I am super excited about an upcoming e-course! Ann Marie of Cheeseslave has a cooking course entirely devoted to meat and seafood. She will cover how to cook a bunch of different cuts including bones, organs, tough cuts and various seafood. This course is great for anyone on  SCD, GAPS or Primal diets. There will be 13 classes (one each week) starting August 18, 2010 for $120.

Check out the syllabus:

1. Overview – how much protein we need, how protein builds neurotransmitters for healthy moods, etc.
2. Stocking Up – how to buy grass-fed meats and store in freezer, how to shop for fish
3. Grilling - how to set up a BBQ (gas or grill) and grilling steaks and chops
4. Raw fish – ceviche & sushi, shucking oysters
5. Cooked fish – fast & easy family-friendly recipes like moules frites and broiled salmon
6. Bone broths – meat, fish and chicken
7. Soups & stews – How to incorporate bone broth and healthy fats into yummy soups – Thai coconut soup, Honduran tapado
8. Roasts, reduction sauces & gravies – Roast duck with cherry reduction sauce, pot roast with simple gravy
9. Frying – pan-frying and deep-frying – Grass-fed flank steak w/ chimichurri sauce, healthy chicken nuggets
10. Sandwiches & salads – Using leftover meat to make sandwiches – Coconut flour bread, chicken salad, Southwestern Cobb salad
11. Organ meats 1 – How to grind organs, beef heart chili, beef tongue, roasted bone marrow
12. Organ meats 2 – Chicken liver pate, chopped liver, liver & onions, homemade liverwurst
13. Appetizers, side dishes & snacks – deviled eggs w/ salmon roe, bacon wrapped scallops & dates, beef jerky, homemade clam dip

The course is gluten- and grain-free, and there are substitutes like coconut milk and coconut oil in place of dairy so it’s both SCD & GAPS legal.

The following video introduction gives a great overview of the course and what you can expect to get out of it.

I am pretty excited about taking the e-course. After following Cheeseslave’s blog for many years and seeing all the nutritious foods she has prepared, I always wanted to learn techniques to help me do that at home. I have figured out through YouTube videos and a whole lot of trial and error how to handle some cuts of meat. To participate in an online course would be a fun experience. Not only will we be learning from the master, but it serves as a great way to bring everyone together to help each other learn. I personally can’t wait for the organ meat weeks! I’m always encouraging people to eat liver and eat it often myself, but I can’t wait to learn proper techniques and recipes.

If you’re interested in learning how to cook meat and seafood, then click here to check out the Surf & Turf e-course.

Blueberries
I went blueberry picking both days this weekend. It was tough work! Strawberry and raspberries seemed easier to pick a few baskets worth. Blueberries definitely take a bit longer. The first day I went to Canaan Blueberry and picked one 4-liter basket. This is not an organic farm so I made sure to wash the berries well when I got home. I froze most but left some out to snack on.

The next day I went to Rubicon Farms which is all organic. The first thing I noticed was how the berry bushes had a couple ants, spiders, and ear wigs crawling around. Definitely no pesticides used on these ones! I only saw a couple of ants and spiders on some of the overly-ripe berries while the perfectly ripe berries were clean and easy to pick. I spent a bit more time this day and picked three 4-liter baskets, a mix of two varieties of berries. The larger berries were easy to pick but the small berries were so tasty it was worth a bit of extra effort. I also got some local honey while I was there.

Freezer Status
My deep-freezer is now full of berries and meat, just how it should be. There’s about 12 liters of strawberries, 4 pints of raspberries and now about 14 liters of blueberries. I have some beef, lamb, pork and chicken left over too. All my organ meats are kept in the door shelves so you can’t see them in this picture. I keep them handy to make sure I eat them often.

Garden
We got our first red sweet pepper and have plenty more ripening on the plants. Our 2 varieties of hot pepper plants are starting to get more and we’ll get to taste test those soon. I have to say it takes some patience growing tomatoes and peppers. They stay green for so long, it’s hard to resist picking them too early.

