Carribean Cruise Prt. 2 (St. Thomas and Puerto Rico)

I've been hit with a lot of cravings lately, and as usual I gave in to them quite completely. My latest is apples and peanut butter, which I tackled readily with a large spoonful of all natural peanut butter and an organic apple. You can get this preservative-free peanut butter that's made with just peanuts and sea salt, no sugar added, at Costco and it's pretty great. The first time I tried it I didn't really like it since I'm so used to peanut butter filled with sugar, but then I started to really taste the peanuts coming through and now I love it.

Also craving steamed broccoli like mad. And chocolate. Not sure 'bout that combo though... bacon and chocolate sounds a helluva lot better. But bacon and broccoli? That I can do!

Now on with more pictures of the cruise!

 

I don't have that many pictures of St.Thomas, since we went snorkeling and I don't have an underwater camera, so here're some shots I took as we left the port with our tour guide.

We went snorkeling, kayaking, and hiking. It was a super fun and tiring day, especially because I went for a refreshing early morning run and watched the sun rise.

Puerto Rico:

Near the capitol building

We went on a tour of the Bacardi rum distillery first, had many free samples of rum and coke as well as a bartending lesson in how to make a mojito.

The Bacardi bat symbol! Maybe the creators of Batman got drunk on Bacardi one night and dreamed up a comic book superhero with that symbol.

Into old San Juan- we visited the castle and then went shopping!

And that's it! I didn't take any photos in Grand Turk since it was just beaches and tourist shops. Hope you enjoyed it!

Holiday Detox Breakfast (a.k.a. the omelette that fell apart)

I have a feeling we're all going to be bloated and overstuffed by the end of the holidays.
It's inevitable- it takes superhuman control to resist another slice of your aunt's award-winning black forest cake or cream-stuffed strudel. As for me, I'll be gone on a cruise exploring the carribean during Christmas, where I shall regain my tan and my sanity after weeks of cramming for semester finals.
Anyways, it's always nice to start your Monday off right, so here's a super healthy omlette I made myself for breakfast while playing with my new camera. It always feels really nice to do something that you know is good and healthy for yourself, and it was a great start to my day even if it fell apart :(
Just looking at the un-greasy, brightly colored vegetables make me feel cleaner and less guilty for all the sugar and carbs I consumed during thanksgiving.

RECIPE: You can pretty much throw in whatever you've got at hand; cranberries, apples, tomatoes, onions, leftover turkey etc. I kept it simple and light and just used
*2 eggs, beaten
*1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
*1/2 a carrot, finely diced
*1/2 a stick of celery, finely diced
*A pinch or two of shredded low-fat skim mozzarella
*A pinch of oregano
*Pinch of salt and pepper

PREPERATION: (Come on guys, I'm sure you know how to make an omelette! But if you don't...)
1.) Beat eggs and fry in vegetable oil or use cooking spray
2.) Sprinkle in veggies and cheese on one side of omelette
3.) Sprinkle salt, pepper, and oregano
3.) Fold and flip.

QUICK NOTE:

I'm going to be honest with you guys- I've been shrinking the pictures I post due to the fact I had been using a really crappy camera which produced grainy shots. Now that I've got a new and much better camera, I can make all the pictures larger and let y'all get to enjoy seeing way better quality and bigger pictures! 

Up North

Chocolate in the shape of a Mer-Lion, the official mascot of Singapore!

My brother got hungry, so we made a platter of on-the-go turkey sandwiches to take to the dinner the others had already cooked

Yummy asian-style veggies

Chicken! It had been bought at a rotisserie along the way, so we didn't do much with it besides shred it up and quickly stir-fry it with some vegetables and a portion served plain

Celery and chicken on the condo hot-plate

A bit of everything on my plate- from some bites of chicken, celery, pork, a slice of sticky rice cake, egg-battered onion, and fennel.

For the Fourth of July weekend this year, my family decided to head up North to a golf & ski resort seemingly situated in the middle of nowhere. My dad just got home from the airport after a week-long business trip in Singapore (which I was excited about because he brought my chocolate in the shape of a merlion!) only about an hour before we left, so he was a hint crabby. We met up with several other families and they cooked up a veritable feast of chinese food in the condo kitchen- eggs fried with unions, pre-steamed pork sticky rice cakes, chicken and celery, chicken broth, shredded spicy pork...
Definitely a great meal to arrive to after a four hour road trip. Even though it's sweltering in he city, up here the weather is actually rather mild and almost cold at night, due to the near distance of the lake.