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Posts Tagged summertime

Key Lime Overload

Sep 28

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!  OK, here’s the last recap from our trip.  Thanks so much for following along – I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of the sights!  If you missed our other stops, check out Part One:  Miami & Nassau and Part Two:  CocoCay.

Our last port of call on the trip was Key West.  And I was SUPER excited for this stop.  No particular reason other than I’ve always thought the Florida Keys seemed like a neat place to visit.

Early risers again on this day, we were 3rd in line to get off the boat.  Literally waiting for them to unhook the chain on the gangplank!

The first place you come to is pretty much Front Street and also Mallory Square.  We got a ticket for a little trolley ride that would take us all around the island in 90 minutes, which was the perfect way to check out where we wanted to go after the tour was done.

Can you tell I’m excited for the trolley?  :)

We spent the majority of our day touring up and down Duval Street and the blocks surrounding it.

We walked through the grounds of the oldest house on Key West.

We checked out the WILD ROOSTERS!  There are hens and roosters all over the city.

Do you see the rooster in this one?

(He’s chilling in the shade between the two columns on the right side.)

We made up our own “Key Lime Crawl” of sorts and decided we’d try out the Key Lime Pies at different stops to see which one we liked best, as well as other Key Lime themed things.

A piece at the Key Lime Pie Company (they were featured on an episode of “Throwdown” with Bobby Flay.  Rumor has it their pie beat his.  It WAS darn tasty!)

Then we tried a piece at the Hog’s Breath Saloon.

We thought we liked this one better.  Then funnily enough we learned that they source their pie from… Key West Lime Company!  Ha ha!

Our neighbor said we had to hit up Sloppy Joe’s while there, which is a corner bar and restaurant.

But this time I ordered my Key Lime Pie in a liquid (and alcoholic) version. Cory’s drink in the background was Key West Lemonade.

I also got (and didn’t photograph) some Key Lime TAFFY!  I thought I’d bring it home but it didn’t last an hour…!

Last but not least, I had to try something made with CONCH while on this trip.  I chose to roll with a 3 pc fritter that came with Key Lime Aioli.

They were like crab cake balls with chewier seafood.  :)   But the aioli was AMAZING!

By this time, we’d had our FILL of anything even remotely lime.

We saw the southernmost point of the continental U.S.:

The Key West Lighthouse:

The restaurant owned by Kelly McGillis (from Top Gun):

We also walked by Ernest Hemingway’s house (although we didn’t do the tour):

And by Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville:

An old theater that was remodeled into a WALGREEN’S of all things!

And so much more!  We walked our legs off that day.  And ate SO MUCH FOOD!  We got back to the boat in the late afternoon, had a “mango cooler” in the air conditioned lounge…

… and played hookey from the fancy dinner…

…so that we could sail off into the sunset!  (OK, in our case, we were sailing AWAY from the sunset!)  :)

We had such a nice time on our vacation.  And it will most likely be our 15th anniversary before we do another one like this!  Every five years seems to be the trend!

Today’s topic:  What is your favorite KEY LIME food?  If you’re a Key Lime pie lover, where did you have your favorite piece?

Have a wonderful day everyone!

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Moonshadows

Sep 12

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 2 Comments

Hi blog buds!

How was your Sunday?  Did any of you try making your workouts a little tougher by balancing on a rolled up yoga mat?  Our morning started with a refreshing 4 mile run.  It’s been a while since we’ve done a steady pace run.  Mostly I’ve been doing shorter, hilly, interval-type runs weekly with a client, but that’s been the extent of my running career as of late.  But on this particular day, something about the cooler morning made me want to get outside all of a sudden because I just KNOW that winter is right around the corner.  Some of the leaves on the lower levels of our trees are already starting to yellow.  Two years ago, we had crazy chilly temps in September and snow flurries.  You just never know in Colorado.  It could snow tomorrow!

