I had to save these last two mouth-watering meals for their own post because Chris and I enjoyed them that much.  It’s so neat to visit a restaurant and really taste the quality and care in the food.  Yes, there is amazing food in front of you, but it somehow transforms into an overall experience that is so much more than just the food.  That is what I truly love! But before we get to the good eats, we first had to make one last stop at another one of our favorite wineries called Pride.  They not only have a great tour, but some pretty spectacular views as well.  

Pride is kind of off the beaten path from a little side street in St. Helena, but it’s well worth the windy drive through the gorgeous trees.

Dang those are some big bottles!

We actually really enjoyed the chardonnay which had a nice balance to it.  It wasn’t too oaky, but still had a nice buttery mouthfeel with bright fruit.  We also tried the ’07 Cab, but weren’t that impressed and thought it wasn’t as bold in character as we remembered their cabs to be.  It was an ’07 though and probably needs a bit of aging.  The tour guide also explained that they are using less ‘new’ oak and more ‘used’ oak which can impart a subtler, less bold flavor to the wine.

Pride is also unique in that it sits right on the border of Napa and Sonoma counties.  So if you hop over to the left of that line below you are in Sonoma and to the right you are in Napa.  Pretty neat!  It is also mandated that whatever is produced in Sonoma or Napa has to be bottled there too, so they have two production facilities to make sure that is accomplished.

Here’s one of my favorites of us here about 4 years ago . . .

The grounds are absolutely gorgeous!

Here are some viognier grapes, which are pretty hard to grow since they like being spread out and can risk shattering if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

You can even picnic here if you like

After our tour Chris and I were definitely getting hungry and the guide recommended a new restaurant to us.  We always like trying new places, especially if the locals recommend it.  So we decided to give it a shot and boy oh boy we were so glad we did!

Farmstead Restaurant recently opened in February and is situated right in downtown St. Helena.  What is great about this restaurant is all there menu items are local, sustainable and organic.  Picked at the peak of freshness, everything tasted spectacular with a down-home country feel.  We could really sense the quality in their finished product and felt right at home.  They also make their own extra virgin olive oil and various wines.

I absolutely loved the decor and ambiance.

I love when restaurants expose the kitchen because I enjoy watching all the action

This is a great quote on their menu.

Now on to our wonderful food!  I wanted to try everything on the menu because it all looked amazing.  Chris and I were a bit worried that it was going to be expensive, but it wasn’t too bad.  It wasn’t your usual cheap eats, but the quality and experience was well worth it.  It was about $12-$20 a plate for lunch.

We started out with the fava bean soup drizzled with a bit of their lemon olive oil.

And these buttermilk rolls and cheesy biscuits were compliments of the chef.  omg I could have eaten 100 more of these, dipped into that yummy soup!

I would have been perfectly content with just the soup and rolls for lunch, but we already ordered entrees and of course I wanted to try them too

I ordered the gnocchi with lamb shoulder, peas, carrots and mint.  The  flavor combinations in this were perfect and oh so comforting.  A bit heavy for lunch, but I saved more than half for later.

Chris got some more comfort in a bowl with the chicken and dumplings. mmm

And dessert was sweet California strawberries topped with ricotta cream.  Simple, perfect and refreshing.

We walked around outside a little bit to check out the outdoor dining, which would be wonderful if the weather was warmer.

And sadly after lunch we had to say goodbye to good ol’ Napa, but headed towards Sacramento with a smile to visit some family

For dinner we had already made reservations at a place called Bidwell Street Bistro, when a family friend and chef said we had to go there for their duck confit.  Boy, two amazing meals in one day? Yes, please!

Bidwell Street is located in Folsom, CA in a fairly small and simple venue.

I started out with probably one of the best salads I have ever had.  It may look simple, but the flavors going on in there were music to my taste buds.

Chris got some more green with the pea soup which was outstanding as well.

For dinner I ordered the halibut with sweet corn and roasted potatoes, topped with a walnut pesto and micro greens. Everything worked perfectly and I was pretty much in pure heaven.

Chris went with their duck confit specialty which was out of this world, stupid good.  I think we were moaning ooohs and awwwhs of goodness throughout the whole meal, and I hope no one next to us was weirded out! lol

aaaand dessert, yes more dessert was their carrot cake.  It didn’t have as much cream cheese twang as I like, but it was chock full of carrots and some kind of liquor soaked raisins.  mmm

