The Food - July 3 through July 7

Since I am posting this a couple months after the fact, I can only remember the highlights.

Wednesday evening - We enjoyed an easy meal of grilled brats and dogs, chips and salad.

Thursday morning - Simple breakfast of donuts and coffee.

Thursday midday - Kat chose the meal for her birthday:  Grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, green beans, and a Tardis-themed birthday cake (forgive my decorating skills...I do better with flowers.)

Friday late afternoon - We had a meal out at a restaurant called The Ground Round in St. Joseph, MO.  I had a delicious Cajun chicken pasta, Kat had an apple wood bacon cheeseburger, and Shane had all-you-can-eat fried fish.

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Parked at Lewis and Clark State Park
near Rushville, MO
July 3-7, 2013

The Food - June 28 through 30

Food at camp wasn't as much of the focus of this trip as it is on some of our outings.  Of course, we still ate, but only a little of it took place at camp and because we felt rushed, I tried to keep it simple.

Friday noon:  We ate lunch at a small cafe called Dar's in Warsaw, MO, on our way to camp.

Friday evening:  I built huge sub sandwiches for us to enjoy our first evening.  Subway has nothing on us!  They looked like this:

Saturday morning:  We didn't eat any breakfast because we were saving our appetite for our family picnic.

Saturday noon:  Family picnic!  I didn't get any photos because Shane and I were recruited to do the grilling for 20+ people.  We had burgers, brats, bean salad, baked beans, other salads, chips, and several desserts.  It was a feast!

Saturday evening:  We had plenty of ingredients left from the night before to repeat the subs for supper.

Sunday morning:  I honestly can't remember if we ate anything or not.  I think maybe just toast and coffee.

Sunday noon:  We stopped at a Golden Corral in Sedalia, MO, on our way home.

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Parked at Lake of the Ozarks State Park
near Osage Beach, MO
June 28-20, 2013

The Food - May 24 through 27

It's been several months since we camped and I completely forgot about taking pictures of our camp food.  I did manage to snap one picture after we got home, but for the rest, you'll have to use your imagination.


Friday p.m. - Grilled bratwursts and hot dogs, variety of chips and dip, grilled banana boats (slice a banana open lengthwise, but leave it in it's peel...add chunks of chocolate and marshmallows, wrap in foil and grill until the chocolate and marshmallows melt.) 

Personally, I didn't care for these.  I thought the peel gave off an unpleasant flavor and I don't really like marshmallows.  Next time, I'll use non-stick foil and just chocolate, but then I'll sprinkle it all with peanuts once it's melted.


Saturday a.m. - I had some breakfast enchiladas I'd made previously and frozen.  We warmed these in the microwave and ate them along with coffee and/or chocolate milk.

Saturday midday - We enjoyed serve-yourself platters of cold cuts, cheeses, chips, crackers, dips and fruit.

Saturday p.m. - Grilled pork chops, cowboy potatoes and corn on the cob.


Sunday a.m. - Because we knew we'd have a large midday meal, we just ate buttered toast for breakfast.

Sunday midday - My dad joined us and we ate foil dinners (ground pork patties, potato slices and baby carrots cooked in foil packets with butter that had been seasoned with onion soup mix), green beans and pound cake topped with strawberries and half-and-half.

Sunday p.m. - Round two of the meat, cheese and veggie platters.


Monday a.m. - I had made a cobbler of blueberry pie filling topped with lemon cake (recipe below) for our Sunday meal, but my dad brought the strawberry dessert instead, so we ate the blueberry cobbler for breakfast with our coffee and milk.

Monday midday - after a stressful drive home in a thunderstorm we stopped for gas at a Flying J truck stop and decided to eat lunch at the Denny's there.

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Easy As Pie Cobbler

1 box any flavor cake mix (I used lemon)
1 can any flavor soda (I used lemon lime)
1 large can any flavor pie filling (I used blueberry)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a large pan (9x13 rectangle or 12 inch deep dish pizza pan) with pan spray.

Spread pie filling evenly in bottom of pan.

Combine cake mix and soda; mix well.  Spread evenly over pie filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cake is lightly browned and springs back when lightly touched in center.

Serve warm or at room temperature, flipping pie filling side to the top as each serving is dished.

Makes 8-12 servings.

