Good & quick camping meals with little mess

[Sandy W]

MAKE-AHEAD DINNERS:We like to boil chicken breasts for about 15 minutes at home, then let them cool and use aluminum foil wrappers (you can tear your own off a roll or buy them already already to use). Lay 1 piece of cooled chicken in each wrapper & add pre-cooked broccoli & pre-cooked potatoes (I often use canned ones that are already cooked.) Put these packets in your cooler or fridge & place over hot coals to heat up & yummy!! We have used a grill to heat them sometimes. Because all the ingredients are already cooked, it doesn't take very long for a nice balanced meal.

PRE-COOK BACON: I love to have ONE nice big weekend breakfast, but bacon was always such a mess to fix in the camper & took forever. Now I pre-cook bacon to within about 30 seconds of being crisp and done AT HOME where it is MUCH easier to clean up the mess. Then when the eggs are about done, I pop the bacon in my egg microwave. You could cook the bacon a little less & finish it at the camp site & still avoid a lot of the greasy mess.

CHICKEN-BROCCOLI CASSEROLE: A FAVORITE OF OUR WHOLE FAMILY!!
I use a large rectangular cake pan except when I am going camping - then I use 2 of the microwavable smaller ones. I have a wonderful chicken-broccoli recipe (no, I do NOT normally like broccoli - I only eat it in these kind of recipes where you don't take it that much!!) Cook a whole chicken or use a large frozen bag of chicken breasts if preferred. Line the bottom of a pan with cooked chicken cubes. Cook a large bag of frozen broccoli or 2 of the boxes of it (more or less to taste) & place broccoli in a layer on top of chicken. Places slices of Velveeta type cheese across the entire top of the broccoli layer. Dump 2 cans of cream of celery soup (I have substitued cream of chicken or cream of mushroom if I am out, but prefer cream of celery) across the entire top. Cook 2 boxes of Stove Top dressing for chicken (or turkey) & place that on top as the final layer. You can make this ahead & freeze it. Great company dish for a quick fix!! All ingredients are cooked, so you can just pop this in your microwave to warm to clear through or put it in your oven. If frozen, it takes about 45 minutes - 1 hr. normally at 350 degrees to cook (ovens vary!) It takes only a few minutes if NOT frozen, or if you want to eat it right after you fix it. I read a post on here about someone being the guru of dutch ovens. I am curious how this one would be??? Sometimes I just cook all the ingredients ahead & throw the casserole together later.