If you are an avid backpacker, you probably already have a system for planning snacks and meals for your trips. But, if you are like me, you have done plenty of day hikes and camping, but only a little backpacking. You may benefit from what my husband and I learned about food and food prep on our recent backpacking trip down Hermit Trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back up)!

Breakfast:

The Plan: Strawberries and Cream instant oatmeal.

What worked: This was great on the day that we spent exploring the bottom of the Grand Canyon (not a major hiking day). It was tasty, easy, and relatively quick.

What didn’t work: On the days that we hiked down and back up, we wanted to leave early to avoid the hot sun as much as possible. We realized that we really didn’t want to take the time to heat up water, sit and eat, then clean up and pack our dishes. We ended up eating chocolate brownie flavored Kid’s Clif bars (We think the bars made for kids taste better than the bars made for adults).

Next Time: Next time, we will have oatmeal on non-major hiking days, & pack something fast and easy like bars and an apple for the mornings we want to get going quickly.

Snacks on the trail:

The Plan: Mini dill pickles, shot blocks, mini chocolate chip cookies from Trader Joe’s, cinnamon toffee almonds, rice cakes with salt, coconut m&m’s, pretzel m&m’s, chocolate brownie kid’s Clif bars.

What worked: By far, our favorite snack was the mini dill pickles. They were tiny (smaller than my little pinkie finger), crunchy, and salty. All that sweating you do on the trail really makes you want to replace your salt. The mini chocolate chip cookies, coconut m&m’s, pretzel m&m’s, & chocolate brownie kid’s Clif bars were also tasty snacks.

What didn’t work: The cinnamon toffee almonds tasted good at home, but we weren’t too excited about them on the trail. Lighter, saltier, and easier to digest snacks were better. The rice cakes were alright, but not that exciting.

Next Time: We will bring the snacks that worked and add some kind of salty home-made chex mix or similar snack

Drink Mixes:

The Plan: Bring 1-qt size packets of Gatorade powder and Vitalyte powder. Add to water bottles as we fill them up.

What worked: Both powdered mixes were good. They replaced the electrolytes we needed to keep going on strong. Also, we were staying super hydrated, and even though the risk of water intoxication was probably small, we still wanted to keep it in mind. If you drink a lot of water without replenishing your electrolytes, your body can suffer from water intoxication (or hyper-hydration), which can cause disturbances in brain function. Replacing electrolytes helps reduce this risk by keeping your blood more isotonic. We set a stopwatch and stopped to refuel every 30 minutes to make sure we drank enough fluids. Not only was it good to drink and eat snacks, but we also got a little rest from our heavy packs!

What didn’t work: They both worked, but we liked the Vitalyte mix better because it had a more subtle flavor, a little less sugar, and more electrolytes.

Next time: We will bring more Vitalyte mix and less Gatorade mix.

Lunch:

The Plan: On Hiking Days: Oranges & mini toasts (like crackers) with small slices of lite sharp cheddar cheese. Exploring Day at the bottom of the canyon: Pasta Salad (cooked vegetable radiatore pasta, stuffed manzanilla olives, sliced black olives, small chunks lite sharp cheddar, foil-packaged ready-to-eat chicken, & Greek salad dressing. All ingredients packaged separately in baggies, then mixed together in the biggest bag to eat out of).

What worked: It was all good! I chose reduced fat sharp cheddar and cut it into thin slices, because I didn’t want my body working too hard to digest the fat and protein when I needed the blood flow elsewhere for hiking. Also, sharp cheddar still has a strong flavor, even when you aren’t eating big slices. The juiciness of the oranges is always welcome during a hike. For the pasta salad, I shredded the chicken and mixed all the ingredients into a large plastic baggie. We ate it while sitting in the 90-degree weather on a warm rock with our feet in an ice cold pool of water at Hermit Creek. It was delicious. I purposely saved the more fatty meal for the non-hiking day. (We did our fair share of hiking around the bottom that day, but not much compared to the long hikes down and up the canyon).