Boy, I am drooling just posting about these meals again!  It was very special to have such nice meals, but now my stomach and wallet need a little break!

~~~~

Much of the rest of our trip was spent hanging out with family and enjoying some relaxation.

Chris had to eat a gigante burrito the size of his entire forearm.  Don’t ask me why.  I think I would have hurled, but he managed to finish it.

Yep, it was 18 inches long and probably at least 2,000 + kcals.  Man, he can sure put it away.

All to get his name up on the wall lol

I had the lunch special which was actually pretty good.

We had to make a stop at Chick-fil-A of course!  So sad we don’t have these in Vegas

And how could we resist fro yo?  This place had a million topping combinations.

One day we also went on a little bike ride with Chris’ nephew around the block before we headed out on a little 15-miler.  Had to get in some exercise with all this good food!

He was such a good little cyclist, and proclaimed to have ‘left me in the dust!’

We made a stop at the Sac Jazz Festival which was a lot of fun!  Even though we didn’t get to spend too much time, we got to see a great blues set.

And now I am back in good ol’ and HOT Vegas again, ready to get back to reality, work, and summer school *sigh*

It was really nice to visit and take a little break from it all.  I think I’m falling in love with California to be honest.  I could really see myself living here if we could somehow afford it in the future.  We’ll have to see how the markets pan out in 5 years or so?

Until then, we are left with wonderful memories, lots of vino, and our own tasting party in the future.  Oh yes and some quality gym time

What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?

After Chris and I had a nice recovery day, it was time to hit up the wineries and do some marathon tasting.  We are in Napa, right?! I really didn’t have that much alcohol for the last 4 months with training, so I planned to take it easy and hopefully not offend anyone by pouring  some in the provided buckets after tasting.

Chris and I decided to splurge and reserved a town car for the day so we wouldn’t have to worry about drinking and driving.  The driver was also a family friend and it was nice to have someone to chat with and show us around. Our first stop was at Pine Ridge Winery.  We made a stop here on our last trip to Napa about 4 years ago and really enjoyed it.  Their wines have a bold and luscious character that we enjoy.  

Once we sampled our ‘breakfast wine’, in the tasting room, we headed out on our tour.  Nothing like sampling wines at 10 am in the morning!

The tour guide was great and down to earth.

It’s really amazing to me all that goes into wine making, from the different soil, root stock, trellis type, care, storage, production, and on and on.  It’s really neat to think what one bottle of wine went through to get to your table.

Many of the wineries have roses surrounding the grapes because diseases and buggies will usually show up on the roses before the grapes.

This time of year the little grapes are just flowering now and pretty soon they will turn into luscious grapes, full of concentrated juice ready to be made into wine.  Because it’s been a bit colder this time of year with more rain and of course more wind than they are used to, the grapes are at risk for shattering.  This is when the wind and such can blow the pollen off the flowers.  Because grapes are self-pollinators this can be detrimental to fruit production.

We got to peruse through their production area.

And into the dark, damp caves

This was their 100% cab, which still had a bit to go in the barrel.  Tastes much different than the final product, with a much more raw, fruity flavor.

They have a great area in their caves where they have tastings and parties for club members.  This is a piece of art by Dale Chihuly, who also designed the beautiful blown glass in the Bellagio Hotel.

Wouldn’t that be fun?!

Then we got to sample some cheese and yes, more wine.  There is just something about cheese that goes so well with rich reds.  My favorite cheese for fruity reds is aged gouda.

We made our way out of the caves and sampled more of their wines.  I think you can see where this day is going, eh?

And because we always seem to enjoy their selections and style, we decided to become club members!!  That was definitely a first, but we are looking forward to our first delivery and possibly making it back up for one of their special events  I also had to buy a bottle of their Onyx, which is primarily Malbec.  mmmm chocolate-y notes.

We could have probably stayed there all day, but it was time to forge on to the next!!

Which included . . .

This is our absolute favorite Merlot.  They sure had some good samples, which included several Pinot Noirs and their ’01 Merlot which tasted like rich and luscious butta’.

After 2 stops, it was time for lunch!  We decided to do a quick stop at Taylor’s Refresher which is quite the popular place.  I guess they technically have the new name Gott’s Roadside, but they are still known as Taylor’s.

They have lots of unique burgers, fries and shakes.

It was chilly and rainy outside, but it was still busy and we all huddled under the space heaters

I decided on the herbed turkey burger with cheddar and apple/onion chutney.  It was delish!

And of course I couldn’t resist sharing some sweet tater fries.

After lunch we had to make a stop at this cute little shop that we found on our last trip.  They make their own olive oil and have various Italian cheeses, meats and groceries.

I couldn’t resist putting my card on the wall of cards

We opted for a little slice of fontina to nibble + a bottle of olive oil to take home.

Next stop was Honig, which we had never been to before.

We sampled a few of their whites and reds.  They weren’t our favorite style, but their sauv blanc was really nice.

I commend you if you are still with me at this point! lol We actually made it to only one more stop. . .

Jessop Cellars was also a new one in our repertoire and we were really impressed with their tasting.  I think it is one of the best free ones we’ve been to.

The lady was really nice and you get a nice sample of cheeses, olives, nuts, crackers and even dark chocolate to sample the ports with.  Her recs for particular samples with the wines were spot on and really made the experience even that better.

We had a great time here, but I think they want to let you sample as many as you like to get you a bit tipsy so that you’ll buy even more! lol well . . . we somehow became club members here too and walked away with 6 bottles, yikes!

After a little down time, it was time for dinner!  More wine and food, yes!

