Curry Squash & Lentil Stew

Guess what I did again on Wednesday night? I got my dance on at my old dance studio! For anyone who may have missed it, you can catch a little blurb about my dance journey if you click right here. Since I was sick last week I didn’t make it to class, but was able to go this week and it felt GREAT. I am really feeling the aftermath of it. My body is screaming. I love it.

Onto Thursday…

Lately I have been making myself a breakfast smoothie to enjoy on the ride to work. Yesterday I threw together what was sure to be a delicious smoothie. In the mix: cherries, blueberries, banana, coconut almond milk, and hemp protein powder.I gave it the standard whirl in the blender, poured it into my to-go cup, and made my way to work.

I was so looking forward to this smoothie but to my dismay there was some crunchy bits that kept coming through my straw. I thought it was just a fluke and maybe it was a bit of cherry skin that hadn’t quite pureed completely, so I kept sipping. More and more hard little bits. I came to the conclusion that it had to have been a cherry pit that was accidentally missed. So much for my breakfast smoothie.

I made a pit stop at the gas station for an impromptu banana and string cheese. Carbs and protein. I did my best given my time constraint and options available.

Enough of the smoothie rant. Lunch was great. I made myself a bowl of shredded chicken (crock pot style), peas, and avocado. I seasoned it all with salt and pepper and called it a protein packed bowl of goodness. Alongside the chicken I had an apple and carrot sticks and some chocolate chips and peanut butter for dessert.

After work my body was seriously sore. Dance really kicked my rear. I wanted to get some type of physical activity so I opted for yoga. The particular OnDemand yoga session was about 25 minutes long and focused on ab strengthening. It was a doozy and I mean that in a good kind of way. It was a “beginner” level but I would not have categorized it as such. Intermediate would be more appropriate. I’m not that out of shape.

Dinner

We still had a few varieties of squash lying around from our last trip to the farmer’s market. Actually, that’s not true. The squash on the left is now gone. I ate half of it a couple of weeks ago. It was okay but nothing to write home about. 😉 So that means I still had a spaghetti squash and a buttercup squash to work with.

I made a quick scan of the cupboards and then got creative in the crock pot. I threw together brown lentils, chickpeas, cooked and cubed buttercup squash, chicken broth, and other spices (recipe below). I let this simmer on low for 6 hours, covered; stirring occasionally.

After it was done mingling, I ladled it into my pretty blue ceramic bowl from our wedding, and topped the stew with fresh chopped cilantro and chopped unsalted peanuts.

The stew turned out so great! The flavors all worked together so nicely and the dish was hearty, warm, and comforting. I’m pretty sure this was my first time ever cooking with lentils and it was my first time working with buttercup squash. Double score! I have lots of lentils leftover and will definitely be using more of them in my future. I am thinking lentil sloppy joes.

Here is the recipe for ya and my inspiration came from Eating Well.

Curry Squash & Lentil Stew
Print
Cuisine: NOTE: To make SCD legal, remove chickpeas and add in your favorite SCD legal white bean instead
4 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups buttercup squash, cooked, and cubed
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • ¾ cup chickpeas
  • ¾ cup brown lentils
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup no added sugar spaghetti sauce*
  • 2 cups chicken broth**
  • 1 tsp. dried ginger
  • ¾ tsp. cumin
  • ½ tsp. curry powder
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • *Tomato paste can be substituted; you would need about 1 Tbsp.
  • **Vegetable broth can be used if cooking vegetarian.
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients except peanuts and cilantro into slow cooker.
  2. Cover and set on low for 6 hours; stirring occasionally.
  3. Ladle stew into bowls and top with peanuts and cilantro.

 Exciting News

I mentioned in my last post that I would be traveling out of the country in less than two weeks. It’s reveal time. The destination….

Bogota, Colombia!

Dana and I are going to visit my brother Jeff who lives and works out there. I am so insanely excited and can’t believe it’s so soon! I can’t wait to spend time with him, meet his friends, see where he lives, and learn more about Colombia (and hopefully drink some really great coffee and eat delicious chocolate). That is my fun news! I will be snapping lots of photos to share with you all when I get back.

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

Anyone else thrilled that it’s Friday? I can’t hide my enthusiasm. Apparently it’s strong coffee Friday too. Usually it’s me that accidentally  makes the coffee a little too strong, but this week the finger points elsewhere. Maybe that’s why I’m extra enthusiastic this morning.

