Wonderful Weekend

This weekend I made up for lost time. I was finally feeling better and was up for some fun. I think I might have been feeling a little wild & crazy cause I even skipped out on a workout to go out. 

Thanks to friends who know what pau hana is all about, I discovered Manifest. It's a bar in Chinatown that has specialty cocktails and amazing happy hour deals. I celebrated with not one, but two, old fashioneds. Cheers!

Bourbon, oh how I've missed you!

After drinks it was time to fill my belly cause I was getting HANGRY! On the last Friday of each month is an event called "Eat the Streets". Tons trucks all park in one lot and cook foods based on a theme. This months theme... Spicy! 

Everything I had at the food truck event was Ono... Literally!

Saturday wouldn't be Saturday without a workout at Fitness Ranes. Plus I had to make up for skipping out on Friday night!

(Shhhh I totally stole this pic from IG @alexhiga). 

On Sunday I did something huge... I finally joined Pinterest. I don't really need another way to waste time online, but I was starting to have a hard time keeping track of recipes I had tried and liked (or didn't). 

I've becoming a pro at "pinning". So far I'm using my boards to keep track of healthy foods. 

And now for the pic of the week:

Here's the veggie breakfast casserole I made. Yum-o!

Recipe 

2 cups kale, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced  

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp coconut oil

10 eggs

1/4 c milk

1 cup cheese

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Squirt of siracha 

- Sauté veggies in oil until soft. Set aside to cool. 

- Whisk eggs & milk. 

- Add cheese, veggies and seasonings. 

- Place in a greased casserole dish. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. 

- Enjoy right away or you can warm up individual potions each morning like I've been doing. 

Mahalo!

Sick & Tired

As a kid I always hated getting sick during the summer. Instead of missing school, I was missing out on fun with my friends. It felt like I was being cheated. 

Well the only thing worse is getting sick as a grownup. On a weekend. In the summer. While living in Hawaii. 

This past weekend & the first part of the week I spent fighting a cold/virus. So instead of going to the beach or hiking to a waterfall I was coughing & sneezing. I spent most of the weekend in bed, which wouldn't have been so bad except the humidity the last couple of days has been oppressive (that's the word the weatherman used to describe it)! On the upside I think I'm all caught up on daytime TV. 

Luckily I'm starting to feel like a human again. I even went back to work today. And I've got my fingers crossed for some beautiful weather for this coming weekend! 

Thank goodness I bought tissues for my my parents visit. I put them to good use. 

Gilmore Girls reruns can still be found on ABC Family...yes!

Forecast looks good... Whew!

Pic of the week:

Yes I know I've posted a bunch of sunset pictures, but this is all I got ;-)

Mahalo!

Weather Watch

It's officially hurricane season. After living in Charleston I'm no stranger to tropical storm and hurricane watches. Now that I live in HI there are a couple of differences. 

1. They are called typhoons. 

2. Once a tropical storm becomes a typhoon it gets a name; however all the names for storms in the Pacific Rim are Asian. 

3. If a typhoon (or for that matter a tsunami) were to hit HI, there is no evacuation route cause we're an island. Duh. 

4. There are storm shelters, mostly in hospitals and schools. Apparently there aren't enough shelters for everyone. Whelp. 

This past week has been full of weather activity. Two typhoons and two tropical storms. Tropical storm Fausto was the best kind of storm. He appeared in the middle of the ocean. He stayed far away from land. But Fausto still had an impact on the island. He brought breezy wind to help cool the temperature down. He increased the surf to create some of the best surf days of the summer. And my favorite, he brought clouds that created beautiful sunsets. 

Check out the views I had this past week:

Because they were all beautiful and yet so different I felt compelled to take a picture each night!

And now for the pic of the week:

This is some of the crew at my gym. While taking the picture they said "make a funny face". This is what I get for following directions. Ha! 

Mahalo!

Challenge Time!

Everyone loves a healthy challenge. Particularly when the challenge is, you know, healthy. I've seen how the ab challenge is sweeping Facebook (though I've yet to join in). 

This month I'm repeating one of my favorite challenges, the Green Smoothie Challenge. The deal is simple. Just drink at least 16 oz of green smoothie goodness every day for 30 days. This will be my third time participating. 

Luckily the ladies at www.simplegreensmoothies.com make this challenge super easy. Every week they email me a grocery list and five new recipes. Last week I tried a "Pineapple Upside Down Smoothie" and this week I had a delicious "Blackberries and Cream Smoothie". During the week I'm drinking one serving for breakfast and another as a pre-workout snack. On the weekends I'm sipping on a smoothie as I sit on my lanai. 

This isn't about weight loss (though you won't hear me complaining if it happens), but it's about supporting my goals of eating healthy and getting in my daily fruits and veggies. If I drink two smoothies a day, I'm guaranteed 2 cups of leafy greens and 2 servings of fruit AND it tastes good! 

This is one of my favorites: coconut water, spinach, apples,orange and banana. 

This smoothie is a cleanser and is a little more instense with cilantro flavor. 

And when you add a bunch of frozen blackberries, the green smoothie ends up purple. Yay!

Never tried a green smoothie, but nervous they'll be too GREEN. Here's one that's easy to make and tastes delicious!

Beginner's Luck (2 servings) 

From www.simplegreensmoothies.com

2 cups fresh spinach

2 cups water

1 cup pineapple

2 bananas, sliced and frozen

- Blend the spinach and water for a minute

- Add the rest of the ingredients

- Blend until smooth

- Serve in a cute cup with a fancy straw

And now for the pic of the week:

As great as this picture is, it isn't half as amazing as the actual sunset. 

Mahalo!