Scenes from a Road Trip

So for the first weekend of January, we decided to go on a hiking trip through the national parks in Utah.

 We started in Zion and hiked the first two days. Being January and all, the hikes were far different than what most Summer vacationers experience. Here’s Cliff walking on the frozen over Emerald Pool. Notice the giant icicles hanging from the canyon wall?

Our first big hike was Angel’s Landing. We tried the first day, but couldn’t get far due to ice.

 After renting shoe spikes, we tried again the second day, only to have me freak out on the last ridge. What can I say, I am afraid of heights! This hike is not for the faint of heart; the part where I freaked out has sheer 1000 ft drops on either side. Here’s a pic looking up from the ground; as you can see, that’s a long fall…

That’s me at the point where I chickened out. You can kind of see how high up we are…

Thinking about it gives me anxiety, so here’s a sweet deer grazing in the woods that I saw that day…

So after 3 days, we packed up and move on to Bryce Canyon, where we came down with nasty colds. The hiking trip then turned into just a plain ol’, fun road trip. Maybe not as healthy as a week of intense hiking, but we still had some amazing adventures.

This is Bryce:

The picture quality isn’t so good because it was effing cold, and taking off my glove to touch my phone’s screen took a lot of effort. 

So we drove along Utah State Roads 24 and 95, pulling over often to take in the views. That route also closely follows the route that John Wesley Powell, the explorer, took, which was pretty cool. We were pretty much the only people on the road. At one point, we drove just under 100 miles without seeing a single soul on the road!

We drove down to Capital Reef National Park, which we had never heard of. 

We got the park pretty much to ourselves; really, we passed 3 guys leaving and never saw anyone else. 

It was awesome.

These parts of Utah really are desolate. We learned from road side information stands that this was the last part of the continental U.S. to be mapped. I can only imagine explorers looking down into what appears to be a vast wasteland and saying “Oh HELL no!”

But only to discover all sorts of canyons and rock formations that are unlike any other place on Earth.

This view from inside the car, coming up on Monument Valley, made me want to indulge in a marathon of old Westerns.

 We finally made our way down to Sedona, AZ, just in time for sunset and margaritas.

From Sedona we made our way back home, stopping in the small town of Salome to see Cliff’s dad. The drive from Sedona to L.A. wasn’t as picturesque, at least not after what we’d taken in all week.

Noted:

Desert Air in the winter is not pleasant for the respiratory system. I hope I never take for granted the soothing, humid air of a beach climate.

Hanksville, UT is not really a town, more of a wide spot in the road. Don’t ever stay the night there. Worse, don’t bother trying to find food.

Germans really dig our national parks. Most people we came across in any of the parks were foreigners, and most were German.

Scenes from a Road Trip

So for the first weekend of January, we decided to go on a hiking trip through the national parks in Utah.

 We started in Zion and hiked the first two days. Being January and all, the hikes were far different than what most Summer vacationers experience. Here’s Cliff walking on the frozen over Emerald Pool. Notice the giant icicles hanging from the canyon wall?

Our first big hike was Angel’s Landing. We tried the first day, but couldn’t get far due to ice.

 After renting shoe spikes, we tried again the second day, only to have me freak out on the last ridge. What can I say, I am afraid of heights! This hike is not for the faint of heart; the part where I freaked out has sheer 1000 ft drops on either side. Here’s a pic looking up from the ground; as you can see, that’s a long fall…

That’s me at the point where I chickened out. You can kind of see how high up we are…

Thinking about it gives me anxiety, so here’s a sweet deer grazing in the woods that I saw that day…

So after 3 days, we packed up and move on to Bryce Canyon, where we came down with nasty colds. The hiking trip then turned into just a plain ol’, fun road trip. Maybe not as healthy as a week of intense hiking, but we still had some amazing adventures.

This is Bryce:

The picture quality isn’t so good because it was effing cold, and taking off my glove to touch my phone’s screen took a lot of effort. 

So we drove along Utah State Roads 24 and 95, pulling over often to take in the views. That route also closely follows the route that John Wesley Powell, the explorer, took, which was pretty cool. We were pretty much the only people on the road. At one point, we drove just under 100 miles without seeing a single soul on the road!

We drove down to Capital Reef National Park, which we had never heard of. 

We got the park pretty much to ourselves; really, we passed 3 guys leaving and never saw anyone else. 

It was awesome.

These parts of Utah really are desolate. We learned from road side information stands that this was the last part of the continental U.S. to be mapped. I can only imagine explorers looking down into what appears to be a vast wasteland and saying “Oh HELL no!”

