Step away from the grill this Father’s Day and head to the great outdoors for a little hiking, fishing or general hanging out – and good eatin’. Prep your food and wrap up your meals at home first, so that after a day of family fun, you can settle down by the campfire and cook or heat up that nice meal you prepped ahead of time.

It doesn’t have to be fancy. So says Sue Love, who goes camping with her husband and friends several times each summer.

“We try to keep it pretty simple when fixing meals for camping,” she said. “I cook the food at home and put it into foil.”

Later, when stomachs are starting to growl, she just tosses the foil package right on the campfire coals.

Her favorite is a beef stew mixture that doesn’t include much liquid. In the morning, it’s coal-fired breakfast burritos. For those, she puts home-cooked scrambled eggs, potatoes, cheese and some sausage in a tortilla and rolls it up in foil. She brings along some green chili, which warms up on the camp stove while the foil packets heat.

For Love, it is about being outdoors and with friends.

“I think the best part of dining by a campfire is hanging out with our friends,” she said. “We are engaged in conversations and laughter, instead of burying our head in our phones. But there is plenty of good food that goes along with that.”

Elissa Long plans longer camping trips, usually three to four days. She has a large extended family and pre-makes most of the food for easy meals. The camp stove is attached to their pop-up tent, but they bring a grill, too. Occasionally, they will build a campfire for cooking.

“Usually, the first night I do a meal that is quick to warm up on the stove, like taco meat or pulled barbecue pork, since we are setting up the campsite,” she said. “So quick and easy.”

The next evenings, she grills burgers, hot dogs and brats.

“Sometimes I’ll have steaks or marinated boneless chicken thighs or breasts,” she said. “I don’t like doing chicken with bones because they take forever to grill on a campfire grill.”

She also pre-makes potato packets in foil packages that, like Love, she tosses onto campfire coals.

“Breakfasts are usually scrambled eggs that I pre-whip and store in a container,” she said. “And we always do pancakes one morning with bacon. With as many people as I’m feeding, I like to keep it as simple as possible.”

Long admits that it’s a lot of work getting ready for a camping trip, but “we do have so much fun and love seeing this beautiful state we live in.”

Both these campers are list makers, so they are sure to have all the equipment and supplies with them once in the field. A list of items for a happy camping experience is on the cover, and here are some easy-to-prepare recipes for dishes that are certain to make any dad feel like king of the road. What could be a better way to wish the man in your life a happy Father’s Day?