What didn’t work: Nothin’.

Next time: I’ll probably do just the same as I did this time.

Dinner:

The Plan: #1: Ramen noodles with dehydrated shrimp and vegetables, seasoning packet replaced with vegetable bouillon. #2: Couscous (from a boxed meal with seasoning packet) with dehydrated turkey bacon strips and vegetables.  Backpackingchef.com has good information on how to dehydrate meat and veggies.

What worked: Both meals were tasty, and easy to make by adding hot water.

What didn’t work: We have origami style plates, bowls, and cups for backpacking. They fold flat and are super light. To use them, you just fold them into the right shape. They pack well and work pretty well, but we didn’t really like having to clean them afterward.

Next time: When we made the couscous, we added the water straight into the plastic baggie and ate it from there. It was definitely faster and easier. Next time, we’ll bring the same meals, but cook and eat them straight out of the baggie we pack them in.

To be honest, I usually buy my almond milk…but I’m trying to make my own more often, because it’s fresh and I know exactly what goes into it. It’s pretty simple (only a couple ingredients) and pretty quick too. If you want to know why in the world people would drink “milk” made from almonds, check out my post Spotlight on Almonds. I plan to write something comparing cow’s milk to almond milk to soy milk (etc.) sometime soon…but that one’s taking a little extra energy.

The Basic Recipe:

4 cups filtered water

1 cup almonds, soaked in filtered water (4 hours or more)

pinch sea salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup agave, raw honey, or soft dates

vanilla or almond extract

Step 1: Add Almonds and Water

I chose to make a smaller batch, so I used 1/2 cup almonds (previously soaked in water, now dry) and 2 cups of filtered water. If you use less water or more almonds, your milk will be thicker and “creamier.”

Add almonds and water to the blender.

Step 2: Blend

Step 3: Strain the Milk

You can buy special nut milk bags online, but I’ve never used those. All you really need is super fine mesh. You can use multiple layers of cheesecloth or, my favorite, cut off nylons. You can’t get mesh much finer than that, eh?

I cut off the bottom of nylons and put the cut off side over the rim of a container, like this:

Then, I just pour the almond milk, pulp and all, into the strainer:

Step 4: Squeeze out the Milk:

Just like milking a cow, right….?

Step 5: Return to Blender:

You don’t have to do this step, but I like to. I rinse out the blender, and pour the newly strained almond milk back in to thoroughly mix in the other ingredients. You could just stir them in by hand if you want to.

I add a pinch of sea salt, some agave nectar, and some vanilla extract, then blend it all up. You may notice that the almond milk looks less white here. This is because I added a LOT of vanilla extract. I was planning to use this batch in a smoothie, so I figured it would be really tasty if it had lots of vanilla flavor.

Step 6: Enjoy!

Here’s a little cup of almond milk…Again, I know it looks kind of like dirty water. But really, that’s only because I had to go and add loads of vanilla extract to it. If you only add a little bit, it really should look nice and white.

Popular Articles:

• Health and Nutrition: What are Antioxidants and Free Radicals?
• Photography: How to Add a Texture to your Photo
• Recipes: Collard Green Wraps
• Smoothie of the Week: Spinach Mango
• Southern Ca Activities: Beach Camping in Carlsbad?

Almonds are a convenient, tasty snack, and the base for many raw vegan desserts, drinks, and smoothies. I’m about to tell you why they’re such a good choice…

Basic Nutritional Information:

Almonds are low in cholesterol and sodium

Almonds are a good source of:

• Protein
• Complex Carbohydrates (carbs that are absorbed slowly)
• Vitamin E
• Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
• Magnesium
• Manganese

(Information from nutritiondata.com)

Specific Nutrients:

Monosaturated Fats:

• Almonds are high in monounsaturated fats, which have been associated with reduced risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis (the hardening of arteries). This may be due to the LDL cholesterol-lowering effects of monounsaturated fats.  (LDL is the form of cholesterol that has been linked to atherosclerosis and heart disease).

