Filed under: Comfort at Camp, Family Camping, Menu Planning & Cooking

An Easy Hot Meal for Hungry Campers

Back about the time the Woodall’s blog first began early in 2010, a colleague of mine posted an absolutely inspired post about the wisdom of camping with your crock pot. An easy way to make great meals to feed hungry campers, she said her family never traveled without one in the camper. Since I read her post, neither has mine.

I am writing to share with you today a terrific twist on a family favorite that is sure to satisfy hungry hikers, bikers, campers and outdoors people of all ages: Slow-Cooked Beef Sandwiches with a Southwestern Flair. The ingredients are easy to acquire:

• 1 beef chuck roast, 2-3 lbs. (I buy whatever is on sale and have never been disappointed)
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 can chicken broth
• Fresh green chilies or 3 cans diced green chilies (the original recipe I modified called for 3 cans chipotle chilies in adobo, but we about burned our tongues off when eating it, so if you are a purist, consider yourself warned!)
• 2 Tbsps chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 cups your favorite sweet barbeque sauce (I like to use a chipotle flavored sauce to honor the chipotle chilies I am omitting)

All of these items, except perhaps the chipotle chiles are easy enough to acquire in any grocery store so you can purchase them before you leave home or from wherever you are camping.

Then, before you take off for your day of hiking, biking or just being outdoors, simply toss (gently, the barbeque sauce will make a real mess

otherwise) all ingredients into the crock pot and cook on low 6 to 8 hours, until the meat is tender enough to shred. When the meat is done, simply remove it from pot and shred when it is cool enough to handle. Transfer the sauce to a large saucepan and reduce it to the thickness of barbeque sauce. Combine the sauce with the meat and serve this pulled beef on its own, in warm sandwich buns with dill pickles or in honor of its southwestern roots, in warm tortillas with sour cream. Accompanied with a small fresh salad or a few chips, this is a delicious satisfying meal. It is especially good for the cooler nights of spring and fall camping. Bon appétit!
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Last 5 posts by Diane Berry

• Another Winter Family Adventure - February 10th, 2013
• A Winter Family Adventure! - February 3rd, 2013
• The Forest in Winter - January 27th, 2013
• A Lookout in Winter - January 20th, 2013
• Picuris Peak 2: The Royal Road! - January 13th, 2013