We Ate Like Kings

Because we didn’t have any climbing gear to pack, we had ample room for food & cookware.

A mere sampling of our car camping eats:

Angela’s In A Jiffy Curry Chickpea Burgers

The first time we had these, they kind of fell apart in the oven, but I loved the flavor.  I do not know if it was the freezing before hand or the pan frying method, but they were an awesome arrival dinner our first night.  The outside browned & crisped up just slightly.  I’ll be making them like this at home.  SO GOOD!

Process until smooth:

• ½ C Oats
• 2 Carrots
• 1 ½ tsp Curry
• ½ tsp Paprika
• ¼ tsp Tumeric
• ¼-½ tsp Sea Salt, to taste
• ¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Parsley flakes [optional–did not use]

Add:

• 1 ½ C cooked chickpeas  [add these as 1/2C increments]
• 1T coconut oil, melted

Stir in:

• 3T Sunflower seeds
• ¼ C Pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Wet hands & shape into patties.  Angela suggests baking at 375* for about 20 minutes.  Like I mentioned, freezing “raw”, then pan-frying seems to be the way to go though or at least finish them off on the grill if you bake them.

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Flax & Oat Breakfast Power Muffins.  Another treat from Angela [can you tell I have a blog crush on her yet?]

I love how I feel after eating these — not heavy & gross like many muffins leave me — but I will probably tweak this a bit, because I’m not completely loving the flavor & texture yet. If I discover a tweaking trick, I’ll share.

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Veggie & Black Soy Bean Scramble in Rice Tortillas

Campfire Salmon with Blackberry Sauce

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Scape & White Bean Dip via Ashley, who is amazingly creative in the kitchen.

We love hummus, but it’s nice to switch it up a bit; white beans are usually our next go-to.  The garlic scapes give this a nice, pale shade of green & make me think this would be an excellent dip to sneak in some spinach [no one will ever know] & make it even greener & more fun!  We devoured this with raw cauliflower & Olive chips.

Process until fine:

• 4 Garlic Scapes, chopped
• Juice from 1 lemon

Add:

• 2 C White Beans, cooked
• ½ tsp Sea Salt
• Pepper, to taste

Stream in 1T EVOO at a time, alternating with 1T water until you reach the desired consistency.

• ¼ C EVOO
• 2-5T Water

Quinoa Granola

I wanted an afternoon-energy-boosting-snack that was not oat based [since the muffins were primarily oats].  This granola, with its complete protein quinoa, seemed the perfect fit.  It was lovely sprinkled over large lunch salads.  Mmm…strawberries & balsamic.

I checked midway through cooking & decided it needed dried cherries thrown in; I’m glad I did.  This simple granola is not super flavorful, so the cherries amped it up some.  This creative spin on granola is sure a party, but not exactly a party in my mouth.  Next time, I’ll follow Ashley’s suggestion & add coconut butter in the mix; I might also swap walnuts for cashews, which Dave will like more.  Even so, I can’t stop munching on it — it’s great with rice milk — so it must have something my body needs.

Wine

We never have wine — alcohol for that matter — while camping, because…well, I guess it’s just not our usual style.  For this trip though, we found this 2007 “earth friendly” Cabernet Sauvignon from California & even managed to safely pack the wine glasses.  Neither of us really cared for this particular bottle; we found it fairly acidic.  Dave & I enjoy saving & writing on some of our corks; we display them in a bowl at home: mini-journals of special occasions, friends, events, etc.  [Thanks for the awesome idea Julie!]

Tea

Essential for me while camping.  It warms me up on those cold, cold mornings & soothes my tummy in the evenings.  Camping seems to throw my digestive system for a loop; & next thing I know, it’s off & I feel less than terrific.  Ginger & Lemon Tea does wonders for calming my tummy, & I’m anxious to explore other blends that may help.  Though the weather was generally quite hot on this trip, I still enjoyed my tea by simply adding cold water or rice milk after it brewed.  In the future, I think I’ll take fresh lemon to add to water in the morning like I do at home.  This is an amazingly cleansing way to start off your day.

Raw Brownie Balls

Rich.  Decadent.  Glorious.  These are a favorite indulgent from TKD that do not feel indulgent; raw desserts are like that — they just seem clean & nourishing even — so I make these often.  These little beauties are even growing on Dave: from his first taste test came this reply: “kind of nutty” [not a lover of nuts in treats] ; this time: “mmm, chocolatey.”

Process until coarsely ground:

• ½ C raw Walnuts

Add & pulse until well combined:

• ½ C Pitted Dates
• ½ C Carob Powder

Add:

• ½ C Maple Syrup
• ½ C Organic raw Almond Butter
• ½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract [I used half a Vanilla Bean]
• ¼ tsp Sea Salt

Process until thick & smooth.

Add:

• ½ C whole raw Almonds

-Pulse a few times until combined, keeping chunky for crunch.

-Form the mixture into golf-ball-sized balls in your hands.

-Roll in unsweetened, shredded coconut. [I leave some plain.]

-Place in a sealed container in the freezer until hardened.
-Allow to sit outside the freezer for a couple minutes before devouring 😉

To me they taste like heaven & brownies [hence the name alteration — she calls them Raw Balls, which just sounds weird to say to people].

I made about 17 balls [my “golf balls” are kind of small, so I can eat two at a time & not feel bad :P].  I could probably get 18 out of these by the time I scrape all the sticky batter & stop “taste testing” — did I mention — they taste like brownie batter!

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What do you normally eat while camping?  I’m anxious to try other meals & make more of our camping experiences “gourmet”. 🙂