Colombian Vacation: Part II

Let the second and final half of our Colombian vacation recap prevail! In case you missed it, check out the first half of my journey to Bogotá, Colombia.

I’m starting off from where I left off in Part Uno which is Saturday evening, just before heading out to dinner.

Jeff and Ana were really hyping up our dinner/night out joint all day. They said it is the coolest place and when asked to compare it to something from back home, they couldn’t.

“It’s indescribable, you just have to see it, then you’ll get it.”

The destination was called Andres Carne de Res, which basically means it’s a steak house. We drove about a half hour out from Jeff’s place to get there. Upon arrival I knew that this place was going to be incredible.

After parking our car in the lot, we were walking towards the restaurant entrance and passed two small buildings; one being restrooms and the other a room with little cots set up in case people had a few too many mojitos and needed a little rest. Crazy right? But smart.

Next, after paying the cover charge to get into the restaurant and bar, we were given bright red hearts to wear as our entrance tickets. We made our way to the entrance and were led to our table. I took in all of the eclectic decorations and was immediately struck by the lively atmosphere. This place is indescribable. They’re right.

 

The pictures I have don’t even begin to capture the outgoing and energetic ambiance. The energy inside was contagious. They greeted us newbies with crowns and sashes and entertained us with a little song and dance.

We sipped on our mojitos, ate some fabulous appetizers, steak, and desserts while enjoying eachother’s company, but the highlight of the evening was definitely this…

The dance floor. EVERYBODY was dancing. This is what Latin America is known for. They can all move. Every single one of them. I was so impressed and loved shaking it to popular music from the region. I didn’t understand the lyrics but it didn’t matter. The way everyone would cheer at the beginning of their favorite songs let me know if it was going to be a really good one or not.

We danced our little legs off for a good three hours (don’t mind the creepy eyes from a couple of us in this photo) before getting a ride back home.

And I crashed. Andres was amazing.

Sunday

On Sunday we all got well acquainted with the couch. We did get up to go to the market to buy some local fruits, snacks, and chocolate to bring home to family and friends, but besides that, the day was pretty much a relaxing one.

I loved trying the different fruits from the region! The market was like heaven for me.

 

Eventually, we cleaned up and headed out for a late dinner on our last night.

I don’t recall the name of the restaurant, but it specialized in meat mostly: steaks, chicken, seafood, and the special of the day was lamb. I wasn’t feeling too adventurous that night, so I stuck with the chicken. It was in a red wine sauce and topped with fresh herbs. Pretty tasty!

Ana and Jeff surprised me with birthday presents considering they won’t be seeing me on my birthday which was SO sweet and completely unexpected. They gave me a super cute black purse and a scarf. I love them both. I wore the scarf the next day in Bogotá, which is the perfect segway…

Our last morning in Bogotá

We got so lucky with nice weather during our stay. Jeff couldn’t believe how nice it was while we were there. He said it was unseasonably warm and dry. It even hit 80°F one day! Typically it rains just about every day and the temperature hovers right around 65° F. The last morning was a rainy one, but it didn’t stop us from heading out.

We started our day the right way…with Colombian coffee (num) and then made our way to the mall for a brunch time lunch.

Jeff and Ana wanted us to try this burger joint that they enjoy. It was kind of funny to me ending our trip with an all-American meal, but I liked it. I was having a difficult time making a decision (weird) so I ordered a regular burger with tomato and lettuce on a whole grain tortilla.

It hit the spot. We hung out and chatted as I soaked up every last bit of Jeff that I could before he head to bring us to the airport for our departure back to Minnesota.

Our weekend in Bogotá flew by but was filled with so many wonderful memories, sights, FOOD, and friends. I am so happy that we finally made the journey out to visit Jeff to see where he lives, works, hangs out, and to meet his wonderful friends and beautiful girlfriend. Thank you for everything! I love you so much and can’t wait to see you again!

Te amo,

Your baby sister.

 

Continue Reading Colombian Vacation: Part II

Colombian Adventure: Part I

Happy Happy Friday!

It’s time to begin the big Bogotá, Colombia recap! I was going to try to fit it all into one post but it was nearly impossible, so I’m going to break it down into two posts: the first half of the trip and the second half of the trip. I weeded through the photos to condense as much as possible, yet still fill you in on the good stuff. It wasn’t easy, but here’s what I came up with.

The first half of our Colombian adventure

Upon arrival in Bogotá, we met up with my brother Jeff who lives and works in the city and is also fluent in spanish. He had to finish up a couple of things at work, so Dana and I spent a couple of hours relaxing, and I talked myself into a 25-minute yoga session. Denise Austin really makes you work.

Later in the evening, our gracious host was home so we cleaned up and headed out to meet up with some friends for dinner.

The restaurant we went to was called Carta Central and their specialty is ceviche. Jeff said we had to experience their ceviche.

