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!

I love oatmeal raisin cookies, and these are very satisfying despite being the ultimate allergen-free cookie. My oatmeal raisin cookies are gluten-free, flour-free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free and low oxalate. You can also keep the sugar low if you want (see my note about sweeteners after the recipe.) Low oxalate oatmeal raisin cookies have a classic oatmeal cookie taste that goes well with coffee, bush tea or milk. I really love these cookies!

Now that I’ve told you how fabulous my oatmeal raisin cookies are, I’ll admit they have one problem. Sunflower seeds contain chlorogenic acid (chlorophyll) which reacts with baking soda by turning green. Yes, if you’ve ever just substituted sunflower butter for peanut butter in a cookie recipe, you’ve learned the hard way that your cookies will turn bright green as they cool. The solution is to reduce the baking soda and to add lemon juice to create the right acidic conditions to stop the reaction from taking place. The Sunbutter website suggests that halving the baking soda and adding lemon juice will solve the problem. Unfortunately, that solution doesn’t quite cut it. Here, I’ve decreased the baking soda to one fourth of what most cookie recipes call for and have added a full tablespoon of lemon juice. These cookies will still turn slightly green, but it’s not too bad, and more lemon juice starts to add a lemony flavor I personally don’t care for. If you wish to experiment, go ahead and replace some more of the water with lemon juice. You may really like these oatmeal raisin cookies with a hint of lemon. Of course you could always serve them green for St. Patrick’s Day, too!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 tablespoons ground flax seed
¼ cup warm water
1 tablespoon warm lemon juice
1/3 cup Sunbutter
1/3 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ – ½ cup sugar* (to taste)
2 T brown sugar
1 ½ cups GF rolled oats or GF quick oats*
½ cup raisins

Put ground flax, water and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Stir and set aside until mixture starts to look goopy, about 5 – 8 minutes. Add sunflower seed butter, apple sauce, vanilla, baking soda, salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Add the oats and raisins and mix well. Let the dough rest for about 5 – 10 minutes. Drop by scant tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 – 13 minutes until golden brown.

Makes about 18 -20 cookies

Low Oxalate Info: Oatmeal is sometimes listed as medium oxalate and sometimes listed as high oxalate depending on the serving size (rolled oats have about 10 mg. per ¼ cup* or 20 mg. per ½ cup*). That’s too much oxalate for daily consumption, but not too much that most low oxalate dieters can’t have an occasional oatmeal cookie. My oatmeal raisin cookies have about 4.8 mg. oxalate per cookie (based on 20 cookies per recipe). I often will halve or even quarter the recipe, so I only have enough cookies for one or two family meals and won’t be tempted to over-indulge. You may also lower the oxalate content significantly by soaking your oats first (see my note below).

*These are average values. Some brands of rolled oats have as little as 8 mg. per ¼ cup, while others have as much as 12.5 mg. per ¼ cup.

Soaking the Oats First: One unspecified brand of GF rolled oats was tested at 20.8 mg. oxalate per half cup of which 15.3 mg. is soluble oxalate. If you soak your oats over night, much of this soluble oxalate leaches out into the water. You can then toss the water out and now your  oats have 5.5 mg. of insoluble oxalate, plus a little bit of the soluble oxalate that didn’t leach out. This significantly lowers the oxalate content of your cookies (closer to 3.8 mg. per cookie). The only problem with this method is it gives you a very inconsistent cookie. First, the dough is too wet, so you’ll have to leave a little bit of the water or applesauce out (start by leaving out 1 tablespoon of water and use only half the applesauce, then slowly add more applesauce until you get a dough that seems like the right consistency.) Another option is to add a little coconut flour to soak up some of the extra moisture (try a teaspoon at a time.) What I did one time didn’t always work the next time, so you’ll have to be flexible and see if you can come up with a consistent amount of applesauce, water and/or coconut flour that works (if you figure this out let others know in the comments section, please!).  The second problem with this cookie isn’t a big one. It just doesn’t taste like a traditional oatmeal cookie anymore. I like the crispy taste of cookies made with raw oats. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies made with soaked oats are more cake-like. Still tasty, but not as satisfying to me.

