Tennis and Sunday Fun

We had quite a bit of fun yesterday, despite all of the studying we were all doing. On Sunday, Starr, Sierra, and my goal was to get up and out of bed before 9, but that did not happen! Although we had so much to do, we all still manage to get(some of) our sleep in!

Since we woke up so late, we enjoyed a late brunch of bagels spreaded with light creamy swiss laughing cow cheese and an egg white and baby kale scramble.

Afterwards, we finished up our studying and then headed to the tennis courts! I was a little rusty from not playing for 5 months, but Starr and Sierra were on top of their games! There were lots of mosquitos out, so we only stayed for about 45 minutes.

Starr knew she couldn’t pass up on opportunity to strike one of her famous poses:

Before we left, we sprinted a few laps around the courts, did a few sets of lunges and push ups, and then hit the jumping jacks!

If you live near any tennis courts, they are great places to get a quick workout in.

After tennis, we headed home and helped out with dinner. We steamed asparagus, beets, and sweet potatoes. Our dad also caught some fish, which we baked in the oven for about 40 minutes.

It was a tiring, but relaxing Sunday.

Do you have any Sunday traditions or workouts?

 

 

February is Birthday Month

So, February is definitely birthday month for the Spice Sisters. Savannah and Starr both have birthdays in February within two weeks of each other! We have been all over Florida these past few weeks celebrating!

Savannah is finally the big 18! This is a good birthday.. haha until you get to 21!

Savannah and Starr made these awesome birthday cup cakes with the theme of adulthood! You have to take the time to blow up these pictures, turn your head every which way, and read all of the great sayings on the cupcakes!

And for Starr’s birthday we celebrated with a different kind of sweetness! We got these at a Sushi and Thai restaurant… they were delicious.. but I am not sure anyone in our party knew exactly what they were. In the middle with the candles it was definitely some kind of asian fried ice cream.. 🙂 Oh, but who cares! They were so good.. fudge, ice cream, and other sweet delights!

Oh yeah, and Savannah also had a coconut cake! This was a first time for a coconut cake.. have you ever tried coconut cake?

We had sushi and other delicious meals for Starr’s birthday dinner.. which happened to be the night before our Ft. Lauderdale A1A Half Marathon that we were running in the next day! I will make sure to post that soon after I compile all of our pictures!

There are so many different advice articles about what to eat before running a large race! I think it is definitely dependent on the individual yet it takes time to experiment with different foods and combinations.. What do you typically eat the day or two before a race?

 

Fruit Finds and Seafood Paella

As you all can tell.. we haven’t been too active on the blog lately, but we hope to change that.. but change comes slowly.. at least this one will! Stay with us! We love all of our followers, readers and supporters.. you are much appreciated and do not go unnoticed with all of your readership, comments and questions!

How has everyones February been? We sure have been one thing after another, busy.. and it seems like the new year is off to a good start.. can you believe it is almost March!?

Yesterday we explored the island searching for fresh fruit off the trees (or ground) or even on the side of the road..There is this one lady who has a starfruit tree and she always puts a bucket of starfruit out everyday to share with anyone going by! Our island is quite the dog walking, running, walking, bicycling island and everyone you see will be on one of these modes of transportation… if not slowly cruising by, windows rolled down, dogs head panting out the back window, necks turned as far as they go, and out of state plates on the car.

This is our collection of fruit that we were able to scrounge up! It is almost more fun finding it than eating it 🙂 Those are like baby lemons, and the star fruit were just huge.. the oranges so ripe! And of course we were able to find plenty of coconuts but have yet to crack a few open!

I just wanted to show you how absolute huge they were compared next to a strawberry! These are so pretty once you cut them open!

For dinner my mom prepared this amazing edition of a paella/jumbalaya with fresh shrimp from the island, crawfish (crayfish?), mussels, florida clams, andouille sausage, peppers, onions, green peas and spanish rice! It was delicious and so fresh!

Growing up in Maine, we’ve never really tried these crawfish.. I’m not even sure of their name.. but they are like mini lobsters and I am pretty sure they are indigenous to these Florida waters.

They taste very similar to lobster.. although they are only a few inches long!

It was so pretty once it was all done. We had a few different vegetable salads to go with it, french baguette, cheese, and a beet, goat cheese and cilantro salad. (I didn’t take any pictures of this.. but next time we make it I will make sure to blog it.. because it is so fresh, healthy and full of benefits for such a great taste!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday Fun! “I’m Feeling 22”

Hey Everyone!

Yes.. its been a while.. yes! I am 22- me; Sierra! I did sleep through my birth time at 8:37 am.. but I woke up all bright and 22 a little later! December 15th! 

The day went through pretty fast and it was a very relaxing but enjoyable birthday!

Starr, Savannah and I got our nails done by our favorite (or only) nail salon in the area, went for frozen yogurt and then came home for a lovely Mexican feast prepared by my dad! He knows I love my mexican 🙂

We all love frozen yogurt, and last summer “Sweet Frog” came to town! It is so great because we usually can only get our yogurt fix in Florida, but now we have a full time yogurt place to go! Anyways, there was a buy one get one free summer yogurt flavor! We were loving it..even though it was 30 degrees outside!

