Imagine living in a world of muffins and being a cupcake: not just any cake but a beautiful cupcake. Indeed, you would remarkably be so distinctive, a kind that you would own your stripes and be proud of your uniqueness. In the same degree, now paint a picture of muffin yummies, so outstanding, unique and delicious. However, a lot of muffin lovers have a perception that muffin tins only make muffins. Get it precisely that; in a muffin tin, you can produce vast quantities of standard palatable recipes. The choice isn’t an issue to ponder. In case you purpose for portable meals, or just intend to shake up your regular exercise, it’s an important idea to make food in a muffin tin. Feel free to look into these muffin tin recipes and enjoy your meals.

Granola Cups.

Ever been looking forward to making breakfast more exciting and enjoyable? Here is the perfect breakfast bite.  Extremely nutty, salty and fruity, granola is quite excellent for your meal.  So much versatile, their content is free of vegan, gluten, and sugar. These cups can serve as small pie crusts and can fill with yogurt or fruit for breakfast. Granola cups contain chia seeds that add perfect texture and crunch to the stuff. Chia seeds are fantastic little fun blips loaded with proper nutrients to boost your heart health, energy, and digestive system. They are also essential for weight loss and muscle development.

Ingredients:

Old-fashion oats, unsweetened shredded coconut, Chia seeds, ground cinnamon, fresh melted Coconut oil, sugar-free maple syrup.

Directions:

• Expose the oven to heat up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Apply a non-stick cooking spray to the interior of the muffin tin.
• In a bowl, mix old-fashion oats, unsweetened shredded Coconut, Chia seeds, and ground cinnamon.
• Add the sugar-free maple syrup and the coconut oil; stir correctly to mix.
• Scoop some teaspoons of the oat mixture into the 12 muffin cups.
• Press the oats to the interior, both from the sides and at the bottom. The cups turn out depending on the level of condensation and pressing of the oats.
• Put the pan back for the oats to turn brown at the top edge.
• Withdraw the granola cups from the oven to cool.
• Lift them from the muffin tin.
• Fill them and have fun!

Crab Cake Appetizer.

This muffin recipe has buttery cheese, crab meat, and fresh cylindrical leaves that gives a mild-flavored seasoning. It bakes perfectly to provide you with bites of flavor. The method creates 24 samples of pleasing party goodness.

Ingredients:

Crabmeat, lemon wedges, fresh pounded black pepper, celery salt, dashes hot sauce, large egg white, reduced-fat mayonnaise, large eggs, sliced scallions, fresh wheat breadcrumbs, minced red bell pepper.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven up to 450 degrees; using cooking spray, gently coat a 12-cup muffin pan.
• Combine breadcrumbs, crabmeat, bell pepper, mayonnaise, scallions, eggs, hot sauce, egg white, pepper, and celery salt in a bowl.
• Distribute the mixture amongst the 12 muffin cups.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crispy.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

Vegan Meatloaf Cupcakes.

This recipe is fun and yum package for party food and guests. Vegan Meatloaf Cupcakes have a dollop of mashed potato that appears like frosting. The ketchup along the sides looks crispy and slightly burnt at the top.

Ingredients:

Minced garlic cloves, chopped shallots, red bell pepper, package tempeh, gluten-free oats, sunflower seeds, fresh parsley, tomato paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce, ground chia seeds, salt, dried oregano, dried thyme.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven up to 375 degrees.

Imagine living in a world of muffins and being a cupcake: not just any cake but a beautiful cupcake. Indeed, you would remarkably be so distinctive, a kind that you would own your stripes and be proud of your uniqueness. In the same degree, now paint a picture of muffin yummies, so outstanding, unique and delicious. However, a lot of muffin lovers have a perception that muffin tins only make muffins. Get it precisely that; in a muffin tin, you can produce vast quantities of standard palatable recipes. The choice isn’t an issue to ponder. In case you purpose for portable meals, or just intend to shake up your regular exercise, it’s an important idea to make food in a muffin tin. Feel free to look into these muffin tin recipes and enjoy your meals.

Granola Cups.

