Campfire Stew

Living outdoors brings a longing for warm comfort food. But when you think of camping food what comes to mind are hot dogs, marshmallows, beans and anything packaged, unhealthy and processed. I wasn't planning on doing any food posts on this little adventure, but what I stand for is being able to make healthy, nutrient dense, quick comfort food anywhere so I thought to myself, why not. So here it is. Don't mind my uncombed hair and no make-up, this post was spontaneous and is very real. 

What I bring for food when camping may seem odd to the average camper. It pretty much consisted of peanut butter (because let face it, its amazing on or in anything), trail mix, a handful of spices, a few cans of plain legumes and tomatoes, and a cooler full of fruits and veggies. It actually made for easier food storage because you don't have to worry too much about keeping things cool, most fruits and veggies hold pretty well naturally. 

My Peanut Mushroom Stew wasn't tried or tested it was spontaneously made and ended up being soo delicious. I made so much that we ended up asking our camping neighbour to come on over. Funny story, at first she kindly declined, stating that she was vegan and most likely couldn't eat what was made. But she ended up joining us for dinner and she seemed pleasantly surprised. 

Campfire Stew

What you need:

• 2 tbsp of organic canola oil
• 1 small sweet potato, cubed 
• 1 onion,  rough chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6-8 brown mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper, rough chopped
• 1 15 oz can chickpeas
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1.5 cup water
• 1-2 tbsp Chili powder
• 3 handfuls of baby kale
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh cilantro and roasted peanuts to garnish

The how to:

• heat oil add onions until slightly caramelized
• add mushrooms and garlic saute for 2-3 mins
• add can of tomatoes, chickpeas, water, and sweet potato cover and cook for 8 mins
• mix in peppers, peanut butter and chill powder simmer for 5 mins
• add salt and pepper to taste
• mix in kale and cook until wilted
• garnish with roasted peanuts and fresh cilantro when serving

My Thoughts On My 3 Day Juice Cleanse

Over the past 3 days I've been on a small juice cleanse. I've been doing juice cleanses for years. There are so many opinions out there when it comes to juice cleansing, so for those who are interested, I'd like to share with you my thoughts, knowledge and experience. Please keep in mind I'm not a doctor and I am not telling you or anyone, to to do a juice cleanse. I'm just sharing my own personal experience, and the benefits I have found from doing them. In saying that, remember that everybody is different, what may work for some, may not work for others. You know your body better than anyone. Listen to it, it will let you know better than anyone could tell you.

So if you want me to be brutally honest about it, I ALWAYS have an incredible experience when I do a juice cleanse. Despite the odd headache and my few hangry moments, the way I feel afterwards is just so surreal. There is a big misconception, people think that they are simply starving themselves, but in fact they are just giving their body's digestive system a chance to rest, while loading your body full of concentrated nutrients. This allows the body to give some well needed attention toward other elements of your body. Did you know that between 40-80% of your body's energy can be used during the the digestion process. The amount of energy your body uses during digestion is dependant on how processed, unhealthy, or large your last meal was. If you have ever experienced exhaustion after eating a meal you  know exactly what I'm talking about. Juicing takes most of the fibre out of your fruits and vegetables, what you are left with is a nutrient dense, and easy to digest juice! The benefit to this is less work for your body and digestive system, to absorb a ton  of concentrated nutrients very quickly. I like to make each serving of juice out of 5-6 lbs of fruits and vegetables, I personally incorporate a large amount of greens so I can get all the alkalizing benefits. While cleansing, I drink between 6-8 servings of juice a day. One of the kids and my favourite juices is Monster Juice!

If you are thinking about trying a juice cleanse be sure to ease your way into it. A few tips and tricks from my personal experience would be: Transition yourself slowly. Eat very clean a few weeks prior, and be sure NOT TO BINGE EAT the night before. You want your juices to be organic, cold pressed, raw vegan, with no preservatives or chemicals. Only fresh squeezed and/or homemade. During the cleanse you may find yourself experiencing some or all of the following detox symptoms; nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, sore muscles, crankiness or headaches. This is completely normal. I personally only get the odd headache, nothing else. The benefits I experience from these cleanses are hormonal improvement, improved digestion, increased energy, clearer skin, fewer cravings and in the long run weight loss. When breaking your cleanse/fast resist the urge to binge. Ease your way back into food, it should take you just as long to ease back as the cleanse took. ex. 3 days if your doing a 3 day cleanse, 6 days if your doing a 6 day cleanse. Breaking your fast is just as important as the fast itself.  It should be done in the morning hence the word "break-fast" and with only raw juicy fruits such as watermelon. You don't want to just go filling your body full of junk right afterwards.  Remember this is a time to love your body not shock it and have it hating you the whole way through. Being in the right mindset is key,  make your goal a happier healthier life, and nothing more. Truly listen to your body, it's the only place you have to live, for the rest of your life. Treat it like the temple it is. 

"The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison."

-Ann Wigmore