Foody Friday - Everything tastes better outside

My number one, most favorite food to eat outside is bacon and eggs on a camping trip. Oh, me oh my. That is the best tasting food evah.

You wake up too early, covered in dirt and sweat and smoke. You make yourself a little big pot of percolator coffee, and sit by the fire and enjoy the dawn. Then kick up dust on your way to the showers, where you take the single most satisfying shower that you've ever had in your life. Mosey your way back to your campsite, where you hear and smell... bacon sizzling.

Oh, my, where is my tent. I'm leaving.

It's really all about the food, in my humble opinion. I'm not a huge camper, in fact I married into the camping loving family, but I really do love it. As long as there's good food. There must be good food.

A few years back, We went camping with Jenna's clan, and we ate really well. We were not the smoothest of campers. Actually, we were fairly pathetic. However. We ate excellent food.

Soup is generally not a summer food in my family, but when you camp, it gets chilly. Here's a great camping soup, that uses mostly canned items.

Fiesta Chicken Soup

1 32oz box chicken broth
2 cans whole kernel corn
1 can ranch style beans (we've just used black beans, don't know what ranch-style is)
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
2 chicken boullion cubes (easy to throw in a baggie)
1 can white chunk chicken, drained (I think we might have omitted this, can't remember...)
8oz Velveeta light cheese

In a large pot on a camping stove, or in a dutch oven on a tripod over your campfire, combine all ingredients except Velveeta, until heated through. Cut Velveeta into cubes and add to soup, sturring until cheese is melted and soup is hot.

I need to give you one more recipe, one I've not tried but it's in my camping cookbook and it sounds SO good! And would be appropriate on the grill in your backyard, as well.

Beer Can Chicken

1 (4-5 lb) whole chicken
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp paprika
1 (12oz) can beer

Preheat grill or place grilling grate over campfire.
Remove and discard fat from inside the body cavity of the chicken. Remove giblets and rinse chicken, inside and out, under cool running water.
Drain chicken and pat dry with paper towels.
In a small bowl, combine kosher salt, sugar, pepper and paprika. Mix well.
Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. of the rub inside the body cavity and spread the remaining rub over the outside of the chicken.
Open beer can and, using a can opener, poke 6 or 7 holes in the top of the can. Drink or pour out 1" of beer from the can. Holding the chicken upright, insert beer fan into body cavity of chicken. Cover tips of chicken legs with aluminum foil and stand chicken up on beer can over center of hot grate. Spread out legs of chicken to form a tripod. Cook chicken until meat is tender, about 2 hours, and internal temperature of chicken reaches 160 degrees.
Carefully remove can from chicken, being careful not to spill the hot beer.
To serve, carve chicken from the bone.

note: if you do this camping, you can prepare seasoning at home and pack in an airtight container until ready to prepare recipe.

Do share your favorite recipes that you eat outside!

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