life is good today: work and play

After two weeks of staff training at Catamount Institute, the summer camps finally started this week! This week, we've been leading Creepy Crawly Safari for 6-8 year olds. It's been so much fun, and so exhausting! The work environment (people, place, activity) is so much fun, and way more my style than last summer! We went on a backpacking trip off of Old Stage Road, and we visited all of our sites where we take kids. I'm definitely getting an insider look into the "real people" outdoorsy crowd of Colorado Springs--and I'm pretty pumped about it!

julia and jesse caught a little fish!

at red rocks group out of woodland park

colorado spring's mini-utah!

with jesse and tracy at red rocks

Jesse reading a story to the campers

summer staff at the Cave Sim!

I have been struggling with the fact that my internship is unpaid. There are sooo many perks...I'm working with amazing people, doing amazing things (rafting, climbing, backpacking), and learning so much...but not making money is worrying me a little bit. Living sure does add up! So I'm scheming to make some money this summer... if you have any ideas please let me know!

Of course, I've been cooking a lot! Lots of veggies are in season in Colorado right now, and I'm taking full advantage. In addition to shopping at Mountain Mama, I get part of a Venetucci Farm share. I've been shopping smart in order to avoid waste and get the most out of what I'm buying--I even shared my smart shopping expertise the other day to an excited friend! The Venetucci share is fantastic even though the farm is just bouncing back from an awful hailstorm that hit last week (my lettuce has some holes in it). My good friend Mel (pictured below) is an intern at the CC Student Farm, so that's where I get my eggs and whatever else they have in excess.

farmer mel

Let's see what have I been cooking?...

I recently re-discovered cooking with coconut oil (healthier than olive oil at high heat) and have been reheating rice and frying eggs with it...YUM!
Miso paste--Mel told me about this one. It makes great dressing (with oil and water/lemon juice), and makes it easy to make miso soup!
Salad, salad, and more salad. I love salad.
Cabbage salad is another favorite--cabbage is durable and can be stored for a while without going bad. It goes great with carrots, cucumbers, and onion! Add miso dressing too!
Homemade lara bars (mine are called Sarah bars) are super easy to make, and WAY more cost effective than buying individual bars. Just use a food processor to mix up dried dates, any nuts you like, chocolate (duh), and anything else you like! It's about $2 for one Lara Bar, and I made 12 for about $10! You can too!
I've stopped buying bread because it's just too easy to make. So if I want it, I have to make it. Baguettes are easy (3.5 cups flour, 2 teaspoons salt, 1.5 teaspoons yeast, and however much water you need; bake at 400 for 20 minutes). Flour tortillas are also super easy to make, and they're fantastic for breakfast burritos. I adore this recipe I discovered last summer, and have been wanting to make variations (herb and garlic infusions) of it.
Chocolate Avocado Cake. Sounds weird, but actually so delicious! It's a vegan cake, so the avocado acts as an egg/butter substitute. It has an amazing texture and consistency. A highly carnivorous friend couldn't get enough of it the other night!

CHOCOLATE AVOCADO CAKE

Last but not least: the summertime adventures are sweet, and I've been lucky to have so many great friends living in Colorado Springs too. Last weekend, I went to Snowmass for the Chili Pepper and Brew Fest with a bunch of ladies (see below). It was awesome. Great music (Galactic, Gogol Bordello), delicious chili (I even got to judge the red chili competition for the International Chili Society's regional competition), and fantastic beer (microbreweries from all over Colorado). I also went to a This Must Be the Band (Talking Heads cover band that was so good!) show in Aspen.