We have plans to celebrate mom’s birthday this weekend. It’s a special year for her. We will be hosting dinner over at our house on Saturday night. I have a great menu planned and am excited to have some of the family over. More on that later gators.

Have a super Friday friends! xoxo. I hope this enthusiasm rides out all day.

Continue Reading Curry Squash & Lentil Stew

In case you were wondering…

In case you were wondering…

This is where I write the majority of posts for beautifully nutty.

In case you were wondering…this is how far I ran yesterday.

In case you were wondering…this is my biggest vice.

In case you were wondering…I ate pumpkin bread with peanut butter, cinnamon, and a light drizzle of honey for lunch yesterday.

In case you were wondering…I am excited to try these.

In case you were wondering…I am sweating pink in style with my new laces.

In case you were wondering…I will be traveling out of the country in TWO WEEKS.

Lastly, in case you were wondering, it is probably time for an update on my health status. After much poking, prodding, consulting, and tears, I am happy to announce that I am at about 93% in terms of kicking the Ulcerative Colitis flare. I have just 7% to go to get me back to normal, and I know my body is going to be there very soon.

As you have noticed, I have deviated slightly from the SCD. I will continue to live primarily gluten-free (minus when I had the stomach flu) and will be careful with added sugars, but I am very content with doing my own thing in terms of what works for me and my health.

I learn more about myself with each passing day. I am still learning how to handle my stressors and triggers and learning which foods to stay away from to help alleviate certain symptoms. If I feel a flare coming on again I will put myself back on a more strict SCD, but for now I will be following through with my modified SCD.

I will have more updates for you in the future regarding the U.C. as well as where I will be heading in 2 weeks! Lots of excitement to come…

You probably weren’t wondering any of the above, but now you know! 😉

Have a sweet Wednesday my friends. Catch up with you all soon!

Continue Reading In case you were wondering…

Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

It’s time for the final recap of The Healthy Living Summit. Presenting you with day 3 (Sunday)…More photos, less talky.

HLS 5k

image

(photo courtesy of Courtney)

Healthy Breakfast and Good-Bye’s

DSCN5190

DSCN5191

image

(photo courtesy of Jamie)

Harvard Square

Both Shannon and I had later flights on Sunday, so we took advantage of our extra time by walking to Harvard and admiring their beautiful campus and the surrounding area.

walk with Shannon       photo-001

It looks a little different from good old Minnesota State University, Mankato! It is a breathtaking campus.

photo

We oogled the fresh goods at a local farmer’s market and bought flavored nuts from Q’s Nuts, a local company, and I bought a sweet apple for the airport.

photo-002

A cupcake truck to tempt us on our walk home…we denied it after much contemplation.

photo-003

Back at the hotel, we had 45 minutes to shower, pack, and be down in the lobby to catch a cab back to the airport. In case you’re wondering, yes I did have to sit on my suitcase in order to close it, thanks to all of the great swag! My bag weighed in at 48.5 lbs on the way home.

photo-004

At the airport I polished off a small sample of Q’s nuts, my large farmer’s market apple, and then decided I needed some greenery, so wandered around until I found myself a nice little side salad. My first flight was from Boston to Chicago.

photo-006

A layover in Chicago (for 3.5 hours) led me to buy more food. Another salad…

photo-005

Hmm….what else do I want? So many temptations surrounding me.

photo-007

After about 45 minutes I decided that a bowl of vanilla Fro Yo was just what I wanted.  Those apples look pretty tasty though don’t they? I walk by them every time I am at the Chicago airport and drool by the window.

photo-008

Fro Yo two days in a row. That needs to stop now. Have you noticed I am quite the indecisive person? It’s not something I’m proud of. Smile with tongue out

Next flight, Chicago to Minneapolis. I munched on a box of Wild Harvest Organic Raisins from the conference and then tried to sleep (with no such luck). I arrived in Minneapolis around 12:30, and crawled into bed around 1 am. It was a LOOONNGG day of traveling and I was so happy to be home.

The main message I took from the conference is, be true to you and remember why you started your blog. I started B.N. to share my love for food and fitness in hope to inspire others (and motivate myself) to live a healthy lifestyle. What you read on my blog is all me. I write how I talk, and am real with you every day. Not every day is a great day, but I do try and find the positives in every situation and keep my blog uplifting and light. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

To the great friends I met over the weekend: you are all such incredible, inspirational people. I learned something from each and every one of you. I look forward to staying in touch over the years and hopefully meeting up with you all again!