Ever been looking forward to making breakfast more exciting and enjoyable? Here is the perfect breakfast bite.  Extremely nutty, salty and fruity, granola is quite excellent for your meal.  So much versatile, their content is free of vegan, gluten, and sugar. These cups can serve as small pie crusts and can fill with yogurt or fruit for breakfast. Granola cups contain chia seeds that add perfect texture and crunch to the stuff. Chia seeds are fantastic little fun blips loaded with proper nutrients to boost your heart health, energy, and digestive system. They are also essential for weight loss and muscle development.

Ingredients:

Old-fashion oats, unsweetened shredded coconut, Chia seeds, ground cinnamon, fresh melted Coconut oil, sugar-free maple syrup.

Directions:

• Expose the oven to heat up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Apply a non-stick cooking spray to the interior of the muffin tin.
• In a bowl, mix old-fashion oats, unsweetened shredded Coconut, Chia seeds, and ground cinnamon.
• Add the sugar-free maple syrup and the coconut oil; stir correctly to mix.
• Scoop some teaspoons of the oat mixture into the 12 muffin cups.
• Press the oats to the interior, both from the sides and at the bottom. The cups turn out depending on the level of condensation and pressing of the oats.
• Put the pan back for the oats to turn brown at the top edge.
• Withdraw the granola cups from the oven to cool.
• Lift them from the muffin tin.
• Fill them and have fun!

Crab Cake Appetizer.

This muffin recipe has buttery cheese, crab meat, and fresh cylindrical leaves that gives a mild-flavored seasoning. It bakes perfectly to provide you with bites of flavor. The method creates 24 samples of pleasing party goodness.

Ingredients:

Crabmeat, lemon wedges, fresh pounded black pepper, celery salt, dashes hot sauce, large egg white, reduced-fat mayonnaise, large eggs, sliced scallions, fresh wheat breadcrumbs, minced red bell pepper.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven up to 450 degrees; using cooking spray, gently coat a 12-cup muffin pan.
• Combine breadcrumbs, crabmeat, bell pepper, mayonnaise, scallions, eggs, hot sauce, egg white, pepper, and celery salt in a bowl.
• Distribute the mixture amongst the 12 muffin cups.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crispy.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

• Grease the muffin pan.
• Use a small grill to bake the shallots, garlic and bell pepper for 5 minutes. Do it continuously until it becomes fragrant and translucent. Withdraw from the heat and expose it for cooling.
• In a reasonable bowl, mix the cooked tomato paste, dried herbs, ground tempeh, salt and Worcestershire sauce until well combined.
• To the mixture, add chia egg and stir. Add parsley, sunflower seeds, and oats.
• Scoop the tempeh meat into every muffin cup and slowly pat it down with your hands.
• Using another bowl, stir the ingredients together for the ketchup. Gently coat the upper sides of the meatloaf with this mixture.
• Continue baking for 20-23 minutes until well cooked.
• Allow for 5 minutes cooling.
• Top with mashed potatoes.

Cinnamon Baked Apples.

These are apples soaked in an oven, with all the cinnamon, Sucanat and butter dipping into them for a pretty juicy and soft bite. Free from grain, gluten, dairy and sugar, Cinnamon baked apples create happy moments without bumping against popular restrictions of diet.

Ingredients:

Softened butter, ground cinnamon, Sucanat, apples-Fuji or gala, dried fruit or nuts, apple juice or water.

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop off the cores of the apples.
• Combine all the ingredients and insert into the apples. Sprinkle more cinnamon on the top.
• Put apples on the muffin pan and place it in the oven.
• After 30 minutes, remove the apples and allow cooling.
• Serve and enjoy!

Mini Taco Salad Cups.

It is so fun to make these mini salad bowls and even much exciting to gobble up! They are mini versions of the full-sized taco salad. A mini version of anything makes a fun appetizer.

Ingredients.

Chopped romaine lettuce, cut fresh cilantro leaves, diced Roma tomato, sour cream, sliced Kalamata olives, shredded cheddar cheese, round wonton wrappers, Old El Paso black bean refried beans.

Directions.

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Drizzle a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray. Add two wrappers to every cup.
• Give it a 5 minutes baking duration until slightly crispy and brown.
• Fill lettuce, sour cream, and beef to the cooled wrappers.
• Serve and have fun!

In my opinion, I fully support the benefits provided by other kitchen utensils to some extent, but, my impression is limited to the extent that muffin tins give the most appealing desire to spend in the kitchen. We can merely say agree or disagree rather than create a diverse and complex topic on that. With all the fun you’ve got from this, be motivated to use your muffin tin every day!

