10 thing to think about before your trip:

1.  Make a meal plan + shopping list a few days before your trip.  -  It’s really important to plan ahead, because if you wait and go to the store on the way to your destination you will be completely overwhelmed and end up buying bread + a block of cheese.  That doesn’t sound half bad, but it won’t get you through more than 1 night.  Try making a simple list for every meal you’ll be gone.  If you have a plan, it will help keep you from overbuying.

• Friday
• breakfast –
• lunch -
• dinner
• snack -
• Saturday
• breakfast-
• lunch –
• dinner –
• snack -

2.  Think minimally.  Plan your meals so that you don’t need much from the kitchen.  If we’re car camping, this is a typical kitchen supply list for us: 1 all-purpose kitchen knife, 1 pot, 1 pan, 1 grill, 1 spatula, 1 spoon [stirring], 1 butter knife [spreading] 1 small cutting board, 1 small grill or jet boil.  Really, you could even plan so that you don’t have to cook at all, but that gets pretty boring if you’re going on a multiple day camping trip.

3.  Avoid messiness and complexity.  No need to pull off a new recipe or make things that are complex.  Anyone you’re with will be happy that you’re cooking at all, and while camping, everything tastes better.  Even a plain ol’ baked potato.  You also don’t want to be cleaning for an hour after you eat. 

4.  Simplicity.  Can you cook something in foil, instead of dirtying a pan?  Is there anything you can pre-cook/pre-chop at home and stick in the cooler?  What items at the grocery store will make your life easier?  Pre-made hummus perhaps?  It’s a great sandwich topper and snack dipper. 

5.  Don’t forget the condiments!  It may seem like excess, but bringing garlic powder, salt, pepper, and small bottles of ketchup, hot sauce, and mustard, will make your meals so much better.  Typically we will bring salt, garlic + hot sauce.

6.  Bring reusable plates, spoons, knives + forks.  No need to make excess trash while in the outdoors!  If you have an REI or camping store nearby, you won’t have a problem finding inexpensive + lightweight items like these that you can bring along.  I recently bought a pack of four plates from the company Preserve.  They’re dishwasher safe, made from 100% #5 recycled plastics, BPA free, 100% recyclable, and reusable.  They have a slew of other great products, worth checking out.  For cutlery, we use Light My Fire, Sporks.  It’s a 3 in 1 utensil and they come in all different colors.  [pictured below, in my bowl of oats]

7.  Make sure you have plenty of ice.  When we were at the 5 day festival, we had to restock ice everyday.  Luckily, there was a guy that sold ice from his truck, right at the campsite. 

8.  Pack in, pack out.  Be mindful of the campsite you’re staying at.  Have a separate bag for trash, recycling and maybe even compost.  But also remember, there are most likely a lot of animals nearby that would love your trash.  Take proper precautions in tying your trash bags in trees or disposing in campsite dumpsters. 

9.  Don’t forget the soap!  I recommend using Dr. Bronners all-purpose liquid castile soap or Coghlan’s Camp Soap.  There are other brands of similar products on the market as well.  What I love about these soaps, are that they’re biodegradable, non-toxic, and concentrated.  You just need a few drops!  Plus, as an added bonus, you can typically use these soaps for many other tasks.  ie: shampoo/toothpaste [get the mint!]/hand soap/etc.

10.  A lighter/matches + bottle opener/wine opener.  Just don’t forget these items.  You will want a fire and you will want a drink!

11.  Okay, there are 11 items.  Bring plenty of water, especially if you’ll be hiking.  We also use this Katadyn water filter, when backpacking, since you can’t pack all of your water.  It works fabulously, even pulling water from pretty stagnant areas!  If you can, stock a few coconut waters in your cooler for extra rehydration in the morning or during a hike.

So now you know a little bit in how to start planning, but you still don’t have a clue what food to pack.

Easy packing camp food:

• Tempeh – Easy to prepare and can even be eaten right out of the package.  It’s great with apples + cheese on bread, and even better when melty + hot. 
• Tortillas or pita.  Also, easy to pack + keep cool and easy to fill with anything you want.  PB + J, scrambled eggs + cheese, tempeh, hummus + veggies, etc.  Just make sure you seal them well.  You might want to double bag them, so water from the cooler does not leak in.

• Peanut butter + jelly.  This is a no brainer and it is delicious.  Always.  Maybe throw in a banana if you’re feeling crazy.

• Hard boiled eggs – Obviously do this before you go.  Peel them ahead of time too and make sure to keep them really cold.  This is a great, quick source of protein and taste so good sprinkled with salt + hot sauce.
• Hummus – Make a batch of your own or buy a container at the store.  You can put it on almost anything and use it for dipping veggies.  Because you’re going to pack veggies, right!!??

