Baked apples are a fun, easy dessert to cook in the fire when you're camping.  The basic idea is to core of the center of the apple, fill the center with a filling, wrap the whole thing in foil, and cook it in the fire.

To core an apple, I take a paring knife and, from the top, cut around the core of the apple, but not all the way to the bottom.  Then take a spoon, and use it to remove the core that you just cut around.  It helps if you don't break through to the bottom of the apple.  If possible, leave the bottom of the apple intact.  Also be sure to save a portion of the top of the core that you cut out.  This will be used to keep the filling from leaking out of the apple while you are cooking it.

After you remove the apple core, fill the center of the apple with your favorite filling.  I often use cinnamon and sugar, but there are many other possibilities.  You might like to try brown sugar, red hots, marshmallows, nuts, raisins, caramel, or anything else that you might be able to imagine.  After filling the center of the apple what you're filling, put the top of the core back on.  Now wrap the apple in heavy duty aluminum foil.

After the apple is all ready to go, put it in the coals of your fire.  It may take 45 to 60 minutes to cook the apple.  You might also try cooking the apples in a Dutch oven.  The heat may be a bit easier to regulate, since the apples are not in direct contact with the coals.

After the apple is done them, remove from the fire opening alone foil and enjoy a delicious, hot, baked apple!

I like rice in my foil dinners.  But it requires some moisture.  Usually I make up the foil packet, leaving one end open, and then pour 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water in open end and then seal that end up. Unfortunately, it seems like my foil packet is never quite air (or water) tight and the water starts to leak out.

I found a solution.  Ice cubes.

Instead of putting water in, put some ice cubes in.  It worked great.  Now the water doesn't run out, and the cubes eventually melt to provide the moisture for the rice.  Not only that, but the other vegetables cooked better too.

Foil dinners are a long time favorite over the fire.  They are easy to make, easy to cook, and you can eat them right in the foil, so there isn't much to clean up.

My standard dinner includes hamburger, potatoes, carrots, onions, and rice.  You probably have a standard foil dinner as well.  Here are 12 things you can do to change your foil dinner:

1. Try different meats in your foil dinner, such has steak, chicken, sausage, kielbasa, pork chops, fish.
2. Marinate the meat before adding to your foil dinners.
3. Try different vegetables, like corn, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cabbage leaves, sweet potatoes
4. Try some fruit.  Pineapple slices with chicken can be very tasty.  Slice apples can add a wonderful flavor to pork.  Lemon slices with fish
5. Try different spices.  Consider onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, curry, chili powder, Mrs. Dash, seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, salsa, garlic cloves, dry onion soup mix, bay leaves.  There are a bunch of different types of seasonings available at your local grocery store.
6. Liquid seasons can help also.  You might like Worcestershire sauce, Heinz 57, barbecue sauce, ketchup, teriyaki, soy sauce, or Tabasco sauce.
7. What about dressings?  Try Italian dressing for a spiced up flavor.  Crush up some bouillion cubes and sprinkle on your foil dinner before cooking.
8. Different soups can had a great taste.  Adding a dry onion soup mix is great.  Or try a few tablespoons of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken.
9. Make a stir fry with some chicken, snow peas and other vegetables, stir fry sauce, and rice.  Seal the whole foil dinner up except one end.  Poor some water into that end so that the rice gets steamed.  If you get the right amount of water for the rice, this works great.  Make sure to have your foil dinner sealed up tight, so that water doesn't leak out.  If it's going to be a while before you cook, you can try ice cubes instead of adding water.
10. Make foil dinner fajitas with marinated chicken or beef strips, onions, peppers.  Serve on tortillas with cheese.
11. Hash browns, scrambled egg (uncooked), and sausage patty can make a great breakfast meal.
12. How about the packets of seasonings that you can get for different kinds of sauces and gravies?  Try Au Jus, gravy mixes, buffalo wings seasonig mix, pot roast seasoning, meat loaf seasonings, etc.  Check out the seasoning packets at your grocery store.

Foil dinners are great way to cook when you are camping.  Kids will have fun make their own creations and you can make them ahead of time, and put them in the fire when you get to your campsite.  Try some of these suggestions to spice up your foil dinners!

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Foil is easy to use to cook over the campfire. It is light-weight, inexpensive, widely available, can be used to cook a variety of meals, and cleanup is extremely easy. Just roll the foil up and toss in the garbage. You can even eat right out of the foil packet if you want. Here are some tips for using foil to cook campfire meals:

• Use heavy-duty foil. While a bit more expensive, the extra thickness will help keep your food from burning and will conduct the heat better. Two layers are best. While a common suggestion is to put the shiny side of the foil to the inside of the packet (to reflect heat better, I suppose), Reynolds says that it doesn't matter which side of the aluminum foil you use. Both sides do the same job. Even so, I have always put the shiny side in and I suspect most of you do the same.
• Foil cooking depends on moisture inside the foil packet, so make sure that the folds of your foil packet are tight and that the food you are cooking has sufficient moisture. If not, add some by folding the packet up except for one end, and then add a tablespoon or two of water, broth, salad dressing, or butter before you seal the packet. Sliced onions can also be used to add moisture.
• Cooking time will vary depending on the temperature of the coals. Make sure to cook your meal sufficiently. Check one packet for doneness before pulling all of them out of the fire. That way you will only have to rewrap up one packet if they still need more time. Remember that some vegetables (potatoes and carrots, for example), may take more time to cook through.
• You can also put newspaper between the layers of aluminum foil to help keep the food from burning.
• For quick foil meals, microwave the food before wrapping in aluminum foil. Then when you get to camp, you only have to warm up the foil packets instead of cooking them completely, which will shorten your cooking time considerably.
• If you need to warm something up, wrap it in foil and put it near the edge of the fire, turning occasionally (I have warmed up tortillas for burritos this way, for example).

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Mix soup, water, and minute rice together. Lay out two pieces of heavy-duty foil for each packet and pour half of soup mixture onto each foil packet. You can cut chicken into strips or put whole breast on top of soup and rice mix. Onions can be added for flavor and season to taste. Pull up edges of foil and roll them closed, then tuck ends under. Place foil packets in campfire coals for 15 minutes on each side.