Camping with Ominovores: Part VI - The Trip

I love waking to the sounds and smells of the campground. They are familiar and relaxing. The smell of campfires and cooking fires fill the air as the sounds filter of fires crackling, people talking, children playing, the occasional car door. As the progresses the sounds of radios filter through the air, mixing with the sounds of talking, laughter, and children playing. As busy as it is, there is also something simpler as people just breathe and live in a slightly different way. Chores still need done. Wood gets chopped. Meals get cooked. Dishes get washed. Life still moves forward, but it is different. I love waking up to as I stretch and emerge from my tent. (We don't just camp in fall weather, we tent camp.) I didn't get as much time camping during a recent trip, but I did get enough to give me a bit of a fall pick me up. We set up and slept in tents, we ate, we enjoyed time by the fire with family and friends, the kids played, and we took a nighttime hay ride.

I kept the meatless menu this weekend fairly simple, complementary to the menu the omnivores were eating. There were two of us eating meat- free (which pretty much never happens with my camping trips).

Friday Night (arrival): Tents and canopies were set up, the camp kitchen was set up, beds were made, and a fire was started. I grabbed a pre-dinner snack of roasted red pepper hummus with fresh veggies & pita chips.

The first night menu was just dinner and OYO (On Your Own). Most of my family had planned on hot dogs or pie iron sandwiches over the fire with pre-made pasta salad. I made a Tofurky beer brat in a foil packet with onions, peppers, and mushrooms cooked in hard cider over the fire, topped with homemade pepper relish, then served along side pasta salad.

In the evening, I enjoyed my a couple s'mores made with vegan marshmallows. Oh, so much yum and full of such happy memories form by childhood.

Saturday (full day): I packed oatmeal for breakfast with peanut butter, dried cranberries, maple syrup, agave syrup, nutritional yeast, sunflower seeds, and almond milk as options for it. This camping trip was mixed with time off camp for work responsibilities. I didn't feel like breakfast, making or eating, but it was enjoyed by my fellow Veghead instead of waffles.

Lunch was OYO. Thank goodness for hummus cups.

Dinner I made black beans and corn with dried veggies, onion, pepper, garlic, and hard cider in my mini Dutch oven with Tofurky beer brats cooked in foil packet with assorted veggies in place of the families smoked meat selection. Smoked macaroni and cheese was also on the menu.

Sunday (packing for homemade): Oatmeal happiness.

Camping with Omnivores: Part V - Packing

Something unusual happened this fall camping trip- surrounded by my meat-eating family, my cooler looks a little different than usual. I'm not the only one. This rarely happens. This never happens. This is someone who has little idea how to pack for camping, especially as as vegan.

I stick fairly close to the menu my family plans, it usually makes everyone's life a little easier. Being a short fall camping weekend, we had do OYO (On Your Own) Meals, two breakfasts (one includes waffles), and one big dinner that is going to involve my brothers smoking a bunch of meat with macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and whatever is left of pasta salad.

In my own not-exactly little cooler and dry box, I packed a selection of raw veggies pre-cut, tofurkey beer brats (they stand up to cooking over the fire pretty well), a Halloween-inspired vegan pasta salad, pickles, beverages (adults and otherwise), oatmeal, peanut butter, tortillas, hummus, a few crunchy snacks (including pita chips), tea & hot chocolate, fixings for black beans and corn, and everything I needed for s'mores (yay vegan marshmallows) . It's only two of us, but food eaten outdoors and near a campfire usually tastes the best. It's going to be a tasty weekend and the weather is supposed to be lovely.

Camping with Omnivores: Part II - Equipment

Equipment

Before a menu can really be decided there are a few questions to be decided. Knowing what equipment you have available makes food and menu planning much easier. I have become unapologetically protective of my camping cookware. My coffee pot and grilling gloves are among the few things I am willing to share. Keeping things separate can feel stressful when all you want to do is relax with friends or family in the great outdoors, but it doesn’t have to be. Plan ahead and let the good times roll. Time by a campfire is well spent and not eating meat shouldn’t make it seem harder than it has to be. We usually take a propane camp stove for backup, but rarely use it, preferring to cook over an open fire. I always back a small hiking style stove as a backup in case of rain, wet wood, or the need to cook without fighting for fire space.