We stopped at Bistro Don Giovanni which is one of our favorite stops.

We shared a salad which turned out a bit small for my taste, but it was good and peppery with the arugula and radicchio.  Oh yes, couldn’t get away with this one since it’s in the picture (ha!). I also had a glass of sangiovese to go along with dinner, yes more wine.

I got the spinach tagliatelle with duck ragu and sage.  Boy this was rich and amazing!

Chris had the risotto with fava beans, morels and chicken.  This was very rich too.  mm yea think there’s a bit of cream in there?

And if that’s not enough we ordered the chocolate mousse cake with a side scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Oh dear, I think someone needs to ride another 100 miles! lol

We had a great time in Napa and enjoyed every indulgent moment.  We don’t get to do this often so it was very special  I hate to say it but we actually walked away with 15 bottles of wine total!  But we are going to be giving some away as gifts and I’m sure there will be some kind of wine party in our future I think we for sure need to invest in a small wine fridge for sure.

Stay tuned for more indulgent foodie pics and another winery stop!  I had to save the last two amazing meals we had for their own post because they were that memorable for us.  I am going to be so sad to go home.

Happy Memorial Day!

The day after the century I was feeling pretty good but stiff and just wanted to have a low-key day to relax and recover.  We decided not to have any wine, drink lots of water, and I also surprised Chris with our first sports massage!  It was glorious, like a giant custom foam roller all over the body.  I told the gal not to go too deep, so it wasn’t too painful  Plus I didn’t want to be even more sore afterwards.  I could definitely get used to having one of these more often if they weren’t so dang pricey!  

After our little spa sesh, we got ready and headed to Muir Woods National Monument.  I’ve been here once before with my aunt. It is absolutely gorgeous and only $5 for adults to enter.  It’s like you’re in a completely different world, with ginormous Red Wood trees enveloping you from all sides.  It sure is a change of scenery from Las Vegas!

I believe this little feller is a banana slug, awww

Of course strollers are not advised on this path haha, um really?

There is just something sacred and peaceful about this place and I love coming here.  You really can’t get a bad picture

After walking around and enjoying the quiet of nature for about 2 hours, we headed to San Fran to meet up with a college friend.

The moment we got into the city we were brought back to reality by the crazy hustle and bustle of a busy city.  And oh yes, the crazy streets!!  They freak me out every time!  eeek!  We were sooo glad we didn’t have Chris’ manual because that would have surely been interesting.  I thought I was on a crazy roller coaster lol

We all decided to walk around and find a dinner spot.  Our friends recommended a place called Arlequin which was absolutely perfect!

They have a wonderful menu selection and a great patio to sit outside.

I was craving protein something fierce and decided on a delicious spiced lamb burger that was topped with a type of fermented onion salad and ziki sauce.  It was heaven and just what I needed! I took a bite before I remembered to take a picture, oops!

Chris decided on the 1/2 roasted chicken which was equally delish.  We like to share our meals

After dinner we continued to walk and our friends brought us to Miette, the cutest candy/pastry shop I have ever seen.  I just about died in here!

They featured a whole array of homemade goodies with selections of old-time candies as well.

They were just closing and offered us two complimentary cupcakes, heck yes.  This was seriously THE best cupcake I have ever had, no joke.  It was so rich, moist and full of chocolate-y goodness.  And the frosting, oh the frosting (!) was reminiscent of that jar of marshmallow fluff we all loved as a kid.  I’m not a fan of bland icky frosting that normally tops cupcakes, but this, this was heaven I tell you.  Chris and I shared one, but I wanted a whole one to myself!

We continued to walk and peruse the city and somehow found ourselves at a little ice cream shop that features vegan and non-dairy selections.  How could we resist?  Even though it was pretty chilly outside with the sun going down, I decided to try the chocolate peanut butter and Chris tried the rice milk chocolate mint.  It was pretty darn tasty.  Not your typical ice cream texture, but equally delicious.

As we made our way back to the apartment, we decided to stop at a tea lounge called Somovar to warm up.  This place was adorable as well; a great place to stop, have a nice cup of tea and some down time conversation with great friends.

Chris and I decided on the Ocean of Wisdom, which was amazingly luscious and full of flavor.  I can’t even really explain it, but this description is just about perfect. . .

I couldn’t get over how adorable all the tea cups were.  Sure makes the experience that much more special.

I also tried a little bit of the lavender lemonade which would be refreshing on a hot day.

And the chai tea was oh so comforting.

Even though I couldn’t ever see myself living in San Fran, I really love visiting this vibrant city.  There really seems like there is a sense of community with all the wonderful local shops and restaurants.  I could just spend days and days visiting them all!  I also love how there are a ton of bike commuters pedaling there way to somewhere.  It’s so neat to see everyone out and about being active!

It was a great day!  I also have some great wine tasting pictures to share soon  Hope your week is going well.  I’m surely going to be sad when we have to leave California.

What’s one of your favorite cities to visit?

I can’t believe I’m already back and how much I have to catch up on!  Forgive me for being so absent on your blogs lately, I’ve missed you guys! I drove back last night and tried to get things somewhat organized before work today, but I still have grocery shopping, cleaning, and mountains of laundry to do, ugh!

The SCAN Symposium was an absolute blast and I learned so much wonderful information (I need to go back over all my notes!), and met some amazing sports dietitians.  Going to this conference has made me realize what I want to pursue for the future and I really look forward to next year.  

This year’s symposium focused on sports nutrition, particularly in the realm of eating disorders, disordered eating, body image, etc in the athletic population.  I’ll just give a little re-cap of the weekend and the sessions that I attended, along with some yummy eats!

