I took my boys on their first float trip this past weekend–an 8-hour rafting adventure on the Meramec River in southern Missouri with some friends from our church. I thought I’d share some of our menus and simple camping foods for those of you who also like outdoor adventures. I’ll also share our favorite ingredients for low oxalate trail mix, our favorite hiking and camping snack.

My philosophy with camping is to keep things simple. I have a big plastic tub with a lock that I call my camping kitchen (the lock is to keep out raccoons). I keep all of my dishes, table wear, napkins, wet wipes, matches, fire starters, salt and pepper, paper towels, dish washing liquid, cups, battery-powdered lantern, backpacking stove etc. in my kitchen. Everything I need to prepare and eat food! I add to that a small gas-powered grill, a cardboard box with non-perishable foods, and a cooler for perishable stuff. For this trip my family also added two small soft-sided coolers to take on the river.

We still eat whole foods while camping, but I like to add a few convenience foods, too. I also add a few medium oxalate foods to please my parents and keep them coming on camp outs with me and the boys. On Friday night we did all of our cooking over the fire. We ate roasted, preservative-free hot dogs without buns, peas warmed up in the can, medium-oxalate baked beans warmed up in a sauce pan over the fire, sauerkraut, sliced big beef tomatoes, sliced watermelon and sliced apples. For Saturday night after the float, we had cheeseburgers cooked on the grill, guacamole, tortilla chips, sliced big beef tomatoes, corn warmed up in the can, pineapple and left-over watermelon. Both meals were relatively easy since most of the slicing was done at home and all I had to do was turn the meat cooking over to my dad, open cans and open containers that I pulled out of the cooler.

For breakfast, the boys ate gluten-free rice Chex, pineapple and cold bacon which I cooked before we left. My mom and I had egg and pea salad which was left-over from before the trip, and my dad had hard-boiled eggs and bananas. We also boiled water with my backpacking stove and brewed Madagascar Vanilla Rooibos Tea. A very satisfying around the campfire breakfast.

My big challenge for this trip was the 8-hour float on a crowded raft in the full sun with temperatures reaching 95 degrees fahrenheit. I ended up taking packs of “squeeze apple sauce,” hoping it would be both convenient and refreshing. It was! Plus, I also got a lot of cool mom points for that one. I also packed apples, plenty of bottles of frozen water, cooked ham cubes, sliced cheese, and a zip-lock bag of low oxalate trail mix for each of us. And yes, I stuck a pop-top can of pineapple chunks in my bag in case the raft went over and the rest of our food got contaminated with river water.  Luckily, the pineapple wasn’t needed, although my mom did manage to fall into the river three times.

Here’s how we made our low oxalate trail mix.

Low Oxalate Trail Mix

Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (as much as you want!)
Pumpkin Seeds
Raisins
Banana Chips (moderate amount)
Dried Cherries
Dried Blueberries
Dried Pineapple
Sunflower Seeds (go real easy on these!)
A pinch or two of salt if your pumpkin and sunflower seeds are raw/unsalted

If you eat grains or processed sugar you might also want to add:

Gluten-free Rice Chex
Glutino Pretzels
White  Chocolate Chips

Since the boys and I like different things in our trail mix, I put out all of these ingredients on the table and let each person fill a cereal bowl with whatever low oxalate trail mix ingredients they want. Then we dump out the bowls into zip-lock bags and put our initials on the bag. This past weekend I made my trail mix with lots of coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, banana chips, dried cherries, raisins and salt. YUM! The boys each used Rice Chex, pretzels, banana chips, dried pineapple and white chocolate chips. Aidan also added a few raisins. Making the low oxalate trail mix by themselves was a big hit, as was eating it on the river. We sure didn’t have any left-overs!

Thanks to Jamin Gray, Dick Clark and Vicki Watkins for your beautiful photos!

My boys have a new favorite low oxalate recipe–Jamaican Rice and Peas!  This is a staple from my vegetarian days that I haven’t made in years, but I had one of those crazy cravings and gave in.  It also seemed like a good learning opportunity for the boys.  What better way to introduce new cultures than through their food?

Get in the mood for Caribbean food!

