Honeymoon in Hawaii: Part V

In case you’re curious: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

For next adventure of our honeymoon in Hawaii we drove through Waimea Canyon on the southwest side of Kauai. Sometimes described as “The Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” Waimea Canyon stretches 14 miles long, one mile wide, and more than 3,600 feet deep. We drove from the town of Waimea up to Kokee State Park where we got a stunning view of the Na Pali Coastline.

[cetsEmbedGmap src=https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Waimea,+HI&daddr=Kokee+State+Park,+Waimea,+HI&hl=en&sll=21.992874,-159.657612&sspn=0.084678,0.154324&geocode=FdMPTwEdz5179im3UR5J-6kHfDFyC-kPtWEVFQ%3BFbjSUQEdnxh89iGZo5VOJBbzDClbjz_8Zf8GfDGZo5VOJBbzDA&oq=kokee+s&gl=us&mra=ls&t=m&z=11 width=350 height=425 marginwidth=0 marginheight=0 frameborder=0 scrolling=no]On the way to Waimea I realized why they have a rainbow on their license plates in Hawaii.

From there we made our way up Waimea Canyon Drive, making several pit stops at the overlooks along the way.

At one point you could see the “forbidden island” of Niihau where a concentration of about 130 Native Hawaiians live a very low-tech, rural lifestyle.

The island is owned the Robinson family, and up until recently, only relatives of people living on the island, U.S. Navy, government officials, and personal guests were allowed to visit the island. Crazy interesting!

We also saw some mountain goats basking in the sun on a 3,000+ foot cliff, no big deal.

Eventually we got to the end of the road to Kokee State Park where we caught some breathtaking views of the Na Pali Coastline.

We couldn’t have timed it any more perfectly.

On the drive home we stopped at Island Taco in Waimea for a delicious and HUGE Seared Cajun Aji Taco. Definitely one of the best lunches we had on the trip.

Afterwards, we HAD to try Hawaiian Shave Ice, and a couple of our guide books said Jo Jo’s in Waimea was the best spot to get it at, so we went for it!

The place was totally bazaar. There was little to no natural light inside, they were bumping Lil’ Wayne, and there were Bob Marley posters everywhere. My gut would have had me walking right out of there, but after the rave reviews we read about it we knew we had to try it. We shared some coconut and rainbow concoction and macadamia ice cream topped with another rainbow flavor. They were huuuuge! While it was much better than your typical snow cone, we eventually ditched the shave ice for the incredible macadamia nut ice cream underneath; and the two of us were fighting for it! Funny thing was, as we were driving away, we saw another Jo Jo’s shave ice, that claimed to be “the original” and looked a lot more inviting. Which one gets all the rave reviews?? We will never know…

The highlight of our trip is next! Stay tuned…

 

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Honeymoon in Hawaii: Part IV

Hmm, let’s see…where did I leave off. Oh yeah, 7.5 hours of hiking on what felt like the moon, followed by getting tipsy off of a single Mai Tai. This was supposed to be a honeymoon right!? Luckily, we were heading to Kauai, where I envisioned nothing more than sandy bottoms and beach hair. Unfortunately, it took us a long headache of a travel day (I will spare you the details) to get there, even though it was just a puddle jump away. But we made it. The morning after we got to Kauai, we cut in to some fresh papaya and explored the territory.

We stayed at a cute little condo in Poipu within walking distance to the beach.

This is the view of Shipwreck beach where crazy people jump off that cliff and into the ocean.

The view from the top.

The view looking down. Yikes!

The walk back.

While in Kauai we had plans to visiti Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific), take a surfing lesson, and take a boat tour of the Na Pali Coast. But first we had to work on our tan lines and succumb to Mai Tai’s and fish tacos for lunch. Priorities.

Until next time, I leave you with the view from the sand…

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Spring Break 2013

It’s spring break over here and things are getting crazy! Today I spent the whole day in the kitchen, I have been exercising every day (thus far), I took a two hour nap yesterday, I have been reading for pleasure, I slept in till 6:20 am this morning, I met up with some girlfriends for happy hour last night, and I still have five more days to go!! I have been restocking my homemade “staples” too. I made some cinnamon maple quinoa granola for snacks, and banana quinoa muffins to keep in the freezer for pre/post exercise.

