garlic shrimp with coconut, cilantro, and tomatoes

Growing up I hated vegetables.  I know a lot of people say this, but I mean I really HATED vegetables.  I avoided them like the plague.  When I first started college it was a big deal when I started eating tomatoes and cucumbers.  But now I'm working my way up to all kinds of vegetables!  I'm eating peppers now. I hope my mother is proud.

With all that being said, I've been making some delicious meals lately.  

One of my latest dinners was something I found off of pinterest.  

Ingredients:

1 lb. peeled shrimp

olive oil

1 red or yellow bell pepper (I only had mini peppers, so I used 3, yellow, red, and orange), sliced

1/2 cup fresh, chopped cilantro

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 14 oz. can of coconut milk

1/2 a lime, or a few squirts of lime juice

Sea salt

Directions:

Add sliced bell peppers to pan with olive oil and saute for about 5 minutes over low heat.  Add cilantro, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 minute.  Add can of tomatoes and can of coconut milk along with salt to taste.  Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.  Flavors will blend and sauce will thicken.  Add the shrimp to pan and cook until they are pink and done.  Turn off heat, squeeze lime juice over mixture and stir well.  Serve over rice.  Enjoy!

what to do in kauai: day three

On our final day of vacation we did some last minute exploring.

And for such a small island, there sure is a lot you can do.

• You can go visit the beautiful waterfalls.  They're definitely tourist attractions, but they're still worth visiting.  As with everything else on this island, they're wonderfully beautiful.  

• You can go and visit the Kiluea Lighthouse.  We decided not to go visit it up close and personal because we didn't want to pay the entrance fee, but there's a beautiful view that you can visit for free.  

• Take a final stroll on the sands of Kauai.

• Say goodbye to the magnificent views. 

• Chase the roosters.  They are all OVER the place.  Seriously, I though Oahu had too many chickens and roosters.  But they are everywhere on Kauai.  

Go back to get more ice cream from the same shop as before.  The owner was awesome and gave me and the hubby each a free cone!  He has my customer loyalty forever.  Now they just need to open a shop on Oahu...

• Just take it all in.  I'm constantly amazed at how much beauty there is around us all the time.  You don't have to be on a tropical paradise to find beauty.  But of course it doesn't hurt either.

• If you're like us and thought it would be a good idea to book your departure flight for 11:30 at night, don't do it.  It is not a good idea.  Most things close down pretty early on the island so after dinner time, the hubby and I were running out of ideas of things to do.  Once it got dark, we headed back to our hotel (which we had checked out of at this point)  and plopped ourselves down in the courtyard.  With a comfy chair and our feet up by the warm fire, we were pretty content with our last night on this little island of paradise.  

what to do in kauai: day two

• Wake up early and drive up north to the Na Pali Coast.  Depending on how adventurous you are, you can do one of several different length hikes.  The hubby and I originally planned to hike four miles in to a waterfall, but unfortunately we underestimated the difficulty of the trail and overestimated our abilities.  The trail wasn't necessarily too strenuous, but it was very slick and pretty scary on some parts.  But the views can't be beat though.  We hiked two miles in to a beautiful, secret beach and after resting and enjoying a snack, we hiked the two miles back out.  

• Eat lunch in Hanalei, the absolute cutest town ever. Beau and I found such a wonderful restaurant.  I got a delicious chicken pesto sandwich and Beau ate the world's largest burger.  According to my standards at least.

• Stop at more scenic lookouts.  Cause boy oh boy is this island beautiful.

• Swing by a local fruit stand and get some local produce.  Beau found his favorite fruit of all time, rambutan.  He is seriously obsessed with these fruits.  He was one happy man when we found some fresh ones for him.  

• Eat ice cream at the BEST ice cream shop I've ever been to.  Seriously this place had the most delectable ice cream and sorbet I've ever eaten.  And the owner of the shop was super nice! Oh and he also swears there are drugs in the ice cream.  And perhaps its true, because it was oh so addicting.

• And finally, end your day relaxing at your wonderful hotel.

starting the year off right

Can you believe it's 2012 already? 

2011 was an awesome year for me and the hubby.

It was our first full year as a married couple and we couldn't be happier.

Last night for New Year's Eve we hung out with two of our good friends and their darling baby.

We ate a delicious dinner, the men played xbox (go figure) and my dear friend Cari and I hung out with her sweet baby. 

After toasting in the New Year at midnight and then sleeping in this morning, Beau and I had a wonderful breakfast of chocolate crepes.  Yummm.

How was your New Years?

Coming tomorrow: what to do in kauai: day two