 Camping is cool.🏕️ Bonding with nature, unplugging and disconnecting from technology. I see the value in camping. I really do. Glamping though .... glamping is campings glamorous cousin who shows up with a memory foam mattress, an indoor toilet and a warm shower.😅 It's also a great compromise when someone who loves camping marries someone who doesn't especially enjoy sleeping on the ground.😅 We glamped our way through Utah a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. Until I started researching, I had no idea that there were so many cool glamping options. We stayed in cabins, yurts and safari tents - some of them more rustic and closer to real camping than others - but they were all amazing - and had indoor plumbing.😉 Our first glamping experience out west was in a safari tent at Under the Canvas Sky. Our "tent" had a shower, a bathroom, a wood burning stove for heat and a king sized bed. It also had canvas walls so I feel like it still solidly fell into the "glamping" category. 🤣
We also stayed in a luxury yurt along our journey through Utah. This yurt featured a full kitchen, a modern bathroom (with fluffy white robes) and an indoor and an outdoor shower.
All of our glamping experiences had one thing in common - epic star gazing!🌌 There were millions of stars in the sky every night and my only regret is that we were so exhausted from our hikes every day that we couldn't stay awake to enjoy them longer.🥱
From dark skies to dark chocolate tortes. (How's that for a smooth transition?🤣) I went through a phase when I was making this Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Ganache Torte for everyone. 😅 I served it at three dinner parties in a row to dairy and non-dairy eaters alike.😬 It's quick and easy to make and it's crazy good. 
Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Ganache Torte 150 g digestive biscuits 6 Tablespoons dairy free butter 1/4 cup superfine sugar 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate, chopped
 Sprinkle chocolate shavings around edges. Refrigerate 4 hours.  
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 Bryce --- Hikes --- and Baguettes. Bryce, Bryce baby!! Two weeks ago I hiked Bryce canyon and if you've never been - picture the biggest, most amazing sand castle you've ever seen in the most intense, vibrant colors you can imagine.😮 Life sized sculptures complete with towers, tunnels and moats! ⛫
We hiked all the way to the bottom of this giant canyon which meant that we also had to hike all the way back up to the top again.🥾😰 It was hot and it was steep but it was totally worth it. Every. Single. Step. The scenery on this trail was incredible, I think I took 300 pictures in under 2 hours.🤣😬 The struggle of trying to capture the entire panorama of this place was real.😅
I enjoy hiking and when I'm surrounded by amazing scenery like this - I enjoy it even more. I also fully enjoy the pre hike ritual of carbo loading. Did I mention that my hikes are powered by bread and sugar?🤣 If you've got a hike in your future - I highly recommend that you make a batch of baguettes and turn them into packable sub sandwiches. Subway and Jimmy John's got nothing on these homemade baguettes.😉 😅 They're crusty on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. The perfect fuel for long hike.  Rustic French Baguettes 500 g bread flour 360 g water 12 g salt 3 g instant yeast 25 g honey
   Reduce heat to 450. Remove roasting pan and bake another 5 minutes.  Ciao!
 There’s something deeply humbling about standing on the porch of a tiny cabin in Utah while a buffalo watches me from across the pasture like he's staring into my soul.😳😂  We spent a night on a buffalo ranch near Zion National Park and within approximately 10 minutes of arriving - I decided that ranch life. was for me.🤣 Sure, I don't know how to mend fences, herd anything or even how to mount a horse by myself but I have cowboy boots and a hat so that should count for something.😉👢🤠 Our cabin was exactly what I dreamed of when I booked the “cozy ranch retreat.” Wooden walls, warm quilts, a sky full of a million stars and the kind of peaceful silence you only get when your nearest neighbors are horses, puppies, chickens and some mild mannered buffalo.