A Note about Sweeteners: I originally made my oatmeal raisin cookies with ½ cup white sugar and 2 T brown sugar. I thought they were way too sweet, but my sons thought they were perfect. This recipe also works if you reduce the sugar to ¼ cup total. In fact, I was able to make these cookies without processed sugar and the recipe worked just fine. I substituted apple juice for the water, added a dropper of liquid stevia, increased the raisins by a few tablespoons and left out the sugar. The resulting cookies were lightly sweet, but still very yummy.

Other Diets: Low oxalate oatmeal raisin cookies may also be suitable for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, egg-free, GFCF and nut-free diets.

Paleo Butternut Squash Cake is a fabulous, moist and lightly-sweet cake. My inspiration for trying this recipe was a growing desire to have carrot cake again. Or at least cream cheese icing! Carrot cake was my favorite cake while growing up, and I still miss it. My mom makes her cake with lots of carrots, cinnamon and walnuts, plus she often adds extra wheat germ for “good health.” With all those high oxalate ingredients, you can imagine that cake isn’t very healthy for me!

About a month ago I went to a Paleo potluck and was introduced to Paleo Carrot Cake with Coconut Cream Icing. I had a bite and it was fabulous, although I knew I’d personally prefer a lightly-sweetened cream cheese icing.  The woman who brought the cake used this carrot cake recipe from The Food Lover’s Kitchen and this coconut buttercream frosting recipe, also from The Food Lover’s Kitchen.  If you look closely at the recipe for this high oxalate carrot cake, you’ll notice it has what I call “good bones.” What I mean by this is that the high oxalate ingredients can be easily substituted with low oxalate ingredients or left out without complete recipe failure. Plus, the carrot cake gets star reviews from every one who tries it. With just a little tinkering, I produced this Paleo Butternut Squash Cake which was equally moist and delicious. (BTW, I apologize for the sad picture, but I thought you’d rather get the recipe now than wait for my food photography skills to improve! At least you get the idea that the cake has a nice texture.)

For those of you who eat a Paleo diet or close to it, you will find Paleo Butternut Squash Cake perfectly sweet the way it is. If you  are used to a much sweeter cake, however, you may want to add some sugar. See my notes after the recipe for alternate ways to make this cake.  Also, I included my Paleo version of cream cheese icing. However, you may want to try a more traditional cream cheese icing (which has more oxalate) or add a little extra maple syrup to my recipe here.  If you are on a dairy-free, GFCF or vegan diet, eat the cake without icing or try this Coconut Buttercream Frosting or this Dairy-free Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, also from The Food Lover’s Kitchen. Both are low oxalate, although they have substantially more oxalate than both my cream cheese icing recipe or a traditional cream cheese icing recipe (see oxalate notes below.)

Hope you enjoy this yummy low oxalate Paleo Butternut Squash Cake!

Paleo Butternut Squash Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
(adapted from a recipe from The Food Lover’s Kitchen)

3 cups raw butternut squash, (about one large butternut squash)
3/4 cup coconut flour
2 teaspoons cardamom
1 teaspoon GF baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
10 eggs
1 tablespoon raw ginger, grated
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup maple syrup, grade B
1/2 cup raisins
1 recipe cream cheese icing

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Peel and de-seed the raw butternut squash; then shred it in a food processor, using the shredding blade, or hand shred. (See picture above. Doesn’t that look like shredded carrot?) Mix the flour, cardamom, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, ginger, vanilla, coconut oil and maple syrup using an electric hand mixer (or use a whisk and mix really well). Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing well. Stir in the butternut squash and the raisins. Pour the batter into a greased 13 X 9 inch cake pan for sheet cake or two 9 inch cake pans for a two-layer cake. Bake for about 35 minutes, testing with a tooth pick until the tooth pick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting with cream cheese icing.