~~~~

After work on Friday, Chris discovered that my back tire was abnormally low on pressure and so I went to the tire store only to find there was a metal sliver stuck in my tire!!  eek!  Good thing I got that checked out  After munching on a packed peanut butter and jelly sammie for dinner, and stashing a few snacks for the road, I was off for San Diego! . . .

I didn’t arrive till late and pretty much crashed at my friend J’s house.  I was so thankful that she let me stay with her because that saved me a good amount on lodging, even though the parking was $22 bucks per day, ouch!

Saturday I signed up for a pre-workshop looking at sports nutrition assessment, particularly the nutrition care process, iron status, vitamin D status, the female athlete triad and a few case studies.  The conference was held at the beautiful Sheraton Hotel.

Since I was done pretty early that day, J and I decided to peruse San Diego!  We first grabbed some quick sammies at Subway and hit up Balboa Park to walk around and see Hubble 3D at the IMAX Theater.  It was a spectacular show!  Thinking about space and the galaxy always freaks me out a bit and it’s just amazing to think that we are just a tiny piece of matter in the entire atmosphere . . .

The weather was gorgeous with tons of greeeeen everywhere!

We even made a stop at the beach!!  I had to get my toes in the sand . . .

After a quick stop at the beach, we headed to Old Town for some dinner.  We didn’t have any thing in particular in mind, but wanted to try the local cuisine, and stopped at a place called Fred’s that looked fun and vibrant.

I was hungry by the time we got there and munched on some chips and salsa, nom, nom, nom!

There were lots of options to choose from.

I decided to go with the 3 taco combo, which included carne asada, grilled fish and chicken to sample a little bit of each. I managed to finish the fish and carne asada, with a few bites of the chicken + 1/2 the rice and beans.

Sunday started a little bit later, so I was able to sleep in till 7am!!!  Yessssss, I’m a bit sleep-deprived lately, so this was glorious.  Here were the sessions for the day:

• KEYNOTE: Is Anorexia Nervosa an Eating Disorder? New Insights into Puzzling Symptoms — This was really interesting and looked at the actual neural implications with anorexia and what is actually going on in the brain.
• Breaking into the Corporate Market – Recommendations From a Corporate Insider and Wellness Expert
• Exploring the Depths of Hunger/Satiety Work: Tools and Tips for Transformation — I loved this session and it was very interesting looking at the power of Intuitive Eating (I think I’m going to have to pick up the book!)
• Research Update: Causes and Consequences of Iron Deficiency in Athletes — This one was very informative and it’s so important for athletes to watch their iron because it can greatly impact performance.
• Creating a Heart-Healthy Supermarket Tour

Most days there was lunch provided and we could choose from various sandwiches and fruit and pack it in a lunch box which was nice.  One day I decided to enjoy the weather and headed outside

Monday was a loooong day, but it really didn’t seem like I was there from 8am-10pm!

• KEYNOTE: Athlete’s On the Edge–Medical and Nutrition Issues in Athletes with Eating Disorders

• Peer-led Approaches to Reducing Eating Disorder Risk Factors and Increasing Awareness of the Female Athlete Triad — This one was with Dr. Becker and I found it fascinating.

• A New Paradigm for Weight: An Effective Model for Promotion of Healthy Body Image, Eating, Fitness and Weight in Children, Teens, and Adults

• Eating Disorders in Sport: Identification, Treatment and Prevention

• Sport Nutrition Designs for the 21st Century Endurance Athlete

• Turning Back the Ravages of Time: What You Can Do Now to be Healthy in Twenty Years — Eat your blueberries, strawberries and walnuts!!  They really do help fight aging.

Throughout the conference I munched on various snacks I brought and samples that were given out.  I tried the new blueberry SoyJoy and it actually tastes pretty good!  I don’t like any of their other flavors to be honest.

Monday night was also the awards dinner and it was filled with great food

The entrée was mahi mahi with shrimp and a lemon-cream sauce + roasted root veggies and creamy cauliflower ‘mashed potatoes’.  So good!

I got back around 10:45pm and crashed!

Tuesday was the last day and I was very sad to see it go

• The Gastric Bypass Athlete: Case Studies and Discussion — Nancy Clark gave this presentation and I had actually never thought about this before.
• Vitamin D and Athletic Performance — It’s becoming more and more evident at how important vit D really is in so many body reactions and it was recommended to test athletes and recommend a supplement if they are low.
• Food Addiction: Fact or Fiction? Effective Tools for Treating compulsive Overeating and Binge Eating Disorder — This session was also very interesting, as I have never really dealt with this topic before.

Before I headed out I had to make one last stop for some fish tacos and J recommended a place called Wahoo’s.

It was really tasty!  I had two tacos, one fish and one carne asada + rice and beans.  But, boy oh boy that fish was spicy!!!!

I don’t think I was going to use this thank you!

And because there were like 10 servings of rice on there, I split the plate down the middle and stopped after half

I HAD to take a picture of this little guy!  awwwwh!  adorable!!!!!

It’s nice to be back home and see my guys (Chris and Buster), but I have a lot of catching up to do.  It’s almost like we always need a vacation from a vacation, right?  I’d like to go through all my notes again and touch on some topics that I thought were particularly interesting and important.  I love going on learning trips because it’s nice to get a different perspective on things and meet new people.

Overall it was a great trip and I’m going to miss San Diego!

Have you done any educational trips lately?

]]> http://eatingrd.com/2010/03/scan-san-diego/feed/ 15 http://eatingrd.com/2009/12/southern-safari/ http://eatingrd.com/2009/12/southern-safari/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:04:00 +0000 Kristen :) http://wp.eatingrd.com/?p=197

After a lazy morning, and a quick stop at Chik-fil-A for lunch, we all headed to Lazy 5, a local animal drive-thru park with over 750 different exotic animals roaming around.  It was sure an adventure!  I’ve been here once before, but we just drove the grounds in our car.  This time around we made an appointment to join a wagon ride and you can actually feed the animals right from your hand!  It’s so exhilarating and exciting to see them so close and we all had a great time.  I think I managed to take over 200 photos!

Here are some of the good ones . . .

From left to right:  my mom, cousin and aunt.  Sure love these guys!

I think this one is my favorite, look at that giant tongue!

They also have a petting zoo to walk around after the ride.  While many of the animals weren’t out since it’s winter, there were still some roaming around waiting to be fed!

I liked the reflection in this picture . . .

FEED ME PLEASE!!

We had such a blast!  It was sure chilly outside brrrr but the sun was shining!

After we got home, my mom and I took her little doggy Shadow for a quick walk.  My mom recently adopted Shadow after she was hit by a car on the highway.  Her right leg eventually had to be amputated, but she is doing really well now.  She is such a sweetheart!

