GF Camping Food

In preparation for a camping trip I had a few weeks ago, I did some research in to Gluten Free camp food - and was pleasantly surprised to find I had numerous options available. Below is a brief review of the ones I ended up with. 

In my opinion, there is nothing better than a nice big bowl of hot oatmeal to warm yourself up after a night of sleeping in a chilly tent – so that is what I looked for first. I came across a company called The GFB (Gluten Free Brothers) who make oatmeal in three flavors. I purchased a Custom Bundle box of all three (two of each) just to try them all out. I really liked them: they have all kinds of nuts and seeds so it’s not just oatmeal. I would suggest, however, bringing along some brown sugar to add to them as they were ever so slightly lacking. I will most definitely order from them again, even though I wasn’t entirely impressed with their packaging. They tried to be all clever with a cardboard “bowl” that just made it bulky to pack. At least it was recyclable cardboard even though we had to haul it in and out.

While shopping for the oatmeal, I happed to see that the same company offers snack bars and “bites” (little balls packed full of protein and energy) – so I went ahead and got custom bundles of each of those, as well. I was surprised to find that those little bites were quite tasty, and definitely provided a burst of energy while hiking - although they do get your fingers a bit gooey. I’ll probably order them again. The bars were okay, but not my favorite consistency. Bryan liked them well enough, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering them again.

For my meals on the trip, I turned to a company called Food For The Sole – a company founded by a mother/son pair who make good healthy dehydrated GF & vegan meals that can easily be prepared while on the trails. With meals like “Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Kale and Quinoa” or “Lentil Walnut Pilaf with Kale” or “Curried Cauliflower Salad” you can bet that I had no problem keeping Bryan from eating all my food – he is more of a “Beef Stroganoff with Noodles” kind of guy, if you know what I mean. But I absolutely loved them and was quite happy to hoard them all to myself.

Another snack bar I brought with me is by a company called Huppybar, founded by a former river guide on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. These bars again a little sticky on your fingers but are most definitely worth the mess they create. These little squares come in 6 different flavors: my favorite is her Apple Cinnamon Raisin. I ordered plenty of them, so have them handy for anytime the trails call me out.