Dairy-free
I have been dealing with acne issues for a long time and lately nothing I have tried has helped. I did end up giving up on the Oil Cleansing Method early because it was causing more breakouts. My next plan is to try a month (August) dairy-free – no yogurt, no cheese, no butter. I tried this before but it was around the same time as going off the birth control pill so hormones may have been all out of whack anyway. So this time I hope with making this one change I will notice a difference. I’ll post more detailed info of my struggles with acne, what I have tried, and why I’m choosing to do this. I’ll also post up a few raw milk recipes I had been indulging in this summer before switching to only posting some good dairy-free SCD legal recipes in August.

A few weeks ago (ok maybe over a month now?) I started a health pact with fellow primal eater Roger who co-blogs over at Son of Grok’s. I suggested he should eat more soup and he said he had never actually made it before! I can’t imagine never having homemade soup. I was going to point him to a recipe on my blog and realized I have no chicken soup recipe posted. So I wrote it to him in an email, trying very hard to outline each step. I was worried about leaving out details since this is something I make so often I’m usually on autopilot and don’t think about what I’m doing.  Once you make it a couple times, it’s very easy to customize to suit your tastes.

Here’s the email instructions I sent him, with pictures he sent back documenting his first attempt at homemade soup:

Basic Ginger Chicken Soup

2 lb chicken legs pieces
ginger, sliced

1 large onion
1-2 large carrots
2-4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp each sea salt & pepper

big bunch greens
ginger, grated

Place chicken pieces in a crockpot, skin side up. Slice fresh ginger root with a knife (or if frozen, grate it) and place around chicken pieces. Add enough water to almost cover the chicken pieces. You want to leave the chicken poking out a bit so the skin browns.

Cook on low all day (or at least 6 hours).

When you get home from work (or after 6 hours) remove the ginger pieces using a fork, if you can find them. Chop up the onion and carrot into small bite sized chunks, toss into crockpot (try not to take the lid off too long). Chop up the garlic into little pieces and add to the soup. Add salt & pepper. Turn crockpot to high for 45 minutes. (Note, Roger added some red pepper and celery, really add any vegetables you want!)

After 45 minutes add the greens and mix them in a bit with a spoon (can tear up into smaller pieces first if preferred).

Let it simmer another 15 minutes until greens are wilted.

Ladle the soup into a bowl, grabbing lots of veggies and broth. Pull out the meat from a couple chicken pieces with a knife and fork and add the meat to your bowl. Grate some fresh ginger into your bowl, about 1/2 tsp. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Looks like he did an awesome job with this soup! He said it was great and his daughter loved it too. Only thing I would change is to tell him to add a bit more water at the beginning. My slow-cooker seems to keep all moisture in but his evaporated a bit.

For anyone just starting out on SCD or if you still have digestive symptoms, it is usually recommended to cook vegetables for a longer time and puree them into the soup. I prefer now adding the vegetables towards the end of cooking so that they aren’t completely mushy and have some flavour left. Use your judgement for how long you need to cook them and add/substitute any vegetables that you can tolerate. I like to use ginger in my soups because it can help a lot with digestion and inflammation, and it gives it a nice kick.

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This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer Attachments
I finally got a chance to use my new mixer and had so much fun. I got a food grinder and used it to grind up tongue and heart for tacos this weekend. We were so hungry I forgot to take pictures, but it was really good. Really easy way to get organ meats in without even tasting them. Heart and tongue don’t have a strong flavour so they were easy to hide in spiced taco meat. I used a different piece, the rotor shredder to shred up some cabbage for sauerkraut which worked much better than chopping by hand. I also made some potato chips using the rotor slicer (not SCD-legal, but one food I have added in and doing well on).

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My first potato chip in over 3 years!

There’s tons of videos online for how to use the Stand Mixer in case you’re wondering about a specific way to make something.