• Cheese – Pre slice or shred your cheese ahead of time, pack it in a plastic container and believe me you’ll use it.  Breakfast burritos with beans, tomatoes + potatoes, tempeh cheese sandwiches, omelets, cheesy eggs, quesadillas, etc.  All easy meals to make at camp.

• Oats!!! – Obviously, my breakfast of choice.  Use your pot or mini camp stove for this!  Make sure to clean it right away, or you will be 1 unhappy camper later that day. he he he  I even packed fresh sliced strawberries + bananas to top my bowls with.  I also packed a small container of protein powder to mix in and a few single serving packs of Justin’s nut butters.  I also brought a carton of soymilk and kept it chilled in the cooler. 

• Peppers, carrots, onion, potatoes, apples, tomatoes, avocado, grapes – Easy items to pack and easy to cook with or snack on.  You can also cover potatoes in foil and bake them IN the hot coals of your fire.

• Canned beans – Just don’t forget your can opener!
• Coffee!  We bring organic instant coffee, which makes things nice + easy.  Just boil some water + you’re good to go!

You don’t have to make everything from scratch, either.

• Mac n’ cheese anyone?  If you need it to be gluten free Annie’s has you covered.  Chris and I both ate this and loved it.

• Just add water soups – We bought a few of these Nile Spice soups and they were excellent.  Low calorie, but packed with a lot of flavor, and tons of protein + fiber.  The average container had about 170 calories, 8g of fiber, and 10g of protein.  I looked the the ones with lentils + beans for the biggest nutritional punch!  These aren’t fine dining by any means, but definitely taste great for a camp trip and the ingredient lists are impressive.

• Bread – Bring 1/2 – 1 whole loaf of bread, depending on how many people will be eating it.  If you need GF bread, my favorite brand is Udi’s.  Their millet/chia bread is amazing!!  If you hop on their site, you can find a $1 off coupon!  Also, check with your local Great Harvest to see if they make gluten free bread.  Our’s does and it’s delish!

• Garlic Gold Nuggets – My new best friend.  I shake these on everything!

And you definitely cannot leave home without some snacks!

• Snacks
• raw almonds + walnuts mixed with dried fruit
• homemade or store bought Larabars
• apples/grapes/blueberries/bananas
• carrots
• peanut butter stuffed dates
• dark chocolate [keep it in the cooler!]
• tortilla chips
• chocolate chip cookies
• oat bars
• Love Grown Foods granola

Also, don’t forget these non-food items!!  A first aid kit is always great to have on hand as well.

I know there are plenty of other great ideas for what to bring when camping, so feel free to add to the list in the comment section, or tell me about your best camp meal.  I’m hoping this post comes in handy for this weekend or for a future camping trip this summer!  

Have a safe + fun holiday weekend.  Birthday party [for me!!] tomorrow + real birthday on Sunday.  Also super exciting, is that baby Fiona should be arriving any day in the next week or so now!!!  I can’t wait to be an aunt!!!

Ashley

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I tried a new [to me] Bob’s Red Mill gluten free breakfast cereal.  I used it to make overnight and added 1/3c of the cereal, banana, blueberry, unsweetened almond milk, chia seeds + cinnamon.  I’m not sure if it was the cereal mix or the chia seeds or both, but it held me over for 5 hours.  This never happens, especially when snowboarding. 

As we got closer to the mountains, the weather got a bit nasty.  When we left Ft. Collins at 5:30am, it was 50 degrees out!  The mountain wasn’t too cold today, but the wind was out of control!

They didn’t have a lot of the lifts open because the wind was so bad.  It snowed the whole day as well, which made for some interesting conditions.

We actually found some great untracked snow through the trees.  My legs were dead!  Powder takes so much more work to move through than groomed runs.   

There were a few times that the wind was so intense, it almost stopped me while I was boarding!

I couldn’t wait to get back to the car for lunch.  Typically, I pack pb+j, but sticking to the detox I made something even better!  This salad didn’t take long to throw together and was full of everything I love.

• tons of spinach
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• mini bellas
• 2 large carrots
• pepitas

The best part about eating salad in tupperware, is that it’s super easy to spread the dressing around.  Just cover + shake!

dressing: walnut oil + apple cider vinegar + balsamic + pepper

All of this fruit was consumed during the drive home.  How terrible is my 4.5yr old point n’ shoot!? haha

As well as this chocolate coconut dough ball for dessert!  So delicious

A little cold…a little tired…bracing for what we knew would be about a 3-3.5hr ride home, because of bad weather + holiday weekend traffic.

