Well be sure you've caught Part 1 and Part 2!
Part three of my series brings me to gluten-free snacks for camping.
I don't know about you but to me camping = roasting marshmallows and S'mores!
The challenging part about doing gluten-free S'mores is finding a suitable gluten-free substitute for Graham crackers.
Try as I might I wasn't able to find any gluten-free graham crackers at the last minute. Truthfully I don't know if anyone even makes them but there were none that I could find.
So I managed to find these snack crackers by Schär.
I've written about Schär's crispbread crackers, which I liked, so I figured the chances that lighting would strike twice were in my favor.
Sure enough this is probably as close to a graham as I'm going to get.
While the texture is a pretty good match for grahams, the consistency leaves a bit to be desired. Don't get me wrong, this is a flaky cracker but the thing I miss is that grahams were crunchy as opposed to flaky.
My verdict: good crackers for general use but a bit too soft for S'mores.
Not that that stopped me from gobbling down my fair share...
Hershey's milk chocolate is always gluten-free but I recommend the sticking to the regular sized bars because the pieces are thinner and therefore melt faster and easier.
These thick pieces from the "king size" bar didn't melt as quickly so we had some melty bites and some still solid chunks.
Every single time I even think of S'mores I remember that scene with the chubby, curly-red headed kid from "The Sandlot"!
Of course just roasting marshmallows on their own are good enough gluten-free treat for me too! (Even though marshmallows are largely sugar, you never can be too careful so just remember to give that label a quick check.)
I recommend getting some sort of metal prongs or skewers to roast them with, it makes a big difference.
And marshmallows being the versatile food they are are great with hot chocolate!
Swiss Miss chocolate is generally accepted in forums to be gluten-free, but since companies can change their formulas at any given moment it's good to get into the habit of always checking the label, even if it's an item that you often enjoy.
We wanted to safe space so we didn't bring any milk and just mixed it with water, which is less creamy but still enjoyable.
In the morning I mixed a packet of hot chocolate with my coffee and it was delicious! I also mixed it in with my green tea, which tasted good to me but might not be for everyone.
Not all of our snacks required the fireside.
One non-campfire snack I was sure to include was some coconut milk yogurt, which is refreshing in the afternoon sun and has those probiotics which help keep you regular.
Kind Plus Bars are also good hiking fuel and some of the bars are gluten-free. Check the label to see which ones.
I brought along the cranberry and almond and it really helped us through our mid-morning hike. Be careful which ones you get though. Some are just full of sugar and calories but ones with nuts and fruit can give you enough of the good calories from "good fat" nuts to help you power through.
Hope you enjoyed reading about the culinary aspect of my camping adventure. Most of all I hope you can see that it's not too challenging to have these types of adventures while being gluten-free.
I firmly believe that being gluten-free helps you eat healthier and widen your food horizons. Sure it takes a little bit more prep and maybe some food compromises but it almost always ends up being worth it.
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