The year is 1986.
My hobbies include playing in the snow, baking with my mom, and trying to be just like my older sister Kristi.
Life is good.
It is the middle of a long winter in Riverview, New Brunswick and we have just been pummelled with a snow storm. I would stay outside all day long, hour after hour, bundled up with layer upon fuzzy layer with just my excited eyes, red nose, and big grin peeking out through my scarves and hat.
Clearly, I was born to be an endurance athlete, don’t you think?
Don’t answer that.
The year is now 1992.
My hobbies include building the world’s most awesome snowmen, baking cakes in my Easy-Bake Oven, and rocking a wardrobe full of neon clothing and snap bracelets. Life is good.
Despite my love for the great outdoors, there was one small catch.
My mom couldn’t get me to come inside to eat!
‘Just a bit longer, pretty please, with a cherry on top?’ fluttering my eyelashes encrusted with icicles.
It is now 2010.
My hobbies are about the same, in addition to taking too many pictures of my food, writing about my day to day baking high jinks, and running.
I am a vegan and unlike my younger self, I now understand the importance of fuelling properly for endurance activities.
This is the tale of a couple who fuelled a day of hiking with all-natural energy foods.
Won’t you join us?
For the recipes, please see attached PDF document.
In tote, was a delicious lunch brimming with healthy energy foods to fuel our 7 mile hike!
Eric observed, ‘Well at least we know if we get lost we can survive on this food for a month.’
He obviously doesn’t know me too well if he thinks I could make this delicious food last a whole month!
It was time to road trip and see some gorgeous Ontario Fall foliage along the way.
I had a plan. If I saw a Rattlesnake I was going to throw it a truffle and run like hell.
We searched for the perfect spot.
The park was packed with hikers and it was not easy to find a picnic table complete with perfect photography lighting (I joke, I joke).
Finally, it was time to feast…something I had been dreaming about all week long.
Our main dish consisted of Protein Power Vegan Chili packed with kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, walnut burger crumbles, and chunky vegetables.
I had a giggle fit after seeing Eric eat his chili with my teeny tiny spoon! What a sport.
The chili was comforting, chunky, with a bit of a spicy kick.
And was perfect for a chilly Fall day outdoors.
Alongside, Herbed Garlic Knots.
The garlic knots were great on their own, but even better when dipped into the chili.
For a side, I made Stacked Caesar Salads with eggplant bacon and homemade croutons. I thought stacking the salad was fun for a packed meal.
Yum!
To wet our whistle, we sipped Pumpkin Spice Lattes made on the stovetop with almond milk, spices, espresso, pumpkin, and vanilla extract.
The lattes were comforting, warm, rich, and fragrant with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
To say I was excited for dessert was a bit of an understatement…
I saw a picture of a Cake in a Jar online and I thought it was a fun idea that would pack well! I put a fun twist on them by making Cake In A Jar Parfaits.
The flavours:
- Butternut Squash Apple Streusel
- Triple Layer Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake
- Decadent S’more with homemade graham cracker crumble
Damn. Good. Comfort. Food.
My favourite was the Butternut Squash Apple Streusel. The cakes were still warm from the oven and incredibly moist unlike any other ‘normal’ cake I have ever tried.
Mmmmm.
After lunch, we were bursting with energy and ready to tackle the trails! We dropped off our cooler in the car and were on our way.
We brought along homemade Raspberry Vanilla & Pumpkin Apple Spice fruit leather.
Can you guess what athlete’s superfood is hiding in them?
Chia seeds!
Chia seeds are great for hydration and contain healthy fats, iron, calcium, protein, and antioxidants.
I also made a ‘box of truffles’-vegan energy truffles, that is– made from dates and nuts.
The flavours:
- Chocolate Kissed Peanut Butter
- Brownie Bliss
- Pecan Pie Delight
I could not pick a favourite!
These would make fun and unique Thanksgiving or Christmas gifts, wouldn’t they?
My happy customer inhaled several. ;)
And finally, Spiced Apple Pie Chips…
Cinnamon is not only great for maintaining steady blood sugar levels, but it also contains Iron and Calcium.
All in all we hiked about 7 miles and had a grand old time, even despite the damp and cool weather!
Thanks to the endurance lunch, Eric still had energy to carry me to the car!
Life is good. ;)
This is my official entry for Project Food Blog Challenge #6. Voting begins at 9am EST on Monday October 25th. If you enjoyed this post I would greatly appreciate your votes in carrying me into the next round! Click here to vote . Thank you!
No way! That was truly amazing. That it the perfect day too if you ask me. I hope you win, job well done!
Thanks for making this such a great post for all of us to see. :)
Oh picnics are so much fun! I love your pictures. The two of you loo like you’re having a blast. Love that last picture of the two of you!
You’re definitely giving this contest a run for it’s money!!!
Lovely.
Simply lovely. :)
You’ve outdone yourself.
How Angela How?
I drooled just looking at that spread.
You should legit open up a globakeryrestaurant.
I’d go to Canada from New Orleans for your spread. No lie :)
I love the Cake in a Jar Parfaits!!!
My goodness Angela! soo cute!! how did you make those pumpkin spice lattes? YUM!
I love the presentation of all your food.. plus the menu was fantastic along with the scenery!
You are beautiful inside and out!
I love your lunch meal! Could you make a nut-free version? :)
You defintely went way above and beyond for this challenge! Everything looks amazing. You put so much effort into all these challenges! The pictures are amazinng! I consider myself very luck to live in Ontario!! We have some beautiful scenaries!
Angela- you never cease to amaze me with your delicious, well thought out, and extremely detailed PFB entries! I want to make every single recipe in this post! Yet another job very well done, you’ve got my vote for sure :)
Phenomenal job Ange!! This post and menu is incredible!! Beautiful photography, too :) Good luck!!
