Aruba: Food & Fun Pictures

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How are you doing today?  Monday after a holiday week and weekend.  Did you have to go back to work?  If you’re in school, you’re probably still on break…good!  We’re in Aruba but heading home in a few days.  The piles of mail, phone calls, voicemails that need to be returned, unpacking, and organizing, the massive grocery and errand runs that will need to happen, all running on little sleep and with a toddler, well, let’s just say that vacations coming to end end can be a double multi-faceted whammy!  But seriously, we’ve had an amazing time and made memories I will cherish for a lifetime!  Do you have any memories you burned into your hard drive brain that you’ll be able to remember and draw upon for a lifetime?  Tell me about them!

I am really glad you enjoyed Gena’s post yesterday about her Top 5 Tips for Digestive HealthIncluding Ditching the Dairy and Not Guzzling Water at Mealtime…

Photo of digestive system

 

I hope you took the time to read that post because it was chock full of great infoThanks again, Gena, you Rawk!  And don’t forget to check out Gena’s 10-day Cleanse Program she’s doing with the ladies of Spark! Wellness in January.  They’re offering three nourishing, reasonable, ten-day dietary program that will help instill new and improved eating habits for 2010 and beyond.

Thank you all for responding to my question yesterday about whether or not you consider yourself to be a strong person, in what capacity, such as mental or physical, and I loved reading your insights!  Thanks for sharing all your stories with me!

But time to move onto some Vacation Grub & Fun Pics…
Lots of Brock, Cauli, and Cuke Salads have been consumed the past few days

Mixed salad with vegetables in Vegan Slaw Dressing

No kale on the island now (serious withdrawals, I tell ya!) but there’s Romaine

Close up of Mixed Salad in Dressing

So I’m happy with that and my Homemade Vegan Slaw DressingSweet and tangy and ooh-la-la love it! slathered all over the greenery

 Overhead of jar of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
 
Salad with Vegan Slaw Dressing

Deb asked me exactly how I prepare my broccoli.  
Tip of the Day Time:
What I do is this:  I take a handful of brock florets, put them in a microwave-safe bowl, add about a cup of water, put saran wrap on top of the bowl, and nuke the whole thing for about 90 seconds.  Just long enough to take the raw edge off.  Then, if I’ve overcooked it at all (veggies have to Snap and Crunch! for me to be satisfied), I take a handful of cold, uncooked florets and mix them all together and the cold crunchy raw ones blend in with the warm ones and broccoli perfection is achieved. Priorities, I tell you!

And for Scott I made, Homemade Tahini “Cesar” Dressing on Romaine Lettuce, Topped with Smoked Turkey & Cheese and Brown Rice.

Romaine with Homemade Tahini "Cesar" Dressing, turkey, cheese and brown rice

And Sun Dried Tomatoes & Cukes hit the spot he said!

Close up of Romaine with Homemade Tahini "Cesar" Dressing

Breakfast Plates of  Muesli Bread  and Bananas

Slices of Muesli Bread

And we’ve been eating Fruit up the Ying Yang:
Bananas

Museli Bread with sliced bananas

Grapefruit

 Half a grapefruit

Mangoes

Diced mangos

Pears and Muesli Bread 

Pears and diced Muesli Bread

And the local Dutch Coffee has been drank up the Ying Yang... in….

Coffee bag with coffee in filter

… the Coffee Pot I brought from home!  Remember that one?!  haha!

 Coffee Pot

With My NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia Drops that help my coffee taste so sweet and ahhhh….perfect.

Vanilla Stevia Drops

We’ve also had lots of fun at the Beach

Beach in Aruba with people walking

I love the beach right in front of the Hyatt.  That’s where we usually park ourselves.  All the beaches are public here, even right in front of the nicest hotels.  Score!

Boats and people in water at the beach

It’s a really pretty property

Hyatt Hotel with view of water and palm trees

Just ask Tour Guide Skylar, she can Point the Way…

Young girl playing tour guide

….To all the Great Birds they have

Two birds in cage
One bird in cage

This is her favorite bird.  His name is Buddy and he talks to her!

Grey bird in cage

And Skylar was practicing her flying skills.

Young girl pretending to fly like a bird

But don’t think that this Property is CheapJust take a walk through the Gift Shop where you’ll find $75 straw hats…

Gift shop with young girl playing with hat

…and magazines that are $10.50 each!!!!  For a Self, Oxygen, Cosmo, or Glamour magazine.  Nothing’s cheap in paradise!  And yes, I broke down and bought one. 

Magazine with price tag on it

Skylar’s been hard at work: Sand Castle Building!

Young girl on beach building sand castle

And telling us all about Life in General

Young girl standing on beach in swim suit

And now for the last time, I will ask you for your help.  The Polls Close on Dec 29th! I know I’ve already Asked for your Help & Votes 
But you can Click Here to Vote for me on pages 6, 12, & 14!

  
Click Here to Vote for me in these 3 Categories (you don’t need to complete the whole ballot, you can just quickly fill in the bullet point next to my name if you’re so inclined in these 3 places).  Thank you soooo much to the many, many friends and supporters who’ve written to tell me they’ve voted for me already…I love you guys!!!!!!!

Woman and child at hotel smiling in front of water feature
Woman stand in front of water feature at dusk

Yoga Today is Marichyasana A.  Make sure to keep your quads active and engaged, and your foot flexedToes point to the sky, no floppy feet.  One sit bone will come off the ground, and the other will remain planted, also, as you lean forward.

Woman doing Marichyasana A yoga pose

Tip of the Day: Katie’s Give Away!

I enjoy traveling and seeing new places and faces, experiencing new cultures and people, but I am also a creature of habit, to a degree, and much more so when I was youngerHowever, both traveling frequently and having a child will take you wayyyyy outta your safe zone, I tell you!  But anyway, do you like to travel?  Or are you a homebody?  If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

There are a couple ladies I know going to India soon, Miss GC and Miss Shanghai Monkey, and I wish I could ball myself up in their suitcase and go with them!  I have always, always wanted to go to India.  I know some people and yogi friends that have gone with small children, but I want to wait a few years until Skylar is older and then maybe go for a month or so and stay on an ashram and immerse myself fully in the culture and the experience, with Skylar in tow!  How fun and it’s something I look forward to.  Because let’s not forget, she likes downward dogs, too! 
Skylar’s Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Savasana)

Young girl practicing Downward Dog yoga pose

Ahh, inner peace.

Young girl squatting on floor after playing yoga

Where do you want to go?  Or what’s your most cherished trip you’ve been on so far?

Stay Tuned For a Guest Post from a Smoothie Queen…

 

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