I am so glad I made the decision to attend HLS12. I attained so much valuable information and am now finally starting to digest and process it all. I am in the process of putting some of what I learned to work! Expect great changes to Beautifully Nutty in the future.

I will be back to normal posts again. The recipes are piling up and I have some major catching up to do. I hope you’re excited!

Happy  Hump Day!

Continue Reading Decisions, Decisions: HLS Day 3

Shake Out the Nerves: HLS Day 1

Hi friends! I am home sweet home from my trip out to Cambridge, MA for the Healthy Living Summit 2012. I have A LOT to tell you. I was going to try to do a recap of this weekend in one post, but there is absolutely no way I would be able to do that without writing you a novel. So, I’m going to break it down day by day. Bear with me.

Last time I left you I had recapped my day with Dana in Boston. Moving on to Friday….

Friday morning, I was one lazy lady. I slept in, eventually rolled out of bed (I do literally roll out of bed), made myself a cup of joe, and plopped myself in front of the computer for a couple of hours. It felt phenomenal to just sit and relax.

I even ate breakfast in my room. I picked up a vanilla bean non-fat Greek yogurt from Trader Joe’s the night before and enjoyed (a few too many) cinnamon almonds from TJ’s as well.

DSCN5137

Then came the activity

I decided to make something of myself around 11:00, so I jumped into my workout clothes, laced up the ol’ Asics, and made my way to the river. I used MapMyRun to track me through 4 miles. I jogged and walked while enjoying the beautiful views of Cambridge.

photo

Back at the hotel, I had my first mini mingle with some of the HLS ladies. A fellow blogger Aundra, led a group of us in an outdoor Zumba class. She scoped out a nice shady spot for us just outside of our hotel, and there was a nice breeze to keep us cool as we broke it down.

image

Image courtesy of Aundra

She got me sweatin’ and was the cutest, happiest, Zumba instructor I’ve had yet. Such a fun time!

After Zumba, I showered up and headed to the HLS registration tables to pick up my bag-o-swag, and then sat in on a presentation and discussion led by Derek of the blog Greatist.

DSCN5138

Derek emphasized the importance of being your best self, and staying true to who you are in life, and in your blog. His presentation was a great way to kick off the conference, and was a great opportunity to mingle with other bloggers, and discuss ideas with one another.

Let’s talk about this swag bag.

Holy cow I was a little girl on Christmas when I got this bag. Thanks to wonderful sponsors and donations, the gift bag that each attendee received was overflowing with great products from workout headbands and a t-shirt from Five Bamboo, to Organic Granola from Cascadian Farms, Odwalla bars, SoyJoy, and many other great products.

We were also loaded up with coupons for products from Almond Breeze, Wild Harvest ( a HUGE sponsor for this event), Laughing Cow, Stonyfield, and more. Such generous donations and swag bags!

DSCN5145

DSCN5146

Oh, and did I mention Reebok? Um, hello! They gave us all a pair of absolutely adorable RealFlex shoes. Are you kidding me? That is amazing! They are so much fun, come in lots of different colors and are very comfortable.

DSCN5143

Thank you for all of the generous gifts!

After scrounging through the goodies, it was time to meet up for another “mini mingle” which was a photo walk around Cambridge. We walked our way to the very famous Fenway Park. Unfortunately we couldn’t look inside, but it was still neat to see the outside of it, and more importantly I had a chance to chat with so many sweet ladies.

DSCN5141

DSCN5142

That marked my third sweat session of the day.

Once we got back I was drained, but knew I needed to gather up some last bits of energy because I had a cocktail partAY to attend to.

I neglected to really take any photos of the cocktail party, except for this awkward one which was taken in my room beforehand…

photo

I was all nerves walking into the cocktail party as I did not know a soul except for a few people I had spoken with throughout the day. When I am placed in situations where I don’t know anyone, I tend to get shy. It forces me out of my comfort zone and I realize that sometimes this is the only way a person can grow and get over the uncomfortable feeling. It’s good for me.

I approached the first friendly welcoming person I could find, and within minutes I was engaging in conversations left and right with fellow healthy living enthusiasts. Being that we all have so much in common, it was very easy to keep conversation flowing. I was meeting so many great people with interesting things to say!

The only thing weighing me down was that my energy level was at a 3 out of 10. My body was working over time to keep me going. I wanted to enjoy the moment though so I kept pulling through. 