Staying on the ranch felt like nature’s version of slow motion. The animals were both entertaining and calming at the same time. I'm still surprised that Ben didn't come home with that adorable, fluffy white puppy in his carry on luggage.🐶😅  Maybe it was the abundance of fresh air or the random chickens running across my path on the way to the cabin but being on the ranch made me absolutely ravenous. Thankfully, our bison ranch was also home to a cozy farm to table restaurant. 😋 In case you're curious - no, I didn't order the bison ragu pasta while watching the animals wander through the pasture from my table. 😅 If I'm going to fully embrace the ranch life, I'm going to have to forgo my usual morning granola bar and learn to eat a big hearty breakfast instead. Hello - Cream cheese sausage balls! These delicious, grab and go protein packed energy bites are super easy to fix and they're freezable so make extra!😉 I'm pretty sure that all good ranch hands are eating sausage balls for breakfast every morning.🤣  Cream Cheese Sausage Balls 1 pound sausage 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 3 cups Bisquick baking mix 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
 Ciao!
 Some people take luxury cruises, some people book spa vacations - apparently, I'm more of a drive 1800 miles through the state of Utah to stare at very old, very impressive rocks kind of person. ⛰️ Different strokes for different folks.🤣 Yes, we paid no less than $5.00 for every gallon of gas on this epic road trip but I have no regrets. It was an incredible trip. Zion National Park is what happens when God shows off. It is pure magic - that's the best way that I know to describe it to people who haven't seen it for themselves. The mountains in Zion are humbling. They're majestic, stately and striking and we climbed up to the tops and walk through the streams at the bottoms.
I hiked, I sweated, I gasped and I took approximately 1000 photos of rocks.😂 Vacation rocks.🤣 
He hiked a LOT during our tour of Utah's Mighty 5. 30,000 steps a day made fueling up every morning, even more important. We took full advantage of our calorie burning hikes and jump started our mornings with "Big 'Ol Cinnamon Rolls."😂 Now that we're back home, it's back to more reasonable protein packed morning meals. These Gruyere and Bacon Egg Bites are perfect for great for hiking through the dessert or just an ordinary Tuesday. Make extra and freeze them so they're always handy when you need a healthy breakfast on the go.  Gruyere and Bacon Egg Bites 8 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 10.5 ounces cottage cheese 2/3 cup gruyere cheese, shredded 4 slices bacon, cooked and diced small
 Bake 25 minutes at 325.  Ciao!
 I've always been apprehensive about posting Mexican recipes on my blog because I know that I've got followers that probably cringe at my Italian/Southern take on Mexican cuisine.😅🇲🇽 It's not that I don't have access to authentic recipes or the right ingredients - we actually have an amazing Mexican grocery store in my little Georgia town and I've taken a cooking lesson in Mexico!
So why is it that I'm still nervous about sharing my Chilaquiles Verdes recipe? In a nutshell - I have a tendency to cut corners and do things the Amy-way and not necessarily the traditional Mexican way.😅😬 Traditional Chilaquiles Verdes is made from lightly fried corn tortillas covered in a bright and flavorful salsa verde and topped with Cotija cheese, Mexican crema and cilantro. Sounds delicious, right? It really is. And pretty straight forward: fry the tortillas, make the salsa and add toppings.  Instead of just trusting the process though, as soon as I read through this recipe my brain started to devise ways of making Chilaquiles Verdes more efficiently.🤣🙃🤷🏻♀️ I decided that it would be easier if I fried whole tortillas instead of frying individual triangles or better yet, I could just use a bag of tortilla chips and skip the frying altogether. Like I said: cutting corners is where I lose the authenticity. It should be no surprise to anyone that my steps to simplify my Chilaquiles Verdes - backfired.🙃 I tried frying whole tortillas and ended up with a crumbly mess when I tried to cut them. And in case you're curious, if you use bagged tortilla chips for this recipe you end up with soggy nachos. So after my two failed attempts, I finally decided to ignore my inner voice that was shouting at me to do it "my way" and I followed the recipe as it was written. (Thank you Cook's Illustrated) I'm so happy that I did. I guess the reason that traditional Chilaquiles Verdes is so delicious is because it's been made this exact same way for a very long time. 🤣  Chilaquiles Verdes 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas 1 quart canola oil 1 1/4 pounds tomatillos, husks and stems removed 2 serrano chilies, halved and seeded 2 white onion, sliced thin 3/4 cup cilantro 2 cloves garlic 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup water 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon 1/2 cup queso fresco, crumbled 3 Tablespoons Mexican crema
 Add chips and salsa to bowl. Toss until coated.  Transfer to platter. Top with queso fresco, crema, 1/4 cup onion and 1/4 cup cilantro.
Ciao! |
