Survived Camping!

[notme]

and didn't get glutened or anything! very very happy with this - last time (memorial day weekend) we camped out and i got sooo sick. i had to come home and eat, etc. i had no idea what i did wrong but i had a couple of ideas for making changes:

1. no more shared ice chest/cooler! i thought if everything was sealed up and packaged/labeled that everything would be ok in a cooler that had *regular* stuff in it. not so. got myself a dedicated one - LOL i thought i would have to put a lock on it but it turns out putting GLUTEN FREE on it is enough to scare anybody off. i don't think anyone even opened it!

2. no more hand sanitizer! walked the extra distance to running water n soap. even after wiping down things with clorox wipes, i went and washed my hands with water water water

3. anything i was remotely planning on eating was cooked on my dedicated grill also when reheating things, that way everybody knew not to "oops i stuck the gluten spoon into your food because it was right there with everything else" i separated out my salads and stuff before we went and all leftovers (for me) went right into my trusty cooler.

4. breakfast was home-made cereal bars (chex/cashews/craisins/choc chip/peanut butter) and greek yogurt instead of trying to eat a gluten-free version of what everybody else was having.

5. brought my own sugar for my tea! my kitchen is mainly gluten-free but when it wasn't i didn't think twice about sticking a spoon in the sugar that 'just had flour on it' - also brought my own lactaid (which is considered as horrid as gluten-free food evidently lol)

6. i had my own box for all the other stuff i didn't have to refrigerate and it contained ONLY gluten-free stuff and was well away from all the other rolls/breads/cookies, etc

anyway - the weekend went great and i don't have to be sick all week husband smoked some fish that was to *die* for - i marinated it in butter/lemon/fresh thyme salt n pepper. smoked with apple chips it was absolutely delicious. nom nom nommm i think that might be my Fourth Meal tonite. get it: 4th meal

i hope everybody had a safe and happy 4th!! if anybody has any good camping tips please DO share - thanx - after the last experience i was so nervous about this weekend.

arlene

[eatmeat4good]

That is great! Sounds like you did an excellent job of planning and preparing for this trip and your tips are so helpful to the rest of us. Thanks!

[JoyVertz]

awesome! your planning paid off.

[love2travel]

Great job! Now that you have that tackled I bet you will feel more confident with other situations, too! Things like that are truly empowering.

[notme]

Great job! Now that you have that tackled I bet you will feel more confident with other situations, too! Things like that are truly empowering.

YES IT IS and i am already (secretly) planning a 4-wheeling trip into the mountains (shhhh!)

[RL2011]

YES IT IS and i am already (secretly) planning a 4-wheeling trip into the mountains (shhhh!)

Good for you! Glad to see you have not let your dietary issues restrict your lifestyle.

[love2travel]

YES IT IS and i am already (secretly) planning a 4-wheeling trip into the mountains (shhhh!)

See? That is wonderful! We went to Croatia/Italy in May without any celiac mishaps. Sure, the smells from the bakeries were insanely good but I did it! Trips can really give you a gigantic sense of accomplishment, can't they?

[Takala]

LMAO "Gluten free is enough to scare anybody off I don't think anybody even opened it" with the cooler !

[dws]

and didn't get glutened or anything! very very happy with this - last time (memorial day weekend) we camped out and i got sooo sick. i had to come home and eat, etc. i had no idea what i did wrong but i had a couple of ideas for making changes:

1. no more shared ice chest/cooler! i thought if everything was sealed up and packaged/labeled that everything would be ok in a cooler that had *regular* stuff in it. not so. got myself a dedicated one - LOL i thought i would have to put a lock on it but it turns out putting GLUTEN FREE on it is enough to scare anybody off. i don't think anyone even opened it!

2. no more hand sanitizer! walked the extra distance to running water n soap. even after wiping down things with clorox wipes, i went and washed my hands with water water water

3. anything i was remotely planning on eating was cooked on my dedicated grill also when reheating things, that way everybody knew not to "oops i stuck the gluten spoon into your food because it was right there with everything else" i separated out my salads and stuff before we went and all leftovers (for me) went right into my trusty cooler.

4. breakfast was home-made cereal bars (chex/cashews/craisins/choc chip/peanut butter) and greek yogurt instead of trying to eat a gluten-free version of what everybody else was having.

