A few weeks ago the husband and I set out into the woods to spend some quality time with ourselves, nature and each other. It has always been something that reconnected us with parts of our lives that we love. The outdoors, the basics and general time with each other while getting away from our everyday lives – including the work life.
We both truly love what we do professionally but sometimes it’s nice to not answer an e-mail as soon as it pops up in your inbox. Furthermore, the real joy - cooking everything over a flame outdoors. This post is all about this adventure that we took. The food we ate at our favourite secret restaurant up on the Peninsula, some concoctions we prepared and how my man built us cutlery because his wife may have forgotten to pack it.
We decided to head to Tobermory for a handful of days, a tradition since the beginning of our relationship, to camp, eat, swim and unplug.
I decided to do some meal prep for this trip because we weren’t going to be away for too long and didn’t want to haul a bunch of perishables from our journey back home. I tried to think of meals that could be made in a single pot, including minimal preparation before we left as well as after we arrived. This also worked in my favour because in addition to forgetting cutlery I also forgot bowls/plates. I’m not quite sure what happened but we’ll get to that shortly.
I kept things simple for breakfasts which included some fresh fruit (also doubling as snacks for throughout the day) and BLTs (Veggie ‘B’ that is). These are the times when we purchase pre-made vegetable-based faux-meat. The ease of being able to pull this out of the cooler coordinated well with the lack of time I had before this trip to whip something up of my own, and I wasn’t stressing over it.
We brought Ontario tomatoes, avocados, hummus and our new obsession - Kalamata olive bread - to create this beautiful, yet simple, creation. All we needed was a knife and cutting board (which I did remember to bring!). We had these both mornings on the cast iron. Perfection.
We both truly love what we do professionally but sometimes it’s nice to not answer an e-mail as soon as it pops up in your inbox. Furthermore, the real joy - cooking everything over a flame outdoors. This post is all about this adventure that we took. The food we ate at our favourite secret restaurant up on the Peninsula, some concoctions we prepared and how my man built us cutlery because his wife may have forgotten to pack it.
We decided to head to Tobermory for a handful of days, a tradition since the beginning of our relationship, to camp, eat, swim and unplug.
I decided to do some meal prep for this trip because we weren’t going to be away for too long and didn’t want to haul a bunch of perishables from our journey back home. I tried to think of meals that could be made in a single pot, including minimal preparation before we left as well as after we arrived. This also worked in my favour because in addition to forgetting cutlery I also forgot bowls/plates. I’m not quite sure what happened but we’ll get to that shortly.
I kept things simple for breakfasts which included some fresh fruit (also doubling as snacks for throughout the day) and BLTs (Veggie ‘B’ that is). These are the times when we purchase pre-made vegetable-based faux-meat. The ease of being able to pull this out of the cooler coordinated well with the lack of time I had before this trip to whip something up of my own, and I wasn’t stressing over it.
We brought Ontario tomatoes, avocados, hummus and our new obsession - Kalamata olive bread - to create this beautiful, yet simple, creation. All we needed was a knife and cutting board (which I did remember to bring!). We had these both mornings on the cast iron. Perfection.
The first night we had cheesy butternut squash pasta, which is definitely something I will be bringing camping again and again. I prepped the sauce a few days before we left and kept it in the fridge until we did. It was a butternut squash base with only a few added ingredients and your trusty blender. We bought a box of farfalle pasta and the rest is history.
I won't post this recipe for you today because you should use your favourite or create something new. Something seasonal. Creamy, chunky, pesto - you name it. Pour it over you favourite pasta over the open flame and enjoy it while the birds sing overhead.
Boil water.
Add pasta.
Add sauce.
Eat joyfully.
I won't post this recipe for you today because you should use your favourite or create something new. Something seasonal. Creamy, chunky, pesto - you name it. Pour it over you favourite pasta over the open flame and enjoy it while the birds sing overhead.
Boil water.
Add pasta.
Add sauce.
Eat joyfully.
The next day we walked into town for coffee by the wharf where we read the local paper and chatted with a friendly seagull. We hit the Tobermory Brewery where we had some brews, willed the sun to come out and hit the road back to the campsite. Lunch was approaching and we decided to jump in the car and head up the road to the Ancient Cedars Café.
The unique thing about this restaurant is that it is located at the golf course in town and over 50% of their menu is vegan and/or gluten free PLUS they make their own seitan! Say what?! We started off with some coconut sweet potato fritters and each got the seitan sandwich with their homemade vegan onion rings. What is life am I right? We sprang for dessert because it’s not very often there are vegan options, and ended up ordering the chocolate peanut butter cake (with what we’re pretty sure was toasted quinoa) and a dual cheesecake plate. Strawberry and mango. Oh baby baby.
With full bellies and happy hearts post-meal, the sun had also graced us with her presence by this point and so heading back to the campsite we decided to grab our swim suits and hit the private beach. We sprawled out in the sun with some brews and let our feet dangle in the water while the little minnows nibbled at our toes. With what could be one of my last dip opportunities until next year I hopped in the water and had zero regrets. Growing up on Georgian bay, the short season of comfortable water temperatures is forever fleeting, so you have to take these opportunities when they arise.
Dinner for our last night was chilli. A camping classic. You sauté a few veggies, dump some beans and tomatoes in and you’re in business. My hubby took over this meal and he never lets me down. He chose to add some couscous that we brought and it gave the meal such texture that it’s sure to be a new staple in our one-pot recipes.
This recipe was amazing in the fact that we used fresh and canned veggies, chick peas and couscous and I wouldn’t change a thing. We ate right from the pan with our hand-made utensils, it was the epitome of us as a couple.
We spent two nights with the trees before heading back onto the road followed by a night with family before our trek back home. We kept this trip simple. We got to turn our brains off and do our thing. We picked wild rose hips, drank local beer, walked around the quiet town, talked around the campfire, listened to the rain, kept each other warm, stared at tall grass and reminisced over the adventure that is our life thus far.
There will be more coming to you this fall with Eat with Joy, I know the last few months I’ve been a little absent from the blogging world but I’m back and ready to get back in touch with you all! Fall is my favourite season and you can expect a lot coming at you this way forward.
I’ve got a few adventures coming up and I'm so excited to take you all along for the ride.
Until then.
Eat with joy.
I’ve got a few adventures coming up and I'm so excited to take you all along for the ride.
Until then.
Eat with joy.