Rice and peas is an everyday staple in Jamaica.  Its subtle coconut flavor and creamy texture are a perfect complement to Jamaican Jerk Chicken and other spicy island treats, but it also makes a filling vegetarian main-dish.  It’s traditionally made with pigeon peas, but black-eyed peas or kidney beans can be substituted.  I sometimes use the  habanero pepper and sometimes don’t.  Since you use a whole pepper and remove it before cooking, it doesn’t make the rice hot, but adds a nice, subtle pepper flavor.

The night I introduced Jamaican Rice and Peas to my boys, I talked with them about Jamaica and tropical islands.  They were fascinated and asked lots of questions and repeated the things I was telling them over and over.  I think it was the first time it started to make sense to them that people live in many different places, and that people in different places eat different foods than we do.  It was fun watching them learn, and  it was a very pleasant way to make dinner conversation with soon-t0-be-three-year-olds.  I plan to buy a good map to keep in the kitchen, so as we cook and learn together I can point out where the different foods we eat come from.  I hope this will also make cooking and eating together as a family more fun.  It sure was fun last week.  And it was even more fun when Aidan requested “Island rice and beans” again for dinner a few nights later.

Aidan loves his Jamaican Rice and Peas (made here with kidney beans)

Jamaican Rice and Peas

2 cups cooked pigeon peas, black-eyed peas or kidney beans
1 can unsweetened Coconut Milk  (13.5 ounces)
1 cup water
2 cups  long grain white rice (not instant!)
1 habanero pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
sea salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon)

Put all of the ingredients into a saucepan, including the cooking liquid from the beans if possible (should be about 3/4 cup liquid — adjust by adding extra water if necessary).  Bring to a boil, then simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender (about 30 minutes).  Remove the habanero pepper and serve.

Makes 4 main dish or 8 side dish servings.

Note:  Most Jamaican chefs start by cooking raw pigeon peas (which are soupy like non-drained canned beans), then add the other ingredients to the bean pot.  This is why I use the cooking liquid in my recipe. It keeps things easy and more authentic tasting.  You may like the texture of this dish better, however, if you drain and rinse the beans first, then add an extra 3/4 cup water.

Low Oxalate Info:   Pigeon peas and kidney beans are medium oxalate ingredients.  All other ingredients are low or very low oxalate, so this is a low to “lower medium” oxalate dish depending on what type of pea/bean you use. Actual oxalate values are: black-eyed peas (3 mg. oxalate per half cup, uncooked), pigeon peas*(7 mg. per 1/2 cup, canned), kidney beans* (11.7 mg. axalate per half cup, uncooked), coconut milk (0.0 mg. per 1/2 cup if using a brand without guar gum, such as Chaokoh or Natural Value), Uncle Ben’s long grain white rice (trace) OR “boiled” white rice (0.9 mg. per half cup), habenero pepper (0.4 mg. per sauteed pepper), thyme(2.5 mg. per teaspoon), garlic (0.3 mg. per clove), Celtic sea salt (about 0.2 mg. oxalate per teaspoon).  Jamaican Rice and Peas has about 2.4 mg. oxalate per main dish serving or 1.2 mg. oxalate per side dish serving IF you use black-eyed peas.

Picky Eater Pleaser:  Try leaving out the pepper, thyme, garlic and beans at first, so you just have coconut rice (you will have to add 1/2-3/4 cup water).  If your picky eater likes this, try adding back in the beans/peas first, then add each “spice” one at a time each time you make the dish.  Alternately, make “coconut rice” and let family members add their own beans at the table.  You can also use 2-3 fresh thyme sprigs instead of the dried thyme and remove them before serving if “green specks” in the rice is unacceptable to your picky eater.

Menu Planner:  Try Jamaican Rice and Peas as a side dish with baked chicken and pineapple, or as a main dish with a tropical fruit salad on the side (mango, banana and pineapple with coconut sprinkles-yum!).

Other Diets:  Jamaican Rice and Peas may also be suitable for gluten-free, dairy-free, GFCF, vegan and vegetarian diets.

Photo credit goes to Loren Sztajer for Beach Chairs and Umbrella in Jamaica.