Since the fiancé can’t have eggs, I have been using ground flax seed instead, but the days the fiancé is not home I actually make some eggs for myself. My new obsession has been adding cornstarch to my scrambled eggs: it adds so much texture!
Look at the twin eggs!
For each egg, just add 1 tablespoon of milk and ½ teaspoon of cornstarch. Mix well. Then, in high heat, cook the eggs, stirring them for 15 seconds. Yes, that’s it: 15 seconds and done.
Scrambled eggs with cornstarch
The fiancé loves to have muffins for breakfast, so I’ve been playing around with some recipes lately. Unfortunately the carrot muffins where I used grated apples as applesauce went bad right way, but everything else has worked out. One of our favorite healthy muffins is actually the traditional All Bran recipe.
All Bran Muffins
All Bran Muffins (from Food.com)
2 cups Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal
1 ¼ cups milk
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed steeped in 2 tablespoons of water
¼ cup oil
1 ¼ cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Combine cereal and milk. Let stand ½ hour. Add flaxseed and oil. Stir well. Add rest of ingredients and stir until combined. Put into muffins pans. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
Makes 12 servings of 170 calories each.
I had a lot of left over buns from my birthday barbecue, so each day I tried to use up the bread. Who knew hamburger buns made for delicious garlic bread and croutons? (Just brush them with butter, salt, and herbs and bake it for 20 minutes!) My favorite recipe though was the bread pudding one. So good I ate it all before even taking a picture of it!
Just chilling after eating
Bread Pudding
2 cups milk
¼ cup butter, melted
3 eggs, slightly beaten
¾ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups soft bread cut in cubes (about 6 buns)
Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, spices, salt, vanilla. Stir in bread. Stir in milk and butter. Pour into 9×9 pan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.
Makes 9 servings of 252 calories each.
In May there was an event in downtown Reno called “Dine the District”. Basically you pay $20 and walk to 20 different restaurants downtown for a small sample. It was an awesome experience: food, drinks, nice weather, and walking. Some of the participating places were Pignic (a new “bring-your-own-food” bar where we had a Mint Julep since it was Kentucky Derby Day), Fuego (nice Spanish guitar), Noble Pie Pizza (best pizza and friendly service), and Crafted Palette (new wine and paint restaurant). Even the gay dance club Five Star Saloon joined the food event and served cheesecake pieces. At the end of the event there was a drawing and, guess what, the fiancé won a gift certificate for Reno Provisions!
Surprisingly, I have also cooked A LOT this spring. Lots of firsts for me: seared ahi, all bran muffins, raspberry muffins, vegan pancakes, Brazilian panqueca (crepes), Brazilian flan, scrambled eggs with cornstarch, chicken marsala, healthy turkey meatballs, baked French fries, croutons, bread pudding… I’ll be posting my favorite recipes soon! We also went to a couple of kid’s birthday parties and baby showers and had lots of cake. Man, do we eat!
I don’t even know where to start – we ate out so much the in last three months! I’ll just make a list and try to remember the highlights.
Jazmine – An Asian restaurant with lots of options, but we had sushi. It was good, especially the ones they sear with a torch.
Sushi from “Jazmine”
Kimmie’s Coffee Cup – Super cute place for brunch.
Salad from “Kimmie’s”
Lucky Beaver Bar and Burger – Small casino/bar in Reno with great food specials.
Slides from “Lucky Beaver”
Reno Provisions – Another restaurant by chef Mark Estee, but cafeteria style.
Reno Provisions
Flowing Tide Pub – another bar in our neighborhood with good happy hour specials.
Chicken Tacos from “Flowing Tide”
Twisted Fork – love this restaurant near our house. The beet ravioli is to die for and they have a cocktail with bacon in it!
Drinks from “Twisted Fork”
Super Taquería – awesome burritos.
Burrito from “Super Taqueria”
Centro Bar & Kitchen – new upscale restaurant in Reno from the same chef as La Vecchia. Can’t wait to go back.
Lamb tacos at “Centro”
Uncork’d – their ratatouille is the best!