5. brought my own sugar for my tea! my kitchen is mainly gluten-free but when it wasn't i didn't think twice about sticking a spoon in the sugar that 'just had flour on it' - also brought my own lactaid (which is considered as horrid as gluten-free food evidently lol)

6. i had my own box for all the other stuff i didn't have to refrigerate and it contained ONLY gluten-free stuff and was well away from all the other rolls/breads/cookies, etc

anyway - the weekend went great and i don't have to be sick all week husband smoked some fish that was to *die* for - i marinated it in butter/lemon/fresh thyme salt n pepper. smoked with apple chips it was absolutely delicious. nom nom nommm i think that might be my Fourth Meal tonite. get it: 4th meal

i hope everybody had a safe and happy 4th!! if anybody has any good camping tips please DO share - thanx - after the last experience i was so nervous about this weekend.

arlene

I actually accidentally figured out some cc issues when I went camping for the first time in many years. I felt a lot better while camping and upon my return, tightened up on precautions in our gluten filled kitchen at home.

[notme]

Good for you! Glad to see you have not let your dietary issues restrict your lifestyle.

richard: the dietary issues, i am realizing more and more, are the *easy* part of celiac! because i can control this 'junk' body lol as my symptoms go away (YES it's really taking this long!!) my 'restrictions' are peeling away like layers. ie: we have a piece of property on the river we are planning to build a house on eventually. we have been camping there for a good 10 years and the cove is shallow water until you get out to the channel. a good place to float i never wanted to float very far from shore (just in case! keep that bathroom in sight!) never realized i was even doing that - sticking close - until this sunday when one of the two year olds wanted to swim ALL THE WAY ACROSS (he has little floaties and i was not three feet from him) and i just smiled and went along with him. very far from shore!

i think there are going to be alot more realizations like this - either deliberately or subconciously i have restricted myself.

[notme]

See? That is wonderful! We went to Croatia/Italy in May without any celiac mishaps. Sure, the smells from the bakeries were insanely good but I did it! Trips can really give you a gigantic sense of accomplishment, can't they?

you are gonna make me google 'croatia' lol i have no idea where that is. but i'ma find out

love2travel: i always love your posts! i love to cook, too, so you are very inspiring - i will never think of lemongrass again without thinking of you

[notme]

LMAO "Gluten free is enough to scare anybody off I don't think anybody even opened it" with the cooler !

lol i'm thinking of marketing the phrase as a theft deterrent <sp? or smuggling diamonds hahahaha

[notme]

I actually accidentally figured out some cc issues when I went camping for the first time in many years. I felt a lot better while camping and upon my return, tightened up on precautions in our gluten filled kitchen at home.

if you have more advice, please do share!!

ugh. the first time was a *nightmare* - i honestly felt, by the end of the weekend, that there was NOTHING i could eat there at all. i went home because i was hungry and sick

[love2travel]

you are gonna make me google 'croatia' lol i have no idea where that is. but i'ma find out

love2travel: i always love your posts! i love to cook, too, so you are very inspiring - i will never think of lemongrass again without thinking of you

Croatia is on the Mediterranean. The province where our house is called Istria which is a peninsula shaped like a cluster of grapes right across from Venice (2 1/2 hours by ferry or car). The country is very oddly shaped - probably the weirdest shape in the world. Much of it is very long and skinny - you must go through Slovenia when you drive from Italy and you go through a part of Bosnia further south. A incredibly beautiful country - parts remind me of Italy (it was under Venetian rule years ago) so many people in Istria speak Italian. Further south it hugs the coast for hundreds of miles (the skinny part of the country). So you get your ancient hilltop villages, tons of Roman ruins (i.e. an amphitheatre that was built the same time as the Coliseum in Rome), lovely coast and sea, tons of forest, gorgeous climate...I could go on for hours but won't. The people are amongst the friendliest I've encountered in any country. The culture and history are fascinating and the language is interesting (trying to learn it).

Thanks for the sweet words! I'm glad you'll never think of lemongrass the same. Speaking of which, I looked for it this morning and there was none. Darn it - will have to re-think a dessert. We are having company for the weekend.

[notme]

it looks very beautiful!! naturally, part of it borders hungary (i should know this stuff, my grammy was full on hungarian - just about born on the boat to america lol) hope to visit that area one day

[love2travel]

it looks very beautiful!! naturally, part of it borders hungary (i should know this stuff, my grammy was full on hungarian - just about born on the boat to america lol) hope to visit that area one day

It is simply stunning. You're right - it does border Hungary as well. As we go 2-3 times per year I think our next May trip will include a week in Hungary first. I truly do hope you are able to visit there, too! I could not begin to explain how wonderful most of Europe is - it defies words.