This was my view when I woke up yesterday morning.
Man, I love camping!
Camping along the California Coast at Big Sur is a yearly tradition of our. We have a group of friends that makes a point of getting together every year, bringing tents and marshmallows with us. It has become one of my favorite annual events, but this year the adventure landed smack dab in the middle of another yearly deal: October Unprocessed.
So, what's one to do when you are going to be spending your days out of your kitchen and sharing food with a bunch of friends that probably won't be all too excited about an entire weekend of eating all unprocessed food? Easy...
You turn to Trader Joe's for pancake mix. Pumpkin pancake mix. Sure, if I were in my kitchen I would make it from scratch. But we are camping. And this stuff is made with unbleached flour, organic raw cane sugar, and all other good things that are OK'd for the challenge. No preservatives or artificial colors... PERFECT.
You enjoy that steak your husband cooked over the campfire. And you enjoy a LOT of it. Steak, after all, is unprocessed. The healthiest thing for you? Probably not. But unprocessed? Yes.
You chow down on roasted veggies for dinner. And then secretly jump for joy when you realize that nobody remembered to bring hot chocolate or stuff for s'mores. So we snacked on asparagus. Sad for them, but happy for me ;)
And you pack snacks. Banana chips are a great munchy food when everyone else is chomping down on Cheez-its. The best part? You don't have to be obnoxious about it. They reach for the Cheez-its, you reach for the banana chips, and you all munch away. Honestly, I don't even think anybody noticed...
So, can you be unprocessed even while camping? Yes, yes you can. But if you want those s'mores, you better go in another month ;)
I love your photos!! We've camped right along that area as well, but it's been years. Your pics are just fabulous!! Love the unprocessed steak as well... it never tastes so good as when it's made on an open campfire. Beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It is such a beautiful place -- and the steak doesn't hurt either ;)
DeleteNice pictures... never been to camping, but your first pic -- raising to that view makes the camping worthy...
ReplyDelete-Mythreyi
Yum! Yum! Yum!
You must try it! Camping is a life necessity!
DeleteWow, what a gorgeous place for camping! And I love the TJ pumpkin pancake mix. I've been adding walnuts to mine -- mmmmm!
ReplyDeleteAdding walnuts is BRILLIANT! I have some at home, so I must try that next time.
DeleteYour posts always end up making me California that much more. The third photo especially. My heart is melting for the Pacific. Hahha.
ReplyDeleteThe Pacific is the place to be... forget DC ;)
DeleteI still haven't been to Big Sur! Shame on me :(
ReplyDeleteYes, shame on you! There are no bears here so you will be fine ;)
DeleteYup, that's them :) They are our adventure friends! And yes, it is like a giant drain, but it is used to walk under the highway from the campsite to the waterfall hiking place.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, this is so cool!! I don't think I'm a nature girl enough to camp...but, your photos make camping look so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were still about to follow along with October unprocessed while camping!
HAVE YOU NEVER GONE CAMPING?! (Yes, that was in all caps. Yes, I was screaming that in my head. You need to GO!)
Deletethis makes me really, really want to go camping. now i just need a weekend off!
ReplyDelete