Use More Herbs and Spices

This Saturday is More Herbs/Less Salt Day and I am reminded of my dad who had a massive heart attack when I was about 13 years old. By the grace of God, he survived it. Following his recovery, his doctor put him on a no salt diet and to make it easier on dad, mom and I went on a no salt diet with him. It was really hard at first, everything just tasted so bland, and dad was just miserable, but we learned to compensate by adding more herbs and spices when we cooked.

Because dad could no longer work, he started doing more cooking and it was fun to get into the kitchen and experiment with him. He was a marine and he embraced the Marine Corps motto of “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.” He was a problem solver and bland tasting food was a problem that needed to be solved.

Salt is a great flavor enhancer and aids foods in a variety of ways. Check out my blog post: “Let’s Get Salty” for all the great things that salt can do. But too much salt for some folks is a bad thing. Too much salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. However, just because you’re limiting your salt intake does not mean that you have to eat bland food.

In order to reduce our salt intake, we eliminated processed foods, which tended to be high in sodium, and we cooked almost entirely from scratch. This allowed us to have 100% control over all the ingredients.

We added more acid using citrus fruits and vinegars. Acids act a little like salt in that they help bring out the natural brightness of foods and work to meld flavors together.

We increased the size of our garden and used a lot more fresh vegetables and herbs. And, in some cases, we more than doubled the amount of herbs and spices any given recipe called for. We seasoned liberally and with authority. We learned to be fearless when it came to seasoning. Did we overdo it once in a while? Ya, we did, but we learned from each and every mistake how to make it better tasting despite the lack of salt.

Over time, we found that we didn’t miss salt quite so much because there were so many other flavors in our food. My grandmother who was diabetic loved coming to visit. She had to limit not only her salt intake but her sugar as well. Talk about there being no joy in Mudville. No salt and no sugar, and there just weren’t all of the sugar substitutes we have today.

But, being who he was, my dad stepped up to the challenge. When grandma came to visit, my dad would pull out every trick he knew, but he made sure she was still following her diet and eating healthy. She ate so well and the foods were so flavorful, I know her visits to our house brought so much joy to her in her final years.

That was just how I was raised. That was the life lesson my dad taught me. If you’re presented with a problem, you figure out a way to solve it. You improvise, adapt, and overcome.

So, whether it’s salt or sugar or dairy or gluten or something else, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t enjoy what you’re eating. Herbs and spices bring so much flavor that you won’t even miss what you can’t have.

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Hot Stuff

Today is National Hot & Spicy Food Day. For those of you who like it hot, how do you roll? In my blog post “Some Like it Hot” we talk about cooking with hot peppers, but there are other ways to up the heat from a little to a LOT!

When folks think spicy food, there are a few cuisines that immediately come to mind. Thai food is known for its heat. Mexico, Latin, Central and South America are known for being spicy. Italy and India can also bring the heat.

Adding hot stuff to your cooking can help you enjoy more flavorful food, weight loss, and better health. Consuming spicy foods can do everything from reduce your risk of heart disease to help you shed that stubborn spare tire.

In our spice cupboard, we keep a bottle of crushed red pepper flakes. We also stock black pepper (of course), white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder, cumin, sriracha powder, and curry powder. These are just a few of the hot spices out there. These just happen to be the ones we keep in our spice cupboard.

Hot sauces are another way to go. Tabasco, Sriracha, and ghost pepper sauce are our go to hot sauces, depending on the level of heat and the flavor we want. Habanero hot sauce is another really popular and really spicy hot sauce. Cholula is a popular Mexican hot sauce that derives its great flavor from Arbol and Piquin peppers. Korea’s gochujang sauce is both hot and sweet and can be added to just about anything, not just Asian dishes. It’s a lot like Sriracha but has more flavor and depth.

Hot sauces are great because they can be mixed into a sauce for a milder heat or they can be poured on top for a more powerful punch.

I know I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to hot stuff. Now that our daughter has upped her heat level and can tolerate spicier foods, our family has only just begun to fully explore the world of spicy foods. But I have to say that what we have explored so far has been very flavorful.

Your local large grocery store probably has whole sections devoted to hot sauces, spices, and other hot ingredients. Spicy foods are fun and bring so much flavor. If your heat tolerance is low, start small and slowly add more heat.

