Girl Scout Hobo Packet

When I was a Girl Scout on my first camping trip, our Troup Leader – Ms Trapane, taught us to make these packets and s’mores as part of earning our cooking and camping badges.  I have made them ever since!  These can be made in the oven or on the campfire.

For each packet:

• 4-6 oz ground beef formed in a rounded pyramid
• 1 large potato cut up into 2 inch cubes
• 2 carrots cut into 2 inch lengths
• 1 rib of celery cut into 2 inch lengths
• ½ onion medium cut in 2 inch dice and separated
• 1-2 tsp butter or oil (optional – add for more juice if meat is very lean)
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cut a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil about 18 inches long.  Place the meat in the center of the foil.  Surround the meat with the vegetables in one layer.  Bring the long ends of the foil together and fold down in 1 inch folds until formed around the meal.  Fold the remaining ends up and crimp forming around the meal.  Put in a medium fire until done or in a preheated 350°F oven for about 35-45 minutes.  Be very careful when opening packet as the steam will blast out – OPEN VERY SLOWLY!  Eat right out of the packet supported by a plate. Serve with a piece of toasted bread for soaking up the great juices!

Some recommended substitutions are steak tips, beef stew meat, chicken, green beans, cabbage, parsnips, cauliflower or mix and match depending on taste buds of dinner mates.  These can be made ahead and cooked later in the day after a day full of adventure!

Cauliflower Side Dish

These can be made in the oven or in a Hobo packet

Ingredients:

• 1 head Cauliflower cut into 8 pieces with stem as ‘handle’
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
• 1 clove garlic minced (optional)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

Remove leaves from base of cauliflower.  Cut the cauliflower so that the stem can be used as a ‘handle’ for each piece.  Place the pieces on a pan for the oven, convection or toaster oven.  Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over the cauliflower and then salt and pepper to taste.  Flip over to distribute on both sides.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes and then remove from oven and flip the cauliflower. Rotate pan 180 degrees and cook another 5-10 minutes.  The cauliflower will still be a little crunchy at 15-20 minutes and soft at 25 minutes.

Broccoli and cabbage can be cooked this way also or combined and cooked with the cauliflower.  This works well for asparagus, but should only be cooked about 15 minutes.

This side dish can be cooked in a hobo packet as well.  Taste great hot or cold!