time consuming as I will make time for on a hunt.
Do you guys who work a full kitchen set up in elk camp and make meals on site have 'campers' spending their time cooking and doing camp chores or what. No way I am losing sleep or hunting time by spending time making meals on the fly when I am hunting . I make high quality meals that are frozen to reheat in hot water when camped at my vehicle.
For 2 guys: We fry 1 1/2 pound of moose hamburger (spice to your liking) then add a can of kernel corn and a can of maple beans. Stir heat and then put in ziploc and freeze. We calls this Greg’s Mess and our hunters love it. Simple and quick.
Khunter, we camp in a 6x14 cargo trailer with a bunk bed & a single cott. Our cook shak is set up right next to the trailer. Consists of a 12x12 pop up sun shade, 6’ folding table, Weber Q grill & a 2 burner stove. We eat off paper plates. Generally do the bigger meal at noon & something real simple after we drag in after dark. It’s a great camp & we eat like royalty!
KHunter, we cook our big meal for lunch when we’re back at camp anyway. Normally I just boil water for noodles or rice. I fire up the microwave for spaghetti sauce, soup, gumbo, etc. I just have to remember to poke a hole or two in the vacuum sealed bag before I heat it up. ;-)
When I get back from the evening hunt I typically boil water for a cup o’ soup so I can hit the hay as quickly as possible!
For 2 guys: We fry 1 1/2 pound of moose hamburger (spice to your liking) then add a can of kernel corn and a can of maple beans. Stir heat and then put in ziploc and freeze. We calls this Greg’s Mess and our hunters love it. Simple and quick.
Chicken Fajitas is one of our favorites.
Food saver bag meals are some of my favorites. Freeze whatever size serving, place in hot water, open bag, eat. No dishes and as easy as it gets. Theres also something to be said about a burger. I make my own own patties and roll the edges in pepper. Its the only way,now.
Breakfast: Coffee
Lunch: Tang, PB&J crackers, can of Vienna sausage, trail mix or oatmeal raisin bar
Dinner: Black cherry juice, can of chicken corn chowder, 5 or so handful salty in-shell peanuts while playing cards
You guys eat like kings. Meals like these are to die for. My dad brought meals like these. We also had camp snacks like boneless chicken (boiled eggs),sardines, smoked oysters etc
