Camping with Omnivores: The MIni Vlog

For an Overview of  "Camping with Omnivores" & a sneak peak at my most recent camping adventure check out this video:

Keep reading for more!

Camping With Omnivores: Part III - Cast Iron

Cast Iron - A Heavy Piece of Equipment

I grew up cooking over an open fire and it wasn't something I was ready to give up just because I quit eating meat. It doesn't have to be just for omnivores. Cooking with cast iron has a number of notable benefits, especially when cooking over an open fire in the great outdoors. Cast iron can take a little extra care, but it can be well worth it.It can be great too cook all sorts of things including soups, stews, vegetables, sandwiches, deserts, breads, and just about anything else.

If you're willing to make the investment or lucky enough to find some cheap or already have some, cast iron and camping cooking have a long tradition together.

Pie Irons

My first investment in cast iron for camping was in my own cast iron pie irons (I’ve also heard them called pudgie pies and sandwich makers). I grew up making pizza pockets and desserts in these during camping and cookouts. Purchasing a few of these can be pricey, but well worth the investment if taken care of. Mine were bought at a semi local surplus shop that specialized in military surplus. It has proven a good resource for camping and outdoors needs. Cheaper aluminum ones can be easily found, but don’t hold up like the cast irons ones do. They don’t hold up to the heat and use, and I have seen them melt with use. There are tons of recipes ideas that can be found online and in books, however my favorites include pizza pockets, deserts filled with pie filling, and peanuts butter banana (sometimes I even add a smokey bite with vegan coconut bacon). 

They can be found in square shapes or round shapes, with growing options shaped for burgers, brats, paninis, waffles, and more.

Dutch Ovens

Seasoning Dutch Oven with coconut oil

I recently purchased my own 1 quart Dutch oven, so I can finally cook over the fire with one. My family uses them all the time for roasts, casseroles, stew, chili, and other dishes. For myself I don’t need a regular-sized pan for my typically lone needs. After much searching, I finally found an inexpensive small cast iron Dutch oven, perfect for cooking for one or two. (I couldn’t believe how many of the small ones cost easily twice as much as the regular sized ones I was finding on the same sites.)  I may order a second just to expand my cooking options.

Even my brothers seemed curious about the smaller sized Dutch over and the potential it brings to my outdoor cooking. I’ve been in the process of seasoning it in the over, coating the inside with coconut oil and putting in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes at a time, then cooling and repeating.  This will be done 4-5 times over a few days.

Skillets & Other Pans

If you have them, don’t be afraid to use them. They can be handy for all sorts of yummy things.

Check out tips for seasoning and caring for cast iron online: at Lodge Cast Iron, How to Season, Clean and Care for Cast Iron Like a Pro, or Food Network.

Happy reminder, if using Dutch ovens, cast iron skillets, or pie irons use caution with handling. Fire is hot. I prefer to use grill or oven clothes to protect my hands, as well something like a hook or heavy metal utensil to pull form fire. Use caution always to make things safer and happier.

Camping with Omnivores: Part I

Tent Life Can be Best Life

            In honor of an upcoming fall family camping trip, I've started this series to give a glimpse into the world of camping as a vegan or vegetarian surrounded by meat-eating omnivores. I'd love to hear about your own experiences, questions, or requests. Enjoy!

I love watching youtube videos of vegan & vegetarian friends and families camping together. Camping with other vegans and vegetarians is a luxury many of us are not privileged to. It can feel overwhelming & challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. The first few camping trips with my omnivore, meat-eating family was a definite learning curve. I wasn’t raised vegetarian, it was a sometimes difficult decision that came later in life and one that put me as a minority in my own family. There was frustration, limited food & cooking choices, an at least one nasty argument when someone used my skillet. 

                I love camping, I love the outdoors, and I love my family. I was a Girl Scout much longer than most of my friends, spent teen years camping with my friends, worked at a summer camp & a camp ground, and spent the earliest years of my childhood at my grandparents’ camper. I had to rethink food to take with me, but I thought I was otherwise prepared to camp with my large, busy, omnivore family. I had a full set of enameled cookware that included metal cooking utensils, a griddle, enameled dishes, silverware, and odds and ends from my years roughing it during the summer. I had an entire camping kitchen tub ready to go.

An evening fire

                The first hurdle came when it seemed excessive to take and entire kitchen tub and full set of cookware for the lone vegetarian. I had to minimize and drastically downsize for truck space. The second major hurdle came when I awoke one morning to find my mother cooking breakfast. Bacon sizzled in MY LONE SKILLET. Frustrated, outraged, and a bit sick to my stomach – I freaked out. Our primitive camping site would make it nearly impossible to clean the bacon grease from the skillet to use safely. I’m extremely careful of cross contamination and have suffered from the unfortunate results. I wasn’t taking any chances. I wasn’t sure how I would cook my breakfast as the pan I brought was now contaminated. I hadn’t made a backup plan for cooking.  I had started off the weekend planning worrying mostly about I would pack and eat, but hadn’t put much thought about the cooking process. I got through the rest of the weekend cooking everything wrapped in foil, a classic standby, but without being able to use the skillet I had brought. There were a number of arguments the ensued the rest of the weekend, resulting from the skillet issue. A griddle followed a similar route on a following camping trip when it was left to cool. I learned the hard way camping with omnivores put me at a disadvantage and put my cookware and dishes at risk for contamination.

Camp Dinner

                I needed a plan. I needed a plan for what food to take to eat, but also for food storage and food preparation. It would take a few trips to even some of the details. It’s important to figure out a plan ahead, and gets easier with each trip. It works together, planning everything together-  the equipment, the menu, the cooking options (campfire or camp stove), and the food storage available.

Before you start planning there are some questions to ask:

• What do you like to eat? And what will everyone else be eating?
• What are your cooking option? Fire? Camp stove? Camper?
• What food storage options to you have? Is there a refrigerator? Cooler? Are you going to be sharing a cooler?
• What preparation & cooking equipment do you have available?
• How much are you willing to share with the non-vegetarians?

           Over the years I have worked out my own system. I try to work with my omnivore family and work with the menu they plan. We are constantly learning to work together. If my mom is planning chili or stew a night, I will plan to make a meatless chili or stew to go along with it. If my brother is planning on burgers and brats with grilled corn and baked potatoes, I plan accordingly. I have a small picnic basket to keep my tools, a small plastic bin for my dry food stuff & spices, and a small cooler along with negotiations in larger cooler. Not everything I eat is separate, somethings are loved by all of us. It doesn’t have to be perfect.