Jumbo Shrimp

Last night Ryan and I attempted to eat dinner at a restaurant called Sabores do Chef.  I guess we should have made a reservation weeks in advance since it seems the place was booked up for the whole night.  It looked like probably a Christmas party.  So we instead headed over the the beach in Praia da Vitoria and thought about our beach front options.  To try something new we opted for Mar a Mesa, where we have been to the downstairs bar area before and enjoyed a tosta mista sandwich.

Since we had about 15 minutes until the restaurant opened, we decided to hang at the bar and enjoy a cocktail.

I love the looks of this Super Bock tap.

This was my pretty drink.  I can't remember the last time I sat at a bar and had a cocktail, but it was nice.  Too bad the sun had gone down, otherwise we would have been able to look at the ocean.  I normally drink a Malibu baybreeze, but this guy couldn't make it, so I told him to make me a girly drink.  This is fruit juice with melon liquor frozen and blended on top.  I love the colors.

Ryan had a martini that was with orange flavored vodka and white chocolate.  This is the house specialty drink...I think.

Then we went up stairs to enjoy a nice European style dinner.  This is inside the restaurant.  They were decorated for the holidays.  During summer time this will be awesome since those glass doors slide open and the beach is right there.

As always, some nice olives to start.  These are in olive oil with garlic.

Some crab dip for the bread.

Nice rolls...

Could not resist a bottle of wine for one very good reason (ok 2 reasons...the bottle was the equivalent of $15)...

Practically my name!!!

Before the meal I took a look in their seafood display case.  They are a predominately seafood restaurant and they are on the beach, so yo would expect to find some crazy seafood here.  Look at the size of that shrimp.  And to think I thought jumbo shrimp was an oxymoron...Holy cow, look at that thing!

Some major sized crab legs too...

Another cute little crab guy.  I have seen these out in the ocean and by the shoreline. 

Then dinner was served.  I ordered a traditional dish of fish and shrimp served in a broth with rice.

Mine was really tasty.  Ryan ordered broiled cod and it was served with broccoli and potatoes.  It was good, but a little overcooked.  I find that common around here with the cod.  Oh, and it is always salted!

The perfect end to another lovely island meal.

Oh, and don't let me forget about the check presentation here.  How cute!

Friday nigth we staying in which is why Saturday night we hit the town.  Friday night was also the last night of Hanukkah, so here are the rest of my gifts from Ryan.

My current iPhone cover is tearing, so this is a new one, identical to my old one.

We spent most of Saturday playing around with this.  I love it.  So much fun and so old school.

Oh, and I totally have to show this picture to everyone.  I have discovered why the Portugeuse are not stuggling with obesity like Americans.  It comes down to price.  These American candies in a bag no bigger than what you might purchase to handout for Halloween costs 18.50 euro...That's like about $28.  That is insane and a rip off.  But it is hard for them to get American type products, so I guess they can charge what they like.  Sadly, I think people may pay that price, although many people on this island can't afford that luxury.  Now this was taken at a local store.  If I were to buy this on the base it would be much cheaper.

Lastly, I know I mentioned we were going to help with the clean up efforts.  We woke up early and headed over to meet others at the base only to find out it had been cancelled.  It is a long story, but there were some valid reasons for cancelling this.  To top it off, it started raining again, which I am sure is making clean up hard.  We think instead we will just donate cleaning supplies and hopefully some gifts for the children of Agualva so they do not have to miss out on Christmas this year.

QUESTION:  What is your favorite cocktail or alcoholic beverage?  We don't drink very often, but I like a Malibu baybreeze.  Tastes like juice to me so I have to be very careful.

What to do on a rainy day

It is no secret that I have no idea what rain is like. I lived in Vegas for 5 years, so rain is the furthest thing from my mind. If you walk outside in Vegas and the sun isn't out, you do a double take, you stare into the sky and wonder where you are . So, I live on an island now. There is bound to be rain. And boy was there a lot of rain yesterday. My dog wouldn't even go outside. She is Vegas born and bred and thinks I am punishing her with water falling from the sky.

So my plans for yesterday were changed. I really just did not want to go out. I heard roads were flooding and people had to pull over. But I had things I wanted to do. So, I had to come up with an alternative game plan. Here is what I came up with instead.

For my birthday Ryan bought me a wii. This was because I would be at home and may get board. He also bought me the wii fit so I could exercise at home. We had limited weight coming here so out Bowflex and punching bag are in storage in the States. So here is what I did get a get a work out in at home since I was NOT going outside. Here are the two "games" for fitness. I like the wii fit and the yoga and balance games. I just started the wii active 3 days ago and I was trying out the 30 day challenge.

This is the wii fit balance board. This is used for some of the exercise activities. It registers your weight, movement and center of balance.

Here are the items that are used with the wii active personal trainer- the wii remote, nunchuck, resistance band and leg strap.
Here is my welcome screen. I selected the 3o day challange and my personal trainer sets up my work out for me.
Here is my work out journal.

This is my projected goals for this work out. I should burn 113.9 calories.

Here is my summary after my 33 minute work out. And I was sweating when I was done. Ok, ok the humidity doesn't help and makes the seating a little exagerated.

But you can see I exceeded my calorie burning goal. I am really not sure if this is even close to accurate. At least when I set up my profile I did enter height, weight and age.

So then it was time for lunch. I have some produce in the house that is coming up on going bad. So I decided to make a healthy sandwich. Here is my tasty bread. Whole grain and 4 grams of fiber a slice.

You can see the whole grains

And the seeds and flax on the outside.

So here is what i was trying to use up: cucumber, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

And I just had to add a slice of cheese. My bread was frozen so I toasted it. Then I put the cheese on right away so it would melt a little. This is a cheese from the local grocer called quijo flamengo. I have no idea what kind it is, but it is sooooooo good. I love this cheese. It has holes like swiss but tastes different.

So I chopped up my veggies

Piled them on and added a tad of mustard, which is my favorite condiment

added the left over veggies as a salad on the side and drizzled them with a little basalmic, then tried to eat what I think might have been the world's tallest sandwich. but is was good though and very very filling.

Good thing the sandwich left me full. Dinner was not planned until 7-8 pm. There was a big going away party for Ryan's work and about 30 of us went out to dinner. It was an INSANE dining experience which will need a post all it's own, so I will save that for tomorrow or Monday. This weekend is a busy one so stay tuned for the rest of the fun.

QUESTION: What is your opinion of the wii for physical activity? What is the craziest sandwich you have ever made?