The first mile of this hike was pretty rough. Okay, very rough for me. I didn’t document it. It was about survival. I have no idea why the hills kicked my butt so badly but I once again wallowed in “out of shape” shame. Ugh. Seriously. Looking at my Garmin it was close to the longest mile EVER on the thing. The Big Tree trail was killer for me. However, once I got to the Heritage Trail things were looking up and I could actually enjoy the hike.

The trail was nice and groomed. Pretty easy since it was flat but I was still recovering from my lame first mile. The bad part is I’ve had worse so I just beat myself up mentally through the hike. I started to relax around mile 2 and just enjoyed how pretty this trail was.

The Heritage trail leads to Heritage grove and it is an out and back. Unfortunately a bridge was closed so I was a bit short on mileage by about a half mile. Of course that could also be because I can’t follow directions, but the bridge closure is a legit reason this time! So back out to the Heritage trail I turned and went up to the Hikers Hutt.

The Hikers Hutt trail was in the middle of being cleaned up and it was kind of rough walking through the newly weed whacked trail. Everything stuck to my pants. I’m really glad I wore long pants today, that’s for sure. It was uphill for quite a bit and I had to take a few mini breaks to catch my breath. At the T in the trail I opted not to go all the way to the Hikers Hutt and I headed back on the Towne Fire Road. It was nice and open for quite a bit and it was nice to take the chill off before it descended back into the forest. I ran into a Ranger in his truck and he of course was very polite and didn’t run me over.

Overall it’s a cute park to hike in but the traffic is pretty loud and the Heritage Grove is right beside Alpine road so there’s traffic there as well. It wasn’t my favourite in the area but I wasn’t in a good state of mind so I would try it out before trusting my judgement.

Not your average breakfast. These Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Scones are divine, but a sugar rush. Not in a bad way, but I wouldn’t suggest them as part of your healthy well balanced breakfast!

So why not break down and have them as dessert? I found the recipe super easy. Mostly because I didn’t follow the recipe instructions. My food processor was already dirty so I made them how I make regular scones. In my mixer. Shh. Don’t tell. I’m lazy, and it’s really really easy to overmix in a mixer so be sure to watch carefully.  I went old school with the glaze and mixed it by hand (since I didn’t feel like washing out the already dirty mixer right away.  I should have washed out the mixer. Oops.

These are a fantastic treat though. You can really taste the allspice. You can also pretend that the carrot and whole wheat flour makes them healthy. Or something. It honestly just adds great texture. I used margarine and just completely omitted the egg for a tad more apple sauce. The glaze had tofutti cream cheese and vanilla almond milk subs. 

The big thing is confidence. I’m at 0. Self doubt is in my blood. It’s not for fear of the bike’s safety, I’m cool with it laying down. I have enough gear to keep me in one piece. Most of those 10 miles were at 10mph. Hell, I put crash bars on because 1. they look cool and 2, it will minimize spend on replacing important parts. Obviously, I’m avoiding laying it down or having myself on the pavement (or on a car hood, or in a bush…) but I know I can be safe and still progress in skills. It just takes time. My brain doesn’t get that.

It will come. Not everyone is a natural. I’m excited for the day my hands stop shaking when I reach for the key. I have to get out there. The husband is super supportive and stood in the parking lot and made me feel comfortable. He got me there and back in 1 piece following me. Now, to figure out how to practice this week. I’m determined to get this down and not hooligan style, at my own damn pace. No need to be throwing myself off a cliff when I can use the stairs.

I love having raw quick things in the fridge for snacks. Want something sweet? It’s already there and made and honestly in this case, a healthier choice. I had a banana that wasn’t looking so good so I busted out Dreena’s Banana Ballz.

My impatience and food processor make blending dates a pain in the butt when there are only a few. Big batches of anything is fine, even in the small 3 cup section but 4 dates is rough. So I kind of gave up and there are a lot of chunks in this one. The recipe would be a lot better with the sweetness smoothed out but I’m fine with it. Except when I don’t know if I’m getting a bite of date or chocolate chip. Either way they are not too sweet and don’t fill me with guilt.

