The Liberated Kitchen, redux

Twice a year I take our Camp Fire club to Open Original Shared Link. Camp Fire Columbia has a Open Original Shared Link! We stay in a cabin for two nights, play games, sing songs, have camp fires... and we eat in the dining hall with all the other clubs.

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The kitchen is run by volunteers, the costs are kept low, and the food is aimed at keeping the masses happy. Pretty much everything comes from a can or a box, and every meal is loaded with gluten. This never really worked for our family, but we made do for a couple days. Now it is completely out of the question.

In the past, Jupiter has not enjoyed going on these adventures. While he's enjoyed the activities, he always felt bad during these weekends. I never felt great myself, but in the past I attributed that to sleeping in a cabin with a dozen kids!

This year we got permission to bring our own food. Jupiter decided to give camp one last try, in case the food was the reason he hated it. We wrote up a contract - if he didn't like it this time, he never has to go again!

Here's what we did for our meals (we were on the GAPS Diet, Stage 4):

Dinner Friday

Chicken and veggie soup in thermoses

Breakfast

• Hard boiled eggs
  
• Yogurt
  
• Applesauce
  

The other kids in the dining hall were having french toast, sausage, fruit in the bottom yogurt, oatmeal, and boiled eggs - if our kids didn't like the stuff we brought we would have been in trouble!

Cookout Lunch

Roasted vegetables over the fire

• Tallow
  
• Beets
  
• Carrots
  
• Turnips
  
• Onions
  
• Garlic
  

Open Original Shared Link (this is a bit of a cheat for us - we usually don't use processed meat)

Open Original Shared Link - normally we make our own, but when we decide to buy for the sake of convinience, Bubbies is the way to go. It's alive!

Meringue Macaroons

The cookout was fun for everyone. We brought potatoes for the kids who could eat them, but aside from that everyone enjoyed the same, custom-made foil pack lunches. The non-GAPS kids were a bit nervous about the tallow, but once they got a taste they understood why we like it so much!

Oh... and S'Mores have got nothing on our Meringue Macaroons - the recipe coming soon!

Dinner Saturday

• Roast beef & vegetable stew
  
• Meringue Macaroons with orange curd
  
• Water Kefir
  

Our hearty stew was the perfect thing after a long day of playing outside! The kids in the dining hall were having tacos. We actually had people from other clubs coming up to our table, drawn by the aroma of our stew, wishing they could have some, too When the other kids got peach cobbler, we pulled out our orange curd. That stuff is delicious! Water kefir is a refreshing treat and full of probiotics. It definitely beat the Kool-aid the kitchen was serving!

Breakfast Sunday

• Yogurt
  
• Apple slices
  
• Hard boiled eggs
  
• Stew left-overs (just kept it warm in the crockpot on low heat overnight)
  

I'm happy to report that we all had a great time - even the kid who thought he hated camp. When I had to leave early, Jupiter decided to stay the extra few hours because he was having so much fun. He said "I think the reason I didn't like camp before really was because of the gluten."

It's not surprising he had fun - with no joint pains, nausea, or difficulty concentrating organized outdoor activities are actually exciting. He's looking forward to next time. I'm so glad we're all getting to enjoy life again!