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Spicy Special Sauce

I’ve written on more than one occasion how my son likes spicy stuff. When we go out to eat, he usually orders a spicy burger topped with jalapeños, habanero peppers, ghost peppers and/or a spicy sauce. He wanted to create a spicy special sauce that he could put on his burgers when we grill at home or in camp. Here is what we came up with. Keep in mind that this is tailored to his liking, this is his recipe, but I think you might like it, too. He challenged me to try it with him and I actually like it, when my tongue stops tingling.

For a milder special sauce, please read my blog post: “Thousand Island Dressing is Not Just for Salads.”

In our home kitchen, we stock tabasco, sriracha, and ghost pepper sauce for when we want to spice things up. For this spicy special sauce, we went straight to the ghost pepper sauce because he was wanting some serious heat. We like Dave’s ghost pepper sauce because the primary ingredient is ghost pepper and there isn’t much of anything else in it; however, if you have a favorite hot sauce, by all means, substitute it and adjust the amount for your heat tolerance.

We also need to include a safety warning here. When you are working with really hot peppers or really hot pepper sauces, you need to follow some safety protocols such as wearing gloves and washing your hands thoroughly after handling. For more information on hot stuff, please read my blog post: “Some Like it Hot.”

We tried this sauce on burgers and hot dogs and we like it on both. Since this was our first go around, and I think he was trying to go easy on me, we started with a small amount of ghost pepper sauce. Our plan is to slowly up it until our tongues catch fire, which I’m sure will happen to me long before it happens to him. So, here’s his concoction. Adjust it to your liking.

Ingredients
8 teaspoons sweet relish
8 teaspoons ketchup
4 teaspoons mustard (we used yellow)
1/4 teaspoon ghost pepper sauce

Prep
Combine all ingredients. We recommend storing in a glass container because we were afraid it would eat through a plastic container. Seriously.

Serves about 4 depending on how much you smear on.

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Is Your Camp Kitchen Organized?

In our camp kitchens, can we readily find what we need? Are we always digging through totes to find that one tool that always seems to be at the bottom of the tote? Are we risking slicing our hands on something sharp as we dig through our totes?

If folks are helping us in our camp kitchen can they find what they need? Are things organized in a logical way that folks can easily figure out? Or are you constantly getting peppered with “Where’s this?” and “Where can I find that?”

Whether our camp kitchen is organized into a chuck box or into totes and containers, it needs to be organized. Having places for things helps you to find them easier and it prevents them from becoming damaged.

If you are using totes, a good way to do it is to organize by purpose. Your home kitchen cupboards are probably organized this way. Dishes are together and probably near your glassware. You probably have a spice cupboard. Pots and pans are all together as are all your baking dishes. Same thing is probably true for your pantry. Canned goods are together, baking supplies are together. Dry goods like pasta and rice are together.

Why do we do this? So it’s easier to find what we need. It’s logical and it just makes sense. You could probably step into my pantry, take a quick assessment and easily find you need you need. Looking for baking powder? It’s probably on the shelf with the baking soda, flour, and sugar. Our camping totes should be organized similarly.

I have a chuck box that holds most of my cooking equipment. It has my camp stove, cutting boards, griddle, coffee pot, pots, dishwashing tubs, small and large utensils, dishes, and more. For a complete list, see my blog post, “Think Inside the Box Part 1-Your Camp Kitchen.” I love my chuck box, but it is very heavy. It takes two of us to move it.

Totes, on the other hand, can be smaller, lighter, easier to stack, and easier to move. If you’re going the tote route, choose heavy duty ones. They’re going to take a lot of abuse and the thinner plastic ones just won’t survive. Totes designed for tools will often have a removable tray on top that can be used for small items. If you keep all your totes the same size and type, they will stack efficiently for storage and transporting. If you camp where there there tends to be critters, especially raccoons, you may want to consider having totes that are lockable.

Inside your large totes, use smaller containers to organize small utensils so they don’t get lost or damaged. A plastic bread keeper or a plastic shoe box works well for holding knives, large utensils, etc.

