I’ve been doing my best to make bread every week, but since returning from Ohio, the loaf making has ceased! This needs to change soon, but first we must eat the most amazing rye bread I’ve ever tasted. Thank you Great Harvest.

Chris + I planned on going for a hike this morning and the weather couldn’t have been better. Fall is definitely my favorite Colorado season!

The following samiches were packed: rye bread + homemade pnut butter + ground flax meal + jelly

Awesome mid-hike fuel! This clocks in close to 500 calories, 17g protein, 13g fiber, and 18g fat.

We headed just outside of Ft. Collins, about 15min from home, to Horsetooth Mountain Park. We hiked a 6 mile out + back on Horsetooth Mountain Trail.

The first half of the hike was all UP. 1500 vertical feet UP to be exact! INtense!

This is Horsetooth Rock. See where the rock breaks off and then in the center it sort of looks like 2 teeth?

About 3/4 of the way up I tore into the samich.

View from snacking area. This is looking back at Fort Collins, which is just beyond that reservoir.

180* turned from that view is this view, looking West, at the Rockies.

love love love

After hiking further and getting to the top, we realized we went up at the wrong spot. We could tell because there were hikers continuing past where we turned off down below. Oops!

This is what we did wrong…We were supposed to continue on the line of the green path but instead went up the red path, to the left. It was a pretty steep, crawling + climbing hike to the top. Coming down was really sketchy, but we finally made it!

We were supposed to be up where that guy is in the photo below. Probably a much safer route and a tad easier. Ohhhh well :)

I rocked the Vibram 5 Fingers the whole way and loved how stable I felt. Typically, when wearing hiking shoes or boots, I roll my ankles at least a few times. These were much more responsive and made me feel much more connected to the ground below. Although the one negative to hiking in the VFF’s, is stepping on rocks. It is bearable but after awhile just makes the bottoms of your feet pretty sore. I made it the whole way, but did have shoes as back up. I can tell that my ankles + foot muscles got a superb workout!

Going down was much quicker, but still really hard because it’s a constant jarring motion going down the entire way. You really start to feel it in your quads and calves, from stepping toe-first. Between biking, swimming and this hike, my legs have been the most sore + tired from this hike! It took us about 2.5hrs to complete, with a 10min break at the top and extra time for crawling up + down the top, hehe.

We had a week of good eats, so dinner tonight was leftovers.

I made this Red Lentil Soup, from 101 Cookbooks, a few days ago. Chris + I both loved it!

After washing the lentils, in my wire mesh strainer, I dumped them into a bowl. I had to snap a photo because they held the shape of the strainer perfectly!! LOVE this!! So vivid!

This soup was composed of simple ingredients and simple flavors which resulted in something fabulous.

This was full of flavor and extremely simple to cook. I might even say this is full-proof. It really is a simple recipe!

I topped it with Organic Valley Extra Sharp White Cheddar [the best!] and my rosemary garlic roasted pumpkin seeds.

I’m not even sure I would call this a soup. It was extremely thick, in a good way. If you want it soupier, you can always add more broth. The lentils softened but were not mushy and the brown rice kept a bit of it’s crunch. Definitely making this again!