Showing posts with label CubScouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CubScouts. Show all posts

November 15, 2009

Cub Scout Food.... Thanksgiving Edition

I am involved in Cub Scouting. My husband is the Cub Master and I have served on Committee and as Tiger Cub Den Leader playing such roles as popcorn chair and Blue and Gold Banquet coordinator. I also serve as the food consultant of sorts for camping food and pack meeting food activities. This next week we are having our annual Thanksgiving meeting and we have decided to do a "Thanksgiving meal in a foil packet" activity. Cooking in foil packets is a camping technique we use with Cub Scouts for campfire cooking. The boys cook a meat and veggies in a packet made of foil over coals until done. Once the meat is done the rest is done. Today I spent lunch experimenting with our newest venture in foil packet cooking. Here is what I did...

I made small patties out of ground turkey and a bit of salt and pepper.



Then I chopped sweet potatoes into cubes



and I premixed some stuffing mix - to go with turkey (Used Albertson's brand for $.99 a box)


You will need sliced onion as a barrier under the meat in the packet to add moisture and to keep the meat from burning on the bottom. Then you add it all into the folded foil packet.

We also added a marshmallow on top of the sweet potatoes and I recommend a pat of butter, too. The last one I did had the butter and it was MUCH BETTER.... 'cause butter is just better, right? LOL


My daughter folding her own packet... it is BEST to use heavy duty foil for this.

My son getting ready to put his on the fire...

The fire...
The finished meal after cooking.... just open and enjoy! :)

The marshmallow, btw, disappears but the flavor is there. The heat melts it completely.
The bottom picture is a packet of potatoes and stuffing we made extra for us to share - almost done but I opened it to show progress...

You can be creative and add more spices to the meat or some cinnamon and brown sugar to your potatoes.

You could also add some fresh green beans or other veggies as you choose, too.

The final step in all of this is adding one ice cube to the packet to make more moisture and steam for quicker cooking.

On a good hot fire it takes about 25 to 30 minutes to fully cook the meal in a packet.

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I will do my best. I will also be taking pictures at the meeting as the boys do this, too.

Happy camp cooking!!!

December 15, 2008

Sugar Cookies...


This is a standard recipe from my reliable Betty Crocker Cookbook (1987) that I got when I got married from Dan's cousin... Etamarie... I use it quite often.

Here is the recipe I am doing today with our Tiger Cubs for our Christmas party.

Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup margarine or butter softened
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
Granulated sugar for topping (I also buy colored sugar sprinkles or use other sprinkles for this)

Mix powdered sugar, margarine or butter, vanilla, almond extract and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients which have been sifted together before adding except for the granulated sugar (remember it is for the top right before baking). Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours before using.

Makes a bit of a crumbly dough but then I work it into a ball and flatten to refrigerate.


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Divide dough into halves. Roll each half 3/16 inch thick on lightly floured cloth covered board. I often do not have a cloth so I just use parchment paper. Cut into desired shapes with 2 to 2 1/2 inch cookie cutters; sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake until edges are light brown, 7 to 8 minutes or so. Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

We rolled it out, cut the shapes and then decorated...

Got a picture of the finished cookies and the boys but without permissions I won't put it here...

I will try to get a picture tomorrow night of just the cookies before we serve them. This was SO MUCH fun!!!