We ordered a couple of appetizers: one was fried seafood (calamari, shrimp, etc.) and the other was ceviche served with avocados. I snapped photos of both of them but they turned out to be pretty hideous, so they got the “x”.

I’m not a huge “fishy-fish” person meaning I don’t like my fish to taste fishy, and I’m weird about textures when it comes to seafood too, so I went the safer route and chose a shrimp ceviche where the shrimp are fully cooked. This particular dish came in a light cream sauce with plantains and chives. It was awesome! My first experience with ceviche was definitely a good one.

It was super dark in the restaurant so I apologize for the terrible flash on this bad boy but you can at least get an idea of my delicious dish.

Here is our wonderful group at dinner…

After dinner we walked back to Jeff’s place and crashed. We needed our rest for the adventures of tomorrow.

Saturday in Bogotá

In the morning we walked over to a restaurant called Bagatelle for some breakfast. Colombia is known for their amazing juices so Dana and I split a guanabana mandarin juice (on the left) and Jeff got pineapple juice with mint. Both were excellent and so refreshing!

I love all of the fresh herbs used in Colombia. It inspires me to want to try to grow a mint plant in my house this winter. Is that possible? Any thoughts?

For breakfast I ordered some type of egg souffle. I was challenged each time we went out to eat considering I couldn’t understand half of the menu. I took spanish back in middle school and freshman year of high school, and I still remember some vocab, but not enough to decipher over the content of the menus and be 100% sure of my decision. 🙂 Also, I didn’t want to bother my brother or Dana each time it came down to it since they were trying to decide on their order as well. I did my best, and the boys (and Ana) helped me too.

Back to this egg dish…what they do is mix the egg whites with parmesan cheese and they whip them up and bake them so it turns into a souffle and in the middle of the puffy mass are two runny yolks. It looked like a TON of food when it was brought to the table, but it was actually very light, yet still filling. Again, the power of eggs and their satiety rate I tell ya.

After breakfast, Jeff, Ana, Dana and I made our way out to explore the city. Our first stop was taking a gondola up to the top of a mountain to visit Monserrate which is a beautiful church in the mountains.

Did I mention I’m claustrophobic? I was happy the packed gondola ride was a short one.

The stunning views on top of the mountain…

The entrance to the market area…

And the market where I tried ants for the first time and the last time. Ants are a delicacy in Colombia. There are only two regions in Colombia where they find these ants. They fry them and salt them and I have also heard they come in chocolate-covered, and people eat them. When in Rome…I tried some ants.

Okay, I tried a single ant. It tasted like a salty dirty soy nut. I may have preferred chocolate covered? I am proud of myself for trying it but am happy to say I never have to do that again.

After our mountain adventure, we walked over to La Candelaria which is a historic area in downtown Bogotá. We all shared a bag of freshly fried plantain chips which were SO good.

The side streets were lined with small cafes and restaurants. We stopped into one and ordered an authentic tamale which we all split.

Pretty tasty!

Next stop, empanadas. Tamales and empanadas were two things on my list of foods to try while in Bogotá.

They were pretty good but not as good as a homemade version a Colombian friend of mine makes. 😉

We ended up having a snacky lunch with the plantain chips, the tamale, and empanadas which I actually prefer to one big meal. That way I am able to try more foods and not be completely stuffed.

I bought a sweet treat while we were at the tamale place. I am not 100% sure what it’s made of but I do know the outside is candied guava. The inside is sort of like a thick caramel. I really enjoyed this guy.

I’m going to stop there and save Saturday evening-Monday for the next Bogotá post. I am having so much fun reliving the memories! We seriously had such an incredible time and were able to see so much of the city in such a short period of time.

More to come soon!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

 

 

Continue Reading Colombian Adventure: Part I

Cowboy Caviar Mini Bell Peppers

What a great weekend that went by all too fast as always. How about catching you up a bit from the last time we touched base which would be Saturday around lunch time.

In my belly…a harvest pear salad with romaine lettuce, pears, walnuts, feta cheese, and poppy-seed dressing. Complete with fall leaves in the background of the photo.

After lunch I got to work preparing an appetizer for a Halloween party we were going to that evening.

Cowboy Caviar Mini Bell Peppers

I combined tomatoes, black beans, corn, avocado, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper to make a cowboy caviar. I then halved orange and yellow mini bell peppers, took out the seeds and the stem, and filled each boat with cowboy caviar. Delicious, healthy and beautiful to boot!

To the Halloween part-ay we went. We were greeted by this beautiful witch brewing up a secret potion and making snarky remarks at us.

Before I reveal what Dana and I dressed up as, let’s have a little fun and let me give you some hints and see if you can guess.

  1. I am holding our newest child Penelope.
  2. Our son Mason is at auntie Kimmy’s for the night.

Any Kardashian fans out there? I was Kourtney Kardashian and Dana was her boyfriend Scott Disick. That’s alright if you didn’t get it, most of our friends didn’t know either.

