camping Archives | The Good Hearted Woman

Foil Stew: The Ultimate Comfort Food

Foil Stew (aka Hobo Dinner, Campfire Stew, Tin Foil Dinner) is easy, fun, and so good that you’ll want to make it even when you aren’t camping.

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Foil Stew is my ultimate comfort food, each bite bringing to mind countless nights under the stars. Like some ethereal scrapbook, just the scent of its exquisite, savory, caramelized deliciousness makes my mind dance through cherished memories of past camping trips – with my dad and mom, and Campfire Girls, and my Girl Scouts, and my CITs, and and Mr B and Em….

It is extraordinary that such a simple meal can hold so much.

There really isn’t much to making a great foil stew: just mix, wrap, and cook. Let me break it down for you.

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FOIL STEW BASIC INGREDIENTS

(Scroll down for printable recipe with basic directions)

For each serving/packet of foil stew, you will need:

1 medium potato, sliced 1/8-inch thick (peeling is optional) – I use a mixture of regular and white-fleshed sweet potatoes. (The sweet potatoes are a relatively recent addition for me, and I love what they bring to the party.)
1 large carrot, sliced 1/8-inch thick (once again, peeling is optional)
1 handful sliced onion – We tend to use a very large handful.
3-4 ounces of protein – Ground beef, ground chicken, boneless chicken pieces, sausage, vegetarian alternatives all work well. DO NOT PRECOOK ANYTHING!! Put animal-based proteins into the stew RAW, breaking up any ground meats and distributing it evenly throughout your stew. (Some people do like to make a pattie with their ground meat and put it on top, but I am not a fan.)
1/3-1/2 cup Cream of Mushroom Soup – Straight out of the can. Any Cream of… soup will work fine. We also really like Cream of Celery.
Seasoning as desired – Salt, pepper, etc.

PLEASE keep in mind that these amounts are estimates. Adjust them to your own tastes and appetite.

VARIATIONS: There are more variations and combinations to this list than I can possibly list here. You can add your favorite veggies (lots of people like corn), mix up your proteins, use any kind of “Cream of” soup. Once you get the process down, you can change it up as much as you want to make it your own.

VERY IMPORTANT: You may look at your uncooked foil stew and think, “Oh my gosh, I will never be able to eat all of that!” Which might be true – but remember, everything will cook down by about a third, and when you are camping, you tend to be hungrier than when you are at home. Plus, Foil Stew makes great leftovers!

LEFTOVER TIP: If you do end up having leftovers, I strongly encourage you to fry them up for breakfast and top them with a fried egg. (You’re gonna thank me for this.)

If everyone is eating the same thing, you can mix your foil stew up in a big bowl for everyone, and then just wrap them individually. However, in our family, because some of us are vegetarians, we usually mix the basic veggies together and then mix in the protein and soup right on the foil.

Foil Stew: So Good You'll Want to Make It Even When You Aren't Camping | The Good Hearted Woman

We used Morning Star Crumbles for Em’s vegetarian dinner this time. (If you use ground beef or chicken, DO NOT precook them – they should go into the packet raw.)

Be generous with the soup – that’s what provides the moist base for your stew to, well… stew in. Once you have your stew ingredients all together, toss it well with your hands to mix everything together. If it isn’t very goopy, you don’t have enough soup in it.

ABOUT THE FOIL: From years and years of experience, I can tell you that you will get much better results if you use Heavy Duty aluminum foil. Regular aluminum foil simply does not stand up to the coals of an open fire like the heavy duty stuff does.

How to Wrap a Foil Stew

Foil Stew Wrapping

A. Put your mixed foil stew ingredients in the middle of the foil, and then bring the foil up so that the ingredients are resting inside in a slightly elongated pile.

B. Fold the top edges down together about 1 inch and crease. Fold over and do it again, and then once again. It helps to hold the foil stew up as you do this, because this allows you to keep some extra space in the packet, which helps in the cooking process. In other words, the folds themselves need to be very tight, but the foil stew inside should have a little wiggle room.