My hero of a driver!!

It ended up taking over TWO hours just to get from Keystone through the main tunnel.  Typically, it takes 20-25min!!

This is how I felt about the situation.  Although, I can’t complain, because I kept nodding off.

Clear skies + Denver in sight.  From this point it should have taken about 1.5 hours to get back to Ft. Collins.

We hit rush hour traffic in Denver, of course, and then were in stop + go traffic for THREE hours just past Denver.  It was insane!  The weather was fine and this wasn’t just rush hour, so we knew it had to be something serious.  When we finally drove by the scene, we couldn’t really see much.  There was a semi on the other side of the highway about to be towed off and on our side of the highway, a coroner’s van.  Later we found out the details of the accident, which were very tragic.

It took a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes to get home.  Once home, we unpacked the car and I got going on dinner.  I made Chris some breaded tempeh [his recipe!] and I heated up leftovers [from last night] for myself.  Ooooh, did that tempeh look delicious!!!

I’m going to return to my normal posting now [not showing every single meal I eat], but will still do overviews of how my detox is going.  Today I felt great and loved how easy it was to make a delicious + healthy, detox friendly meal on the go!

I’m 100% ready for bed!  Look out for an afternoon post with a giveaway that will help clear your mind + make you stronger!

Night!

Ashley

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• alarm –> snooze 10min
• out of bed
• dry brush, shower, dressed
• lemon water chug
• finish getting ready
• make oats + eat oats
• make smoothie for me + smoothie for chris
• check email
• out the door

= 1 hour, not bad right?

I made a small-ish bowl of Bob’s Red Mill high fiber cereal this morning.  I used about 1/4c, with almond milk and 1/2 banana.  On top I added coconut butter and unsalted/unsweetened peanut butter. 

2 confessions.

1 – I JUST found out, thanks to reader Evan, that this hot cereal has wheat in it!!  Detox fail.  Whooops.  I bought this a few weeks ago in the bulk bins, and totally forgot that wheat germ + wheat bran were in the ingredient list.  It’s also made up of oat bran, flax, and a few other things.  I was so glad he brought this to my attention, because my goal was to rid my body of all wheat.  I didn’t even think to check this!  No big deal though.  Now I know.

2 – I’ve been buying jarred peanut butter.  Yes, the nut butter queen, has not been making her peanut butter at home.  There is however, good reason.  Lately, Whole Foods and another local health store [Natural Grocers] have had Maranatha organic peanut butter on sale.  On top of the sale, I’ve also had $1 off coupons.  This has brought the total cost of a 16oz jar of organic peanut butter to a whopping $1.50.  I’ve gotten 3 jars at this price in the past 2 months.  The latest jar I bought was unsweetened and unsalted.  It also doesn’t have the added palm fruit oil, which is used as a stabilizer.  There was oil on top, but I mixed it up and it was the perfect drippy consistency.  I don’t mind unsalted peanut butter and really love this brand!  I was getting a little bored with the plain almond butter, so this is a nice change of pace.

Eating organic peanuts is extremely important to me and here is why. 

Peanuts rank among the top 10 foods contaminated with persistent organic pollutants, says the Pesticide Action Network. These chemicals linger in the environment for years and can also build up in the body’s fatty tissues.
Read more at Wholeliving.com: Organic Food and You

I’ve read and heard this from numerous other sources as well. 

Back to breakfast…

I really wanted something warm this morning, but was also set on making a smoothie.  I tried to make 1/2 versions of both, to equal a full breakfast.  I’m not sure on the fat/protein content, but I estimated the total calories around 550.

Purple slurple time!!

This creation included:

• 1/4 avocado
• 3/4c frozen blueberries
• ~8 frozen strawberries
• 2T amazing grass vanilla chai protein powder
• 1T chia seeds
• ~1c almond milk
• 1/2 frozen banana

I scraped some coconut butter on top and then poured it into a water bottle after taking the photo above.  I loved the crunchy pieces of coconut butter shell throughout the smoothie, as I consumed this in the car.

Laura and I got to work at at Barnes + Nobles.  I also did a little blog reading.  Can you tell whose blog I’m reading?

We met Natalie [my sis in law] and my friend Lauren for lunch at Whole Foods.  It was a detoxers dream!!  The Whole Foods in Boulder just expanded and it is bigger than you can imagine.  The prepared foods/hot-cold bar area is the size of an entire store.  I had no trouble at all finding many things to eat. 

