Trip planning continues...

Well, June just won't get here fast enough. I wrote on September 20th about our plans to fly into Grenada, fly to St Vincent, and then ferry over to Bequia. I guess we could call that part one of our adventure in paradise, as it is an adventure - much like the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles with Steve Martin (a classic).

Once we are in Bequia, we will probably spend the night at the same small, cute inn - The Sugarapple Inn, that we did last year. It is still early though, so we haven't booked. After a day and a half exploring this cute small island, it will be time to board our sailboat for the week and begin sailing the Grenadines!

This will be our first time sailing on a catamaran, and I think it will make the perfect home for our little motley group. So far, we have a couple of friends and my son coming along. It will be so much fun!

Pizza on South Beach? You bet!

I absolutely love this pizza! Easy, tasty and good for you too. This recipe comes from Kalyn's Kitchen, http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/10/kalyn-makes-tonys-low-carb-pizza.html , and Tony's, http://tonyskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/10/mini-low-carb-pizza.html ...
Here is what we do to make individual pizzas...

Toast whole wheat flour tortillas in a hot oven. Put tortillas on a piece of foil in the hot oven. Bake until most of moisture is gone, and it starts to turn a light brown. The ends will begin to curl up. Seems to work well cooking 5 minutes on one side, then flipping it for another 5 minutes on the other side. However, you want to watch it carefully - as they do burn rather quickly. I know from experience!

When the "crust" is crispy, blend a can of organic pizza sauce, one cup of sun dried tomatoes, dried basil and dried oregano. I use the food processor.

Spread this in a thin layer on each "crust" (tortilla), then top with cheese and pepperoni, onions, and sliced olives or whatever you would like to use to top your pizza. You can even let people make their own, since you are making individual pizzas! Bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, till everything is crispy and slightly browned.

Just make a salad to accompany this healthy pizza and wah-la... you are all set with a great and healthy dinner! Thanks to Kalyn's Kitchen for the recipe idea! I flipped back and forth many times between Kalyn's two recipes, and Tony's before we got this down... Now it is our Friday night dinner!

Ok, well healthy doesn't always work!

So, sometimes when we cook we have a flop, right? Last night was one of them. I found a great sounding recipe for Macaroni and Cheese - a healthy version made with some pureed squash! I thought it would be a great way to hide veggies. My hubby went on a mission looking for "winter squash". He followed the recipe exactly as written pureeing the squash and adding it to the milk to make a cheese sauce, (well added a little more cheese - yum we both thought). This was the very first time ever that I had a only one SMALL serving of mac and cheese (as did hubby), and we threw the rest away. Never has that happened before. So, guess our healthy dinner won't be made again - at least not in this house. Good try though!

Time to plan a trip!

I just love the beginning stages of trip planning. It is time to dream - dream about what you want to do, where you want to go, and about the exciting places you will experience! So, after a very rainy summer here in Alaska where you could probably count the number of times the sun actually appeared on one hand, it is time to start the initial stages of planning an exotic, tropical adventure to take place next June.

Sailing... we are excited to be planning this sailing charter in the Grenadines. We seem to be stuck on the Southern Caribbean, don't we? Quiet, relaxing, peaceful are words that come to mind. There are no mega resorts, no all inclusives, just plain old Caribbean like it used to be probably 30 years ago.

Our trip will begin flying into Grenada for just one night. Thanks to American Airlines beginning a new route to Grenada from Miami (direct jet service), as opposed to flying into San Juan to take a turbo prop, we were able to take advantage of a great sale price for air fare. Awesome deal!

From Grenada, our journey to Bequia will begin. Journeying to Bequia is a fun experience all on its own. We will fly in a small plane from Grenada to St. Vincent - viewing the beautiful islands of the Grenadines along the way. Once in St. Vincent, a short taxi ride to the ferry terminal - and you are off on the hour long ferry ride across a usually rough patch of ocean to the tiny island of Bequia (population 6,000). Bequia truly has a magical charm about it - and I can't wait to get back to the most friendly place I have ever been!

Yummy breakfast for dinner!

Here was one of the great dinners we enjoyed last week. It was a very busy week, and breakfast for dinner always tastes so wonderful! (I still lost 1.5 lbs!)

Egg Burritos To Die For
(Makes 10-12 burritos, recipe created by Kalyn many years ago and made over and over at Lake Powell. Kalyn's Kitchen is my favorite cooking website! Great ideas, and healthy meals...)

