Well, it’s that time of year again: camping time.
Now, usually camping means hotdogs, hamburgers, s’mores, chips, pop, beer, etc, but you have all worked so hard all year to get your body into great shape for summer, why blow all that hard work on a few days in the wilderness?
I’m going to be honest here, I am writing this article now for selfish reasons. As luck will have it I am going to find myself camping for over two weeks at the end of June and I started to get a little worried about my eating habits over this time period.
Camping, really, is one of the healthiest activities you can do. It’s active or else you’ll go bored out of your mind. There is hiking, walking, biking, throwing around a ball or a Frisbee, playing in the park with the kids and fishing (is that an activity?).
You are out in the fresh air with your sunscreen and generating some Vitamin D. The only unhealthy part of camping is the food. As with any other time, eating clean requires a lot of prep and planning.
Here are some food items I’ll be bringing with me: Frozen chicken breasts, frozen homemade turkey patties, frozen fish steaks, frozen homemade protein bars, rice cakes, natural peanut butter, potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, oranges, grapefruit, instant oatmeal, cinnamon, stevia, pre-cut and bagged veggies, hummus, almonds, walnuts, Ezekiel bread, beef jerky, homemade smoked salmon, protein powder and drinking water.
Make sure you stay active while you are camping. It is usually the boredom that causes the overeating and mindless snacking.
Also, try to keep the drinking to a minimum as those empty calories are not doing your beer belly any good.
Here is a recipe for the yummy protein bars:
INGREDIENTS
1 cup protein powder
½ cup quinoa flour
2 cups rolled oats
½ cup oat bean
½ cup chopped flaxseed
½ cup wheat germ
1tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ cup organic honey
1 cup dark chocolate
1.5 to 2 cups yogurt cheese
(put plain low fat yogurt in strainer with cheese cloth. Let drain overnight. Voila! Yogurt cheese.)
¼ cup olive or avocado oil
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
PREPARATION
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Place in glass cooking pan.
- Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.
- Let cool, cut into bars and transfer to non-stick cookie sheet.
- Bake at 350 for another 15 minutes.
These freeze GREAT.
Another camping cooking tip: Cook your meat in tinfoil with your vegetables and seasonings. You can prepare these tinfoil bags at home, freeze them and they will last longer.
Have a sweet tooth? Core an apple, sprinkle the inside with cinnamon, sweetener and nuts. Wrap in tinfoil, bake in the fire until soft.
There you go: yummy apple pie!