I was surprised at how well she does, and the other 3 legs make up for it

For dinner we headed out again for some good southern BBQ mmm that is something that I don’t indulge in very often.  It’s fun to immerse yourself in different cuisines when visiting a city.  There is nothing that I enjoy more than trying and visiting local favorites that make a city unique.  I try to avoid national chains as much as possible to support local restaurants when traveling.

We always try to make a stop at a restaurant called Lancasters.  It’s a great place to go to for some lip-smackin’ southern BBQ.  The inside has a ton of knick-knack items and racing memorabilia all over the walls and there’s even a real bus you can sit in!

My mom ordered sweet tea.  Have you heard of this before?  Normally when you order iced tea in the west, it’s always unsweet tea.

If you order iced tea in the south, it is always sa-weeat tea (with an accent).

Chris usually orders unsweet tea and he was so surprised the first time he got the sweet stuff and about gagged!  I had a sip of it and this stuff is sweeet!  It has something near 60g of carbs for a large serving!!  Yikes!

Every table gets a basket of hush puppies.  Oh my gosh, these are addicting!  I forced myself to only have two of these little bites of fried doughy goodness.

For dinner I ordered the salt and pepper catfish combo with pulled pork, corn on the cob and baked beans.  I had one catfish filet, 1/2 the pork, 1/2 the corn and all the beans.  I also had one of the ribs.  Everything was delicious! The ribs were so tender and fell right off the bone mmm

To continue the indulgence of local favorites, there is a great ice cream shop called Bruster’s that Chris and I wanted to make a stop at.  gah!  this stuff is so good!

I had the small cup with peppermint stick and chocolate peanut butter buckeye.  I was so glad I only got the small!  I’ve never heard of a buckeye candy before, but I am a freak when it comes to anything with peanut butter and chocolate.  What’s not to love?  The peppermint had real chunks of peppermint candy and there were swirls of peanut butter all throughout the buckeye flavor.  pure. heaven.

ha, love the marketing on the napkin.  treat yourself.  Yes, that is sure what I’ve been doing lately, but why does food always have to be considered a way to treat yourself?  Especially with the holiday season it’s easy to get caught up in all the indulgence, or we try to avoid the temptation at all costs and make ourselves feel guilty if we don’t work off that extra bite of pumpkin pie.  Sometimes we don’t want to, and because of personal beliefs cannot eat the food that a host has prepared, but we don’t want to make them feel bad if we don’t eat their food.  I’m sure there are many other situations you have experienced also.  I’ve come to realize for me it’s important to not dwell on all the eating too much, enjoy the moments with family, friends and the food of the holidays for all that it is in the best way for my wellbeing.

Food is really what brings us together as a family, defines a region and sustains our bodies to keep us going and healthy.  I know that I have indulged in wonderful food and have relaxed probably a bit too much, but you know what, I’m enjoying it in moderation and am not going to worry about it for this moment in time

What are your thoughts on the holiday-food conundrum?

When I left you last we decided to make a drive into Fort Collins to walk around downtown and grab some dinner.  I am in love with this city!  It was just so neat and quaint, with tons of unique shops.  There were tons of bikes all over the city even in the winter!  How cool!

I had to get a picture of these bikes.  How does one ride this thing?!  Or even get on it?

When we first arrived we decided to stop at a cute little coffee shop.  I’m not a coffee drinker but I couldn’t resist!  I got a decaf fru fru drink and it was divine!  There was even a bookstore attached.

Lots of vegan baked goods . . .

Ice Skating!!  The little kiddies had garbage cans to help them stay up, but I would have to have one too.  I’m terrible at skating

We grabbed dinner at a chicago pizza place.  It was yummy!  I had this slice and 1/2 of another.

After dinner we decided to grab some dessert at The Melting Pot.  I had never been there and it was quite a treat!  Boy, I’d like to have a wine cellar like that!

We ordered the milk chocolate for 4 along with a dessert-type red wine that was a bit too sweet for me on its own but went really well with the chocolate.  It was heavenly!  I’d love to go back there for a special occasion.  It’s too bad they don’t have any in Vegas anymore   Chris and I shared this platter.

It was such a fun trip!  Then we had to head back to reality on Sunday morning. . .

Goodbye Colorado, I will miss you!!!

After all that good eating, here’s a quick pistachio recipe that’s a little lighter on the waistline . . .

Pistachio Couscous Patties

(Adapted from CookingLight)

Serves 6 (two patties)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 c chopped peeled tomato (used about 3-4 romas)
• 3/4  cup  uncooked whole wheat couscous
• 1/4  cup  chopped sweet onion
• 1/4  cup  chopped green bell pepper
• 1-2  tsp  canned tomato puree
• 3/4  cup  shelled dry-roasted pistachios, finely ground
• 1 tsp dried oregano, all-purpose seasoning, garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika, dash of cayenne
• 3/4  tsp salt
• Ziki Sauce for topping

Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a food processor and pulse till ground but not soupy; let stand 15 minutes. Add pistachios and next ingredients (through salt); mix well. Press bulgur mixture into a (1/4-cup) dry measuring cup; unmold onto a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining bulgur mixture to form 12 patties total. Chill for 15 minutes and serve on a flatbread or pita and top with ziki sauce.  I also dusted them with a bit more ground pistachios.

They don’t ‘form’ like patties that well, but are still pretty yummy.  In two patties there’s 170 kcals and 6 grams of fiber

I put them in a flatbread, added some spinach and topped it with some ziki sauce.  It was light but very filling!

I also used them in a nice salad.

