Love adding a dash of Turmeric (looks red in this photo) and Black Pepper to my eggs! (Also, added a little arugula) Adding spice to my dishes is such a game-changer because it gives my eggs some heat, but also have some great benefits for me. Turmeric is anti-inflammatory and Black Pepper warms up my body. Energized and ready for the day!
Absolutely love pesto. I love making a good portion of it and then have it available for other dishes. Adding it to pasta, quinoa, veggies, soup, crackers, carrots, etc. If you are unable to finish it all within a 3-5 days, then I like to put it in the freezer to use another time.
Today, I made this colorful pesto pasta dish and it only took 15 minutes. How? I made the pasta and then just added the pesto, pickled red cabbage (from Hawthorne Valley), chopped green onions and black pepper.
KALE PESTO
makes roughly 2 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of Baby Kale
- 1 cup of Basil
- 1 cup of soaked cashews
- 2-3 chopped garlic
- 3-4 T olive oil (add more if you'd like)
- 1/2 t of sea salt (to taste)
- 2 t of black pepper (optional)
How to make it? In a bowl add 1 cup of cashews and soak them in water, while you prep or feel free to soak for an hour (if you have time). Now get your blender (vitamix is what I used and love) and add all the ingredients, then add cashews, blend, taste, adjust salt and olive oil depending upon what you like. Enjoy!
We started the day yesterday swimming with the dolphins in these clear deep blue warm waters. I could have stayed in the water playing tag for hours except I was always “it” and chasing the dolphins was not easy. They were much faster than me (and my floatie). Yes, I said it. My floatie. I love the water, but just not that great of a swimmer, so to be safe I took a tube floatie with me. It felt incredible to play and be with the dolphins.
Made a Friend
After laying on the boat, snacking and chasing whales, we headed to Mahina Mele Farm. It’s an organic macadamia nut, oil and Kona rose coffee farm. Kollete Stith, the founder gave us a tour of her lovely home and farm. They are using sustainable practices to feed the hungry island locally.
Macadamia Nut
They are a hard nut to crack, but so worth it. Mac nuts provide you with omega 3’s and 6’s. They are great for cooking with high heat and found out that it’s a fantastic oil to use for your skin. Our skin is one of the largest organs and mine often time is dry, so loved discovering that the oil mimics your skin’s natural oils to keep you glowing.
We also discovered a variety of various fruits that were also on the property along with the kona rose coffee beans. I loved the Jabuticaba also known as Brazillian grape trees. We picked the darker skinned grapes because they were ripe, sweet and ready to be eaten.
We also discovered Hawaiian Liliko'I a passion fruit that flowers and turns into this delicious sweet tangy juice with seeds.
There are so many varieties of fruits and delicious treats from the land. I really enjoyed connecting with nature from the ocean, land to volcano lava.
After our farm adventure we enjoyed some kava juice and traditional Hawaiian dishes. Kava relaxes you and makes your tongue feel a bit funny.
We ended the Kona adventure day with a night viewing of the lava in a volcano. It was incredible under the stars and hard to capture. Our day left me really connected to nature from the ocean, farm land to volcano lava. This land gives such an abundance of food that it is paradise. Grateful for Grow Paradise retreat adventure in Kona. It was incredible.