You could have a small tote that is just for dishwashing that has your wash tubs, collapsible drying rack, mesh bags, clothesline, dishwashing soap, bleach, scrubbies, and cheesecloth.

I have a tote that is just for my Dutch oven cooking. It has my chimneys, lid lifters, feed pans and stands. I made the mistake of using a thin plastic tote and now a couple of the corners are cracked and held together with duct tape. I need to replace it.

All your totes and coolers should be clearly labeled. You could even print a complete inventory list for each box, laminate it, and tape it to the box. It makes it easy to find stuff and, after cleanup, it ensures everything is put back in the correct tote for easy finding the next time.

Food Totes

I try to organize my food totes one of two ways. They are either organized by type (like my home pantry) or by meal. If it’s a longer camping trip and we’ll be doing more scratch cooking then I will organize my food totes like my home pantry with baking supplies together, chips and snacks together, etc.

However you organize your camp kitchen equipment and food, the important thing is that it’s organized. You and all your sous chefs will be way more relaxed in the kitchen if you all can quickly and easily find what you need. This way, you can focus on creating all those good eats!

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Apple Oatmeal Cookie Dump Crisp

This was fun to make and super easy. It’s a great recipe for a beginner chef. There are only 3 ingredients and I only dirtied one bowl and my pastry cutter so easy clean up.

We used apple pie filling but you can use any pie filling you prefer. You could even mix together two different cans for your own custom flavor. If you prefer your crisps a little more fruit heavy, you could add a third can of pie filling. Try it both ways and see which you like better.

When it’s baked, the oatmeal topping becomes very crunchy and granola like. It was very tasty. Serve it with whip cream or a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. Everyone gave it a thumb up. We would have gotten two thumbs up but no one wanted to put their spoon down!

If there are any leftovers, you can eat them for breakfast the next morning. My daughter did that and she loved it.

Equipment
12-inch Dutch oven or 9×13 baking dish.

Ingredients
2 cans pie filling
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed
1 (17.5 ounce) bag oatmeal cookie mix

Prep
Foil line or grease a 12-inch Dutch oven or grease a 9×13 baking dish. Cube the butter and, in a medium bowl, combine it with the oatmeal cookie mix using a pastry cutter or your fingers until the butter is pea-sized or smaller. Add the pie filling to the baking vessel and sprinkle the oatmeal butter crumbles evenly over the surface. Bake in a 350°F oven, using 17 coals on the lid and 8 underneath, for 50 minutes or until the pie filling is bubbly and the oatmeal topping is golden brown. Refresh coals as needed.

Serves 8-10

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Is Your Camp Kitchen Covered?

The bulk of my camping experience has been in the Northwest where you just accept the fact that it will probably rain at some point during your campout. So, in addition to having a good quality tent, you also need a good canopy tent for your camp kitchen. These are often referred to as easy-ups or pop-ups and they offer protection from both sun and rain.

A canopy tent also gives you a place to hang a lightweight lantern to illuminate your kitchen in the dark. Some folks string white outdoor Christmas lights and run them off of a battery to illuminate their camp kitchens in the evening. I like to string a couple of clothes lines to hang wash cloths and dish towels to dry. Just remember to pull them in before you go to bed so they don’t pick up condensation overnight; otherwise, you’ll wake up to damp towels.

If you are camping in a national or state park group site, they usually have a covered shelter with a concrete floor where the picnic tables are. They are usually large enough to accommodate your kitchen equipment and depending on the size of your group, you may be able to designate one of the picnic tables as kitchen workspace. Some group shelters have built in cabinets with countertops, maybe a sink with running water, electricity, and maybe a fireplace. You’ll be camping in style if you have one of these.

Most of the time, you’ll probably be in a regular campground campsite, which will not likely have any kind of permanent shelter.

Location, Location, Location
Most campsites have a picnic table and a grill box. If you can, you’ll want to position your kitchen canopy tent near both of these. You’ll want the ground to be as level as possible and free of tripping hazards like tree roots and large rocks.

Set Up
Once you’ve deployed your canopy tent, stake your legs and weight them if you need to, and stake out your guy lines. For safety, both for your campers and for your canopy tent, hang brightly colored flags on the guy lines to help folks see them and not trip over them. The last thing you want is someone yanking a guy line and ripping a hole in the covering.