It feels amazing to have some time to take care of myself, unwind a bit, and eat some greens!

For breakfast I had a mixed grain/seed porridge made with 6 oz water, 2 oz whole milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cinnamon, and a dash of salt. I stirred in diced strawberries at the end and added a sunken glob of chunky peanut butter.

Mid-morning, I met up with my Mom to do a 1 hour long strength training class at the gym. We did 600 sit up/sit up variations and some serious quad strengthening…just what I needed. Afterwards, I snacked on a 1/2 of a Peach Noosa Yoghurt while I prepped dinner for the slow cooker.

For lunch I made a huge green salad beast with red onion, tomato, 1/4 jumbo avocado, 1 slice of deli turkey, homemade dressing, chipotle hummus, nutritional yeast, and a 1/2 of a roasted sweet potato topped with coconut oil and sea salt.

Fab-u-lous. I put the vita to good use this afternoon making baby food for a client, almond milk, and a smoothie for my afternoon snack.

• 6 oz. homemade almond milk
• 2/3 cup frozen cherries
• 1/4 cup frozen spinach
• 1 heaping tablespoon Garden for Life Raw Protein
• 1/2 tablespoon freshly ground flax seeds
• 1 thumbnail finger sized knob of fresh ginger
• 1 handful of ice cubes

Dinner turned out to be one of the best slow cooker recipes and curry I have ever made! I wasn’t expecting it from a Weight Watchers recipe, but man, I was surprised.

Yum! I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow!

Dessert was a slice of Ashley’s Gluten-Free Banana Bread topped with a drizzle of honey.

I just realized that I never finished posting about our honeymoon in Hawaii, which is hard to believe, because I haven’t even covered the best part of our trip. Stay tuned!

What is your favorite slow cooker recipe?

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Coconut Macaroon Heaven

Words cannot describe how good these macaroons are.

They were so good, I hardly paused to snap a photo of them before they were all gone!

After making Gina’s Red Velvet Macaroons a few months ago, I was inspired to make my own variations. I knew they would be an excellent dessert after our dehydrated cocoa coconut chili on our recent hut trip, so I made orange almond and chocolate peanut butter. My favorite was definitely the chocolate peanut butter, but the orange almond didn’t last long either.

Orange Almond Coconut Macaroons

• 2 2/3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/3 cups almond meal or flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, combine coconut, almond meal, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, coconut oil, orange juice, orange marmalade, honey, and vanilla. Add to large bowl with coconut mixture and stir to combine.
3. Scoop by the tablespoon onto dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, about 36-48 hours.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Coconut Macaroons

• 2 2/3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup peanut butter flour (PB2)
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa or carob powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 – 1 cup maple syrup*
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a large bowl, combine coconut, peanut butter flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, combine maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla. Add to large bowl with coconut mixtures and stir to combine.
3. Scoop by the tablespoon onto dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 115 degrees F until crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, about 36-48 hours.

* I used 1 cup of maple syrup, and they were a little too sweet for me. Next time I will try them with 3/4 cup instead, but you can adjust based on your preferred sweetness level.

I did not try making these in the oven, but you can try baking them at the lowest temp your oven will go with the door ajar until crispy on the outside. I stored them in the freezer, taking one (or two) out about 30 minutes before I wanted to eat them. This prevented me from eating the whole batch! These would be great before, after, and during exercise too!

I can’t wait to make more! What flavor combination would you make into a coconut macaroon?

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Lost Wonder Hut Trip: The Eats

I swear, we sometimes eat better on backcountry hut trips than we do at home. Instead of each person bringing up their own food for breakfast and dinner, we put each group or couple in charge of a meal for everyone. While it seems intimidating to cook a portable meal that can be brought into the backcountry to feed a handful of hungry athletes, it works out much better that way. Not only does it keep ten people out of the “kitchen” at once, but it creates a such a memorable experience while we eat, drink, laugh, and socialize over a communal meal.

The first night we got there we had the same Chicken Enchilada Soup we had on our last hut trip to Carl’s Cabin, because it was such a winner. We topped it with avocado and cornbread, and consumed it with plenty of Black Box wine.

The next morning we had steel cut oats with a toppings bar that included brown sugar, diced apples, raisins, and sliced almonds. We also had scrambled Egg Beaters with shredded cheese and black pepper (we couldn’t find any salt up there).