Our lovely hosts for the evening were Freddie Mercury (Adam) and Katniss (Stacy). It made me feel better that I didn’t know who either of them were dressed up as either. It was a general theme for the night—no one knew who anyone was supposed to be.

Except for the egg. I knew that Amanda was an egg. 😉

We had a great time as always being with our friends, munching on some great chow, and  laughing at everyone’s ridiculous costumes. We were home and into bed by midnight and I was wide awake at 8:00 am Sunday morning.

Sunday

I made myself a chopped banana with Parkers Farm peanut butter and cinnamon.

I also drank a cup of coffee while we flipped through the Sunday paper. Next, we hit the road for our grocery shopping extravaganza. We will be leaving for our vacation to Colombia in just a few days, but we needed to stock up the fridge for a very special guest who will be staying at our house with the pup.

We got a late start on running our errands so by the time we got home it was 1:00 pm and we were both very hungry. I notice that’s a common theme around our house. I was excited that I had leftover cowboy caviar from the appetizer on Saturday, so we cooked up a few over easy eggs, topped them on top the leftover cowboy caviar with some cheese, and had a protein packed and super tasty meal within minutes.

In the afternoon I made myself change into workout clothes and took the dog out for 2.6 mile run around the neighborhood. I could tell I was tired and dehydrated because it was a pretty difficult run for me.

A very good friend of mine was in town for the weekend so I got to see him and his beautiful girlfriend for a little while, then mom and dad stopped over too! After that we did a little packing and got ourselves ready for the week ahead.

Oh and we ate dinner too…a turkey burger served on top of a salad with onion, tomato, cheese, and green olives.

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Yoga Challenge

Since it’s Monday that means it’s time to check in on the last October Yoga Challenge for the month! I can’t believe the month is over in a couple of days. I kind of feel like October didn’t happen it flew by so fast, but IT DID. Don’t let me fool you.

This past week I got in not one, but two yoga sessions. The first one was a full body session and the second was a session geared towards athletes. I completed the whole month’s challenge using OnDemand yoga sessions. Once again, I loved every second of this challenge.

Yoga is about connecting the body and the mind, and it is good for all of us to take the time to practice that. Whether or not you are lying on a yoga mat, or sitting in your office, take 30 seconds periodically to become aware of your mind and body. Focus on your breathing if you are feeling overwhelmed. Remind yourself to live in the moment.

I said this before but I do truly mean it again, I really hope to continue to include yoga in my life even though this challenge comes to an end. I feel better after every session and it reminds me to stay calm and helps me to control stress. Thanks to Courtney for hosting this challenge once again!

Namaste.

*****Thinking of all of my friends and family on the east coast. Stay safe!*****

Continue Reading Cowboy Caviar Mini Bell Peppers

Broccoli White Bean Soup

Hi there! How is everyone’s weekend panning out so far?

Friday was a great day. It began with a perfectly ripe banana with peanut butter that I tossed in the microwave for 20 seconds to make drizzly, and a little bit of honey.

I did a couple of odds and ends around the house while anxiously awaiting Kate’s arrival. Oh yes, my friend who is in town that I mentioned yesterday is the wonderful Kate. She was one of my bridesmaids, we were roommates in college, and our friendship goes back to 8th grade.

She recently moved out of state and I miss her dearly. She’s home for the weekend so we made plans to go for a nice long walk around the neighborhood and enjoy the gorgeous fall weather.

Before we headed out, I snacked on a LARABAR Über Roasted Nut Roll bar. The kind folks of LARABAR sent me these four to sample.

The verdict on the Über? MMMmmm, so good! It tasted like a healthy version of a salted nut roll. Yes, please. I’m excited to try the rest of the flavors! It did a nice job of holding me over for a couple of hours too.

Kate and I were out for over an hour, walking and talking, catching up, and taking in the beautiful sights and smells of fall. It made me so incredibly happy to see her. It was bittersweet saying good bye as always, BUT I will be seeing her again in about one month because I will be journeying out to Georgia to visit her! I can’t wait! I love love love her, my Katie boo boo boo. 🙂

Throughout the afternoon I tackled random projects around the house. I organized the front closet, did some laundry, reorganized our kitchen, and brought up wedding gifts that we still had in the basement that we now have room for upstairs.

Then it was time to get dinner brewing. On the menu: Broccoli White Bean Soup. While I got to concocting the soup, Dana got to work making a fire in the fireplace. Our first one of the season.

So pretty! A short while later, dinner was served and it was enjoyed in front of the fire.

Warm soup in front of the fire in my sweatpants with my hubby and dog. Does it get more comforting than that? The soup turned out fantastic. I am very proud of it and excited to share the recipe with you all.

