Cucumber Ribbon Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

Cucumber Ribbon Salad with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette, Recipe, Fresh, Summer, North Shore Hawaii

(These photos were taken by the lovely Megumi who has her own food/fashion/photographer blog! Check her out!)

There is something so refreshing about cold sweet cucumbers. With spring here, and summer just around the corner, hot summer days are on their way! This salad is so light and refreshing you could eat it all day long! It looks fancy dancy but it is so simple and quick to prepare.  If you have good ingredients it does not take much to create fresh bold flavors which this salad is a living testament of.  I am telling you, once you try this salad it will become a staple quick fix healthy option. Click here to Read More

Posted on by Andrea in Gluten-Free Meals, Salads 3 Comments

Pan Seared Ham Sandwich, Rosemary Bread, Brie and Watercress

Our ham roast was a big fella, well over 12 lbs, and with our small family we only made a tiny discernible dent in the quantity of meat on that bone! It looks like it’s going to be a left-over week for us. Monotony is my enemy, however, so it’s going to be a fun challenge to keep the creativity ham juices flowing and come up with a new take every day.

Day one of left-overs was simple, quick, and uncomplicated. A warm ham sandwich on a couple slices of the rosemary bread I had on hand. Remembering the ham was basted in a maple apricot Dijon glaze, I wanted to highlight the peppery aspect of the flavor combo. So I slathered on a bit more country Dijon to the slices of bread to mirror what was already there, topped with watercress that also carries a peppery undertone, and then to slice through it all and counter-balance the sangwich (we like to give a nod to our Italian friends from Montreal and call it a sangwich around our house)  a few generous slices of brie were placed right on top of the pan seared ham. A little bit of slow melting action was soon to ensue.

Click here to Read More

Posted on by Tawny in Sandwiches 1 Comment

Roasted Easter Ham with a Maple Dijon Apricot Glaze

Without fail, everything in Hawaii is going to cost exorbitantly more than it would anywhere else on the mainland.  Milk is rarely less than $5 dollars, bread $7 a loaf, and when I buy butter I cry a little tear. Every time.  Food budgeting is a necessity, and that usually means monstrous cuts of meat don’t make on the grocery list. But come time for the holidays we do get thrown a bone from the government. With a few store “rewards points,” we were able to take home a 12+ lb bone-in ham roast for free. I don’t make a habit out of eating a lot of pork, but free food that’ll provide at least 7 different meals for my family? I’m not a fool, I couldn’t turn it down.

Now if I want this sucker to be versatile and provide a colorful array of meals for the next couple weeks, I needed to think this one through. What to cook it in? That was the question. I like maple  glazed ham, yep that’s good. Dijon ham, now there’s a spicy angle I’d like. But what about apricot glazed ham? Mm hm, can’t go wrong there. I’m the worst when thrown into the dilemma of choosing between lots of great options. Ask anyone I’ve been to a restaurant with; without fail I order last, always several minutes after the rest of the party and the waiter has returned too many times. At that point I feel the pressure bearing down and I just blurt out one of the choices in a panic and throw the menu at the confused server. It’s sad.

However, my kitchen means my rules, and I had a thought: what would happen if maple, dijon, and apricots all got together and had a love child? Click here to Read More

Posted on by Tawny in Gluten-Free Meals, Meats 4 Comments

‘One Love Surf Shop aka Kava Roots’ Acai Bowl Smoothie Shack Review

'One Love Surf Shop aka Kava Roots' Acai Bowl Smoothie Shack Review, North Shore Hawaii'One Love Surf Shop aka Kava Roots' Acai Bowl Smoothie Shack Review, Acai Bowl, North Shore, Foodland

It was a bit overcast in Hawaii today, which made for a more ‘subdued blah’ feeling in the atmosphere. Do you remember the books, “The Bernstein Bears?” Do you remember when Papa Bear warns Brother and Sister Bear it is going to rain and they ask, “how do you know its going to rain Papa Bear?” and he says, “Oh children, I can feel it in my bones”. As a child, I remember being so confused at that reply Papa Bear gave his children, but now as I age, I swear, I am starting to possess those same powers. You can really feel the weather, and it can even affect your mood. Maybe as you age you become more in tune with your body or more one with nature and when the weather is blah it can make you blah too… trust me, I know all about the winter blues from growing up in the ‘Mother Land’ way up North in Regina Saskatchewan where winters can take up more than half the year… I totally get what weather can do to ones mood and I have a remedy that works without fail.

I don’t have all the answers, but if you ever feel down from the weather One Acai Bowl will do the trick every time. If you are in Hawaii you’re lucky, because you can find this treat on the North Shore all over the place! If you are not here, you can fix one up in your own blender and get very similar results! So turn that frown upside down and get an Acai Bowl in that belly. Click here to Read More

Posted on by Andrea in Hawaiian Grinds, Travel Inspired, Uncategorized 5 Comments

Acai Bowls- Welcome to the Amazon

Acai Bowls- Welcome to the Amazon, zambazon

(these photos were taken by the lovely Megumi who has her own food/fashion/photographer blog! Check her out!)

So…. it is 3:44 a.m. and I just can’t fall back asleep! This seems to be a ‘trait of inheritance’ because every time I am excited about something, I work on little to no sleep just like my old man. Or it may be that spring is here and it is a million degrees in my little place here in the tropics!  I had a fan.. but I put it outside to clean yesterday, and a sweet Tongan lady stopped and asked if she could have it, and for some reason I said, ‘Oh ya,  sure, take it!’ I don’t think I thought that one through, but hey that must mean some good Karma is coming my way- right? Anyway, dead winds in Hawaii can make for some hot sleepless nights, so I best be getting me a fan by tonight!

Whatever the reason for my early rise, I am up and full of energy which I am sure  will be fizzling out around 7 a.m. when my son wakes up.

So let 3:44 a.m. be the inspiration for today’s recipe- The Acai Bowl also known as The Original Rio Bowl. Click here to Read More

Posted on by Andrea in Breakfast, Dairy Free, Gluten-Free Meals, Hawaiian Grinds, Snacks and Healthy Treats 14 Comments