Bedbug Etiquette

*note: The photo above is obviously not of a bedbug. I would never make you look at that.

 

Have you ever had bedbugs? I feel your pain.

Backpack long enough and you will definitely come across these little shit disturbers. They can be anywhere – upscale hostels, crappy dumps, dorms, private rooms, sex motels (not an intentional visit!). The main purpose of bedbugs is to ruin your night.

Luckily for me *sarcasm intended huge here*, I’m particularly susceptible. Bryan and I can be in the same bed, I’ll get eaten alive while he’s peacefully dreaming the night away.

These little blood suckers are out to get me.

When notifying staff of an infected bed, my experience has ranged from “Oh no, we’re going to fix this ASAP!” to “YOU brought those here, you filthy backpacker!” (um, no, I really didn’t). Unfortunately, the latter reaction leads to the perpetuation of bedbugs – no one likes to be shamed for bedbugs and therefore may stay quiet. We’ve met people who have told us their beds were infected, but they just left without mentioning it and set up the next visitor for a shitty night.

Kaili’s Recommendations for Bedbug Etiquette:

1. Speak up if your bed has creepy crawlies. Tell the staff immediately, stand your ground and don’t feel ashamed – bedbugs are just a reality of backpacking. If you don’t let them know, nothing will be done and you’re just setting up the next backpacker for a very unpleasant night. Not Cool.

2. If you get bit, make sure you wash ALL your shit. Check your bag thoroughly. Be sure you’re not carrying these little demons on to your next hostel. Also Not Cool.

3. Always keep your bag away from your bed if at all possible. This will make #2 easier. Prevention is easier than treatment.

4. Hostel Owners: Take reportings of bedbugs seriously. DON’T make the guest feel like it’s their fault. Blame us and we will respond with negative reviews online. Deal with the problem swiftly and competently (just dragging mattresses out into the sun doesn’t count) and we’ll sing your praises.

So, fellow backpackers and hostel owners, please follow the rules above so I don’t have to sleep in another bedbug-bed ever again. Cheers.

Hostel Cooking

Cooking in a hostel can look a lot like an episode of an evil Food Network competition:

“You have to make a nutritious meal using zero sharp knives but 7 spoons.
No cutting board or plates, but multiple bowls. And as many onions as you can carry,
but only one half mouldy tomato and some slightly slimy ham. Go!”

Over the last few months we’ve gotten very creative with our cooking. We’ve defined what a ‘backpacker healthy meal’ is (basically anything where at least one fruit or vegetable is present). And that they CAN be made with just a box of KD and some broccoli.

We’re pros at concocting a strainer out of multiple slotted spoons.We’ve become accustomed to making toast over a gas stove when the toaster is on the fritz or non-existant.

And we have no problem being the ones to reach into that nasty drain to pull out the remnants of 4 other backpacker’s dinners before we can wash our dishes.

When you’re backpacking you have a lot of variables to deal with when cooking for yourself: budget, availability of food, availability of tools in the kitchen, and, of course, it would be great if meals were well balanced too (eating pasta & tomato sauce 5 days in a row does not work for us).

Some of our favourite easy hostel meals have been the following:

• Breakfast
• Egg sandwich

Especially good for hangover mornings. Fried egg and cheese with fried tomato, red pepper and onion over brown toast. *try adding avocado!

Oatmeal

A quick and filling breakfast. Instant or boiled rolled oats with any combination of the following added: peanut butter, jam, diced apples, pears or banana, berries, peanuts, almonds, cinnamon, nutella, honey or maple syrup.

Lunch

Soup + Vegetables

One of the easiest ways to increase nutrition on a backpacker budget. Use an instant soup, then add your own veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots, peas, mushrooms, potatoes, canned corn or beans and tomatoes are all great additions to almost any soup out there.

Veggie Wraps

We were introduced to this recipe by Quetzeltrekkers, Nicaragua and it’s now one of our favourites. Make a filling mix with sliced carrots, cucumber and red peppers, diced tomatoes and onions and a can of uncooked corn. Add refried beans into a tortilla, crush some cheese Doritos on top (for crunch!), fill with the veggie mix, cover with some salsa and enjoy! *try adding avocado too!

