By Katie
This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. It doesn’t cost you anything, but may give us a little something.
I like to camp.
And, depending on who you are talking to, we rough it in tents or we glamp with access to flush toilets just down the road. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?
Every Labour Day weekend the 3 teas, our parents, all our kids and spouses, and I go camping. It has been a tradition for a long, long time. It is a great way to re-connect as a family and enjoy time together.
Over a year ago, I started Trim Healthy Mama. It was a pretty radical shift from my normal, unhealthy eating patterns and I lost over 60 lbs. (I am quickly gaining most of it back with this twin pregnancy. I’m not feeling discouraged. Nope. Not. At. All.)
Anyways, back to the post, I thought I would share my THM camping eating plan, what works for me, what doesn’t and if it’s ok to eat that s’more (spoiler: it’s always ok to eat the s’more. But maybe just one.)
My main rule of thumb is simple and repetitive meals. If you are a foodie and love food variety, this will not work for you. I’m not a foodie, and though I do enjoy variety, I prefer not to spend my holiday prepping, cooking and serving food. It’s just not my cup of coffee.
Breakfast:
- Pancakes (E, or XO) – I make the batter in advance and freeze it. It gives me an ice pack and we make them when they thaw. If you make them according to the recipe in the Trim Healthy mama cookbook they are an E and freeze really well. One night I wanted pancakes for dinner (no judging) and was half way through making them when I realized I had no egg white. Instead of cracking a bajillion eggs to get enough egg white I substituted whole eggs. The result was delicious! I now do half egg white and half whole eggs, which make it a cross over, but I am ok with it.
- Granola (E or S)- I premake 2 types of granola and eat it with yogurt or cashew milk. The E granola is the Stove top granola found in the THM cook book. The S granola is a granola someone once posted on a thread in the THM facebook page. I don’t know who made it or where credit goes to. If you came up with the recipe, let me know, and I will credit you and/or your blog. The recipe can be found on the bottom of the post.
- Bacon and eggs (S) – pretty self-explanatory. We have this a lot because it’s easy, delicious and has little prep.
- Oatmeal – For the kids. I don’t like it.
My kids will eat cereal as well. Not on plan, but they are young and have great metabolisms.
Lunch:
Lunch is more haphazard when camping. For the kids, I have veggies and crackers with cheese. I pack a couple tins of soup in case it’s a bit chilly. We also will have bread with Sugar free peanut butter. My lunches include:
- Mary’s Crackers with cheese (S if you have less than 7 crackers), veggies,
- Deli meat and cheese with veggies
- Granola with yogurt
- Fruit
- Snacks (See list below)
Dinner:
This one can be the killer. I will admit that I do a lot of personal choice items to make it easier. You can stay as clean as you want, but I don’t like cooking. I do a variation on these meals for the whole camping trip.
- Hotdogs with no bun, sugar free ketchup, veggies
- Tortilla pizza – I use ½ of a Joseph’s lavash bread, pizza sauce, cheese and veggies
- Porkchops/chicken/steak with caulirice – i take a bag of frozen caulirice and fry it in my cast iron with some seasoning
- Chicken Fajitas – Use the other half of the lavash bread
Snacks:
This can be where everything derails (and if I’m telling the truth, where I am derailing on this pregnancy…..) But there are options! And remember, the whole THM lifestyle is based on grace: if you want the s’more, eat 1, and move on.
- Skinny pop – you can buy a big bag at Costco and a serving is 2 cups.
- 85% chocolate with pecans
- If you want to go fancy, fry pecans (or your favourite nut) in a skillet for 6 minutes, pour in a bowl, top with 85% chocolate and Himalayan salt.
- Fruit
- Pepperettes
Sippers:
I find I stay on-plan better when I have a sipper. And everyone is so impressed when I walk around with a mason jar filled with green liquid (Earth Milk).
- Make ginger juice (blend a ginger root with water. Voila, ginger juice) and take Apple Cider Vinegar and stevia. Make one Good Girl Moonshine a day.
- Before you leave make concentrated batches of Earth Milk and freeze in individual portions.
- I did the same thing for the Singing Canary, but I found it didn’t taste as good thawed. I won’t be making it again to take camping.
- I also take a buckie of collagen for my coffee.
That’s what I eat when I camp. It’s not exciting, but it keeps me on track. I rotate through my meals so I don’t need a ton of different ingredients.
I hope this can help you if you are planning on taking a vacation somewhere. If you are prepared, you can stay on track 😀
If you are interested in learning more about Trim Healthy Mama, I suggest getting the plan book. There is an earlier book that is about 15,000 pages that may be a little daunting. I would recommend the plan book: it is more concise and less “chatty.”
S Granola:
1 c sunflower seeds
1c slivered almonds
1 c pumpkin seeds
1c large unsweet coconut flakes
1/4 c chia seeds
1/2 c gentle sweet
1/3 c egg whites
1t vanilla
1t mineral salt
1/3 c oats
1/2 c pecans
1/2 c peanuts
2 t cinnamon
Mix all. Put on parchment paper cookie sheet and bake at 350ºF for 20-25 minutes. Stirring every 5 minutes, Cool and store. This granola crunches up as it cools down. Don’t overcook it, even if you think it isn’t crunchy.
Three Teas & A Coffee 