Popsicle Molds
For my birthday I also got some stainless steel popsicle molds. I really like the construction of these. The stainless steel mold has a lid with a rubbery slot to put a popsicle stick through. This holds the stick upright at whatever depth you want. Then the mold can be placed in the holder and into the freezer. Each one can be taken out individually and refilled once used up. I made some with just pureed watermelon, and some with a yogurt, watermelon, honey mix. The pure watermelon ones were better. So delicious and refreshing.

Garden
Started to see some growth in the garden. Each of the 8 tomato plants has tomatoes growing but none have ripened yet. We’re going to have a lot of tomatoes very soon. I’m sure I’ll be busy! The pepper plants are doing well and we have one red pepper so far.

My herbs are all doing well except for the dill. I think something ate it.

Oil Cleansing Method
I started doing the proper Oil Cleansing Method for my face about 2 weeks ago. I was using oils already but now I’m following the steps exactly as outlined at http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com including the massaging and steaming. So far I am having mixed response to it. My skin feels great, is soft, doesn’t itch and feels clean. But, I got what seems like even more breakouts. After posting about it on Twitter I got some good advice from Donielle at Naturally Knocked Up and plan to tweak my routine a bit. I’ll post a more detailed review of the method after a few weeks, whether it works or not. I really wanted to try this as it’s a very natural solution for dealing with acne.

The following is a list of food and supplies I have brought with me while traveling on SCD. Traveling by plane can be tricky with the restrictions on liquids, but it is doable. Some people have reported getting a note from their doctor ahead of time that has allowed them to bring anything in their carry-on, but I haven’t tried this. If you’re traveling by car, staying in a house with access to a kitchen, and doing groceries while you are there, then you’re set! But if you’re traveling by plane and staying in a hotel, well there are a number of things you can do to make the trip easier.

You’ll notice the list is quite long. I don’t bring all these items every time, but I do end up filling my carry-on with pretty much just food and maybe an extra sweater. I haven’t bothered bringing a cooler bag but it might help keep things cold a bit longer. You might want to check online or with your flight carrier if there are any restrictions to what you can bring into certain countries, although I haven’t had a problem with bringing these foods into China, Canada, United States, and England.

As for what meal to order on the plane, I usually ask for gluten-free but don’t eat it. Sometimes I’ll pick out a few pieces of fruit. Once I was actually served a wheat bun with my gluten-free meal. Not sure who failed on that one, but at least I’m aware enough to know there was no chance it was a gluten-free bread (there was no ingredient list on it either). Play it safe and bring food with you. Airplane food tastes gross anyway so you’re not missing out.

• Freeze at least 2 full meals: I usually make a big slow-cooker pot of beef or lamb stew and freeze it in small containers. Easy to pull out of the freezer when you get home and warm up.

• Frozen meatballs: Freeze them so they keep for longer flights and they also help keep other food in your carry on cold by acting like an ice pack.

• Frozen cooked vegetables: This works best if they were steamed lightly and then frozen. Make sure to sprinkle salt on them so they taste decent cold. These also keep for a while and help keep other food (cheese, eggs) cool.

• Hard boiled eggs: Make these the night before and keep them in the fridge until you leave. I have kept them at room temperature while flying for over 8 hours in the shell. It does help to have the frozen food placed in the same part of your carry-on as the eggs. Use your own judgement for how long you wish to keep these unrefrigerated.

• Cheese: Cheese will actually keep at room temperature for quite a while and will stay cold if you pack frozen food around it.

• Butter: I actually brought butter on my flight home from China, salted butter is an awesome snack on its own or can make the vegetables and meatballs a bit more appetizing.

• Whole fruit: Fruit sauces are not usually allowed, but a whole banana or apple is a good snack to bring on

• Nuts: Pack your own, don’t expect airlines to serve nuts anymore and don’t expect to find any in the airport that aren’t coated with something.

• Larabars: Great travel snack, I like the coconut cream pie one the best.

