More: Fall 2015

Posted on April 8, 2016 by E.M.

Fall 2015 was a crazy time – lots of changes at my job meant extra-long hours with a new Music Club I am advising, and even the fiancé had to help with my Computer class! I also finally finished my Yoga Teacher Training Certification in October and although I learned I like taking yoga classes more than teaching them, I can say the training helped me more spiritually than I ever thought possible. Another chore I had to tend to this past fall was wedding planning. Yes, chore because I hate shopping! So many decisions to make! I finally picked a dress, but by the end of the year I still didn’t feel good about the venue… The fiancé was also busy practicing with his new improv group “The Utility Players”, but was a trooper helping me out with everything.

It’s Fall!

Music Club

D. teaching

Wedding dress shopping

Shopping for wedding dresses

Shopping for bridesmaid dress

The Utility Players

The Utility Players Party

The Utility Players

Yoga Graduation

Thank you for your support!

With my yoga teacher

Yoga Graduation

Yoga Love

First snow of the season

As they say: work hard, play hard. In the fall I did another Sip and Paint night, went to the Reno Philharmonic, watched the musical Mary Poppins, did more art projects with my Little Sister, was Katniss from the “Hunger Games” for Halloween, and threw a birthday party for Slick and Parker. They are 11 years old now! The fiancé and I also celebrated our second anniversary with a stay in Genoa, Nevada. David Walley’s resort and restaurant is a favorite of ours.

Paint and Sip Night

Katniss with braid and all

Halloween – Katniss

Katniss and John Snow

Reno Philharmonic

Art Museum

Mary Poppins Musical

Genoa

David Walley’s Resort

Genoa Inn

Getting ready for our anniversary

David Walley’s Anniversary Dinner

Slick’s New Storm Jacket

Slick and Parker’s Birthday

Opening gifts

Enjoying their gifts

Little Sister painting

Traveling, Eating, and More: Santa Cruz, CA

Posted on April 7, 2016 by E.M.

On Labor Day Weekend we attended a lovely wedding in the Santa Cruz area. My friend J. married A. at the Quail Hollow Ranch in Felton, CA, and thank goodness the fiancé and I scored an Airbnb rental very close to the venue – we were seated with J.’s uncle who had brought tequila to share with the table.

My friend J.

Her Husband A.

J. and A.’s Wedding

The music

The table

Mexican Candy Favor

The buffet

The food

The couple’s first dance

My friend J.

The next day we went to Santa Cruz and walked around the boardwalk. It was a perfect summer day to be kids again! I really enjoyed our seaside ride while the fiancé loved the arcade. On our way back to Reno, the fiancé had his last gluten and dairy meal before his elimination diet: a bison burger at “Burger Me”.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Clam Chowder

Boardwalk

Santa Cruz

Amusement Park

Ride

Games

Arcade

Santa Cruz

Burger Me in Reno

Eating: Coxinha de Galinha

Posted on April 6, 2016 by E.M.

Summer 2015 was all about eating out, but I did try to make a few things in my kitchen, especially since I had gotten the fiancé a brand new fryer. Knowing my gluten days were near an end, I decided to make a Brazilian staple called “Coxinha de Galinha”, which is like a chicken croquette. So delicious! I made so many I had enough to share with an international group dinner I went to. Here’s is one of my last gluten-full meals of 2015!

Coxinha de Galinha

Coxinha de Galinha – Brazilian Chicken Croquettes

Ingredients for the Filling

1.5 lbs chicken, boiled, shredded

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 onions, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 small can tomato paste

½ cup parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

The filling

Ingredients for the dough

2.5 cups chicken broth

1 cube chicken bouillon

2.5 cups flour

Water or Milk for coating

Breadcrumbs for coating

Peanut Oil for frying

The dough

Once chicken is cooked in water, save the chicken water for the dough. Shred the chicken and reserve. Saute onion in a large pan with the olive oil. Add garlic and all the filling ingredients, together with the chicken. Cook until hot and reserve.