Broccoli White Bean Soup
Print
Recipe type: Dairy-Free; SCD-Friendly
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 cups cooked cannellini beans or other white bean
  • ½ Tbsp. dried thyme
  • dash of nutmeg
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 32 ounces lower sodium chicken broth*
  • 3 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)
  • Diced turkey bacon (optional)
  • *substitute vegetable broth if vegetarian
Instructions
  1. Use olive oil to lightly coat medium soup pot.
  2. Add onion and garlic; saute for 3-5 minutes.
  3. Add beans, thyme,nutmeg, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and broth; mix well.
  4. Use immersion blender to puree onions and beans in the pot.
  5. Add broccoli, cover, and let simmer for 15 minutes.
  6. Use immersion blender and pulse 1-2x to puree some of the broccoli, but leaving most of the pieces whole.
  7. Spoon soup into bowls, and top with parmesan cheese and bacon (optional).

The rest of the night was spent relaxing with the men of the house, eating some cocoa banana soft-serve, and hitting the hay early.

Now, I am ready to take on another productive day. I hope you all have a snazzy Saturday!

xoxo, M

 

Continue Reading Broccoli White Bean Soup

A Breathtaking Sight, Then A Bad Night

After being struck by the stomach flu, I am finally back. When I get hit, I get hit hard I tell ya. It started late Saturday evening after a beautiful wedding we attended. Let’s focus on that part first…

The wedding was held at an outdoor facility called “The Woods” in Orono, MN. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. The altar was centered in the middle of well, the woods (hence the name), and in front of a gorgeous water fountain.

The colors from the changing leaves on the trees surrounding the area along with the sunset was just breathtaking.

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There were a couple of quaint little cabin-like buildings on either side of the ceremony site. I believe one of them is an actual chapel and the other one is more of a gathering hall.

It was a whopping 40-ish degrees when we were seated for the ceremony but once we got snuggled in, it didn’t feel too bad. This will sound corny but the ambiance seriously warmed me up it was so unbelievable!

The ceremony was very personable and sentimental. I was very impressed by the planning that went into it. After planning my own wedding I really appreciate every detail that goes into planning a wedding. They truly put a lot of thought and heart into it. The bride was so very pretty and sweet and the couple looked so happy. Such a heartwarming sight to see.

And speaking of sights to see…

Afterwards we headed to the reception, and to those of you who are very observant, you will notice I have tights on at the wedding, but not at the reception. I have this thing about wearing constrictive clothing. I find that if I wear anything too tight (like tights) for too long, my stomach often bloats and becomes very upset. Just another one of my little quirks. Thus, I removed the tights for the reception.

We relaxed with a glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres (<——-my goal is to learn how to spell that word without spell check), got in one slow dance, wished the new happy couple well, and made our way home.

That’s when trouble struck. I thought the nausea I was feeling was maybe because I ate a cupcake and it just wasn’t settling completely right. I got home and got into bed right away hoping a good nights rest would ward off whatever was trying to weasel it’s way in. No such luck. An hour later I was up and in the bathroom and basically made my bed in there for the rest of the night. That’s as far as I’ll go with the details because you all know the rest of the story.

So, no food photos from the past four days. My food intake has consisted of applesauce, Saltine crackers, banana, frozen fruit bars, brown rice, Cream of Wheat and ginger ale. Bland and boring. My body is definitely craving carbs so that is what I am feeding it for now. Even today, nothing is tasting good to me.

My body is fighting to recover but it is taking a while. I will get back into my normal eating pattern soon enough, and back into working out again for that matter.

I am always so good about washing my hands, sanitizing my office, using antibacterial for my hands, but sometimes it’s just not enough. Being that my immune system is compromised it doesn’t take as much for me to get sick as someone who is completely healthy. My body has been working so hard on trying to normalize my colitis that it doesn’t have as much energy to fend off anything else.

This is just another reminder to all to get your flu shot, wash your hands, eat a well-balanced diet, get plenty of rest, and try to remove unnecessary stressors from your life. It’s easy to forget the importance of that until you are hit with a bug that knocks you down for a solid 4-5 days. So not fun.

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Yoga Challenge Check-In

One last thing… I did get my yoga on this week. I can’t remember which day it was now but I’m pretty sure it was Tuesday, I found a light yoga OnDemand. It was a 40 minute yoga session for beginners and it felt GREAT.

Since I was sick the past few days I didn’t get a chance to check in with Courtney’s link up, but I just wanted you all to know that so far, so good on keeping to my once a week yoga goal!

Anyway, I’ve missed you all. Excited to get back on track and share some good recipes with you very soon.

Continue Reading A Breathtaking Sight, Then A Bad Night

Girl’s Day and Pad Thai SCD

 

Yesterday was mom and Melanie day. We had been planning this day for about two months but hadn’t made definite plans as to how we were going to spend our day together. We wanted it to be a relaxing day, so this is why we kept it sans-itinerary style.

