Good Eat: Bahama Breeze's seafood paella & a little more...

Hello Everyone...
 I hope you all had a great week-end! I know I did...(smiles).My last post was about food and this one is about food as well. I do have a lot of other things I plan on sharing with you soon, very very soon so make sure to become a Follower and a subcriber if that's your first time here.

Even though I wrote about making beef brochettes in my last post, you should know if you are familiar with this blog, that I am more of a pescetarian and I very rarely eat meat. So true to my gastronomic passion I am talking today about seafood...seafood at....




I was in Atlanta recently celebrating my 10 years wedding anniversary and I finally had the chance to try a restaurant I have been wanting to try all the years I have lived around the Atlanta GA area. So after shopping at some stores on Barrett Parkway in Kennesaw GA, my husband and I had a late lunch or early dinner, depends on how you see, at Bahama Breeze!


Have you ever eaten at the Bahama Breeze?
The setting is refreshing, relaxing, and very different from conventional restaurants.

 Under normal circumstances I would have had more pictures of the interior and I would have elaborated on the tropical setting, the fun music played by a Live artist outdoors and the fun tropical uniform the servers had on...but today I will just talk about food, maybe at my next visit there I will take more indoors pictures for our enjoyment. For now we are talking Good Eat!

My husband loves  Sweet Tea but even our server told him that their sweet tea are awful. Hubby insisted on having some Sweet Tea but soon decided to order the same thing I was having because it was amazingly delicious.My beverage was a refreshing and perfect Strawberry Lemonade! I love Sweet Tea but given the options I am more a lemonade person and I love Strawberry Lemonade because I find it to have more 'texture' than a regular lemonade or a Rapsberry lemonade!


Strawberry lemonade at the Bahama Breeze

 For appetizers I selected some broiled shrimps served in a buttery sauce with French bread for dipping. It was soooo gooood! Sorry I don't remember the exact name of my selection but here is what it looked like...

It was so gooood....

We completed our meal by sharing a Seafood Paella! I love love love Paella! I had many friends from Spain back in college so I naturally fell in love with Paella. It had been years since I had one and it was great to enjoy some this Saturday!

Seafood Paella from Bahama Breeze

Now, there's something I have to say about this...it's a seafood Paella and the original dish on the menu is made with a little bit of sausage in addition to the seafood. I do not eat sausages so I could request to replace the sausage with an extra something else. I simply asked for extra seafood!  The dish can be eaten with some hot sauce if one loves spicy food.I added a little Tabasco sauce that definitely gave this already delicious dish, an extra omp!
Well, that was it for my delicious meal at the pleasant, fun and relaxing Bahama Breeze!


Oh...You might have noticed...this Seafood Paella was served with oysters...I ate most of the oysters and only hours later did I realize that true to the myth oysters could be an aphrodisiac! Did you know that oysters are listed as one of the top aphrodisiac foods? I have been meaning to write a post about this for a while now, so today will be kind of an intro!!!

Have you noticed how in some movies two people would have a romantic moment eating some oysters...Did you watch the movie JUMPING THE BROOM? Do you remember the scene where in the kicthen Meagan Good is asked by the chef to taste some oysters...

 I believed the moment I watched this scene that the chef knew exactly what he was doing when he asked her to come in the kitchen to taste something for him...Well oyster as an aphrodisiac might be fact or fiction depending on how you see it! The scene I am referring to certainly tries to hold to the myth! If you have not seen the movie I will not spoil the fun so go watch it and come back and comment about it!


So...hint hint here: if you plan a romantic dinner with some very specific intentions...oysters should be on the menu...just saying...according to the myth...it's worth trying right?




We did more shopping after eating and funny enough at the end of the day I realized that I did not buy a single pair of shoes or even some new outfits. I checked in the hotel with bags of books...yes...crazy right? Bags of books! Waldenbooks had some sales and I splurged...on books...
I think a good meal, some good books and a nice comfy hotel suite are very simple and yet very pleasant ways to spend a relaxing week-end...humm that's not exactly all... but saying more would be beyond the scope of this blog!
All I can say is...beware of delicious Seafood Paella because according to the myth Oysters do come with side effects. The kind no men complain about...

