Pie Iron
Butter two slices of bread and place one slice, butter side down, inside the pie iron. Layer your choice of hot sandwich ingredients on top of the bread. Add the other slice of bread on top, butter side up. Close the pie iron and cook over the campfire, alternating back and forth between the sides to evenly cook the food. The bread will be golden-brown, and the ingredients in the middle should be thoroughly cooked when done. In some cases, you may need to precook the middle ingredients, especially meat, if they take longer to cook than the bread.
Foil Packs
Make a foil-pack dinner. Lay a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil--or a doubled sheet of ordinary aluminum foil--out and layer the ingredients for your meal into it. For example, you could add thinly sliced tomatoes and carrots along with chunks of either beef or chicken, cheese, salsa and taco seasoning. Then bring the sides of the foil up and together, rolling or folding over the top and ends to seal the packet. Remember to leave room for air circulation inside the packet. Then place the foil pack on a grill or even in the coals of a fire and leave to cook until the meat is cooked completely through. You can use tongs to turn the foil pack every so often, if necessary, to ensure even cooking.
One Pot Meals
Measure the ingredients for a one-pot meal into a zip-top plastic bag and seal it, squeezing out as much air as possible. If you use dried ingredients, such as pasta, cheese powder or other dry seasonings and dried vegetables, no preservation will be necessary. Just toss the bag in your backpack, boil water in a pot over the camp stove or campfire, add the ingredients and stir until the pasta is cooked. Another quick and easy recipe is for oatmeal. Add quick-cooking oats and dried fruit to your zip-top bag. Sprinkle in a little brown sugar, seal and close. If you've used a heavy-duty or freezer bag, you can even pour hot water into the bag and let the oats cook inside it; just seal the bag, shake it to evenly distribute the water, and wait a few minutes for the oats to cook.