 

We began our day with (much-needed) manicures and pedicures.

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The last time we were at this salon was almost a year ago when I came in with mom, Betsy, and Kate the day before the wedding! The ladies at the salon were so sweet to us and served us champagne and everything. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year already! Dana and I have some fun plans to celebrate…

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No champagne for mom and I yesterday however, but this is a good thing because I think we both would have fallen asleep in the chairs.

The nail esthetician complimented me on my shiny nails. She actually asked me if I had clear polish on. I told her it must be all of the fruits and veggies I eat. Winking smile I decided to splurge and get the gel polish on my hands because it lasts for a good month or so. I have a wedding to go to in a couple of weeks so it will be nice to have good-looking nails for that.

Before:                                                                After:

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My feet were ridiculous walking into the salon. I tweeted the before picture of them yesterday only to slightly regret it because they were so nasty. Both of my 2nd toenails were injured in the half marathon in June. They have regrown, but it is a slow process and they don’t look quite “normal” yet. Chalk off the fact that I hadn’t had a pedicure in a year and you can do the math as to how unpretty they were looking.

Now they’re pretty! I went with a dark plum color. I forgot to jot down the name of it but I may need to do set out on a scavenger hunt to find it. It’s very fitting for fall.

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For lunch we headed over to a local market in the area and dug into their salad bar. I also bought a huge bag of Cortland apples that were on sale for $0.99/lb. Guess what I’m making?? More on that in a couple of days.

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We headed over to the mall to check out one particular store that I really enjoy. I am in search of  a dress to wear to that wedding I mentioned. I found one I liked but I wanted to try on in a different size and of course they were out of that size. I could order it online and give it a whirl but I wasn’t sure how much I liked it. It is very different from any dress I own. It’a an orange-peach color, long-sleeved…I should probably just show you it.

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Like I said it’s different for me. It doesn’t hug my body every where, it just kind of hangs, but I know that is the style. It is SO comfortable and really is beautiful. Any opinions??! My biggest hangup is that I would have to order it in the other size that I was unable to try on assuming I would fit into that size. The second hangup is I’m afraid I’m going to snag the dress because of the material. Hmm…

After the mall mom and I were in need of a couple of pick-me-ups. We went home and made a pot of hazelnut flavored coffee and drank our coffee out on the deck in the sun.

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Once we were revved up, we headed out for our 2nd pick-me-up; a walk with Abbie. We made our way three miles through the neighborhood and enjoyed the perfect fall day. The weather was perfect, the company was even better.

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It was the perfect way for us to spend our girl’s day together. Nails, healthy lunch, a little shopping (I can’t handle a lot of shopping especially trying on clothes), relaxing with coffee, and a walk with our little baby girl Abbie May. We say this all of the time but seriously, we HAVE to make time to do this more often. It was such an amazing day!

P.S. Their neighbors have a Yorkie Pom Poo. Are you kidding me? The most ridiculously adorable dog (right after Moose and Abbie of course). I wanted to steal her. Just kidding….not really. 😉

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Pad Thai SCD

Back at home I got to work on dinner for Dana and I. The inspiration came from Tina of Carrots’nCake. She made a Paleo Pad Thai that looked insanely delicious, so I went off of that but did my own thing with it.

And here’s what we came up with!

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This is a forewarning that the ingredient list on this recipe looks atrocious but I promise you it really isn’t so bad! We REALLY enjoyed this dish. Please give it a shot!

Pad Thai SCD Style (serves 2)

Ingredients

  • Sauce:
  • Juice from half of a lime
  • 1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • dash of crushed red pepper
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • Veggies:
  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 2 tsp. sunflower oil
  • 3/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup sugar snap pea, chopped on a diagonal
  • salt
  • 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. basil, chopped

Directions

  1. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Place squash cut side down in microwave safe dish and line bottom of dish with 3/4 inch of water. Microwave for 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in food processor mix all sauce ingredients except milk until smooth. Then add milk and process until combined.
  3. Remove squash from microwave and carefully scoop out the seeds. Use a fork to scrape out spaghetti threads. Place in colander in sink. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 5 minutes.
  4. On the stove top, sauté onions and sugar snap peas in sunflower oil. After 3 minutes, add spaghetti squash to pan. Sprinkle with salt. Stir to combine and to heat squash through. Add sauce to pan and heat through.
  5. Plate squash onto plate and sprinkle with carrots, cilantro, and basil.

SCD Pad Thai! We have such a fun day ahead of us. Off to tackle a run first! Catch up with you all later. Hope you have a super Saturday!

Continue Reading Girl’s Day and Pad Thai SCD

Berry Me, Today & Everyday

Helllllllo friends! I have had a medium Caribou Coffee and am fully charged and I have lots to cover today, so bear with me…

Celebrating Allison and Adam

Last night we celebrated the marriage of one of my friends from high school, Adam, to his new beautiful wife Allison. The ceremony and reception were both held at the Nicollet Island Pavilion which is such a gorgeous venue.

