Adventuring With Food Allergies
When it comes to food, the first thing you need to know about me is that I have 4 allergies, and those 4 things are in everything. I am allergic to dairy, corn, soy and have a gluten sensitivity. While I do avoid eating foods that have those 4 things in them, my allergies are not so bad that I can’t “cheat” from time to time. The purpose of this portion of our blog will be to cover tasty (and healthy), dairy, corn, soy and gluten free foods that are camping friendly. Dylan will be contributing a few posts for those of you that have no allergies as well.
Finding foods that I can eat while out on the trail and for camping is a bit of a struggle, brands like Mountain House and Backpackers Pantry generally start their ingredient list with “High-Fructose Corn Syrup,” closely followed by “Soy,” and then “Heavy Cream.” All of these ingredients are a recipe to send me straight to bed for a solid week with a massive stomachache and headache. So I have resorted to searching through the internet and various hiking stores (REI, Cabelas, Sport Chalet) for dietary alternatives that won't make me sick.
The best pre-packaged meals that I have found, taste wise, are the Made In Nature, organic camping meals. They have 3 flavors, and can be found at REI. These meals are not gluten free, and the Mediterranean one does contain dairy (so it is not a perfect allergy free match), but for my purposes, gluten is the smallest allergy offender and does provide good fuel out on the trail.
Backpacker’s Pantry has a few basic chicken with rice and beans meal options that are allergy free. Finding the ones that work involves a lot of label reading and patience, but they have made things a little easier with blue labels on the right side of the package it will tell you if the meal is Gluten Free, or Vegan so that you don’t have to read every single packages ingredient list.
Patagonia has come out with quick cooking salmon that can easily be added to any pre-packaged camping meal. It is a great source of protein and they have a few flavor options as well. The also offer organic, super food based snack bars that are tasty and great to have on long hikes. As a disclaimer, Patagonia’s food is not cheap, you will be paying a little bit more than the average camping meal, but for those of you that consistently eat organic, this will not come as a surprise to you.
The KIND Bar and Granola Company is probably my personal favorite camping food company. Not only are their bars delicious, but the majority are completely dairy, corn, soy and gluten free. They are very affordable and have a large range of flavors, that make for great snacks on the trail and a wonderful breakfast while out camping.
There is one more solution to having healthy food out on the trail and that is to make it yourself. REI has a dehydrator that can be purchased for $99.95 that will allow you to create your own recipes, dry out the food and package it yourself. There are dehydrator recipe books that you can purchase through REI or through your personal favorite cooking store. I personally have not tried this method because I do not have the budget for a dehydrator and the freeze-dried machine to ensure the food does not spoil. But I will share recipes for dehydrators as I find them. I welcome comments and emails from anyone who has used a dehydrator!
For quick links to fun, healthy recipes check out our Pinterest Page https://www.pinterest.com/dpgtaj/recipes/