Ratatouille at “Uncork’d”
Miguel’s – new location (Summit Mall) of this established Mexican restaurant in Reno. We went there for Cinco de Mayo with friends and although they were extremely busy, they did a good job.
Cinco de mayo at “Miguel’s”
BJ’s – we went there for Mother’s Day. Great avocado spring rolls and, of course, we had to have a Pizooki (their cookie with ice cream dessert).
Avocado Egg Rolls from “BJ’s”
My Thai – restaurant in Tahoe that I went with a friend and her newborn daughter. Really good Pad Thai.
Spring Rolls from “My Thai”
Silver Peak Restaurant – although I had been to the Silver Peak downtown several times, this was my first time at the midtown location. Lovely terrace. Then crafted cocktails at Z Bar was calling us.
Drink from “Z Bar”
Sierra Gold Casino – this place near our house has a 50% off pizza special every night. Always full and always delicious.
1/2 off Pizza at “Sierra Gold”
Tahome Gelato – one of my Spanish students started this little booth in Tahoe and served this bark-like gelato. The presentation is super cool as they make it right in front of you, but it was also very tasty and refreshing. They don’t have a specific location but participate in several Farmer’s Market.
My student making Gelato at the Ski Run Farmer’s Market
Oyster Bar – a small bar at the Hard Rock Café in Tahoe that serves creole food. I loved the oyster and the fiancé, who is picky with his New Orleans inspired food, loved the gumbo. Surprisingly authentic.
Bouillabaisse from “Oyster Bar”
My birthday this year fell on Memorial Day, so we had a barbecue at home to celebrate – burgers and hot dogs! One of our friends had a selfie stick and we took lots of pictures. Although it had rained for three days straight that weekend, the afternoon of my birthday was beautiful!
Now, the real treat was what the fiancé did for me the day before: he cooked a whole complete meal for me. We had shrimp scampi, salmon cakes, filet mignon with blue cheese sauce, and he took me to Twisted Fork for dessert. To end the day, I had a warm bubble bath and relaxed with a magazine and port wine.
But wait, the birthday celebration didn’t stop there. Since the weekend of my birthday the weather wasn’t good, we waited to spend a night in Tahoe to celebrate even more the week after. We started with drinks at my old job, the restaurant 19 on top of Harvey’s and then we had dinner at Edgewood, by the lake. Beautiful views and incredible food.
During my Spring Break I went to Napa again to visit a friend and look at more wedding venues. Of course, the trip was full of food and wine.
Napa
Since it was my friend’s boyfriend’s birthday, we had a nice dinner at Bistro Don Giovanni, but before we had a wine tasting at Merryvale, checked out Tra Vigne has a possible wedding venue (it was the restaurant the fiancé and I went to for our first Valentine’s Day) and had a milkshake at a burger place across the street. I also scouted a cute schoolhouse for the wedding: super cute, but way too small.
The next day I drove to Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley to see a wedding planner. She took me to a couple of different venues in town and then she became my designated driver in the area while we checked out all the different wineries: so pretty! My favorite was this modern one called MaCrostie. Unfortunately they were all too far and too expensive, so I don’t think we will be having the wedding there, but it was great to explore the area.
Another perfect holiday with the fiancé: starting with an Easter Egg hunt, church in the morning, North Lake Tahoe for brunch in the afternoon and Polish/Brazilian Easter dinner with friends in the evening.
After attending Life Church in our neighborhood, we had brunch at Lone Eagle Grille, a beautiful restaurant by the lake at the Hyatt in Incline Village. Mimosas were flowing and I was on a mission to try almost every dish they had, including my first cronut (croissant + donut)!
Then at home I cooked a Polish Easter soup that includes broth, Polish sausage, ham, cottage cheese, and eggs (the fiancé’s family recipe) and Bacalhau (my Brazilian/Portuguese cod fish dish). So great to unite both of our traditions. Our friends approved of my cooking too!
Happy Easter!
Life after Antarctica has been pretty busy, so I have lots of updating to do to this blog, but I wanted to post one last thing about our trip. When you think of Antarctica, you probably don’t think of food at all, but One Ocean Expeditions did a great job catering to us.
