Take a Hike!

Yesterday we went on a nice hike in the White Tank Mts. in the far west valley.  I love Arizona, especially in the winter months when the weather is just perfect. Some times I wish for snow and boots and pretty fur coats but then I remember how lucky we are to be able to go on a beautiful hike and have a picnic in January!

These are some pics I snapped on the short "Water Fall Trail"

Not much of a waterfall, more like a trickle, but we Zonies will gather round and stare at a trickle of water in the dry desert when we get the chance. ;)

This is the desert through my 'eyes'.

Did you know that the Sonoran Desert is the only place Saguaros grow naturally?

Cholla cacti also are native to the Arizona desert and a small part of California. There are over 20 species and are sometimes called ' Jumping Cactus' since the needles will jump off the plant if you get to close!

Crazy Zonies standing around staring at the "Water Fall"  Don't strain your eyes, it's only a trickle.

No, it's not really snowing... Photoshop. It was very cold out, much colder than usual and there is snow on the mountains in the background, can you see it?

Aren't those snow capped mountains a beautiful site in the desert? I Love it!






We needed a nice hot bowl of flavourful soup to warm us up!
This soup is part of the detox diet from Whole Living.
Not sauteing the veggies and using lots of in season, lightly cooked veggies make this soup
healthy and hearty.
Free Range Chicken adds healthy protein and flavor, feel free to skip it if you'd like, the almond
butter is a good source of protein.
Almond butter makes this soup so very decadent and is an excellent source of
 healthy monounsaturated fat, essential for heart health and controlling blood sugar.
.

Photo and recipe from Whole Living

Please excuse me, I try to always do my own pics but time and light quality were against me in a
big way last night! The recipe calls for collards of which I used along with Bok Choy I need to use up.

I'm sending this over to Fresh Friday's at La Bella Vita for her wonderful healthy life style blog hop.