Camping + October Unprocessed

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 ;)