Ripley’s Aquarium and Chesapeake House Dinner

In case you missed my last post, we’re enjoying a nice little mini-vacation at the beach.  Unfortunately, today is our last beach day, so we’re going to try and make the most of it.  It sure has been wonderful to have time away with my family.  Unfortunately, Ryan does have to “work” some… he does have to attend the conference.  ;)  But in the afternoons, we have time to play on the beach and in the pools.  We have also had the most AMAZING weather.  Every day it has been 85 degrees, with low humidity, and lots of sunshine.  Perfect.

On Monday night, we took Sadie for a little outing.  She LOOOOVES an aquarium, so we thought she would really enjoy seeing Ripley’s Aquarium here at Myrtle Beach.  It’s a great aquarium!  AND, I recently discovered that it is FREE for teachers!  Ryan and I printed up our check stubs, brought our IDs, and YAY!  Free!  Not only that, but Sadie’s admission was half price (less than $3!)  So… if you are a teacher, and you are headed to the MB area, you should take advantage of this!

Sadie loved looking at all the sea creatures in the water.  One of the coolest part about Ripley’s is how you can walk through a tunnel with the aquarium (and sharks!) swimming above you.  It definitely is creepy to see how many sharks are swimming UNDER the water, and from the surface, it looks calm and clear.  There have been several shark attacks here in the MB area (mostly small sharks with ankle-height injuries, but still… a shark is a shark), which freaks me out now when I go into the ocean.  However, I try not to pass that fear on to Sadie.  Swimming in the ocean is so nice and refreshing.  I don’t want her to be scared of the ocean.

We also had a bonus—Ripley’s has a new dinosaur exhibit.  It took Sadie a little while to gather the courage to walk by this realistic-looking T-Rex. 

But once she did, she loved the dino section.

After we saw everything at Ripley’s, we headed to dinner.  We decided to hit one of the restaurants that my family has been to several times.  I like this one because it is locally-owned.  They have good food and you get a lot of food for your money. 

They also have a pond on the side with…

… yes, Alligators!  There is a fence that keeps them away from you.  But it makes for great entertainment when you are waiting for your food! 

 

(It turns out alligators will eat french fries if a little boy throws them over the fence to it.)

I decided on a crab-stuffed grouper, and Ryan had steak.  One great thing about Chesapeake House is that you do not need to order appetizers.  The entrees are served with a bread basket…

… full of cinnamon rolls, bread, and to-die-for hush puppies.  They are amazing.  I am not eating wheat, but I had to indulge a little.

The meals also come with salad (not pictured) and a cup of the fish stew, which is delicious.  It’s a lot like Manhattan Clam Chowder.  Yum.

Dinner was delicious. 

There was no room for dessert.  We were stuffed!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful night, and we were so proud of Sadie.  After 2 days of playing on the beach, we thought the night could turn really ugly as her tiredness reared its ugly head… but she was so well-behaved. 

If you happen to be in the Myrtle Beach area, be sure to try out the Chesapeake House! 

Father’s Day + Beach

Hello from the beach!  I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far.  Normally, I would be just coming home from teaching my Tuesday night Zumba class.  But tonight… I’m at the beach on a little mini-vacation! 

This is one of those time where it’s really good to be married to a school administrator.  Hubby has a conference at the beach and Sadie and I got to tag along! 

We headed down on Sunday afternoon, just in time to celebrate Father’s Day at the beach. 

Sadie had some special gifts that she made for her daddy and of course I had a gift for him, too!  (The only sad thing was not being able to see MY dad for Father’s Day… but we’re going to celebrate with him in just a few weeks.)  We dropped off all our stuff and headed to the beach as soon as we could.  Sadie was so excited to jump and play in the ocean.  She is like a little mermaid.  ;)

We are spending a lot of time in the pools, hot tubs, lazy rivers, and of course, in the sand and ocean.  I am fairly sure that Sadie will sleep for 3 days when we get back home. 