Serves 12 -15 (depending on slice size)

Paleo Cream Cheese Icing

16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup pure maple syrup, grade B
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Let cream cheese and butter come to room temperature. With a hand mixer, mix cream cheese, butter, syrup and vanilla until smooth. Use right away or refrigerate. This recipe makes enough icing for the 2 – layer cake. If you make a 13 X 9 inch sheet cake, you’ll have a little frosting left over unless you go crazy like I did the picture at the top of the page.

Where to purchase specialty ingredients in the USA, UK and Cananda: Many if not most of the specialty ingredients in this recipe should be available in health stores in the USA, UK and Canada or in the health section of many large-chain grocery stores. If you need to purchase ingredients on-line or just want to check out the ingredients, US readers can click on the links in the recipe. UK readers please use these links (coconut flour, cardamom, pure vanilla extract, coconut oil, gluten-free baking soda, grade B maple syrup). And Canadian readers please use these links (coconut oil, pure vanilla extract, grade B maple syrup)

Variations:
If you like a traditional sweet cake, you won’t think this Paleo cake is sweet enough. You can add 1/2 – 1 cup sugar to the dry ingredients without messing up the recipe. Do not add extra maple syrup to the cake recipe! It won’t cook all the way through and you’ll have a gooey mess. You may also want a sweeter icing. Add 1/2 – 1 cup confectioner’s sugar to the icing recipe or add another 1/4 cup maple syrup (icing will be a bit runny). Adding sugar to either the cake or the icing will raise the oxalate content of the entire recipe about 4 mg. per half cup sugar added (or about 0.3 mg. per slice). Adding an extra 1/4 cup maple syrup to the icing recipe will only add about 0.4 mg. oxalate to the entire frosting recipe and a trace amount of oxalate to each slice.

If you do not have coconut oil on hand, you can use a light olive oil or melted butter. Light olive oil will increase the oxalate content of the cake by about 1 mg. oxalate per slice. Butter will increase the oxalate content by about 0. 2 mg. per slice.

If you do not have raw ginger on hand, try using a teaspoon of nutmeg instead. It’s a different taste (and a tiny bit more oxalate per slice (o.2 mg.), but it’s good, too.

If you are serving Paleo Butternut Squash Cake at a party and only plan to eat one slice, you may want to treat yourself and your guests to some chopped walnuts sprinkled on the frosting as a garnish (walnuts are on the lower end of the high oxalate spectrum and have 21.3 mg. oxalate per half cup, chopped). This will only add about 1. 4 – 2.8  mg. of oxalate per slice if you use 1/2 – 1 cup walnuts for the entire cake, and it really is a yummy addition!

Low Oxalate Info: One piece of Paleo Butternut Squash Cake without icing has about 4.4 mg. per slice (based on a sheet cake cut into 15 slices).  Lucerne brand cream cheese has 0.0 mg. oxalate per tablespoon. Based on this oxalate value, an entire recipe worth of cream cheese icing has about 1.7 mg. oxalate. This means each piece of frosted Paleo Butternut Squash Cake has about 4.5 mg. oxalate (based on 15 slices). If you do not have access to Lucerne brand cream cheese or use another brand, don’t worry. It’s likely all cream cheese brands are very low oxalate. Even if your brand is not zero oxalate, it is very unlikely your cream cheese icing adds more than 0.5 mg. oxalate per slice.  Both non-dairy frosting links above are low oxalate and add about 2 mg. oxalate per slice.

Other Diets: Paleo Butternut Squash Cake may also be appropriate for gluten-free, vegetarian and Paleo diets, and for dairy-free, GFCF and vegan diets without the icing.