• Beef jerky: I don’t like it, but it is a good snack and keeps at room temperature for the entire duration of a trip. I brought some to China but didn’t end up eating it because I had so many other snacks with me.

• Pemmican: I haven’t tried it yet and will update this when I do, but this would be better than beef jerky because it has both the meat and fat in it. This is truly the ultimate SCD protein bar and keeps at room temperature.

• Nut muffins/brownies: I don’t bother with these anymore but if you prefer nut butter over whole nuts, then make up a batch of your favorite recipe and bring some along. They should keep a couple days at room temperature.

• Yogurt: I pack about 1 liter of yogurt every time I travel. Plastic containers won’t break so they’re always best. I have no plastic left in the house though, so I just wrap glass jars with my clothes.

• Honey: To flavour the yogurt. Or to eat off a spoon. Keeps indefinitely at room temperature.

• Coconut oil: Keeps at room temperature and is great for energy or extra calories. I mix it with honey and eat it off a spoon.

• Coconut butter/spread: Keeps at room temperature and is great for energy or extra calories. I eat it off a spoon. This is not the same as coconut oil, as it has the coconut meat/fiber still. It’s basically pureed coconut meat.

• Nut butter/spread: Keeps at room temperature and is great for energy or extra calories. I eat it off a spoon.

• Broth: Try to make broth that is very concentrated, freeze it as cubes and pack it in containers.

• Dehydrated meals: I dehydrated spaghetti sauce once and it worked so well. Bring a bowl with you to rehydrate it in. I’ll try to get some recipes up soon but just do a Google search for dehydrator meals and you’ll see lots. Stews work well, just cut everything up into small pieces before cooking. I dehydrated spaghetti sauce at 150F overnight until it was the consistency of fruit leather (sticky but not tacky).

• Immersion heater: Great for boiling water or warming up broth. The boiled water can be used for tea or for reconstituting dehydrated meals. Note that most hotels have some way to boil water or you can ask the kitchen staff for boiled water too. But, this little tool is great to have in a pinch.

• Spoon, knife, fork: I don’t now how many times I’ve eaten yogurt by ‘drinking’ it out of a jar, really need to remember to bring some utensils.

• Activated Charcoal: This is great for times you might be exposed to illegals. The folks on the BTVC-SCD and GAPShelp Yahoo groups are very knowledgeable about this one.

• Imodium and/or Pepto Bismol: I stay away from pharmaceuticals when dealing with a sick stomach, but if you’re traveling it’s not always a good idea. Dehydration can get you down pretty fast. Best to pack something to use in an emergency. I think in terms of SCD legal, regular Pepto Bismol is considered ok.

• Fridge: Most hotels around the world have the option of getting a fridge in your room. To me it’s worth it even if they cost a bit extra. If you don’t ask for it when you book, it’s never too late. I’ve had hotel staff wheel in a fridge an hour after I got the room once because I forgot to ask for it. They didn’t mind, and actually forgot to charge me for it. It helps keep the food you bring with you as well as allowing you to bring food back to the hotel that you find while out during the day. Fruit, leftovers from meals, and hard boiled eggs from breakfasts can all be kept for the duration of your trip. Note that in hotel rooms with key cards, sometimes the power will be shut off when you leave the room and take your card out. Try using a library card in its place to keep the power on while you’re out all day.

• Microwave: Not as important as a fridge since everything can be eaten cold, but is nice to have if you want to warm up some meatballs or vegetables.

Check out this menu from Melanie of Honey Pie… SCD Style for her son’s hiking trip http://www.scdiet.net/images/Melanie Menu.pdf

Have anything to add to this list? I’m always interested in hearing what other people with food sensitivities bring on the plane with them.

Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
It was my birthday and I got the best present ever: a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer! There happens to be a sale on the attachments at Amazon.com so I’m getting the food grinder. I’m excited to start grinding up some heart and organ meats.

