MONTyBOCA Camping Recipes Part 2

My friends and family know that I am weird about food, but it’s not weird in the way you think. I am not a picky eater at all. I’m just weird about food in a completely different way. Being raised in a large family and also spending a large time of my life in the Middle East, food has a huge meaning for me. It means community, family, love and great memories. I get anxious if I don’t prepare a good meal or anxious if there isn’t enough. If I care about you, you had better eat my food because for me to feed you, it means I care about you and respect. Food is part of my community and part of who I am.

That is one of the things I love about MONTyBOCA. Their camping and backpacking recipes focus on good food, community and sharing. If you look at the quantities of their recipes, it’s always enough to share and easy to double or triple. Recently I spoke with Chef Corso during an interview for my new podcast (going live 7/1/19 so stay tuned) and he talked about how much food means to him as well as building a food community. What an interesting concept. The recipes have all been field tested, by people just like you and me. Each person’s contribution in testing these recipes, is to add to the bank so people can enjoy. You don’t have to be a camper or hiker, you can try them in your own kitchen. Want to be a food tester? You can apply for this fun activity and give back to the outdoor community. Contribute to the recipe bank!

So, in the previous post, we tried the Garlic Chicken With Artichokes and Mashed Potatoes. Yum! That was the recipe that you the readers, chose for us to try. I also chose a breakfast meal and a dessert. Breakfast for us is usually oatmeal or breakfast burritos. We don’t do dessert unless it is s’mores. So I was excited to try these two new recipes. Are you ready for what we chose??

For breakfast, I let my husband pick the recipe. He chose the Dirtbag Egg Benedict. Ingredients were easy to find and affordable. For the Dirtbag Egg Benedict, there is a special ingredient listed for powdered eggs. I have powdered egg, but it’s in my food storage and I didn’t want to open a big can for such a small amount. I used my own eggs from my chickens. The thing that made this the best, was the lemon juice. Chef Corso said that his secret ingredient for food, is to add acid like citrus or vinegar. The lemon made a huge difference. You can easily make this at home and, who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? Very quick and easy, very staifying and it took less than 30 minutes to make. If you are bringing fresh eggs on your trip, they travel better if you crack them and carry them in a jar.

For dessert, I let my kids pick the recipe. They chose the Caramelized Bananas with ‘Nilla Wafers.Everyone thought it was fun to try something new, other than marshmallows. The crunchy seeds/nuts on top were the perfect topping. I thought this was going to be very complicated especially with the caramelization. Usually when I’m using sugar to carmalize, I use a candy thermometer, but it turned out absolutely delicious! Crunchy and sweet and gooey! Add a touch of rum or a whiskey for an adult dessert.

My only suggestion for both recipes would be to use butter. I don’t like oil, but butter melts in the heat, so using oil makes sense unless you have a fridge or cooler. I wonder how these recipes would work with powdered butter. It was nice to have something different for a change when we were camping. I hope to try more recipes, especially because I signed up to be a recipe tester. My family is really excited to do this, and we are turning it into a family activity. Niva is going to try to add this to her 4H project this year for outdoor activities.

So next time you go road tripping, trailgating, cycling, backpacking, camping or whatever, be sure to try out a recipe from MONTyBOCA. Let us know what you think. You can follow Chef Corso on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. And as always, be outside with no limits. Love, Pauline