It was a great run but I admit it wasn’t ‘easy’.  It’s amazing how quickly I get out of mental running shape when I’m not doing it regularly.  What’s funny is that prior to this outing, I’d been thinking to myself I should find an event like a 10 miler that maybe Cory and I could train for together (IF I could talk him into it, that is!) but then DURING the run I found myself thinking, “nope, I’m still not itching to get back to distance runs yet.”  I ruined myself back when I thought I wanted to do a marathon.  Running hasn’t been the same for me since. :)

Other than my morning coffee, I ran on an empty stomach.  Then when we got home I did some stretching and foam rolling.  My post-workout breakfast was a shake made with the last of my Vega Chocolate Whole Food Health Optimizer and a couple of frozen banana chunks.

Lunch was a big salad at Sweet Tomatoes (where I had neither my camera nor my iPhone).  We had pita chips and hummus for our afternoon snack along with GREAT intentions for a grilled dinner.  But when dinnertime rolled around, we were zapped.  We’d watched a few 9/11 documentaries as well as Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s “Terror in the Dust” on CNN.  At which point, we didn’t feel in the mood to be jovial on the back patio.  I shed a number of tears yesterday, as I do every year on 9/11.  I spend a lot of time each year on that day talking about it and watching coverage of it.  I think the new memorial at Ground Zero with the water features in the footprints of the buildings is beautiful and hope to make it there someday to pay my respects to those who lost their lives.

As it turned out, we ended up on the patio after dark to check out the beautiful full moon.  It was so bright out there that there were SHADOWS from it!  So gorgeous.  I tried to get a good picture, but you know how well my camera works in the dark. :)   These were the best two, and they don’t do justice to the beauty of the evening.  The crickets were chirping, the weather was mild – it was the perfect ending to the weekend.

See you next time friends!

–Shari B. =)

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What a Weekend!

Sep 6

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hey there blog buds!

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Ours flew by in a blink, we were so busy!  We squeezed in everything we’d hoped to except for getting out into the foothills for a hike.  I’m always a bit sad when long weekends are over because I love them so much, but fortunately we have a little trip coming up soon to which we can look forward.  The best part of the weekend was definitely the wedding on Sunday – it was FABULOUS.  We had a blast.  Then we slept in a bit yesterday (yes, 6:15 is “sleeping in” in our house) and enjoyed a SUPER lazy day.

Here are some of the highlights:

 

Wedding Day!!

 

I need to work on my "red carpet" posing! :)

 

Simple, beautiful decor for cocktail hour

 

The cheeses were to die for!

 

Salad course

 

Grilled fish

Sweet sorbet!

Savoring a White Russian

 

My very handsome date ;)

 

Wedding Cake - and I need a decent camera that takes photos in dim lighting

 

Fantastic night!

"Day After" smoothie :)

I may have to ask Santa for a either a lesson in photography using my current camera, or maybe just a different camera altogether.  I love mine 99% of the time, but when I get into dim light, it takes TERRIBLE pictures.  Cindy feels my pain, I know!  I have more pictures but they all looked really blurry.

I also need to ask Santa for an early haircut.  This is getting out of hand:

Too much!

Maybe this week.  (Yeah, yeah – I know, I’ve been saying that since my LAST haircut, which was in MARCH).

***

Today I was right back to normal.  Up at 4:40, with a cup of coffee and then a kombucha tea while I trained my morning client.  After her session, it was time for my workout.  I did about 10 minutes of a Brazil Butt Lift “High and Tight” DVD until it bored me and then I did weights instead.  Here’s how it laid out:

 Warm Up
 CHEST SET:
 Pushups
 Tubing Chest Flyes
      (quick rest)
 Pushups
 Tubing Chest Flyes
      (quick rest)
 Pushups
 Tubing Chest Flyes
     (quick rest)
 Pushups
 BACK SET:
 Horizontal Pullups
 Tubing Pulldowns
      (quick rest)
 Horizontal Pullups
 Tubing Pulldowns
      (quick rest)
 Horizontal Pullups
 Tubing Pulldowns
      (quick rest
 Horizontal Pulldowns
 SHOULDER/TRIS/BIS SUPERSET:
 Side Lateral Raises
 Tricep Pushdowns
 Hammer Bicep Curls
 Side Lateral Raises
 Tricep Pushdowns
 Hammer Bicep Curls

It was a super workout and I definitely have squiggle arms now.  I then went right to my juicer and made a cleansing, cruciferous-rich green juice.