What Size Do I Need?
Canopy tents vary in size and deploy quickly using a folding frame, usually at least two people are needed. Most are 10×10, but smaller and larger ones are available, some have overhanging eaves offering more shade, and some come with sidewalls for added protection from the elements. If the one you have or the one you want doesn’t have sidewalls, but you want the added protection from sun, rain, or wind, you can easily attach tarps using bungees or rope. I like to at least tarp the corner where my coolers sit to keep the sun off of them.

When deciding what size to buy, think of all the equipment you’ll want to have under the canopy, including your chuck box, totes, work tables, camp stove, Dutch oven table, etc.

Another thing to consider is how many bodies need to be working in your camp kitchen? Is it just you? Will you have sous chefs? If you regularly have helpers in the kitchen, you’ll want to allow for more maneuvering room.

What work zones will you need? You’ll probably want a designated space to wash dishes. You’ll definitely want a space for prepping and mixing.

At this point, it might be helpful to grab a pencil and some graph paper and sketch out your kitchen layout to ensure everything is under cover and you still have maneuvering room. Sketching a few different sizes and layouts will help you decide which size of canopy tent will best serve your needs.

Protection from the elements is important for you, your equipment, and the food you are preparing. A canopy tent should be high on your priority list. Where you like to camp will determine just how high on the priority list it actually is. For me, it’s a must have.

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Hot Dogs and Beans! A Winning Combo!

July 13 was National Beans and Franks Day. Today, July 15, is National Hot Dog Day.

Hot dogs are a camping and backyard grilling classic. They’re also a beloved protein of just about every kid I know.

In the summer, we’re probably grilling dogs at least once a week either in camp or in the backyard. In the winter, I’ll slice them in half lengthwise and fry them for a sandwich or a bowl of ramen or I’ll serve them alongside a pile of macaroni and cheese. I don’t know where I learned that but I love those two side by side; however, I’ve never mixed them together. I might have to try that!

Speaking of mixing together, two things that go really well when combined are hot dogs and beans. I remember eating a lot of beans and wieners on camping trips as a kid. The easiest way to make them is to open a can of your favorite baked beans and add sliced hot dogs to them and heat them together. It’s a tasty, hearty meal that is super simple to make and is easy on the budget. It makes a winner dinner for a beginning grub master. This is a great meal for a Friday night roll into camp because you can have dinner on the picnic table in less than 30 minutes. It also uses only one skillet for easy cleanup.

If you want a little more control over the ingredients, beans and franks are also easy to make from scratch. Again, it’s simply a can of beans and some sliced hot dogs and then the fun begins as you dress it up any way you like. Here’s one of my favorites. It is sweet and savory, and has complex flavors. Every spoonful is a little different.

This recipe is easily scalable. Cut the recipe in half for 2 or scale it up for as many as you need to feed (and your skillet can hold)! We use all beef hot dogs and, depending on the size of your hot dogs, you may want to halve or quarter them lengthwise before you slice them. I use a 4-ounce can of fire roasted diced green chiles, but you could substitute something fresh and as mild or as hot as you like. I use red bell pepper and yellow onion because we almost always have those on hand, but you could substitute to your liking. For some additional heat and flavor, you can add a splash of your favorite hot sauce or some red pepper flakes.

Ingredients
4 bacon strips, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
4 all-beef hot dogs, sliced
1/2 cup diced bell pepper (red, yellow, orange or green)
1/2 cup onion (yellow or white), diced
1 tablespoon spicy mustard
1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
30 ounces Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup (4-ounce can) fire roasted diced green chiles, mild or hot

Prep
Slice the hot dogs, and dice the bell pepper and onion. Pop the top on the can of diced green chiles or, if you’re using fresh, dice those. In a small bowl, combine the mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, black pepper, and salt. To this, you’d add your splash of hot sauce or red pepper flakes, but that’s optional.

On medium heat, warm a large skillet or cast iron pan. Fry the bacon to your liking, remove, and set aside on a paper towel. Drain off any excess bacon grease, but leave enough to sauté the hot dogs and vegetables. To the skillet, add the bell pepper, onion, chiles (if using fresh), and sliced hot dogs, stirring until the hot dogs are browned and the vegetables are soft and caramelized. Slice bacon and add to skillet along with Great Northern beans, chiles (if using canned), and sauce. Continue to heat and stir until all ingredients have combined and sugar has fully dissolved. Serve hot with a cold potato, pasta or green salad on the side.

