Campfire Dining with Chiquita Bananas

There’s a popular pin on Pinterest with the quote, “I’m outdoorsy in that I like to drink on patios.”  I gotta admit, that kinda describes me.  No doubt, I love to go running outside, I enjoy letting my little ones play at the park, and I certainly like a good picnic.  But, hiking with gear beyond a diaper bag? Sleeping outside? Using nature as my toilet? Yeah, that’s not for me.

So, when it occurred to me that a blog post on campfire treats would be a fun topic, it also occurred to me that I should make treats that are versatile enough to make regardless of your level of comfort when it comes to the outdoors.  Whether you enjoy sipping a glass of chardonnay on your patio or drinking clarified water from a mountain stream mid-hike, these are some fun summer treats that you can make in your oven, on a grill, or on top of a fire pit.  And, of course the desserts make use of everyone’s favorite portable sweet treat: Chiquita bananas!

Camp Quesadillas – I’m definitely a quesadilla girl.  I love that you can put anything between two tortillas and cheese and it will turn out tasting delightful.  On the night of our outside dining adventure, we offered goat cheese, feta, mozzarella and a Mexican cheese blend, along with toppings that I had made in advance: caramelized onions and crumbled bacon.

To assemble the quesadillas, lay out large pieces of aluminum foil coated with cooking spray. Top each piece of foil with a tortilla, cover in the cheese and toppings of your choice, then fold the tortilla in half.  Seal the foil.  Place on heated grill (or oven/grate on top of fire pit) and cook until tortilla gets crispy.  Depending on how hot your fire is, this can happen quite quickly, so be sure to check often.

Hobo Packets – I’ve had these ever since I was a little girl.  I like to call them Kitchen Sink Packets.  I literally put in any veggies, potatoes and meat that I need to use up.  Here’s how I like ‘em:

Ingredients: chunks of uncooked potatoes, baby carrots, halved mushrooms, trimmed green beans, quartered onions, and cherry tomatoes.  You can also add pre-cooked ground beef, sausage or rotisserie chicken.

On large pieces of foil, coated with cooking spray, assemble individual hobo packets with desired veggies and meats.  Next you’ll want to make a dressing.  I like to either mix a can of cream of mushroom soup thinned with milk or water or Italian vinaigrette.  Pour approximately 1/3 cup of dressing over each packet and fold foil up over ingredients to seal.  Put on top of heat source and cook until potatoes are tender (approx. 20-35 minutes).  Open packets carefully as hot steam will escape!

Chiquita Banana Campfire Cones - Ice cream isn’t necessarily a convenient camping ingredient, so these campfire cones sub ice cream for the part we really want anyway – toppings!  Holding your waffle cones, layer fruits like Chiquita bananas with marshmallows, cereals, and chocolate candies.  Wrap the cone in aluminum foil to seal and place on indirect heat if available or on the low setting of a grill or oven.  Heat until the marshmallows have melted.  Yum!

Toasted Chiquita Banana Splits -  For our last  recipe du jour, visit our Thrive section on our Chiquita Moms Community.  This is one fireside treat you won’t wanna miss!