For the dough, bring 2.5 cups of the chicken broth to a boil and dissolve the chicken bouillon cube in it. Slowly add flour, stirring constantly until it forms a dough. Keep kneading until smooth.

Before frying

To make the coxinha, take a golf size ball of dough and form a disk. To the middle of the disk, add a tablespoon of chicken filling. Close the dough, making a teardrop shape. To coat your coxinha, quickly drop it in cold water or cold milk, and then roll it on the breadcrumbs (or you can use an egg wash, but at the time the fiancé couldn’t have eggs.)

New fryer

After you make all your coxinhas, it’s time to fry them. I used peanut oil and fried them at 350 F until they were golden brown. Serve warm! They also freeze really well!

After frying

Eating and More: The Fiancé’s Birthday 2015

Posted on April 5, 2016 by E.M.

It was a week-long celebration for the fiancé that involved a lot of eating, knowing that after Labor Day he would start an elimination diet. We had brunch at Arrowcreek Country Club, a place we were considering for our wedding, and dinner at The Depot with many of his friends. We also went o Red Lobster, his favorite chain restaurant, and participated in a puzzle room that was super fun for the fiancé, but really annoying to me since I couldn’t figure anything out.

Red Lobster

Arrowcreek

Break Through Reno

The Depot

Running, Eating, and Traveling: Summer 2015

Posted on April 4, 2016 by E.M.

Yes, I know. Summer 2016 is just around the corner, but I’m still talking about Summer 2015! It was a great one, so that’s why I have been behind on my posts… it seems I was always busy running, eating, traveling, and eating again.

Dinner with the fiance

Tunnel Creek Hike

I actually had a list of restaurants to try, but didn’t make through all of them. Here are a few though:

Great Full Gardens – again. Always healthy salads available. Love their rewards program too.

Laughing Planet – again. Another healthy favorite.

Hummus Fresh – with B. and a surprise visit from my friend K. They have salads, wraps, and juices.

Suite 103 – great food (tofu green curry, lamb shank, Mediterranean shrimp), lots of hiccups with service, but food was amazing.

Z Bar – My favorite 1944 Mai Tai (rum and orgeat syrup).

Centro – again. They were out of some items… Awesome waffle bananas foster.

Reno Provisions – meatloaf and polenta again. Can’t go wrong. (Unfortunately, they closed in the fall…)

Jus – juice bar. Great on a hot summer day after a run.

The Depot – okay food, okay service, nothing to rave about. The building, however, is pretty cool.

Villa Donato – great Italian food, but service was horrible.

Sushi Pier 1 – buy 10 get 1 free. Love all you can eat!

Moo Dang – good Thai place in Midtown, but there are better ones.

Café Deluxe – amazing café with lots of healthy options.

Asiago’s – new pizza place in Tahoe. Awesome Greek salad with mint dressing.

Latin Soul – this Lakeside Inn restaurant in Tahoe has an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse night!

Latin Soul

Asiago’s

Laughing Planet

The Depot

Yum!

Centro

Yum!

Yum!

Yum!

Suite 103

Z Bar

Jus

Hummus Fresh

With K. and B.

Centro

Reno Provisions

With all the food, I had to keep active, but sometimes it was too hot to run, so, instead, I went to the beach in Lake Tahoe, on hikes on Mount Rose and Tunnel Creek, to the river with the dogs, and even swimming at the public pool. Plus, got to try acro yoga again with the fiancé.

Beautiful sky

Beautiful sunset

Beautiful Flower

Virginia Lake with the dogs

Creek with dogs

Swimming in Tahoe

Tunnel Creek Hike

Truckee River

Swimming on a hot day

Acro Yoga

Although after I came back from Ireland and Texas, there wasn’t much traveling for a while, we did have a lot of fun in Tahoe and Reno. Fourth of July was spent barbecuing with friends and watching the fireworks in my neighborhood. I went to an Elton John concert in Tahoe, and did many outings with my Little Sister such as to the Rib Cook-Off, Art Museum, Circus shows, etc.