I am working on a post about a trip to Ripley’s Aquarium and a local restaurant that I hope to post tomorrow.  For now, enjoy some beach shots. 

Ahhh… if I don’t come home, you’ll know where to find me.

Spicy Gazpacho and Return to the Pool

Hello friends!  I hope all of you had a great week!  This has been a pretty full week, with us getting carpet.  That was a couple full days of work to get ready for the carpet and then get the house back in order afterwards.  (I’ll admit… I still have some work to do.)  Plus, I have taught 3 Zumba classes this week.  Even though I am not working, I feel like there has been a lot to do!

Today, I returned to the pool.  A couple of years ago, I was doing a lot of swimming and water aerobics.  I loved it, but I have not been doing it lately.  I have found that water aerobics instructors, like any other fitness instructors, are all very different.  Some are very relaxed and cater more towards those with limited mobility and arthritis.  Others are hard core and you get an amazing calorie-burning workout.  My favorite instructor cut back her classes drastically, and her only class is Friday nights now… which is a hard night to make it to class.  It seems like there is always something going on.  I haven’t been swimming laps either, and I missed it.  So I decided that this summer was going to be my return to the pool.  Not just to lay out and relax… but to swim, too. 

Lookie what I got today…

…a swim cap and goggles!  I’ve learned the hard way that big hair drags you down.  I wasn’t even sure if a swim cap would fit over all my hair… but it did—just barely!  It really helped me to not have to deal with my hair in the pool.  And eyes + chlorine = pain.  I don’t know why I have never owned goggles. 

I swam 1100 meters today: 12 laps of breaststroke, 8 laps of freestyle, and 2 laps of sidestroke.  I have also always been afraid of the cold pool, but I realized that it actually doesn’t feel cold after about 2 laps!

After all that swimming, it was time to have some lunch!  Post swim lunch:

Spicy Gazpacho, Turkey, and organic red grapes! 

(shout out to me—made this bowl myself!)

I am excited to share this gazpacho recipe with all of you!  I have been eating gazpacho all my life.  My mom always made it in the summers, and we would always eat it after long days swimming.  Then last week, I was visiting my sister Adrienne and she made some.  I’ve been wanting to make it ever since!  I didn’t consult any recipes to make this.  It’s based on what I remember my mom making and watching my sister make it last week.  You do need a food processor to make this.

Spicy Gazpacho

Ingredients:

• 2 medium ripe tomatoes
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 handful of baby carrots
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1 bell pepper (I used a yellow pepper)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 cups of V8 Juice (add more if you like it thinner, less if you like it thick)
• 1/8 cup EVOO
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar (I think rice vinegar or white wine vinegar would work also)
• Frank’s Cayenne Sauce (Amount can vary—I used several tablespoons because I wanted it to have a kick—but you can adjust to your liking)
• salt, pepper to taste
• chopped green onions (optional—for garnish)

Preparation:

First, rough-chop all the veggies.  Then place each veggie (chopped) into the food processor.  I started with tomatoes. 

Chop them, then put them in the processor.  Transfer to a bowl.  Then move to your next veggie.  Chop, process, and add to the bowl.  When you get to the garlic, process that with your last veggie, since the cloves are a little small to process alone.  Mix all together. 

Add the V8, EVOO, vinegar, hot sauce, salt and pepper to the bowl.  Mix well with a large spoon or spatula. 

Store in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.  Before serving, garnish with green onions.

This makes a great light lunch—especially in the summer when the weather is hot.  Pair it with a meat or half a sandwich.  It really is so filling!  And you are getting a serious serving of veggies! 

Here’s to summer, swimming, and spicy gazpacho!

When the CSA Box Gives You Zucchini…

Hi friends!  I hope your week is off to a great start! As I type, we’ve got new carpet being installed over our upstairs and it will be going into our dining room, too.  I’m REALLY excited for this.  Our carpet has been in our house for over 12 years… I would guess it’s at LEAST 15 years old.  It’s had dog pee, baby pee, and miscellaneous stains on it.  I can’t wait to see how everything looks once it is all finished!

