It is such a joy to camp vegan style! My husband, 2 sons (ages 14 and 11), and myself are all vegans which means we don't eat animal products, and we go camping on the beautiful island of Catalina off the coast of Los Angeles, almost every year. We have found that not only is it easy, with just a little planning, to eat all vegan food while camping, but there are also many advantages to camping vegan. One advantage is that plant-based foods keep better then animal-based foods in situations lacking refrigeration, such as camping. Another bonus is the price is right! I purchased food for 3 dinners, plus breakfast, lunch, snacks and dessert for 4 days, for only $122.98. This amount covered all of our food needs for 4 people, including my athletic, 6 '3" hubby and 2 growing boys who are constantly ravenous. This works out to only $7.68 per person per day, or about $2 a meal per person. I bought most of the groceries at Trader Joe's, and a few specialty items at our local vegetarian health food store, Follow Your Heart. Not only is camping vegan a way to practice compassion for animals, to leave a light footprint on the earth and maintain the beauty of nature, and to eat healthy delicious food, but also it's practical and good for one's wallet as well. There are so many excellent reasons to camp vegan, and I hope you'll be inspired to make your next camping trip plant-based so you can enjoy the many benefits of vegan camping as well.
My philosophy when preparing camping food is simplicity and also I strive to be environmentally conscious. My mantra for cooking throughout the trip was "Easy"; after all, it's a vacation which means it's supposed to be relaxing! Thus, all of the food we ate was very basic and nothing fancy, but that does not mean that it wasn't totally scrumptious! As far as being ecologically minded, we were not perfect but we did make a strong effort to leave a light footprint/foodprint and preserve the magnificence of Catalina Island.
The first day, we arrived at our campsite at Two Harbors in the late afternoon. We dropped off our gear and took a quick walk down the hill to check out the beach.
This was the view from our campsite, up on top of the hill overlooking the sea.
While my husband was starting the fire, we had a couple visitors!
For our first night, I knew we might be tired from the boat ride, setting up the tent, etc, so I planned a very simple, but classic camping meal: Veggie Dogs. Eco Tip: Recycled pie tins are great to BBQ in, so I brought several along.
I used Tofurkey Italian sausage and Smart Dogs from Trader Joe's, organic whole wheat buns from Whole Foods,and we topped with chopped tomato, red onion, ketchup, and mustard. We used reusable plates, cutlery, cups,water bottles, napkins, and dish towels as opposed to disposables, so we produced very little trash.
Of course, the highlight of any camping meal is the S'mores! We used dark chocolate from Trader Joe's, Sweet 'n Sara graham crackers, and Dandie marshmallows from Follow Your Heart. A word of caution: once you try vegan marshmallows, you will never be able to eat conventional, nonvegan marshmallows again. Vegan marshmallows are so much better than conventional marshmallows! Have you ever read the ingredients on a bag of conventional marshmallows? If not, please do, and be prepared to be horrified! They are filled with unhealthy artificial ingredients, preservatives, factory farmed eggs, GMO's, and yucky animal collagen, tendons, ligaments, and cartilidge (also known as gelatin). Vegan marshmallows, on the other hand, have no artificial ingredients, are GMO-free, and are made of 100% plant ingredients. Plus, they taste delicious! Also, the Sweet 'n Sara vegan graham crackers taste homemade and are far superior to conventional, nonvegan graham crackers. Give it a try! If you cannot find vegan graham crackers as most contain honey and aren't vegan, then get creative and substitute any vegan crunchy cookie and create a new yummy version of S'mores!
Making S-mores:
The finished product: OMGoddess Sooooooooooooooooooo good! We had these every night for dessert.
For breakfast and lunches, remember "easy" was my mantra, so each of us simply chose from a variety of foods including granola with coconut milk, bagels with vegan cream cheese, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, tofurkey sandwiches,apples, or fruit bars.
Here is an example of breakfast that my son chose: bagel with tofurkey and arugula, because we always feel the best when we eat lots of greens every day.
