Enjoy The Flavors of Summer: Amber Approved Camping Recipes

 
It is officially camping season. And let me tell you, camping food has always been some of my favorite food! Anything cooked over the fire or in the fire is always amazing. Don’t you agree? So I really wanted to arm you with some healthy camping recipes that you could enjoy this season!

The first things that come to mind for me when I think about camping food are:

SMORES!

SNACKS!

MOUNTAIN SANDWICHES! (I’ll get to what those are in a bit…)

The thing is, when I used to camp or make camping food, it was very processed and it never made me feel good after I ate it. And through some of my camping adventures, I was also struggling with my food addiction as many of you know I overcame. You can read my story here.

So essentially what would happen is I would go camping and either agree to restrict and not have smores or anything “bad” or I would agree this was a cheat time. The problem was, if I restricted myself, I always ended up sneaking the forbidden food and binging on it and when I allowed myself to cheat, I would treat it as a free-for-all and still ended up binging anyways. By the time I was finished, I’d feel like absolute garbage. I would come home from each trip feeling like I gained 10 pounds in regret, because I just couldn’t have one smore or eat a handful of chips. This was part of the vicious cycle I was in and so badly wanted to get out of.

After I overcame my food addiction and eliminated my food allergies for gluten, dairy, refined sugar-free, I didn’t really think I would be able to enjoy camping food. I thought: “Hey, I can take my meat and veggies” but I didn’t really know what to make. And that’s when I started to really be inspired by creating new recipes for all sorts of different foods I missed, but an allergen-free version that wouldn’t give me a stomach ache.

I no longer felt the need to binge, restrict or go overboard. I felt (and still feel!) balanced with food now. And since I am human, I think it’s important we give ourselves permission to indulge and enjoy things like camping food (aka smore’s)! I now know that there are healthier alternatives for ingredients free of high fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, wheat, dairy and highly processed foods — you know the ones that can leave you heading home from your camping trip early with unwanted belly bloat. I know I was sick of coming home that way after a long-anticipated weekend in the mountains! 

So my friends, I bring you an amazing new line of Amber Approved Camping Recipes! These are all gluten, dairy, soy, corn and refined sugar-free and are inspired by some of my personal camping favorites.

One of my favorites to make that feels like such a treat are what I like to call “Mountain Sandwiches”. These are an old childhood memory that I’m so glad has been reborn. When I was younger, we’d spend time out at our cabin on the lake and Dad and I would be making “Mountain Sandwiches” in the sandwich irons to put into the hot coals. They were full of amazing ingredients including salsa, peppers, pineapple, meats of all sorts and much more. We made a huge variety of sweet and savory. Still not quite sure where the idea for the “Mountain Sandwich” came from, but it’s still fittingly one of my favorites – especially now that I live so close to the rockies!

Here are a few versions you may want to try:

• Chicken Veggie Mountain Sandwich
• Veggie Mountain Sandwich
• Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Banana Mountain Sandwich

The other camping inspiration I’ve been working on is a collaboration with the local and amazing product brand Lace Brick Design which is created for the down-to-earth girl passionate about adventure, travel, road tripping and of course, nature and the mountains.

You will see amazing camping recipes like White Coconut Hot Chocolate and Peppermint Dark Hot Chocolate topped with roasted marshmallows in their camping cup, soup stored in their Mountain Girl Bottle and of course many other mouth-watering recipes.

You can catch all the camping recipes right here on my website. Give yourself permission to enjoy your camping experience to the fullest (with these recipes in tow!) which also means your food experience!

I’d love to hear which ones are your favorite! Let me know in the comments below.

And I promise, I will be back next year with a whole new line….

If YOU are a food product company that has aligned ingredients of gluten, dairy, soy, corn and refined sugar-free and you want to see some of your ingredients featured in an Amber Approved recipe be sure to contact me at [email protected] to explore collaborations, as I am always up for supporting and sharing about great products!

Happy camping & enjoy your summer, everyone! Nourish yourselves with good food, good friends and of course, sunshine. 

Amber