Everyday there was a dinner with soup, a salad bar, three options for entrees, and a dessert. The funniest thing was the line for the salad: all those healthy runners couldn’t wait to eat their carrots! The fiancé and I hate lines, so we just stayed at our table with more soup and more bread. The staff was really accommodating towards the fiancé’s food allergies and even made him special desserts without eggs.
Some of the days we had a buffet and the day after the race we joined another boat and had a barbecue outside in 30 degree weather. I also heard the breakfast buffet was awesome, but I never woke up early enough to get there 😉
Each lunch/dinner we sat at a different table to get to know our fellow travelers. There were people from all over the world: Australians, French, Russians, and, of course, lots of Americans. There were couples in their 70’s, families with their teenage kids, a group of friends who take vacations together without their wives every year, people travelling alone, and all sorts of people.
Besides good food, the Vavilov had good drinks. The bar was upstairs and had an amazing view, so that’s where most people would be after each excursion. They even served an afternoon tea with cookies that turned into Happy Hour. The fiancé and I weren’t drinking before the race, but after we completed our run we celebrated with a bottle of champagne. The next day there was an auction for a few of the race items, such as the mile markers and we sipped more drinks while that was going on.
The best part was when the fiancé and another guy got an ice block out of the ocean. The bartender cut it into smaller ice cubes and made drinks with it. Whiskey on the rocks – but with really really old rocks!
Ps.: Google Chrome is not playing the slideshows anymore. Please use a different browser that has Java.
Antarctica was so much more than the marathon. In Ushuaia, Argentina, we boarded our cruise ship, the Vavilov, and were greeted by the One Ocean Expeditions staff with champagne and appetizers. The fiancé and I shared a small cabin with two twin beds and a bathroom that was also shared with the adjacent cabin. The Vavilov is not your usual cruise ship. It’s actually a Russian research vessel for most of the year. The Canadian expedition company One Ocean rents the boat for the Antarctic cruise from November to March and that money supports the researchers the rest of the year. As soon as we got on the Vavilov, we felt very safe with the knowledgeable staff: there was an iceberg specialist, a naturalist, an expedition leader, a kayak specialist, a hotel manager, and a few more crew members that were always ready to teach us something new about the continent. Behind the scenes, most of the sailors and kitchen workers were Russian and also very competent and friendly. While Marathon Tours, the company I signed up with from the US, was responsible for the race part of the trip, One Ocean Expeditions led all of the other excursions and I can’t say enough about what a wonderful job they did.
Antarctica Group Photo
It took three days to travel from Argentina to Antarctica. First we had to navigate the Beagle Channel and then we were on the dreaded Drake Passage. The Drake is the body of water between South America and Antarctica and it is known for being very stormy, so everybody paid extra attention to the life boat drill we had the first day. Being a small boat, the Vavilov did rock a lot, which I found very relaxing, but many people got sea sick and couldn’t get out of their cabins for a while. For the days at sea, the crew had many presentations planned: we watched movies about Antarctica and marathons, and learned about birds, penguins, ice, and whales from the naturalists. We also had to do a couple of mandatory meetings to make sure we were in compliance with the Antarctic Treaty: pretty much we were following a “leave no trace behind” rule and had to stay a few feet away from all wildlife. In the end, it was actually a very mellow Drake sailing, as I slept most of the time and even missed a couple of the presentations.
On March 8th we finally saw the first Antarctic land of the trip: the South Shetlands Islands! The next day our first excursion was to Half Moon Island. We had to wear our red One Ocean waterproof suits and rubber boots, so we looked like a bunch of red penguins in Antarctica. And, speaking of penguins, that’s the first thing I saw when I stepped on my 7th continent. There are penguins everywhere and, of course, they are the cutest! The shore has some gravel and rocks, but then the snow covers most of the area. I was impressed by the size of the mountains around us. We couldn’t see some of the peaks as clouds were covering them, but with the sun peeking through, it was a magical view.
