A Great Gift Idea

As mentioned in my previous post, my husband is difficult to buy gifts for. He never expresses that he wants anything, or if he does he tends to buy it himself. I always have to be somewhat creative when it comes to getting him gifts. For his 30th birthday, part of his birthday gift was an Amazing Clubs subscription. If you have never heard of Amazing Clubs, they are...well...pretty amazing!

Basically you are signing up to have gift baskets sent to the recipient. You can choose what kind of gift baskets (things like cheesecake, flowers, beer, beef jerky, fruit, peanut butter, the list goes on and on and on) and you also choose how often you want them to arrive. You can do a one month subscription (which would be like sending a gift basket in the mail) or you can go all the way up to a full year subscription and the person would receive a basket every month. Now, if you don't want to send the same type of item every month, you can mix it up. To give you a better example, let me tell you how I set it up for Mark.

I decided to do six months, sent every other month, and because I wanted him to have variety I chose a different gift basket for every month. So I picked the items based on things I know he likes.

March - Beer
May - Salsa
July - Fruit
September - Beef Jerky
November - Cheese
January - Fruit (different season, different fruit)

He has already received the beer, salsa, and first fruit shipments. For the beer they sent a six pack of all different specialty beers. The Salsa was two different kinds of salsa, and the fruit was a box of two different types of plums.

Here is a picture of what a shipment tends to look like. This was July's fruit basket. The plums were perfect and delicious! Better than what we buy in the store.

This is not the most budget friendly gift, but if there is a special occasion and you want to do something different, this is a great idea! It's good for birthdays, but especially for men, who tend to be harder to shop for. Also, this would make a nice wedding gift or bridal shower gift. Ideas for a wedding subscription could be the wine club, dinner and a movie club, dinner club, breakfast club, or any of the other options that newlyweds would appreciate and would both benefit from. A monthly club subscription might also be nice for a new mom - something she could receive every month (or every other month) just for herself now that most of her time will be spent on the new baby (maybe the candle club, chocolate club, or ice cream club).

To view their website, click here.

--T

Our First Geocaching Adventure

A while back I had heard about geocaching and always kept it in the back of my mind. For our first anniversary, instead of buying Mark gifts (he is literally the hardest person to buy for. He either wants nothing or if he does want something, he buys it for himself before I can get to it!) I decided to plan a few dates for us. The first was a Chicago Pizza Tour (I will post about this at a later date), and the second, the one we did today, was to go geocaching and out for lunch. When I told Mark this morning "We are going geocaching!!" he looked at me with a "I have no idea what that is" type of look. I actually didn't know what it was either when I first heard about it. I had to look it up on the internet. Here it is in a nutshell.

Geocaching is basically a world-wide scavenger hunt that anyone can take part in. It's nothing that is organized or costs money or anything like that. If you have some time to kill or are bored one day you can say "let's go geocaching" and just go out on your own terms. Basically people all over the world hide what they call "caches." These are usually small containers hidden in trees, forests, in logs, pipes, etc. They sometimes contain trinkets and you can take one if you leave something in its place, or they will just contain a log which you date and sign to prove you found the cache.

There is a website called geocaching.com where you sign up for free and get information on where caches in your town or near you are located. I typed in our zip code and there were pages of listings for caches in Bolingbrook alone. When you click on one, it gives you the latitude and longitude coordinates for where that person hid it. You then put it into a GPS and go find the cache (hopefully!)

We had 6 caches on our list and I am sad to say we only found two of them! It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. The first cache we found was hanging from a tree in a park near our house. Here is a picture of Mark grabbing the cache so we can sign the log. It was a medicine bottle with camouflage duct tape around it. It was very tricky to find.