I love how Whole Foods labels things so well.  I was looking for the “vegan” tags first and then checking for soy + wheat.  I started by making a salad, filled with:

• spinach
• mixed greens
• garbanzo beans
• red quinoa
• sprouts
• sunflower seeds
• cucumbers
• artichoke
• topped with: olive oil/apple cider vinegar/lemon juice/balsamic vin

I also found:

• grilled veggies
• black eyed pea + sweet tater salad
• Mexican rice
• cumin potatoes

Everything was SO good.  I think my favorite was the rice.  I checked the ingredient lists for salt as well.  I don’t know how much salt was used, but tried to keep the hot bar items to a minimum.  They actually didn’t all include salt, either!

Laura + Natalie [mommy to be!!] + Lauren

There I am! 

Since I was away from home until 9pm, I didn’t get a chance to drink my detox tea.  Darn.   However, I did have three cups of tea today, that I would like to think did some good.  Below was a delicious peppermint herbal tea.  It was so amazingly flavorful.  I hate weak teas, so this was great!

I picked Chris up for work, on my way home, and the sky looked amazing.  I wish you could see the mountains behind that hotel.  They looked incredible today.  It was super clear + sunny, but snow covered day.  A lovely view almost everywhere!

When we finally got home, after some errands, it was 9pm.  Today I snacked on:

• rice cake sandwich with peanut butter + raisins [I love Lundberg rice cakes..even the salt free are so tasty!]
• larabar [had one lying around but going to make my own soon!]
• apricots
• apple

I was already planning on leftovers and really excited about it.

To spruce things up a bit, I sautéed mushrooms in a pan and added leftover black eyed peas, millet, brown rice pasta, and brown rice to the mix.  Then, I turned off the heat and stirred in about 3c of raw spinach.  It wilted every so slightly.  Not a big fan of mushy spinach!

Then I topped with a lot of saucey goodness!

I gobbled this up and just ate a delicious apple.

What a lovely day!

Day THREE in review:

• I felt great this morning.  No unusual exhaustion to report.
• I felt more energized throughout the day, than usual.
• Definitely less bloated today.
• I missed my lovely coffee again, but had no problems avoiding it, even when I brewed some for Chris.
• Getting out for lunch was really fun and totally doable, especially if you have a Whole Foods nearby. 
• The lemon water wasn’t quite as bad and is definitely moving things along, in more ways than 1.  I really want to try Teri’s fresh lemon + ginger tea!  Ginger is awesome for digestion as well and I bet this would be a great way to start the morning.
• My skin is feeling much softer, which I attribute to dry brushing.
• I was a little jealous of Laura’s bagel this morning.
• Today I was consistently thirsty.
• I didn’t work out today because there was no time!
• Again, I ate + drank whenever hungry/thirsty.
• I didn’t have any bad cravings, but a chocolate chip cookie sounds pretty good, hehe.

Nothing too crazy to report at all!  Feeling great so far!  Thanks again for all of your comments and interest.  I’m trying to respond to your questions as thoroughly as possible!

While I wasn’t tired throughout the day, I am now officially exhausted.  Night!!

<3 Ashley

—

pre-toxing

detox day 1 – part 1, part 2

detox day 2 – part 1, part 2

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I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe.  I cannot stop eating these.  They’re just the perfect balance of soft, sweet, gooey, pnut buttery, oatey, deliciousness.

Mix all the dry.

Mix most of the wet.

Mix in the milk.

Mix in wet to dry.

Stir, stir, until just combined and no dry flour is left on the bottom of the bowl.

Line a pan with parchment.  Trust me.  Go buy parchment.  I use it almost everyday! 

Spread 1/2 the mixture, then the jelly.

Then plop down scoops of the rest of the oat mixture.  Don’t just plop it down all in one lump or it will be hard to spread on top of the gooey jelly.

Then bake.  Then feed it to a cute little kid.  For breakfast!

And watch him smile!

And then be randomly interrupted in the middle of the post with broccoli cheddar soup from Friday.  The last bowl.  I’m sad!

Have I mentioned I’m obsessed with smoked paprika??  If you find it, you MUST buy it.  I couldn’t find it at my Whole Foods, but Costco had a huge container for about $3.  It was fabulous sprinkled on my salad that went along with the soup!

Now where were we???

There are so so many variations you could make with this recipe.