Me personally I did not complain about this sweet peacefully room away from the kids and...

Hilton Hotel Atlanta GA

 I certainly did not complain about waking up to such a view...Hello ATL! Yeah...I know... the Bahamas could have been better but at least ATL got Bahama Breeze...

View from the Hilton Dowtown Atlanta

More about ATL in some of my upcoming posts. To be continued....

Do you like oysters? Did you know oyster to be considered an aphrodisiac?  Do you think it's true or do you think it's just a myth? Have you seen JUMPING THE BROOM? Any random comment on the movie?

N'na

Good Eat: Beef kabobs with yoghurt marinade and the blessings of a kitchen garden

Well it's almost holiday week-end and being pretty much grilling season I wanted to offer you all a little bit of grilling inspiration. I eat more seafood than I do meat and poultry once in a while I just like to eat some tender homemade brochettes! Lamb is my preferred meat but beef chunks are cheaper and more easily available so I am sharing below something you can cook on a budget and still have a diliiiiciouuus meal!!!
Everyone has their own way for making marinade or grilling etc so here's N'na's way!!!

                                            
It's so much fun to flavor dishes with fresh ingredients right there at my fingertips. The fresh herbs I selected here from my kitchen garden were thyme, oregano, rosemary and parsley. Read more about it the following link: http://goodhealthdiva.blogspot.com/2011/04/benefits-of-gardening-my-edible.html

Some of my ingredients from the kitchen cupboard: Ground cumin, cayenne pepper, white vinegar, salt, oil, dried parsley flakes, dried oregano powder, Cajun spice. I prefer using Apple cider vinegar for cooking but since I was out of ACV I just used the white vinegar!

                                                                  Add some  Yogurt.

Mix it all together

Store in a Ziploc bag and shake well and

Let it marinate and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours or overnight.

Get your skewers ready, cut what the fruits or veggies you would use,

I used some tomatoes, onion and green pepper,

and make your brochettes

Time for the Grill!!!!

Remember to turn often!

To keep your meat from being dry mix a little bit of oil and crushed bouillon  cubes. I used something from West Africa called " Cube Maggi". Use a brush and brush the kabobs with the mixture.

Voila!!! Delicious brochettes!

It looks good doesn't it? It was delicious as well. We did serve them with rice and potatoes on that day but I enjoyed them just fine with nothing else!

Well have a nice week-end and hope this post gave you some new ideas for the next time you grill. If you haven't done it yet grow a kitchen garden and keep some potted herbs by your kitchen. They will always be useful and add some omp to your dishes!There is nothing like cooking or grilling with the flavor of fresh ingredients especially the ones you can have at your fingertips when you have a kitchen garden!

N'na

The benefits of exercising: Stretching

I remember that as a child stretching had to be done at the beginning of every

dance,Tae kwondo or gymnastic sessions I participated in. 


 I did not continue in those activities but stretching is a huge part of my daily routine because I soon realized that my body does not feel right unless I make time to stretch at least 15 mns a day upon waking up and stretch as often as needed as the day goes by.

You have probably noticed that, a lot of athlete regardless of the sports they play put a great emphasis on stretching before they start a practice, a game, or a competition etc.
No matter the diversity of sports and activity, stretching is a fundamental practice.


Because people who stretch benefit from more flexibility, stretching is often called flexibility training.
You will agree it takes flexibility for all these...

 

  let's be honest how can we do this unless we have trained our muscles to stretch and be that flexible? It takes training to do this and stretching is practiced with great seriousness to get to this level of flexibility... flexibility training!

You are probably very familiar with the show "Dancing with the stars". Do you realize that it takes professional dancers great flexibility to move as they do? Stretching is the big ingredient to their success that we don't see often. A lot of times we see images and videos of rehearsals, and the amazing performances but we don't see how much emphasis is put in stretching.


