Arizona the Beautiful

Well, we're back from Arizona. What an awesome trip! I didn't expect Arizona to be so mountainous and beautiful. I thought the Arizona desert would be dry, flat and sandy. I was pleasantly surprised!

We flew in Thursday morning (the 4th) to Phoenix and took a cab to my cousins' place just 5 miles south of the airport. We spent the afternoon lounging in the sun reading books on their patio and enjoyed some homemade Mac and Cheese and iced tea for lunch while we waited for Charity and Rick to get home from work.

Friday, Rick drove us up South Mountain overlooking Phoenix on one side and then up and around to the other side, which overlooks Ahwatukee. What a contrast! Then Charity took us to Papago Park, which had these really cool hills. We climbed one and enjoyed the view.

Saturday, Charity took us kayaking on Canyon Lake in the Tonto National Forest. That was really enjoyable. We found this little inlet and parked the kayak while we ate our lunch and hiked around. There was a rushing stream that we followed back quite a ways, and we were the only ones there. It was like we were discovering something no one else knew about (even though we knew that wasn't true). It was so nice to breathe in the crisp air and enjoy God's beautiful creation. Driving there and back was enjoyable as well -- the Tonto National Forest is gorgeous, especially the Superstition Mountains. That evening, we went out to eat at Rustler's Rooste, a cool cowboy style restaurant.We didn't leave hungry, that's for sure.


Sunday, we went to church with Charity -- Palm Valley Church -- and heard a great sermon about the End Times. Planning to listen to the full series online. Then Charity and I went shopping while Matt hung out at their place. We had Super Bowl apps for dinner and played some Uno. Good day.

Monday morning, we got up and left for Sedona in our rental car. We stopped for breakfast at Einstein Bros, one of Matt and my favorite things to do. Delicious, as usual. From there, we went to Cottonwood. Matt had agreed to stop and help a gift shop with some computer issues they were having, so we hung out there for a couple hours and then they took us out for lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Great food. The shop owner also gave me a Woodwick candle. :)

From there, we took the scenic route to Sedona and drove along Oak Creek Canyon.. The red rocks of Sedona contrasted with the blue sky was so beautiful. We got out and parked and some nice women gave us their parking pass, good for the duration of our time there. What a blessing! We walked around the Oak Creek Canyon area and enjoyed the beautiful views and some moderate off-trail hiking. Glad I remembered to bring our tripod so we could get some nice pics of the two of us. After an hour or two in the Oak Creek Canyon area, we headed to our hotel. It was decent -- can't complain for $79. We went for dinner at a family-owned Italian Place just south of our hotel. We both had antipasto salad and meat & cheese ravioli with red sauce. Very good! At dinner, we were talking about our plans for the next day and decided to get up before sunrise (on vacation?!?) to hike up Cathedral Rock. What an experience. We both loved it -- this was the absolute highlight of our trip. It was the hardest hike I've ever done, with not much of a "trail" and a lot of hard spots to navigate. We were racing the sun to get to the top, so the first part of the hike was pretty exhausting. My heart was just pounding in my chest and I was out of breath. The first leg was the hardest terrain. It took about an hour to reach the top, and we made it in time to see the sun come over the top of the red rock in the distance. It was the most rewarding physical activity I've ever done -- simply amazing. The view was incredible, it was so serene, and we were completely alone. It was like we owned it. A memory I will cherish forever. The hike down was less intense from an aerobic perspective, but a little scarier because it was harder to grip the rocks going down. We made it though, with no injuries and a camera full of great memories.

We checked out of our hotel and headed toward the Grand Canyon. We were planning to go to Lava River Cave on the way up, but when we got to where the road was supposed to be, there was only a 3 foot tall snow bank! I guess they hadn't gotten around to plowing it, or maybe it's closed in the winter...so we continued on to the Grand Canyon. What an amazing sight! It was breathtaking. I teared up a bit when I first saw it. There are no words to describe its beauty. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there and toward the end, it got really hazy and actually began hailing! Thank goodness we got there when we did so we had a chance to see it before visibility became so low!

