Grilled Meat (CARNE ASADA)

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In our recent trip to Death Valley I decided to experiment with more recipes to make our trip more enjoyable. So, being from Mexico “carne asada” is one of our favorite dishes to grill in company of our friends, family and some Beers!

 Serves 3 hungry hikers, maybe 4 if not to hungry.

 Ingredients:

 1 ½ lbs flap meat steak

2 oranges juiced

½ bunch of cilantro

½ onion sliced in big pieces

All seasoning salt to taste and black pepper

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 Directions:

Season the meat with the spices to taste, then storage the meat in a ziploc bag add the rest of the ingredients and try to take the air out of the ziploc bag as much as possible, leave it marinating until you need it.

We usually cook the meat in the second day of our camping trip unless is frozen last longer. We use the fire pit grilled with regular firewood it gives a smoked flavor to the meat is yummy! You can grilled some vegetables as well. I brought a fresh salsa, tortillas, avocado and beans and we have great TACOS that night!

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Jalapeño and Cilantro Hummus

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      Hummus is one of my favorite side dishes or snacking dip. It keeps well in the ice chest for camping and it’s particular refreshing in hot summer days, you can eat it with baby carrots, crudites, tortilla chips or pita bread.

hummus

 Ingredients:

 1 can (15 oz) unsalted garbanzo beans.

¼ cup of Tahini (sesame paste)

¼ cup of Olive Oil (I only use extra virgin olive oil).

¼ cup of water.

¼ cup lemon juice (natural lemons please!).

1 medium sized jalapeño seeded if you can’t handle spicy.

2 minced garlic cloves.

¼ cup chopped cilantro.

¼ tsp of kosher salt.

 Directions:

Rinse the garbanzo beans then add all the ingredients into a food processor and proceed to process until smooth about 10 pulses or approx. 40 seconds to 1 minute of blending. Pour into a non reactive container and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can develop. Hummus will last good in the ice chest for about 3 days. Not that it has last us more it’s too delicious!

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Summer Quinoa Salad

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       This salad is great for camping as a home prepared meal. I usually make it for the first day of our camping trip since the first thing we do as soon as we get to the campground is set the campsite and after a long drive and all the camp setting who has energy to cook.

This dish is really convenient because is ready to eat, all you need to do is take out from the ice chest and that’s it! I particular love it with hummus on a side, some pita bread and a glass of cold chardonnay wine! The perfect way to relax after a long trip.

Summer Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked quinoa.

2 cups of water.

1 red bell pepper diced.

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced.

¼ cup red onion, finely diced.

¼ cup chopped cilantro.

1 or ½ cup chopped black olives (I love olives so is never to much for me).

¼ cup olive oil.

¼ cup lemon juice (natural lemons, I also love lemons so you might probably prefer less).

Salt and pepper to taste.

¼ tsp paprika.

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper.

¼ tsp garlic powder.

 Directions:

1. Bring the water to boil, rinse the quinoa to eliminate the bitterness. Add the quinoa to the boiling water and reduce the flame to simmer for 20 minutes. When it’s done transfer the quinoa to a medium bowl and cool it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

2. Chopped all the vegetables and add them to the quinoa once it’s cool and add the rest of the seasonings, toss it until combined and refrigerate until ready to go. Don’t forget to pack it in the Ice chest.

From our personal experienced we found that quinoa salad keeps well in the ice chest for 2 days, if you leave it longer it will probably be good but the lemon starts turning a little bit bitter.

 Enjoy!

Getting Ready for the PCT

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Pacific_crest
At the beginning of this year Mike and I decided that we wanted to hike the Pacific Crest Trail next year. We had talked about it since last year but we didn’t decide or make a commitment to do it until recently.

He has previous backpacking experiences and my experience is almost “zero” just with one short backpacking trip to Spruce Groove in Los Angeles National Forest which took us like 3 hrs hiking, 2 days camping and coming back and I was pretty tired by the end of our trip, so I guess I don’t know in what I’m getting into it… The reality is that I just don’t want to think about it until the day I’ll find myself in the middle of the desert standing in “Campo” border with Mexico looking at our 2,663 miles ahead of journey in our attempt to reach Canada on foot.

So far we have a:

I have mention the PCT to my parents but I don’t think I’ve been clear in letting them know that we are actually going to do it.. I think some people including our family are going to think we are crazy. At first first I didn’t want to do it at all, but I need to admit that I started reading about it and I grew more enthusiastic in maybe doing the trip. At this point I’m curious to know how this trip will help me to discover myself and all the experiences that it might bring especially in our marriage.

So from now on, I’m going to start writing and documenting things about our progress of getting ready for the PCT. I might try recipes for the trail at first in my kitchen stove and then in our homemade cat stove. I’ll try to dehydrate food as well and gather all our equipment.

So let’s the journey begin!

Pioneer Potato Feast

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Ingredients

  • 2 medium size russet potatoes
  • 2 fully cooked kielbasas cut in small round pieces
  • 1 medium white onion chopped
  • 1 seeded tomato cut in cubes
  • 1 red bell pepper seeded and cut in cubes
  • 1 green bell pepper seeded and cut in cubes
  • 1/2 lbs sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • Garlic salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:Cut the potatoes in medium sized cubes and set a side. Preheat the oil in the pot once is ready add the onions, red and green bell peppers and the potatoes sauté for 8 minutes. Season with garlic salt and pepper then add the kielbasas and put the lid on let it cook for 15 min or until almost done then add the cheese and turn off the heat leave it for 5 minutes with the lid still on.  Serve and Enjoy!

This dinner is great if you are going hiking the next day!

