Canoe Trip Eats! Mabon Stew! & More!

On Sunday, Paul and I, along with our friends Misti and Kevin, went on an 8-mile canoe trip down the Wolf River (including the beautiful, cypress-filled Ghost River section). The Wolf is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and it runs through pure wilderness. It was, hands-down, one of the hardest things I've ever done, not so much physically as mentally. It took waaaaay more mental toughness than any marathon I've run!

The Ghost section is filled with cypress nubs, and the trees growing in the river are very close together. We got stuck so many times. Misti and Kevin flipped their canoe once, and Misti lost a paddle (and her shoes!). We saw a poisonous copperhead snake resting on a tree (one of the few trees we didn't run into in our canoe). We got rained on — hard! And to make it all worse, I had to pee for hours (but there's a stretch of the Ghost where there's no bank to safely dock on for miles and miles). All that said, we had a blast. It's a perfect example of second-degree fun — the kind of fun that doesn't seem fun when you're having it, but when you look back, you're like, "hey, that was fun!"

Before the bank-less stretch, there's a popular picnic spot along a wide bank. We stopped there a couple hours into our trip to snack on sandwiches and chips I'd packed. These had Tofurky Peppered deli slices, Follow Your Heart provolone, Vegenaise, avocado, and tomato. Plus, Sprouts brand Olive Oil Kettle Chips on the side.

On Saturday morning, I biked downtown to my gym for bootcamp, and after class, I biked along the Big River Crossing to Pancho's in West Memphis (not for drinks, just to see how far it was — Paul and I are planning a big Pancho's ride together soon!). To fuel that workout and bike trip, I had a pre-workout Dave's Killer Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Vanilla Almond Butter and Coconut Butter. Cold brew on the side.

On Thursday, I celebrated Mabon — a traditional harvest holiday — with Barley Mushroom Soup and Rosemary Bread with vegan butter. Wheat and other grains are highlighted at this mid-season holiday, so this was a perfect meal. I toasted to the sunset with a glass of cab sauv. After dinner, I harvested some elderberries from my backyard bush, so my dad and I can use them to make wine!

And here's my breakfast today! I made the Crazy Mixed-Up Nut Butter from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook. You take a jar of peanut butter and mix in chopped mixed nuts (I used a mix with brazil nuts, cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, and peanuts), chia, flax, and pumpkin seeds. This was a really yummy breakfast!