Easy lunch items for hiking that kids can help cook

We’re always looking for foods that the kids can help make, are easy to carry on a hike or to take to the beach in a small cooler, and that use up leftovers. If they happen to be relatively healthy, too, well, bonus!

These veggie wraps fit the bill. We’ve filled them with everything from stir-fry leftovers to grilled vegetables to the toppings from homemade pizza, and it’s hard to go wrong. Most young ‘uns love cream cheese, and that provides the base and makes the tortilla hold itself together. 

Kids can assembled their own, which gets them involved, and these are so easily transportable – just shove them into baggies (they stay nicer if you can wrap them in cling wrap first) and put them in a pack or a cooler for later. They’re a weekly lunch item for school for us. Lettuce or spinach adds extra crunch. Some fresh herbs, a little salt and pepper -- and if you have time, some sautéed garlic – all add flavor boosts, but aren’t necessary. These are just so user-friendly.

The Chocolate Crisp Jumbles are a popular variation on Rice Krispie treats that have been around for a while, but are worth adding to a regular repertoire, also because the whole family can get in on the action, they’re quick and easy to make, and they travel well. And they’re delicious!

Veggie Wraps

Tortillas (flour, whole wheat or whole grain)

Cream cheese, about 2 oz. per wrap

Mix of leftover cooked vegetables, about a half cup per wrap (we like combinations such as zucchini, tomatoes, onions and red peppers, and often throw in corn cut off the cob or black beans; adding sautéed garlic, fresh basil or parsley is nice, as well)

Lettuce or spinach (optional)

Place each tortilla flat on a surface and smear thinly to the edges with cream cheese. Spread vegetables across the center of the tortilla in a thin line. If using lettuce or spinach, lay it on top of the vegetables.

Fold one side of the tortilla over the mixture, and then roll it all the way to the end, using the cream cheese to make it stick. Cut in half.

If packaging for a hike or later eating, wrap each half individually in plastic wrap to hold it together better.

Chocolate Crisp Jumbles

Makes about two dozen.

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate

¼ c. unsalted butter

5 tbls. light corn syrup

3 cups Rice Krispies or other crispy rice cereal

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or very thinly grease them.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan over very low heat, in a microwave in increments so that it doesn’t burn or in a double boiler over simmering heat. Take care not to scorch!

Stir in the corn syrup and rice cereal. Drop by large spoonfuls onto the cookies sheets. Place in refrigerator for an hour until they are firm.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.

Cooking with kids on a camping trip, with recipes

Cooking for kids on a camping trip can be…fun. Often it goes something like this: You’re 20 minutes into trying to find the griddle that you know you put at the bottom of that one box, and then Jimmy asks what we’re having for breakfast, and then you find the griddle, but now where is the mix?

Then Ashley wants to know where the Band-Aids are, and can you get poison ivy if you touch it with your clothes on? And, by the way, she announces, she hates pancakes. Jimmy comes back to announce that he’s hungry, right now.

The banana-peanut butter recipe makes great waffles.

They want this, they want that. “Ewwwww” to that. Are we having (fill in the blank with something you didn’t bring)? And you’d better have the stuff for s’mores on hand.

Cooking with kids, though, that can be a different story (a messier one, yes, but it’s all trade-offs here…). When they’ve had some say about what’s being made and they’re invested in the outcome, they’re usually – well, I say usually because we all know there are no guarantees here – more agreeable. At the very least, it keeps them from putting smelly things they find near the creek in each other’s sleeping bags. For now.

Here are two recipes that are big hits out on the road, and not only are they a blast to whip up with input from everyone in the family, they’re fairly forgiving. Note: You can speed up the pizza process if you make the pizza dough ahead and bring it along (it will keep, chilled, for up to two days), or bring commercially prepared pizza dough instead. And these toppings are just suggestions – if you have a kid who likes Froot Loops on his pie, why not?

Pizza on the Grill

Pizza dough

1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast

1 ½ cups warm water

¼ cup olive oil, plus more for oiling dough

4 cups flour, plus more for kneading

1 ½ tsp. salt

Pizza

Pizza dough (recipe below makes enough for six individual pizzas)

3 cups of your favorite pizza sauce

3-4 cups mozzarella cheese or mix of cheeses, grated

1 1/2 cups each of toppings, diced, sliced or chopped: black olives, ham, sausage (cooked), pepperoni, pineapple, onions, mushrooms, red or green peppers, fresh tomatoes, artichoke hearts, basil, sweet corn kernels.

Make the dough: Dissolve yeast in warm (not hot; check it on your wrist) water for five minutes. Add oil, flour and salt. Mix until blended, and then knead for eight minutes (kids love to do this; put a piece of aluminum foil on a table and flour it, and then turn them loose).

Cover the dough and put it somewhere to rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ hours. When ready, punch down and allow to rise again until doubled, about another half hour.

Meanwhile, prepare charcoal grill or preheat gas grill to medium or 350 degrees. Tear six 12-inch sheets of aluminum foil and, using a piece of paper towel, slick with olive oil. Lightly oil everyone’s hands and divide dough into six equal portions, giving each person their own to flatten on a piece of aluminum foil and shape into a pizza (gently flatten and push into shape, and make a rim around the edges).

Flop each crust onto the grill dough side down, two at a time, and gently ease the foil off. Grill for about 3 minutes, or until the dough starts to puff up and the bottom looks like it’s getting slightly crispy. Using a large grill spatula, transfer each crust, grilled side up, back onto its foil and set aside. Repeat with the rest of the crusts. You can do this part several hours in advance; just let the crusts sit somewhere covered to keep bugs off.

Make the pizzas: Have all of the ingredients out – the sauce, the cheese and the toppings – so that everyone is able to reach to custom-assemble a pizza. They should first slather on about a half cup of sauce, then the same amount of cheese, and then the toppings.

Using a large grill spatula (sometimes two is better), carefully lift or slide each pizza from the aluminum foil and put it back on the grill (depending on how large your grill is, you can grill two or three at a time). Cook, with the lid on or top down, until the cheese melts, the toppings are heated and the bottom of the pizza is nice and crispy and evenly browned (sometimes you have to rotate the pizzas). It usually takes about 5-6 minutes. Makes 6 individual-size pizzas.

Peanut Butter & Banana Pancakes

2/3 cup of pancake or waffle batter, made according to package directions (whole grain, buckwheat and buttermilk all work well with this recipe)

1 banana, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons peanut butter, creamy or chunky

Honey or maple syrup for topping

Stir banana and peanut butter into batter. Heat griddle over medium-high heat. Spoon portions of the mixture onto the hot griddle – feel free to make shapes, such as Mickey Mouse or hearts – and cook on each side until golden. Serve with honey or syrup. Makes about 8 medium pancakes

The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.