what I ate while camping
+ vlog; whole plant foods, low waste, simple
Welcome to mamaeats, a twice-weekly newsletter (Tues. & Sat.) inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. I’m a mother of three, avid reader, gardener, and home cook who focuses on nourishing, whole food meals with a focus on plants. This newsletter is my labor of love—if you are not already, and are able to do so, please consider becoming a subscriber to support my work here, which takes time and effort. Doing so gives you access to all the archives and recipes (find the recipe index here), as well as cook-along videos which go along with most recipes. If a recurring payment is too much for you right now, but you’d still like to contribute, I’d be delighted to receive a one-off tip via my ko-fi. As always, thank you for being here, reading this newsletter, and sending me your thoughts.
Good morning, dear readers, and welcome to the Tuesday newsletter. Today I thought I’d write about camping, while it’s fresh on my mind. We’ve just gotten back from a long weekend camping with a big group of lovely friends from James’ co-operative nursery school. We went to Jenkison Lake in Northern California, where many of us had never camped before. It was such a lovely and memorable trip.
The lake itself was beautiful, clean and sparkling blue-green. We were treated to spectacular views of the lake from our campsite, and a trail that goes around the lake led to easy exploring, which was accessible for both young children and adults. There was also an abundance of wildflowers, ducks and geese, and their babies. We swam, read, kayaked, hiked, played in the water, and happily just sat around talking, watching the children play, run around, and get dirty. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have found such a supportive, friendly and loving community, and what a deep breath it is to be able to let your children freely roam around camp, knowing that all the adults are communally looking after the children, taking turns with the care. We all share the same philosophy of how children should be treated—with respect and dignity, fostering their independence and curiosity, without shame, but also with firm but kind boundaries when needed.
On to the food, though, that’s what we are here for, isn’t it! I love to eat, and camping is no exception. I expect the same from my camping food that I do from my normal diet—simple, whole food, based in plants, especially legumes, while also being filling and delicious. This trip was no exception and I think we ate quite well. It may seem a bit repetitive, looking back, but honestly it didn’t feel that way at all! I always love to see and hear what people eat while camping, so I’m sharing a few of the recipes for the things we ate below. There’s also a “what I ate while camping” video below for paid subscribers- thank you!
Friday: minestrone, sourdough (both made at home that morning before leaving), Pink Lady apple and 2 dates for dessert. The older kids had s’mores for dessert.
Saturday: porridge breakfast with oat porridge topped with PB, brown sugar, strawberries, homemade cashew cardamom milk, and coffee. Chickpea salad lunch over greens with avocado and potato chips. Black bean brownie, apple, and two dates for snack (shared with James). Dumpling salad for dinner, along with other foods people shared (we gathered together for a birthday celebration).
Sunday: porridge breakfast, same as before but added blueberries, too, and used tetrapak soymilk instead of homemade. Coffee and soymilk. Pre-lunch snack of hummus and cut up veg (carrot, celery, bell peppers) Same exact lunch. Black bean brownie, almonds, dates for snack. Ramen noodles in broth with veggies and tofu for dinner. Mulled wine and s’mores for dessert (we gathered all together after dinner again).
Monday: porridge breakfast, same as the day before. Coffee and soymilk. Hummus, avocado, arugula/lettuce sandwich on whole grain bread for a quick lunch before leaving. Road snacks of leftover cut up veggies and leftover hummus.
recipes and links
camp kitchen equipment: We are quite minimal as I hate bringing things we don’t need, and we squeeze everything into our Prius. I try very hard to buy things that don’t break, are nice to look at, and last (almost) forever. We bring a propane camp stove, Bialetti espresso maker, small and large stainless steel saucepans, cast iron skillet, one very sharp chef’s knife, a stainless steel spatula. A bar of castile soap for washing hands and dishes, dish brush, dish cloth, a few kitchen towels, stainless steel tub for washing dishes in, collapsible bucket for rinsing dishes and toting water, stainless steel water dispenser for washing hands at camp. Enamel plates, bowls, cups + stainless steel forks and spoons for each person, insulated cups for keeping coffee and tea warm in the morning. I’m most likely forgetting some things, but you get the idea.
black bean brownies
I often make these to take camping or on hikes, they are energy dense but won’t leave you feeling sunk, and they are quite wholesome as treats go. I use this recipe, but without the mix-ins suggested. Instead, I press a chunk of a very dark chocolate bar into the center of each brownie.
granola/porridge
Joel, James, and I prefer hot oat porridge, and we get up early. My two older children prefer granola or cereal. Thus, Joel makes porridge earlier in the morning, and we eat it together with James, while the older children can pour themselves granola with the same toppings (tetrapak soymilk, fruit) whenever they feel like eating their breakfast. I always bring seasonal fruit to top both the porridge and granola- it being late spring, strawberrries and blueberries this time. This is the granola I make.