Serves about  4.

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Is Your Camp Kitchen Layout Efficient?

There are lessons that we can learn from our home kitchens when setting up our camp kitchens.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the home kitchen underwent a massive renovation and has, for the most part remained consistent with neatly organized cabinets, counter space, easy-to-clean tiled backsplashes, and optimal layouts to maximize efficiency.

But what about our camp kitchens? Are they efficient? Can we easily access what we need? Do we have adequate work space? Is there a designated place for clean up? Is there a place for cooking with a Dutch oven or a box oven, and a place for starting our charcoal?

According to HGTV, the best kitchen layouts are Galley, L-Shaped, and U-Shaped or Horseshoe.

Galley Kitchen Layout
This efficient, “lean” layout is ideal for smaller spaces and one-cook kitchens. The galley kitchen, also called a walk-through kitchen, is characterized by two walls opposite of each other—or two parallel countertops with a walkway in between them. Galleys make the best use of every square inch of space. You typically see them any where there are tight quarters like airplanes, boats, submarines, motor homes and camper trailers.

L-Shape Kitchen Layout
An L-shaped kitchen solves the problem of maximizing corner space, and it’s a smart design for small and medium sized kitchens. The versatile L-shaped kitchen consists of countertops on two adjoining walls that are perpendicular, forming an L. The “legs” of the L can be as long as you want, though keeping them less than 12 to 15 feet will allow you to efficiently use the space. With an L-shaped layout, you’ll eliminate traffic: The kitchen will not become a thoroughfare because it’s just not logistically possible.

Horseshoe/U-Shaped Kitchen Layout
The horseshoe, or U-shape, kitchen layout has three walls of workspace. Like the L-Shape, this layout eliminates traffic because it is a dead end. Having three walls of workspace allows you to set up multiple workstations and is great for multiple cooks in the kitchen.

I prefer the horseshoe because it maximizes my work space and uses the traditional work triangle, which is efficient. I can set up my chuck box, a large camp stove, my Dutch oven table, and I can have 2 tables for work space with one doubling as a dish washing station. I can use the corners and the space under my tables for my food totes, coolers, general storage, and garbage containers. If you’re using a standard 10×10 canopy shelter, this still leaves a generous amount of space in the middle for maneuvering. It will still be tight, and if you have multiple cooks in the kitchen, you will be bumping butts; however, weather permitting, some folks could work on the outside perimeter of the canopy shelter.

If you’ve got a larger canopy shelter, something along the size of a 10×15 or 10×20, you could add a center island of tables for added work space and it could double as a serving area. Just set out all the food and eating utensils on the island and campers can file in on side, walk around the island to fill their plates, and exit out the other side.

Work Zone Concept
Over the years, the traditional kitchen has evolved into a more practical “work zone” concept and that can work in our camp kitchens as well. I almost always have helpers in my camp kitchen especially on scouting campouts. I’m always grateful when folks volunteer to help out. It lightens the load and makes for good socializing and memory making. And, if an issue arises, you have more heads to brainstorm a solution.

When laying out your kitchen, be mindful of where folks will be standing while they work and make sure everyone has access to equipment, food totes, coolers, and recipes.

Position your work zones to allow enough space for folks tending to pots on the camp stove, prepping ingredients, washing dishes, starting charcoal, or preparing biscuits or a dessert for baking. Folks are usually very understanding and courteous toward each other, but you still want everyone to have a little elbow room. I try to allow about 3 feet of space, which is what I have in my home kitchen between my counters and my small center island. My home kitchen is 12×10, which is just a little bigger than my 10×10 camp kitchen.

So, take a look at your home kitchen or think about the home kitchen you’d like to have. What do you like about it. How can you apply that to your camp kitchen? Take stock of what you got and think about what you need in your camp kitchen. Will it be just you in the kitchen or will you have others in the kitchen with you? What work zones do you think you’ll need? Do you need a place for Dutch ovens? Where will dishes be washed? How much “counter space” do you think you’ll need? And then start figuring out the layout that will work best for you and your sous chefs.