The second one we found was actually quite simple. On the geocaching.com website the person who listed this cache explained pretty much exactly where it was - under a lamppost in front of his house (the coordinates led us to the guy's block). Did you know those bottom "skirts" on lampposts lift up? Here's a picture of me finding our second cache. This one was also a medicine bottle camouflaged, but given the location, was much easier to see :)

Part of the problem was many of the coordinates I had written down led us to trees near someone's yard or in a very public parking lot - and since there are many people out there who don't know what geocaching is, we didn't think they would understand why we were snooping around near their property. There was on cache hidden at the entrance of our subdivision and I am POSITIVE we had practically the exact location and were somewhere right near it but we just couldn't find it! Mark even crawled INTO huge bushes to see if it was hidden there - still couldn't find it! Eventually we gave up.

It was fun when we found them, and frustrating when we didn't. Haha. If you like a challenge and like the outdoors, this is an activity for you. There are even apps for geocaching you can add to your phone. I would like to give this another go, maybe when it's fall or early winter and there aren't so many leaves on the trees. I feel like then it might be easier to see some of the smaller caches. If anyone decides to try this, or if you have done this before, let me know if you were successful and if you have any tips!

P.S. Remember the Vegan cafe I posted about in the past? I finally went to eat a real meal there and took Mark there after our geocaching adventure. It was so delicious and I think the fact that it was healthy made it even tastier! :) I ordered "taco" bagels. It wasn't really taco meat - I'm pretty sure it was ground up vegetables and nuts, and maybe beans, with taco like spices added to it. That was put onto a bagel and topped with guacamole and "sour cream." It came with two side salads. The apple one was amazing - I think I gobbled it down in record time. Mark ordered lettuce wraps. He got to pick 4 veggies to put in them and there was also pumpkin seed cheese in the wrap.We also split a piece of apple pie. The food isn't the cheapest (it was $41 for our lunch), but 100% of the proceeds go to charity (see previous post on the Vegan Cafe).

--T

My New Favorite Product

I've recently gotten hooked on the TV shows "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette." This year's Bachelorette is Emily Maynard who was actually chosen and proposed to on "The Bachelor" two seasons ago by Brad Womack. She said yes, however, their engagement and relationship did not work out after the show ended (not really a surprise). Emily is probably one of the sweetest, most genuine people I have seen on all of these Bachelor/Bachelorette shows combined, AND she has a great sense of fashion! She always looks put together, wears really cute clothes, and always does her makeup. I became a fan of her facebook page recently and while going through her pictures stumbled across one of a lip gloss called O-Plump by Smashbox. Her caption mentioned that it goes on clear, but turns the perfect shade of pink for you. I was immediately intrigued, especially because I LOVE lip gloss. The only problem is, I can never find a lip gloss that is perfect enough to be my permanent brand/color. Until now!

So I decided to try it. I bought it online and when I searched Smashbox O-Plump I realized they had another type of lip gloss that does the same thing only it's called O-Gloss. The only difference is, the O-Plump makes your lips fuller, where the O-Gloss does not. I don't need fuller lips, so I bought the O-Gloss. When I first tried it, I had that "Whoa - that's bright" reaction when I first looked in the mirror after putting it on.But then, the more I looked at myself in the mirror, the more I realized I loved the color and it looked great on me! No more guessing at what color lip gloss to buy and no more trying different brands. I love it! I would recommend it to those of you who like to wear lip gloss.

--T

My Vegan Adventure

Now, I am by no means vegan or on a raw foods diet, but I have been trying to eat healthier and be more conscious about the meals I make at home.

A while back, my mom, her friend, Debbie, and I bought a Groupon for a raw, vegan cooking class at the Thanks Jordan Vegan Cafe in Lockport, IL. The founder of this cafe is Laurie Sloan, whom my family knows very well. Many of you know that my brother had cancer when he was four years old (he is cured and healthy now), and one of the good things that came out of our journey with him to recovery was that we met so many amazing people.