TIPS: I cut all the vegetables except the potatoes and tomatoes at home and storage in separate in ziploc bags. If you cut the potatoes before hand they get oxidize and change their color, and the tomatoes get too soggy if you cut them before hand.

 

Montaña De Oro State Park

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This is my second camping trip and we went there in January. Who camps during winter season! Really? Is there any crazy people camping in winter? Is there? Yes they are! and that is Mike my intrepid husband! let me introduce you to Mike’s world: the weekends are almost full of adventurous things instead of relaxing unless I plan them, but if he does, forget about relaxing! In Mike’s world there only exist Camping, hiking, backpacking and beer brewing and some other things if we are lucky maybe watching a movie. So this is Mike:

Death Valley

At the begging of this 2012, Mike announce me: we are going to take vacations which I pictured sandy beach, warm and exotic ocean and drinking margaritas! until he say WE ARE GOING CAMPING! oh those scary words!

So we drove from LA to Montaña De Oro, so far the weather was great, the campsite was OK no flush toilets, but available pit toilets which where decent and no smelly so it wasn’t that bad after all. We got there early morning in a Friday we choose or campsite and set the tent and everything else. That day we just relax and spend the evening drinking wine and reading books.

Saturday morning Mike making coffee and me still sleeping, to early to get up I need my 9 hrs beauty sleep like every princess! I got up and like an inexperience camper not knowing what to cook and what to bring, I brought my makeup! so I did my beauty routine which consisted in washing my face with special facial soap, ointing my face with anti aging lotions and then the makeup after all that routine finally I start cooking breakfast. When Mike realize that I brought Light bagels, Light cream cheese and No sugar added jam. He say: Are you kidding me this is like a 200 calories breakfast! and I say: I know isn’t that great not fattening at all!.

The thing is I didn’t know how much calories you need to go hiking! If I would it know I wouldn’t worry about calories in the first place, so we went hiking after our “light breakfast” and OMG! I was starving when we where hiking! so I learned my first lesson on hiking: Get a good breakfast at least 500 calories for short distances or hikes with small elevations!

The calories burned per hour hiking depends in part of your body weight and if you are carrying a day pack and the weight of the day pack, but in general a 160 lbs person burns between 430 to 440 calories per hour hiking this without carrying a pack.  So the more you weight the more amount of calories you will burned.

We took the COON TRAIL for hiking which was great with beautiful landscape and full of little bridges to cross the river, everything was so green and they where yellow mushrooms everywhere I don’t know what kind of mushrooms they where but I wasn’t going to figure out, what if they where hallucinogen mushrooms? mmm… maybe I should it figure it out they will make my camping experience a whole new level.

In the evening we had for dinner a cooking invention, thank God I didn’t bring more LIGHT MEALS, we were starving! so I cook the Pioneer potato feast! which consist in potatoes and kielbasas, you can find it in the recipe section, It was a really good dinner and everything fits in a pot! so we decide that the invention was a keeper and that is how I start my quest for cooking recipes while we are camping, I dedicate myself to try more inventions and let my imagination to fly! and it has work so far the recipes have being good after all so, Let’s the Feast Begin!!!

 

Australia 2011

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Here we are at Brisbane, AU airport, and I’m so excited to begin our trip! We stay at Annie’s Inn in Brisbane for 3 days waiting to Mike parent’s arrived, the bed and breakfast was a blue and pink building with flowers everywhere. It was a family trip since his sister was getting married on Fraser Island to her first sight passionate summer love, the wedding was at Kingfisher Bay Resort it was and informal wedding where no shoes where required since we where stepping in the softest sand I ever felt, it was a really romantic atmosphere with Tiki torches around us and the sweetest vows I ever heard after the vows we toast for their happiness with a delicious chilled champagne with exotic lychee fruits floating in the sparkling bubbles of the delightful gold liquid. So far they where looking like family vacations!! comfortable and relaxing!.

After his sister wedding everybody decide going camping in the island near to the beach I was excited. I imagine a DELUXE campground with HOT SHOWERS and FLUSH TOILETS!

Mike: Here we are this is the campground! It’s so great.

Me: What do you mean I just see sand and trees?

Mike: This is it!

Me thinking “ I’ll try it”, what can go wrong? Right?

  1. I was so wrong! the meals where horrible! Fruits and crackers all the time, but the buzz was fine so maybe is not that bad. We didn’t had a stove since we buy the camping gear in Australia.

  2. The Dingos destroy our tent! Chew mike’s tennis shoes and took my personal stuff! I wonder why did they just destroy our tent and nobody else? FIRST LESSON: don’t ever leave smelly things in the tent even if they are inside a ziploc bags animals can smell everything! And being a girl I had my smelly deodorant and body lotions! Now I know who takes smelly lotions to camping! bad, bad choice, well I did learned

After camping in Fraser Island we drove too Arlie beach like 9 hrs. from the Island because we wanted to take a boat to the Whitsundays! And a storm came while we where driving and Mike told me “ we won’t make it we need to camp somewhere” it was impossible to see with the pouring rain and it was late night and still hours to drive, but the tent was destroy! I had a sewing kit and duct tape so, we stop the car took everything out that I need it to fix the tent and went to the passenger’s seat and start trying to fix it…I sew for hours and hours but finally the tent was fixed and it resist to the storm!!! duct tape from both sides and good stitches around the duct tape make wonders!

Since that trip which I enjoy every part of it even camping! And I did declare I HATE CAMPING! Like a spoiled 5 year old. So Mike said get use to it because in this family everybody LOVES CAMPING!.

So I decide to have a better and better camping trips and put myself into work with good recipes because I Love Food!!! and there is nothing worst that having bad food to ruin your vacations!