Who says you can't camp in style??

Every year about one third of our population goes camping. There is quite an extensive list of "must take" when you go on a camping trip. Of course, food is a very important part of this trip away. On Memorial Weekend, my husband and I decided to take a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. We were thrilled to immerse ourselves into nature. And to finally put all our collected camp gear to use.

We made the couple hour drive to Estes Park, met up with some friends for lunch. After a couple of Elk burgers our group decided to take a hike with friends. We witnessed a beautiful waterfall, as the winters last breath was leaving the mountains. Before nightfall sprang upon us we needed to set up camp, get our fire going and start dinner. Our campsite was incredible, the campground called it the honeymoon suite and after arrival, we understood why. We had a large site are with gorgeous Longs Peak puffing it's chest at the valleys below. Tall pine trees kept us privately tucked away and we were in heaven. We set up camp and started to ready our evening.

We brought most of the "typical" camping foods but tried to jazz it up a little bit. Instead of regular burgers, we brought turkey burgers. We brought sandwich thins, instead of giant hunks of bread. But of course we couldn't help ourselves with bringing bacon and eggs. (They make everything better.) I wanted to relish being out in the middle of nowhere and not have to have fancy food. But I knew there had to be more creative ways to prepare the food. So as my husband collected firewood, I started with our cocktail for the evening.

I found this awesome peach bellini wine freezer...perfect for camping! All I had to do was fill it with wine, water and then freeze. Talk about simple! I poured each of us a glass and felt excited for the camping trip to unfold. Once I had my cocktail to sip on, I started to prepare dinner. We were having bacon-cheese-turkey burgers. We wanted to use the grill that came on the fire pit, so I had to figure out an easy way to keep all the food on the grill. Obviously the turkey burgers and buns would be fine but the bacon, if left alone would probably fall through the cracks into the fire. I had seen people create a bacon lattice on turkeys and chickens and felt this would be a perfect way to cook this bacon for our burgers. I cut a few slices and laced them together creating a bacon patty.  Then we put everything on the grill and waited patiently. As the flame hissed with bacon grease, we enjoy our mountainous bliss. We watched as the sun faded behind the pine trees and scarfed down our healthy yet hearty camp fire meal. We sat by the fire for quite awhile staring into the flames and talking about how much we'd miss Colorado. (We were moving back to Texas in a few short days.) We would miss the smell of the mountains, the chilly summer rains, being the first ones on the ski lifts, grabbing a local brew at the Dam Brewery, being able to spot the mountains from almost any activity we were doing, the color of the autumn leaves and our cousins.

 

The next day we hiked six miles straight up to Green Mountain. I remember my hands swelling up so much I thought my pinky finger pad would pop. Hydration was important. Thankfully we were mostly shaded by the towering trees. Once we reached the top we sat down to enjoy the panoramic view of mountains and valleys. Tiny, social chipmunks scurried up to see if we had any bits of food for them to munch on. Then we found the seal and took a picture of our wedding rings on it to symbolize our exceptional year in colorful Colorado.

When we returned from our hike we realized there were no showers at our campground. We made a discovery trip into Estes Park and found some showers at a Laundromat. Unfortunately it was cash only and our pockets were empty AND to top it all off the place closed in 10 minutes. We were sweaty and desperate for a shower before hunkering down in our tent. The nicest girl doing laundry must have saw the looks of exasperation on our red faces and paid for our showers. We gratefully accepted, offered a Starbuck's gift card (which she refused to accept) and hurried into our cleansing stalls. After a good scrub and rinse we were as good as new, but hungry. We made our way back to the grounds and cheffed up some good ole freeze dried camping food. I chose beef stroganoff and I served Evan cheesy chili mac n cheese. We cuddled next to our fire and ate in silence.

This may have been our last camping trip in 2013 but we knew we'd be back for more.

 

Have a great end of your summer! xoxo Lo

 Oh and if you see a bear locker on your camp site...use it!

Sunday Funday Burgers and Mac n Cheese

What Sunday wouldn't be perfect without a juicy burger and creamy, cheesy mac n cheese? We are pretty healthy in our house but every so often we crave a big burger and some smack your lips macaroni and cheese. This can be easy to throw together from leftovers!


Bacon-Monterrey Jack Burger with Sauteed Onions and Mushrooms

1 lb of ground beef (or turkey)
1/2 cup monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
1/2 cup crisp, crumbled bacon
5 mushrooms sliced
1/4 onion sliced
salt
pepper
whole wheat buns (or bread)

Saute mushrooms and onions on medium-high heat with olive oil. Meanwhile, pound out your ground beef add bacon and cheese, then create patties about 1/4 lb (about an inch thick). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat up grill pan and grill burgers for 5 min per side or less depending on how you prefer your burgers to be cooked. Place buns or bread slices on the grill pan to toast, pile on your sauteed veggies and let the devouring begin!

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

1 box of rotini pasta (or elbow, penne)
2 cups of cheese (I used a combination of colby jack, queso fresco, habanero and cream cheese)
1 cup of milk
3 Tbsp butter
salt
pepper

Heat water on stove til boiling, sprinkle with olive oil and add pasta. Cook til al dente then add cheese, milk, butter, salt and pepper (preferably in a dutch oven or large sauce pan). Cover and let sit for 2 minutes to melt. Stir, cover and let sit for another 2 minutes over low heat. Assess and add more milk if it isn't creamy enough. Plate with your fantastic burger and indulge in your Sunday Funday meal!

Enjoy! xo Lo

Piled High Southwestern Burger

Who doesn't love burgers? There is a wide spectrum of burgers, my husband and I went to In n Out Burgers yesterday and they are simple and delicious. I like to find ways to spice it up a bit and create burgers that are outside of the box. On this summer day, my husband and I were working with the last bit of groceries we had. I had ground beef, veggies, eggs, black beans and cornmeal. I decided to whip up piled high southwestern burgers on black beans, green chile cornbread, sauteed onions, a fried egg, cherry tomatoes and fresh cilantro.

The first thing I did was form my beef patties, I added some salt, pepper and garlic then I set those aside and allowed the flavors to merry. I then started to make my green chile corn bread, I used one cup of organic stone ground corn meal, half a can of corn, a small can of green chiles, salt, pepper, one egg, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and 1/4 cup of milk; mix this altogether and pour into a pan to bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

While the cornbread was baking, I poured a can of black beans into my sauce pan and cooked them on medium heat. Next, I chopped my onions into thin slices, sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and roughly chopped the fresh cilantro. I put the sliced onion into a saute pan with olive oil on medium heat, along with putting the burgers onto my grill pan with olive oil. My dad always taught me growing up that sauteed onions are the base to any delicious homemade recipe. I use olive oil because it is healthier than butter or other oils, plus I personally love the taste. After a few minutes I flip the burgers, check on the cornbread, stir the onions, stir the black beans and it's time for the eggs. I love eggs, I try to use them in every meal I make...especially fried eggs, I firmly believe fried eggs are Heaven topped on any meal :)

Once the cornbread was done, I removed it from the oven to cool. Then I cracked the eggs into a saute pan with (you guessed it!) olive oil. The key to a fantastic fried egg is generous portion of olive oil (2 Tbs), salt and pepper, then once it starts bubbling up flip over, when the egg is flipped over turn off the heat and let it finish for a few minutes. Then I began to pile my southwestern burgers, first I plated the black beans, next came the corn bread, the burger, sauteed onions, fried egg and last but not least fresh slices of tomato and cilantro.

Once you dig in, the yolk spreads it's luscious, velvety flavor all over the burger and that first bite is darn good! Enjoy! I'd love to hear your comments.

xo Lo