Wally smoothered with onions, peppers, potatoes, butter spray, and greek seasoning!

For as much as I enjoy futzing around with cooking on the trail, one time I really DON'T like to do that is on night one. (Maybe a few too many rainy first nights. LOL) My current thing is to take in a half pound of BBQ brisket and a couple of hoagie buns. It's a quick fix and doable under a tarp if needed....

Depending on the season/weather, timing, miles traveled and space I like:
Tuna salad and Doritos.
Chicken soup and croissants.
Chili and saltines.
Some traditional family hot-dish and breadsticks.
Whatever my wife might make to speed my departure...
Laker & rice if it's a nice night for baking while disposing of tuna salad cause I won't trust it the next day.

All include coffee some desert and if possible an evening paddle and certainly hot cocoa and rum and/or some other tradition while hoping for northern lights.

On my last two trips(with just one other person) we had chicken breasts and dumplings.

My favorite is freshly caught walleye, lightly breaded, eaten straight from the pan with gusto.

Of course, you have to catch the fish first. Some trips I do, some I don't.

This just completed trip I caught a 21" waldo at about 8PM our first night.

Yum.

The Beaver

This year it was steaks. Every year before this had been boneless chops with pepper and onion. Put it all in a freezer bag a few days before departure, once you are at camp cook over the fire in a large cooking bag. It never gets dry with all the moisture in the bag and it is very good.

The second night this year we had chicken fajitas. Pre-cooked chicken breasts cut into strips with raw onions and peppers. Throw it in a cooking bag and cook away. Add cooked ingredients to a couple of tortillas with cheese, and salsa; spanish rice as a side and you have a mexican night in the northwoods. All you need is some margaritas. Ole!

Yeah, steak is good.  What else do you do for the first night?

Here's one I am planning on using on my trip later this month.  I test-drove it on my family and it was a hit.  It took about 10 min to prepare which gets done at home anyway.  Writing out the recipe took longer!

Apple Pork Chops in Foil

Thick-sliced Boneless Pork Chops
Fresh Apple (about 1 per 2 lbs of chops)
Butter or margarine
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Ground Cloves
Heavy-Duty Foil

Core apple(s) and slice into thin slices.  Get a big enough sheet of foil to securely wrap everything with about 3 layers.  Lay half the apple slices out towards one end of the foil and smear a little butter on them.  Sprinkle with brown sugar, then dust heavily with cinnamon, lightly with clove.  Lay the chops on top of all this, then dust the top of the chops the same way with cinnamon and cloves.  Lay the remaining apple slices on top and smear with butter, then sprinkle more brown sugar on top.  Carefully wrap the foil around your chops and apples and then securely roll up the open ends of the foil.  Toss the foil packet into the freezer until you depart.  If you have a large group, split it up into multiple foil packs so they aren't too big to handle easily (2-3 people per pack is about right).

Once in camp, get a nice bed of coals going, then lay the thawed package straight onto the coals.  Cook about 10-15 min per side, depending on the thickness of the chops.  Turn em carefully with a forked stick, OR just heap more coals on top of the foil and cook the whole works for only 15 min total.  Carefully remove from the fire, slice open foil, and enjoy!  Pour some of the sauce onto each chop when you empty the foil.  Eat the apple slices right along with the chops.