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Think camping while on the Paleo diet is difficult? It's really not – check out what we ate during this trip we took

A few weeks ago we did one of my favorite activities here in Colorado, which is camping. We went to Rifle Falls State Park which clear across the other side of the mountains but oh so worth it. It's got a lot – a huge triple waterfall, caves for us to explore, ponds and a stream to fish, beautiful scenery.

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On PaleoNow when I say we go camping I mean we go car camping. So everything in this post is for when you have a ton of space in a huge cooler and aren't trying to haul it on your back over some 10,000 ft mountain pass as in backpacking.

Because we eat Paleo there isn't a ton of food that we can buy pre-prepared so we eat pretty similarly to how we do at home. This means most food is cooked from scratch, with the exception of a few things. Prior to our camping trips we spend a few hours preparing food for the trip so that we don't have to spend that much time at the site prepping.

Camping Night 1

The first night we arrived we had flank steak with a chimichurri sauce and Cumin Roasted Carrots. My husband made up a marinade for the steak and placed it all in a bag that went straight into the cooler. The chimichurri sauce we made up at home and put in a small container. And the carrots were roasted at home and then placed in a packet of parchment paper and foil and then simply reheated over the fire.

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

So one food compromise we make is that we have regular Stay-puffed marshmallows full of not-healthy stuff while camping. While we make our own marshmallows for any at-home purpose we have found that they melt too fast over a fire. And the organic, corn-syrup free ones they have at Whole Foods and health food stores don't work so well either. Hence the compromise. Each person gets 2 marshmallows each night, so I figure that's like 10-12 a year. Not too bad when considered we eat healthy most of the time. And instead of doing full-on s'mores I just toast my marshmallow and then place it on a square of 85% dark chocolate. Still delicious!

Photo Jun 13, 8 05 50 AM

Breakfast the 2nd day was cooked on our portable camping stove and consisted of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and Applegate Farms breakfast sausage. The eggs I cracked and scrambled at home and put into a glass mason jar. Then we just poured out what we needed and cooked them on the stove. The pancakes we also made at home and just reheated on the stove.

Paleo freebie library

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

Snacks during the trip consisted of Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites by Paleo Parents (in Real Life Paleo) and Lemon Blueberry Muffins by Diane Sanfilippo (in Practical Paleo).

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

Lunch was chicken salad and Jackson's Honest Sweet Potato Chips (they are cooked in coconut oil!). The chicken salad I made at home and is just roasted chicken thighs, celery, cranberries, walnuts, mayo, salt and pepper.

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

Dinner the 2nd night were Applegate Farms Hot Dogs and sweet potato wedges. The sweet potatoes we cut up and parboiled for a while at home and then placed in a parchment/foil packet to complete cooking over the fire. We did bring gluten-free hot dog buns but we all discarded ours after a few bites since they were pretty hard and dry.

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

Breakfast the last morning was more scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and leftover sausage. One of my favorite things about camping is having my coffee – last year when I was on AIP I didn't get to have it and while I had some great alternatives it just wasn't the same. So I savored every single sip of the bitter brew this year!

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

We stopped in Vail on our way back to give the kids a break to run around and to grab lunch. We went to Yellowbelly, which is a gluten-free fried chicken “fast food” joint. Darn good for being fast and if you look in the wee corner of the picture you'll see a coke – but a cane sugar one! Not that cane sugar is great for you, but since I like to treat myself with a coke every so often on vacation, I'd much rather have a cane sugar one than a high fructose corn syrup one. I mean, it's the lesser of two evils I guess. (There also is a Yellowbelly in Boulder too).

UPDATE 7/3/2017 – I have another post on Paleo camping that also features a video VLOG showing what we ate on yet another camping trip!

A Paleo Camping Trip by Thriving On Paleo

Make Paleo easier, faster, less expensive, and way more fun with all the resources in my Freebie Library! Click on the picture to find out how to access it.

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