After a long day of skiing (more like 1 lap), I came in for lunch. While I was packing the night before we left I whipped up some of Ashley’s Savory Quinoa Oat Bread. I ended up having to add an extra 3/4 cup of water, because the batter was too thick. Since that left me with a lot of batter, I baked it in a 12″ cast iron skillet instead of a 10″. Not sure where I went wrong, but it still turned out phenomenal. I topped it with a classy pouch of Albacore tuna in water and a packet of mustard. Lunch of champions…who ski only one lap.

I also had a few slices of Gouda cheese and Summer Sausage that Scott brought for his lunch. Mid afternoon I snacked on a green apple and some almond trail mix…and wine.

For dinner that night, Scott and I were in charge, so we made one of our house favorites, Dreena Burton’s Cocoa Coconut Chili. Part of the reason I asked for a dehydrator as a bridal shower gift was specifically for the backcountry, and I was ready to put it to good use. At first I couldn’t decide how much to make for ten hungry athletes who surely don’t eat like birds. I ended up doubling the recipe for a total of 14-18 servings. This made for a lot of cans to open.

I had my dutch oven filled to the brim on the stove, and my slow cooker filled to the brim on the counter.

After cooking the chili we tag teamed running it through the dehydrator. We lined each tray with parchment paper, spread out the chilin in a thin layer and dehydrated it at 125 degrees F (initially) for about 8 hours before checking on it.

After 8 hours we were finding that the top tray was nice and dehydrated, but the bottom trays were not. So we kept a rotation going where we took off the top tray, transfered the chili to a bag, filled up the tray again and placed it on the bottom, rotating the other trays up.

After a couple of days, and eventually turning the temperature up to 135 degrees F, we took about 15 servings of chili down to this.

Two and a half pounds of deliciousness. To rehydrate the chili at the hut, I simply put it in a large pot, covered it with water, brought it to a boil, then reduced it to a simmer and stirred occasionally for about 20-30 minutes.

We also brought some boil in a bag brown rice to serve with it.

I was amazed at how well the chili rehydrated! The texture was ever so slightly different, but the flavor was all there. Next time I think we’ll bring more accompaniments like avocado, shredded cheese, and maybe Greek yogurt.

We were also in charge of dessert that night, so I figured we might as well put the dehydrator to really good use and make macaroons. We made orange almond and chocolate peanut butter.

These guys were phenomenal! I will definitely be sharing the recipes with you on a subsequent post, so stay tuned.

For breakfast the next morning we had pancakes before getting ready to head out. The couple in charge of breakfast kindly brought me a special box of Simply Organic Gluten-Free Pancake Mix. They also brought four different kinds of syrup, canned fruit, and three pounds of quality freshly cut bacon from Whole Foods to have with it. I had four pancakes topped with Justin’s Maple Almond Butter and blueberries, and a slice and a half of bacon.

Plenty of fuel for the hike out!

We ate good, drank good, played good, and definitely laughed good. I am so grateful to have such an amazing friends who plan and attend these trips! We always have such a great time!

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Redefining Success

Did you know that the Physical Activity Guidelines for American Adults is to get 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity, or 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity a week? Moderate-intensity exercise includes, but is not limited to, activities such as brisk walking, biking on level ground, general gardening, dancing, and tennis. Vigorous-intensity exercise includes, but is not limited to, biking faster than 10 mph, hiking uphill, jumping rope, jogging or running, swimming laps, and sports with a lot of running. Ideally, these recommendations are met with a combination of aerobic and strength activities. Meeting this recommendations provides substantial health benefits, including reduced risk of premature death, coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and depression. Beyond these recommendations additional health benefits, such as an even lower risk of heart disease or diabetes, are achieved, but most of the benefits come with just 150 minutes a week for adults.

Now, I have exercised for a majority of my life, it is part of my lifestyle, it is a major stress reliever for me, and I have no problem doing it on a regular basis. In fact, I need to do it on a regular basis; for many reasons. However, I recently went from a desk job where I was so bored I wanted to stick pencils through my eyes, to being a grad student pursuing my passion…with hardly any free time. While working my desk job, I set my heart on triathlons, because the training kept me busy, wiped me out, and gave me the feeling of accomplishment. Now I have school tasks that help me feel accomplished (sometimes) while eating up most of my free time, making it hard to find time to exercise. Even though I sit down every Sunday and map out my 5-6 days of exercise for the week, I still struggle to get just 3 days in. This is highly unusual for me, but it is time for me to redefine success when it comes to exercise. By getting in at least three hour long sessions in per week (180 minutes), I am meeting and even slightly exceeding the recommended guidelines for optimal health. And stressing out to exercise beyond that is defeating the purpose entirely.