Baked apples are a great side dish or dessert for a harvest-themed meal like Thanksgiving.  These low oxalate baked apples are especially rich and make a luscious dessert served with heavy cream or coconut cream.  Make sure you use a good baking apple like Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Jonathon or Rome Beauty.  My favorite apple for this dish is Golden Delicious because it doesn’t make a lot of juice when baked which creates a richer-tasting pan syrup.  Granny Smiths is also particularly good because its tart flavor complements the richness of the butter well.

Low Oxalate Baked Apple

If you are a Primal, Paleo or other low-carbohydrate eater, you may want to leave out the honey and raisins, but I highly recommend the rum (I use 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup dark rum).  To me, baked apples are a sensible indulgence not to be missed!

Enjoy!

Holiday Baked Apples

6 large baking apples
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
6 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup apple cider, water, dark rum or brandy

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Peel and core the apples.  Pour the melted butter and honey into a small bowl and mix well.  Roll each apple in the butter mixture then set the apples in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish.  Reserve the left-over butter mixture.  Combine the raisins and pumpkin seeds in a small dish, then stuff the raisin mixture into the hollows of the apples (note: if you have non-low oxalate dieters in the house, you may want to stuff their apples with a raisin/walnut mixture instead).  Stir the lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg into the left-over butter/honey mixture.  Pour as much of this butter mixture into the apple hollows as possible, pouring any left-over into the bottom of the pan.  Add the cider to the pan (note: if you use rum or brandy, the alcohol burns off during baking).  Bake uncovered until the apples are tender when pierced with a fork (about 1 hour).  You do not need to baste these apples. Serve warm with the pan syrup and heavy cream or coconut cream.

Makes 6 servings.

Low Oxalate Info:  Holiday Baked Apples have about 5 mg. oxalate each when made with apple cider.  Cinnamon (8.3 mg. per teaspoon) and pumpkin seeds (5.2 mg. per 2 tablespoons) are medium oxalate ingredients.  Rum and brandy have not been tested, although all liqueurs, whiskeys and wines tested so far have no oxalate or trace amounts of oxalate, so I feel confident using rum or brandy for special occasion cooking.  All other ingredients are low or very low oxalate. 

OXALATE UPDATE (Dec. 2011):  Cinnamon has been retested since I wrote this post and found to be high oxalate at 38.5 mg./teaspoon.  If you substitute nutmeg (9.4 mg./teaspoon) for the cinnamon they should still be about 5.1 mg. oxalate per serving. Alternately, reduce the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon for apples that are about 7 mg. oxalate per serving. 

Variation:  For a simpler side dish, reduce the butter and honey by half and omit the raisins, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice and nutmeg.  Simply arrange 6 cored apples (peeled or not . . .) in a baking dish.  Mix the cinnamon, butter, and honey in a bowl, then spoon this mixture into the hollows of the apples.  Add 1 cup apple juice or water to the pan and bake, covered with foil at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Uncover the apples and baste with the pan juice, then bake again, basting frequently –until the apples are soft but still hold their shape.

Other Diets: Holiday Baked Apples may be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free (using coconut), vegan, vegetarian and controlled carbohydrate diets.  They also make a great holiday indulgence for Primal, Paleo and low-carbohydrate dieters.

Photo credit goes to Tiny Red Kitchen for Heavenly Baked Apples.

As a single mom, I’m too busy to make separate meals to keep the low oxalate, medium oxalate and “regular’ dieters in my family happy.  One of my solutions is to cook dishes where the high or medium oxalate ingredients can be added at the end of preparation (or at the table), allowing me to keep low-oxalate foods “separate” from the rest of the family’s meal without a lot of extra work.  Apple pineapple salad is one of those dishes.

Aidan eats his raw veggies.

Last summer I thought it would be a good idea to introduce my boys (then 18 months) to raw vegetables.  They thought otherwise.  Bits of broccoli, cabbage and zucchini ended up on the floor, on the cupboards, in my hair, in my sons’ ears—everywhere but in their mouths.  I kept offering and they kept refusing.  Then I read a newspaper column by celebrity chef and father of four, Wolfgang Puck.  He claimed a great way to get kids to try new foods was to introduce the new food gradually to something the child already likes.  He was specifically referring to herbs and spices, such as adding tiny amounts of cumin or turmeric to steamed cauliflower to introduce the taste of curry, but to me this seemed like a sensible approach for introducing any new food.