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Parked at Sparrowfoot Campground, Truman Lake
near Clinton, MO
May 24-27, 2013

The Food - September 28 through 30

I've mentioned before that when Shane and I have a chance to get away without Kat, we often make sure our menu includes flavors we enjoy, but that Kat doesn't.  This was one of those weekends.

I had planned a simple supper for us on Friday night, but we gave in to our hunger on the way and stopped for some Mexican food.  The food wasn't very authentic, but we were hungry, the burritos were huge, and it tasted good all the same.

On Saturday morning, I made these bacon and egg enchiladas that were more authentic-tasting, I think, than the food from the restaurant the night before.  I used this recipe, cutting the amounts in half and making the change from flour tortillas to corn tortillas.  I also made my own enchilada sauce for these.  They fell apart when I tried to take them from the pan, but they tasted great.

We intentionally skipped lunch, but when we came back from exploring the area, I made this Guacamole Bruschetta appetizer.  My inspiration was this recipe, but with a few changes, such as brushing the bread with garlic butter I'd made previously, and using pre-made refrigerated guacamole instead of fresh avocado.  I added both basil and cilantro to the tomato mixture.  This was a BIG hit that I'll be making again.

While we snacked on the bruschetta, I put this Potato, Leek and Feta Tart in the oven.  We devoured the entire pie, and while I would make it again, I think I would omit the dill and use thyme or savory instead.

Sunday morning we tried Oatmeal in a Jar.  I made the jars up ahead of time, and it was a simple and easy way to enjoy breakfast.  Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of ours.


And finally, this:

A very large tenderloin from 254 Cafe, and a "treat" we discovered the first time we camped on Pomme de Terre years ago.  To give you an idea how big this tenderloin is, the bun in the picture is a standard burger bun, and it's served on a tray instead of a plate.  I cut mine into four pieces, ate one piece on the bun, and saved the other three pieces for our supper after we got home.  Shane ate ALL of his (and a bag of chips).  Should we visit again soon, we'll probably see his picture on their "Wall of Fame". 

I'm not sure whether to be proud or embarrassed...

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Parked at Damsite Campground, Pomme de Terre Lake
near Hermitage, MO
September 28-30, 2012

The Food - September 14-16, 2012

I never intended to focus on the food this weekend, but I suppose I could have done better than taking just this one photo.

This is breakfast from Saturday morning.  It's a frozen waffle, topped with some of the apple filling I canned last week, and also topped with store bought caramel sauce and canned whipped cream.  With a side of bacon.  Nothing healthy, and we had the same breakfast on Sunday morning, with the addition of scrambled eggs.

Friday p.m.:  We ate Smith's Restaurant in Bolivar, MO.  Decent food, decent prices, decent service.  I had Blackened Chicken on Fettucine Alfredo.  Shane and Kat both had all-you-can-eat fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans.

Saturday a.m.:  See photo above.

Saturday noon:  For some reason, we didn't eat lunch, although I think most of us were hungry.  Nothing was really going as planned and I think we just made an unspoken decision to not even bring up another topic that would need a decision.

Saturday p.m.:  I had brought a layered Mexican dip and chips with us, thinking we would have eaten lunch and would only need snack foods for supper.  Since that didn't happen, we stopped on our way back to camp and bought some pre-formed frozen burger patties and buns to help round out the meal.

Sunday a.m.:  See photo above.  Add scrambled eggs.

Sunday noon:  We stopped at Peggy's Restaurant in Collins, MO (no website to link).  This restaurant has been around as long as I can remember, which is a long time.  gain, decent food, service and prices.  I had a Reuben sandwich with fires, while Shane had an open-face tenderloin sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy, while Kat had a tenderloin dinner with potatoes and a side of cottage cheese.

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Parked at Mill Creek Campground, Table Rock Lake
near Kimberling City, MO
September 14-16, 2012

The Food - August 29 - September 3, 2012

Friday p.m.:  We knew it was going to be rainy and a little cooler on our first night at camp, so I made a small batch of my basic chili for supper.  We like our chili with corn chips, sour cream and cheese.  We have almost everything we need in the camper -- except for bowls, I discovered.  We ended up eating layered chili "sundaes" from coffee mugs, with some fresh grapes on the side.