Laurie Sloan was one of them. Laurie herself has been battling cancer on and off for several years, but she also founded the Thanks Jordan Foundation which was started when Laurie met a young girl who was battling cancer named Jordan. Jordan was diagnosed when she was 18 months old and now, 12 years later, lives in remission and has been an inspiration to Laurie. Her Foundation provides many thing for families battling cancer, and recently Laurie and the Thanks Jordan Foundation opened a Raw Vegan Cafe in Lockport. This cafe is 100% VOLUNTEER run, which is amazing.

I, myself, have never gone in there to eat an actual meal, but my first visit to the cafe was this past Wednesday for our cooking class. Wow, was I impressed! There were two foods we made that night - a veggie wrap and a chocolate cream pie. All of the ingredients are natural, raw foods. Many people probably think that eating healthy, eating raw, eating vegan, whatever the case may be takes so much more time than eating "normal" foods. However, the veggie wrap was whipped up in a matter of minutes (not counting the dehydrating time) and the chocolate pie took about 15 minutes from start to finish. Very quick and very easy...oh and very delicious too!!

Here are the recipes:

Veggie Wrap - note: dehydrator needed
2 tomatoes
1/2 large red pepper
1 small zucchini
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons parsley
1-2 cups flax seed, grounded

Place all ingredients, except flax seed, in food processor and mix until blended and smooth. Pour in a separate bowl. Grind flax seed (or you can buy pre-ground flax seed) and pour into mixture. Mix well and make sure there are no lumps. Spread in large circles on a reusable dehydrator sheet (or a Texflex sheet) and dehydrate for about 5-6 hours. Peel off and you have your "tortillas." Then, you can put vegetables, some cheese, whatever you want on it and wrap it up and eat it like a wrap.

Chocolate Cream Pie
Crust
3 cups pecans
8 pitted dates
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
3 medium avacados
1/2-1 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup cacao powder
3/4 cup water

Process all crust ingredients in blender. Press into a pie plate. Process all filling ingredients in blender and pour into crust. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Even though this used avocados as a base, it tasted so much like chocolate I couldn't believe it!! It was actually almost TOO rich. 


I was pleasantly surprised by my experience there and can't wait to go in and try foods from their regular menu. If anyone wants to meet there for lunch or dinner one day, let me know!

The website for the cafe menu is: http://www.rawvegancafe.org/Raw-Vegan-Menu.html

The chef mentioned that they will be putting out groupons for the cooking classes about every three months. If you ever see one I encourage you to buy it! (The Groupon is $25 for a $50 class).

Healthy Recipes

My aunt asked for some healthy recipes. Just this week I made one of my favorites! It's a Zucchini Pizza Casserole and the recipe I use is from Taste of  Home. I would post a picture of mine, but it's half eaten and wouldn't make for a pretty picture :) I'm actually not a big fan of zucchini by itself, as a vegetable, as a side item, etc, but in this recipe it really just tastes like a crust and I don't even realize I'm eating it. Each serving is 1 cup and 311 calories, which, for something that tastes like pizza and pasta, is great in my opinion!

Zucchini Pizza Casserole                                               
Ingredients
4 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 cups of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 oz) Italian tomato sauce)
1 medium green pepper, chopped

Directions
Place zucchini in a strainer, sprinkle with salt, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Squeeze out as much moisture from the zucchini as possible.
Combine zucchini with eggs, Parmesan, and half the cheeses. Press into a greased 9x13 pan.
Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. While you are waiting, cook the meat and onions over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain the meat.
Add the tomato sauce to the meat and onions and spoon mixture into the baked zucchini crust. Sprinkle remaining cheeses and green pepper on top. Bake for 20 more minutes or until cooked through.

For those of you who like fish, I found this recipe on Pinterest a while back and think it's really tasty. It's originally from Rachael Ray and is super simple to make. I don't have an exact calorie count on this, but a fillet of tilapia is less than 100 calories and the other ingredients are just spices and some cheese, so this is a very low calorie dinner, especially if paired with some vegetables as a side item.