hummus
I strongly prefer this recipe for making hummus, which is superlative in both flavor and texture. I make the chickpeas themselves in the instant pot, though, to save time while doing camping prep. You can absolutely freeze the hummus and take it with you that way- it tastes just the same as fresh, and can help keep the ice chest cold longer. I always prepare a large bag or cut-up vegetables to go along with it—this time, it was carrots, celery, and bell peppers. I also use the hummus on sandwiches; for example, the last day for lunch I had a hummus, avocado, and lettuce sandwich.
camping minestrone
notes: this is our traditional “first night at camp” meal, along with a loaf of sourdough. It is nice to just heat up something that I know is nutritious, warm, fiber rich, and which everyone enjoys. It is a relaxed recipe, I make it according to what I have on hand. This time I didn’t have a lot on hand, so it’s a little barebones, but still very delicious! I interchangeably use lentils, any white bean, borlotti beans, and chickpeas for the legume. Any kind of green works, but I find kale to both be very palatable for my children, and sturdy enough to hold up to reheating. I pack in a large glass jar that then becomes our camp compost jar for the remainder of the trip (fruit peels, coffee grounds, apple cores etc).
1/4 cup//60 ml olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
a big pinch chile flakes
a 14.5 oz // 411g can diced tomatoes
a large sprig rosemary
4 cups broth
2 or more cups chickpeas
4 large leaves of kale, chopped
Heat up olive oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add in the onion, celery, and carrot and fry until translucent and just starting to turn golden. Season with salt, add the garlic and chile flakes, and let cook another minute. Add in the tomatoes, rosemary, and broth and simmer 15 minutes. Remove rosemary sprig, stir through the chickpeas and kale, and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed, and simmer for a few more minutes. Allow to cool before packing into a large jar to take with you.
dumpling salad
notes: this is a Hetty McKinnon recipe, I believe, that I wrote down in a notebook, originally from the NYT cooking section. Everyone in our house enjoys it, it’s relatively healthy, and it’s very easy—a good one for kids to cook, too. For camping, I fried the dumplings ahead of time, and I also made the dressing at home and brought it with us in a jam jar. All we did at dinner time was reheat the dumplings briefly in a pan, smash the cucumbers, and chop green onions, then assemble in our bowls. We used two packs of Trader Joe’s Thai Vegetable frozen dumplings, which was enough for 5 people.
for the peanut dressing:
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup just-boiled water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp chile crisp
for assembling:
pan fried dumplings
6 small persian cucumbers, smashed
cilantro and green onions
sesame seeds, toasted
Whisk all dressing ingredients together until very smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Place dumplings in bowls, divide cucumbers evenly between bowls, and drizzle over the dressing. Scatter the herbs and sesame seeds and devour.
chickpea salad sandwiches
notes: this is a standard camping lunch for us, along with the alternate option of a PB&J. It’s simple, it’s delicious, it’s quick and has minimal cleanup. We bring cans of chickpeas, and a jar of mayonnaise. We mince up a few of the carrot and celery sticks that we bring to snack on, and add that for crunch. Red onion is optional but very delicious here. Everyone else ate theirs on bread, but I brought a bag of washed baby greens (arugula and butter lettuce mix) and had my chickpea salad on top of that, along with sliced avocado. A side of salted potato chips is non-negotiable (we always buy the giant Costco bag of plain, salted wavy kettle chips).
a can of chickpeas, drained
mayo, to taste
a stick or celery and a small carrot, minced
a small piece of red onion or shallot, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
mixed greens
whole grain sandwich bread or sourdough
Mix chickpeas, mayo, celery, carrot, red onion, and s+p together in a bowl. Heap onto the bread, add the greens and top with the other slice of bread. Eat with a side of salty potato chips.
Tiffany’s mulled wine
notes: my friend Tiffany hosted our large group at her campsite one night for mulled wine and warm unfiltered apple cider for children, pregnant mamas, and anyone who didn’t want alcohol. We made s’mores, the children played together ferally in the dirt, the adults chatted, it was lovely chaos.
750 ml bottle red wine, we used Redwood Organic
3 small blood oranges or 2 navel oranges
2 tbsp sugar, or more, to taste
4 oz Cointreau
1 cinnamon stick
Pour wine into a non-reactive saucepan (such as stainless steel). Slice the oranges in half and squeeze out most of the juice, using your hand, into the saucepan, dropping in the spent halves after squeezing. Add the remaining ingredients and bring the mixture up to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Taste and adjust sugar if desired. Pour into cups and enjoy.
For paid subscribers, find the camping video below: what I ate, plus the prep I did the day before & what I ate the day before, and what I packed to wear. Thank you!