Even though I still like to enjoy all the delicious holiday treats, it’s important to balance those out with activity & healthier eats of course!

What are some holiday strategies that you use to stay on track?

—> Real Time Update —> well, my computer hard drive files were saved thanks to Chris!  I don’t know what I would do without him.  I have both my presentations done and done & need to start studying for finals next week.  Then I’ll really be done!  Woo-hoo!  Thanks for all your well wishes . . . motto of the week:  This too shall pass

Hello!!  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.  I can’t wait to get all caught up on all your blogs and festivities.  I just wanted to post a little recap of our trip . . . and maybe another pistachio recipe soon.  Are you getting tired of all these pistachios yet?  Well, I still have about 3 bags in the freezer and 2 in the fridge

Because we didn’t leave for our Thanksgiving celebration until Friday morning, Chris and I decided to participate in our first 5k Turkey Trot to help balance all the good eating soon to come.  If you haven’t been following too closely, I decided to start this thing called running about a couple weeks ago.  Even though I didn’t finish the Couch to 5k training program before then, I still figured I would take it easy and just have some fun.

At the start of the race, I felt really fast and fresh, but as it went on I slowed down and settled into a comfortable, yet challenging pace for me and my lungs.  Chris, who used to run cross country in HS, comfortably left me in the dust, even though he hasn’t done any running since then either!  I didn’t mind.  I wanted to challenge myself, but not kill myself.  The views were pretty spectacular too!

The only thing was after the race, my chest got really tight and I started sneezing like crazy!  We were running on packed dirt and it was kind of dusty, but I’ve never had problems with allergies before.  I do have a hard time with the cold air too, but it was really weird.  So for the next couple days I was all sneezy and watery eyed   Anyone heard of this happening?

I ended up finishing better than I had hoped for!  I had an average 9:12 min/mile and finished in 28:34, 6th out of the 15 in my age class.  Not too shabby?  I look forward to increasing my mileage in the future and making this Turkey Trot a yearly tradition

My favorite part of any race . . .

I munched on about 3 watermelon wedges, 1 orange quarter and a fig newton, along with a water bottle.  There were a ton of other things there, but I didn’t burn all that much to go all out

We left early Friday morning for Colorado and had a great Thanksgiving celebration with Chris’ family.  His dad and step mom recently retired and built a beautiful cabin.  I would love to have a cabin!!  Although shoveling snow and freezing winds aren’t my idea of retirement, they sure seemed happy and it was really beautiful up there.

This was the view from the back!

There was of course lots of munchin’ goin’ on . . .

Here was my Thanksgiving plate.  Since we arrived late, we had leftovers, but it was still delicious.  I also had a glass of Ritual Pinot Noir that we brought in our suitcase.  I managed to only have one serving!

But really I was saving for dessert of course, my favorite part   I usually like to get a little taste of each, which included pumpkin, apple and pecan.

Some cute salt and pepper shakers and of course we had to have a fire.  Boy it was warm!  Can you see the hidden picture in the fire?

mmm . . . these homemade cinnamon rolls were awesome!  I haven’t had those in a long time.

Getting back home from a Saturday outing we had a bit of a problem, oops!  But don’t worry we made it out!!  Oh the joys snow

The views were just spectacular everywhere!  We even saw a guy ice fishing.

I can’t wait to come back in the summer time, which is a short 3 months probably, but I bet it is even more gorgeous.

Man, I just can’t wait to retire to be honest!

After tromping around in the wilderness on Saturday, we decided to ride into Fort Collins to walk around town and have dinner, but I’ll save those pictures for the next post!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!  I’m sure trying to keep myself from slipping into vacation mode this time of year.  It seems once Thanksgiving hits and I get a little taste of relaxation it’s so hard to get back into gear for the last home stretch.  I had my first presentation for sports nutrition yesterday and have one more to go this week before finals next week, and then I’ll be done!  (for this semester at least)  Oh and I can hardly wait for my week long winter break when I get to visit my mom.  I’m really looking forward to it and it’s keeping me going during crunch time.

What keeps you looking up in stressful times?

—-> Real Time Update —-> Speaking of stressful, my computer has been acting up lately again for the third time, so I’ve been using Chris’ older laptop.  A few days ago I noticed a slight clicking noise, and come to find out Chris says this is my hard drive about to take a dump, so we’ve been frantically saving files tonight!  Thank goodness all that I needed was recovered and I’m working from a different hard drive now until I can get the box to send my computer in.  So sorry for the lack of posting!  I’ve had the darndest time reinstalling everything and trying to remember passwords.  Darn computers!  Hate them, but can’t live without them. . .

After getting home from Bryce, Chris happily went to making the fire while I got things ready for breakfast the next morning.

We bought some more fire wood on the way back, but it wouldn’t be enough for a night and a morning fire, so we decided to make breakfast that night and just have leftovers from the mondo chicken pot pie we made the night before.  Leftovers are the best! 

Chris loves making fires!  It’s like his manly duty or something.  Me man, me make fire haha  We also had some more s’mores of course!

The next morning we huddled in our tent until the sun started to peek out with its enveloping warmth since we didn’t have a fire.  I just wrapped the breakfast burritos in foil with some mozzarella cheese and placed them on the propane stove (I know this is cheating, but shhh!)  It was really great and easy since the eggs were already made!

After breakfast we packed up all our gear (not fun) and headed to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Another breathtaking view!  Nature is just absolutely amazing to me, how something so beautiful can exist in this world.

Doesn’t it look like a fake background almost??

