The purpose of this recipe is to make a quick, flavorful chili, with little work. It has high protein for sustained energy, and no need for fresh or refrigerated ingredients like raw meat and onions. When you are staying at camp, camping out on the trail, or staying somewhere remote with no refrigerator, it's pretty hard to whip up a tasty meal without using any fresh ingredients. Canned products may fit the bill, but they just don't taste like mama used to make!


However, canned foods are portable, and they can be kept at camp for a very long time without worry of spoilage or attracting mice. So here's a way to fill up family or unexpected guests with a more "homemade" tasting chili than you can get from a basic can!

Recipe ingredients:                                                     Recipe substitution ideas:

Any other ingredients are optional. Dump all ingredients in a large crock pot, or stockpot. Do not drain anything! all juices must go in! You can add a little water if you like extra juice in your chili, but don't over do it.

This "camp" chili has a complex flavor, and for best taste results, you should simmer it on the stove or in a crockpot. Canned ingredients are fine to just heat and eat, but any chili always tastes better when simmered on a low heat for a long time! When you are making it at home... it tastes the very best taken from the refrigerator and reheated again the next day!

You can throw this chili in a crock pot all day while you are out enjoying the summer sun. Crock pot temperatures may vary, so just put it on hot enough to keep it around "eating temperature" not high enough to burn it (Some trial and error here.) Or when cooking on the stove top, you can bring it to a near boil (while stirring frequently) and then turn the flame down, and simmer on low, for as long as you can, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom and burning.

It serves 6-8 depending on how big your eaters are!

On a tinfoil lined baking pan, slice one lemon and layer it on top of the tinfoil. Place shrimp over lemon slices. Place one stick worth of sliced butter "pats" on top of the shrimp. Then sprinkle one pack of dried Italian or Creole seasoning. Put in the oven and bake at 350 for 15 min.

Recipe options: You can also substitute finely chopped garlic (for the dried Italian or Creole seasoning,) if you prefer garlic butter shrimp.


If you like to use "I can't believe it's not butter" instead of real butter, you can pour on one half of a cup of it melted, (1/2 Cup "ICBINB" equals 1 stick of real butter.) It melts very fast in the microwave, so watch it while it heats so it doesn't get a burnt taste.

This is a tasty quick meal idea for when you are busy:
If you put to boil one pot, about six to eight cups of water, before you begin getting the shrimp ready... after the shrimp is in the oven and the water has come to a boil:
You can remove two cups of the boiling water from the pot, carefully pouring it into a large glass measuring cup (glass preferably, so it doesn't melt like plastic might.)
Then you replace the remaining boiled water (in the pot) back on the stove, turn off the burner. Add frozen broccoli florets to the boiled water. Put the cover on and let it sit in the pot until the shrimp is done.