But only to discover all sorts of canyons and rock formations that are unlike any other place on Earth.

This view from inside the car, coming up on Monument Valley, made me want to indulge in a marathon of old Westerns.

 We finally made our way down to Sedona, AZ, just in time for sunset and margaritas.

From Sedona we made our way back home, stopping in the small town of Salome to see Cliff’s dad. The drive from Sedona to L.A. wasn’t as picturesque, at least not after what we’d taken in all week.

Noted:

Desert Air in the winter is not pleasant for the respiratory system. I hope I never take for granted the soothing, humid air of a beach climate.

Hanksville, UT is not really a town, more of a wide spot in the road. Don’t ever stay the night there. Worse, don’t bother trying to find food.

Germans really dig our national parks. Most people we came across in any of the parks were foreigners, and most were German.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Because it’s the beginning of the year and peeps be all like, “I’m gonna lose weight, I swear,” here’s my favorite healthy snack.
I too need to shed some El- Bees from all of those holiday treats. As I am going to be hiking a lot and then beginning marathon training, it’s important that snacks be filling and protein-rich. And tasty, of course.

I made this for relatives for Thanksgiving, and ended up snacking on them the whole week. I had two Thanksgiving dinners and a wedding, and somehow managed to lose 1.5 pounds. Now I am not saying that these almonds are magical or anything, but they do fill you up and keep you from eating what you shouldn’t. They have plenty of lean protein, lots of fiber, and are anti-oxidant rich.

Plus, they’re sugar free!!

So here’s how to get started. You need:
A bag of raw almonds (which you can get from Trader Joes)
About two egg whites
A cup and a half of Splenda
A tablespoon of ground cinnamon (though I tend to add more myself)

Turn on your oven to about 275.

Then whisk the egg whites with just a splash of water, and then coat the almonds with the egg whites until they’re all good and sticky.

In another bowl, blend the sugar and cinnamon, and then blend them into the almonds.

I line a cake pan with parchment paper to save clean up time, and then spread the sugary almonds evenly in the pan. 

Bake them for about 10 minutes, then stir them up, then bake another 10-15 until they’re all roasty. Your kitchen will smell ah-ma-zing, and that’s when you know they’re ready.

Once they’re cool, store them in a container to snack away.

Now, because they’re made with Splenda, the sugar coating might not caramelize quite the way you may be used to from sugared almonds you get at say, the fair. But, you are saving yourself TONS of empty calories, and the almonds still get a nice cinnamon-sweet coating that I promise you is delicious. A handful of these bad boys should leave your tummy full and your sweet tooth satisfied. 

Seriously Yummy Crock Pot Chicken

With the weather dipping into the 40s (!) at night here in Huntington Beach, I’ve had a real hankering for some hearty, home cooked meals. (And yes, 40 degrees Fahrenheit to a California girl is like 10 degrees or colder to everyone else. ) And like everyone else, I’m a busy girl with not a lot of time to cook, and who also wants to watch her calories and carbs. So I give you one of my newest favorite recipes to satisfy all of those needs:  Pollo Lento!

The boyfriend and I just came up with that name for it, BTW.

Anyway, here’s all you need:

3-4 chicken breasts

a 24 oz jar of salsa (I personally like mine spicy, but you can use whatevs)

a can of black beans, drained

a can of corn, drained

about half an onion chopped up

plenty of crushed red pepper to keep it interesting

fresh cilantro 

Shredded cheese, or queso fresco, or cream cheese even. Pick your poison, use all, or be extra virtuous and skip the cheese all together. 

Yep, that’s it. The most important thing that you need is your trusty crockpot.

Throw this all into your crock pot in the morning while your coffee is brewing. You will be done preparing this before your coffee is done.

Set you crockpot to low or medium-low, then go to work, school, run errands, go to the beach, do whatever. Just let your crockpot do all of the work, and come home about 6-8 hours later; the smell will leave your mouth salivating. 

When you open the lid, use a fork to gently pull apart the chicken. If you want more of a creamy sauce, you can stir in some cream cheese, and this will instantly thicken the sauce and make it creamy and rich. You can also sprinkle shredded cheese (those mexican blends of 4 cheeses are my favs) on each serving, but if you add it all to the crockpot, it will become a clumpy, unsexy mess of goo. Add a few sprigs of cilantro, serve with brown rice or wheat tortillas, and you’ve got a healthy, satisfying meal with a little kick!