Let me rattle off a few….

recipe variations

instead of jelly in the middle:

• peanut butter + jelly
• melted chocolate for more of a dessert bar
• melted chocolate + pnut butter
• coconut butter

mix in options for the bars:

• chocolate chips/carob chips/white chocolate chips
• unsweetened coconut
• chia seeds
• hemp seeds
• chopped walnuts/almonds/pecans/peanuts
• chopped dried fruit

substitution ideas:

• chocolate almond milk + 1/4c unsweetened cocoa powder [might need extra 1-2T milk] instead of plain or vanilla almond milk
• whole wheat pastry flour instead of spelt flour
• applesauce or pumpkin puree instead of mashed banana
• try other spices instead of cinnamon
• maple syrup or honey instead of sugar [might need to add 1-3T extra flour]
• almond butter, sunflower butter, cashew butter, or coconut butter instead of peanut butter

And now the recipe

Monster Bars [makes ~12 bars] *vegan

• 3c rolled oats
• 1c spelt flour
• 1/4c ground flax meal
• 1t baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 3/4t salt
• 1 1/2t cinnamon
• 1/4c sucanat [or pure cane sugar]
• 1/2c mashed banana [very ripe]
• 1/2c organic pnut butter
• 1/2c unsweetened almond milk [vanilla works also]
• 2t vanilla extract
• 1c no sugar added jelly [any flavor]

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper, or lightly grease bottom + sides of pan.
3. In a large bowl mix oats, flour, flax, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon + sugar until combined.
4. In a medium size bowl mash banana until liquidy.
5. Whisk in pnut butter to the banana with a fork until combined.
6. Whisk in vanilla + almond milk with fork until combined.
7. Add wet to dry and stir with a spoon until just combined.  Batter should be very thick and not too wet.  Mix until no flour or oats are left on the bottom.  If it seems really dry add 1-2T more milk.  If too wet, add 1-2T more flour.
8. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the pan with a spatula, until smooth.
9. Spread jelly on top evenly.
10. Plop down spoonfuls of the rest of the oat mixture on top of the jelly.  It will be easier to spread this way.
11. Spread carefully with a spatula, until evenly distributed + covering the jelly.
12. Bake for ~35min until lightly browned on top.
13. Let cool for about 30min.  Lift bars out by the parchment and cut into bars. 
14. Wrap individually for on the go transport, or keep in a sealed container in the fridge.

Delicious slightly warm and with a smear of peanut butter on top!  But also delicious straight out of the fridge.    Like I said these are only slightly sweet.  So you may want to use 1/3c-1/2c if you like things a bit sweeter.  For me, 1/4c is the perfect sweetness.  The mashed banana + jelly definitely help! 

These are going to make fabulous mountain snacks.  They’re soft but hold together well.  Very excited.

I’m about to go raid the fridge for another!

But first, dinner.  We really need to go to the store but despite that fact, scraped together a pretty delicious meal.

main ingredients:

• tempeh
• cashews
• organic frozen sugar snap peas
• organic frozen tri colored peppers
• farro
• millet

I used the recipe on 101 Cookbooks for maple grilled tempeh.  I had all of the ingredients, and the flavors sounded awesome. 

The only thing I did differently was broil in on low for about 10min per side.  Oh yah, and instead of chipotle powder, I of course used smoked paprika.  Delicious!  I cooked a mixture of farro + millet together.  1 1/4c millet/farro mixed with 2.5c liquid [veggie broth + water combo], simmer with lid, over med-low for about 15-20min, until liquid is absorbed.  Let sit with lid on for 5min then fluff with a fork.  Awesome texture!  I cooked the veggies over med-high heat in 1T coconut oil. 

Frozen veggies definitely come in handy sometimes.  I don’t use them often but stock up when they’re on sale.  Did you know frozen veggies are said to hold more nutrients than fresh veggies in the store?  That’s because veggies start to lose their nutritional content as soon as they’re picked.  The veggies are flash frozen more quickly than we buy the fresh version at the store, so they actually retain more nutrients.  Interesting!

Some frozen veggies are pretty gross.  Spinach comes to my mind first!

Peppers + snap peas are delicious though!

I’m not sure why, but these light box photos came out looking the more natural yet!  They are a bit washed out but pretty daylight-ish.

Chris said he liked this meal better than the orange pan glazed tofu from the other week.  I thought they were about equal.  I liked that this wasn’t quite as sweet and I really love tempeh.  Tofu is delicious, but it’s much harder on my digestion [which is very common]. I try to limit my soy consumption, especially processed soy.  However, tempeh is fermented, making it much easier to digest + absorb the nutrients.

We just finished watching the season finale of Dexter.  I thought I was going to lose it!!  So intense.  I’ve never watched a show that got my heart racing as fast as this one.  Definitely one of the best shows ever. 

So much to do before leaving for home on Thursday.  Bed!

<3 Ashley

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