1 dozen eggs
1 red bell pepper, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1 green, yellow, or orange pepper, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
1 can diced green chiles (4 oz. can, these are Anaheim chiles, which are relatively mild)
2 T olive oil (more or less, depending on your pan)
2 tsp. Spike seasoning (optional, but recommended)
12 whole wheat tortillas (see recommendations below)
1-2 cups grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (I used four cheese Mexican blend)
light sour cream, for serving
Salsa, for serving (I used a yummy fresh salsa from the deli - mango/peach.)

(If you're making burritos for a crowd, you can wrap tortillas tightly in foil and warm them in the oven while you cook the eggs.)

Use a good nonstick frying pan for this recipe. Heat small amount of olive oil in pan, then add diced peppers and saute until slightly soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add green chiles and Spike seasoning and saute about 2 minutes more.

While peppers are cooking, break eggs into mixing bowl and wisk until whites and yolks are completely combined. Add a little more olive oil to frying pan, add beaten eggs, and immediately lower heat and cook until eggs are barely set, gently stirring and scraping side of pan with rubber scraper or turner the entire time, about 8 minutes. They should still be slightly wet-looking when you turn off heat.

To make burritos to eat immediately: Inside each warmed tortilla put a line of egg mixture, top with cheese, sour cream, and salsa, fold together and enjoy.

Pasta with Cauliflower, Walnuts & Feta

(SERVES 6) This made for yummy leftover lunches! Excellent taste & healthy too... Thanks to the Smitten Kitten blog for this wonderful recipe. It has become a favorite!

2 HEADS CAULIFLOWER (I used one)
1 MEDIUM ONION
4 CLOVES GARLIC
1 POUND WHOLE WHEAT PASTA (or use Dreamfields Pasta - low carb)
EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
SALT & PEPPER
1 PINCH RED PEPPER FLAKES
WHITE WINE VINEGAR
1/2 LEMON
1/2 CUP TOASTED WALNUTS
4 OZS FETA CHEESE

PUT A LARGE POT OF WATER ON TO BOIL. CUT THE CAULIFLOWER INTO SMALL FLORETS. SLICE ONION VERY THIN. PEEL AND FINELY CHOP THE GARLIC. PUT PASTA ON TO COOK.

SAUTE THE CAULIFLOWER IN OLIVE OIL IN A LARGE SAUTE PAN. WHEN THE CAULIFLOWER BEGINS TO SOFTEN, SEASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER AND ADD THE SLICED ONION AND RED PEPPER FLAKES. SAUTE OVER MEDIUM TO HIGH HEAT UNTIL THE VEGETABLES ARE BROWN AND TENDER. THE CAULIFLOWER SHOULD STILL BE SLIGHTLY CRUNCHY AND SHOULD NOT TASTE STEAMED. ADD THE GARLIC AND REMOVE FROM HEAT, TOSSING AND STIRRING SO THE GARLIC DOESN'T BURN; IF IT STARTS TO BROWN, ADD A SPLASH OF WATER. ADD A FEW DROPS EACH OF VINEGAR AND LEMON JUICE AND THE TOASTED WALNUTS. TASTE AND CORRECT THE SEASONING. WHEN THE PASTA IS DONE, DRAIN AND ADD TO THE CAULIFLOWER, ADDING ENOUGH EXTRA OLIVE OIL TO COAT THE PASTA THOROUGHLY, TOSS TOGETHER AND SERVE, WITH THE CHEESE CRUMBLED OVER THE DISH.

First week blues...

Well, the first week of school has ended. Phew! What a fast paced week it was. We made it through very smoothly I must say. Our only little glitch is our new lunch program. The food is great, the kids love it and are eating healthier than ever before - so that is great news! However, we still don't have the necessary equipment and have been serving off Costco tables until the hot and cold tables arrive. Day one - I did the cooking! Yes, for the entire school. No food service employee arrived, so a team of us sprang into action - cooked the pizzas; found the food and set up a buffet line all in time for the first class to arrive. I was impressed at our ingenuity! The rest of the week we did have an employee thankfully, so no chef hat for me. But, serving spoons every day to help the kiddos make it through the buffet line.

Here are a couple cafeteria jokes...

Did you hear about the mean cook?
She beat the eggs and whipped the cream!

What's worse than finding a caterpillar in your lettuce?
Finding half a caterpillar!

Ha, ha... enjoy your day!

School Starts Tomorrow!

Well, I'm going in again today to make certain everything is ready to go for our young children who will come back to school tomorrow. Tonight will be a night of restless sleep for many... for kids who are nervous as well as for teachers! Yes, it even happens for teachers.

While teachers are anxious about the uncertainties of the first day (did I remember everything?), parents will be doing the happy dance shown in this cartoon! I saw this and thought it was a funny one.

Wish us all luck!