THE LOVELY CRAZY

We camp a lot. Every weekend from early summer to late fall or as long as the weather is tolerable. But once the light goes and the cold damp rainy days come (a little snow is fine) we pack it in for. the season.

The most common question I get asked about when talking about our camping life is what I eat. And the answer is always and will always be soup.

I make soup every single time I go camping. And yes, even in the hot ass summer. Why? Well because soup is versatile, hearty, easy, delicious, adaptable, great on a cold night. It is just all around amazing and not just for camping but for all food consuming meals. That is fact.

So maybe you are going to do a little camping in the next few weeks and are in need of a little inspiration or direction when it comes to camp soup. I made a little list of tips for you.

Tips for making a camp soup.

First off, assemble a kitchen that fits your soup needs. A stove and a pot. Have a good sharp knife, a cutting board, and a container to collect any compost (don’t just toss any food into the trees…animals ya know ) plus, you know, a spoon. Also, don;t bring your favorite pot of best knife. You would probably be pretty pissed if you dung it or ruined it. Camping can get rough!
When at the camp site, set up a nice little zone to prepare you food. Trying to cut up veggies on the ground is a pain in the ass.
If you are making soup for just yourself or you and another person, eat out of the pot(s) that you make your soup in. The mr and I each have out own pots which is nice because I can customize our soups (I always add way more spice and usually more veggies to mine) and we don’t have to bring bowls. The less dishes the better!
Don’t bother with stock or brother, just use water.
Red lentils are the best. You don’t have to soak them, they cook really fast, and they get creamy and bothy and taste just delicious. Green lentils are also good, and if you have the time, split peas (they need more cooking time). Avoid dried beans because they take way too long. If you want beans, bring precooked or canned beans.
Most veggies are good without refrigeration for a few days if not cut up so you really have a good pick of what you want to use. Bring veggies that are on the small side so you use it all up.
Whole tomatoes are great to cut up and add, just pack them (or any easily bruised veggie) in a plastic container so they don’t get squashed.
For multiple day camp trips, bring sturdier roots like onions, turnips, and beets. Also cabbage and carrots last for days without refrigeration.
Greens are great but don’t bring tender greens like lettuce or spinach. Instead go for greens like chard or kale.
Winter squash or sweet potatoes are very much encouraged. Sugar pumpkins or delicata cut up really easy and cook super fast, You don’t have to remove the skin (just the seeds) and you can always find small ones.
Bring a preblended spice mix. I always just bring a curry mixture I make at home so it is all the spices in one jar. Having a bunch of jars of different spices may seem nice but keeping things simple (and having less stuff) is usually better. Oh and add salt to taste last.
When the soup is cooking, don’t walk away for more then a minute of two. You want to watch to make sure the soup doesn't boil over and also watch out for critters. We have encountered a few wily chipmunks in our days. They will come up and steal your food if you are not careful.
Have left over soup? Pour it into a jar and save it or breakfast or lunch the next day. No joke, we do it all the time. (The mr does, I never have left overs. I eat it ALL)

Here are some pictures of my soups from the past few weeks.

And lastly, remember that making soup at a campsite is suppose to be fun and is pretty much guaranteed to taste amazing, especially if you have spent the day running around in the woods or being really active. There is nothing better then eating a big ol’ pot of hot soup after climbing up and down a mountain!

-C

What are you doing this weekend? It is suppose to be cold and rainy (if not snowy) and crappy and just not a good weekend to be hanging outside, which makes it the perfect weekend to spend some time inside, SPRING CLEANING! Haha. Doesn't cleaning get you excited? No, well, sorry for you. Me, I like to clean, and I really like to tackle jobs that really really need to be tackled, like cleaning out the fridge. And a crappy weather spring weekend is probably the best time to do it.

The refrigerator. My pride and joy of the kitchen. It's an old harvest gold Fridgaire from like 1970. This is the fridge I spent almost a year hunting down and finally finding on craigslist from a man who was cleaning out his dead mothers house. The fridge that I almost gave up on when I couldn't find it and almost bought a big stainless steal thing instead.mBut last minute, I found it, like it was meant to be. And this fridge has a story all of it's own. It was a prize won by on of the ladies daughters from a cereal company contest. The family kept it for all these years and took such good care or it because of that. A well cared for and loved fridge. It is a good one with faux wood trim and metal shelving. It keeps my food cold and frozen (sometimes frozen when it shouldn't be. The back top shelve in the fridge has a few cold spots the might freeze whatever is there. My solution to that is to not stick things in the cold spots.) and is just as pretty as can be. Some people question it, don't understand why I didn't just buy a matching fridge to my stainless steal stove, but you know what, if you don't like it, well I really don't care. It makes me happy and I love it.

