On Eating (part 3) - The S'mores Edition

We went camping last weekend in our little snail shell of a camper. Oh wait - that's not the right picture...



It may not be big and luxurious, but we love it. Oops. That's not it either.

Apparently, I didn't take a photo of our camper this time.

Here's one I took right after we bought it...



ANYWAY. I was a little concerned about how we were going to integrate our newly established eating habits into a weekend camping trip - because we love to eat camping food - you know...burgers, brats, baked beans, chips, and cookies.

And s'mores. Many...many...many s'mores.

Well - it wasn't so hard. It just took a little rearranging of expectations and some planning ahead.

We did burgers - but with lean ground beef and smaller (thinner) whole grain hamburger buns and a salad instead of baked beans, chips and dip.

We did spaghetti with whole wheat noodles, salad and garlic toasted english muffins (yummmm).

And we did brats. Yep. But these weren't your typical bratwurst sausages, which weigh in at a hefty 320 calories.

EACH.

ALONE.

I found some turkey bratwurst though - Butterball, maybe? I can't remember. Anyway, for 140 calories, we thought we'd give them a try. Honestly? I wasn't too excited about it. We had some turkey breakfast sausage one morning while we were camping, and I didn't care for it too much - too turkey-y.

But - we threw them on the grill...

photo by Joshua Ott

And instead of chips and dip, I decided to make zucchini fries.

Yes, I'm aware it's a stretch. Hang with me.

I cut a fresh zucchini into french fry shapes, sprinkled them with a seasoning mix intended for poultry (onion, garlic, salt, pepper, blah blah blah) and wrapped individual servings into aluminum foil. At first, I placed those on the grill over the open fire pit.

photo by Joshua Ott

Then I got worried that they weren't really roasting all that well, so I removed the grate and just tossed the aluminum foil bags down into the coals.

I pretty much just left them there and occasionally turned them over with the barbeque tongs until the turkey brats were finished.

When I pulled them out of the fire and opened them up, I realized I probably could have let them roast a little longer - to get more caramelized...but we were hungry.

People. This was absolutely fantastic. The turkey brats tasted just like bratwurst - none of that overpowering turkey taste. I loved the zucchini fries. LOVED them. Derek ate every one on his plate, and about half of Joshua's. Joshua said they weren't his favorite, but they were okay. Trust me when I tell you that is high praise from Joshua - he's not a fan of green anything. I noticed that Dr. SmartyPants' plate was clean, as well.

Now - I know what you're thinking. 140 calorie bratwurst. 100 calorie whole wheat hot dog bun. 0 calorie zucchini...that's not enough food to live on! And you would be right.

Because there are some things that you just can't find a substitute for...

Oh. Yes.

I believe I will...I mean I believe I did.