Vitamin E and Antioxidant Activity:

• In a study in the Journal of Nutrition, 20 potent antioxidants were identified in almond skins. Teamed up with the Vitamin E in the almond’s “meat”, the antioxidant activity was found to be more than doubled. (So eat your almonds raw with the skins on!)
• The link between decreased risk of heart disease and almonds may be partly due to the antioxidant action of the vitamin E and the antioxidants in the skins.

Magnesium:

• 1/4 cup of almonds contains almost 99 mg of magnesium (24.7% of the daily value for this mineral)
• Magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker. (Calcium channel blockers as medications are used to lower blood pressure). When the body has enough magnesium, veins and arteries relax. This lessens resistance and improves blood flow, making it easier to transport oxygen and nutrients throughout the body. Studies show that a deficiency of magnesium is associated not only with heart attack, but it also increases the risk of injury to the heart immediately after heart attack.

Potassium:

• 1/4 cup of almonds contains 257 mg of potassium.
• Potassium is an important electrolyte involved in nerve transmission and muscle contraction. This includes the heart muscle. Potassium is essential for maintaining normal blood pressure and heart function.

Protein:

• Almonds are a great source of protein: 1/4 cup contains 7.62 grams-giving you more protein than the typical egg, which contains 5.54 grams.
• In my humble opinion, almonds taste better than eggs and don’t make your kitchen smell funny. But…that’s just me. This isn’t really a scientific fact about almonds or anything.

Manganese and Copper:

• Manganese and Copper are trace minerals that are essential for the activity of an enzyme that works within the mitochindria (the “powerhouse”  or “energy factory” of our cells- remember that from high school science class?). This enzyme, superoxide dismutase, reduces free radical activity in the mitochondria, thus improving our energy. (If you want to better understand free radicals and antioxidants, you can read my post about free radicals and antioxidants)

(Information from: WHFoods.com)

Almonds make me happy.

Almond Recipes:

• Coconut Almond Sun Cookies
  

  

• Almond Milk

  

Popular Articles:

• Health and Nutrition: Spotlight on Flaxseed
• Family and Friends: Labor Day Camping and Cute Kid Quotes
• Recipes: Mango Tomatillo Salsa
• Photography: How to Add a Subtle Vignette in GIMP
• Southern Ca Activities: Balboa Park, San Diego

“Antioxidant” is a word that most of us are pretty familiar with, right? But what does it really mean? What are they, what do they do, and why do we care about getting them anyway? I’ve tried to explain all this in the most simple, basic way. (not because I think you’re simple or basic, but because I am). If it doesn’t make sense, pretend you never read it and promise you’ll still be my friend, okay?

Free Radicals:

Before we can talk about antioxidants, we must know a little bit about free radicals. Free radicals and antioxidants are bitter enemies. Free radicals are out for us, and antioxidants are out for them. Really, that’s what my college chemistry teacher taught me. I guess there’s a little more to it than that.

Free radicals are kind of wacky, because they are both necessary for life and thought to be at the root of many diseases and chronic conditions.

Why we love them:

• They are involved in cell signaling processes and the intracellular killing of bacteria

Why we hate them:

• When there’s a surplus of free radicals -more than the body needs- they start damaging or killing our good cells. This is thought to be the root of many cancers, diseases, and even the symptoms of aging.

What ARE they?

• This might not be what you get from an encyclopedia, but it’s the clearest explanation I can come up with for regular people like me (huh? regular?). People who studied science more diligently than I did might look down upon me, but this is how I gotta say it: Free radicals are unpaired electrons. Most electrons follow the buddy rule and always hold hands. But free radicals are damaged rule-breakers, not to mention that they are unstable and react quickly. Because they don’t have a buddy of their own, they try to steal everybody else’s. As you can imagine, this can cause problems.
• Let’s say we have an extra free radical running around in our skin (a disturbing thought, I know). This free radical is unemployed: the body doesn’t really need it. It’s extra. It’s goofing off because there’s not enough work around for all the free radicals. So, what does it do?! It steals an electron from the first stable, healthy, good molecule that it sees. This sets off a chain reaction, damaging the cells that are stolen from.