 I think  Edgar Degas' art could serve as an hint:





You can tell it takes great flexibility for this: . Yes dancers invest a great amount of time in stretching but if you are not very familiar with dancers I know the following images come more easily to mind ...


 So you might not be an athlete but you might be a big fan of an athletic team, I am sure you have seen your basketball team do something like  this before their games. .

Have you ever asked yourself why stretching is so important? A lot of people do not think much about it and today I wanted to give you some very good reasons to think more about it and to do it more often....
You do not have to be a professional athlete and you don't even have to like exercising to benefit from stretching.

I am a strong believer in stretching regardless of either you are in sports or not.
I truly believe that stretching and walking are the two most important physical activities for our bodies. To me all other form of exercises are complementary. I also see stretching as a great way to get the blood flowing and offer relaxation to my body.

I think our bodies were made to stretch, because we just don't feel right when we don't! I think stretching is natural for us and the more we do it the better we feel.
I mean ask even those creatures  stretching just come naturally for them. Stretching feels so gooood. Before we stretch we feel all tensed and rusty and then as we do it we go like uuuummm...and we feel much better afterward don't we?
 I see my dog Cotton stretches very often and it's amusing to watch how he would stretch himself and keep doing it until he is satisfy. Even he knows how good it feels to stretch!!!
Anyway, back to us humans...

Stretching makes you flexible, allowing your joints the ability to move through a full range of motion.
 Ask any ballet dancers or anyone in Martial Art they would tell you how important stretching is to accomplishing a full range of motion.

Most athletes might agree that the top 2 benefits of stretching are probably

·         Improved performance and decrease risk of injury

·         Reduced muscle soreness

Since stretching improves your flexibility you can better move through a greater range of motion.  Stretching decreases resistance in tissue structure making you less likely to get injured by exceeding tissue extensibility during an activity.

Stretching before and after exercising is always recommended because it reduces muscle soreness.  I certainly appreciate a stretch before and after a cycling class, it's a good thing instructors always make time to guide the students through some stretch.

There is actually about 7 different types of stretching. The one called slow static stretching is the one most people are familiar with. It's a stretch that requires a slow, gradual and controlled elongation of the muscle through the full range of motion. The stretch is held for 15-60 seconds in the furthest comfortable position!
Static stretching is the most common kind of stretching.

Besides those two benefits that stretching could offer athletes or non athletes alike, stretching can benefit you daily by:

·         Improving your posture.

·         Reducing the risk of low back pain because stretching promotes muscular relaxation. Muscular relaxation will reduce the accumulations of toxins, prevent muscle tightening and reduce or relieve fatigue.
A detail to keep in mind is that flexibility from hamstring, hip flexors, quadriceps and other muscles attached to the pelvic area reduce stress to the lower back.

Please watch the following short video for stretches that benefit your back's health! You can add to those benefits that stretching will help you to better enjoy any physical activity. After all it's easier to enjoy something when you are not too sore afterward or when you do not injure yourself in the process! It's also great that you can perform very efficiently thanks to a good stretch.



 But there's more to stretching that's beneficial regardless of the fact that one is in sport or not. Stretching is great and important because everyone can benefit from the way stretching relaxes both the mind and the body. I think it brings the mind to a heightened sense of well-being.
So as you can see, stretching is truly a key component not only to a successful and efficient fitness program but also to a better life and a better health the natural way.  Stretching comes naturally and without it we just don’t feel and move the best. Even if you do not exercise stretching should be part of your daily routine.



Other benefits of stretching in our daily lives:
Something very important to consider is that Stretching is important when you are traveling, as seating for long hours in a plane or car can provoke blood clotting which has been linked to some premature deaths. So whether you are traveling by plane or by car always make sure to get off your seat at least every 1-2 hours and stretch and move around some.

 The same advice is important for people working at their desks for long hours. The lack of energy flow and the muscle contractions you experience will leave your body tense, trap toxins which in turn will increase the risk for tension, back pain, strained eyes etc..

Stretching plays a big part in your overall health. Stretching provides many important benefits that cannot be achieved by any other exercise or activity. You might not be into sports and you might not even care about exercising but please by all means add stretching to you daily routine. Please          

Gift boxes, handmade cards and more

Picture of some recent gifts I designed! Will add more cards designs later on...