Saturday a.m.:  I know that "Toad in the Hole" is the name for an entirely different dish in other parts of the world, but to us, it means a slice of bread with a round piece cut out so an egg can be cooked in its place.  I recently read about a twist on this breakfast novelty -- after the egg has set a little and the whole thing has been flipped, it gets sprinkled with cheddar cheese and topped with another piece of buttered bread.  Once the cheese starts to melt, the entire sandwich gets flipped again so that the top piece of bread browns.  Surprise!  It's a Grilled Cheese Toad in the Hole, or a Cheesy Grilled Toad or something like that.  We ate chunky hash browns and fresh grapes with it.

Improvising a cookie cutter with a travel mug lid.

Saturday noon:  After having an ice cream snack in town, we ended up not eating lunch until around 3:00, and had grilled hot dogs, chips and applesauce for our meal.  We also ended up spoiling our appetite for supper.

Kat learning the fine art of hotdoggery.

Saturday p.m.:  Because none of us was very hungry, we ended up skipping supper.  We had quick ham sandwich just before bedtime.

Sunday a.m.:  I had many good intentions to make this lovely braided breakfast sandwich with crescent rolls, eggs, ham and other goodies, but in the end, I decided why go to all the trouble when I could just cook it up this way:

It was still very good, just not as beautiful.

Sunday noon:  Ah, yes.  We learned our lesson on Saturday and decided to not have lunch rather than spoil our dinner again.  Kat had a small snack to keep her going, but Shane and I skipped lunch altogether.

Sunday p.m.:   Grilled steaks, baked potatoes with toppings, corn on the cob and home-canned peaches.  It had been a while since we'd had some really delicious steaks; these KC Strips were worth the wait.

Monday a.m.:  We usually keep our breakfasts/brunches light on our last day at camp.  This time ham sandwiches were the breakfast of choice, although I found I was perfectly content with just coffee and a piece of toast.

Iced tea was my drink of choice for most of this trip. Beer or other alcoholic drinks just weren't doing much for me this time out.  However, I do want to tell you about a beer we found recently called Redbridge, and is a gluten-free sorghum beer.  It's made by Anheuser-Busch and contains no wheat or barley.  Shane and I both like it.  Shane normally does drink Anheuser-Busch products, but I usually don't care for them much.  I think this one is very good.

Parked at Wallace State Park
Cameron, MO
August 31 - September 3, 2012

The Food - August 10-12, 2012

When Kat isn't with us at camp, we tend to eat spicier food and/or foods she doesn't care for.  Here is what we ate this weekend:

Friday p.m.:  One-Pouch Feast, home-canned potatoes fried with onions, Caramelized Sweet Corn and Zucchini

Saturday a.m.:  Bacon-Tomato-Cheese Crescent Rolls, additional bacon

Saturday noon:  Smoked sausage on buns, chips, dip

Saturday p.m.:  Spicy Grilled Shrimp,  leftover side dishes from night before

Sunday brunch:  We had planned to try the restaurant in the resort, but when we drove by, it didn't appear to be open, so we ate at the Country Pride Restaurant at the TA Truck Stop in Oak Grove, MO.  While it wasn't bad, it wasn't anything to write home about.

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Parked at Lake Paradise Resort
Lone Jack, MO
August 10-12, 2012

The Food - July 20 through 22

Our fare this weekend included:

Friday p.m.:  Bratwurts and hot dogs on the grill, potato salad made in advance, sliced tomatoes, watermelon


Saturday a.m.:  Waffles, eggs, hash browns

Saturday noon:  HLTs (ham, lettuce and tomato sandwiches), chips, dip

Saturday p.m.:  Grilled pork chops, Cowboy Potatoes, lettuce salad, corn

Sunday brunch:  HLTs (ham, lettuce and tomato sandwiches), chips, dip

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Parked at Sparrowfoot Campground, Truman Lake
near Clinton, MO
July 20-22, 2012

The Food - July 4 through 9

Eating at camp makes a longer trip like this one a lot more affordable.  Since we knew we'd be away from camp at midday many days, we decided to budget for lunch to be eaten out each day of our trip.  As it turned out, we only had three restaurant meals the entire time.  In addition to meals, we had plenty of snacks on hand.

It's so unlike me, but I didn't take food pictures on this trip.  You'll have to take my word that this is what we ate:


Wednesday a.m. - Homemade breakfast burritos at home.