• When this happens excessively, the body suffers damage. When extra free radicals fraternize with skin cells, damage occurs to the skin. Those greedy thieving free radicals steal from the good skin cells, wreaking havoc as they go. Excess of free radicals can cause damage in any area of the body, and many scientists believe that it is the basis of many diseases.

Where do they come from?

Free radicals can be produced by or through or because of:

• Cigarette smoke
• Exercise
• Cooked Food
• Environmental Pollution
• Preservatives
• Food Additives
• The body’s metabolism
• Alcohol
• Bacteria
• Stress
• Exposure to microwaves
• Sunburns
• Radiation
• More things that I can’t remember.

I admit, this list is kind of depressing. Some things on this list are even good! Like exercise (and don’t use this list as an excuse to stop exercising). Some are unavoidable! Like metabolism. The body needs some free radicals, but when we are exposed to so many ways of producing them, it’s easy to have too many. We can try to avoid the negative things on this list, but we might need a little more help than that…

Antioxidants and Enzymes:

Our bodies were created with mechanisms to fight off excess free radical activity. Yay! How encouraging. Thanks, God, for knowing that I would get sunburned and need to get rid of those extra free radicals.

• I’ll try to keep this pretty simple: antioxidants and enzymes in our bodies help reduce and repair damage from free radicals.
• Antioxidants sacrifice themselves for the sake of our cells. They willingly donate themselves to the ravaging free radicals that are looking for buddies to steal. Picture this: an extra free radical is running around looking for a buddy to steal. It sees an innocent, healthy cell and starts moving that way. BUT, the super-antioxidant is on watch for these extra free radicals and jumps in front of the innocent cell to save it’s life. …or something like that…
• Basically, the antioxidants keep the free radicals from damaging our cells by being available to bond to them instead.

Where do we get antioxidants:

Some antioxidants are produced in our bodies, and some can be obtained through foods and/or supplements. Keep in mind that you want a variety of antioxidants. To work to their full potential, you need all different kinds. This means that you should eat lots of different colors and types of fruits and veggies!

• Vitamin C: citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, strawberries
• Vitamin E: nuts and seeds, green leafy vegetables, whole grains
• Grape Seed Extract
• Lignans: flaxseed, oatmeal, barley
• Vitamin A and Carotenoids: carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, etc.
• Selenium: fish, garlic
• Flavonoids: pomegranate, cranberries

(this is not an exhaustive list by any means)

Suggested Reading:

Here are some books that I found to be very helpful when learning about what my body needs and how to get it!

• What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know about Nutritional Medicine May be Killing You by Ray D. Strand, MD (whoa, that was a mouthful)
• Toxic Relief by Don Colbert, MD

(Information from: my memory of chemistry classes, wikipedia.org, healthcastle.com, bestjuicers.com)

Popular Articles:

• Health and Nutrition: Spotlight on Cilantro
• Recipes: Mango Tomatillo Salsa
• Smoothie of the Week: Spinach Mango
• Photography: How to Add a Vignette in GIMP
• Family and Friends: Labor Day Camping and Cute Kid Quotes

There is so much information available about the health benefits of flaxseed. It would be impossible to share it all with you, so I’ll just share some of the basics.

Basic Nutritional Info:

Flaxseed is low in cholesterol and sodium.

Flaxseed is a good source of:

• Magnesium
• Phosphorus
• Copper
• Dietary Fiber
• Thiamin
• Manganese.

(Information from nutritiondata.com)

Specific Nutrients:

Omega-3 and ALA:

Flaxseeds are rich in alpha linolenic acid (ALA), which is an omega-3 fatty acid.