Dinner

Creamy-Bacon Pasta

I made this for Bryan’s birthday dinner using what I could find. Make a cream sauce using butter, garlic, onion, sour cream and evaporated milk (using cream cheese, cream or milk would also work here). Add cooked bacon, broccoli, mushrooms and peas. Mix in cooked pasta. If you can find cheese or black pepper to add over top, please do!

Vegetarian Chilli

This meal often lasts for 2 dinners, which is helpful on the budget. Add sautéed onion, red peppers and garlic to a can of diced tomatoes, a can of onion/garlic or red pepper pasta sauce, a can of beans (red or black) and a can of corn. If you can find chilli powder and cumin add those in, or better yet, a chilli spice mix (they’re light enough to carry on with you too!). Serve over rice or with garlic bread.

Stir Fry

This is one of the easiest dinners to make. Take almost any vegetables you can find (peppers, broccoli, carrots, corn, mushrooms, beans etc.) and sauté with onion and garlic. Add in cooked ramen noodles or rice (even better if the rice is cooked the day before) and stir fry with oil and soy sauce. Add in 2 eggs and scramble.
Whether you’re hostel-cookin’ or looking for cheap, easy eats, try these out and send us your feedback/suggestions.

If you have any more recipe recommendations send them our way too!

We DO NOT want to eat spaghetti ever again (or at least for a long, long time).

Travel and Technology: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Hey you, get off your f’ing phone!

The irony of bitching about technology by writing a post for a website on a laptop is not lost on me, but hear me out.

Times they are a’changin’ and nothing makes that more apparent than the mass amounts of technology us so called ‘budget backpackers’ are lugging around the world. Fair enough, we’re guilty of it too, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

My parents travelled the world back in the 70’s, when letters home travelled by land, sea and air, took weeks to arrive, and the expectation of regular updates was nil.

When I embarked on my first backpacking adventure in 2006 I had zero devices with me. Only a journal and the expectation that I’d be sending emails home VERY infrequently. This was a time before hourly status updates. Remember what that was like?

Fast forward to my second long term trip, where I had now acquired an iPod and the expectation that Facebook would be updated fairly regularly, when I could find an internet cafe.

Now we’re traveling with a plethora of devices that can be extremely useful and entirely detrimental in varying degrees. That’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of travelling with technology.

The Good

In today’s travel world, the ability to update Tripadvisor (or this blog) in the click of a few keys gives the upper hand to the customer. If multiple people have a bad experience with a business that business is basically f*cked. This allows us travellers to support the many fantastic hostels, restaurants and tour operators, and avoid the few that are out to screw you. This is good, but along with The Good comes The Bad.

The Bad

There seems to be a lot less exploring happening these days. Hostels, restaurants and attractions are researched in advance, booked online, and then simply arrived at. Almost everyone we talk to has already planned where they’re staying 2 towns over from where they are now. Of course this can be helpful, for example if you’re on a short timeline or have special needs, but overall the uncertainty that makes backpacking so exciting has been lost. On this trip we’ve made an effort to rarely book things in advance – to keep the unknown unknown. This tactic has resulted in varying degrees of success, but that’s the adventure of the unexpected and we prefer it this way.

The Ugly

It makes me sad. I can’t count how many times we’ve marvelled at fellow travellers, sitting in a stunning setting, in total silence, scrolling though other people’s vacation photos on their phones. Sigh. There’s a time and place for everything, so in this moment:

Put that damn phone down!
Have a conversation!
Take in your beautiful surroundings!
Enjoy our world, minus the pixels, and update your status later.

To Done List
Backpacking is full of surprises and adventures. Below is a list of the top things we’ve seen, experienced and accomplished in the month of July. They’re not on our ‘To Do List’ anymore, this is the ‘To Done List’.

1. First Canada Day in Guatemala.

How do you celebrate Canada Day when it seems like no one else is from Canada? After months of meeting travellers from all over the world we had met very few Canadians. We resigned ourselves to celebrating Canada Day just the two of us. Then, a decision to have afternoon beers at the hostel bar led to meeting a group from all over the world that wanted to celebrate with us because one of their own was a fellow Canadian. We then geared up for a night of toasting Canada with every sip. Ingenious shots of maple syrup were poured, and suddenly the whole bar was celebrating with us.

