Oscar Wilde Thursday

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." -Oscar Wilde

I am a little overwhelmed by my magazine "to read" pile... I may have to attempt to make a dent in it this weekend so I can recycle them and start a new pile!

Adventures of Riley

I love being outside. I love eating outside and napping outside (in the sun by a pool) and reading outside. I loved it in middle school when teachers took class outside. One thing I'd never done, though, was spend the night outside in a tent. In the woods.


So last Sunday, we went camping! J grew up camping and had all the gear and knowledge, so all we had to do was pick a day and buy some food and go.


We chose a campsite in W.B. Umstead State Park. We had our pick because about a week in advance, no one else had booked a site! (There are 28, I think, and were probably about 6 other groups camping. We ended up switching sites because we saw a vacant one we liked better.)


Shopping for a trip (even just a one-nighter) is one of my favorite things. I love having all the things you "need" for a special activity. Mostly what we had to buy, as I said, was food. For two people (and a puppy) for one night, we probably went a little overboard, but it was so much fun picking out what we wanted. I wish I'd taken a photo, but we had a cooler of dry goods and a cooler for things to be refrigerated.


Anyways, we got to our site and set up shop. I took a photo of the before but forgot the after!





As soon as that was done, we got to cooking because we didn't want to lose sunlight. We brought ground bison meat to grill burgers, asparagus, green beans and red potatoes. (We forgot butter, so we ended up adding cheese to the potatoes and mashing them so they wouldn't just be plain!). We also forgot mustard, actually, but the bison was so fresh and delicious and smoky we didn't have anything with it other than white onion, garlic (mixed in the patty) and the bun. Yup, that's how good the Whole Foods ground bison is. Go get yourself a half a pound. S'more were obviously consumed after dinner.

Riley was such a good camper. She loved it all and spent a lot of time sleeping in the dirt and leaves chewing on a stick. Tent sleeping? No problem. We were lucky our "neighbors" let us have some thick padding pieces to sleep on because the blowup mattress didn't fit in the tent (I didn't think it would!) and the ground would have been hard otherwise.





The next day was sunny and not too hot. We made breakfast (yogurt parfaits) and took down camp. It was kind of crazy to spend hours putting up a camp and then taking it apart less than 24 hours later, but we wanted to get everything cleaned up and packed before our hike.


The trail we did was 2.75 miles and the trailhead was at the bottom of the campgrounds, so it was a no-brainer to pick that trail. It was a good one with a stream at the beginning where Riley played around.

Adventure dog!

Things we saw on the trail: Too many frogs to count, a black snake, two snappy dachshunds, one adorable yellow lab, someone's leftover Easter egg hunt (about 10 of them still filled with candy and homemade "coupons") that we left there in case they were doing it later... 

That's it! I was exhausted at the end of the day, but it was really fun and a great way for me to be introduced to camping. We have plans for a longer trip in the mountains, so now I won't feel as overwhelmed for that. Mission: Accomplished.

Happy Earth Day!

I'm pretty Earth-focused every day, but it's fun to have a day dedicated to loving and serving the Earth. I hope some people choose to continue doing the things they do once a year (coffee in a reusable mug, for example) as often as they can.


I just downloaded a cool app for my iPhone called Locavore. It's normally $2.99, and it tells you what's in season in your state and where you can buy local food and share recipes, but today it's FREE!

Here's also a fun video (made by the talented Russell) from Mother Nature Network to celebrate Earth Day.

Oscar Wilde Thursday

"I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do - the day after."  

-Oscar Wilde 

I felt like I was playing catch-up all day. Even with this post... I just made it (Thursday post) with an hour to spare. 

I made a green monster

I've been making smoothies since eighth grade. My brother and I would come home from school and make a strawberry smoothie (frozen strawberries, banana, o.j.) and have a piece of rye toast while we watched TV.

Over the years, I've expanded my smoothie repertoire... peaches, mangoes, kiwis, any fruit really is up for a blend. I started adding protein powder and soymilk (organic only!) so I could make post-workout recovery shakes. I'd read about adding spinach for a vitamin boost (and again more recently from my friend Melanie's blog) but just never did it... until today! It's true that it really doesn't change the flavor at all.

I never measure anything, so just eyeball it as you toss this all in your blender:

-- Frozen mango chunks (a handful or so)

-- Organic low-fat yogurt (a couple spoonfuls)

-- Organic frozen spinach (a handful or a couple shakes out of the bag)

-- Orange juice (I pour until I'm covering all the frozen stuff in the blender)

-- Whey protein powder (Half a scoop)

-- Candied ginger (one chunk for me... the pieces I have a pretty big)

Blend and enjoy! I tend to eat smoothies with a spoon so it takes longer and I feel more like I'm eating something.

It's not even that green! Maybe I'll do more spinach next time.

Note: I only use organic dairy products because I don't trust whatever hormones are put in the other stuff, but you can use whatever kind of yogurt you want. I also only use organic soymilk and I do not recommend using any non-organic soymilk (or tofu) due to the GMOs in non-organic soybeans. I also use organic spinach because it's one of the foods you should buy organic if you can, but obviously you don't have to.

10 minute recipe

I think I'll call this: Smokey Hash with Eggs


Ingredients:
1 small sweet potato
1/4 15 oz. can black-eyed peas
1-2 eggs
Goat cheese (optional)
Salt
Pepper
English muffin (optional)


To make a long story short, I had a can of black-eyed peas that were smoked and they were supposed to go into a fresh salsa with balsamic vinegar, so I knew that would not work out at all. I didn't want to throw them away, so I thought of what else I could make with smokey beans.


I rummaged through my cabinet and found some sweet potatoes I bought from the farmer's market late last summer(!!). Good thing potatoes are meant to be stored in pantries over the winter. I steamed one of the sweet potatoes and then mashed it. I added the black-eyed peas and mashed them all up too. I tried to get it crispy in the pan with some butter.


I put the mashed part on a plate and mixed in a couple dollops of goat cheese. I made a fried egg to go on top, but you could totally do this with scrambled eggs if you prefer. I sprinkled on some sea salt and cracked some fresh pepper over the top and served with an English muffin. 


If you want, you can add salsa to this for more veggies! And it's great for breakfast and/or dinner.


I wish I'd taken a photo, but I didn't... but when I make it again, I will!

Oscar Wilde Thursday

I cannot believe it's Thursday already... and that it's been a week since I last posted! I've been pretty busy and now I'm super tired so I'll make this quick.


Normally I post an Oscar Wilde quote hoping it sets the tone for my day or something. This time (since the day is almost over), I've found one to describe my day:

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." -O.W.

I wrote some checks to pay my taxes today. 'Nough said. I'm exaggerating here a bit (I'm pretty aware of what I'm spending) but... it may be time to do a little budgeting.