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Clif Bar Z Kid’s recently sent us a bar of the newest flavor, Iced Oatmeal Cookie. Ford (my oldest) has loved getting them in his pack for many years, although with being 14 now they don’t fill him up. So the 2 year old, Walker, has taken Ford’s title as “Official Food Tester”. Anyhow, Walker enjoyed the bar. The Z Bars are a great size for smaller appetites, especially for toddlers and preschoolers. The “icing” swirls on top make it seem more like a treat…an easy “trail bribe” for tired young ones!

Definitely a winner, kids will love these bars.

~Sarah

Books I Am Reading

With 3 kids now (and one who is only 9 weeks old) I am waaaayyyy behind on reading. I seem to get through cookbooks to review for my other blog, but lets face it – I don’t have a lot of free reading time. So when I have a chance this is what I am perusing of late:

Let Them Paddle: Coming of Age on the Water – You might recognize Alan S. Kesselheim – he has written a couple of well known outdoor cookbooks as well! This is a fascinating book.

Hill Fit is an e-book aimed at those wanting to get into great shape for well…hill walking (or as we in the US call it, hiking!).

A book I need to say the least. My skills lie in recipe development, not photographing. Maybe I will pick up more skills….

~Sarah

The FBC Cozies are back in stock as of today in 4 prints, with 7 more new prints coming soon! The FBC Starter Kits are also in stock as well.

~Sarah

Granted I know not everyone is into “hippy” food. Last year though Kirk and I changed our diets considerably and with a steady intake of oats, chia seeds, flaxseed meal, hulled hemp seeds (hemp hearts), raw nuts and plenty of veggies and beans, we both saw our cholesterol numbers fall by half. In a 3 month period. Our doctors were shocked but happy. I fell off the bandwagon a bit while I was pregnant with our third child but now I am back on the ol’ wagon once again. We eat a pretty steady of these items so I was happy to note recently that there single serving bags of raw hulled hemp seeds out there. The perfect amount for a breakfast addition. If you haven’t had them stirred into oatmeal (oats, dried fruit, a little sweetener) you don’t know what you are missing. They are crunchy, buttery and very tasty. And single serving mean you will have them fresh each time. It might seem crazy, but if you like other raw nuts you will love these. And they are a great addition to a healthy diet while hiking!

Want to see other ideas using hulled hemp seeds? That are trail ready? Here you go!

Date Walnut Energy Bars

PB and Oat Bites

~Sarah

In October of 2010 I wrote a blog post about Miles Outside and their great line of dehydrated baby/toddler foods. Walker really enjoyed having it on our hikes. With us having our third son recently (he is 7 weeks old today!), Courtney sent me a box with a surprise:

Miles has gorgeous new packaging . It is smaller, more flexible and lighter – and I love the new whimsical design. Plus the food is even better looking! In a couple months Alistaire will be old enough to try it so expect a review then. Until then, if you have wee ones, Miles Outside is a great item to stash in both your kid carrier and in your trailhead vehicle!

~Sarah

I have enjoyed many of Navitas Naturals products, using them often in my at-home recipes (and energy bars) so I was looking forward to trying out their Power Snack line.We were sent the Blueberry Hemp to try:

Taking the best of their products they came up with 3 flavors of soft “bites” to enjoy. The bags are 8 ounces and have 8 servings (each is 1 ounce), The pieces are rough cut, some big, some small, so if one cares they might want to weigh out each helping. It isn’t cheap at $8.99 a bag but you are getting quality for what you pay for. They are gluten free, raw, vegan and organic. It is a nice way to introduce for example, chia seeds into your diet. In treats they don’t seem so scary!

My kids enjoy them but they are used to Mom making raw treats with seeds/nuts. I’ll be honest here – if your idea of trail treats is Ho Ho’s, Snickers and Pop Tarts these will probably be too “hippy food” tasting. But if you like energy bars, step up! Enjoy the taste of a fresh, vibrant treat rather than soy protein powder packed into a bar….and I know…junk food tastes good but your body will love you if you explore new foods (and after awhile the junk food doesn’t taste as good!). And these bites are excellent tasting.

Ingredients: date paste, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, dried blueberries, sesame seeds, hemp powder, maca powder, lucuma powder, maqui powder, natural blueberry flavor, camu camu powder – yum!

~Sarah

FTC Disclaimer: We received products for potential review.

Catching Up

Hey everyone – Kirk is doing an overhaul on Trailcooking so the website is down for now. He did get the blog mostly done for me so I can at least post updates! But no fear, we will get the site back up. Just a bit harder with a two year old and a 6 week old all wanting attention – hah!

Meanwhile if you need to email me for any help you can get in contact with us through our other website, GazingIn, which is my personal blog.

~Sarah

PS: I had a great weekend attending VegFest in Seattle and came home with a zillion new products to review on both blogs – so many new trail treats! Keep an eye out for them.

Keep an eye out in the cereal aisle for the new Quaker Real Medleys™ oatmeal cups (so new they are not on their website yet). The cups seem to be Quakers answer to Starbucks and other companies fancy cups of instant oatmeal that sell at a premium price. The cups are instant oats fancied up with the addition of premium nuts, fruits, berries and flavorings. Is it worth it? Maybe. If you are in a rush to plan a trip you can pick up a convenient breakfast and not even have to worry about packing a bowl. You could of course make a similar breakfast cheaper at home in bulk,  but that would mean you have to have a well stocked pantry. Something to consider.

There are 4 flavors: Cherry Pistachio Jubilee, Summer Berry Blend, Country Apple Walnut and Peach Almond Grove.

They stand out from instant oats by the addition of barley and rye, giving the oatmeal a nice chewy texture.

The cups:

The oats are full size, not finely ground:

Add boiling water, stir and let sit for 3 minutes (it takes about 1/3 cup but for thinner go to 1/2 cup, it thickens up quite a bit when cooling):

The taste tester:

The 2 year old (Walker) really enjoyed it:

Amazon has all the varieties listed (Quaker Real Medleys) but they are not selling yet.

~Sarah