Lost Maples ... Finding Beauty

"[The park] is a combination of steep, rugged limestone canyons; springs; plateau grasslands; wooded slopes; and clear streams.  It features a large, isolated stand of uncommon Uvalde bigtooth maple, whose fall foliage can be spectacular."

-Lost Maples State Natural Area website

~~~

This past weekend, JT and Katie graciously invited me to join them on their trip out to Lost Maples.  The mention of backpacking and fall foliage was a no-brainer decision!   Being from Georgia and Tennessee, I've been absolutely spoiled when it comes to beautiful landscape.  The promise of leaves changing colors and getting to spend the long weekend with Katie and JT had me pretty excited.    Both JT and Katie were leaders for the GT Alumni Network here in Austin, and have been wonderful friends ever since I met them last fall :)

Because the park is so popular in the fall, they had made reservations long ago for 2 primitive camping sites.  We camped at Campsite A, which was a little over a mile in from the parking lot.  The primitive campsites are first come/first serve, and we got there midday Friday to stake out a good spot to set up our tent and tent hammock.  The leaves had started to change, but they weren't in full color yet.  And, we came to realize that, even at peak color, we shouldn't have expected to see a full hillside of orange, red, and yellow like we'd seen back in the north Georgia mountains.  The Lost Maples landscape did have a lot of Maples, but has cedar trees mixed in preventing a full fledged explosion of color.  We took in the scenery around us Friday afternoon and set out to explore the 5.7 mile loop around our campsite (map).  Saturday we 'conquered' Lost Maples and hiked every trail in the park -  11 miles in total.  JT used his handy watch GPS to track our hike, which I was able to import into a MapMyHike map :)

We enjoyed great weather and had lots of time to chat and share stories as we hiked up and down rocky trails, crossed running streams, and took in gorgeous views.  Turns out Katie and JT have done a lot of awesome traveling and have been to a ton of parks around the country.  My bucket list grew by a mile after hearing about all of their adventures.

I was happy I could introduce them to the joys of a water filter.  The first backpacking trip I made earlier this summer to Pedernales Falls presented almost no opportunity to use the filter as most of the streams were completely dry.  The water in the streams at Lost Maples was unbelievably clear and cool.  Oftentimes we would see schools of fish swimming in the water.  At the ponds near campsite C, people were fishing for bass (where they would catch them and release the fish back into the water).

At night, the sky was FULL of stars.  It's amazing what getting 3 hours from Austin can do to the sky.  Saturday night threw us a curveball... a several dark clouds and a few sprinkles rolled in right around dinner time.  Thankfully, we had time to put up our rain flys.  Around 1am, the thunder and lightening woke us up with a pretty impressive thunderstorm that featured a couple of 'less than 1-Mississippi's between the lightening and thunder'.  Happily, my tent-hammock held up great and I didn't have to retreat to Katie and JT's tent during the storm.

When planning out the meals, I got a little creative after doing a quick search for yummy backpacking recipes.  Getting back to the campsite and cooking dinner is always a highlight, so I figured.. why not try some new meal ideas? :)  Good weather, great scenery, wonderful company, and yummy food definitely made for a great weekend.  See below for recipes and meal ideas:)

Driving back on Sunday, we took a different route back that followed the Guadalupe River with multiple river crossings.  The scenery along the way was gorgeous!  This one particular crossing was so pretty, we pulled off the road and took some pictures :)

We treated ourselves to a German lunch in Fredericksburg.  It was so nice to sit in a real chair and have a big, yummy, civilized meal!! :D   We went to Auslander - their food was great and I'd highly recommend it.  After walking through the quaint downtown, we drove to an awesome Nature Trail JT and Katie had been to before, the Lady Bird Johnson Park Nature Trail.  We bird-watched,  saw turtles, sidestepped around yucca plants, crossed an awesome little bridge, and saw a variety of vegetation.  Then we continued the carbo reloading by sharing a Sweet German Pretzel I'd picked up in one of the bakeries in Fredericksburg :D

Slideshow from the trip! :)

Oatmeal Breakfast
1 to 2 packs of instant oatmeal /person/per morning
chopped walnuts or pecans
dried fruit.. we enjoyed pineapple and blueberries
raisins
mini (and many) chocolate chips  :)

Homemade Granola Bars
My friend Ann's inspiration was the final straw to trying to make my own granola bars.  I used this recipe from www.thekitchn.com and tried the 'Tropical Fruits' version.  They turned out well! After reading several blogs and recipe sites, and consulting Ann on her experiments, it seems like the key ingredient is the Brown Rice Syrup - it holds everything together very well and isn't too sticky once cooked/cooled.

All of the following recipes were inspired/adapted from Seattle Backpackers Magazine.com.  Enjoy! :)

Swiss, Ham, Apple Bagel Sandwich

Feeds 1:

3-4 slices of ham (I got honey-baked ham J)

1 or 2 slices of Swiss Cheese

1 bagel Sandwich

3 apple slices or enough to fit on sandwich

At Home:

On a stovetop cook apple slices until light brown.  Add the ham and Swiss on both sides of the bagel and put in toaster oven face up until the cheese is melted.  Then, put the warmed apple slices on the sandwich, using the melted cheese to kind of hold everything together.  Place in fridge until you’re ready to hit the trail! J

Mediterranean Delight

1 cup of Powdered Hummus (OR prepackaged hummus kept cold in a cooler and eaten at one of the first meals)

2 medium size zip locks of fresh veggies (baby carrots, cut celery, cut bell peppers, zucchini, cucumber)

1-2 packages of Pita Bread

At home:

Pre-wash, dry, and pre-cut the veggies. Measure and pack the hummus (adjust portion for party size) in its own zip lock (large enough to add water to later) and write down how much water to add on the zip lock.

On the Trail:

Follow instructions for dehydrated humus. Add the correct amount of cold PURIFIED water to the zip lock, close, and mix well. Let sit for 5-10 minutes and it’s ready to eat with pita and veggies.

Cashew Chicken Noodles

Serves 3:

3 packs of Raman Noodles:)

¼ cup Jerky or 9 oz. of packaged chicken

¼ cup dehydrated mixed veggies (can be omitted and/or replaced with canned veggies)

1 Tbs. curry

3/4 tsp of cumin

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

3 1/4 Tbs. coconut powder

Salt and pepper to taste

4.5 tablespoons of cashews

3 tablespoons of pre-chopped cilantro (optional)

At Home:

Combine all the seasonings and coconut powder in a baggie.  Bring cashews and cilantro in separate baggies.

On Trail:

Cook Raman Noodles in large group cooking pot (1 ½ to 2 cups of water per package).  Once cooked, divvy up noodles and soup into individual bowls.  Let everyone add their own amount of spice from the baggie, cashews, and cilantro! J

Summer Reflections

Man how I miss Italy, 

the food, 

traveling with Celine, 

adventuring, and 

getting out there!

        

Even the small things get my wheels turning
Cooking up lunch :)

