Camping and Nutrition

When I think of camping, the first thought that comes into my mind is fire and then s'mores. This last weekend we went on our very first real family camping trip.  This was the first time that the kids have ever camped in a tent, aside from sleeping in it this last July when we went to Utah and slept in the yard at my in-laws.  We left on Friday when it was snowing.  Aside from a VERY cold first night, it was fun to get away and create a new adventure with the kids.

I knew I wanted to stay on the healthy side of eating while we were camping.  We didn't take supplies for s'mores and we didn't take any candy, or processed foods. It has always bugged me when I have gone camping and people bring sugar loaded food for snacks and meals. Then they don't have any appetite or energy because they are "snacking" on their candy all day long! There are ways to satisfy that "vacation sweet tooth" without the sugar loaded foods.

I found recipes that would be easily adaptable to our new lifestyle. Believe it or not, but every recipe can be easily adapted. Everything we ate was made from fresh ingredients.

The first night, Friday, since it was freezing, I made a Vegetable Dumpling Soup on the camp stove, with some modifications.  I added garlic for one thing, but instead of using white flour for the roux and the dumplings, we used fresh ground whole wheat flour.  The soup was AMAZING!  And it totally hit the spot considering we were all bundled up in our warmest coats and clothes and still shivering.  We had a difficult time getting our fire started because everything was wet, but eventually we got it going and not too soon after just wanted to get to bed.

For breakfast Saturday morning I made Campfire Breakfast Burritos.  I scrambled some eggs on the stove and then I stuffed whole wheat tortillas with the eggs and some cheese.  I then wrapped them in double layers of tin foil and we put them on hot coals to get them toasty warm and melt the cheese.  When they were ready to eat, we topped them with all natural sour cream, salsa, and diced avocado.  They were my favorite meal!  SO GOOD!!  We served them with grapes on the side. It really was a "crowd pleaser".

Lunch was Campfire Mac & Cheese. This was the easiest Mac & Cheese I think I have ever made from scratch.  Of course I made some modifications.  First thing was using whole grain elbow macaroni.  I had precooked it here at home so that I could just dump it in the pan and cut out some prep time. Instead of individual pans, I used a disposable casserole tin pan and I added thawed frozen broccoli and fresh mushrooms to the mix.  I then covered it with two layers of tin foil and we cooked it on some hot coals.  It didn't take long and it was pretty yummy. The kids really enjoyed this meal, after all, they LOVE Mac & Cheese! Grapes were another yummy addition to this meal, on the side of course.  ;)

Dinner was, of course, foil dinners.  You can't go camping with out foil dinners.  I think it is in the "Camping Must Do's Handbook".  ;)  Instead of individual foil dinners I used another disposable casserole tin pan. I added sliced potatoes, carrots, garlic, and cabbage to the pan.  (I wanted to add onion, but I accidentally only brought one onion and I used it in the soup the night previous.) Instead of ground beef, I used an all natural Kielbasa.  We love Kielbasa.  I think I even mentioned that in a previous post.  It just bursts in your mouth with all those awesome flavorful juices. PLUS, it is cured and therefor you don't have to worry about raw meat juices running all over and making sure it is cooked. I covered it with two layers of foil and we sat it on more hot coals to cook.  I had brought some Poupon Mustard to have with it and it was DELICIOUS! But it needed onions.  ;)

The last meal of our camping trip was Oatmeal for Sunday breakfast. I cooked it on the camping stove in milk.  It scorched a little because of the stupid pan (too thin on the bottom. Next time I'll use the thicker pan.), but it wasn't terrible.  We had some pecans, cinnamon, and honey as toppings for the oatmeal along with fresh peaches. Everyone liked it, even with the slightly scorched taste.  The honey and cinnamon helped mask that.  :)

I would say that our efforts to maintain a healthy way of eating while camping was a success. The food was delicious and easy.  It kept us fueled for daily activities, our hunger fulfilled, and we didn't have to resort to prepackaged, over sugared, processed foods.  It wasn't hard at all to maintain the healthy lifestyle that we are following. I can't wait for our next trip! Next time, I might even throw in some healthy desserts.  :)