Their ceremony was outside under a tent, overlooking the river. There was a cool breeze off of the water that felt great, and the ceremony itself was beautiful.

After the ceremony, there was the social hour followed by a delicious dinner, speeches, dancing, the whole kit and caboodle.

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Me with my happy husband…

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Me with the happy groom…

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 The lovely table decorations. I can really appreciate all of the decorations at weddings now that I have planned my own. Oh, by the way, today is Dana and my 11 month anniversary! Holy cow, does time fly. 

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Me with the hot ladies: Kristin and Annie.

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I seriously struggled with the lighting in the venue last night and capturing quality food photos just wasn’t happening for me, but I still want to share them with you because the food was excellent!

Side note: while attempting to photograph my food at dinner, I kept hearing Gretchen [who gave a presentation on improving photos at HLS] in my head saying “say no to flash.” I had to use the flash a little because it was so dark and my hand doesn’t stay still enough. I did my best.

Light and sweet balsamic salad: with flash

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Honey Dijon chicken (amazing): no flash.

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Lemon-raspberry cake I think? Whatever it was it was delicious. Flash or no flash, I’m not sure. I could have sworn Dana snapped this one with no flash but it looks like there is a flash on the plate. Doesn’t matter. It was nummy.

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We had such a great time celebrating with the newlyweds last night. You know I was on the dance floor last night awkwardly jumping/dancing like no one was watching. Congrats to Allison and Adam!

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Driscoll’s Berry Me, Today and Every Day

Total change of subject, but you may have noticed that I have been eating berries like CRAZY lately. Besides the fact that they’re still fairly in season and are so easy to find in the stores right now, the generous folks of Driscoll’s Berries gave me a couple of coupons for their berries so that I could go delight my taste buds with nature’s candy, free of cost. Yes, really, it’s amazing.

I’ve been adding Driscoll’s berries to “cereal”….

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To salads…

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Eating them plain Jane, and making new recipes, like this one…

I began by making a SCD friendly, gluten-free tortilla. You can use any tortilla you like though.

Gluten-free Cinnamon Tortilla

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp water

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°. Use cooking spray to lightly coat a round pie pan.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together flour and cinnamon; set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl beat together egg and water.
  4. Add flour to egg mixture; mix well.
  5. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes.

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Next, it was to time start assembling. I rinsed my Driscoll’s strawberries…

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And then onto the tortilla went a big smear of natural Parker’s peanut butter, sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, chia seeds, and a drizzle of honey.

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Now wrap it up! It was the perfect breakfast wrap but could also be eaten for lunch, dinner, or even a snack.

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Can I even call this a recipe? It’s just so easy.

Strawberry Nutty ‘Naner Wrap

Ingredients

  • Tortilla (whole grain, gluten-free, SCD, whatever you like)
  • 1-2 Tablespoons natural peanut butter
  • 1/4 banana, sliced
  • 4-5 Driscoll’s strawberries, sliced (depends on the size of the berry!)
  • drizzle of honey
  • sprinkle of chia seeds for good luck

Directions

  1. Place all ingredients on to tortilla. Wrap it up, eat. Love.

I have always been a berry lover. When I was a babe, my family and I traveled up to Gooseberry Falls, MN and did some blueberry picking. I was eating them faster than any body else and I was only 4 years old. I haven’t changed since. This opportunity to experiment with their berries was right up my alley!

Besides strawberries and raspberries, Driscoll’s also farms blackberries and blueberries. For more information about their products, you can check them out here! Delicious.

I am off to try and make something of myself today. I’m feeling a little tired from the festivities last night, but hope to get my butt moving. There will hopefully be a workout involved, and some weed pulling in the back yard! Talk about a crazy Saturday, right?

Alright, you go have yourselves a marvelous day. Peace, love, and berries until next time.

Continue Reading Berry Me, Today & Everyday

Gluten Free Cereal Bowl

I owe my wonderful breakfast yesterday to my new and dear, fellow blogger, fellow Paleo’er friend, Shannon. While in Boston we swapped recipe ideas, and she shared a breakfast one with  me that I knew I had to try.

You ready for this?

In the bowl: blueberries (I actually used frozen then thawed because that is what I had on hand), a heaping handful of fresh Driscoll’s raspberries, a handful of chopped walnuts, chia seeds, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and a drizzle of honey.

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Oh my gosh. I loved this. It’s just like Shannon said, “it’s like eating a bowl of cereal, except Paleo style.” Coming from a gal who loves a heaping bowl of cereal with milk, I was happy to find an alternative that was more healthful and fit my lifestyle right now.

