Thanks to your helpful suggestions, we had hiking on the brain this morning!
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Eric and I headed over to Pinnacle Peak for a 3.75 mile there-and-back trek along the mountains. Tomorrow, we have Camelback Mountain on the agenda which many of you raved about. Opportunities for hiking are everywhere around here! We’ve never hiked along this kind of desert terrain before and it’s incredible to see.
First we filled up our tanks. My mom made us these juicy fruit parfaits to go along with our breakfast fare.
I had another Green Monster made up of kale, frozen banana, blueberries, protein powder, almond milk, and ice. Unfortunately I found out that the Maranatha dark chocolate almond butter isn’t vegan like I thought, so that was left out this time. I think I got it mixed up with Justin’s chocolate almond butter in all my sleep deprivation excitement.
If you are looking for a vegan dark chocolate almond butter recipe, you are in luck because I made one last year that tastes incredible!
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Green moustache ensued.
The trail was challenging, but not overly so (rated “moderate”), wrapping all along the sides of a couple summits with some butt-busting inclines. My glutes were actually sore by the end of the 3.75 mile hike! Buns of steel here I come.
Not.
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After wrapping the side of the first summit, we looked over to the second and said, “We’re going all the way over there too?”
Yes, yes we were.
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It’s always fun to reach the peak of the trail.
Mad respect for the Saguaro.
The hike took about 1 hour and 20 minutes (including photography) and boy did we work up an appetite in the process.
We enjoyed Holiday Soup for the Soul for a comforting post hike lunch!
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Along with buns, apples, leftover tomato salad, hummus, and celery/carrots.
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And an apple + dark chocolate squares for dessert.
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We spent the afternoon relaxing and catching up! It’s been a while since we’ve been able to spend this much time together, so it’s been nice to visit with my parents.
Dinner was filled with an array of roasted vegetables, along with something that I often overlook- couscous! I always forget how much I enjoy couscous, especially when paired with sautéed greens and mushrooms.
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We adapted the roasted vegetable dish from the Whitewater Cooks Cookbook. It’s filled with roasted zucchini, red peppers, eggplant, yams, purple cauliflowers, beets, fennel, basil, and parsnip, all coated in a balsamic maple dressing. We weren’t thrilled about the cup of oil that the original recipe called for so I just mixed the dressing ingredients to taste. I ended up using 1/3-1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette, 3-4 tbsp maple syrup, 4 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tbsp olive oil, and1/2 tsp kosher salt, pepper. The outcome was a sweet maple balsamic dressing that paired well with the roasted veggies…no cup of oil required.
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and the couscous with sautéed spinach and button mushrooms in a bit of olive oil, salt, and pepper. I could eat bowls and bowls of this simple dish. Mom, John, and Eric also has some BBQ’d chicken to go along with dinner.
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Now we’re sitting here debating whether to catch a movie at the theatre tonight. Anyone see any good movies lately?
those Saguaro’s are crazy! Love cactus’…
Is that broccoli purple?! Or dyed from the beet root? Looks yum!
Yes it is. My first time trying it :) very good!
oh i see. Purple cauliflower. I should learn how to read and not just look at pictures. ahhaha
heh no worries :)
Wow, what a hike! And all the food looks wonderful. ;) I’m so glad you’re having fun!
P.S. Now I really want a GM.
Hi! I just stumbled upon your blog tonight and I’m fascinated that you happen to be in my city! Have fun hiking Camelback, its a fun hike :)
This is going to sound so crazy, but I was there this morning too! I am on twitter and one of my followers (who is a reader of your blog) said NO WAY!!! A girls blog I follow hiked the same mountain this morning too! Crazy small world!
Those roasted veggies look awesome – I always cut back the oil too. I don’t know why people think so much is necessary.
I just saw Tinker Taylor and loved it. I also saw Shame and hated it… and definitely not a “Mom-safe” movie. ;)
For a movie, you should see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close! It’s darling, I really enjoyed it.
What a fun adventure! Now I officially wish I was living with you and could eat all of that fabulous food with you! So yummy!! : )
Great looking food! Go see War Horse, but carry a tissue. ;)
Too ironic that for the 9 mos I lived in Phoenix, I looked at Pinnacle Peak every day from my kitchen window. I lived in the Scottsdale area and hiked that thing quite often.
Glad you and Eric have this time together, traveling, and get to see your parents, too.
And of course, the food looks great. YUM!
The food looks great, especially those roasted veggies! And, wow, saguaros look so cool, sort of like they belong on the moon :)
If you like a lot of suspense and a little action, Contraband with Mark Wahlberg was really really good. It was one of the best movies my husband and I have seen come out in theatres in awhile!
Thanks, Eric was rooting for that one!
Looks like a great trip. The hiking looks amazing. I took up hiking a few years ago and hike alot on the Bruce Trail – Ontario’s longest hiking trail and love it all year round. You may get hooked on hiking. One of my favourite cookbooks is the Whitewater Cooks – recipes are amazing.
Wow! Love what you’ve been eating, Angela. Do you ever count how many vegetables portions you go through on average a day? I’d be really interested to know you should do a post on it :) The hike looks wonderful. Hope you’re enjoying yourself sweetheart. Love from England.
http://hannahalehandra.blogspot.com/
I don’t tend to count portions or servings and it varies a lot each day. When I’m home and working, I tend to get lazy with my own meals, but my veggies have been pretty frequent here so far…thanks to mom. heh
I love the landscape, it looks like Mars!! There is nowhere that looks as cool as that in the Uk!
Again, all the food looks so scrummy & healthy… I see now why you look so gorgeous after such a hike, you are a picture of health x
Looks awesome! I like your pants. Who makes them?
Love all the fresh food!!! you look great!
That looked like a fun hike :) Do you know any good hiking places in Canada? :P
oh there are a ton of them. You should actually check out this blog called http://hikingwithbarry.com/ he does a ton of hiking in Canada (lots in Alberta) and in the US. Around our place we love Rattlesnake Point, Crawford Lake, Hilton Falls, etc.
Thank :) Lol I haven’t been anywhere other than Rattlesnake poimt :(
I’ve heard that the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is excellent but disturbing. The new Sherlock Holmes is pretty fantastic, so I’d recommend that.
wow! that looks so fun!
i love hiking
Wow those cacti are fantastic! I am loving all of your food too… it looks so fresh, healthy and tasty!