Decadent S’more with homemade graham cracker crumble
The fruit leather
The Vegan Truffles…
Omg.
But you. The pics of you! There is one of you biting into something…oh you look so sassy and gorgeous. LOVE IT!!
:)
You are so creative!! Where did you find your mini spoons?? They are adorable!
Beautiful pics! That was such a feast! Good luck with the contest!
I am completely and utterly in love with your blog, and not just because you are a fellow Canadian. We are on opposite sides of the country and I must say that I have just started following your blog religiously for the past week and wish that we were much closer (and that’s not because you have just given me my newfound favourite Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe). I am crossing my fingers for you in the Project Food Blog contest!
Girl you really stepped it up with this challenge! I literally want to make every recipe on the menu. Brilliant! :-)
whoa…not only do you make a fabulous picnic….the presentation and photography are amazing!!! i don’t know how you do it!!!
and i love that last picture of you and eric…reminds me of edward and bella running through the woods…(twlight nerd alert!)
Your day looks like a storybook!! I love getting to see the behind-the-scenes setup shots, too. :-)
oh my goodness, angela! thank you so much for your generosity!!! im from the philippines and im on my semestral break right now so im headed for the beach in a few days. the truffles, spiced apple chips and fruit leather will surely be packed with the rest of my beach essentials. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU :)
I am just blown away. You’re just too amazing.
what a beautiful day:-) i love the salad on a stick idea!
Thanks everyone for your comments! :)
For those of you interested, the recipes are here: http://ohsheglows.com/docs/roadtrip.pdf
(I linked in the post but it is easy to miss)
Wow.. you did an amazing job! I’ve made truffles similar to yours, but your presentation of them is amazing! It really looks like a box of specialty truffles. I’ll have to try that next time. :D
I seriously don’t know how you find the time to be so creative, and to make such delicious looking goodies!!! You are AMAZING, and I admire you.
You are just amazing.Your food looks heavenly. I do have to ask though…how do you keep every leaf on the path from sticking to Lululemon bottoms (I’m guessing that’s what you are wearing or have worn on a hike)?? I can’t make it from my house to my car without half a cat’s fur, every leaf, burr and grass trimming stuck to the bottom of the pants. I know you can’t use fabric softener on luon and so I’m “stuck” (pun intended) with pants that magnetize crap of all sorts within a half mile radius. I’m a Lulu lover and I just have to know. Is it just me that has this issue? Thanks!!
I had burs all over my pants, but I didnt see any leaves!
So cute! I think you outdid yourself! (Is that possible??) All that food is making me hungry : )
I’m always reading your blogs but never commented, but after seeing this post, a comment was necessary! Simply to say, WOWWWW!! amazing!!! everything LOOKED delicious!!! I can’t even pick my favorite, but if i had to, IF i had to…probably the box truffles!!!
WOW Angela! This is all so amazing. You are such an incredibly creative woman. Great job!!!
Can you be my personal chef?! :)
I give my raw date/dried fruit and nut/seed treats to my friends and family all the time for gifts…love the idea of making ti look like a chocolate box!
Casey
hehe sure ;) It was really fun making them into a box of truffles/chocolates. Maybe I am just a dork like that!? lol
Angela, if you don’t win this competition there’s something wrong….you are streets ahead!! Always inspiring, always innovative and original, and always fun to read! Keep up the great work! :)
Oh gosh, Angela, I just want to BE you. So excited over getting the recipes for the cake-in-a-jar parfaits, and I’m definitely going to make those truffles (all three kinds!) in the near future. Love all these pictures too, the fruit leathers photograph is a stunner!
AMAZING job! I am so impressed and all your food looked incredibly tasty.
Amazing Angela!
Out of all the amazing posts so far this is definitely the coolest for the Foodbuzz contest.
x
Amazing!
I was checking out some recipes on Canadian Living and saw that your blog got posted
as one of the top in Canada (I have to agree! Though they could have expanded it to North America, I think!)
I continue to love reading your blog each day. Thanks for sharing!
I want to go on that nature hike!
You NEVER disappoint! Amazing!
you are wonderwoman in the kitchen!!! if anyone should have a vegan cookbook it should be YOU! :) everything looks stunning!
I adored every little inch of this post. Especially the fruit straps! I must try your cake in a jar idea. You are such a creative, inspiring cook, Angela! Thank you :)
Heidi xo
Everything looks amazing! Of course I am most intrigued by the cakes in a jar! Cant wait for those recipes :)
This is so cute! I love it and all of the food looked amazing! Good luck:)
wow I love fruit leather and that which you made looks AMAZING!!!
Love your post! You are so creative and I’m looking forward to some of the recipes out! You have my vote!!
Wow, what a great post everything looks delish! Beautiful pics and I love the pic of your hubby with the tiny spoon, too funny! :)
You are brillant! Everything about this is amazing and inspiring!
You are one step away from being in a magazine! I enjoy reading your post each morning. Awesome stuff!
Thank you for such a delicious post! I love eating in a way that reduces meat and animal fat and your recipes are perfect. One question since I’m gluten-sensitive, what type of flour can I substitute in the Herbed Garlic Knots? Who knew you could eat so well as a Vegan?! Thank you.
Oh, and I cannot wait for the Cake in a Jar recipes. My hubby and I are going to Orlando, FL soon via automobile and bringing along some of the food you’ve shared will be wonderful. Thank you.
I can not believe how incredibly beautiful this is. You are so creative! You truley deserve to win this. And those cake in a jar parfaits look amazing.
This post made me very hungry!!! :O
What an amazing picnic! Your food looks delicious and your pictures are beautiful! Not to mention that last picture of you and Eric proves that you may just be the cutest couple ever:)