Bite-Sized Adventures: Why a Cast Iron Camp Breakfast is Important

Carissa is an accredited and practicing clinical nutritionist with a background in hospitality. Her time spent working in restaurants has taught her that 'that you don’t have to be chef to have an incredible appreciation for food and how to cook and prepare it'. If she isn't pottering around the house, cooking or gardening, you'll find her camping on the beach with a rod and beer in hand. Carissa believes the key to staying energized throughout your outdoor adventures is a balanced breakfast, and here's why...

BREAKFAST, IT REALLY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY

It’s no secret that I love breakfast. If you get your breakfast right, your day is pretty much sorted. Whether I am camping or just eating at home for a weekend or workday ahead, I really focus on getting this meal right. There are three main things to nailing a breakfast that is sure to keep your energy powering throughout the day. Protein, quality complex carbohydrates and flavour.

Protein = satiety. If you focus on getting a really good amount of protein in with your breakfast, you will feel satisfied for hours. This also ensures that Insulin {your blood sugar hormone} also remains stable which means you’re not going to get those awful blood sugar crashes where you’re reaching for the lollies and chocolate.

Quality Complex Carbs = sustained energy. Proteins best buddy is quality complex carbohydrates. Think a good quality whole grain bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta and sweet potato. I can talk for hours about the amazing relationship that proteins and carbs share when you marry them together in a meal, but in the interests of keeping things simple, think of it like; complex carbs give you energy - and protein helps stabilise the release of that energy, the better you do this - the more time you have.

Flavour = enjoyment. I don’t expect everyone to be as fascinated by the biochemistry of food like I am - so that is why Flavour is so important. If it tastes amazing, people will eat it and love it.

Camping is interesting for me because not many people I camp with thinks about food the way I do. Whilst most people are just focusing on something hearty to ‘fill the hole’, I’m over here planning and scheming about so many other things. Is what I'm cooking a balanced meal {i.e. does it have protein and complex carbs}; is what I’m making for everyone mostly ‘whole foods’; and are my meals nutritionally dense? Now I know some of you reading this are thinking, ‘you’re camping - who cares, just relax’ - and that’s fine, but for me this isn’t stressful at all, it’s how I roll when I’m cooking, and it’s so ingrained into me that it’s a something that I whole heartedly enjoy doing.

All my meals are refined sugar free gluten free, and you wouldn’t even know because they taste so good. It also makes me happy to know that I’m doing this for people I love. It also helps me to know that after a day of drinking margaritas on the beach, that we are all eating nourishing meals and starting or ending our days with food that really ‘feeds’ us.

If you want to recipe to this amazing (and balanced) breakfast pictured above, head over to Carrissa’s Kitchen & Nutrition!