Wednesday noon:  We stopped at Daisy Delight in Jefferson City, MO.  Originally opened in the 50s, it's a good old-fashioned burger and ice cream joint.  I would imagine the once had carhop service, but now they have a spacious, clean dining room where we enjoyed our sandwiches.  Kat, being the birthday girl, also enjoyed a very large ice cream cone.

Wednesday p.m.:  Store-bought pulled pork barbecue on buns, potato salad I made at home, and some chips and dip.  Also, 3-2-1 Cupcakes for Kat's birthday.


Thursday a.m.:  Waffles (storebought, frozen), bacon, fried eggs.

Thursday noon:  Sandwiches and fries and Baylee Joe's Barbecue in Ironton, MO.

Thursday p.m.:  Because we were away well into the evening, we stopped and bought Kat a half sub sandwich.  Shane and I waited and had snacks back at camp.


Friday a.m.:  Waffles, bacon, fried eggs.

Friday noon:  Grilled hot dogs on buns, chips and dips, lettuce salad, hummus

Friday p.m.:   Grilled pork chops, macaroni and cheese (yes, the boxed kind), green beans


Saturday a.m.:  Breakfast casserole, hash browns

Saturday noon:  Grilled hot dogs on buns, chips and dips, lettuce salad, hummus

Saturday p.m.:  Grilled steaks, cowboy potatoes, corn on the cob


Sunday a.m.:  Waffles, hash browns

Sunday noon:  Snacks/miscellaneous

Sunday p.m:.  Used up leftovers that were in the fridge, and still had some to take home with us


Monday a.m. - Kat had the last waffle; Shane and I had coffee, but skipped breakfast.

Monday noon: - On advice of the Osage Bluff Quilter, we stopped at Steve's Family-Style Restaurant just outside of Jefferson City, MO in Lohman, MO.  This was THE meal of the entire trip!  The homestyle fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, slaw and rolls were absolutely delicious.  And the meal stuck with us the rest of the day, meaning I didn't have to cook after our long drive home. 


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Parked at Onondaga Cave State Park
near Leasburg, MO
July 4-9, 2012

The Food - June 15 through 17

For us, food is always a highlight of any trip, whether or not we're camping.  Camping, though, presents an entirely different set of circumstances.

Back when we camped in tents, the challenges were how to keep things cold and how to cook over a campfire.

When we acquired our pop-up, it camp with small propane stove that could be used inside or out of the camper, and we began taking a small gas grill with us, too.  The pop-up had no refrigerator, so we relied upon coolers and a small dorm-sized fridge to keep food cold.

When we upgraded to the travel trailer, it came with a gas stove/oven, a microwave oven and a 5 cu. ft. refrigerator, which is the same set-up we have now.  We continue to bring our tabletop gas grill with us, and occasionally still cook over an open fire. 

Our challenge now is not bringing too much food.  I don't recall a time that we ever brought too little food, but we usually end up bring a lot of food home with us.  This isn't a bad thing, in and of itself; it's just more to have to carry back into the house.

When we camp, we try to have most of our meals at the camper.  This varies, of course.  Sometimes we are away from camp doing other things and know we will be eating lunch out.  Sometimes relatives are within a few miles and we are invited to eat with them.  Other times we go out to eat on the spur of the moment.  We never know exactly how it will turn out.

That said, we kept the menu simple on our first trip out.

Friday night we kept it simple with grilled cheeseburgers, chips and homemade hummus, with a salad on the side.

Saturday morning enjoyed coffee and some breakfast burritos (sausage, egg, cheese, salsa) I had made and froze ahead of time.

We were driving around at the Lake of the Ozarks at lunchtime and decided to eat at Franky and Louie's Beach Front Bar and Grill.  I had a Cajun Quesadilla and fries; Shane had a Franky's Club and fries.

By evening, my Dad, who lives nearby, was back from his own travels, so we invited him to have supper with us.  We had grilled venison steaks, cowboy potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad.  My dad brought some baked beans and also some ice cream to go with our feast.

Cowboy Potatoes

Dad invited us in for breakfast, so we did that on Sunday morning.  Later, my older brother joined us, and we'd hoped to take Dad out for lunch, but he preferred to stay in, so we ended up having frozen pizzas and other things we scrounged from his cupboards.

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Parked at Thibault Point Campground, Truman Lake
near Warsaw, MO
June 15-17, 2012