How To Spice Up Your Outdoor Cooking with Online Camping Recipes

Copyright 2006 Karin Manning

There’s something so amazing about cooking in the outdoors. The scent of fresh air, the harmonious singing of birds, and the awesome panoramic view seem to beckon the beauty of one’s soul and enhance the senses. That makes cooking outdoors such a wonderful experience.

Simple outdoor cooking is good enough in itself - toasting marshmallows, hotdogs and stuff. But, have you ever wondered how to fix up some gourmet meal or inventing a new dish while you’re outdoors?

Now, that sounds like a lot of fun. In fact, that’s very possible. But, of course you need some preparation on this one. When your family is out there in the open and far from the comforts of modern civilization, it’s always advisable to be prepared for anything, whether it be a bear attack, bad weather, or surprising circumstances like your children getting sick.

Even cooking itself needs a whole lot of preparation. The cooking utensils, ingredients, food containers, including the camping recipes must be carefully laid out so you don’t mess up and ruin the chance of having a great fun outdoors.

So, you may be asking where can I find all those camping recipes? Well, choosing your camping recipes is not a problem at all. If you don’t have that much patience in scanning your recipe books, you can just go online and browse on lots of camping recipes available on several campers’ sites. There are tons of camping recipes for every kind of person all with unique and interesting names – from a 15-minute recipe called ants on a log, which kids would love to a 45-minute hunter’s stew. Also, if your family’s health is a concern, there are websites that offer healthy camping recipes of all sorts. For those who just can’t do away with fast food and junk foods, there are also available mouth-watering camping recipes that you would surely love. Some websites even have gourmet camping recipes for people who are used to dining out in expensive restaurants, which you can duplicate in just a matter of minutes.

The variety of camping recipes online gives you and your family a chance to experiment on several food ingredients, which may enhance your cooking skills.

But wait, before you start downloading some of these camping recipes, bear a few important things in mind. When picking among these camping recipes online, be reminded of your family’s food preference and tastes, as well as the availability of the ingredients of the recipes you’ve chosen. Consider also those camping recipes that are healthy for everyone.

Finally, don’t go picking any camping recipes just because it seems good enough for your taste buds, choose that which would fit to your budget also.

Camping Supply Secrets: Camping Tips, Camping Equipment And Camping Gear Tricks

Copyright 2006 Karin Manning

Getting the right camping gear need not be a huge expense.

Here are some quick money-saving tips that you can use today to make sure you have the right equipment for your camping trip without breaking the budget.

Visit online auction sites like Ebay where you’ll be able to pick most of the things you need at a fraction of the cost. Make sure before you place any bids on auctions that you check out the seller’s feedback. Purchases done via Paypal are also covered by Paypal’s Buyer Protection.

Look at your local newspapers often to find out if there are any offline auctions soon where camping items will feature at bargain prices.

Visit garage sales in your area where you could easily pick up tents, air mattresses, air pumps etc at really low prices.

Buy local trading magazines/newspapers where people advertise their second hand items cheaply. Also look for the items listed in “freebies” and look out for people who may be willing to trade something of theirs for something of yours.

Contact some scout halls in your local area. They often upgrade their camping equipment and are often happy to sell their second hand equipment at cheap prices.

Visit amazon.com where people sell their camping items relatively cheaply.

Visit your local army surplus store for equipment specials.

Surf the internet regularly for great camping specials, including free shipping.

Below are a few online stores that offer free shipping to their customers. Conditions may apply.

http://www.paragonsports.com offers Free Shipping on all orders over $48.95.

http://www.explore64.com offers free shipping on US orders over $50.00

http://www.usoutdoorstore.com offers free shipping and no sales tax on US orders over $40.00.

http://www.altrec.com offers free return shipping on selected camping items.

There’s no need to pay full price for camping gear when there are so many online businesses offering serious discounts to its visitors.

http://www.BackCountryOutlet.com regularly offers up to 70% off brand name camping gear.

http://www.rei-outlet.com offers the best assortment of brand-name seconds, overstocks and closeouts with discounts of 20-70% for its visitors.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com is America’s ultimate shooting sports discounter.

http://www.wildDay.com is Europe’s leading online retailer of outdoor equipment and clothing at prices up to 65% less than you will find elsewhere. Keep an eye on your wallet by keeping an eye out for the best petrol prices and cars with low mileage costs. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ is a government website listing mileage rates for vehicles going as far back as 1985.

This is not where your savings end. It is possible to find camping gear free. Without a doubt, the best place to find camping gear for FREE is to ask your family and friends if you can borrow it. Usually most people won’t have a problem with that and if you are forced to do a “trade” of some kind so that you can use their items accept it as better than having to physically pay money for it and come to a mutually acceptable arrangement between you.

So there you have it. Camping need not be expensive. I’ve shared with you the many places you can go to, starting today, where you will be able to get camping gear for a fraction of its original price or, even better, free. So what are you waiting for! With such a ready supply of discount camping equipment, camping on a budget has never been easier.

10 Things You Must Know When Camping In Bear Country

Campgrounds are now having to incorporate policies and procedures to ensure bear conservation and safety for campers. The DEC Campgrounds in the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves in New York State are two such campgrounds.

Copyright 2006 Karin Manning

It goes without saying that there are risks when it comes to camping in bear country.

In fact, on 14 April 2006 this risk became a tragic fact of life when a 6 year old girl received fatal injuries from a black bear while camping.

Campgrounds are now having to incorporate policies and procedures to ensure bear conservation and safety for campers. The DEC Campgrounds in the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves in New York State are two such campgrounds. Their staff have developed specific policies and procedures to minimize the occurrence of bear problems at their campgrounds while maintaining a healthy, natural black bear population.

There are eight critical ways that you can minimise the chances of getting hurt by bears by following these simple tips:

1. Avoid traditional bear feeding areas.

2. Avoid camp locations where bears have been known to roam in the past.

3. Avoid camping where you may have trouble seeing a bear through vegetation.

4. Avoid camping where you see bear droppings and fresh tracks.

5. Never feed wild bears.

6. Store your food in a cooler which is locked in the car

7. Like most animals, bears are attracted to garbage so make sure your campsite is very clean

8. Remember that behind every cute baby bear is a very overprotective bear mother!

9. Stop fishing when bears are present. They want your fish more than you do.

10. The minimum safe distance from a bear is 50-100 yards.

There are now a number of organizations that are working passionately on increasing bear awareness in the community. The National Spokesman of The National Be Bear Aware & Wildlife Stewardship Campaign, General H Norman Schwarzkopf, is dedicated to providing teachers, college students, youth groups and guiding/hunting groups with educational materials and training programs to teach outdoor enthusiasts and residents up to date safety skills and techniques for camping, hunting, viewing, hiking, photographing and living with wildlife like bears safely and responsibly. More information is available at the Campaign's website at http://www.bebearawaresw.org.

Along a similar vein, The 'Bear Safe Washington' program began in 1999 with funding from the World Society for the Protection of Animals. This program of presentations, brochures and seminars was designed to raise awareness of all bear issues in Washington State. Its bear safe guide can be downloaded at http://www.insightwildlife.com/bearsafe.htm

The Get Bear Smart Society based in Whistler, Canada, educates people on dealing with bears in the community and promoting innovative bear management practices. Supporters can make donations by visiting their website at http://www.bearsmart.com.