Fourth of July

Damonte Ranch Fireworks

Rides

Rib Cook-Off

Art Museum

Circus

Elton John Concert

Other summer adventures included making candles, going to a Paint and Sip night that inspired me to paint even more, celebrating birthdays with friends, the annual Shakespeare Festival in Sand Harbor, and a rope’s course in Tahoe with work!

Making candles

Tahoe Birthday

M.’s Second Birthday

L.’s First Birthday!

More painting

Paint and Sip

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival

Rope’s course

Tahoe

Traveling: Houston, Texas

Posted on April 3, 2016 by E.M.

This past summer I also spent time with my friend S. and my goddaughter E. in Houston, Texas. So much fun to hang out with a (well-behaved) toddler! Lots of eating (great gourmet places!), swimming (it’s hot in July!), and museum fun (so much fun, it’s worth to be a member!). And since toddlers can also be exhausting, we also had a spa day 🙂

Houston with E.

Music Class

Spa Day

Drinks

Brunch

Dinner with S.

Running, Eating, and Traveling: Belfast, Ireland

Posted on April 2, 2016 by E.M.

The last stop of my summer vacation was Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. However, summer doesn’t really mean nice weather in island of Ireland. Most days it was cold and rainy, but I went on a jog anyway. I went by the City Hall, the many sculptures and building near River Lagan, and the beautiful Botanical Gardens.

City Hall

Belfast

City Hall

University

Belfast

Europa Hotel

River

Fish Sculpture

Leaning Clock

Botanical Gardens

A very cosmopolitan city, Belfast has great nightlife, with an Opera House, and many pubs with live music, like the famous Crown Bar. By the end of my trip, I had found my favorite drink: Jameson with Ginger ale. However, still looking for good Irish food…

Crown Bar

Opera House

Pub

Belfast was also part of the Troubles, so we took a “black cab tour” to see the neighborhoods affected and the many political murals. There was also a peace wall where people still write messages of hope.

Black Cab Tour

Peace Wall

Lastly, I went to the Titanic Museum, since Belfast was where the infamous ship was built. It is a state-of- the-art museum with interactive exhibits and lots of information about the shipyard and the sinking. Highly recommended!

Titanic Museum

Group Photo

Belfast

Titanic Museum

Traveling: Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede, Northern Ireland

Posted on April 1, 2016 by E.M.

Northern Ireland also has some beautiful scenery, so much so that HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is filmed there. We saw Dunlunce Castle, apparently known in the show as the House of Greyjoy, and Dark Hedges, a beautiful avenue of trees known in the show as King’s Road.

Dunlunce Castle

Northern Ireland

Dark Hedges

Perhaps my favorite part of Northern Ireland was the World Heritage Site Giant’s Causeway. Legend says the giant Fionn McCool built a bridge to Scotland that then got destroyed by another giant who was afraid of him. Now the basalt rocks are perfectly geometric, forming columns that disappear into the ocean. Spectacular to think of how perfect nature can be!

Giant’s Causeway

Giant’s Causeway

The giants’s boot!

Built by salmon fishermen and now a tourist spot, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge was much less scary than it looks, even though it was 98 feet high. It was not as wobbly as I thought it would be and attendants kept things moving, so you can cross the bridge in the blink of an eye. When you get to the other side, the view from the island is still lovely, even though it’s overcrowded with tourists!

Carrick-a-Rede Bridge

Whitepark Bay

Carrick-a-rede bridge

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	Viviane Claro on Eating: The Journey to a Glute…
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Run, eat, travel, and more

By E.M.

Monthly Archives: April 2016

More: Fall 2015

Traveling, Eating, and More: Santa Cruz, CA

Eating: Coxinha de Galinha

Eating and More: The Fiancé’s Birthday 2015

Running, Eating, and Traveling: Summer 2015

Traveling: Houston, Texas

Running, Eating, and Traveling: Belfast, Ireland

Traveling: Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-A-Rede, Northern Ireland