At around 9:00, I managed to spill my glass of red wine all down the front of my tan skirt. I was that girl. Womp wooooommmmp. I used my clutch to cover it up as I quickly made my way up to my room. Embarrassing.

A little cold water and white bar soap, and I worked that stain right out.

DSCN5149

So here I am in my hotel room at 9:00 pm, the party is still going on downstairs, I’m debating what to wear if I go back down to the party, I’m feeling very cozy in my gorgeous Hyatt room, and little Ms. Melanie is completely spent.

I made an executive decision right then and there that I was going to stay in the rest of the night. I took the wine on my skirt as a sign that my body was ready to call it a night. After all, I had a very busy day ahead of me, and wanted to be in good shape for it.

I snuggled into bed, and slept sound. I had survived day one, which is the most nerve-racking of them all. SO much more to come. Please stay tuned!

Continue Reading Shake Out the Nerves: HLS Day 1

Destination Boston HLS12

I made it to Boston, but I was one tired girl when I arrived.

(Back track to Thursday)

I rolled out of bed at 4:00 am to get to the airport by 5:40 or so. My flight wasn’t until 7:35 but I need to be extra early to keep my anxiety level at ease.

As I’m waiting to board my 7:35 flight, they make an announcement that due to weather in Chicago (which is where I had a layover), that there would be a half hour delay. Okay, no big deal. I go make an extra lap around the airport and come back. Another announcement…Captain wants to wait for the storm to pass. Take-off has been delayed until 9:35. Now I’m ticked.

I understand this happens and it’s for the safety of everyone involved, but I was just disappointed because Dana was waiting for me out in Boston, so that we could spend part of the day together. He was out there for business this week so the plan was when I got in at 1:30, we would go hit up the town and explore Boston together, and then he would be taking off Friday morning.

This is getting long, so long story short, I switched flights and airlines and flew standby on a direct flight from Minneapolis to Boston that took off at 10:30. I arrived in Boston around 2:30 (??) and Dana picked me up at the airport. I ran into a friend from college at the airport btw! Such a small world!

By the time we checked into our hotel, got situated, changed, and went outside to wait for the free hotel shuttle, it was 4:00 already.

(Check out the view from my room. Wowzas I love it! I love this hotel…more to come on that!)

DSCN5125

Even with limited time, we still made a pretty good dent in the city. We took the hotel shuttle to the T, and took the T to The Freedom Trail which is a 2.5 mile walk around part of the city, and it passes many historical landmarks. Dana and I followed along with an app on his phone and were able to catch up on some of our history that way.

Did I mention I hadn’t eaten lunch yet? Okay, I don’t function very well when I’m hungry. So, as we made our way through the walk, we were also scoping out places to eat. I had a hankering for seafood especially after Dana texted me a photo of his lobster roll from the day before.

After walking past handfuls of gelato stands, I was tempted to eat gelato for dinner, but decided something more substantial was probably a better idea. We decided on Salty Dog which is located in the Faneuil Marketplace.

DSCN5132

DSCN5126

This photo below if the only proof I have that Dana was with me yesterday. I didn’t get one photo of the two of us! Bummer. We have the memories though. Winking smile  

We started with a shrimp cocktail appetizer that we split between the two of us. Such fresh perfect shrimp. I could get used to this.

DSCN5127

For dinner, we split the lobster sandwich that came with a side of coleslaw and fries, but we swapped the fries for a side of sautéed veggies. After seeing Dana’s lobster roll photo from the day before, I was expecting a lot more food than this. I guess that’s the difference between a lobster roll and a lobster sandwich? Oh well. The food was delicious, with a ginormous chunk of fresh lobster in the sandwich, a light spread of mayo, lettuce, and a buttery bun. I just left feeling kind of  hungry still.

DSCN5129

After dinner we continued our Freedom Trail journey and did our tourist thing. I am embarrassed to post this photo as I am sweaty/tired/dirty/hungry, but I do it for you.

Paul Revere’s house:

DSCN5133

The USS Constitution:

DSCN5135

I have to admit, I am a little ashamed at my lack of historical knowledge. History was my least favorite subject in school so I didn’t really pay very good attention. It isn’t too late to start learning now though! I enjoyed learning about some of the history of Boston. What a beautiful area.