Oh, and of course a “stuft mama outfit pose” . Aren’t they always the best? 😉

Dinner time rolled around and we helped out my dad make dinner…we are pro’s…

Our older sister hadn’t flown in yet.. so we were just 3 and my parents.

We made guacamole, salsa, enchiladas and quesadillas!

Our guacamole had fresh mashed avocados, white onion, garlic powder, fresh squeezed lime and lemon juice, pepper, salt, cilantro and diced tomato. It is the best guacamole out there!

These were ground turkey, spinach and sautéed mushroom enchiladas on white corn tortillas. My dad made really good homemade enchilada sauce, we sprinkled cheese on them and baked them.

We didn’t get a picture of the quesadillas or my birthday cake, but it was one of the best- a caramel, chocolate pecan cake with coffee ice cream.

Ok, well the girls and I are here.. and we have had so many delicious creations that we want to share with all of you, so we will be posting lots of holiday pictures and ideas within the next few days! In the meantime, happy holidays and we hope all of our fabulous readers are enjoying some time off from work, school and have a happy rest of the 2014 year!

 

 

 

Barbeque Chicken Fajita Salad

Last night was my first official ‘day after’ first day of school. I am not going to really discuss too much about my school here to retain my privacy ( I am sure you all understand) but Nursing school so far has been going well. I should not judge it all too quickly and conclude whether I ‘like it’ in that terms yet, but so far so good. Short and simple. The best way. I had planned on sharing this with you last night, but my parents are getting quite good at face timing and Savannah and I talked to them for a while last night and heard about Starr’s first day as well as all the lovely family catch up that siblings and parents can quack about for hours.

So I had boiled some chicken earlier that day. You can bake, grill, boil, microwave.. do just about anything to your chicken but I find boiling to be the fastest way, and sometimes I am very impatient when it comes to cooking, although if you eat just plain boiled chicken…sometimes it is pretty tasteless. I added black beans, green peppers, white onions, and corn and sautéed it all in this Jack Daniel’s Barbecue Sauce. For those under age; it is alcohol free.

I would definitely recommend trying it out. It has great flavor and is not too sweet, which is perfect for me. I let all of that sautee for a good 10+ minutes while I prepare the cold part of the salad. I don’t mind the warm toppings on top of the cold salad, but if you prefer otherwise just stick the chicken/veggies in the refrigerator once they are finished cooking and let them cool for a few minutes.

I used a base of romaine, a few chopped carrots, one chopped tomato, chopped cilantro, some salsa and squeezed half a lime onto the salad. I squeezed the other half of the lime into the barbecue chicken stir-fry.

Just top it off with whatever else you would like; more veggies, other salad dressing etc and enjoy! I crushed some tortilla chips onto it which always makes it taste better with a little crunch.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe

Tonight I made this delicious cauliflower crust pizza for Savannah and I. I did have my doubts about a pizza crust made from cauliflower but it was actually quite good and I couldn’t even taste a difference.

So, I actually did mess up my recipe a little bit. I think it is necessary to add a few egg whites to the cauliflower before baking it in the oven, just to keep the crust more together. ( so make a note of that if you decide to try this out)

1. Wash the cauliflower in cold water and remove the outer leaves.

2. Cut the cauliflower into small chunks, just small enough so that they will blend in the blender or cuisinart.

3. We used a blender, which to be honest… you should use the cuisinart; I think it will work better.

4. At this step, using cheese cloth you should drain the ground cauliflower of all of the water. I did not plan ahead, and we didn’t have any cheese cloth so I went ahead without it and tried to substitute a steamer..don’t do that..

The cauliflower just came out of the holes.

5. I pre-greased the baking sheet with spray oil. You can use any size or shape of baking sheet. I didn’t get fancy because this was my first time trying it. Spread the cauliflower evenly out and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Pull it out when the sides have started to crisp and brown a little. This is a good sign. You want a hard crust to be able to hold on to. Just like real pizza.

The rest is all fun..Choose your toppings, sauces and cheeses. We used a tomato sauce that we made with onions, fresh garlic, parsley, garlic power, oregano.. the whole ka bang. Grilled veggies, meat, tofu, cheese… go for it!

We love this shredded cheese made with skim milk. It is fat free and has 9 grams of protein in 1/4 a cup- which is only 45 calories! This is some really good stuff! You must try it!

Cut those vegetables up!

So, as you can see we love mushrooms, peppers, onions, pineapple and black olives on our pizza! And yes, the cheese actually tastes JUST like cheese! I tell you it is amazing! No fat, half the calories and protein! (Can you tell I love it!)…mmm I am dreaming of a Tuna Melt for tomorrow.

So, if you try this recipe out, let us know how it turns out! Send us a picture of your creation and we may just feature it on our blog! 

I sat out by the pool today doing school work and it was just so pretty, I had to share it with you! The water is so warm as well..but not as warm as the air (at 95 degrees ).