Have you ever prepped for a carpet installation?  It’s no joke.  You have to get everything off the floors… which is basically like moving out of your house temporarily.  I had to move every piece of china out of the dining room and it’s all stacked on my kitchen table.

Want to guess what this is? 

It USED to be a bathroom.  Today it is a catch-all.  I can’t even see the toilet.  This morning, Sadie said, “Mooo-ooom!  You made a wall out of all my stuff!”  She’s kinda right.

But soon… it will all be done.

Today I have an easy recipe for a popular summer veggie.  I was really excited to try this and I think it was delicious!  I hope you love it, too! 

We pick up our CSA Box every Tuesday and we’ve had a lot of zucchini coming in. 

I usually saute it, and I like it that way, but I wanted to try something different.  I’ve seen a lot of zucchini bread and muffin recipes, but since I finished my Whole30, I am not eating wheat.  This morning, as I was searching for new recipes, I came across this one and thought the idea of zucchini fries sounded delicious and interesting.  I had to do some adjusting, because I wasn’t going to use breadcrumbs, and I didn’t have any parmesan cheese.  I also used a whole egg—not just an egg white because I am just way too lazy for separating eggs.  If you are not following a Paleo diet, you could make them as the recipe is written.  I have rewritten it so that it is almost Paleo (you could leave out the milk if needed). 

Almost-Paleo Zucchini Fries

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-large zucchini squash
• 1 egg
• splash of milk
• almond meal (about a half or 3/4 cup)
• salt and pepper
• Emeril’s Original Essence Seasoning (or whatever seasonings you prefer)
• cooking spray—olive oil spray or whatever kind of oil you like

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Cut zucchini into “fries.”  Thinner are better—they will crisp up better.  Set aside.  In a bowl, mix egg and milk well.  In a plastic bag, place the almond meal, salt, pepper, and spices.  Dip the zucchini slices in the egg mixture and then transfer to the bag.  Seal and shake well to coat the zucchini.  Lay out on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Spray a thin layer of the oil on top of the prepped fries.  Bake for about 10 minutes, turn over, and bake another 5 minutes or so, until they have started to brown and crisp up a little.

Enjoy!

I didn’t use ketchup, but I think these could be served with ketchup.  I also think my little one would like them, and she doesn’t usually like zucchini.  (Something about the texture, I think.)

Let me know if you give these a try—and tell me how you like them!  I enjoyed them with a leftover pork chop, and tomato salad.

Finally, I would like to ask for everyone to be thinking about this sweet face. 

This is my sister’s dog, Mady.  Isn’t she beautiful?  Sweet Mady has really faced some health issues lately.  She is only a little over one year old.  She had to have a major surgery last week because her intestines were blocked.  Then she had a terrible reaction to the sutures and had to have everything redone.  She’s recovering now.  Her body has been through so much.  I know many of you are dog-lovers out there, so you can imagine how much this sweet face means to my sister and her husband.  They could use your thoughts and prayers. 

What Whole30 Food Looks Like…

Hey, do any of you remember that time when I used to blog???

Oops—I did it again.  I took an unplanned leave of absence from blogging.  I guess it was a blog-cation.  I’ve just been a bit busy and at night it was just too tempting to zone out and watch episodes of Nip Tuck at night.  But after tomorrow, I am on summer vacation, and I plan to do some catching up and more cooking!

Whole30 Update: I finished! 