SCD Birthday Cake
My birthday cake last year was delicious so I attempted to recreate it again. I made the usual coconut flour muffin recipe I have made dozens of times, the “Honey Muffin” recipe from Cooking with Coconut Flour (not all recipes SCD-legal, but many are easy to convert). Delicious recipe when you remember to include all the ingredients. I somehow forgot the honey. It was tolerable since the icing on top was quite good, but not really a dessert. To salvage it, I scraped the icing off and mixed it with half the cake plus a bit more honey. This made a sort of cheesecake cookie dough crumble that was delicious! The rest of the cake I set aside to use like a bread, with some jam and butter on it.

Raspberries
I went raspberry picking and ended up with 4 pints of raspberries. I have some frozen already from a previous day, so these were all for jam or to dehydrate. I heard dehydrating raspberries makes them quite tasty so I tried to do it in my Excalibur at 105F. After over 12 hours they were still juicy so I stopped and instead used them in the crumble (above) and for some sheep milk gelato (non-SCD legal). Not sure why dehydrating them didn’t work, but at least I have jam and frozen berries stored.

The China Study
I read a lot of blogs this weekend on the topic of The China Study. I wrote about it in my last post here. It’s worth looking at if you still think meat is responsible for health problems. It’s also worth looking at if you still think wheat is not responsible for health problems.

Many people interested in health and diet have heard of The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. Published in 2005, the book details the food eaten by people in different areas of China and the correlation to health problems. The basic conclusion from this study was that animal foods cause cancer and heart disease, while a plant based vegan diet is the healthiest. It is one of the most often quoted sources I’ve seen in the past few years when claiming a vegan or vegetarian diet is best for human health. If you’re like me following an SCD, GAPS or Primal type diet, you will have people questioning you about eating so much meat and fat, and you will at some point hear someone referring to this study as their ultimate “Ha! You’re wrong!” argument. I’ve even heard people following the SCDiet successfully and overcoming digestive problems turn around and ask “but will I get cancer since I’m eating so much meat?”.

I have read rebuttals against the China Study before but this past week read through a most interesting and thorough discussion of not just the China Study book, but of the actual raw data the study was based on. Denise from Raw Food SOS took the time to sort through all the data and what she found was quite interesting. Many of the claims made by Campbell were simply false. Read her full post here: http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/.

Of particular interest was the correlation between wheat and cancer and heart disease. Most people are aware that wheat can impact the digestive system and is the main cause of Celiac Disease, but here it is shown to have an effect on other health issues that are usually attributed to red meat and saturated fat. (Note, +’s are bad here, -’s are good, bold emphasis is mine)

“Why does Campbell indict animal foods in cardiovascular disease (correlation of +1 for animal protein and -11 for fish protein), yet fail to mention that wheat flour has a correlation of +67 with heart attacks and coronary heart disease, and plant protein correlates at +25 with these conditions?

Speaking of wheat, why doesn’t Campbell also note the astronomical correlations wheat flour has with various diseases: +46 with cervix cancer, +54 with hypertensive heart disease, +47 with stroke, +41 with diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs, and the aforementioned +67 with myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease? (None of these correlations appear to be tangled with any risk-heightening variables, either.)”

This led me to find a number of other people who have questioned wheat’s role in heart disease including Brad Marshall who wrote about it shortly after The China Study came out. You can read his take here:
http://bradmarshall.blogspot.com/2005/12/is-wheat-killing-us-introduction-maybe.html.

Denise also points out that Campbell had completely removed data of one group of people from the study. These people ate a lot of dairy and animal protein, almost to an extreme compared to the other groups, some of which ate a mostly plant-based diet. How can we believe a study that purposely omits data, especially data that clearly shows the opposite of what is being claimed is true?

“Why does Campbell overlook the unique Tuoli peoples documented in the China Study, who eat twice as much animal protein as the average American (including two pounds of casein-filled dairy per day)—yet don’t exhibit higher rates of any diseases Campbell ascribes to animal foods?“

If you want to see other blogger’s reactions to Denise’s work, check out The China Study Smackdown Roundup for a list of links, over at Free The Animal: http://freetheanimal.com/2010/07/the-china-study-smackdown-roundup.html.