And to what goes on on the inside. To know me is to know what is inside of my refrigerator. It is always packed. There is and always will be carrots, beets, lemon, cabbage, turmeric, greens, greens, and more greens in there. There will always be some hummus of some kind, mustard, bread dough, tofu, and lots and lots of any and every veggies you can think of. Plus a bunch of jars and container, which I have a bad habit of not placing lids on all the time, full of lentils and beans, rice, and quinoa. There is usually a baked sweet potato or some squash and more likely the not, tomatoes and plant milk. In the freezer, well that's getting pretty empty now, but after harvest in the fall, it is packed to the brim with bags of frozen veggies. Now it has a few bags of veggies, frozen bananas and berries,flours, and nuts. But the fridge, The fridge is always full. And it an get a little messy....

And now I it's time to clean it out.

I spot clean and straighten it out often. Usually before I pick up farm share I go through it and tidy up, make more space, and pull stuff out that needs to be eaten first. But that is just the surface cleaning. Stuff gets sticky, stuff gets stuck, and especially with veggies, stuff gets dirty. Spot cleaning has a place but it's not cutting it anymore. It's spring and it's time for a full fledge deep clean.

Now I know most people have their own methods for cleaning but here are a few tips and techniques that I have to tackle the beast.

-Prepare. You don't want to just go at it without a plan and supplies. Get out your cleaning supplies. Grab a recycling can and a compost bucket, and have a big lean surface ready to place stuff on. The vacuum or a broom should be handy too.

-Cleaning solutions. It is a fridge so you don't want to be cleaning it with a bunch of chemicals. What I use is a vinegar solution. 50/50 white vinegar and water and a squirt of dish soup. It cleans, degreases, disinfects, and won't kill you.

-An empty sink or bathtub to wash all the drawers and shelving off.

-A few clean containers. Just have them on hand, with lids, to place stray things roaming around in there.

-Clean from top to bottom. This avoids crap falling into something you already cleaned.

-Labels. Any containers that are not clear might benefit from a label. And if you tend to leave things in the fridge for a long time, a label for the date of opening is also a good idea.

-Inventory. Knowing what is in the fridge is very important, this prevents food waste.

-Too many condiments. I don't know how many times I have looked in peoples fridges and seen 5 different bottles of ketchup or Italian dressings open. Consolidate. And if you don't like it or don't use it, get rid of it.

-Wipe it all down. Not just the fridge itself, but all the stuff going back into it. So many times I have stuck the soy sauce in the door and had it leaked all over.

-Know your fridge and place accordingly. Most people don't have super old fridges, but even the new ones have some quirks. Know if there are cold spots or dead zones or places that things get stuck and place food accordingly. Also think about where you are placing food. It don't make sense to but the milk way in the back if you use it all the time.

-Under and behind. Don't forget to clean under the fridge and behind the fridge. It will be dusty, maybe a little gross, but it must be done.

-Music. A good playlist is always going to make you better are cleaning.

As for the Use it Up Soup, do just that. This is the perfect time to use up what you got. I know that I have way more veggies then the average person, but don't let that stop you. You could even pull stuff out and fill in missing ingredients form the store if you want. And be creative, pickled hot peppers, all the frozen veggies, any wilted greens. Even almost empty bottles of mustard. If you think it sounds good in soup, use it up. Add some canned tomatoes and a handful of spice, you are gonna end up with something tasty.

. A clean fridge and soup, how can it get any better?

The before. Veggies all over. Jars and containers stacked, with and without lids. A stray half of banana, and empty water bottle, and a half eaten salad in a bowl just having out. The shelves are kind of gross. The veggie drawers are nasty, and I think almost everything is wet because I dumped over a container of tofu the other day and all the tofu water leaked all over...... This deep clean was a long time coming.

I always have so many bags and containers of veggies and beans in the fridge.

The stuff in the door too. This is actually a lot of crap. The last dinner party we had someone brought over salad dressings. The mr and I don't use salad dressing, but I guess it's not so bad to have them here. The littles like them and I know that they will be eaten.

And the stuff that is going to be soup. I found a wrinkly parsnip, some celery, carrots, a few cooked potatoes, some cooked butternut squash and a half a kale and carrot salad. The jar of almost gone lentils, and jar of tomatoes. Some ginger and turmeric root which is always is the fridge. A rutabaga, some cabbage, an onion, and I also grabbed some frozen green beans and the rest of the frozen rhubarb ( resh rhubarb is on it's way)