               
Honestly, I hold a little bit of envy for the vegans and vegetarians who camp with others like them. I’ve watched the videos on youtube and seen the plans for couples and families heading to the woods. Occasionally, there will be someone else, but mostly I am planning for one. It creates a few added challenges along the way when planning food and how to prepare or serve that food. I tend to pack small and over the years I have added to my collection to make my trips more efficient and more enjoyable.

A Few Suggestions (things that have made my life easier)

• Aluminum foil – a campfire classic to use to line the grate, make foil packets, or to make clean up easier. Foil packets were a staple growing up as a Girl Scout and can be filled full of just about anything from breakfast to lunch, dinner, and even desert. (I like the heavy duty made for grilling & cooking, but you can always double layer if needed.
• Mess kit – it may bring back memories of scouting days and ideas of backpacking, but when being the only vegetarian or vegan among a bunch of omnivores it can prove to be just enough for one person. If worried about cooking something messy and the clean-up, line the pan with foil. They can be picked for a s low as $10 and perfect for lighting camp cooking.
• Plate, bowl, cup, silverware – my family, and other families often camp with paper plates and plastic silverware that can be easily disposed in fire or trash, but I still pack a single set of enameled dishes – a plate, bowl, cup, and silverware. I don’t like sharing very well. (I keep mine in a mesh bag for storage 
• Saucepan or medium sized skillet- fire safe – a basic and versatile piece of cooking equipment. 
• Can Opener - Everyone forgets how important a hand can opener is until you are sitting there staring at an unopened can. These can be picked up cheap and are helpful at a camp site or during a power outage.
  
• Fire safe coffee pot – for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or heating hot water for oatmeal, mine gets used by everyone. 
• Heat & fire safe cooking utensils – tongs, spatula, wooden spoon, metal serving spoon for cooking and serving – No one wants to pull a steaming baked potato or foil packet  from the flames with their bare hand or flip veggies with a plastic silverware. 
• Knife and cutting board – I keep a small cutting board and sharp knife in my camp box for cutting and chopping fruits, veggies, or whatever. Keeping things separate and becomes more important when camping and cleaning options more limited than home. 
• Dishpan, soup, sponge or wash rag – It’s good to have a way to clean up before or after a satisfying meal. 
• Oven or grill gloves – Cookware gets hot when cooking over the fire or on a camp stove. Even removing a saucepan or coffee pot after heating needs protection for hands from the heat. Not everyone packs these, but they are handy for anyone camping and cooking in the great outdoors. 
• Cast iron pie iron – I grew up cooking with these and they are definitely not just for the meat-eaters. Pizza pockets, grilled cheese, breakfast, hand pies, and hot grilled peanut butter are just as easy veggie style as not. 
• Small cast iron Dutch oven – it took me awhile to find the right size at a decent price, but I have not need for a regular sized one and not desire to use the one my family used to prepare chili and roasts in. It is definitely not a necessity, but it is a nice bonus for chilly camping weekends. 
• Hot Dog/Marshmallow stick - you can always use a fresh stick, with the end tapered, but I pack my own expandable one to keep it separate from the ones my family uses. Mostly mine is used for the vegan marshmallows and s'mores, a camping tradition, but occasionally used for veggie brats or vegetables.
• Option - food storage containers - I like being able to pre-chop veggies or have a way to have things prepacked for ease of use. I often pack a food storage container with three separate sections as a s'more making kit with vegan marshmallows, white chocolate (I can't have caffeine), and graham crackers. It's very handy to have everything accessible when roasting marshmallows at the campfire by the light of the fire and a lantern.

 
For keeping everything need and orderly I pack my cookware and dishes in a plastic picnic basket, a plastic tub for my dry food stuff & not refrigerated stuff, and a split the rest between the larger family cooler and my own smaller one. Keeping everything separate helps me easily & quickly find what I need, as well as protect it from accidentally being used for meat or meat products.

Everyone has their own preferences for cookware and menu, but being the lone vegetarian or vegan doesn’t mean or should be limited only to a jar pf peanut butter and raw fruits and veggies, unless that’s what you want.