Make sure to check out Chris Masterjohn’s work: http://westonaprice.org/blogs/the-curious-case-of-campbells-rats-does-protein-deficiency-prevent-cancer.html.

And finally I just want to add a bit of advice. Cut out the junk food, sugar, juices, pasteurized skim milk, rancid vegetable oils, and poorly processed grains. Then you can start playing around with ratios of meat, vegetables, fruit etc. Eat real food!

I got two whole fresh chickens from a local farmer today. This is a farmer I get eggs from who has just started keeping chickens this past year. I’ll be visiting in a few weeks and will post some pictures and an introduction soon. For now I’ll show you what to do when you get your hands on a whole fresh chicken. I usually buy organic/pastured whole chickens already frozen, so I have never done this before.

Michael from Nutrition and Physical Regeneration sent me a link this great video showing exactly how to cut a whole chicken into all the pieces. Cutting up chicken on YouTube. It’s not a long video, only 5 minutes to cut everything up. My first chicken I took longer, but the second one was easy to cut up in about that length of time. I started with everything laid out and my knife freshly sharpened (yes there’s a cutting board somewhere under that 8lbs beast – I need a bigger cutting board).

Following the instructional video, I got both chickens cut up quite nicely. In fact the pieces really did look like the pieces you buy in the grocery store. I put the chicken parts in a bowl temporarily and the carcass, wing tips, or any bones/joints that fell off into the slow cooker.

I packaged up the pieces into large freezer bags. I put 2 breasts in one bag for a larger meal, 2 of them in individual bags for smaller meals, and the breast fillets into a small bag to be used in stir-fries. I packed the drumsticks and thighs each in a bag of 4 pieces. The wings I set out to make immediately. I ended up freezing everything but the wings and drumsticks.

The wings I rubbed with paprika, garlic, and pepper and baked at 400F for 40 minutes (they were very large wings, so for smaller ones reduce time). I removed them, poured BBQ sauce over them and returned them for 7 minutes. They were so delicious!!!

I actually ended up freezing one carcass in a large freezer bag for later. My freezer is pretty stocked with stock right now (ha!) and I wanted to try saving the bones for later. I did put one carcass into the slow cooker with about 2 liters of water to simmer overnight.

I will be doing this again when I get more fresh chickens. It’s certainly a frugal way to buy and prepare chicken, because you can use the carcass for good broth while getting all the fresh chicken parts for meals. Nothing went to waste here and it only took a few minutes.

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This post is part of Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade and Wholesome Whole Foods hosted by Health Food Lover.

This was my 3rd time camping on SCD and finally I managed to do it without getting stressed about food. I used to rely on pre-hardboiled eggs, Larabars, nut muffins, yogurt, plain meatballs, and burgers. I found the nut muffins were not appetizing when it was hot and gross outside. I also found burgers to be a pain because everyone wants to toast buns on the grill (that’s a little too much cross-contamination for my comfort) and it requires bringing too many jars of condiments. Our first camping trip when we did hamburgers, half our cooler was just bottles and jars. Meatballs are fine but again, not terribly appetizing.

I decided to come up with a plan that included simple breakfasts cooked in the cast iron pan on a stove burner that a friend brought, lunches that didn’t require cooking, and dinners on the grill. A few days ahead of time I made lots of kefir and yogurt. The day before, I pre-marinated some chicken and steaks (pictured above right). Then the day we left, I cut up some lettuce and veggies for a salad and made dressing separately in a jar. I bought sausages and bacon from local farmer. This wasn’t exactly ‘roughing it’ camping with all the cookware and gourmet food we had.

Breakfasts: we fried some bacon in the cast iron pan first, then fried eggs in the bacon grease. I had yogurt with blueberries and honey to round out my breakfast. Hong had his oatmeal with blueberries and drank some kefir. Yogurt, kefir, eggs, and bacon all keep very easily in a cooler without having to worry if it gets too warm.