I have a list a mile long today, which I hope includes a little YARDIO before the rain comes in. It’s looking dark to the west already, so I better get crackin’!

What was most exciting for you on the long holiday weekend?  A family get-together, BBQ, fun workout, relaxation?  Share it!

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday friends!  See you soon!

– Shari B. =)

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Sweet and Tart Summer Beverage

Jun 7

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi friends!

It’s going to be another warm one here today in Denver!  Upper 80s, I love it!

To keep you cool, here’s a little refreshment to whip up, carry out to the shade of your front porch and sip on while you rock in your rocking chair (swing in your swing, or glide on your glider – whatever you happen to have on your front porch!).

Cherry Limeade

makes one 8 oz drink – scale up as needed to accommodate guests that arrive on  your porch!  :)

Have at the ready 1 green (Granny Smith) apple, 1 small lime (both washed well) and a bag of frozen pitted cherries.  Because the skins of all three fruits will be going into this, find organic if you can.

Slice a little piece of the lime off to use in the juicer (no more than 1/4 of the lime or less per serving).

Run the green apple* and the lime piece (including the peel) through your electric juicer.  Transfer to your blender and add 4 frozen sweet cherries*.  Blend until smooth, maybe 40 seconds and serve immediately.  Rinse your blender and juicer with hot water quickly and park your backside out to the shade.

I used to LOVE limeade from Dairy Queen and Cherry Limeade from Sonic, back in my early 20s which was way before I learned to eat more naturally and with less added sugars.  What’s great about this is rather than buying premade drink mixes chock full of artificial ingredients, chemicals and added sugar, here you are getting all the healthy goodness of just good ol’ lime, apple and cherries.

Here’s an example of the ingredients from a premade cherry limeade drink mix: Citric Acid, Maltodextrin, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Aspartame, Red 40, Acesulfame Potassium, Calcium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Silicate, Magnesium Oxide. (source)

Oddly there is NO juice in that mix!

Since this FitFeat version of Cherry Limeade is FRESH juice straight from the juicer, it’s still alive and full of enzymes, unlike bottled juices which have all been pasteurized.

Variations:

  • I like the tartness the lime peel provides to this, but if it’s too bitter for you by all means feel free to peel it.  You’ll want to use a little more of the lime in this case.
  • I like to use green Granny Smith apples because they are lower in sugar and therefore have less impact on your blood sugar since this is a juice.  Use whatever apple you prefer or have on hand.  Or you could even use a pear!
  • Switch out the lime for lemon (use a larger slice of lemon that you do lime) and try Cherry Lemonade.
  • You can skip the cherries altogether if you just want a limeade and don’t feel like cleaning your juicer AND your blender :)
  • If you want to make it spiffy, add some sparkling water for a more sophisticated drink to serve with appetizers.  (Or toss in some coconut rum or vodka for happy hour…!)

Let me know if you try it!  Stay cool today – I hope your summer is off to a fun start!

– Shari B. =)

*Note:  if you are going to do anything with the juice pulp after juicing apples, be sure to core and seed them.  Apple seeds (and cherry pits for that matter) are poisonous – especially to kids and dogs, if consumed in high enough quantities.  If you aren’t planning to consume the pulp in some other way then you can leave your apples whole or halved and toss straight into the juicer.

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The Salmon Thief

Sep 28

Posted by Shari B. in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Hi friends!

How is your autumn starting out?  I thought it was warm here this week where we broke a heat record from the 1800s but then LA hit 113 yesterday!  YIKES!  Hope you SoCal readers are keeping cool!  Green smoothies can help you cool down from the inside out, especially when you include high-water-content veggies like cucumbers – if you haven’t tried one before, today might be the day!

