Last weekend, we went to a glorious little spot up on Mt. Hood.  A picturesque campsite with a snow-melt stream running through it, and a gorgeous view of the sparkling mountain lake from my tent.  It was great to completely unplug both mentally and technologically, spend time with my dearest friends, sit around a campfire, and not shower for three days.  We lucked out with sunshine and dry weather the whole time.  I also used it as an excuse to ready myself for transition out of my current job, and into a new position in a new practice.  I’m thrilled about it, but this was a major change that I wasn’t anticipating.  This will be a veryfullsummer, so I’m taking every opportunity to drink deep from PacNorWest well of natural beauty and recharge.

Clearly, camping worked wonders for me, right?

I stuck to my no-sugar/no-grains eating plan while I was gone, and it was much easier than I expected.  I actually didn’t miss eating s’mores or hamburger buns, which genuinely surprised me.  For all my outdoorsy/traveling readers and friends who need ideas about how to stick to your s-f/g-f guns, here is a sample menu.  With a little bit of prep work before you leave, it’s super easy.  I might add that we had the luxury of a single burner camp stove and a fire pit, but no running water except for one spigot which supplied water for roughly 6-8 campsites. 

Breakfast:

Plain coconut flour biscuits with Sunbutter or over-easy eggs
Greek  or coconut yogurt with shredded coconut, nuts and berries

Lunch:
Kale Waldorf salad with cold rotisserie chicken
Chicken salad with tarragon (recipe coming soon!) and baby kale
Lettuce wraps with uncured ham, tomato, cucumber goddess dressing, and sliced peperoncinis

Snack:
Sunbutter and celery
Hummus and veggies
Nuts

Dinner:
Kielbasa sausage with organic sauerkraut
Chili served with quinoa and campfire roasted veggies

Dessert:
Bananas roasted over the campfire
Peanut butter cookies (recipe coming soon!)
Decaf coffee plus two squares of melted dark chocolate and almond milk

Oh, look!  We’re happy campers.

Me on day three, canoeing, sun-worshipping and loving my mountain time.

Husband (minus his winter beard) definitely in his element on the lake.