C. Push the two ends down so that your foil stew is safely in the middle of the packet.

D. Fold or roll the ends tightly.

E. Get a second piece of foil and repeat steps A-D.

F. Ready for the fire.

How to Bake Your Foil Stew Over a Open Fire

To bake over an open fire, first allow the fire to burn long enough to create some substantial coals.

Once you have a nice bed of coals burning, place your prepared foil stew on a bed of coals for 25-50 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes.

How Long Does Foil Stew Need to Cook?

The time required to cook a foil stew depends upon many factors: the size of your foil stew, how hot your coals are, how cold it is outside, etc. It will start to sizzle after awhile.

I usually check my stew after 20-30 minutes.

The trick is to take it off after the vegetables have started to caramelize, but before they start to burn.

This is where the double-wrapping helps immensely: When you think your foil stew has cooked enough, carefully use the tongs to lift it out and away from the fire. Set the packet, seam side up, on a solid, heat resistant surface. Carefully open the foil packet at check. Vegetables should be tender and proteins completely cooked.

If it needs more time, simply recrimp and seal the foil on the top and pop it back onto the coals, seam-side up.

If you don’t have a camping trip planned any time soon (or you are simply not a camper), you can also bake your foil stew over prepared briquettes, on top of a BBQ, inside a Dutch oven, or in your oven at home [375°F | 190°C].

Foil Stew

Foil Stew {aka Hobo Dinner, Campfire Stew, Tin Foil Dinner} is easy, fun, and so good that you'll want to make it even when you aren't camping.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: stew

Servings: serving

Calories: 398kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Ingredients

Suggested Amounts for One Serving

1 medium potato sliced 1/8-inch thick (peeling is optional)
1 large carrot sliced 1/8-inch thick (peeling is optional)
1 handful onion sliced or chopped
4 ounces protein Ground beef, ground chicken, boneless chicken pieces, sausage, vegetarian alternatives (DO NOT PRECOOK ANYTHING)
1/2 cup Cream of Mushroom Soup Any Cream of… soup will work fine. (We really like Cream of Celery)
salt & pepper Season as desired

Instructions

Put all foil stew ingredients in the middle of a large rectangle of heavy duty aluminum foil.
Bring the foil up so that the ingredients are resting inside in a slightly elongated pile.
Fold the top edges down together about 1 inch and crease.
Fold over and do it again, and then once again.
It helps to hold the foil stew up as you do this, because this allows you to keep some extra space in the packet, which helps in the cooking process.
In other words, the folds themselves need to be very tight, but the foil stew inside should have a little wiggle room.
Push the two ends down so that your foil stew is safely in the middle of the packet.
Fold or roll the ends tightly.
Get a second piece of foil and repeat steps A-D. Ready for the fire.
To bake over an open fire, simply place your prepared foil stew on a bed of coals for 25-50 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes. Time depends upon the size of your foil stew, how hot your coals are, how cold it is outside, etc. It will start to sizzle after awhile. I usually check my stew after about 30 minutes. The trick is to take it off when the vegetables have started to caramelize, but before they start to burn. This is where the double wrapping helps immensely – when you think it is done, carefully open the packet at check. If it needs more time, simply wrap it back up and pop it back on the coals.

Notes

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Do you love rich, savory stews? (So do we!) Here are a few of our favorite hearty stew recipes:

A perfect dinner for us when we go camping consists of Foil Stew, followed by my always-amazing, ridiculously easy Dutch Oven Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.

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Sing Around the {Flameless} Campfire

September 24 By Renée 17 Comments

How to Make a Flameless Campfire {And Other Helpful Tips for Camping Without Fire}

If you’ve followed me for a while, you may remember my Fairy Lights post from last year, when I wrote about my annual reunion at Camp Namanu along the shores of Oregon’s Sandy River. It is a time that I treasure: three days with old friends and new walking the trails of our beloved camp and singing songs so deep-rooted that they flow from our lips like the waters of the Sandy itself. This year, Reunion came at a particularly difficult time for me personally, and provided a brief but welcome escape from a challenging season – one filled with both great joy and deep sorrow.

