Trail Mix Cookie Recipe

Trail Mix Cookies. Yumm! These are chock full of healthy ingredients to keep up your energy when you need a little afternoon snack or continued energy on a longer hike.

They are dairy, egg, sugar, and gluten free! Yay! Why do so many Jews have food allergies? Maybe it is just my friends.

You'll have to make them ahead of time unless you have a camping oven.



Trail Mix Cookies [adapted from 101 Cookbooks] yields ~20 ping pong sized cookies

• 1.5 large bananas
• 1t vanilla
• 2T unrefined coconut oil, softened 
• 3/4c rolled oats
• 1/4c buckwheat flour [can grind buckwheat groats]
• 1/4c almond meal [finely ground almonds]
• 2T ground flax meal
• 2T raw buckwheat groats
• 1/4c chopped almonds
• 2T almond milk
• 3T unsweetened finely shredded coconut
• 1/4c currants [or raisins]
• 1/4c apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2t cinnamon
• 1/4t salt
• 1/2t baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. In a large bowl mash bananas with a fork, until very wet and egg-like.
3. Mash in coconut oil, vanilla, and almond milk until well combined.
4. Add oats, buckwheat flour, almond meal, flax meal, coconut, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.
5. Stir until just combined.
6. Add buckwheat groats, chopped almonds, chopped apricots and currants.
7. Fold in until combined.
8. Spoon dough into ping pong size balls and place on a parchment lined pan.  The dough will be quite wet, but they should be able to hold a ball shape.
9. Bake for 12-14min.  For a soft interior bake 12min.
10. Let cool on pan for 5min, then transfer to a cooling rack.
11. Let fully cool, before storing in an airtight container.

*No need to buy expensive almond flour.  You can grind almonds to a fine powder in a blender, coffee grinder or food processor.  The same goes for buckwheat groats.  Just be careful not to over-process the almonds, or you will get almond butter!

*Feel free to add 1-3T of pure cane sugar if you want a sweeter cookie.  Honestly though, with the dried fruit, this was quite sweet.

*If you want to add chocolate, add about 1/4c chocolate chips.

Oh…and if you put coconut butter on the hot cookies, it melts and then hardens when it cools.  So you have a nice little coconut shell on top.  How perfect.  Breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner…you can’t go wrong with these.

recipe source: EdiblePerspective.com
photo credit: 101Cookbooks.com

Alma: highest Tides in the World

Welcome to Alma, New Brunswick. They are the closest town to Fundy National Park. As you can see, they claim to be home to the highest tides in the world.

We only went to Alma to buy some groceries and have a little ice cream break, but I did hope that we would get a chance to see Alma at low tide. And guess what? Hashem didn't disappoint us!

I could already see that the water was slowly coming back to the shore, and in just a few hours, these colorful boats would be floating at pier level again.

READ: Last Child In The Woods

I have been wanting to read Richard Louv's book, Last Child In The Woods for several years now, so I grabbed it when I saw it at my local library. The cover of the book says "Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder". Hmmm...nature deficit disorder. I like it. It kind of sums up some of my issues about the disconnect that kids today have with nature. What I didn't know is how much more serious this disconnect was.

He writes about how Harvard professor of education, Howard Gardner, developed his influential theory of multiple intelligence.. Gardner proposed seven types of intelligence which included: linguistic (word smart), logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart), spatial (picture smart), bodily-kinesthetic (body smart), musical (music smart), interpersonal (people smart), and intrapersonal (self smart).  Recently he added an eighth intelligence called naturalist intelligence (nature smart).

Children with a strong intelligence in this area have keen sensory skills, like to be outside, care about plants/animals, notice things about their natural environment that others miss, keep collections of natural objects, and easily notice and classify objects or species in the natural world. Know any kids like that?

One of the other ideas that Louv discussed that was of particular interest to me was that kids need unstructured play space.  It means a natural environment where children are free to explore, create, pretend, build, and take risk without adult supervision. When children are given the trust and space to explore in this way, they develop awareness, responsibility, freedom, ingenuity, and self esteem. Many kids in my parent's generation had these opportunities, but most adults my age didn't have this.

How many of you live in a place where the only play space for your children is a subdivision park with no opportunity for playing in streams, in a small patch of forest, or building play structures like a tree house. Yep, that's my family. I started to read this book just before we went on this camping trip, and it reinforced to me even more that I have to consciously create the opportunity for them to connect with nature. Only a generation or two ago, opportunities for unstructured play happened naturally ( if you didn't grow up in a city), but now we have to make conscious efforts to make it happen.

So imagine my happy surprise when I saw my kids playing in the small patch of forest next to our campsite. And what exactly were they doing?  Collecting stones, sticks, leaves, and other bits and pieces to make homes for the chipmunks. Some of their creations were quite elaborate. One home had a vegetable garden with flowers plugged into the earth. Sweet.

The book also discusses the dependence on electronics, ADHD, and childhood obesity.  For parents interested in these topics, this book will definitely help you open up to new ideas about how we live.

Hoping for Whales!

Waking up to cold morning temps while camping in the summer is sort of a bummer, but it gave me an excuse for something yummy...hot chocolate for breakfast! I fired up the Coleman propane stove, and before I knew it, I had 4 steaming cups of hot chocolate. Mmm...and did it ever hit the spot. It made me feel so cozy that I even decided to start a small campfire to warm up the space where we were sitting, davening, and would eventually have breakfast. I had a tent full of very happy girls. 