~~~~~~

They say you make true happiness in life.

I agree wholeheartedly.

There is NOTHING like homemade guacamole

Muffin Possible!

"Good luck finding a muffin recipe without eggs, Heather."  My mom's healthy criticism was part of the motivation behind the latest batch of muffins to come out of my kitchen.

I proved to myself muffins without eggs, white sugar, and margarine/butter ARE possible.  Before now, I always cringed cracking eggs and whisking them up.  It was the unknown I was afraid of...  What if they didn't cook all the way... What if I accidentally got eggshell in the mix... what if?  Carrots, apples, zucchini, and banana on the other hand- I feel completely comfortable with.  Doesn't it make sense to cook with ingredients you'd feel fine eating straight up by themselves?

Being a PRO at snacking, I've wanted to find something healthy I could easily make that would be Good, Raw, Pure, and Yummy.  You have no idea how happy I am now that I've found the first of many possibilities to come.

Enter = Healthy Moist Zucchini Carrot Apple Muffins 

http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=printrecipe;topic=27381.0

Modifications for next batch:
The walnuts were sprinkled on top of the batter for this first trial.  Next time, I'll mix them into the batter.  This will prevent them from getting slightly burnt on top while the muffins cook all the way through.  It will also serve to break up some of the dense, moist, goodness at the core of the muffin.

I won't use paper muffin liners.  I only had 7 when I cooked these, and the ones that didn't have the liner came out better.  They didn't stick to the pan and came out clean with ease.  The increased surface area of direct contact with baking pan helped them cook more throughly since the batter is quite thick.

Make sure there are enough chocolate chips to go on every muffin.... so Yummy!

Muffin Production Timeline:

Raw beginning: Fruit and Vege -
Wet mix

--- ---

Coming to life!  Gradually adding in Dry Mix of
Flour, Cinnamon, etc.

