taking TF on the road... advice?

[ememers]

I'm going to be away from home for about two months this summer, working at a summer camp. I've worked there for nearly a decade, but this year is different because I'm much more TF than I was in the past, plus now I'm pregnant, so food is a big concern for me.

The camp provides three meals a day plus snacks, all prepared on site (not reheated school lunch crap). Even so, it's far from TF, of course. There's lots of fresh veggies and fruit, but not organic. The milk is pasteurized, not sure if it's rBGH-free or not. As staff, I have access to a small kitchen and small fridges, so I can supplement my food on the side if I want. I have to eat with the kids and be a role model (eating a bit of everything, etc), but I can eat my own stuff behind the scenes, if you will. That said, I'll be busy dawn 'til dusk, so I don't have time to spend hours in the kitchen making my own food.

My parents live about 5 hours from the camp, and they are TF as well. My dad is making some extra kombucha for me to take with me, and I might be able to take some of their raw milk as well. I haven't found a raw milk source near where I'll be, but I'm trying.

Any ideas of how to supplement the provided food with TF-friendly, low-prep snacks and mini-meals for this pregnant lady? I'm thinking of getting pastured eggs and hard-boiling them in batches, so I have that as a go-to snack. Other than that, I'm blanking.

Help?? Thanks!

[mellifluousmama]

how about beef jerky, pemmican, cheese and make a bunch of crackers to take for them?
Also maybe some canned oysters or sardines?

[Shakti77]

Bring dozens of TF muffins, TF quick breads, TF breads, etc and freeze. You can also freeze TF waffles and pancakes. The waffles and pancakes thaw beautifully in the toaster and make a real quick snack. Marinate organic or all natural meat in individual portion sizes, vacuum seal them and bring along an indoor electric grill.

Soaked crackers, cookies, granola bars, energy bars (with added nuts, seeds, dried fruits, coconut etc) all can be frozen. Crispy nuts, soaked nut butter... Get some kefir grains and start making your own kefir. It is very simple and fast to make it on your own. It doesn't take more than a minute for me and I'm just a 15 day kefir maker.

Boiled eggs and the kombucha are a great idea! If you eat jam, jellies, bring your own as the ones available might have more sugar, additives etc.

[ememers]

those are all fantastic ideas---thanks!

my only problem is that I have to fly from my home to get there, and I'll only have about a day at my parents' house to prep stuff, plus the first week I'm there I won't have access to a full kitchen, so I can't really bring much pre-prepped stuff with me.

i might just have to make it a priority to do some cooking in the first couple of days when I get kitchen access.

also, if you think i'm overly-obsessing and should just go with the flow and eat the food that's provided, feel free to tell me that too.

i'm hoping to find access to raw milk, get some good raw milk cheese, plus the hard boiled eggs, make some TF bread, get good butter, plus kombucha.

any other ideas? surely lots of people have dealt with a similar situation before!

[Magelet]

I would eat very little bits of the grain dishes (only enough to show good eating) served. I'm not sure what meals you are expecting to be eating there, or what the regular food is like. It sounds like mostly your looking for snacks?

How about salads (for instance, lentil, or grain), fermented foods (like sauerkraut or pickles), lots of cheese (even pasturized real cheese is healthy), yogurt, and lots of butter. I would say butter is the most important, (imo). You can get along with conventional meat, and just not eat that many grains, and the fruit and veggies will be fine (just avoid the worst contaminated ones, and eat lots of the less contaminated ones) covered in butter, but real fats are vital in pregnancy in particular. If need be, I would find good butter (Ask your parents?) Call them up in advance, and tell them you want 8-16 lbs of pastured butter on such and such a date, do you need a special order. Chuck it in the freezer, and eat lots. (can you somehow take your own butter to meals with the munchkins?)

Pastured eggs are good, but they won't last you the whole time, you'd have to find a source to get more halfway through. (but the cholesterol in them is pretty vital, so it might be worth it. ) if you can't find pastured eggs, get ones fed flax-seed. they'll still have cholesterol and omega-3's. hard-boiled eggs as a snack would be great.

Yogurt and pickles and saurkraut are so easy, and will help keep you in beneficial bacteria. worst comes to worst, you can bring pro-biotic pills too.

Bring sea-salt. I'm sure you know how vital it is to properly salt your food when your pregnant, and good sea salt is so much better for you than regular (but easy to store and use. maybe to make it easy you could even fill your camper's tables' salt with it, so that you aren't using different salt but getting good salt?)

If breakfast is extruded cereal, commercial eggs with unsoaked flour cooked in canola, and potatos cooked in canola (which it might be), I might say that I have some sort of food allergy or religious diet or other special needs or something to the campers, and eat homemade granola, or soaked oatmeal, with a boiled egg, and a glass of milk. (ask if its hormone free. if it is, the whole milk isn't terrible for you, particularly cultured. if its not... not so great. bring your own, the best you can. non-homogenized low temp pasteurized is availible in some areas raw isn't). you could make the granola in advance and bring it with you, or ask your parents to do you a favor, and make it.

I mentioned above lentil salads, its easy to soak them at night, cook them (in a crockpot if you can't leave the mini stove going) (especially in broth, can your parents make and freeze some? maybe reduced in ice cubes, which you can throw one or two in the cooking water), drain em, toss em with homemade vinaigrette, cut up veggies, and some cheese or chicken, and leave it in the fridge, and snack on it here and there. you can also add sprouted mung beans. yum.

Definitely make your own dressing. its easy, you can probably put it on the table at meals, and so much healthier. you could make a couple in mason jars (which makes it easy to just shake them up, no need to try to mix with a fork. I'm also a fan of using almost empty mustard jars. the bit stuck to the walls gets in the vinaigrette and you have a clean jar to reuse when your done.), and stick them in the fridge, and bring one to the meal. good for both salad, and dipping carrots and other veggies in, plus if you stick some good fats (good olive oil, some flax-seed,), and maybe even a raw egg (a la green goddess or Caesar), extra healthy (just don't leave those ones out too long).

depending on where it is, and whats around, maybe you can get whole wheat sourdough bread, and spread it with butter for a snack.

Depending on your tolerance for it, maybe grate some raw liver and keep it in the freezer, and sprinkle it in various foods for your meals? I'd also make regular trips to whatever local store there is for produce for dark leafy vegetables, or maybe freeze some. Such a vital source of folic acid.

Also make sure your getting enough vitamin c. Read up on food during pregnancy (do you know someone with a copy of "holistic midwifery 1"? its an intimidating book, but pages 228 to 246 have great info on diet in pregnancy), and know intimately different sources of different nutrients, and make sure you are getting balanced food, since the vegetables served might be heavy in some and too light in others. know many many options (even ones you wouldn't normally eat) so that you can say "jee, the foods I normally get b-vitamins from aren't here, but I can eat this and that and this to get them instead." (for example.)

you can do it. you may have to make a few compromises, but you'll do fine.