Weekend + Fun with Family & Friends = Loving My Life!

Have you ever had a day that you wanted to capture and keep close at hand for those days that aren't as wonderful?  Saturday was that day for me.   I actually felt sad when it was time to go to sleep because I just didn't want the day to end.  We spent the whole day just enjoying our life and all of the little things that make it so special.  Beautiful weather and blue skies greeted our morning and there was even a chill to the air.  Perfect weather our first 5k of this year!  The race was Hope for Cope 5k and I was proud to wear their racing shirt.  It is a great organization and this was my first time running this course.  I was hoping for a PR (personal record) time but when I realized the run was almost all grass, no pavement, I wasn't sure it was possible.  And it wasn't.  I finished with a time of 30:14, about 3 minutes slower than my PR.  Ugh.  More grass running is in order!  But my disappointment was abated watching my niece, my nephew and my sister all running out there too!  Being joined by one of my favorite people in the world to run with, Kathleen, was a great treat too!  We all had a wonderful day and my hubby did PR it!  22:33 was his time.  Go hubby!

Time for some nourishment so we headed to Neato Burrito.  I don't know if they have one of these where you live, but it was my first time.  It was delicious!  I got a black bean hummus burrito and pretty quickly had an empty plate!  Next on the list was a bike swap where I scored some killer clothes deals!  My first matching jersey and shorts for biking! Grocery store was up next and while we were shopping, hubby mentioned that there was a Sweet Frog nearby.  You might have one of these places near you...it's a frozen yogurt and toppings bar where you can put whatever you want in the cup and pay by weight.  And it's pretty delicious!  I had a red velvet/cheesecake swirl with all kinds of yumminess on top.  Best way ever to end grocery shopping!

And now, it's time to get cooking!  I had so much food to make...corn and black bean salad, almond coconut milk, empanaditas, and while I'm at it, my cucumbers are getting soft so some refrigerator pickles are just the thing!  What a list!

First up, the milk.  We tasted a new product called Almond Coconut milk from Almond Breeze last week and I decided to make it ourselves.  We already make almond milk, it couldn't be that hard to add coconut, right?  Right.  It was super easy.  I just added coconut to my sprouted almonds in the vitamix, filled it up with water and turned it on.  It smelled pretty awesome!

I wonder if I need to change the writing on my pitcher?  I mean, it is almond coconut milk in there.  And it's delicious!  If you need the recipe, it's pretty simple.  I soak my almonds for a day, changing the water about 2-3 times or when it's cloudy.  I have a ratio of about 2 cups soaked almonds to about 5 cups of water and mix in the vitamix.  Then, I strain off the pulp with a jelly strainer bag and the milk that's left is the almond milk.  It's so easy.  We stopped buying processed almond milk long ago!

The pickles were equally easy but be warned, our house smelled while I was cooking the vinegar!  I used 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon salt.  I slow boiled the mixture until the sugar was dissolved and poured over the cucumbers.  (I added carrots too, aren't they pretty!?!)  Then I popped it in the fridge.  This was what I saw this morning...

They were so tasty!  A restaurant around here, Isaac's Deli, has little dishes of these types of pickled veggies they bring to the table while you're waiting.  Biting into one of those pickles made me think of all the lovely long lunches I've had there with my friend, Cindy.  I'm always amazed at the ability of food to transcend time and bring so many wonderful memories to wherever you are.  Food is the connection we all share.

I've good more stories and recipes to share but they'll have to wait...

Enjoy!

Sheri