Lunches: sausages that were already cooked but we grilled quickly, salad including lettuce, tomato, cucumber, snow peas, mushrooms, green onion, garlic stuffed olives, raw cheddar cheese, homemade salad dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, dijon mustard, salt & pepper)

Dinner 1: Marinated chicken drumsticks (tons of garlic, paprika, salt and pepper), grilled zucchini and carrots drizzled with olive oil and sea salt (above)

Dinner 2: Marinated steaks (red wine vinegar, drizzle honey, garlic, salt, pepper), mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter, roasted red peppers (above), fire baked sweet potato (below, not SCD-legal but I do ok with them on occasion)

Snacks: we were pretty full from the meals, but we also had plenty of snacks including grilled pineapple, cherries, plums, apples, nut mix, strawberry fruit roll ups, more yogurt, blueberries, cheddar cheese

So some things I’ll remember from this trip are to just bring basic meats that can be eaten on their own. Round out the meals with veggies that roast easily or can be eaten as salad. Cut up salad veggies before leaving and make some homemade salad dressing. Add some bacon, eggs, yogurt and fruit and it’s a pretty simple cooler full of SCD legal food.

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This post is part of Real Food Wednesday hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Camping
Had a great time camping this weekend. I usually get pretty flustered trying to figure out easy food to bring with us. This time I kept it as simple as possible while still being delicious. I pre-marinated some meats and chopped up vegetables to be roasted on the grill or eaten in salad. Yogurt and kefir are easy to bring, and some eggs and bacon (fried in a cast iron pan) for breakfast of course. I’ll do a full post on camping food this week. Somehow I didn’t take pictures of everything, probably because I was so hungry. What is it about camping and being outside all day that just leaves you ravenous? BTW bacon grease is the perfect fire starter.

Sunscreen
While I haven’t been burning nearly as much anymore, I don’t think there’s any way I can be out in the sun all day without sunscreen. I have been using Badger SPF 30 sunscreen this summer and it’s quite nice. It doesn’t seem to make my face breakout any more than it does normally. The spots I missed while applying it did turn a bit red while the rest of me was not. Happy to say the red patches did not hurt, peel or blister and are turning into a nice tan already. It would be best to just cover up with light clothing and a hat, but that doesn’t always work well when it’s 30+C and I’m playing beach volleyball.

Fruit Roll Ups
I went strawberry picking again last week and made fruit roll-ups with the batch. I tried to make some without any honey but they weren’t that good sticky consistency that I like. So best to add a spoonful of honey to each 1 1/2 cups of strawberries and really mix it in. This might not mix in well if the strawberries are cold, so try to start with everything at room temperature. I brought all the fruit roll ups camping and everyone seemed to like them. Now I might try to make some with other kinds of fruit. I think apples would be a good base for anything that doesn’t have quite enough flavor or body like the strawberries have. I’m hoping to try watermelon with apples soon.

Working Out and Soup
I’m in a health pact with my Twitter friend Roger. We have to keep up with workouts and making soup. The two don’t necessarily have anything to do with each other but both are very healthy! I needed a bit of motivation to start working out again. I used to work out a lot, stopped when I got mono and didn’t start up again with any real dedication until now. I did some walking, yoga, and very light workouts for the past few years. Weird thing is, I’m actually probably the fittest I have ever been in my life. There’s some people who say it’s 80% diet 20% fitness and that’s so true for me. So, the workouts now are not really to get fit, but to increase strength a bit, reduce stress, and just be healthy. I started with some running, sprints, push-ups, chin-ups, squats and lunges. Roger had never made soup before and with all the healing I noticed from soup I figured it would be a good health move for him. So far we’ve made a basic chicken soup and ox tail soup. Since it’s summer now I’m thinking of trying to make a cold soup next. Stay tuned for some soup recipes!