Highlights and Lowlights

Oh my gosh.  Everyone.  I haven’t posted anything it like a billion days.  I took all the pictures, but I got too lazy to write up the posts, and now it is TOO LATE.  But, in the interest of getting back on track I figured I’d take all the best stuff (and some of the worst stuff), squish it into one post, and call it a day.

Diamond Head

Last Saturday Kevin and I decided to get out and do some hiking.  The Diamond Head Crater hike is a relatively easy hike and didn’t take us too long, maybe an hour and a half.  I counted it as my workout for the day, but I really shouldn’t have since it wasn’t at all strenuous.  I didn’t even break a sweat – at least, not until it was time to conquer this beast:

After these came another (thankfully, smaller) set of spiral stairs.  I meant to count the total number of stairs, but I was too busy trying not to keel over so I forgot.  But once, I made it up, I got to see this view:

He's such a cutie :).

Worth it?  I think so :).

After the terrible stairs it was only a short time up to the very top, and the view from there was wonderful as well.

(Mostly) Good Eats

To get home from Diamond Head we took the scenic route along the Kalanianaole Highway, and on the way we stopped at a little but great Mexican place in Waimanalo:

I ordered the Mexico City style carnitas tacos because a) based on the menu description they sounded pretty safe, and b) if I get a taco it’s always going to be carnitas.  I imagined that the meat would be about 4 servings of protein, and the tortillas would make 2 servings of carbs, and I thought it would be fine.  However, I didn’t realize until they came out that the tortillas would be fried:

They were kind of greasy, and clearly I should not be eating fried things right now, but at that point it was too late and they needed to go in my mouth.  They were good, although the oil did give me a stomach ache a little later on.  I also ordered a pineapple agua fresco:

If only it had been watermelon flavor...

I really wanted a watermelon one, which is the best, but they were all out.  Pineapple was fine but definitely not as good as watermelon.  I drank about 2/3 of it then gave the rest to Kevin.

Then, Sunday night, we had pork chops for dinner.  

This is notable only because for once I actually remembered to marinate them ahead of time.  I used this recipe for honey-ginger marinade then cooked them in the electric skillet, and the pork came out really, really good.  Then, for dessert I cut up a pear, sprinkled on some cinnamon and ginger, and stuck it in the microwave until it was really soft and juicy:

  

It was really good for something that was pretty much just a piece of fruit. 

Monday morning, partially in honor of Martin Luther King Junior but mostly in honor of my stomach, I decided I wanted to try out a recipe for apple cinnamon protein pancakes.  I used this recipe, but since we were out of egg whites I separated some actual eggs that were in the fridge.

Half an apple went into the batter, and the other I ate while cooking.

The leftover yolks got made into pasta carbonara for Kevin later, so it all worked out. 

The thing is, as soon as I poured the batter into the pan I knew that it should have probably been 2 pancakes instead of one, but it was too late.  So I ended up with this giant thing:

Even with the apples and protein powder it wasn’t as sweet as I wanted it to be, so I added some almond butter on the top.  This worked for a little while, but overall the pancake was really dry and dense and not really awesome, which was disappointing.  I got about 2/3 of the way through before I broke down and added a tablespoon of maple syrup.  This upcoming weekend, I’ll try to find a better recipe to try out.

And then.  Then on Tuesday I went into work, and bacon pecan pie existed there.

There is straight up bacon in this pie.

That’s bacon.  And pecans.  And pie.  All in one!  Also there was homemade whipped cream, which as I’m sure you know is the best thing in the world.  We also know that there’s no way that bacon pecan pie is in anyway allowed on the JCore nutrition plan.  There’s no way I can even pretend to fudge it like I did with the carnitas tacos on Saturday.  But, I eventually decided that bacon pecan pie is no way a normal fixture in my life.  I had never even considered it a possibility before, and I was unlikely to ever encounter it again.  So, I had a tiny piece and about a tablespoon of whipped cream, and I was happy.  Because it was great.