Our gratitude to Cracker Barrel for sponsoring our Camp Fire Meals on this trip!
As always, our opinions are our own!
My big family with many kids has a very special place we love to eat. We are lucky to have 2 local Cracker Barrel Restaurants near us and we always seek them out when traveling. Hands down they deliver the best quality for the best price and when you have many kids, this is really important. As a Crunchy family who practices Attachment Parenting we do NOT force foods and we do take our kids likes into account when making meals and eating out. There is some really great science out there showing why this isimportant. I swear that this restaurant is one of the few that understand. Our children are always treated with kindness and respect and their requests are taken seriously. Even if that means adding strawberries to their pancakes or ordering one meal from the kids menu and another from the adult menu! The wait staff normally looks at us to be sure the order is ok, and we smile and nod, and the rest is just perfection!
It shouldn’t then have been a shock when everything went perfectly this trip we took to try their camp fire menu!
It is amazing.
You should go now.
By now… I mean right now…
Their campfire menu is gone come August 6th!
#GETCAMPFIREDUP
So while my not so little military family can not currently go on vacation this summer beyond short trips, we did however do the next best thing. A great field trip followed by the Camp Fire Menu at Cracker Barrel!
While a few of our children ordered their normal beloved pancakes and sides, my husband and I dove into the new Campfire Meals.
While waiting for the meals, the kids put away their technology and embraced the Cracker Barrel life of the peg game and coloring. This always makes me smile. A large group of quit kids just quietly playing. One of those moments where husband and I lock eyes and smile and are so thankful for all we have and a minute of stillness.
That is not to say that our youngest doesn’t keep us on our toes. She was busy coloring and focusing fiercely. She though demands help, from one parent and then the other, and back and forth and so on. Then she moves on to playing with her empty cup as we always bring her sippy cup for milk, and she knows she can play an in and out game with the provided plastic kids cup. When she goes tired of that, she moved on the peg game. Only she knows the rules to how she plays and when you offer to help, in the wrong way, everyone hears it, and then she moves all her things to Dad’s side of the table and scowls at you! Husband gave me a look then… as if he knew the rules and wouldn’t have set off the ticking time bomb toddler in such a way. I game him a look back when he did set her off of course!
The breads came, with their little containers of butter and sweet little jellies we oh so love. Kids politely tucked into them, passing out plates and helping one another get what they wanted. The oldest tried to give a jellies corn muffin half to the toddler. She declined the offer by sending it unceremoniously across the table. Still working on manners with that one. Being newly 2 years old is hard! How dare anyone distract her from the troublesome peg game! 
More than a few times we have kind strangers come over and tell us how wonderfully behaved our children are. That however did not happen this time. The kids where fantastic, though not our little time bomb so much. Still, she was happy most of the time and no crying. Just a few shrill reminders of something or other she didn’t like. She will learn. The other kids love Cracker Barrel so much and are happy to follow social rules. Also, they want to get a treat from the Cracker Barrel Country Store after their meal, so that plays into it too I think. I can’t blame them, there is something magical about shopping there!
So then the food comes delivered by our very nice waiter who is on top of everything. Drinks never go empty and he checks in often to see if anyone needs anything. He really knows what he is doing and is a Master waiter I think. If nothing else, he really seems to like his job and understands kids! He was also very patient with us shuffling around tableware to get everything to fit while being mindful to not put anything too close to the baby!
My husband ordered the Foil Wrapped Campfire Chicken (it is $9.99) and includes a half chicken, fresh carrots, red potatoes, tender tomatoes, onions, and corn on the cob with campfire inspired spices in their flavorful juices. All told, 1789 calories and good luck finishing that! It also comes with their famous made from scratch buttermilk biscuits or corn muffins. 
My husband really likes chicken so this is right up his ally so to speak. Commonly from Cracker Barrel he orders from their breakfast menu or goes with fish as it is always fantastic!
For me, I went with the other Campfire Meal, Campfire Beef (also $9.99) — All the same ingredients of the chicken but this time with slow-cooked USDA Choice Beef Chuck Roast. (1410 calories) as I commonly order their slow-cooked roast so this was great getting this meal a bit differently for me.
We both loved the meals, the savoriness and it just felt so different and yet familiar and special. We had both had camping meals in tinfoil before and shared some of those memories with the kids. We both agreed, these meals where better. It gave us ideas for future camping trips! I tried his chicken too of course, yup, juicy and spiced just like the beef. These meals do not lack flavor! I added butter to my veggies, that is just what I do! LOL
The kids loved their food too!
Neither one of us could finish our meals. It wasn’t just that cutting up baby food and trying to share with her kept us busy, it is seriously a lot of delicious food! Honestly, I don’t think anyone at the table finished all of it actually! We took a long time at the table chatting and enjoying the food and company. Then we ordered what is hands down, my favorite dessert on the planet now.
The NOT TO MISS DESSERT THIS SUMMER!
I am sad it goes away August 6th.
Go.
Try it.
Quick!
Thank me later!
We ordered 2 Cracker Barrel Campfire S’mores!
An Amazing chocolate fudge Brownie with a Graham Cracker Crust topped with toasted melty marshmellow warm and gooy and this melts the Hershey’s milk chocolate bar on top. Next to it is cold creamy vanilla ice cream that has hershey’s dark chocolate on top.
The warm and cold mix in your mouth and it is mind blowing. I could use more adult words but I will spare you! Just believe me when I tell you this is blissful indulgence and worth every bite!
Even with 7 of us though, we didn’t finish these 2 desserts! So split yours is our advice! It is so rich and so amazing! Really, go just for the dessert if you are short on time! Just go! You will thank me!
We hope you all have a fantastic summer and eat some fantastic food!
Would you love to try this Campfire Menu?