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Deviled Egg Potato Salad

 

I grew up with a simple, straight up potato salad. It wasn’t anything fancy and didn’t include any “weird” ingredients, but I loved it for its simplicity. It didn’t matter what else was on the picnic table, it went with everything. Unfortunately, the recipe (if there ever was one) was not passed down so I decided to recreate it.

It took a lot of trial and error to get all the flavors balanced, but I think I got it or, at least, I’ve gotten really, really close. When I’ve made this potato salad for family and friends, they say it has a very deviled egg flavor so that’s what I’m calling it.

I’ve made it with baby red potatoes, mini golds, and russets, and I have to say that I think I prefer the russets, but the others were tasty also. The russets seem to soak up more of the dressing, which is maybe why I like them better. If you choose to use golds or reds, you may find that you don’t need as much dressing. Just eyeball it and you’ll be okay.

I make this at home, the day before we leave, and load it into a hard-sided container for the ride to camp in my cooler. If I think I’m going to set it out for more than one meal then I will portion it into smaller containers so that it’s not going in and out of the cooler.

For the russets, I like to “bake” them in my Instant Pot or I’ll bake them outside in a Dutch oven because who wants to fire up their indoor oven in the middle of summer. If you’ve got an outdoor fire pit, you could wrap them in foil and bake them in coals. I don’t recommend boiling the russets because they break down too easily and you end up with more of a mashed potato salad. The golds and reds could be boiled or baked either in coals or in the Instant Pot.

You could also pre-mix your sauce and chop your veggies at home, and then bake your potatoes in camp and assemble in camp. I like to make it at home right before we go because potato salad is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.

So, here is my favorite potato salad and I think it’s as close to grandma’s as I’m gonna get. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds potatoes of your choice (mini gold potatoes, russets, red potatoes, etc.)
3/4 cup (2-3 stalks) celery, diced
4 eggs, hard-boiled, diced
1/4 cup (2-3 stalks) green onion, sliced
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon parsley, dried or 1 tablespoon fresh
1 tablespoon sweet relish or 1 cup sweet pickles, diced

Prep
Bake or boil the potatoes and hard-boil the eggs. Halve or quarter the smaller potatoes. For the larger potatoes like russets, large dice them down to bite-sized chunks. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce. Slice and dice the celery, green onion, and eggs (as fine or as chunky as you like). Combine all ingredients, stirring gently so as not to crush or mash the potatoes unless that’s your preference. Cover and chill.

Food Safety Tip: Eggs should sit at room temperature no longer than 2 hours.

Serves about 8.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly Backup

April 2 is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. When we camp, we always have a stash of PB&J makings in our food tote. When you’re camping with groups of youth, there is bound to be at least one picky eater in the bunch and even though they may have participated in the menu planning, now suddenly, at meal time, they don’t want what’s on the picnic table. When that happens, we usually point to the PB&J makings and say, “There you go.”

When we’re camping, we also plan our menu very tightly to minimize leftovers. If our campers are a little hungrier than we anticipated, someone may not be able to get their seconds or thirds that they want. Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a great way to supplement and fill a hungrier belly.

Likewise, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich makes a great snack any time of the day, even midnight. The peanut butter provides a hit of protein, which will help you sleep warmer and better.

If your food tote includes some fresh fruit like bananas or apples, these can be either added to the sandwich or used in place of the jam. My daughter loves peanut butter and banana sandwiches which were also a favorite of Elvis Presley.

If the temperature is a little chilly, you can also slap your sandwich on a griddle and grill it. The peanut butter gets all melted and gooey and is almost decadent.

We usually pack a couple of small jars of jelly and/or jam in different flavors so folks have a choice and, if we have any peanut allergies in the group, we’ll also pack another kind of nut butter that they can have. There are lots of options out there or you can make your own nut butter using any combination of nuts and/or seeds.

So, when packing for your next camping trip make sure your food tote includes bread, nut butter(s), and jelly and/or jam. There is something about a PB&J that is both filling and comforting, and it is good any time of day or night as a meal supplement, meal replacement or a snack.

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