Vegan Camping Survival Guide: Not Just a Bunch of Salads!

Hello friends! So we made it back 🙂

We had such a lovely time together! I still can’t believe we have been married 5 years on the 21st! The past two years we have spent our anniversary soaking up the sun in Palm Springs at a fancy hotel, this year we decided to rough it a bit and get away from the 110 degrees and hit up the beach. We have never gone camping with just the two of “us” so we thought it would be fun to take a little mini vacay (our real vacation will be in Maui in October) to camp in Malibu right on the beach.

We have collected quite the camping gear supplies over the past 5 years thanks to my parents 🙂

Our view for 3 days and 2 nights!

Ok so let’s talk FOOD! I was so not worried about going camping and sticking to my CS Challenge! I knew it would be all about preparation and I was armed and ready!!

Everyday I enjoyed a lovely GREEN JUICE, thanks to Evolution Fresh. These juices could’t have come around at a better time. I got mine from Starbucks!

“Pure juice, the way nature intended. Packed with nutrients. Full of color and bursting with flavor. That’s how we have always done things, since founder Jimmy Rosenberg first started squeezing naturally delicious juice in Santa Monica more than 30 years ago.”- From Evolution Fresh 

I am naturally an early riser, so while Hubby slept in I enjoyed my hot tea by the fire while getting in The Word.

This tea is one of my faves! It’s a combination of Green Tea and White Tea.

For breakfasts I made a tofu, veggie and soyriso burritos!

[print_this]

Soyriso, Tofu, and Veggie Breakfast Burritos 

Ingredients:
1/2 package extra firm fresh organic tofu
Brown Rice Tortillas
1 bunch of fresh organic cilantro
1 whole tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, peeled & diced
1 russet potato, peeled & diced (optional)
1 zucchini chopped
1/2 package Soyrizo Meatless Soy Chorizo, one sausage

[/print_this]

Topped off with a little organic salsa and a little avocado. Man this tasted AMAZING!

Thanks to Trader Joe’s I found an alternative to the regular tortilla chips to enjoy at the beach.

I also snacked on lots of fresh veggies and almonds.

There was the cutest little outcove on the back of our campsite that we could eat lunch at and just chill for the day.

Before we left for camping, I made a Eggless Tofu Salad from Kris’s book to enjoy for lunch all three days we were there.

[print_this]

Eggless Tofu Salad —>You will never go back to egg salad again!

Serves 6 hungry people

2 blocks (about 15 oz – I use Trader Joe’s brand and the sprouted is the perfect texture)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1⁄2 cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 carrot (or 5 baby carrots), grated – take the time to grate it, it’s soooo goood!
1⁄4 of an onion (about 1⁄4 cup), minced
1 cup vegenaise
1⁄4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp brown mustard (halve this if you’re not a big fan of mustard)
salt and pepper to taste (about 1⁄2 tsp each)

Squeeze most of the excess water out of the tofu.  In a medium mixing bowl, crumble the tofu and add the celery, cucumber, carrot, and onion.

In a small separate bowl, mix the vegenaise, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, brown mustard, salt and pepper.  Add this mixture to the tofu and veggies and mix well.  Add more salt and pepper if needed.

[/print_this]

I topped the tofu salad on either Ezekiel Bread or a brown rice wrap and added lots of spinach and cucumbers.

While we laid out by the beach, I kept hydrated with these bad boys! Naked Pineapple Coconut Water!

Mr.B loved the water!! He was all about playing in the sand.

I even got in a little fun full body circuit while we were there! Who brings gym equipment camping? THIS GIRL! Fun post about what I did to come next week.

Don’t worry there was plenty of other time to play Phase Ten, Farkle, and Stratego!

I kept dinners simple yet delicious. Thanks to Trader Joe’s for the wonderful vegan options I could buy something for the both of us.

I gave my black bean soup a little face lift by adding in a little steamed zucchini and squash.

With a little avocado! Do you see a theme here with the green stuff?!

Our second night we enjoyed burgers! Well kinda. I got these Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burgers: 

Ingredients: Carrots, Onions, String Beans, Oat Bran, Soybeans, Zucchini, Peas, Broccoli, Corn, Soy Flakes, Spinach, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Red Peppers, Arrowroot, Corn Starch, Garlic, Corn Meal, Salt, Parsley, Black Pepper

Hubby was the sweetest and took over cooking!

My burger was put on some Ezekiel bread with fresh tomato, spinach, Dijon mustard and AVOCADO! On the side some fresh veggies and sparkling lime water.

Dinner by candlelight, romantic indeed 😉

Instead of enjoying a beer (which was hard but I stuck strong) I enjoyed half of this Kombucha each night! HOLY MOLY this stuff is amazing!! Why have I waited so long to try it? Oh ya, the price! But it was so worth every penny. It has probiotic organisms, antioxidants, and organic acids.

Kombucha is or is like a tea elixir, as described on the website. It has been used around the world for centuries as a promoter of health and wellness. Its fermented cultures are known to aid in a number of ailments from hair loss to indigestion. It is described as a “miracle”.

I also brought my Digestive Enzymes! Life SAVERS!

So while I didn’t have any wine, we did have some melted 75% cocoa organic dark chocolate and gluten free but not sugar free) graham crackers. No marshmallow, just the dark chocolate and graham. It was perfect!

So as you can see I made it through a camping trip sticking to 95% of the CS Challenge!!! I ate a lot more COOKED food then I have had for the first week, but hey you can’t win them all. I was just happy to skip most sugars and alcohol!

Here is to another 50+ YEARS!!!!!