A Perfect Switch

Pam, Phyllis, Emily and I headed for Mt Rainier for some snowshoeing Saturday. Our original intention was to snowshoe Narada Falls and Reflections Lake, but when we saw how clear it was we decided to go for the bigger views on Rampart Ridge.

It was about 20 degrees when we headed out and not much warmer when we returned to the can about 3 hours later. I learned a valuable lesson. If you close your trekking poles when they are wet they won't open if they are frozen. I hiked without poles for the first time in a long time. It was a great exercise in balance that I only failed at once.

Narada Falls was only going to be 500 ft of elevation gain where Rampart ridge was more that 3 times that. We ended up keeping our snowshoes strapped to our packs since most of the snow was crunchy and well packed. We were to the Longmire viewpoint in just over an hour where we snacked. An aggressive camp raider of a Gray Jay attempted a steal of my snack right out of my hands. I had flashbacks of Hitchcock for a second, but he only made one attempt.

Our goal was to g forward and connect with the Wonderland trail and take it down to Longmire, but when we came out at the Rainier vies area the tracks ended and we were looking steeply downhill. I made one attempt to see if we could continue but four step down I postholed to my crotch and barely got my foot out with the boot still on. We decided it was best to go back the way we came - almost.

At the bottom of the trail there is a little nature walk that was a little longer than the way we walked in so we took it. It was really flat and very pretty. Anyone could do the loop at the bottom. It is less than a mile round trip from Longmire parking lot.

I would tell you about all of the silly people spun out and otherwise doing silly things on our way out of the park but the Dalai Lama wants me to be more compassionate and I am trying.

Be very well and more soon....

No Crazy January Plan, Paully?

I know all 5 of my regular readers were waiting for the big announcement of what Pam and I were going to do to torture ourselves nutritionally through the month of January as we usually do. We talked about doing something and quickly came to the realization that we have been eating so cleanly for the last year or more that no crazy plan was necessary.

Here is what we do now.

We eat an almost vegan organic diet. Almost takes into account the small amounts of Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano that we use for pasta dishes and airpopped popcorn - recipe below. We also occasionally will eat some wild caught fish or organic chicken, but I can count on one hand the amount of those occasions from last year.

The less meat I eat the better I feel. When I do eat some I usually regret it for a couple of days. I feel out of balance or something.

The same can be said for cheeses. When we order a veggie pizza somewhere and forget to tell them to go really light on the cheese I am a phlegm bomb for a day or two after.

What we have added in the last couple of months is some barley grass which we get in a powdered form and mix in our daily veggie juices. It jacks up the nutrient load and adds to the zip I get from the juice.

We recently saw a documentary where a guy explained why juicing is effective. Ideally, you would eat the veggies instead, but eating 8-10 carrots, a beet with greens, a cucumber, 5-6 oz of kale, 2 inches of ginger root, a green apple, a pear and 1/4 of a fennel bulb with stalk would take a while and if would be hours for the nutrients to begin their work. When you drink the juice it is 15 seconds before they start to work. Nice, right?

It is actually easy to convert most recipes to vegan. You switch any chicken or beef stock with veggie stock - Trader Joe's Organic Low Sodium Stock in $1.99. For chili you can use diced eggplant as a meat substitute. If you make your chili right you can't taste the meat when you are done anyway. It is all about the spices.

Marinara is a vegan sauce unless you mess it up. It is Tomatoes, garlic and basil traditionally. I add onion to mine as well. You take that base and add some chopped - not sliced - crimini mushrooms and the sauce tastes nice and meaty.

The only thing that will make vegan food seem unfulfilling is a lack of imagination of the person preparing it. You need to play with your food.

Decidedly Not Vegan Popcorn Topping

I keep a small jar of Olive oil mixed with Dried Oregano and Minced Garlic that I add to as needed. It is great for brushing on some bread to toast for going with pasta or whatever or using as a dip for bread as well.

I add some fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano with a some of the olive oil mixture and stir it well to blend and soften the cheese. The amount is up to your batch. We usually make a batch and a half - which requires you to shake the popper to get the kernels moving - and my mix has about 2 tbsp of the cheese and enough oil mixture to cover.

As the corn is popping you drizzle the mixture with a spoon and then when the popper is done I toss the corn until it is all evenly coated. It is good enough that you won't miss butter at all.

That's what I have for today. Tomorrow we snowshoe up at Mt Rainier so there should be some great pictures coming.

Be very well and more soon....

Little Ranger Peak

Sunday we decided to hike/snowshoe Little Ranger Peak by Crystal Mountain. We had never done the trail before so we went from the information we had and decided it would be an easy hike - 6 miles round trip with 1500 feet of elevation gain.

We got on the trail and were spotted by 10-20 elk that wisely headed away from the trail we were on into the woods. We weren't in enough snow to snowshoe, so we snow hiked again. There is a little bit of a trade off. The snowshoes keep you on top of the snow, but they cause more work. In the worst places we were maybe leaving 8 inch depressions in pretty crunchy snow so we kept hiking.

We made the top where there is an intersection of 2 other trails. Next time we will likely take one of them so we can get a little extra mileage. The cloud cover remained, but the scenery was still worthy of a picture or two.

On the way down we had some fun and winter routed some switchbacks since we had Natalie and Susanne waiting for us at the trailhead. They had turned around earlier because Natalie was still recovering from a foot surgery. Phyllis drove with them so they waited for us.

