live and let wander

Planning a day hike with the family? Here’s a delicious and nutritious treat that will help keep your family moving!

Since we are a family of hikers. Being in the woods = our happy place. My boys are river dwellers, would prefer sleeping in a tent as opposed to their comfy beds, and they love snacking on the trail. Our favorite thing to do on a beautiful day is to pack up our kid carrying hiking packs with all the necessities and set out on a new adventure. Necessities when hiking with young children include a lot of snacks and drinks! Our favorite way to carry our water on the trail is with a water hydration backpack (we have a Platypus brand). You can add some coconut water to it as well for the extra electrolytes, or some of your favorite sports drink powder.

Stay away from snacks that are heavy and high in processed sugar. We like to pack healthy and high protein snacks that don’t need any refrigeration…you don’t want to have to carry the extra weight of an ice pack to keep a snack cool!

Here are a few quick and easy hiking snack ideas that the whole family will love:

Banana tortilla wraps: Take a large tortilla, spread some peanut butter (or Sunbutter to keep it nut free) all across the wrap, then spread some honey on the wrap, place a full peeled banana on one side of the wrap and then roll. This can be eaten whole or can be cut into “sushi” type bites.

Kale Chips: Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Toss fresh Kale leaves with about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with some sea salt. Bake for about 20 min. or until crispy! Perfect for trail snacking without weighing you down.

These are my family’s personal favorite:

No Bake Trail Mix Peanut Butter Balls (Aka Hippy Balls)

Yields about 20 balls

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of peanut butter (creamy). (You can substitute Sunbutter for a nut free version)
1 1/4 cup oatmeal (dry, old fashioned)
1/3 cup real maple syrup
1/3 cup 60% cacao chocolate (use your favorite kind of chocolate here!), chopped in food processor
2/3 cup raisins, chopped in food processor (cherries, figs, cranberries will work too)
1/3 cup ground almonds, ground in food processor (you can omit for a nut free version, but they will be a bit sticky)
2 tbsp ground flax seed (optional)

Directions:
After chopping chocolate, raisins, and almonds, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
Place bowl in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill.
Roll mixture into small bite sized balls.

Keep extras in the fridge.

Enjoy and happy trails!

Featured in this in this months Macaroni Kid EATS! Newsletter- http://eats.macaronikid.com/article/996901/no-bake-trail-mix-peanut-butter-balls

Getting in at 3 am Sunday morning from a birthday party isn’t very conducive to a productive Sunday. Especially when the boys woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5 am. #threecupsofcoffee

We still wanted to get outside today, since it’s supposed to rain the next few days here. My 3 year old, H, wanted to “go on a hike and go to the playground”, and we just ran with that (well, not literally. We ran yesterday and our legs feel like jello today… So, we kind of hobbled).

We took a walk in the center of our town, along the river and then headed to park via the Columbia Trail. This is why we love where we live. Trail, nature preserves, playgrounds, great restaurants… All within 5 minutes of our home! And now, spending the rest of the day cuddling my munchkins.

Sunday Funday indeed.

So here’s a ditty about me…and this. You know that feeling of wanting to live bigger, but that nagging terrified feeling that keeps you from taking that leap (for those of you who have seen my skydiving photo of before I jumped out of the plane…that’s the feeling I am talking about.)? I have had that itch for a while now. Now, my life is already incredibly fulfilling. I stay home with my 2 boys, whom are my reason for everything, and I also get to work for and publish for Macaroni Kid while at home with them. But, my life long dream has been to publish a travel blog. Something that can chronicle our adventures for years to come, and something that can be shared with people who are passionate about the same things. Informative, helpful, fun… but most of all, inspiring. You don’t have to be a world wide traveler to experience amazing things- there are many adventures and amazing memories to be made right out your front door. Matt (my adorable and mountain man hubby), and I are pretty passionate about giving our kids an incredibly memorable childhood. And every time we take them into the woods, or into a river, or up a mountain, I think we are fulfilling that goal. The way they see the world is pretty magical….so, our job is just to take them to magical places!

So, amidst my romantic rambling, I hope you’ll see my goal here to share our positivity and love of wandering. I hope you’ll join us on this amazing journey!