Lunch was eaten at work but it still deserved a photo because it was truly delicious. In the to-go Gladware container: mixed greens, mini bell peppers, olives, tomato, black beans, avocado, and Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard. Man, I’m good. Winking smile

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After work I headed over to hang out with my babes, Bets and Emmy (my cousins who I love to pieces). They were making cake balls for a family birthday party and were pretty hilarious in the process.

Em, don’t quit your day job to start making cake balls.

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I am so proud of both of them; they are both going through major career endeavors and have worked so hard to get where they are. Open-mouthed smile

Dinner last night was embarrassing being that it was completely unstructured.

When I got home I snacked on a handful of grape tomatoes from the garden which by the way have become completely out of hand. The branches are so long that they are falling into the next plant and pushing them over. We have A LOT of tomatoes. I’m not complaining though!

After the tomatoes, I moved on to a few large handfuls of trail mix. After the trail mix, I needed something salty of course, so I dug into the pickle jar. After that, I was full.

Not a very balanced meal at all. Well, wait a minute…grape tomatoes, nuts, raisins, pickles….yes there were chocolates in the trail mix, but overall, it could have been a lot worse.

I needed to get the body moving, body movin’ get your body movin’, so I harnessed on Moose’s new leash and went for a stroll through the neighborhood.

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When I say harnessed on his leash, I mean I harnessed it on myself. We bought a new leash for Moose that attaches to his collar like normal, and the other end of it attaches to a band that goes around the owner’s waist. It is hand’s free and has a bungee cord which allows enough give that I’m not being ripped out of my shoes if he sees a squirrel, but not so much give that he is ever too far away. I’ll try to remember to take a picture next time.

This was my first time using it on a walk with just Moose and me, without Dana, who he listens to a lot better than me. It went pretty well though I must say. I will definitely be doing it again. I would love to make that an evening routine. It was gorgeous out with the sun setting and the temperature cooling down.

It was the perfect way to end the night.

Now, I am off to tackle my Friday to-do list, and then we have a wedding to attend tonight, oh and did I mention my brother and his girlfriend are coming into town from up north? It is going to be a great weekend.

Have a beautiful day!

*************

It’s time for the Sneaky Pete’s Giveaway winner to be announced!

Random.org picked comment #2.

Congratulations Jamie A.! Jamie if you could email me at beautifullynutty@gmail.com with your full name and address I will have your beverages shipped right to your door!

Thank you everyone for participating!

Continue Reading Gluten Free Cereal Bowl

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Sometimes when life gets stressful and all too busy, I like to take a moment to remember the good old days; before the teen years, before drama or difficult homework. The days when my biggest concern was which friend I was going to invite over to play or what my doll was going to wear for the day; the early years of life.

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Put on your jelly shoes and grab your cabbage patch doll. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at some of my favorite things as a little one.

Favorite Meals (mom always served meals with fruits and veggies too!):

  • Tacos
  • Build your own pizza
  • Build your own sub sandwich
  • Thanksgiving meal
  • Chips and cheese

Mom said I was creative with my food even back when.

Favorite Shows:

  • Raffi
  • Sesame Street
  • Barney
  • Mr. Rogers

My family can still to this day sing all of the Raffi songs because I watched him so much.

Favorite Movies:

  • Wizard of Oz
  • Willy Wonka
  • Little Mermaid
  • Kid Songs

Favorite Games:

  • Skip-Bo
  • Scrabble Jr.
  • Chutes and Ladders
  • Candy Land

Some of my Favorite Memories:

  • Houseboat trips, camping, swimming

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  • Dance (especially when I was older and got to dance with Bets). I enjoyed it all: tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, lyrical…

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  • School: Halloween parties, first day of school, brand new sharp crayons, recess, field trips, friends.

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  • Vacations and outings with my family: road trips up north, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin Dells, Disneyworld, the Zoo, etc. I loved spending time with my family.

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Being the cheerleader at my brother’s games: basketball, football, baseball (eventually I played basketball too!).  I spent a WHOLE LOT of time at these sporting events.

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  • Playing Barbie’s with my cousins and my friend, Laura.
  • Going to grandma’s pool in the summer- It will forever be called “grandma’s pool.”
  • Holidays, Birthday parties, get-togethers with my huge family, friends, sleepovers, movie nights with my family…

I could go on and on about my favorite memories from growing up. Life was so simple then and it warms my heart to take a moment to reminisce on those days. I need to try and simplify my life now.

I need to remember to make every day count, to look on the bright side, to tell the people in my life just how much they mean to me, and how much I love them, to stop waiting for a better time to do something because there may never be a better time than the present, to stop feeling sorry for myself because I am sick and just live the life I was given and live it fully. Things could be a whole lot worse.

I need to stop worrying about what other people think, that I’m not working out as often as I think I should, or that I’m eating far too much peanut butter and chocolate. Life is too short for that.

Life is busy. We are all busy. But we absolutely must remember to take the time to do what matters most to us. Spend time with the ones you love. Don’t hang on the past or any regrets. Do little things with a lot of love.

