It’s before noon, I can still say:  GOOD MORNING READERS!

Here is some winter, I mean fall, uplifting photos to get your through the cold, actually warm, days here in the Mid-Atlantic!

 PUERTO RICO (circa 2012 finale) 

Don’t get me wrong I do love winter scenery, cold breezes while bundled up in a Canada Goose, fire place warmth and lounging on the couch covered in blankets beside your loved ones.  However, I also enjoy the escape to a warmer climate; this getaway really helps anyone’s mental state during the shorter colder drearier days.  The walks on the beach and rich healthy looking scenery helps put my mind at ease.  I find true stillness and ultimate relaxation throughout my body while walking on the beach and listening to the ocean waves crash onto the white sand shoreline.  One year I believe I managed to pack in a marathon distance walk on the beach all in a days work!  Last year I didn’t take a trip to soak up the sun (or sit by my light box) probably since I was in diapers, and I SURVIVED!!  I am looking forward to a view of paradise this year.  Our baby already hates the cold weather; I think I’ve already conditioned him to being a summer lover too!

Let me change subjects here… FOOD!

The first thing I will cover is the mystery food that was featured on Instagram.  This was a remake of an appetizer from Patowmack Farm, which would have been discovered in an earlier post – Kale Chips with Nutritional Yeast.  Basically we ripped the meatier sides off the main steam of Tuscan Kale and placed the pieces in the dehydrator until completely crispy.  After removing them from this device we sprinkled on Nutritional Yeast, which actually is not as hard, as we thought, to find.  The taste is interesting, but a great rich flavor – if my husband will eat this then it isn’t too earthy and actually has a taste other than dirt.  A recommendation:  since the kale is very crunchy, when you bite into a bigger piece the yeast flies in the air and makes a mess.  We quickly learned that making smaller bite size pieces rather than longer strips is actually easier to eat.

You could also use the nutritional yeast sprinkled on a kale salad and dressed with olive oil.

Following this kale treat, you could indulge in another kale app – might as well bulk up on your nutrients today!

                 

This is a carrot paper wrapped skinny veggie roll for all you vegetarians and vegans out there!  We sliced avocado and cucumber, ripped of the sides of Tuscan Kale into long strips and sprinkled on a Garden Mix of Sprouts.  The carrot paper was bought at Wegman’s in a pack looking like this:

I do have to be honest though – there is some soy protein isolate in the ingredients.  Now that we have experimented with this product and would use it again I will look for a paleo friendly version!

Following these random appetizers we enjoyed a roasted chicken from Wegman’s (please excuse the one legged chicken pictured below, someone got into it before we sat down for dinner) and a Creamy Paleo Bacon Pumpkin Soup from Fed & Fit.

We were not sure if the recipe called for bacon fat.  We added some of the remaining lard to the soup just because we are obsessed with bacon, like the rest of mainstream Americans.

And to polish off a good meal you must indulge in dessert, no matter how full you are – am I right?!

I, yet again, doubled the recipe.  I tend to do this so the treat will last for the whole week since it is hard to make a new batch every few days.  The pictured dessert is Living Healthy with Chocolate’s Raw, No Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie.  I enjoyed the mixture of cookie and brownie flavors, however, I find myself eating the brownie first and then gobbling the cookie dough section.  I am not one to mix all my foods, I like to savor each flavor.  Both, cookie and brownie, are pretty much spot on with regard to resembling the taste of conventional Toll House Break n’ Bake products without the unhealthy aspects.  This is a great item to make as it will keep in your refrigerator for quite some time without going sour – that’s if you can keep them around long enough to enjoy at a later point in time!

Before eating all this food you might want to engage in a workout because you will be couch bound after this feast!

I just found out that Safari does not support my videos all the time – if you see a blank black screen that reads blocked plug-in, try opening my webpage in another browser, such as, Google Chrome.

Sweat, Eat, Be Merry.  NOMaste.