Saturday, April 10, 2010

Take a hike and Quinoa Salad

Happy Saturday morning to you.  I hope you are all having a great weekend.  It's supposed to rain tomorrow.  I'd rather it be sunny but I know the more rain we have the better it is for us out here in California.

Lots to catch up on and I have some real pretty pics to share from a hike Dave and I took a week ago.
First let me say my wrist is better, yay!

 Also my son got home safe from his 6th grade trip and he had a great time.  They went to Camp Ocean Pines in Cambria.  One of the first things he said was how good the food was and the head chef was really nice.  The chef told Keaton that he was the first vegan to cook for.  Every night when Keaton went into the kitchen to get his dinner the chef would ask Keaton questions about being vegan.  Also the last two mornings he was served pancakes and french toast( which I was told had bananas in it)so anyways, he thought that was pretty cool.  So being vegan has it's perks! hee hee. Last year in 5th grade and for summer camp he went to Rancho Allegre, which is close to us, and the "Naturalists" there are either vegetarian or vegan so Keaton would eat what they did.  So for dinner he would go to the kitchen to get his meal, which he thought was pretty cool and special.  He ate like, stuffed acorn squash and portobello mushrooms and pasta, sound like meals and a nice restaurant doesn't it?  It's so nice to know that when my kid is at camp he isn't going hungry.



So here are some pic's of the hike we took up in the Figueroa Mountains.  The cool thing about many of the areas where we hike, there are parts that are shady and those grow tons of ferns all those pretty shade plants.  This one to the right looks kind of lilypad like, it felt a bit on the rubbery side. Then when you get into the sunny parts of the hike the plants change.  There is alot of water coming down from those mountains. 
Before heading up the mountain.
This is a view from the highest point we hiked to.  We want to go to the top which is probably an hour longer to get to.
There are california poppies everywhere right now!

The beginning of a pine cone.
There were a few of these pretty blue butterflies in this certain area. 
I must finish the post with a tasty quinoa salad.  The ingredients are listed below.
In a small bowl mix together
2 C. quinoa, cooked
1 small red bell pepper, diced,
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 C. celery, diced
black olives, chopped
1/2 C. sprouted firm tofu, diced
then pour the vinegarette over and mix well
vinegarette:
extra virgin oilive oil
rice vinegar
agave
s&p
Eat at room temp or cold.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

10 comments:

  1. i miss field trips!! such great shots. ick, the weather today is nasty-nast! i miss the sunshine we had on friday!

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  2. Beautiful pics! I love hiking!! Which reminds me, I need to do so soon!! Now that it's warmer here! I love quinoa, that salad looks perfect!

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  3. I think it is great that you kido can go on field trips and get vegan meals!
    What a beautiful place you live.(so green)

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  4. I'm always up for a good quinoa salad- This reminds me a lot of one that we make at the restuarant! Simple is often best, right? :)

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  5. That's adorable about Keaton - I bet he felt pretty cool getting all of that special vegan food/attention :)

    And I love the beautiful pics form your hike. Your quinoa salad sounds great, too!

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  6. it sounds like Keaton got quite the star treatment on his trip. that is so awesome! i need someone to whip up delicious vegan yummies for me. mmmmmmmm!

    hooray for one rock'n quinoa salad. i keep fogetting to look for sprouted tofu, and i looooove that you added in some scallions (they're dan's fav). we haven't had quinoa salad in a while and i know we have a bunch in the cabinet. i see some quinoa yummies in the near future. yay!

    i loooove all the pictures from your hike with Dave (and i'm so super glad your wrist is much better!) - makes me want to take dan and ms. julie hiking soon. we've never taken her hiking before and i think she'd really enjoy it. i just need to scout out the dog friendly places.

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  7. That's so cool Keaton eats so well at camp! :-)

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  8. Sounds like Keaton was well looked after at camp, it's nice to know some chefs are capable of cooking up delicious vegan food.

    And I love salads with quinoa, so yum and filling!

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  9. I've decided I need to go hiking. And quinoa salad...I need quinoa salad.

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