We got back to the hotel around 8:00 pm and we were both famished again. We hopped in the rental car (from Southern Van Hire) and made our way to Trader Jo’s and to Whole Foods. We made ourselves a Mediterranean inspired bowl of goodness at Whole Foods and ate that as our second dinner. I also bought a bag of Cinnamon Almonds from Trader Jo’s which are HIGHLY addicting.

Friday

Now it’s Friday morning and I am being a lazy bum in my room until some of the festivities of the Healthy Living Summit begin! I was in dire need of sleep yesterday and slept for 10 hours last night. The hubby is back home now. I loved every second of having him here.

Now that HLS12 is finally here, I feel like it’s the first day of school. I am full of anticipation, anxiousness, nervousness, and excitement! Now that I am fully rested, I am pumped to get this party started! Cannot wait to meet all of the other attendees, and can’t wait to fill all of you in on the events of the weekend.

I hope you are all having a great Friday. Catch up with you soon!

Continue Reading Destination Boston HLS12

Cabin Weekend Photo Recap

We had such an absolutely amazing time away at the cabin this weekend. It was a sunny, relaxing, laugh-until-your-cheeks-hurt, 100% laid-back good time. 🙂 The family members at the cabin were my aunt and uncle Chip and Patti, two of their kids Aaron and Ali, my aunt and uncle David and Doreen, their two boys Matthew and Nathan (their cabin is next door to Chip and Patti’s), my mom and dad, and Dana and me.

This post doesn’t need many words, so how about a photo cabin recap instead? Here it goes…

I didn’t want to leave on Sunday; I had such a blast. This is definitely what the doctor had ordered. Thank you to my gracious aunt and uncle/Godfather for having us out to your lake place. I hope we can make this happen more often!

In case anyone was wondering, I did manage to stick to the SCD all weekend. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I really want to reach my hands into the popcorn bag and the peanut M & M’s, but I resisted and snacked on some cantaloupe instead.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well! I have a healthy and delicious nacho recipe coming your way tomorrow. You’re probably going to want to check back. 😉

Have a great day!

Continue Reading Cabin Weekend Photo Recap

I’m Still Delicate

It’s someone’s big day…

Our funny, sometimes annoying, very entertaining doggie, Moose turns 4 today. Also known as Mooser, Moosebear, Big Bear, Booboo. He has big plans to lay around the house and dream of chasing squirrels and eating flies. Who knows he may even get to go running with his uncle Kevin. My brother Kevin is going to be staying with the big bear this weekend because Dana and I are heading up north to the Boundary Waters. We are meeting up with one of my other brothers, Scott, and his girlfriend Nicole for an adventurous weekend full of backpacking, canoeing, portaging, camping, fresh air, and wildlife.

I will be learning a lot this weekend. I am not the most “outdoorsy” person. I have always been what my family calls a delicate doily. I have always liked wearing dresses and jewelry. I hate killing bugs. I cried all the time in basketball. I cried all the time in general when my feelings were hurt. I was delicate then…

And delicate now…I can handle a lot more now than I used to though. I am realizing I am capable of a lot more than I ever thought I could be. I never in a million years would have thought I would be signed up for a half marathon that is now two and a half weeks away, but I am. This weekend will be very good for me. I am truly looking forward to it.

***********

Tuesday’s Breakfast

Gluten free english muffin with grape jelly on one half, and peach preserves on the other half. I ate one bite off one, then the next bite off the other (I ended on a peach bite).

Lunch

A half of a large precooked sweet potato with a sprinkle of cinnamon, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Please make this! I am contemplating eating this for breakfast even. It is SO good. Either bake or microwave your washed sweet potato, mash it, microwave it, sprinkle with the condiments listed above, and devour. Melty peanut butter would probably be really good on this too. Yum.

Dinner from last night is almost too embarrassing to post. I didn’t snap any photos of it because it was truly nothing to be proud of. In fact, I am a little ashamed considering I am a healthy living blogger. We all know, no one is perfect. I just have to say that given my current health status, junky foods have the tendency to sit better in my system lately. This is no excuse for what I ate for dinner. Okay so I bought a medium bag of pretzel M & m’s at the grocery store today, and half the bag is gone. Foods that are made with enriched white flour like pretzels and Cheez-its are very tolerable for me right now too, and some of those were consumed as well. Yup, that’s just peachy.

Anyway. Guess what? Remember that dress I mentioned a few days ago that I bought at Target for $7.00? Well, it fits! I wore it to work yesterday.

Such a completely awkward loner photo but I had to show you. That photo actually really reminded me of the first day of school photos that mom and dad would take.