2. First time attending a sound healing session.musichealing1

The sound healing ceremony we attended in Flores, Guatemala was very unique and left us with a lasting impact. The dedicated group of nomads from the Caravana de Cura are travelling Central and South America, performing Sound Healing and massage sessions at a backpacker friendly price. We were happy to record our session, which makes for great meditation or yoga music. Listen here.

3. First time caving by candle light.

Semuc Champey is one of the most amazing sites in Guatemala. The natural pools of clear green water running over white limestone make the slippery climb to the El Mirador Lookout totally worth it. Swimming in the pools was really cool but the caving by candle light was one of the most exciting things we’ve ever done. Our tour included scaling makeshift ladders up slippery vertical rock one handed (don’t let that candle touch the water – you don’t have a replacement!), climbing up a waterfall with minimal help from a rope, and jumping into an underwater black hole in total darkness. We left thrilled, proud, excited and a little bloody while others were ecstatic to see daylight. The day was finished with tubing and a leap of faith from 35 feet into a moving river.

4. First cave tubing.

Leaving Semuc Champey we were excited to see more of Guatemala’s caves. We were happy to hear about the Candeleria Caves, a giant cave network over 23km long. However we had to backtrack a bit, back to Coban, to get to them. All the tour companies in Coban were charging a fortune to take us to the caves, so we decided to go it alone. An exciting journey there, via some of the craziest bus drivers we’ve ever experienced (4 people had to exit due to motion sickess!), resulted in a private tubing tour for just us and our friend Marvyn, who decided to join. The giant cave caverns reminded us all of the Batcave, so this photo had to be taken.

5. First weaving lesson.

In the small town of Nebaj, we were returning to our room when we met Tina selling textiles at the reception desk. We couldn’t buy anything (our bags are stuffed as it is) but we wanted to learn more about traditional Ixil weaving. We organized a lesson, where we learned weaving is much harder then you would first think. To read the whole story see here.

6. First mountain summit.

As we arrived into Todos Santos, our jaws hit the floor when we saw the beautifully scenic mountain landscape. We couldn’t wait to start hiking all the trails around town. After walking the main road into town and scoping our the scenery we chose our destination for the next day: radio towers at the top of one especially tall mountain. We made it to the summit by random luck, following one of the many paths out of town and were surprised to find a little village only minutes from the top. The view on the other side allowed us to see for miles and miles. See more photos of our Todos Santos hikes here.

7. First Marimba recording.

Throughout Guatemala we’ve been interested in recording a Marimba band as Marimba is the countries historical instrument. It’s heard everywhere and very important to the Guatemalan culture. In Xela we were introduced to Marimba Princesita, one of Guatemala’s premier Marimba bands and had the opportunity to record the 9-man band as they practiced for a big performance.

8. First night on top of a volcano.

Since touching down in Mexico at the beginning of this trip, our goal was to climb one of the regions volcanos. It was in Guatemala that we got our chance. We climbed Volcan Tajumulco with a group from Xelha over 2 days. Our ascent to base camp was cold and damp, with none of the spectacular views we were told about. Cloud cover stayed until the middle of the night as we shivered in our tents under 4 layers of clothes. We were rewarded early on day two. As we climbed to the peak using headlamps in the 3am darkness, we could see the sky was clear. Sunrise provided a fantastic view of the entire mountain range surrounding us, and the hike back down in bright sunshine was spectacular.

9. First home away from home.

The first place we stayed that felt like a second home was found on AirBnB. A small eco-cottage on Lake Atitlan that not only lived up to the stunning posted pictures, but surpassed them. Our wonderful host was a pleasant surprise too – she welcomed us to her home and showered us with gifts from her garden. This was her first AirBnB experience too! With a little kitchen, living room, office, yoga area and giant loft bedroom, all surrounded by stunning views of the Lake Atitlan’s 3 volcanos, we were in heaven. We decided to stay an extra week.

The view from our bedroom in Lake Atitlan

10. First birthday outside of Canada (for Bryan).

We celebrated by climbing to the top to Volcan Tajumulco on the weekend before, it was always a dream of Bryan’s to stand on top of the world and see as far as the eye can see. We then planned an awesome dinner and drinks on Bryan’s actual birthday at our new place on Lake Atitlan.