KTMs are orange. Seriously. It’s a good thing I’m not really afraid of orange, and honestly it’s growing on me. Plus, they pair it with black a lot. When you walk into the dealership you see a sea of orange up front. To the left is all the Triumphs and in another room are the BMWs. I was looking around for my bike, a brand new KTM Duke 690,  and found her tucked in at the front window. She’s been getting a lot of attention. The dealership only got this 1 black and they will be getting a white one in June.  The box on the handlebars is the Roadlok system. It’s pretty awesome. For this model I had to order directly from the dealership so they slipped it on for me. Not that it’s hard. It’s 2 bolts.

Oh, so cute! We trailered her home since I really need to tool around the neighbourhood a few miles before I take on a few major highways and a bridge. A very  windy bridge. I also happen to have panic attacks on bikes, or my last one so I want to take it a bit slow. It’s all mental but I think this bike is really going to be fun and worth the mental break in period. It’s light, easy to maneuver and can keep up easily in traffic.

The recipe was from Have Cake Will Travel and as usual was super easy. You can easily use oatmeal instead of rye flakes but I really wanted to see if I could tell the difference. And there was a pretty big difference. These got a bit more crisp, I feel like oatmeal loses a bit of bite when baked in cookies but the rye flakes did not have that same texture. It was pretty neat. I added both the dates and walnuts (and didn’t skimp on the sugar) and thought they were a nice treat.

I know I don’t write about fashion or anything that cool. But if you know me, you know I have a Fluevog problem. Today was International Fluevog Day and it worked out that this year I could visit a store and take part of their rare sale. It was 15% off and I had a really damn hard time deciding what I wanted. I bought the boots first and then on the way back to the car I turned around and got the shoes. I couldn’t help it! And I got a free mug, so there’s that

The loot! The boots are of the Living family: Malcolm. They are mens boots but they have been on my radar since they came out. I’ve been looking for a cool pair of slouchy boots for well over a year and they have lived on my amazon list just that long. They were a last minute decision purchase since they didn’t have the black colourway on the floor. They only had a couple of sizes left and they had my size. Destiny. Sold.

Funny enough the shoes I went back for got the vote from my friend AND my husband (in text). So of course I didn’t pick them up first. They are in the Adriana family: Lois. Super cute. I love spectators. These should get a lot of wear and they are comfy.

Yeah, and then that happened. My pizza stone died. I heard a bang the other day when I was baking something else and I knew what was going on. Total bummer. Now I need to replace it but I really had to make the challenge pizza. So I went old school with my mom’s very old pizza pan and hoped for the best.

The dough was so easy. I actually weighed it all out and it was just very easy. I loved how thin and easy it was to work with. I had it 48 hours in the fridge and it was fine. I weighed the ingredients, it always works out so much better.

So the sauce was very basic but just what I wanted. I do admit I added a tiny bit of sugar, I just like a sweeter sauce. It was very tasty. I went very basic and topped it with a bit of Daiya wedge and some shiitake mushrooms that showed up in my CSA box. I didn’t add my usual spices on top because I wanted the sauce to shine a bit more than usual.

Honestly, this was a great pizza. I loved the crust. The sauce was okay I guess, but the crust was beautiful. It really reminded me of New York Pizza, but of course it was missing that “something”. Not sure if it needed a bit more salt or something else but the crust without sauce or toppings was just missing something. That’s all good though, because I’ll make it over and over since it is a great piece of pie.

Yum! My husband has what you might call a Brazil nut problem. As in, he can never get enough of them. Notice how they don’t really sell them by themselves? Sure you can get your fair share of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, even hazelnuts. Not so much with Brazil nuts. Total bummer. I found some at Trader Joe’s but they were raw. And my guy isn’t one to eat raw nuts.

What’s a girl to do but roast her nuts for her husband? And a few basic spices and it turns into an awesome snack.

This green tea has toasted rice and I really love the added flavour. This tea actually has a personality and that’s what I like about it. It has an earthy grassy sencha taste with the toasty flavour from the rice. It’s a pretty good Genmaicha in itself for mass production bags. It’s a good introduction into Gemaicha teas I think as it isn’t hard to brew and it tastes a little more mellow that something you might get with a higher level brand.