No complaints from me on this end – Mother Nature is giving me that late summer that I’ve been hoping for.  Last year at this time, it was COLD and we were weeks away from our first big snow storm!

In fact, we still have flowers blooming in our back yard.

Today they are forecasting 93 degrees, which will break the record of 89 on this date if we hit it.

So while we have these last few days of wonderful weather, we’ve been trying to enjoy our back patio a bit more.  Saturday after MSP’s softball tournament, we decided to take our dinner outside.  And that’s when the attack of the salmon thief occurred!

This bee (or yellow jacket maybe?) went NUTSO at me and at first I thought it was my scent of coconut oil that I had put on my arms and legs earlier in the day.  But I quickly realized it was after my FOOD!  He absolutely would not leave me alone.  I finally let him flit around my plate to see what it was he was after and it turns out it was salmon.  So I off a big chunk and placed it AWAY from where we were seated to see if he would go for that piece instead of for mine.  And he did!  It was the craziest thing.  He came back time after time after time, pulling with all his might to break off a little piece and then he would fly away with the piece to a nearby tree and then a minute later he’d be back!  This went on for a couple of hours.

And it made me wonder:  Is he eating this salmon or using it for a nest?  Are bees carnivorous?  Do they need Omega 3 fatty acids too?  Maybe our resident bee expert will chime in on this one.  (If you haven’t read of Joan’s beekeeping adventures, head on over to her blog to check it out – so interesting!).

Maybe this little guy realized the importance of his essential fatty acids for reducing inflammation, improving brain health, and lifting his mood!  :)   Especially when it comes from wild salmon with mustard sauce and capers prepared by our school Kitchen Manager!

Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

– Shari B. =)

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Growing Like a Mother (My Kombucha, That Is…)

Aug 29

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 4 Comments

Hi friends!

Thank you all so much for the very sweet and encouraging comments regarding both my attendance at Bauman College and for FitFeat turning one!  I loved reading the messages and they brought serious smiles to my face!

As I sit here typing the draft for this post on Sunday evening, the Broncos/Steelers pre-season game is on our TV in the background.  Can it really be time for football again? Football season to me means pots of hearty veggie chili and curling up with my blanket to watch a game while the leaves are falling outside, or maybe a few snowflakes.  But I’m not ready for that time of year!  I just can’t wrap my brain around the fact that fall is right around the corner.

Fortunately summer is still holding on – it is currently 82 degrees and gorgeous out, at 7:00 in the evening.  That’s the kind of football weather I can deal with!  We’ve really been blessed with a beautiful summer in Colorado this year.  Nice and HOT and plenty of sunshine!

Speaking of sunshine, doesn’t this bottle invoke thoughts of summer?

MSP found a new brand of kombucha tea for me to try, called Vibranz.  (And when we went back to get more, it was already out of stock!  People are crazy for BOOCH!)

Since I only had one bottle, I knew I had to take the opportunity to try my hand once more at making some from scratch.  I have high hopes that this bottle has enough culture in it to get something started.

Before I used it all for my homebrew, I did take a few sips of the Vibranz tea.  And I have to say, I LOVED IT!  I am so happy to know that there is a brand that I can turn to that tastes very similar to the BUBBLY I’ve grown to love.

It was hard not to want to finish the whole bottle, I’ve been so starved for kombucha.  But just in case I have a hard time finding it on the shelves around here, I got busy on the BACKUP PLAN!

Rumor has it that when one is starting their BOOCH BATCH from a previous brew and without a starter culture, it will take about a month before it’s ready.  I have a note on my calendar to check it out mid-September (as it is currently stored down in the dark recesses of our basement!)

I peeked in on it today and it’s GROWING!!  It looks like there is a culture layer on the top!  YES!  But I must confess, it might be one thing to pour a pretty glass of kombucha from a bottle you bought at the store and quite another to pour something that looks like this:

I might have to plug my nose and close my eyes for the first few sips!

What do you think?  Would you drink it?

Have a GREAT week blog buds!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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