There were beautiful wild flowers everywhere, although one of the camp hosts told us that the best season for them is the first 3 weeks in July when they’re really in bloom.  For lunch we went towards Brian Head and grabbed a quick turkey and avocado sandwich at a deli there, but the guy wasn’t very nice at all and the sandwich wasn’t anything special.

We drove up to a point called Brian Head Peak.  Boy, this was amazing too!  You could see everything from up there.  It was really scary because there were sheer drop offs from all sides.  Crazy!

Our last 2-mi hike was called Spectra Point.  Again, more drop-offs!  No pets are allowed on this one, and I can see why, yikes!  Looking over heights like that makes my stomach drop.

Then it was off to the B&B!  Woo-hoo!  I can’t tell you how I was looking forward to getting a nice shower and being able to actually sleep through the night on a cushy bed.

It was just as we had remembered!  We got the Oceanside room this time, and it was really nice.  We had dinner reservations at a place right across the street called Garden House that we also went to last time.

They have a cute little gazebo in the back, and Chris and I were kind of thinking this would be great for a wedding?  I think they can fit 100 people in the back too.  On the right is the inside the dining room.  Everything is mission style, very rustic and cozy.

When we were just about to head over another couple who was going to eat there said the restaurant had lost their liquor license or something and we couldn’t have wine with dinner . . . what?!  Blasphemy!!

So they offered some of their La Crema Chard to share  with us at the B&B before dinner.  Wow!  This is a good one, very balanced, buttery and not too oaky.  I don’t like heavy, oaky chards that hide the fruit.  I like the butta baby and this one was great!  I was so sad to not have wine with dinner, but the company and food definitely made up for it

For an appetizer we had the baked brie with fruit and cranberry compote.  Wow!  Cranberries and brie is such a great combo!

We devoured this dish.  I am going to have to try to recreate this one!

I decided on the mustard-dill glazed salmon and Chris had the Chicken Marsala.  Oh I love salmon!  I always try to get this at restaurants if I can because I can’t really buy it that often.  It was absolute perfection!  It also came with a side salad.  The veggies on the side were good as well, but the salmon stole the show.  I also had a few bites of Chris’ dish, but it was very rich with just a little heavy cream.

We decided to hold off on dessert because our pants were about to explode and Nan, the innkeeper, had some chocolate cake waiting for us hehe We just walked across the street after dinner and sat out on the back porch and watched the sun go down.

The temperature was absolutely perfect, not to hot and not too cold.  The chocolate cake was not the absolute best I’ve had, but yummy.  I could only eat about 3/4ths of mine, along with another small glass of chardonnay As the temperature got a little cooler we had some decaf mint green tea and went back to the room and watched Hairspray. I just love that movie!  Although I did fall asleep halfway through it.  I can’t watch movies in bed because I just zonk out no matter what.

The next morning breakfast was ready for us at 8:30am.  It was just like being at home, so quaint and cozy, although there are a bunch of people that you don’t know around But very nice I might add.   We started with yummy smoothies in a martini-type glass, along with fresh fruit (I had 1/2), a sausage patty (I had 1/2) and this amazing frittata type thing she called feather bed eggs.  The egg thingie was my favorite.  It was so moist with a thin layer of some kind of bread, eggs and sun-dried tomatoes mixed in with oregano on top.  Yum!  I also had a slice of a pumpkin cream cheese roll.  Chris was in love with this from the last time so he had about 3 slices!

We didn’t want to leave!  We just walked around Cedar City for a little while and perused the little shops.  After checking out we packed up and headed home to reality.  Such a wonderful trip all in all I must say Where did the summer go?

What’s your favorite trip on a budget?  Any frugal vacation ideas just to get away?

First off I just want to say thank you to all of your insightful comments to my last post.  You guys are truly amazing!  I loved hearing all your input and different insights to the topic.  I felt it was really important for me to get that out and I honestly couldn’t believe their explanation after the fact.  I really appreciate all your kind words from the bottom of my heart

On to something fun . . . a little vacation!

Chris and I wanted to do a little something together before the school year starts up again and we didn’t really have many funds to do something too crazy, so we decided on camping!!  You can’t beat $12/night and the great outdoors, right?!  We also decided to treat ourselves with one night at a B & B called The Anniversary House.  We went there a little while ago and absolutely fell in love with it.  It was really a treat after camping!

Originally we were going to go camping this weekend coming up, but we kept seeing the weather report that didn’t look to promising.  Camping in the rain is no fun.  We didn’t want to risk it, so on Friday afternoon we decided to leave last minute on Saturday!  You all know that I like to plan things, so I was a little freaked out by the fact that we didn’t have anything ready.  And camping’s not the kind of thing you don’t plan for! (of course this is what my head was telling me)  So I ran to the store after work and got together some recipes that we were thinking of making when we went up there with the dutch oven.  We also had to run a few errands Saturday morning to get everything, and get Buster off to the vet.  We finally hit the road by noon, and it’s only about a 3 hour drive which is not bad at all to get away.

Because we decided to go camping so last minute, we also didn’t have a reserved spot and had to cancel our other one.  Yet another voice in my head was saying, what?! no reservation, how are we going to find a spot in the afternoon on a Saturday when everyone’s probably got the good spots already? We decided to stick with the same campground and see what we could find for walk-ups.  And what do you know . . . we got the last one!  It was right by the toilets and trash bin, but we didn’t care.  It still had some pretty good shade, and it’s camping, so we’re supposed to be roughing it.

Here are some shots of the camp site:

Oh my gosh!  I can’t tell you how great it was just to get away, just the two of us.  I mean everything was smoky from the campfire, we had to sleep on the hard ground, it was 29 degrees F at night, but you know what, I haven’t seen Chris that happy in a long time with all this icky economy work stuff.  It was just really neat and made me happy too.

