I had today off, so I took the opportunity to take another hike. This time I made it up the small hill I had hiked earlier this week, and then I proceeded to hike up the next higher hill. Boy, let me just say that I am very out of shape. I stopped at least ten times going up the hill, and it is not very steep. I have a lot of work to do to get in better shape to conquer the next mountain. Once I got up to the top, I hiked along the range, then back to the dirt road which lead to where I had parked. I think I hiked at least three miles this morning! The picture above is of Four Peaks, which is one of the mountains I would like to hike.
As I was hiking, I was thinking about how low impact it is on the environment. Humans have hiked from the dawn of time, and it is just recently (the last one hundred years) that humans have stopped hiking or walking. It is nothing for us to just jump in our car or truck and drive three blocks to the grocery store (At least it is here in Phoenix), and yes I am just as guilty and out of shape as the next person. This is something I will have to work on.
Here is a picture of the Estrella Mountains from the top of the hill I hiked this morning.
Since today was my last vacation day for the year, (Our company renews at our hiring anniversary date, so I get more vacation time in two weeks) I decided to celebrate by making pancakes. Now, I have made pancakes, only one other time in my life, and if I remember correctly, they were a disaster. So, since this is a culinary adventure blog, I decided to "veganize" buttermilk pancakes. I got the recipe from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. Here is the original recipe list, with my alterations on the side:
Butter Milk Pancakes
1 cup buttermilk (I used vanilla soy milk with 1 TBSP vinegar stirred into it which sat for ten minutes)
1 egg, room temperature ( I used Energ Egg Replacer, this is the first time I have ever used this product, or ever tried to replace an egg with any replacement)
3 TBSP Butter (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
(Here are my instructions, basically following the recipe instructions as listed in the book)
Combine all the liquids in a mixing bowl (Egg replacer, soymilk, and butter) mix until smooth.
Combine all the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder) mix until well combined.
I added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, until all the ingredients were moist. The batter was lumpy, but the recipe instructions say to leave it lumpy.
Heat a skillet until hot, grease lightly (I used Earth Balance) I poured 1/4 cup batter into pan and waited for all the little bubbles started to pop at the top (about a minute and a half), then I turned the pancake and cooked the other side about a minute longer.
Here is a blurry picture of my pancake cooking in the pan.
I made three golden pancakes, and refrigerated the rest of the batter to use this weekend. I also microwaved two Boca Meatless Breakfast Links to accompany my soymilk pancakes. I poured a little bit of real maple syrup on to these golden goodies and had a feast. This is my first time with soy sausage, and I think I liked them, I think I will have to get used to the taste.
The rest of the day I rested, then we went to Baja Fresh for dinner. I got the grilled veggie burrito and then we went and saw The Bourne Ultimatum which was very awesome, I think the best movie I have seen this summer.
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