Grocery Shopping in Aruba & Trip Pics

Happy Hump Day  New Moon Day!  I hope life is mellow for you today!  Just to let you know, sometimes when it’s a New Moon we tend to feel tired, sluggish, somewhat blah, but in a grounded, stable sense.  If you’re noticing anything like that, you could blame it on the moon.  If you missed my post on the Full Moon and sensations you’d notice with a Full Moon, you can get your astrology groove on over here.  For me, things are great, but before I get to what I’ve been up to, I want to thank Katie again for her Guest Post yesterday here on my blog where she unveiled her Raw Tiramisu Balls.  Yummy stuff, go check out the post in case you missed it!

But moving on to Today’s Post…
As I mentioned before, I’m in Aruba and when traveling, I employ the mindset of when in Rome, do as the Romans.  Even if that means braving grocery stores that are chaotic!  

The grocery stores here do not keep weekend hours, they do not stay open past 5pm, and they are closed for days before and after major holidays.  People even start to hoard food!

Like greens & lettuces.  Note that by 11am on Monday morning, they were sold out.  Who knows when the next air shipment from Miami will be here.  

Good thing I loaded up on kale and have been making tons of kale salads.  Just like back home.

With brock, cauli, and cukes.

And my own Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing:  
1/4 c vegan mayo (Veganaise, Spectrum, or if you’re not a vegan whatever you like)

1/8 c sugar (or less, or stevia, agave, lucama to taste) 
1/8 c Apple Cider Vinegar 
and Whisk.  Good stuff!  Try it!

Tip of the Day: Use Store-bought Condiments and then Doctor Them Up!  Mayo becomes salad dressing.  Ketchup by adding chipotle seasonings and some canned tomatoes becomes a chunky salsa-esque dip or spread.  Prepared yellow mustard with brown sugar and EVOO, or mustard with honey + bbq sauce, becomes a lovely glaze for squashes and potatoes.  Get creative with your store-bought condiments!!!  Thanks, Janetha, for reminding me to post about this with your Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade post :)

But if I wasn’t making my own dressing, I spied some Annie’s.  Nice, even if it is about 6 bucks a bottle! 
Mama’s Weeds apparently got in on the Annie’s recently, too!

 There have been no tomatoes on the salads I’ve been making, though.  Note the price which is about 9 dollars per kg!

Nor peppers.  Again, sticker shock.  About $12 dollars per kg!

More shopping finds…
A huge table of Seasonal Goodies.

And then notice the Maranatha AB buried admist products with labels in languages other than English.  Heather, you can happily survive in Aruba, my sweet almond-butter loving friend!

I also saw some other nut butters.  Most writing is in Dutch as it’s a Dutch island.  I need a translator.

White “Chocopasta”, aka White Chocolate Paste.  And the Hazelnootpasta.  Chocolate Hazelnut Paste.  Move over, Nutella, there’s a new sheriff in town!

And more Hazelnut Pasta and Pure Chocolate Pasta.  They don’t mess around here, I’m tellin’ ya!

If you’re into deli meats and cheeses, they don’t mess around here with that either.  Reasonably priced, excellent quality, and although I never was a meat eater, when I used to come here and was still partaking in dairy, the cheese is excellent.  Straight from Holland. 

Another thing that makes me wish I didn’t have to be gluten-free for health issues is this bread.  

Muesli bread.  Nutty, seedy, raisins, oats, divine.  

In a former life when I came here, I could eat a half a loaf at once.  It’s the best bread in the world, period.

Oh and they love their sweets here. 

Banana Cake and Pineapple Cake.

And Carrot Cake

I did have to break down though and get a couple flavors of gum I’ve never seen in the States before: Wild Blueberry Twist & Passionberry Twist.  They both rock!  And with xylitol so my choppers are benefiting from my cud gum chewing.

Here’s a couple shots of Skylar at the pool.  If she’s a girl after my heart, she’ll love hoops. 

And she’s wondering why I keep telling her to smile and look into the sunlight.

And here’s me.  There is no lounging as a mom of a 2 year old.  It’s called, lay down and take the picture, then get up and start playing again!

I kinda can’t believe I am posting a pic of myself in a bikini.  Trying to keep a Whatever attitude.

There are those Sexiest Raw Vegan Awards, remember those!  Maybe these pics will help my cause.  Hopefully not hurt it! 

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).

I am asking for your vote and support in these 3 categories:
1. Sexiext Raw Vegan Woman of 2009:  Averie from Love Veggies and Yoga
2. Favorite Raw Blog of 2009: Love Veggies and Yoga
3. Favorite Raw Vegan Website: Love Veggies and Yoga

Again, click here to Vote and if you choose to take a couple minutes to do this, I would just love it!!!! 

And we also have spent some time at the beach.

And after all the playing, splashing, sun and surf, it was time for nap!

Yoga Today is Eka Pada Urdhva Dhanurasana (One-Legged Upward Facing Bow or Wheel Pose)
Eka=One, Pada=Foot, Urdhva=Upward, Dhanur=Bow or Wheel, Asana=Pose.
There’s your Sanskit translation of the day.  Since there was Dutch at the Grocery Store, why not some Sanskrit in Yoga.

Tip of the Day:

What’s your strategy for traveling in terms of food, the customs, dress codes, and so forth?  For instance I don’t trot around the grocery store in my bikini.  The locals don’t do that so when in their country, I cover up and show some modesty and respect.  And with food, I try to go with the flow as much as humanly possible and keep the when in Rome mentality going.  I did pack and bring food, but not a ridiculous amount.  I hit up the markets for whatever fresh produce I could and cest la vie to the rest.  How do you play things when you travel?  Are you able to break out of your day-to-day routines and embrace new things? Is it easy or not for you?  Creature of habit or adverture-seeker?  I am kinda a mixed bag on the last question.  Tell me about you though!

Stay Tuned For An Awesome Guest Post and Trip Pics unless you don’t wanna see them.  I don’t wanna tick anyone off by posting beachy photos!…