02/14/21 Notable Meal - Camp MUNCH

I had completely forgot about this planned camping trip. Last October we cam out here to Rivernook Campground on the Kern River. At that time we came out with my brother in law and spent the two nights together having a break at a river front campsite. Then our next upcoming reservation came so quickly that I didn't really have any time to prepare or understand how my vegetarianism was going to play out. Usually my mom brings out the whole shebang, wieners, a whole chicken to make soup with, and like other meat related products like spam for our morning breakfast. Of course I couldn't eat any of these options, which were temping during my time at the campground, but I committed to not eating more for this month and so far I've been successful and I hadn't lost the challenge just yet.

Apart from the change of plans, with my brother in law canceling on us, and my uncle coming aboard instead, the general trip was a disaster. We came to the campground at 6 pm, when it was already dark; it was freezing, making nights uncomfortable; and the guests weren't too excited to be out, always complaining. Another, frankly racially charged, incident occurred during our stay that I will go into detail in a later post. Regardless, for the time that we stayed there, I ate some refried black beans, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes and some queso fresco for breakfast! I skipped out on the bacon and spam, and just ate this rather filling meal. This part of the day was fine! As I just ate some chips, to keep my taste buds at bay, and felt satiated after the breakfast meal.

It was until dinner came around that my mom and aunt cooked a whole chicken soup, with grilled chicken as side that I came to the realization that my vegetarian meals were quite simple and boring. I instead, of having a vitamin rich soup, I had a pepperjack cheese quesadilla instead. With all the fixings and a tasty Kombucha. This is where I started to question how vegetarians actually incorporate veggies and healthier foods in their day to day lives, I'm sure a ton of planning comes along with this life style, but I was just left wondering why my meals always consisted of some carb and cheese or sauce haha. This idea didn't make me sad about being a veggie eater, in fact I felt excited on finding new recipes instead of depending entirely on staple, simple foods. I feel that getting some input from my peers might help with this predicament I'm in, so maybe the forum can be of help.

I also wanted to mention that I made sure to at least support the local community by buying a hot sauce from a shop that makes them in house, it costed me $14 but I must say this is probably the best Habenero hot sauce I've ever had. It's sweet, and fragrant. But it is probably the hottest hot sauce I've ever had too, its the kind of spicy that hurts your tongue with stinging pain rather than general discomfort. That aside, it was really tasty and made me happy I supported "bobby" in his little shop at the Kern River during this pandemic. Talking to the local shop owners, they have been hit hard during COVID-19 as all federally run campgrounds have been closed for months now and the tourism business is really falling flat. Some shops even closed down, but I made sure I helped them in anyway I could (with money I guess). The people at Kern Valley are kind, but the people at Rivernook campground, not so much.

I was still so hungry after coming back home from the trip that I decided to make another quesadilla, this was the moment I realized that Bobby's sauce was very spicy.