On the way back down to Phoenix, just southeast of the Grand Canyon about 10 miles, we stopped at a "scenic overlook" and saw another canyon. We don't know what the name of it is, but it was amazing too. It had a 1,000 ft sheer drop with only a guardrail. And we were along looking at it. To me, there is just something extra special about seeing something that isn't a typical "touristy" thing, but rather something you stumble upon yourself and experience alone. I love that!

We got back to Phoenix Tuesday evening in time for dinner with Charity and Rick, and we packed our things and headed to bed fairly early. Our flight was originally going to be at 4:30 in the afternoon the next day, but we were missing Evan so much we decided to try flying standby. It worked! We got home around 3:30 p.m. and Evan was waiting for us with my mom when we arrived. It was so good to see him -- it's crazy how much we missed him.

Matt and I had such a great time on this trip. The hike up Cathedral Rock inspired us to take up hiking as a regular hobby, so we'll be looking to do some hikes this year locally. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Here is a link to the photos Matt uploaded to Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157224&id=638686556&ref=mf.

Not sure if you have to be friends with Matt to see it...

Enjoy!

Goodbye winter, hello sunshine!

Matt and I are headed to Phoenix early tomorrow morning for a long-overdue vacation. Evan will be staying with my parents for the week while Matt and I enjoy some hiking, kayaking, movie going, southwest eating, Grand Canyon gazing and cave exploring in Phoenix and the surrounding area.

We are going from 20 degree weather to 60-70 degree weather, and I cannot wait! See you next week...

Pantry challenge: what I learned

Well, I am true to form and did not write down everything we ate this month like I had planned. Life gets in the way and good intentions aren't good enough. But, I did pretty well with not buying much food this month, and we also didn't go out to eat very often at all. We had one dinner out as a family at Chipotle (Matt's favorite), but that was the only meal out this month that came from our main joint account. Not too shabby! :)

As for the grocery bill, I know I spent well under $100 this month on food, and I definitely had a focus on making good meals from what we had for my family. The cupboards are a bit more bare, the freezer is a little less full, and the refrigerator is definitely on the empty side -- just in time for us to be gone for a week on vacation of Phoenix!

This challenge has turned into something else for me, too -- I have become more committed to cooking more from scratch and buying less prepared foods. I don't buy very many prepared foods in the general sense of what people would normally think -- you know the stuff: all-in-one box dinners, Lean Cuisines, etc. I do have some boxes of Mac n Cheese, frozen pizzas, stuff like that. But what I didn't think of as prepared foods previously, I now see as a culprit for added sodium, preservatives, and other stuff our bodies simply don't need. I'm taking about (some) canned veggies, condensed soups like cream of mushroom, tomato, etc, canned beans, store-bought bread -- the kind of stuff we cook "from scratch" with, without actually having to make everything from scratch. You follow me? So, I am now challenging myself to use freshly prepared foods, fresh or frozen produce, fresh bread, etc whenever I can. Fresh, fresh, fresh. That's my new mantra. That doesn't mean I'll never cook with or eat prepared foods, nor do I think it's wrong or bad if you do. I am just choosing to make a commitment to thinking about fresh foods wherever I can and incorporating them more and more into our diets. We will still eat the occasional frozen pizza and box of Mac n Cheese. I'm sure some of Matt's and my lunches we bring to work will be Marie Callender or other frozen dinner. But I have seen the value in knowing everything that is in my food. And enjoying it that much more because of it.

I have started a new blog to chronicle my adventures in cooking from scratch: http://gardenvarietykitchen.blogspot.com. I'll be using this site to archive my recipes and modifications to existing ones, give tips and ideas on how to transition to cooking more foods from scratch in your own kitchen, some basic to advanced cooking techniques, and more.

This is not a site that will emphasize low-fat or low-carb recipes, but rather will focus on non-artificial eating and savoring good, fresh and wholesome foods. I hope you'll join me on my journey to more healthful eating.

EFTPC: January 9-14

Okay, I might not remember every day here, but I'll try.

January 9
Bought some groceries today in order to prepare an appetizer for our cousins get together at my parents house. Had to buy artichoke hearts and green onions to make my artichoke dip. Yum!

