Dutch Oven Cooking

I LOVE cooking outdoors!  I used to have a dutch oven, but it was one of those things I let the ex keep in the divorce (along with the 4-wheelers and all other camping stuff *sigh*).  Since we were going camping for Labor Day weekend I decided to "splurge" and buy another dutch oven.  I camped last year without one and I missed the experience.  I found a dutch oven for $24 and bought a lid-lifter for $6 so it wasn't too big of an investment for something I used SIX times in one weekend!  I promise I'll use it A LOT!  I just love campfire cooking!

Although I don't use "recipes" for my dutch oven adventures, I thought I'd share a few easy dutch oven ideas!

 Fruit Cobblers/Cakes are super easy to make in a dutch oven!  This one consisted of a big bag of frozen peaches (the girls sliced them up and froze them last fall for me) mixed with some apple juice, topped with a cake mix I whipped up with some Sunny D.  I found dutch oven liners for $1/each and grabbed a couple.  They're great for things like cakes.  I buttered it well.

This dessert was awesome topped with Cool Whip!!!  You can alter this to use just about any canned fruit or pie filling!  You can use whatever flavor of cake mix you want and whatever liquid you have on hand.  It's pretty forgiving!

 Popcorn is another fun dutch oven treat.  You can see I used the top of the dutch oven to heat my saucepan of butter to pour over the top.

I just threw some oil and popcorn into the hot dutch oven and placed it on the coals.  When the popping slowed down I pulled it out of the fire and stirred it until everything had popped.

Chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding mix, water and Heath bits were a delightful combo.  I topped the mixture with a can of coconut-pecan frosting when it was done cooking.

Of course I served this topped with Cool Whip as well!  It was a big hit!

Another dutch oven goodie I concocted this trip was a great dutch oven breakfast with bacon and sliced potatoes.  When the potatoes were done I poured a couple dozen eggs over the topped and cooked until done.  Then cheese went over the top.  Delightful!

Sliced potatoes were cooked in oil and topped with leftover pulled pork and cheese for another great meal.

Over-ripe bananas were mixed with a corn bread mix and placed in a buttered pie tin.  I placed the pie tin into the dutch oven and baked until done.  Yummy!

I've never used briquettes with a dutch oven.  I just throw it on hot coals and place more hot coals on top.  Typically if you're baking a cake or other bread-type item you'll want more coals on the top than the bottom.  If you're placing the dutch oven in a fire pit with an actual fire still going you'll want to turn the dutch oven every couple of minutes so it heats evenly and doesn't burn one side.  Everything tastes so much better while camping!