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia 

Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons paprika
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Olive oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a shallow dish, combine the cheese, paprika, and parsley. You can season with salt and pepper (I didn't do this). Drizzle the fish with olive oil and put it in the cheese picture, making sure to get the mixture on both sides of the fish. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake about 10-12 minutes. Serve the fish with lemon wedges.

A great website that someone recommended to me is Skinnytaste.com. I encourage those of you trying to be healthier to visit this website. She organizes her recipes by category (at the top click on Recipes) and almost all of the recipes have a calorie count and weight watcher point values. This is one of my go-to websites for when I need a dessert or dinner idea and want to eat healthy.

As I find new healthy recipes I like, I will post them on this blog. I have several on my to do list already!

--T

Secrets Resort and Spa

I  love to travel! In the past year Mark and I travelled to Maroma Beach in the Riviera Cancun part of Mexico and also Montego Bay Jamaica. We stayed at a Secrets Resort & Spa in both locations. I really like the Secrets Resorts (and their other chain called Dreams) because it is All Inclusive, through Apple Vacations (which means everything is safe and hassle free), and because it is considered a luxury resort. Every time I stay at one of their resorts I feel pampered and totally relaxed.

However, there are differences between the different resorts even though it's the same chain. If you are thinking about taking a vacation anytime soon, consider one of these two places, but also consider the differences between them.

Maroma Beach, Mexico
Pros
The flight is only a couple hours
Voted best beach in the world several years in a row (huge, beautiful beach!)
Service was slightly better than Jamaica
Even though the restaurants are the same at all Secrets resorts, I felt this one had better options on their menu.
The entertainment staff was friendly and liked making sure everyone was having a good time.
One of the excursions (which we did) was to Chichen Itza, a Mayan pyramid that is one of the new seven wonders of the world!

Cons
Sometimes there is a language barrier. The servers in the restaurants and bars speak English, but the maids and some other hotel workers speak Spanish.
The property was very big, our room was in a separate building than the lobby and we felt like we were always walking far to get to dinner, the pools, etc.

Montego Bay, Jamaica
Pros
The official language of Jamaica is English.
The property was MUCH smaller - we did far less walking and could get to all the restaurants on the resort quickly and easily.
The excursion to Mayfield Falls (natural waterfalls and jacuzzis) was amazing!
The city of Montego Bay seemed safer for tourists than other places I have been.
The scenery was amazing - mountains, beaches, forests - I felt like we saw it all in this one location.

Cons
There wasn't much variety with the nightly shows - mostly singers or house bands. They need a magician, some comedy acts, just more variety. Also, the daily activities around the pool and beach didn't vary much either. They had the typical yoga, aqua aerobics, volleyball, blackjack, etc. but there wasn't as much to do as Maroma Beach
The beach was MUCH smaller and almost all of the chairs at the beach were in the shade - not ideal for catching some rays!
I felt the wait staff was not as friendly or personable as in Mexico or the Dominican Republic. They did their job but didn't seem to care about us personally - didn't ask where we were from, what we did for a living, etc.

Here are comparison pictures of the beaches in both Maroma Beach and Montego Bay. If you are a beach person I'd say definitely go to Mexico. If you are more of a pool person then Montego Bay would be great! 

Maroma Beach, Mexico

Montego Bay, Jamaica

--T

Welcome!

Hello readers, 

In the past I had a blog that I did pretty well with (in terms of updating and blogging) for a while, but then once I got engaged and caught up in planning a wedding in seven months, I started neglecting it and it all together was put to rest.

However, so many times I do things, read things, eat things, make things, that I want to share with all my friends and family but don't really have a way to do that. Facebook helps spread news to an extent, but I don't think all my facebook "friends" always want to hear about a book I read or a recipe I made. I figured a blog would be the perfect place for this.

So if you are interested in reading my reviews, recommendations, and adventures, feel free to subscribe to this blog and follow it regularly. I do intend on updating frequently and not letting this one get away from me!

Thanks for visiting!
-- T