Camping Nachos

Ever been sitting around the campfire, having a beer or glass of wine and get an urge for a snack?  S'mores are great fun but don't go real well with beer (actually they go pretty well with wine, in my opinion. ) On one such night I tried to imagine how some of our favorite snacks could become campfire favorites and the next day I came upon these photos of nachos and knew this would fill the snack void during our next campfire.  Everyone loves nachos and this easy  method is so adaptable that it can accommodate anyone's fancy.  I adapted the recipe by combining several others and the photos are from a pinterest pin that credited The Inspired Dreamer blog (http://inspiredreamer.com)

You can almost make it just from the photos but here are some ingredients and directions.

Ingredients

• FOR THE GARLIC CREAM SAUCE: or use a jar of prepared Ranch or Alfredo sauce
• 1-½ Tablespoon Butter
• ½ Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced 
• ½ cups Heavy Cream(I substitute plain Greek yogurt but it has a little more tart flavor)
• ¼ cups Milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated 
• FOR THE NACHOS:
• Tortilla Chips
• ½ cups Garlic Cream Sauce (above)or use a jar of prepared Ranch or Alfredo sauce
• ¼ cups Onion, Diced
• ½ lb cooked hamburger or sausage meat (I brown it in advance and freeze in baggies) As an alternative you could use pepperoni, shredded chicken or a can of beans, rinsed
• ½ cups Black Olives Sliced
• ½ Green Bell Pepper, Diced
• 1 cup favorite shredded cheese
• Sliced jalapenos 

Melt the butter in a sauce pan. Make a roux by adding the Parmesan cheese to the melted butter and blend.   Add in the cream and milk stirring constantly till blended. Add in remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer on low do not boil.
Layer the chips in a dutch oven (or any pan that can withstand the heat of an oven/campfire,) pour sauce over chips and layer remaining nacho ingredients.
Heat in a 350F oven or place over coals till cheese is melted. If you cook on coals remember to have fireproof mitts or pot holders for dutch oven.

Have some tongs or a flat scoop nearby and dish the nachos onto paper plates. Bet there won't be any leftovers!

Onion Bombs

Summer time is finally here and that means camping and grilling outdoors.  Compact and easy meals are always our favorite so we have more time to spend together.  We've prepared these at home and frozen them, then packed them in the RV.  Put in the refrigerator on the morning you want to serve them and pop onto the coals about 30 minutes before you want to eat.  It's also a fun activity with young ones.  Line them up at the picnic table and set them to packin' the onions.
 
Ingredients:
large onions
ground meat (any variety - beef, turkey, venison, pork or a mixture)
seasonings to taste ( meatloaf style, taco type seasonings, italian seasonings)
grated cheese (or a little slice for each bomb) of your choice
tin foil

Directions:
1. Peel your onions and cut them in half. If the onion is large it's sometimes possible to cut down only one side of the onion and have full circles to stuff.  Lay a slice of cheese in the onion cup or add some grated cheese to the ground meat.
2. Prepare your meatballs how you want them
3. Size your meatballs so that they can be squished between two pieces of onions. Some meat will push out the ends and that is okay.   Just make them as compact as possible.
4. Wrap each onion bomb in tinfoil-- either double them or use heavy duty foil since they'll be tossed in the fire.  Use tongs not a fork so you don't poke holes in the foil.
5. Toss in the fire and try to get them in the coals.
6. Cook for about 10 minutes, flip "em around and cook another 10 minutes or so.

I've also made these in the oven on 375 degrees for about 30 minutes.  They make the whole house smell delicious.  Set atop a layer of tomato sauce they have a nice presentation.