Sporting the jean skirt with the lace trim, ruffle socks, and purple and pink backpack (my favorite colors of course). I was all set for preschool and 21 some years of school after that. He he.

Alright, I am off to the North Country. I plan to capture some moments on camera and cannot wait to share my experiences with you when I get back. Don’t miss me too much while I am gone. 🙂

Continue Reading I’m Still Delicate

Food Photos Vacation Style

Happy Friday! Yay!

As you may know, I love food and I enjoy taking photos of my food. I decided to round up the rest of my food photos from my recent vaca to show some more of my eats while I was away.

Starting with our in flight breakfast of steel cut oats, fresh berries, and a bagel with jam.

In flight lunch…not my favorite chicken, not my favorite noodle dish, cooked veggies, an awesome greek salad, whole wheat roll, and cheesecake. I really enjoyed the salad and the bread, which ironically ended up being the theme the rest of the trip.

Some of my meals from our all-inclusive hotel, Celuisma, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. You may have seen a couple of these photos from my previous posts.

A lot of veggies….

Creamy oatmeal and fruit…

Awesome omelets made by one of the hotel’s wonderful chefs, “Sixto”.

Fajitas from the Mexican-themed restaurant.

Kabobs from Kokomo’s, which is their restaurant on the beach.

A few of the many desserts…

More veggies…

A fish called Mori from the Caribbean-themed restaurant…

Tasty fresh rolls and breads…

Rice and beans…

Black bean soup…

I didn’t take photos of all of my meals and realize I neglected to take one photo of my four pasta meals I had while I was there. Not very authentic I am aware, but they had a build your own pasta bar nearly every night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mmmm carbs. My body had to have been so confused with the changes in my diet. I loved every second of it.

That wraps up most of my vacation talk. Now that it has been almost a week since we came home, it’s back to reality! I need to start getting creative in the kitchen. I’ve been slackin’.

Have a great day!

Continue Reading Food Photos Vacation Style

Safari Tour in the Dominican Republic

While we were away on our trip, we decided that the majority of our vacation was going to be spent relaxing, lying on the beach, reading books and sipping piña coladas, however we did decide that we would do one excursion. We signed up to go on an “Outback Safari Tour” that involved taking an open air shuttle bus into the countryside which included a tour of the waterfalls.

We brought along a disposable underwater camera and tried to capture our journey, however most of the photos turned out pretty dark, as the day we went was very rainy. But I still want to show you them so you can get an idea of our tour.

We were picked up at our hotel in the morning then headed to three other resorts along the way to pick up other couples who had signed up for the tour. On our bus were two gals from Canada, a couple from Russia, a couple from Germany, Dana and I (U.S. of course), and our tour guide who is a Dominican native. We had quite the diverse group which was wonderful!

Our first stop was at an area where men were working, making beautiful figurines which they carve out of native woods and stones. I was fascinated by these men and their carving skills. We also looked around and saw people can purchase AR-15 magazines just in case any wild attacks were seen. The first stage of the carving process involves shaping the material with a machete. I was really hoping that no fingers would be spared as they got so close each time they made a cut. I am such a worrier. I know they are very skilled with their tools. After the machete phase, the next guy works with a small knife to do the intricate carving, the third works on sanding the edges, the fourth uses water and sand paper to smooth it out, and sometimes a fifth man will paint or stain the figurine. Talk about manual labor. One figurine usually takes about three days to complete.

This photo turned out really dark, sorry about that.

The next stop on the tour was to learn about how coffee beans are made into usable coffee grounds, and how cocoa beans are made into usable cocoa. The coffee beans are picked, dried out in the sun for at least a week, roasted, and then ground. We were able to muddle the coffee beans ourselves. They placed straw hats on our heads, told us all to hang on to the mallet, and they sang as we danced around in a circle and stomped the coffee beans. It was pretty comical yet efficient!

First the ladies.

Then the men.

We then got to taste the coffee (after it had been properly brewed) and the cocoa. They were both incredibly delicious and obviously as fresh as it gets. We bought some coffee to take home with us.

The last portion of this stop was taste a drink of the Dominican Republic called Mama Juana. It is a mixture of rum, wine, and honey that is soaked in a bottle with tree bark and herbs. The taste is sweet and can be compared to a port wine. It is a rumored aphrodisiac but is also used for medicinal purposes in their culture. They referred to it a few times as “the baby maker” which I thought was hilarious.