If you don’t know by now, I am a very sentimental person. I am also very emotional and I don’t hide my emotions well. I’m a gushy lovey-dovey person. I love love, and have a lot of love to give. This post turned into a real gushy one and I’m proud of it!

Have a LOVELY Thursday my friends! I will if you will.

P.S. There’s still time to enter into the Sneaky Pete’s Beverage giveaway!

 

Continue Reading A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Birthdays, 5k, State Fair

Yes, it was a jam-packed full of fun weekend.

It began Saturday morning. Dana and I hit the gym together (the what?!) and we worked through a back and bicep strength training routine. I left feeling very disappointed because I have noticed how weak I have become lately due to the U.C. and the limited energy I have had.

“But you gotta keep your head up….” and then laugh a little. I was pretty mopey after the gym but Dana cheered me up with this:

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My mood improved after that. I know I need to get through this, and will get through this, and I will slowly begin to rebuild my strength. After my little moment, I cheered up thinking about the fun day ahead.

Dana and I headed to my grandpa’s house to visit with him, my mom and dad, and many of other family members who were in from out of town. We were only able to stay for a short while, but I absolutely loved seeing each and every one of them. I miss them all so much.

While we were there I felt the need to explain to them why we were looking all gnarly that day in our 80’s outfits. We were heading to an 80’s themed birthday party…

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For our dear friend, Stacy.

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The day was full of lots of laughs, big hair, neon, Glen Gulia, creepers (Nate and Nate) and great “rad” friends. We had a blast celebrating Stacy’s big day with her. Today is her ACTUAL birthday so…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACY!!! Love ya!

****************

Sunday

On Saturday morning Dana and I participated in our 3rd annual Minnesota State Fair Milk run. It is a 5k race which takes place just outside of the state fair grounds and starts at 7:45 am.

The weather was perfect. It was overcast, cool, and humid so I felt like my legs warmed up really fast but the cool temperature kept me cool. Duh?

Anyway, it felt like a great run. I am really curious to see our times which haven’t been posted yet. I felt like we were running at a pretty good pace but I’ve been wrong before so we’ll see.

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After the race we headed to the great Minnesota get-together, aka The Minnesota State Fair. Those of you who aren’t from MN, the state fair is a BIG deal around here. I frankly don’t think it deserves all of the hype, but I do enjoy going every year.

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It’s mostly a food fest, but there are other activities such as carnival rides, farm animals, sky rides, an agriculture building, a health building, etc. I do enjoy checking out a lot of those things, but I can’t handle crowds very well, so the visits are usually short lived.

Dana’s one item that he gets every year is the Pronto-Pup, or a corn dog if you will. I pass on the wiener on a stick.

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Since I know we never stay long at the fair, and I have a limited stomach capacity, I try to choose my foods wisely. My first choice was falafel on a stick which I shared with hubs.

Next, was our free malts that we got from the Milk Run.

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Mashed potatoes on a stick. These were actually very good. I was craving salty and this was definitely that. It was mashed potatoes, cheese, and bacon, all deep fried. Again, “says the dietitian.” We split these as well.

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The last item we wanted to try was the bacon ice cream. The ice cream had a maple flavor and the bacon added a touch of salty bite to the combo. Meh, it was okay. We both agreed we wouldn’t get it again, but were glad we tried it.

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Food fest 2012. I’m not proud of what I ate, but it only happens once a year so I know I shouldn’t feel too bad about it.

Sunday afternoon led us to celebrate yet another birthday, this one for my amazing brother Kevin. His birthday was last week but it worked out best to celebrate last night.

We had a very relaxing evening outside where we chatted, gave Kevi his birthday presents…

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Ate delicious turkey sliders with chili cheese dip courtesy a la madre…

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And birthday cake courtesy a la Melanie.

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Kevin loves chocolate and peanut butter just as much as I do, so I decided to make him a chocolate peanut butter cake (inspired by Courtney).

I cheated and used a boxed gluten-free devil’s food cake mix. I baked two round cakes, and made a homemade peanut butter frosting to glue the layers together (don’t think I didn’t taste test the frosting as I was making the cake). It was peanut butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla all whipped together.

I then topped the cake with store-bought sugar-free chocolate frosting and finished it off with chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.

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I completely forgot to snap a photo of the inside of the cake! It was beautiful too. Oh well. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t believe I was able to scarf down a piece of cake after all of the sugar I had already consumed that day. Blah. Dana and I both left feeling Thanksgiving stuffed, but it was well worth it. I loved celebrating with you Kevi! Love you all so much.

What an amazing weekend. Now, it’s time to detoxify my body from all of this extra sugar it’s not used to, and try to give it the rest it needs.

Have a great day everyone.

Continue Reading Birthdays, 5k, State Fair
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