[Ansteorra] Feeding yourselves with out living in a kitchen at war

[Elizabeth Crouchet]

Some people like to cook, some people like to cook at camping events. These
are not always the same people.

Here is how to cook for yourself and not have lots of clean up/prep at war.

Make your food ahead of time, freeze it solid, seal in a bag and take to war
in ice chest. Thaw until hot in boiling water in a large pot. Serve on paper
plates with real utensils and use real mugs for coffee etc.

Use the hot water to clean up the few dishes, wash hands and such  after
dinner.  Dispose of paper dishes and bags in trash.

One dish meals work for this. Casseroles, stews and such. You can also do a
hearty meal with steamed veggies on the sides. Just put the uncooked frozen
veggies in their own bag and boil at the same time as the main dish.  The
main dish could be previously grilled sausages or chicken breasts or such.
Serve with breads. A cobbler for dessert (and another serving of fruit) can
be placed into the boiling water after dinner is hot and can be heating
while you eat dinner.

We have done this many times. The dinner duties include acquiring and
heating the water. Locating the appointed dinner. Tossing it in the pot.
Finding the sides and serving ware. Waiting for the dinner to get hot all
way through. Cut, serve and eat. Easy duties for even the least talented
cook in the camp.

For finicky diners, meals can be single servings of what each likes. For
group meals, stews and such can be put in one or two bags to heat through,.

Frozen they help keep the rest of the week's food frozen. Place the early
week stuff on one end of the cooler and the later stuff on the other end
with some dry ice. Ice can be added as needed, if needed and since all food
is sealed it won't get waterlogged.

Chili is great with the cheese and other condiments on the side.
Spaghetti sauce works well, but the noodles do better cooked on site or they
get mushy but are not hard to clean  up after and don't have to be
refrigerated.
Casseroles work great.
Enchiladas work, corn chips and salsa on side store well.
Stews work, if you want you can serve in bread bowls but bread only keeps a
few days.
Sausages and grilled chicken work well, with hot or cold side dishes.
A different fruit cobbler each meal is great.
Premade egg and stuff can be frozen then boiled in bags and served on
tortillas for breakfast.
Sausage in a blanket works well.
Precooked Sausage patties server with biscuits warmed up on a griddle with
some cheese are nice.
Hot oatmeal, made a home just a little undercooked, and boiled in a bag. Add
your favorite toppings.
Always have a pot of hot drinking water for teas, coffee, chocolate, etc.


And since this is all so easy to do, no one has an excuse not to 'make' a
meal.

I live in a camp full of fighters and when I started fighting myself, that
left no one to take care of us so we found a way for all to take care of
all. And we never spend a lot of time cooking AT the war. We just heat, eat
and run. We get to the parties sooner! And we don't bite each others heads
off waiting for dinner. First one back to camp puts the water on and we eat
about as soon as we get cleaned up and changed for the evening. It makes the
war pleasant for all.

If you want advice on the particulars and maybe some recipes, please email
me off list.

Claire