We got in Saturday afternoon and immediately started setting up camp, and of course I wanted try out that dutch oven!  We didn’t have any wood and the camp host said they were out, so Chris had to go searching, but finally found some thank goodness!

Dutch ovens are amazing, it’s like a one-pot wonder that you can practically make anything in!

We decided to make Cornbread Topped Chicken Pot Pie.  I’ve made this recipe before, but forgot to account for the altitude change.  The cornbread went crazy!  But it was still oh so good and comforting once that sun went down and the temperature dropped drastically.  Yum!

We didn’t mind the charred bits from the fire haha  It was sooo smoky.  We had to dodge the smoke or it burned our eyes like crazy!

And of course we had to have s’mores, lots of s’mores!  This is my ultimate favorite thing about camping.  I love how the marshmallows plump up nice and big like the perfect pillow and vehicle for chocolate!

The next morning Chris got that fire going, while I huddled under the sleeping bag trying to maintain warmth without my human heater.  It’s funny because once that sun came up it was actually pretty hot!

Breakfast was Fresh Fig Oats!  I saw these fresh figs at TJ’s and I had to do something with them.  Fresh figs are just special and yummy!

I mixed and mooshed about 3 fresh figs in with 1/2 a banana and added that to the oats as they cooked.  Then I topped it with some more fresh fig, banana and TJ’s snack granola.  Of course we had to have a scoop of peanut butter with it too.  I just love oats because they’re so easy and filling.

After breakfast we packed up our gear and headed to Bryce Canyon for some hiking.  Boy was it beautiful!  I can’t even explain it, and my pictures don’t even begin to do it justice.  It was so surreal and peaceful there.  It really takes one back to the essence of life and marveling in the wonder of it all.

This is a place called Wall Street and it was so neat to see.  There are two giant rock walls on both sides as you zig zag your way up the mountain.  Every step there was another great picture to be taken.  I had to be careful I didn’t fall down the mountain while I was gawking in amazement!

Of course I brought lots of snacks!  You never want to go unprepared!  Here I am enjoying a Luna Bar after our 2.5 mile hike.  I think the toasted nuts and cranberry is my fav flavor.  180 kcals and 9 grams protein, yes!

This is one of my favorites of Chris . . . very peaceful scenery.

Happy Campers!

Because I don’t want to drag this post on forever into that mountain far in the distance, I will end it here on the first day.  But stay tuned for day 2 of our camping and dutch oven adventures, and our stay at the B & B!

Do you like to go camping, or do you prefer a nice B & B and a hot shower instead?

I can’t keep track of the days lately and my trip to New Orleans just flew by!  The summer in general is just slipping from my grasp it seems, moving closer and closer to the start of school once again.  I really had a wonderful trip and met some great people.  The conference was really interesting and gave me a new insight into nutrition education that I had never quite thought about before.  Here are all the sessions that I attended:

• Using Technology to Engage Captive and Fleeting Audiences
• Convenience vs. Conviction
• Teaching the World to Fish:  Strategies to Create Global Food Security
• Deconstructing a Possible Hunger-Obesity Paradox
• Communicating Healthy Options Down the Street and Around the World
• How to Write a Grant and Get Results
• USDA Demonstration Project and Local Wellness Policies

I had never looked in-depth to global food insecurity issues before, so it was pretty interesting.  There were so many great professionals there and it was nice to network and meet some of them.  Here is the poster that we presented at the conference.

A little Mardi Gras Fun!

One morning session we got to try samples from Kashi, yum!

I really liked that cocoa beach flavor on the left.

And of course, while a good portion of the time was spent in the conference sessions, there was still some time for play and savoring the amazing food of New Orleans.  I loved all the fresh seafood!  It was to die for.  I think I had more seafood in that week that I’ve had in a long time!  lol

This was at a place called Deannie’s . . . crabcake stuffed flounder

This was at a place called Snug Harbor, which is also where we saw some great jazz . . . salmon with a multigrain pilaf and sauvingon blanc

A local favorite . . .

I had a shrimp po boy at Mother’s . . . still wanted to try that ham.

Had to go to Cafe du Monde to get a beignet with mounds of powdered sugar!

Had to try one of Nawlin’s famous Hurricanes, but it’s really sweet!

Also had some crab cakes, but the remoulade sauce was a bit too rich for me.  I also had gumbo (oh man!), BBQ shrimp (so good!) and good ol’ pralines.  Their food is just phenomenal, a little spicy for my tongue, but so good.  I love trying local cuisine, and there was so much more I could have tried!

I didn’t get to see any of the areas that were hard hit by Katrina, but mostly spent time along Decatur St. and Bourbon St. in the French Quarter.  We went to a couple jazz clubs too, which was so much fun.  I really enjoy jazz music.  We went dancing and bar hopping on Bourbon the last night there.  I LOVE dancing, just love it.  I think I could dance all night long.  Well, 3 am came and I was pooped and had a bit too much to drink!  Now I am working on correcting my sleep deprivation for the past 5 days lol

A view from the hotel . . .

Sunny and muggy, but nothing like the Vegas heat.  I actually don’t mind humidity, it makes my skin soft and hair curly

Jackson Square on the left and famous bourbon st. on the right.  Wow, even being from Vegas, I was surprised by things on this street lol.

And this is my new favorite word

I had such a great time!  Now I have to get back to reality and get cookin’.  I’ve missed you all while I’ve been gone.  I’ll be sure to get caught up on all your great blogs asap.

What is one of your most memorable or most fun trips?