Back on to the bus we went to grab some lunch before hitting the waterfalls. We ate a fairly typical Dominican lunch of rice and beans, fresh salad, meat (I opted out of the meat again), and fresh fruit.

Next stop was the main event: The Waterfalls. This particular tour involved climbing up 7 of the 27 waterfalls, and then jumping or sliding down them.

Upon arrival, we suited up in our gear.

And were led by our tour guide on a 20 minute hike towards the waterfalls. It began pouring as we hiked through the jungle which really added to the excitement of the experience for me. Once we reached the falls we got right to it and hopped into the water.

And began our hike up the falls.

It was actually a very challenging tour as the rain was pounding on us, and the rain was causing high waters and extremely strong water currents. Swimming against the current is never easy no matter how strong you are. We got through climbing up three of the falls before the tour guide told us we would not be able to complete the other four due to the excessive rain and high waters. It would be too dangerous. So, back we went down the three waterfalls.

We jumped. A pretty graceful jump if I do say so myself being that I was terrified to jump off the ledge.

And we slid. Can you see me?

After we hopped down the falls, we headed out on another hike back to the bus. We had a rainy ride back to our hotel but the closer we got to the ocean, and the further we got from the countryside, the more it began to clear up. We headed to the beach once we got back to our hotel and I fell asleep on the lounge chair. That’s probably when I got so many of my bug bites. They still itch.

It was a really great tour and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the Dominican Republic. We had a wonderful tour guide who taught us many interesting facts about the culture and history of their country.

Here is the link to their site: https://www.outbackadventuresdr.com/

Writing this made me very sad thinking that it was exactly a week ago that we went on this tour. I love vacation and want to be back there!

I hope everyone has a wonderful hump day.

Continue Reading Safari Tour in the Dominican Republic

Working Out on Vacation

Holy cow. Dinner last night was the bomb. Sautéed onions, black beans, corn, tomato, avocado, salsa, cheese, all topped with an over-easy egg. Oh my goodness. I just can’t explain how much I enjoyed this dinner. It was so easy and so healthy and protein packed.

For dessert I had Fage Non-Fat Greek Yogurt with maple syrup (unphotographed).

**********

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I managed to get workouts in on vacation one way or the other. Staying active is so important to me for so many reasons. I am a much more pleasant person to be around once I’ve gotten some activity in. Just because I am on vacation doesn’t mean I’m not going to move my body.

Three of our mornings in the Dominican, we laced up the old sneakers for runs along the beach. You cannot beat this view.

It was a good thing we had a beautifully scenic route because running in the sand is slightly torturous if you’re not used to it. Running two miles in the sand felt like running 6 miles on the pavement.  Because of the uneven surfaces of the sand, your body continues to be surprised each time you land, not knowing what it is going to need to adapt to next, which challenges different muscles.

Training on uneven surfaces (beach, trails, etc)  is actually highly recommended for runners because it does challenge your body so much and helps to develop other muscles that aren’t always the main focus in pavement running (not that I’m a running expert!). I was glad we were able to get a few runs in while we were away.

After I posted the above photo, I realized that Dana and I were wearing very similar outfits in a photo from our 15k race last summer.  How about that, right?

After our first sweaty run, we decided that wearing shirts was absolutely not a good idea because of the insane heat especially since we weren’t used to it. The rest of the runs were completed in this attire…

It helped cool me down but only by a little bit.

Two times we headed to the hotel’s gym. I am kicking myself for forgetting to take a photo of the quaint space, but did pull this one from their website to give you some idea of what we were working with. We warmed up with 5 minutes on the stationary bikes before hitting the weights. One day we focused on back, shoulders, and biceps, and the other we focused on chest, triceps (with some core work mixed in). It had what we needed!

I participated in beach aerobics one day. Can you find me? I am the palest gal out there (it was our first day of sun).

Went for walks on the beach every day.

And even got to swim and climb waterfalls on a Safari Tour one day which was extremely difficult and scary too!

Were my workouts on vacation as strenuous as workouts at home? No, definitely not. But seeing as I could have completely neglected workouts all together on this trip as some people chose to do, I feel pretty good about my activity level. Nobody wants crabby Melanie, especially not the husband, so getting physical activity in is a must.

Speaking of workouts, it’s time for one right now. Off I go! Have a wonderful day, and don’t forget to MOVE!

Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite ways to stay active while on vacation?

Continue Reading Working Out on Vacation
Newer Posts
Older Posts