Breakfast

• Cereal

Lunch

• Turkey sandwiches
• Clementines 

Dinner
At my parents' house

• Shepherd's pie
• Sweet potatoes

January 10
This was a bad, bad eating day. I was so stressed out with trying to get the house ready to go on the market, I barely ate. And paid for it later with lightheadedness.

Breakfast

• Granola bar

Lunch/Dinner at 3:30 p.m.

• Frozen blueberry waffles
• Bacon

Dessert
At small group

• Angel food cake with fruit and whipped cream

Not my proudest food day.

January 11


Breakfast

• Toast with peanut butter
  

Lunch
Don't remember...

Dinner

• Pizza party at Jasmine's -- Jet's Pizza. Delicious!
  

January 12


Breakfast

• Cereal
  

Lunch

• Punch Pizza with some lovely ladies

Dinner
Panera with Becky

• 1/2 Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich

January 13

Breakfast

• Mini quiche
  

Lunch

• Other 1/2 Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich
• 2 clementines
  

Dinner

• Chicken enchiladas from the freezer
• Ice cream

Phew! I can't believe I remembered as much as I did.

Now for today.

January 14

Breakfast

• Cereal

Lunch

• TBD
  

Dinner
Amanda & Rachel Christmas get together at my house

• Lasagna
• Homemade bread
  

EFTPC: January 7 & 8

January 7

Breakfast

• Homemade bread with peanut butter
• 1 clementine
  

Lunch

• Frozen chicken pot pie
• 1 clementine
  

Dinner

• Chicken ala King on biscuits
• Biscuit with crab apple jelly
  

January 8


Breakfast

• Wheaties with milk
  

Lunch

• Lunch at Michele's: Chili and hummus with multigrain chips (delicious!)
  

Dinner

• Pork roast sandwich
• Frozen veggies
  

EFTPC: January 5 & 6

You all may or may not care what I eat, but I thought it would be fun to look back on what we ate this month. So, I'm going to try to document what I make. I might also use this space to try to meal plan for the week starting next week.

January 5

Breakfast

• Home-canned peaches
• Homemade bread with peanut butter

Lunch

• Some more of that delicious Ham and Bean soup
• Some more homemade bread

Dinner

• I actually went out for dinner for a business networking event and had some yummy pizza from Angeno's. Matt and his mom made Mac & Cheese with chicken and peas at home.

January 6

Breakfast

• Oatmeal

Lunch

• Leftover soup
• Leftover Mac & Cheese

Dinner

• Pork roast sandwich (pork from freezer, homemade bread)
  

Eat from the pantry challenge

One of the blogs I read regularly is hosting a challenge for the month of January -- to eat from your pantry and buy very few, if any, groceries. So, I decided to give it a try. I am still going to buy some groceries, like milk and fruit, and if I need one or two ingredients to make a meal made up of mostly pantry items, I will do that. The idea of this is to use up and eat what you already have on hand -- in the cupboards, fridge, and freezer. I have a lot in the freezer right now -- we shared a 1/2 pig with some family so we have a lot of pork, plus several freezer meals I had made, including enchiladas, chicken ala king, turkey pot pie, soups, breads, pancakes, and more. I also have some things in my cupboards to use.

Last night, I heated some frozen Ham and Bean Soup and homemade bread from the freezer.

It's a good month to do this for us, since we are going on a trip to Arizona the beginning of February. The money I save on groceries will help balance out the remaining cost of the trip.

Speaking of our trip, I am so excited to be able to go to Arizona! We are going February 4-10 and are staying with my cousin and her husband for most of the trip, with a one-night hotel stay in Sedona as we head up to the Grand Canyon. We will explore the Sedona area Monday, and then Tuesday morning we will get up early and continue on up to the Grand Canyon for the rest of the day. Our out of pocket cost for the trip (for airfare, one night hotel, and three day car rental) is $269, thanks to our Cash Back Bonus with Discover and being able to stay with my cousin for the majority of the trip. Evan will be staying with my parents, so this vacation will be a special time for Matt and me to relax and enjoy our time together without constantly chasing after our sweet and very active little boy! I know we will miss him terribly, but he will have fun with Grandma and Grandpa!