I actually finished my 30 days on May 28.  It felt so great to get to the end and know that I made it through!  Lots of things happened over my 30 days:

• I started sleeping better than I can remember in many years.  Every. Single. Night.
• I quit taking my joint supplement before I started and haven’t resumed it since!  Woo Hoo!  I also will tell you that I used to take Advil before I taught my Zumba classes and I have quit doing that completely.  And I feel great afterwards.  Before the Whole30, if I taught on consecutive days, it was really hard on my body.  However, last week, I taught for 4 consecutive days and still felt great!  This is probably one of the best benefits!
• I lost about 8 pounds.  This was also awesome.  I was even able to get into the next (lower) weight “decade.”
• I lost 3 inches from my chest, waist, and hips.  I didn’t measure arms and legs at the beginning, but I should have.
• I ate new veggies I never tried before or tried them in a new way: artichokes (loved!), jicama (didn’t love), mashed cauliflower (yum! Just about as delish as mashed potatoes)zucchini and squash “noodles” (loved the zucchini, didn’t love the squash as noodles), grilled zucchini, plantain chips, dried okra, and more.
• I fell in love with Kombucha.  I still don’t totally understand WHAT it is… (fermented tea?) but I love it. 
• I learned that I can live without bread and all those bread-like things.  (Waffles, English Muffins, bagels, etc.)  It was hard at first to give them up, but I have found that eliminating grains has helped me to eat more healthy foods and not feel bloated and disgusting after a meal. 
• I (mostly) gave up snacking!  I was a huge snacker before, especially at night.  But on Whole30, I really didn’t feel the need to snack.  This also was a huge difference.

These are just some of the top things I noticed over my 30 days.  In fact, I have mostly stuck with the Paleo way of eating.  With the exception of a few bowls of fro-yo (can’t help it—I love the original tart!) and a glass of wine last night and a cookie at my sister’s house… I have mainly stuck with it.  I plan to continue eating mostly Paleo.  After the great results I got, why wouldn’t I?

Also—I will post a before and after photo.  I will try to have that up ASAP!

So now… I want to share some of my meals with you so that you can see for yourself what a day of Whole30 eating looks like.  You’ll see when you start looking at my meals that these were just healthy, delicious meals.  Feel free to ask any questions through comments on this post, because I know some of you have been curious about the program.

(Note: For meals that I have previously blogged or posted recipes, I have linked back to those recipes so that you can find out how to make them yourself!)

Breakfasts:

First of all… know that I love eggs.  So I do eat them a lot.  I also tend to eat breakfast in the car a lot because I have to be at work by 7:30 a.m. And when I arrive, I am usually busy for the next hour.  So I like to take portable items for breakfast.  I CAN eat scrambled eggs in the car because I am just that talented.  But I usually save those for weekends.  I also sometimes eat dinner leftovers for breakfast if they are portable—like hamburger patties or sliced chicken breast. (Also—I was lucky to have a coworker who helped supply me with farm-fresh eggs.)

Truly Fresh Eggs

 

scrambled eggs with locally-made sausage

 

hard-boiled eggs with carrots, almonds, and an apple

 

eggs, almonds, cucumber and tomato slices

 

Lunches:

Most of my lunches are leftovers from dinners.  However, sometimes I did make special lunch items. 

Taco salad with seasoned ground beef, avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions

 

leftover turkey chili with baby carrots and almonds

 

avocado chicken salad (in the mix: green onions, apples, chicken breast, avocado, celery)

NOTE: I will write up this recipe sometime soon.

 

potpourri platter with turkey, almonds, and dried okra

 

 

tuna salad

 

Dinners:

This was when I did the most experimenting.  On the nights I taught Zumba, I had simpler dinners.  Sometimes I had leftovers, sometimes I threw together some potpourri platters, and sometimes I cooked items (like chicken strips or hamburger patties) in bulk to create quick meals on busy nights.

hamburger patty, baby artichokes with EVOO-Lemon-Salt dipping sauce, watermelon

 

Chicken and Bok Choy Skillet Meal

 

Turkey Chili

 

Zoodles and Meatballs

 

“Dessert”

Banana-Berry Sandwich Bites

 

These are just a sampling.  Now, I know some of you have also asked about eating out.  What do you do when you eat out?  Well, I am working on a post to show you some of the items I had when I ate out during my Whole30 days.  That’s coming soon.

So—what do you think?  Could you do a Whole30?