We made it back to the car and headed down. We switched on the radio to check the Seahawks score just in time to hear Washington score the second touchdown in the 1st quarter. I call that good timing since everything after that was all Seahawks.

Be very well and more soon....

But Oatmeal Is Boring Paully!

The truth is that hot cereal is only as boring as you are unimaginative so lets get some ideas flowing.

One of the hot cereal inventions I like is bananas and pecans. It is simple and very tasty. You cook your hot cereal as you normally would and for 2 servings you need to mash 1 banana until it is getting smooth. Chop 1/3 cup pecans - either raw or pan toasted.

When the cereal is done with it's boiling mix the banana and pecans in and stir well. I do this prior to the rest period for oatmeal and just before serving for cereals like buckwheat that don't require a rest. If you are still working on repairing your palate you might add a little vanilla or a touch of honey or agave. There is plenty of flavor otherwise.

Another idea is to add dried fruit like raisins, Craisins, dried cherries or blueberries. Here is how to make it work to get the most out of them. If your cereal requires 2 cups of water for 2 servings like most do add an extra 1/4 cup of water so 2 1/4 cups total. This will allow the fruit to rehydrate some and release the sweetness of the fruit into the cereal. I use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the dried fruits to the water and bring it to a boil and then add the cereal and cook per instructions.

I like to do the above with dried figs but Pam doesn't like the crunchy seeds in the figs too much.

When you can get fruit in season like blueberries and raspberries add them like the bananas and pecans at the end of the boil. Frozen fruit is a little tricky, but you can thaw them and stir them in at the end. You get a little extra juice from them, but the flavors are good.

What else would work? Why not some grated coconut? I would use unsweetened, but I likely won't be eating at your house so use what you want. How about some good quality cocoa powder? If you added the cocoa powder at the end - say 1 - 2 tbsp for 2 servings with maybe 1/2 tsp cinnamon you would have dessert for breakfast.

Try some better cereals as well. Bob's Red Mill has a bunch of great, Organic products. I LOVE their Organic Thick Rolled Oats and Organic Creamy Buckwheat. I have also liked their Organic Whole Wheat Farina, High Fiber, and 6 Whole Grain cereals.

I'm sure there are other great brands, but Bob's is reasonably local to us, employee owned and they have tons of great choices.

Be very well and more soon....

That's Entertainment

There are only two reasons to put something in your mouth - nourishment or entertainment. There isn't a third option. We have to choose every time we eat what we are trying to accomplish. If the goal is to improve your health and sense of well being and increase your energy then you need to nourish yourself. If you want some instant gratification from sodium, fat or sugar then entertain yourself.

The reality is that at some point you need nutrients to survive. Your body will crave them no matter what you decide your motivation is. You can eat all the junk food or fast food or processed food in the world and not ever fill your body's need for nutrition. That is why if you eat that stuff you are never satiated. It isn't possible.

The result of eating for entertainment daily is that you need something to "get you through" the day. We use coffee and "energy drinks" to provide the energy we aren't getting from our diet. Then we can't sleep because the caffeine from these things lingers in our system so we add some alcohol which gets us to sleep, but doesn't keep us asleep so we wake tired and start the cycle over again.

Tired and un-nourished we hit a fast food joint for a muffin or doughnut or croissant with some cured meat and an egg and some coffee and head off to work. Two or three more cups of coffee and we are ready to get the day going.

That is insanity. What you need in the morning is nourishment. Even just an apple would be better than the processed and boxed crap that most people are eating for breakfast. Better than that would be some oatmeal.

If you are like most people who swear they don't have any time during the week do this. Make 5 servings of oatmeal on the weekend and put it into a glass bowl. Let it cool and then cover and refrigerate. In the morning take your daily portion with a tablespoon of water and put in you bowl and nuke it for a minute and eat. Easy right?

The night before make a lunch salad of greens and whatever you like - olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. Unless you work in an oven it will be fine by lunch time. For the time between breakfast and lunch pack some nuts or carrots or grapes or other veggies to snack on. Do the same for an afternoon snack.

When you get home have something you find entertaining for dinner. There are better choices that are still entertaining to the palate, but if you make it from rising to dinner with quality nutrition you can easily entertain yourself at dinner.

If you do some of these simple things along the way you will find you have much more energy to do things other than eat to entertain yourself. You will save a couple of co-pays a year which you can use for date night if you want. The extra sleep and extra quality of that sleep will give you more quality time in the morning as well.

Now that's entertainment!

Be very ell and more soon.....

Some Things Take More Time Than Others

Finally! After multiple trips up to High Hut in the MTTA system (skimtta.com) I was treated to the HUGE Mt Rainier view I have heard about. Pam, Gary and I headed out and made the 4.25 mile uphill snow hike in just over 2 hours and were treated to huge open views including Mt. Rainier, Mt Adams, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and the Olympics.

We took out pictures and then went into the cabin for lunch. We decided to make some coffee and hung around about an hour before heading back down. There were quite a few folks on the trail on the way down which was very nice to see.

I can't think of a better way t spend the first day of 2013.

Enjoy the pictures, be very well and more soon....

St Helens

St Helens

High Rock Lookout

Adams hiding behind a hill

High Hut and Mt Rainier

The Rapido Rapido Crew

The Olympics

The view from the table inside the cabin.



I think Pam likes the view.