I have to recommend Vegenaise. It is such a great product, and it just happens to be perfect for camping because unlike nonvegan mayo made with cholesterol-laden eggs, Vegenaise does not need to be refrigerated. It tastes great and comes in different flavors too like pesto and chipotle, my favorite.
Here is what my hubby liked to have for breakfast. Coconut milk, or any plant milk of your choice, is excellent for camping because it does not need to be refrigerated until opened, and then it keeps well in a cooler. As for me, I'm good starting my day with an apple.:)
For dinner on the second night, we had Veggie Teriyaki Tofu Kabobs. I had a package of Tofurkey veggie beer brats leftover, so I also put those on the kabobs too, and the veggie beer brats came out delicious on kabobs! I used Organic Baked Tofu because this type is easy for camping because it is already cooked.
We made a whole bunch of these delectable kabobs!
The next morning, day 3, we had another visitor. We finally saw the elusive island fox! We have known of his presence for years, because we hear them at night making a cat-like screeching sound, and we see evidence of them too such as these paw prints on our cooler.
He saw me and quickly ran away, but not before looking over his shoulder and giving me a quick glance, so I snapped this photo. Can you see him? So cute!
Dinner for night 3 was Teriyaki Tempeh, Roasted Garlic Potatoes, and Broccoli (my 11 year old always requests broccoli, his favorite) Tempeh originates from Indonesia, and is perfect for camping. It keeps really well in a cooler. I buy the organic tempeh from Trader Joe's.
Tempeh is very versatile; you can chop it into cubes or slice it different ways. You can sauté it, steam it, boil it, bake it, BBQ it, put it on skewers, or blend it with seasoning and form patties. Continuing with my easy philosophy, I simply sliced into 4 squares, marinated in teriyaki and lime juice, and then my hubby cooked on the grill. We made the roasted potatoes by tossing in a little olive oil, garlic, and a touch of salt, and then wrapping up in a foil package. Simple, and so delectable!
We were having such a fantastic time that we were so happy we were able to extend our stay. I had only brought food for 3 nights, however. Luckily, the campground has a store with basic food supplies. They sold vegan Boca burgers, so although that brand is not one I normally buy, in a pinch such as this, they sufficed just fine! I also picked up some Portobello mushrooms and avocado to kick it up a notch. It has become a tradition of ours when camping to serve veggie burgers on bagels, because in the past we have run out of buns so we served on bagels and it's really good actually! I also preferred the bagels they sold in the store over the buns which were filled with unhealthy artificial chemicals and not up to my standards. So here is a photo of our Veggie Bagel Burgers with Portobello Mushrooms, Arugula, and Avocado
It feels so wonderful to camp vegan, especially after seeing so much amazing wildlife, and to know that we are not hurting any animals. For example, we snorkeled every day and saw so much spectacular marine life including garibaldi, leopard sharks, rays, a Moray eel, huge bass, octopi, and much more. So glad that we don't kill any of the beautiful fish, but instead we let them be in peace in the sea, and we choose to eat plants.
Another highlight was seeing 2 bald eagles when we went mountain biking into the interior of the island! We were unable to get a photo, but here's a cute photo of my son with the conservatory's sign. We also help the eagles by camping vegan, because we leave the fish in the sea for the eagles to eat.
I hope you enjoyed my ideas for compassionate camping, vegan style! If you enjoy camping, then that most likely means you are a nature and wildlife lover, and I'm sure you want to preserve the beauty of nature and protect the little wildlife we have left. Because animal agriculture is the number one leading cause of climate change, species extinction, rainforest destruction, resource depletion, and ocean dead zones, by eating vegan, you will be taking action to help save our planet and all life on it. So please make your next camping trip vegan! (and don't be surprised that if you're not already vegan, that you feel so amazing that you decide to adopt the vegan lifestyle permanently!) Happy Compassionate Camping!
http://www.takeextinctionoffyourplate.com/
I have to recommend Vegenaise. It is such a great product, and it just happens to be perfect for camping because unlike nonvegan mayo made with cholesterol-laden eggs, Vegenaise does not need to be refrigerated. It tastes great and comes in different flavors too like pesto and chipotle, my favorite.