We started our short hike on Half Moon Island and, on the way, there were many seals. Unlike penguins, they are not as friendly. As a naturalist described them, they are like teenagers trying to push the boundaries: they would run up, scream really loud at us, but then they would move away if we made some noise at them. Some seals were really big and scary, but most would just chill on the rocks. When we got to the top of the hill, we saw HUNDREDS of penguins all next to each other. It was molting season, when they kind of hibernate and don’t move for weeks until all feathers have changed. Most of them were just standing there looking miserable (they are hungry and tired), but some of them were done with the shedding process and were walking around being as funny as they could be. This was a colony of Chinstrap penguins, but in the middle of them there was a yellow-haired Macaroni penguin who didn’t have a clue he was hanging out with the wrong crowd. So cute!
I’m in Antarctica!
The next day was marathon day on King George Island! On this island we saw more penguins, seals, and birds, but also quite a few humans as it’s home to research stations from China, Argentina, South Korea, Uruguay, Chile, and Russia. It was the only island with gravel roads, warehouses, and a church, as it’s inhabited year-round. So happy I completed the marathon, but the next day I was so tired and sore from all the hills that I missed the morning excursion to Mikkelsen Harbor in Trinity Island. By that point I had seen so many penguins already, that sleep was more important so I could recover for our kayak excursion in a couple of days. Click here to see a list of all wildlife we saw in Antarctica. In the afternoon we had an award ceremony, where not only the top 3 marathoners and half-marathoners got their medals, but also all the racers that had completed a marathon on ALL 7 continents. And you thought I was crazy!
The next couple of days there were ship cruises and zodiac cruises through ice lakes with the most pristine water, penguins swimming nearby, and seals relaxing on bergy bits, which are small icebergs. There were massive glaciers everywhere and also real icebergs the size of castles. Just beautiful days in Cierva Cove and Neko Harbor! This last harbor was actually on the Antarctica peninsula instead of an island, so it was my first time stepping on the mainland! Of course, more cute penguins were there to greet me. That day was very windy and a little wet, so the pictures were a bit fuzzy, but later a stunning double-rainbow came out to save the day.
Antarctica
My favorite day of the whole trip was also our last excursion on the mainland. We first cruised Paradise harbor for another look at the glaciers. The name was very fitting: amazing views of lakes, icebergs, glaciers, mountains, and wildlife. Truly paradise. Some people went to the top of a peak in Almirante Brown for the spectacular views and sled down. The fiancé did that while I stayed with the penguins on the bottom mustering courage for our next adventure: a polar plunge! Our expedition leader would wake us up every day with the temperature of the air and the water. That day the water was 29 degrees Fahrenheit: below freezing! I had promised the fiancé I would to this with him, so we put our bathing suits on and jumped in the water together. To my surprise it was not cold: it was just PAINFUL. We were in the water for just a few seconds, but my hands and feet were more frozen that I thought possible. Although the adrenaline takes care of the cold, the feeling of needles going through your fingers and toes is awful. The hot shower I took after that was the best shower of my life. Speaking from experience, a true polar plunge is worse than skydiving or bungee jumping, but I’m glad I got over my fear and did it with the fiancé!
The afternoon had more surprises awaiting us in Wilhemina Bay. Most of the boat had signed up for a kayaking excursion, but many times it got canceled because of the weather. We were scheduled for the kayaks on our last afternoon in Antarctica and the day looked incredible! We put on our dry-suits and the fiancé and I shared a tandem kayak. At first, I was terrified: what if we fell in the water? But then Humpback whales started to show up and do their magic. For hours we watched them “dancing” around us. It was like watching a ballet performance. They would go around us in slow motion, spraying once in a while, breaching, turning very gracefully, all right next to us. We kayaked until sunset and at the end of the day I couldn’t have felt more accomplished.
The next two days we braved the Drake Passage again and all I did was sleep for hours. It turns out sailing the rough seas is quite exhausting! Click here to see a chart of our trip. We arrived back in Argentina and got a plane the same day to the US. Antarctica was so much more than I had hoped. I conquered fears, achieved dreams, learned tons, and made memories with the fiancé that will last a lifetime. Definitely an experience I will cherish forever.
Click here to donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters, a mentoring program that empowers children to also achieve their dreams.
Click here to see a compilation of images and videos from our trip put together by the crew of One Ocean Expeditions.
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