It is Summer, Drink Up!!

Officially it was summer about a week ago, but unofficially it has been summer in Georgia since May.  I think there has been one weekend since then in which we did not go to the beach, and we have definitely been having a lot of fun in the sun.

I actually just returned from a vacation in San Diego.  It was beautiful.  My husband and our group of friends rented a house on Pacific beach.  It was absolutely great running on the beach in the mornings, and we even did a version of the Crossfit “Filthy Fifty” on the beach (the first exercise was 50 burpees, gross!).  I got sand in my eyes on that one, haha.  We visited a few different beaches, saw sea lions in the La Jolla cove, tried out a lot of different beers, ate Trader Joe’s cookie butter for the first time (like peanut butter, but 100 times better and certainly not healthy), and enjoyed some really good coffee.  It was an awesome vacation.  But home now and back to reality.

San Diego

Every summer, I start to get really tired of drinking plain water.  I am not sure why it does not happen in the winter… maybe because I can drink a lot of varieties of hot tea.  Anyway, water is boring sometimes, so I googled “water recipes.”  After I pressed Enter, I felt pretty dumb…. Water recipe, really??  But Google knew what I really meant, and returned a lot of recipes for homemade infused water.  I decided to try the lemon cucumber mint one since I had all those ingredients in my fridge.  It was delicious.  I took it to the beach with me on Saturday and it was extremely refreshing.  The combination of the cucumber, mint, and lemon was just right.  This will definitely become a regular beverage of mine, and it is super easy to throw together.

Lemon Cucumber Mint Infused Water

Ingredients
4 cups water
1 lemon
1 cucumber
½ cup mint

Instructions

1.  Slice up the lemon into thin pieces.
2. Cut the cucumber into small pieces
3. Throw the lemon, cucumber, and mint into the pitcher of water.  Refrigerate overnight or at least for a few hours.
4. Enjoy!

~ Savannah FitNut aka Morgan McNeal

Haters and Cauliflower

That is quite a weird title, huh?  Yes it is, but because this is my blog and you have the CHOICE to read it or not, I can title it whatever I want.  Everyone has choices every day, what they eat, drink, wear, whether they exercise or not, who they talk to, what they talk about, etc.  And yet, there are haters everywhere who want to tell people what they should or should not do, think, talk about…. Hell with the haters, I do what I want!
Seriously though, why do people waste so much of their energy trying to persuade others to change their ways??  I think they need to take a couple of yoga classes and refocus their energy internally.  But hey, that is just my opinion, and no one has to follow that advice, because they have the CHOICE to do whatever they want.  I post recipes, rants, advice, and just general thoughts on my blog.  If someone finds a new recipe to try or a new workout, that is great.  However, if they do not like my recipes, rants, or workouts, that is okay and 100% acceptable.  Go visit another of the 1.3 billion blogs on that thing known as the “internet.”

Okay, enough on haters.  Let’s talk about cauliflower….. odd transition??  Haha.

I love cauliflower.  It is best when fresh from the farmer’s market, but sometimes I buy frozen and it is still pretty versatile.  Mashed cauliflower, roasted cauliflower, cauliflower hummus, there are so many different things you can make, even cauliflower tortillas.  Yesterday, I tried making cauliflower tortillas, and they did turn out pretty yummy.  I added some garlic and jalapenos for a little kick.  I will say this though, they are really annoying to make…. Possibly because I did not follow the instructions on the various recipes I looked up, that step of squeezing out the water.  After I steamed the cauliflower, it did not seem watery, so I skipped that step.  When I baked the tortillas though, they were very difficult to flip.  Maybe next time, I will try squeezing out the water and see if they are a little easier to cook.  They were still delicious though.

Cauliflower Tortillas

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower
1 egg
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
Salt, pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Put the entire cauliflower into your food processor, stem removed.  Pulse the head until it looks like rice.  You may need to do numerous batches to process the whole head of cauliflower.
3. After you have riced the entire cauliflower, cook the cauliflower in the microwave for about 6-8 minutes.  
4. When the cauliflower is done, try to squeeze out any excess water.  (A lot of recipes have said to do this with a dish towel, but I think the cauliflower would stick, so I skipped this step)
5. Mix egg, oregano, salt, and pepper in with the cauliflower.
6. Using a ¼ to ½ cup measuring cup, place small balls of the mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (grease the parchment paper with olive oil).  Softly, press the balls down into tortilla shapes.
7. Cook for approximately 10-12 min per side.  Keep an eye on them and let them get a nice golden brown on each side.