Soon I was on the couch, flipping through cookbooks for inspiration.  By the end of the evening I had developed this tasty fruit and veggie salad—one that quickly became a staple in our house.  I especially like that it introduces kids to fresh salads— something very important to me as an avid gardener and salad lover.  It’s also toddler-friendly as the whole salad is shredded or cut into tiny pieces.  Best of all, it’s easy for me to leave the high oxalate carrots out of my portion or to substitute other low oxalate veggies.

It’s been almost a year since I introduced this salad and my boys still won’t eat most raw vegetables.  But they love this salad—including the raw carrots and zucchini!

Apple Pineapple Salad

1 1/2 cups pineapple (or 1 can pineapple tidbits, packed in juice)
3 apples
1 small zucchini (about 1/2 cup when shredded)
1/3 cup raisins*
1 medium carrot,** shredded (about 1/2 cup) (see oxalate note)

Chop (or drain) the pineapple, reserving the juice.  Peel and core the apples.  Remove the ends from the zucchini and peel if desired. Shred the apples and zucchini and place them in a large serving bowl.  Add the pineapple and 1/3 cup of reserved juice.  Add the raisins and mix well.  This is the low oxalate version of Apple Pineapple salad.  You may eat the salad immediately or chill and serve it later. The pineapple juice keeps the apples from turning brown too quickly, so this salad can be made a few hours early or enjoyed the next day as a left-over.

For the non-low oxalate dieters in the house (or for those of you who can tolerate a little more oxalate in your diet), add shredded carrot to individual servings for a medium oxalate version of the salad (see oxalate note).  Carrots add a pretty color to the salad, making it a lot more attractive for dinner guests (including Grammy and Papa), plus carrots add great nutrients, fiber, and crunch!

Servings: 6 adult servings (varies depending on how big your apples are)

*Raisins may pose a choking hazard for kids under three.  Try boiling the raisins in pineapple juice until they plump (3-5 minutes in the microwave) to make them soft enough for a young child to chew.

**Oxalate Note: One half cup raw grated carrots has 15.3 mg. oxalate.  When the salad is divided into 6 servings, the carrots add an extra 2.7 mg. oxalate per serving, pushing this version of the salad into the medium oxalate range (5-15 mg. oxalate per 1/2 cup).  All other ingredients are low oxalate (less than 5 mg. oxalate per 1/2 cup).

Variation: Add 1-2 tablespoons of plain yogurt to make the salad creamy.  You may also try adding bits of finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower.

Get the Kids to Help:  Kids can add all of the ingredients to the bowl and mix the salad.  Letting your picky eater help may also increase the odds that she will at least try the salad.

Picky Eater Pleaser:  If your child will not usually eat “mixed foods,” try letting her sample a bite of each ingredient first.  Then let her add the ones she likes to her own bowl to “mix” or not as she pleases.  If your child is willing to eat mixed fruit salads, but you think she might balk at the carrots or zucchini, try adding a smaller amount of the vegetables the first time you make the salad.  You can gradually increase the amount each time you make the salad or as your child shows a willingness to eat it.

Menu Planner:  This is a great fall and winter salad when apples are in season and fresh produce is hard to find.  Keep things simple by pairing it with grilled or baked chicken and steamed broccoli.  I also like to serve this salad in the summer when I’m having a “summer salad meal”—a family tradition where the entire meal consists of fresh salads (most from the garden).  My boys might pick at the rest of their meal, but I know they’ll fill up if this salad is on the menu

Other Dieters: Apple Pineapple Salad may be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan, Paleo, GAPs, SCD and controlled carbohydrate diets.