Last Monday I made it to the gym to run on the treadmill for 30 minutes. To me, that sounded lame compared to the 7 mile trail run I’d rather be doing (but am certainly not in shape for). But, after I made it to the gym, got done with it, and realized how I felt afterwards, I was proud of myself. This made me think that it is important to strive to achieve the appropriate amount and type of physical activity that is right for YOU, whatever your schedule or preferences are. While I may not be training for a triathlon this season, I am still going to get out there, and that is where the benefits lie.

Okay, now that I got that out, I can move on to WIAW!!

I kicked off the day at 6:30 am with a delicious bowl of mixed grain/seed porridge made with 1/2 a chopped green apple, 1 chopped date, 1/4 whole milk + 3/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Topped with organic crunchy peanut butter and a side of Amino Acid Metabolism.

Mid-morning I had a snack of a over hard egg, hummus, and baby carrots.

Shortly after that I went to a beginners Master’s swim class. I decided that learning to swim laps is like learning a language; unless you learn when you are young there is a STEAP learning curve when you get older. I have been at it for 3-4 years and I still swim like a beginner. Maybe someday I will get there.

For lunch I met Scott for a little Indian buffet quickie.

I tried everything, including the rice pudding for dessert.

During the afternoon I had a small bowl of Fage 2% with cinnamon, a small banana, and some nuts and seeds.

For dinner I had leftover Eggplant Bolognese (one of our favorite recipes!) and salad, with a glass of Penfolds Cabernet Sauvignon blend.

Did you know you can freeze things like tomato paste, diced green chiles, and curry paste by the tablespoonful in an ice cube tray? No more wasting 5 ounces of tomato paste next time you only need a tablespoon. Just make sure you label it so you don’t put red curry paste in your tomato sauce.

For all you eggplant haters out there, Scott hates eggplant, but he loves this recipe. It cooks down enough that it really adds a nice texture to the sauce.

The only thing I changed about the recipe was adding 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper for some kick!

Served over Tinkyada gluten-free brown rice fettuccine noodles, topped with fresh basil, cheap Parmesan, and plenty of Frank’s hot sauce.

Oh, if you are curious about what to eat when you are meeting the physical activity guidelines make sure you check out my post on Team ten20 Cycling about exercise nutrition.

How do you define success when it comes to exercise?

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Lost Wonder Hut Trip: The Views

Last weekend Scott and I went on a backcountry hut trip to Lost Wonder Hut with eight other friends. It felt so great to get out in the backcountry, play in the snow, unplug from reality, catch up with good friends, play games, drink boxed wine, and eat some delicious food. Prior to our arrival the area had about 30+ inches of fresh snow, which meant the avalanche danger was high, and required us to break trail on an alternate route to the hut.

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After 2.8 short miles, 3:12 hours elapsed time with 01:48 hours of moving time, 1,220 ft of elevation gain, and lots of down trees later we made it to this…

The next morning we woke up to this…

That day we went out to take some turns. After the boys checked the avalanche danger and gave us girls a go, we set out for some first tracks.

Incredible! There was so much snow! I fell over at one point and a mushroom cloud of powder released above me. I certainly didn’t mind; it made me smile. The snow was quite heavy, so I only took one lap before heading in and staying warm by the fire in the hut.

The next day we skinned out only to encounter the same obstacles we came in with, only this time we were going down hill and it was already tracked out, so it went a lot faster.

Past the tracks from the day before.

Under and around few downed trees.

And we were out! It was super beautiful out there! I needed a break from reality; like big time. This trip helped me step back, appreciate down time, friends, and the beautiful nature around us.

One of our friends on the trip is a photographer over at Hardcastle Photography and took some really amazing photos.

You can see more photos from our trip on the Hardcastle Photography website.

Stay tuned for details on THE FOOD we ate! And trust me, we ate good!

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