Note: I don’t mean to be cryptic: I’ll likely address both the joy and sorrow in upcoming posts. However, for now just let me say that this time has made me all the more grateful for the warm and secure embrace of my dear friends, my loving family, my Camp Fire comrades, and my darling, Mr. B.

How to Make a Flameless Campfire & Other Helpful Tips for Camping without Fire | The Good Hearted Woman

Scenes from Namanu, along the Sandy River.

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All that being said, even a weekend of frolicking in the forest did not come without its challenges.

Faced with months of severely dry conditions, many (if not most) camping destinations anywhere near the Left Coast – from Bellingham to Baja – have been under strict a fire ban, including a prohibition on everything from open fires to charcoal briquettes. (That briquette-ban is a real thing – Mr. B and I had to redo our entire menu, which relied heavily on our Dutch oven, when we went camping a few weeks ago.)

However, Camp Fire kids (including grown-up Camp Fire kids) are resourceful, and our friend Sandie came prepared. She set up this lovely little flameless campfire in one of our favorite spots – and almost as soon as we gathered ’round, we started noticing something very interesting.

Honestly, these pictures do not do Sandie’s campfire justice. In real life, the lights all blend together, giving the illusion of slow burning embers on a low fire.

You see, there we were, sitting around our campfire in our folding chairs, sharing camp memories and catching up on the year past – and despite the lack of flames and heat, as the sun set and the temperatures fell, each of us began moving our chairs closer to the fire. Some even stood and raised their hands as if to warm them over the flames, and others rested the soles of their feet to face them. And surprisingly, we (or at least I) felt somewhat warmer in doing so.

So it seems as though a Campfire can be, like many things, as much a state of mind as it is a reality.

That gave me something to think about.

Making a Flameless Fire is pretty easy, and relatively inexpensive. You will need:

Small Logs/Large Sticks – enough to make the façade of a teepee fire
Large stones – enough for a small fire ring
2-3 Ball Jar LED Light Lid Inserts
2-3 Wide Mouth Mason Jars – Sandie suggests using Yellow, Orange or Red ones**** (There’s Purple, too!)
1 string of white, battery operated lights + 1 string orange, battery operated lights [Dollar Store, seasonal] **

Supply Notes:

Lighting options:

I found this awesome 5 pack of solar powered Red Fairy Light Jar Lid Inserts with Rechargeable Battery (this includes the light inserts only. Jar and lid ring not included.)

Another option are these lovely battery operated lights at Joann’s – 25 on a string, with a brown wire. They are a little more expensive, but I love the warm glow they put off, and the brown wire blends right in with the fire.

Colored Jars: If you can’t find colored Mason jars, or don’t want to buy them, you can use colored cellophane inside the jars instead.

Use large stones to create a fire ring.
Put the LED Inserts into the Mason Jars, and set them in the middle of your fire ring.
Arrange the sticks over the Mason jars, leaving easy access to the jar-mouths so that you can turn them on and off.
Weave the lights over and around the sticks.
Wait for it to get dark, and then turn on the lights. Or vise versa. (← It’s directions like this one that make way for “dumb blogger jokes,” but trust me, if I don’t include it, someone out there will read this and ask why their fire didn’t work. True story.)

Ball Jar LED Light Lid Inserts are inexpensive, and can be purchased at Joanns.

That’s pretty much it. If you feel really motivated you can get fancy and personalize it with stacked stones, candles, or whatever makes you happy.

Sandie’s fire included Camp Fire’s three distinctive Wohelo candles, symbolizing the central values of the Camp Fire program; Work, Health, and Love.

