By: Colin Boyd and Sofi Aldinio of Afuera Vida
While we live in a van and travel from place to place, bringing our home on wheels with us, we do enjoy a good night out under the stars especially in places off the beaten path. White Sands National Monument is certainly not off the beaten path, but spending a night out in the desert there is limited to just 7x campsites per night, making it feel like an exclusive desert holiday.
We paid our outrageously cheap $9.00 in permits and spent an afternoon playing in the dunes unsure if we were at the beach in Maine or in the middle of Southern New Mexico. Our super mom and chef, Sofi always goes above and beyond in the meal department on these microadventures and this trip was no exception. While I prepped the gear; tent, sleeping bags, stove, shovel, etc… she stepped up our trip with Maca Fueled Coconola Pyramids for us and Coconut Almond infused Peanut Butter Cookies for the boys. If you’re interested and eager to try these out, here’s the basic recipe:
Maca Fueled Coconola Pyramids
Shell Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons maca powder
- 1/2 cup pitted Medjool dates
Filling Ingredients:
- Grandy Oats Coconola
- Raspberries
- Chocolate (if preferred)
Coconut Almond Infused Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of GrandyOats Coconut Toasted Almonds
- 1/3 cup raw peanut butter
- 1 cup pitted Medjool dates
- Salt sprinkling for the tops
What we've learned in this latest phase of hiking with our 4 and 1 year olds is that we have to keep a constant supply of snacks stacked in easy to access pockets. We don't always have time to make snacks like this, so bringing a bag of Grandy Oats Coconola or Trail Mix keeps everyone charging to accomplish the mission. On this particular microadventure, we only had .8 miles to walk in, so we took the chance to step up our snack game, keeping the boys motivated to arrive at camp before sundown. We spent a night nestled between dunes, seemingly alone in the expansive White Sands an experience we will never forget.