  ---   ---

Variation in toppings (From left column: Choc chips,
nothing, walnut crumbs, chopped walnuts)

--- ---

Taking out the Trash of vege scraps :)  Put in a reused baggie so that it can
be taken out to the trash directly instead of stinking up my larger
garbage bag... if anyone has a use for scraps / compost,
PLEASE let me know!!  I have lots of fuel for ya!

Update: 2/23/12: Compost scrapes can de donated to most community gardens around Austin.  To see the extensive network of community gardens and to find one near you go to: http://communitygardensaustin.org/

And Another One Bites the Dust

While making breakfast this morning, this was a nice wake up call:

PB jar.  Top View.

Ahhh!!!!!  OUT OF PEANUT BUTTER???   

Thankfully, some aggressive scraping allowed me a get enough out for a sandwich.  And, the good thing about the Sam's Club twin jar packages of PB is that, precisely  half the time, there's another jar waitin' in the cabinet tucked away somewhere.   Tucked away somewhere far away cause it takes a hella long time to eat 64 oz. of peanut butter by yourself (FYI, 64 oz = 3 pounds).  

Ironically, my 7am reaction to staring into my empty jar of peanut butter was to think about a Queen oldie but goodie,  Another One Bites the Dust:

What exactly does a 3 pound void of peanut butter look like?

PB jar. Side View.

Today was a lucky-50% day, when I found:

Reinforcements

Life IS good

:D

Veggie Love

Howdy Y'all!  

I hope the holidays and traveling have been safe and happy for you.   

Thanksgiving in the South is a wonderful opportunity to take in your favorite butter, sugar, corn syrup, mayo dishes... OH opps!  I mean squash casserole, green bean 'salad', pecan pie, stuffing, and the like.  All are deliciously wonderful and will have you in a happy food coma in no time at all.  College football does provide some stimulation for keeping everyone pumped up, especially when UT defeats rival A&M.*  

Perhaps my body was sending me SOS signals for a post-Thanksgiving feasting cleanse when it started craving healthy veggies again.  Miraculously, this past week I've had a food creative spirit for creating healthy, veggie friendly dishes.  My sister and several good friends are vegetarian (and some vegan).  While the idea has crossed my mind quite a few times, I prefer the term 'Veggie Lover' over the restrictive feel that Vegetarian gives me.  Loving sounds a lot better to me :D   

Black Bean soup with guac and tomatoes on toasted wheat bread

Whole wheat Couscous with carrot, cucumber, tomato, and some cilantro, salt, peper, and lime juice to taste

Veggie burger (cooked frozen patty) with guac, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes on toasted wheat bread

You can probably see common ingredients in these dishes, aka, what I got at the grocery store this week! :D  The amazing thing is, my bill was under 25 bucks and I've made A LOT of food with all of this.    Everything is veggie and vegan friendly.  It's a fun experiment to try!   Everything  is super easy to make; it almost takes more time to wash the dishes than make the food!  Feel free to let me know if you want any tips on how to make this stuff!

*Shoutout to all my Georgia Tech buddies....  :(((( Sad loss against UGA.  CPJ better be planning for next year's attack on them Dogs!!!

Migas. Simple Style

Since being in Austin, I've had the pleasure of trying migas.  My first encounter was ordering them at Kerby Lane Cafe, and I've been hooked ever since.  In addition to being tex-mex, Spanish style migas can be quite different.  All the versions I've encountered in Austin have been the tex-mex style and generally consist of scrambled eggs, tortilla chips mixed in, cheese, tomatos, and onions.  Having a huge craving and a lot of eggs that needed to be eaten, I came up with my own version.

Migas: Simple Style

Grind some fresh pepper and salt into skillet along with a dab of olive oil.  Heat and scramble two eggs (that have been beaten and a little bit of milk added).   Put some grated cheddar cheese and some broken up tortilla chips (I used whole grain Tostitos) in a bowl.  When the eggs are down cooking, immediately add them to the bowl and stir with the cheese and chips.  Add some pico de gallo for a fresh taste.  Enjoy!! 

If you want to get a little more fancy, this recipe from Texascooking.com looks great.

Morning Glory Muffins: A Story of Keeping it Simple

The Introduction.

Never did I think I'd title a post meaning for it to be a recipe.

