Depends how inexpensive you are looking I guess. For convenience go the tinned foods for bulk - baked beans, corn kernels, diced cooked tomatoes, pineapple etc. Packaged foods such as pasta and rice make a good starting point and help bulk out the menu. There are endless variations once you start combining these, with the addition of cheap meats for doing on the grill - sausages, chicken, ground meats. Try garlic bread on the bbq - also a great filler for hungry campers - split french rolls, spread with garlic butter, seal in foil and chuck it on the grill till done. Fish in foil is great too with some oil, seasoning and lemon juice (probably best to freeze the fish for better keeping if you're in the desert).
For vegies potatoes are easy to make and easy to keep - boil them up in a big pot, add oil/butter, salt & pepper and spices (parsley if you want to be fancy!). Or if you want simply wrap in foil with a dab of butter/ splash of oil and salt & pepper. Which leads to baked potatoes stuffed with chilli con carne or whatever filling you have handy. Onions too are great in foil, pumpkin can be done also, great with sage and onion stuffing.
Kebabs can be done with lots of simple items- tomatoes, pineapple, mushrooms, bacon, onions, capsicum (bell peppers), marinated meat chunks, bay/sage leaves - great fun to eat and go down well with pretty much anyone, can be made to satisy either carnivores or vegetarians. Try fruit ones for a tasty change. Bananas in foil with butter and brown sugar and a splash of rum is a fantastic desert.
Tortilla/Pita wraps are handy and portable for lunch with an endless variety of fillings. Or for a different hot dish try making cassadillas (sp?) over the grill filled with cheese, luncheon meats, onions, tomato sauces - mmm yum.
Good luck with it - sounds like a challenge!  |