trip report: MS Ride in Logan, UT

Zach just completed the MS ride this past Saturday, which is a 100-mile charity ride to support MS research. Zach worked hard to raise $690 for the charity and then completed his hard work Saturday with a strong 100-mile ride completed in 5 hours and 10 minutes! He felt awesome at the end of it and said it was his best cycling experience to date. Here are some pictures from the event:

Edwards Lifesciences team at the beginning of the ride. 

 

 The team is looking good.

 

Why is Zach the only one smiling in this picture?

Riders icing themselves at a rest stop. 

There's me with the volunteer team at one of the stops. 

My job was to give out bananas.

Zach crossing the finish line.

 The 100-miler team at the end of the race.

trip report: Red Pine Lakes

I completed by second solo hike to Red Pine Lakes in Little Cottonwood Canyon this past weekend. I enjoyed a nice easy hike to the lower lake (~3 miles that I completed in 1.5 hours). The last part of this hike to the upper lake was NOT easy. I lost the trail a bit and had to do a significant amount of boulder scrambling to get up to the lake (the last .5 miles took me 30 minutes). All in all this was a great hike. When I go back with Zach I'm going to take him the correct way to the upper lake, then try to scramble over the mountain to White Pine canyon on the other side. I'm way too bad at route finding to try something like that on my own though. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Hiking through pretty aspens. 

There's a peek of civilization. 

Stream flowing through the canyon. 

Lower Red Pine Lake 

I scrambled up this boulder field to that top ridge to the second lake. 

Finally made it to the upper lake!

trip report: mount olympus

I did this hike last weekend but am just now getting around to posting. This was the weekend before Zach's 100 mile bike ride, so he had to train and didn't have time to go on a long hike, but with the temperature at a perfect 75 degrees and clear skies, I couldn't not go out - so I decided to hike alone for the first time ever.

I chose Mount Olympus since it's a pretty popular hike and close the where Zach was going to be riding. The hike ended up being a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. It's about 3.5 miles to the top, which took me about 2.5 hours. Then another 1.5 hours down to the bottom. The elevation gain was ridiculous, but I did feel very accomplished by the end of it. I'll definitely do this again with Zach, but I'll have to wait awhile until I forget how long and arduous the journey to the top is.

 I stopped for a short break at this stream about a mile in. I had no idea at this point how much longer I had to hike.

Here's a nice view of the Great Salt Lake that I got along the way. 

Nice view from the trail. 

Here's a nice flat, forest area at the mini-summit, before the last climb to the top. 

I had to scramble up these rocks to the top. This was the part when I was really missing Zach - especially when some other hikers told me they had spotted a rattle snake! 

North-east view from the top.

North-west view from the top. 

 South-west view from the top.

Southern view from the top. 

Scrambling down was worse than scrambling up - I had a few close calls.

bakers trade recipes on a knead to know basis

I made bread from scratch for the first time this past weekend (besides sweet breads like banana bread which I don't think count). I used this recipe for 9 grain, vegan bread. The bread turned out a little more moist and dense than I was expecting based on the picture, so after soaking the grains I'll probably focus on drying them more before adding them to the dough. But all in all the recipe was easy to follow and I'll definitely make it again.

The trickiest part was obtaining all nine grains to go into the recipe, especially since I hadn't heard of most of them. I was able to find them all at whole foods in the bulk bins:

Then I soaked the grains for a long time and let the dough rise for a long time. I mixed everything together, kneaded the dough, and then waited for a long time again. And eventually I baked it in the oven and got this nice loaf of bread:

This bread goes amazingly well with this raw cheddar cheese recipe. Try it out if you get a chance. Once Zach and I discovered this cheese and bread combination, the rest of the loaf lasted a few hours.

when they stepped in the mud, they softened their stance

Zach and I had a blast at the mud run this past weekend. I was feeling pretty sick, so we had to take it slow, but it was still very fun. The weather was great, the obstacles were great, and we didn't end up ruining any of our clothes. Here's a picture of us at the end of the race:

I'm looking happy because I haven't realized that I'll be picking dirt out of my ears and nails for the next week.

This race is so fun, it makes me feel like I'm on Wipeout. The obstacles included climbing over walls, running through tires, swimming through mud tunnels, racing down water slides, and tons of wading through mud pits. Definitely check it out if it's in your area, the mess is worth it for how much fun you'll have. Here are some more pictures from the race:

recipe: mole with veggies and tempeh

Zach and I made the most delicious meal this week. It's so good that we're going to remake it again this weekend because two days of eating it wasn't enough for us. If you've never had mole, it's a classic Mexican sauce with complex sweet/savory/spicy/smoky flavors. Usually the sauce is already vegan, but in this version there's also no added salt or oil. This recipe was adapted from this blog.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
3/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried coriander
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce (1/2 T chopped de-seeded chili, 1/2 T sauce)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate

3 bell peppers, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
1 pkg tempeh, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
1 handful chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, sliced into wedges

Directions:
1. In a pot, saute onion in water  for about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, almonds, and raisins and cook for another 5 minutes - add water as needed to prevent burning.  Add the cinnamon, coriander, cumin, and oregano;  heat for 1 more minute.

2. Add the chipotle, adobo sauce, tomatoes with their juices, and vegetable broth.  Heat to boil, then add chocolate and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.

3. Meanwhile, grill peppers, jalapeno, and tempeh in a grill pan.

4. Remove sauce from heat and puree with immersion blender. 

5. To serve, drizzle sauce over a plate of grilled peppers and tempeh. Garnish with avocado slices, cilantro leaves, and a lime wedge.

recipe: blueberry pie smoothie

This smoothie is delicious, it tastes like blueberry pie filling to me, and is very simple.

Ingredients:

1 overflowing cup of frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1/4 tsp cinnamon (add more to taste once everything is blended)
1 pinch allspice, nutmeg, or cloves (or all three)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (add more to taste once everything is blended)
1/2 cup almond milk