Providing us with a fire during the fire-ban was awesome in and of itself, but Sandie didn’t stop there: she also brought us the most amazing Oven S’mores I’ve ever eaten. I mean, really, really, really – these things are the Cat’s Meow! I wish I could take credit for creating these ooey, gooey, layers of deliciousness, but that all goes to Tessa from Handle the Heat, who generously shares, like any good camper. Just click on the image below for the recipe.

Thanks to Tessa of Handle the Heat for sharing this amazing recipe and the use of this delectable image!

Here are a few more tips for camping without fire:

Know before you go. Check weather conditions and fire regulations before you go camping.
Plan your food.
- Use a campstove – Even under strict bans, you will likely be able to use a camping stove, or a small portable propane grill. You can do stovetop cooking, grill food, heat water, and reheat precooked foods.
- Precook your food at home – Pasta, Rice, and many other staples can be precooked and bagged for reheating later.
- Bring food that doesn’t need to be cooked.
Pack Warm. In the absence of a real fire, even warm days can turn could in the late evening.
Look Up. Without the ambient light of a campfire, the stars will seem even brighter. Enjoy them.

Camp Namanu friends are friends for life. | The Good Hearted Woman

You can take the girl out of the camp, but… she’ll just keep coming back. That’s Sandie on the right, along with our Campfire sisters Kim and Diane.

What is the tie that binds us friend of the long, long years?
Just this: we have shared the weather; we have slumbered side by side;
and friends that have camped together will never again divide.

~ Camp Fire Prayer

^{Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they will help us keep this site up and running. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!}

Camp Namanu – Sure To Shine {Fairy Lights}

September 9 By Renée 14 Comments

Those 70’s Girls (if you look Very closely, I am in the back row, second from the left.

Every year, I return to Camp Namanu, along the shores of the Sandy River, for the annual Alumni Reunion Weekend. Namanu is a place alive with magic, and holds so many of my own youthful memories that I cannot possibly express in a brief blog post how special this place is. And today that is not my goal, but it would be wrong to go on without noting that Namanu saved me. It was there that I first found my voice, wrote my first song (a Forest Echo in 3^rd grade when I was Sherwood Girl) and felt the strength and beauty and energy of a community truly Alive in the world.

I am just one of the thousands – hundreds of thousands – of Portland area girls (and boys… sorry, I am from an earlier time) who have spent a portion of their summer each year at Camp Namanu since it opened in 1924. The former campers and staff who return to the reunion, ages 18 to 101 (Miss Marcie, our guest of honor this year, first attended Camp Namanu in 1925, when Calvin Coolidge was president) treasure our common bond as fiercely as any family. Because we understand – in a way no one else can – how profoundly life-changing our time at Namanu was.

This year was the 90^th Anniversary of the opening of the camp, and one of my sweet Namanu sisters brought our little group a special project to celebrate. Fairy Lights.

We made our Fairy Lights together on the front porch of our cabin, and then sat around them like a magical campfire and talked into the night. It didn’t matter that it was a child’s craft, and the youngest of us was old enough to be a grandma. It was beautiful and lovely, and I am so grateful for it. Already, it is a moment I treasure.

HOW TO MAKE A FAIRY LIGHT

For each Fairy Light, you will need:

Glow sticks (Get them at the Dollar Store. We used the bracelet size)
Jar with a lid (We used Pint mason jars, but any jar will do)
White tulle (about a foot square)
Glitter (about a tablespoon)
Scissors

Cut one end off of a glow stick and shake it into the jar. The more you get onto the sides, the better. We all used two or three bracelet-sized glow sticks for ours. Choose different colors if you want.
Scrunch up the tulle and put it into the jar.
Sprinkle the glitter into the jar.
Put the lid on the jar and shake it all up.
Share a story. Sing a song. Dance a little. Enjoy.

Our Fairy Lights still shine, even in the light of day.

Fairy Lights are simple, and like many lovely things, they are fleeting. With fall coming on, and warm, dark nights upon us, it is the perfect time to share a little magic with someone – ages 1 to 101 – that you care about.