As we sat down for breakfast my husband told me that his ma'ariv davening buddy showed up AGAIN! Unbelievable.

The agenda for the day was to explore some of this incredible National Park. We decided to take one of the short hikes down to the coast and to see if we could spot any whales. Well, one can hope! The Bay of Fundy is prime location for whale watching, so why not? Also, they have the highest tides in the world, so if we're lucky, the tide will be out, and we can walk on the ocean floor and explore the tidal pools.

We were picturing a worn dirt path through the forest, but instead we were met with this spectacular view!

 And look at this wooden walkway all the way down to the water. Wow. They take their park pretty seriously over here in Fundy!

There was even a viewfinder. I looked out to search for whales and thought I saw something...maybe not.

                      There were a lot of French speakers at this park, and everything was bilingual.

 "Mommy, why do you have to take so many pictures?!" "Because I want to remember all of this."

 We're all bundled up in 3 layers. Notice my scarf. When you're camping, you don't have to match! Love                             that. Where else would I wear Crocs in public...lavender Crocs.

                                           This is what you see when you emerge from the forest.

                                   Granite folks. Everywhere I looked, I kept seeing counter tops.

 Barnacles look kind of alien and interesting. They were covering a lot of the rocks that we walked on. My daughter had taken off her socks, and as she walk over barnacle covered rocks, those and the little snails (not shown here) were getting crunched up and inside of the front of her Crocs. When she realized it, there was a bit of a freak out. I mean really, who wants barnacle and snail parts smushed over their feet. Icksa!

 You can't see the logo, but he's got my JWRP (Jewish Women's Renaissance Project) backpack on. You have to be pretty comfortable with your masculinity to walk around with a backpack like that.

 There really wasn't any sand on this beach; it was all rocks. What you don't know until you do it, is that walking on rocks for an any time over 5 minutes starts to hurt your feet...especially when you're wearing Crocs. We never did make it all the way to the water's edge, because after 15 minutes of walking on rocks, someone needed to pee. I suppose that is life with kids. Luckily for us, when you walk back up and out of the forest, there is a toilet. How convenient! Did I already say that I love this park? I really love this park!

An Unlikely Minyan

My husband shared a funny story with me about something that happened last night after the girls and I went to bed. My husband realized the he still needed to daven ma'ariv. So there he was, all alone near the dying fire, enveloped in darkness and davening. Suddenly he heard the rustle and crunching of earth coming towards him. He looked out but couldn't see into the blackness. The noise was getting really loud, and he thought, "Well, this is really chutzpadik of someone to not even announce that they are approaching". When he could speak, he said, "hello?", but he received no reply. His eyes were searching the trees and bushes that stood only a few feet in front of him, then suddenly,he saw two shining eyes looking back at him. He was startled and realized that it was probably just a raccoon. Chutzpadik raccoon!

Here is his little shtiebel in the forest. Now, just imagine a  critter standing 2 feet in front of him. Usually animals are afraid of humans (with good reason--brisket anyone?), so I wonder why this one seemed to be drawn to him instead of wary.

Maritime Camping Adventure

For those of you who are not familiar with "the Maritimes" or "Atlantic Canada", here is a map to give you an idea.

To start off our Maritime Camping Adventure, we decided to break up some of the driving time by stopping off at Fundy National Park, since it was on the way. Everyone has their limit about how much time they can drive, but I think somewhere between 6-7 hours is the most that a family can endure for one day.


I made marks on the map where we camped and the route that we planned to take (follow the black line to #1, 2, 3 & 4 on the map). First stop, Fundy National Park. I didn't know anything about Fundy, so I only planned a couple days stopover to rest until we reached our real destinations, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Too bad, because all of New Brunswick is a gorgeous province. It's what I picture in my mind when I think of "camping"; endless forests of evergreens (spruces, pines, etc.) and sapphire blue lakes. So much of the province seems empty and covered in wilderness.

When we finally arrived at the Park, we were captivated by the stunning view of the Bay of Fundy and the surrounding forests. The air was thick with the smell of pine and fresh air.  We stopped off at a lookout point at the entrance to the campground. WOW!

Since we arrived in the evening, we really had to rush to set up camp before it got dark. I had chosen the Point Wolfe Campground (there are two campgrounds in this Nat'l Park) because it was closer to the Bay and therefore colder. I was not prepared for nighttime temperatures in the 50's. Isn't it summer? And why had I not purchased those cute SmartWool socks that I saw in LL Bean?


We set-up the tent and kitchen area quickly. Tuvia got a nice fire going, and the kids achieved their most beloved campfire ritual...you know what I'm going to say; don't you? S'mores!

When I had made my campground reservation, I had put in a request for a site located near the "washroom". That's Canadian for "toilets". And, they took my request pretty seriously, because we were located directly across from the toilets/showers. It's true that there is more foot traffic, since everyone has to go at some point or another, but I found that the convenience of NEVER having to bring my kids there far outweighed the need for a totally private campsite. If you're a Mother of all girls or Father or all boys, you know what I'm talking about!

One of the pluses of this campground was that it was really quiet and empty. It's hard to get all of us to agree on anything, but we all unanimously agreed that this was a great campground! We even considered changing our schedule and reservations. I wandered around and looked at the other sites. So many good sites; 17, 18, 48-52, 61-62, 72, 103-104, 108 and 109.

Camping on Etsy

Camping is very trendy right now. You can see it all over the blogsphere! Here is a little camping themed sighting on Etsy today!