Omega-3 fats:

• Are used by the body to produce Series 1 and 3 prostaglandins, which are anti-inflammatory hormone-like molecules
• Can help reduce the inflammation that is a significant factor in conditions such as asthma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches, and osteoporosis.
• Helps prevent excessive bone loss and bone turnover (the process of building up and breaking down bone, or replacing old bone with new bone) when you eat enough to balance the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. (excess omega-6 without enough omega-3 can cause excessive bone turnover)
• Produce substances that reduce the formation of blood clots, which can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or diabetic heart disease.
• Are needed to produce flexible cell membranes. Flexible cell membranes allow entrance of necessary nutrients while promoting the elimination of wastes. Flexible cell membranes are better able to respond to insulin and to absorb glucose than the stiff membranes, so they’re very important for those with diabetes. (Stiff membranes result from a diet high in saturated and/or hydrogenated (trans-) fats).
• Help protect colon cells from cancer-causing toxins and free radicals, leading to a reduced risk for colon cancer.

photo by mike fischer

Lignans:

Lignans are phytochemicals (health-protecting compounds from plants) found mostly in unrefined grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. Flaxseed contains from 75-800 times more lignans than any other plant source. Their structure is similar to that of human estrogen, and they can help balance hormone levels in the body. They have also been found to have strong antioxidant activity. (Antioxidants help protect our bodies and strengthen the immune system).

Research suggests that lignans may be helpful for:

• Prostate health
• Bone health
• Breast health
• Reducing symptoms of menopause
• Heart health
• Hair loss
• Acne
• Decreasing inflammation
• Potential anti-cancer properties

Interesting Research:

• Individuals whose diets provide greater amounts of omega-3 fatty acids have lower blood pressure than those who consume less.
• Omega-3s from nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils-such as walnuts and flaxseed-had just as much impact on blood pressure as omega-3s from fish.
• In a study involving 40 patients with high cholesterol (greater than 240 mg/dL), daily consumption of 20 grams of ground flaxseed was compared to taking a statin drug (common high blood pressure drug). After 60 days, significant reductions were seen in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol-in both groups. Those receiving flaxseed did just as well as those given statin drugs!
• Flaxseed put the brakes on prostate tumor growth in men who were given 30 grams of flaxseed daily for a month before surgery to treat their prostate cancer. The 40 men taking flaxseed, either alone or along with a low-fat diet, were compared to 40 men only following a low-fat diet, and 40 men in a control group who did not alter or supplement their usual diet. Men who took flaxseed, as well as those who took flaxseed combined with a low-fat diet did the best.
• Researchers recruited 29 postmenopausal women who had suffered from at least 14 hot flashes each week for at least one month, but would not take estrogen because of a perceived increased risk of breast cancer. After taking 40 grams (1.4 ounces) of crushed flaxseed each day for six weeks, the frequency of hot flashes decreased 50%, and the overall hot flash score decreased an average 57% for the 21 women who completed the trial.

(Information from WHFoods and FlaxLignanInfo)

photo by g[wiz]

Ways to add Flaxseed to your diet:

• Sprinkle it on cereal or mix in with oatmeal
• Mix 1-2 Tbsp with water and drink it (not for the faint of heart, but it’s one of the quickest and easiest ways to get it!)
• Sprinkle on top of salads or add to salad dressing
• Check my recipes category often, as I will be posting many recipes featuring flaxseed!

Recipes featuring Flaxseed:

• Mediterranean Flax Bread

  

• Coconut Flax Veggie Wraps: Coming Soon!

• Coconut Flax Crepes: Coming Soon!

Popular Articles:

• Spotlight on: Cilantro: You need to buy some cilantro today
• Intensely Dark Chocolate Bites: It doesn’t get more chocolatey than this
• San Diego Zoo: The animals are calling to you
• Mango Tomatillo Salsa: This salsa will make you sing!
• Coconut Ice Cream with Berries: A perfectly healthy and delicious treat

———————————————————————–

If you want to learn more about a specific condition that flax helps, or a specific nutrient found in flax, I suggest checking out the World’s Healthiest Foods or Golden Flax websites!