Surviving Fort Mac - The Food

Hello fellow internets,

I must apologize for the infrequency and then the sudden stop to the blogs. I was in Germany and then home very briefly and now I am at a work site in Northern Alberta. I am working on a construction site, and living in a camp right. The site is for a huge oil sands project and the camp is a 5 thousand person beast of a place that was soon to become a township due to it's size. It would have been a town made of ATCO trailers on a dirt hill.

Now one of the things you have to deal with at camp, is camp food. That is the thing everyone bitches about while they are up here. The truth is at this camp, Wapasu, we actually have a lot of selection, and the best part is a lot of raw food like veggies and fruits that are good for maintaining health. We have many pastries, premade sandwiches, tubs of hot food choices, all sorts of things. Now this doesn't sound that bad, we even have steak nights once a week. The problem is the monotony of similar food. There are many choices for lunch but it is the same choices every day.

The trick is the same as it is at home, variety. Of course there will be time when you look at dinner and wish for a good curry, or some Vietnamese, but that won't happen so you have to make due. Mix various combinations of foods. Explore the limited sauces that are available, but even then it isn't enough.

What you need is a supplemental pack of things to add spice to the food, literally.
Curry powder - sprinkle on some veg, fish, meats, to change the taste.
Coconut - Great in yogurts, on fish, with rice, and oatmeal
Chipotle - adds a smoky favor to the most of things, meats, fish, eggs, beans, potato salad!
Cinnamon sticks or powder - This is a great option at camp or not to add to coffee
Club Soda - There are many sugary drinks here, club soda is good to water them down and add some texture.
Nuts- Good for protein and not something typically offered up here


With these little things you can add a lot of variety to what you eat which helps stave off the dullness that eventually becomes of the food for the people up here.