Enjoy but let me know what you think!

For questions and orders e-mail goodhealthdiva@gmail.com

A birthday gift ......

Handmade card by N'na

Box fully decorated by N'na

Some handmade gifts....

The handmade pouch contains an handmade necklace! The Flower is an handmade hair clip!

Below: A Welcome gift to welcome new neighbors in their new home! Did not get the chance to take the picturse in natural light because I was working till 1:30 am finishing it all for an early morning delivery:

Handmade card

Box fully decorated by N'na

A very special gift of Love!

Check http://www.beautyfullgifts.blogspot.com/ for more pictures!

 Let me know if I can serve you in any way with your cards, gift baskets and gift boxes needs for any occasion.

Contact goodhealthdiva@gmail.com

N'na

The benefits of exercising -Introduction

Hello you all! This is a quick note because I am ready to venture through this rain here and go do some shoppiiiing. Naaah not clothes. I am shopping for some craft material and inspiration for the cards I have to design for a few customers! I will share those pictures soon on my craft blog! (Click the Card's picture on the top right to access the link)

I wanted to take a minute to encourage you to take your week-end to plan your healthier life!

The weather is getting better so no more excuses that you can't walk because it's too cold or don't feel like going to the gym etc!
Having some sunshine and this much needed Vitamin D that your body needs to fight some laziness, boost your mood and get you more active is certainly a plus to plan a successful regimen this Spring)
Okay, so the weather is no longer cold but now it's getting warmer and heat can discourage you to work out just as fast as the cold did! Don't make excuses and don't despair just keep reading for inspiration...


First of all, if you have a problem staying disciplined or having a strong jumpstart, just do this :
 Plan your workout, write it down in your planner, as a reminder, whatever but just like you make an appointment to go to the dentist mark it!!!!
If you plan on spending 30 minutes-1hr walking, doing an aerobic class once or three days a week, write it down! By doing this you will be motivated, committed and accountable, to yourself at least!
Think about it this way, many things in life seem to have enough priority for you to do it and ensure that you do it, well...isn't your health a priority? No but!!! Write it down!!!

If you don't like working out alone find a work-out buddy but please DO not use it as an excuse! If you have a work out buddy who can't make it to some of your planned workouts do not use it as an excuse to cancel it unless it's late in the evening! If you have to work out alone then do it! You are first responsible for your own health so do not use a lack of partner as an excuse!  Only you know how important it is for you to be fit! Nobody can't make you healthier unless you want it for yourself! Your efforts might actually motivate others to follow your lead as they watch you being so committed and getting results!


Two: If you intend on exercising outdoors please plan it in the morning before 10 a.m if you can (on a hot day)! Do it before it heats up! Or after 2:30 pm. Regardless of the time of day preferrably look for shade, pick a path, a park, an area where you can benefit from some shade.

 If you can't work out in  the morning do it in the evening! Ladiiies, please take a buddy with you if you plan on excersing in the later parts of the day. I recommend exercising before it gets dark but as long as you pick a safe area in the company of a strong and brave man by your side I suppose you will be allllriiight!!! Do not go out late and alone now! I say exercise but I am also saying be safe and smart! No need to endanger yourself by being brave and trying to go on a walk or run in late hours.

Three: Wear appropriate clothing each time you exercise and for added safety ladies limit jewelry and keep you hair pulled in a ponytail. You will be surprised by how many accidents can occur with our hair looses or a necklace,bracelet or rings getting caught in something!


Four: When exercising outdoors keep your safety in mind, be aware of your surroundings, tell someone where you are going and how long to expect you gone, depending on the form of exercise and where you are heading keep an emergency card/IDwith you and always carry some water with you.

Five: Last but not least for today: Always drink some water before, during and after you are exercising especially if it's longer than 20-30 minutes! Dehydration is dangerous for your body in more ways than you think!

Okay got to go, hope this post motivates you to get rolling! Have a great week-end!

N'na