I do not want to be known as  a cook.  If my legacy is that I concocted wonderful dishes in the kitchen, it will be a mighty sad story.   As far as 'cooking' goes, I humorously refer to my abilities as being able to 'put something together' as opposed to 'cooking' something (cooking to me usually implies creativity, compassion, and confidence in your food).  Usually, things like sandwiches, wraps, salads, fruit, spaghetti, steamed or vege stir-fries with rice, frozen pizzas or other dinners are what is 'cooked' at my place.  No meat, I save that for going out.  A disgrace to my Grandmother, the best cook on the planet, but acceptance is the first step to happiness.  And I accept and I am happy that I am not a good cook and I love to go out to eat :-) 

Sometimes (sometimes being proportional to the amount of homework I've got  --- either not much at all or so much that I am trying to avoid it) I'll get 'adventurous'.  My motivation is to 1) have something to take to a friend's get together tonight 2) make a healthy snack  3) I'm getting hungry from my ride this morning and I've run out of everything but straight up PB and my vanilla gelpacks.  

Here's the recipe I'm trying:    It says it original, so I hope it's good.  I like recipes because they are made of lists and instructions, and usually are pretty straightforward unless the author gets all fancy and starts using 'fold' and 'pinch' and such.  Who wants to fold or pinch in the kitchen??  Following a recipe is so easy a robot could do it.  And in the kitchen, I am Robot.  (Tempted to say 'caveman', but cavemen didn't have fancy aluminum flour sifters and carrot peelers..).   I like this recipe in particular because after looking at the ingredient list, I don't have to add 10 things to my shopping list.  I hate making stuff that involves ingredients where I have to ask someone at the grocer where the heck in the store it is.   For this recipe, I have to get things like apples, eggs, raisins.  These kinds of things I can handle.

http://www.ebfarm.com/Recipes/recipeView.aspx?rID=113

The cooking process.

The first part of my muffin making involved getting the several needed ingredients.  In Texas, the grocery store is Randell's or HEB.  I hear HEB stores are 'exclusive' to Texas.  Yeah, I know why now. My first HEB experience was a huge letdown.  From the moment you walk in the front doors, it's suffocating and stressful; there's hardly any room to navigate with a buggy.  The front entrance immediately dumps you to produce with a two-way type highway going on where you have to leave your buggy and jump across to get an apple.  The place was a madhouse and it was not a pleasurable experience.  Someone got fancy with the produce section layout and IT WAS NOT good.  Grocery stores are a certain layout all across the country for a reason.  Note to all Grocery Store Designers:  Straight Aisles are Good.

Prep in the kitchen went well.  I used my mixing bowls for the first time... and my flour sifter and my cupcake pan.  Prep in the kitchen went well till the 'peel and grate an apple'.  Seems simple.  If you have a grater.  After a 4 second mild panic attack, I realized the alternative: peel and cut into tiny pieces on the cutting board.  So, I did for the apple, and I did for the 2 cups of grated carrots.  The time it took me to peel and dice two cups of carrots undoublty was greater than the time it would take to run to HEB and get a grater.  But, it made for a great reason to complain, not to mention a great right hand and arm workout.

The next 4 second mild panic attack came at 'add one tablespoon of ground cinnamon'.  Out of all my kitchen stuff, how the heck to I not have a tablespoon measuring set??  Then I remember it's called tablespoon for a reason.  Back in the old days before they had an actual tablespoon, they used table spoons.  I figured that our 'big' spoon in the drawer applied to that rule, hoped the spoon industry standard sizes hadn't changed for the last 200 years, and kept on going.  I used the  same mentality for teaspoons.  Not being sophisticated people, Rachel and I don't have an actual spoon used to stir tea.  Remembering from back home that teaspoons are God awfully small, I figured a teaspoon of salt was slightly larger than the category... ahh 'season to taste', and again moved right along.  The tablespoon/teaspoon thing - it's kinda like an experiment within an experiment (the broader experiment being the muffins themselves), and hey - what engineer doesn't like that!

The Verdict.

Actual Outcome
Source: Chef Heather's Kitchen

Mmm delicious.  Enough said.  Eating one, my mind starts to do it's usual thing and starts thinking... 2 hours to make plus cleaning plus energy to cook them... was this a positive cost - to - benefit project?  And yes, it was.

Projected Outcome
Source: http://www.ebfarm.com/Recipes/recipeView.aspx?rID=113  

Follow Up.

For future batches... what if a banana was thrown into the 'mix'... or some chocolate chips fell into the batter...  :)