yesterday, I started my morning off right with one of my favorite breakfast additions – Twin Cakes Cashew Coconut Biscotti

followed by a quick 4 minute workout (I am doing pretty good this new year with keeping up with my workouts, even if the workouts are short ones)

then made some pulp crackers

since I have been enjoying some wonderful fresh juice everyday with my mom while home in FL, I wanted to show what I did with all the pulp.
my juice was 1 medium beet, 4 celery stalks, 1 cucumber, 3 small gala apples, and about 6 large carrots

I decided to use my juice pulp to make crackers.

so my cracker pulp was a mix of sweet and savory, but a little more on the sweet side. perfect

for the pulp crackers I took pretty much all the pulp (about 2 cups) grabbed some flax meal (around 1/2 cup) and sprinkled in some spices. I did not measure but did a little chili powder, cumin, parsley, ya I think that was it. and the poured water till it combined maybe a cup or a little under.
my mom does not have a dehydrator so I baked them in oven at 375. it went about 30 minutes and was not really getting crispy, so went a little longer. my pulp crackers turned out to be more like a soft bread. shared them with the family and everyone surprisingly enjoyed them! yay for a random fast top of the head throw things together recipe

yesterday was a sad day for me. sad because I had to say goodbye to my family as my holiday vacation has come to an end.

then my sis, Jen, and I packed up our things and piled into this beauty
we are working these next few days at the Disney Marathon Expo for her company, Raw Threads. if you are new to our blog, our sister has her own athletic wear company all made from bamboo and fashionable too! so you look and feel good when working out.

anyways we just love it, you see us wearing her stuff a lot

but the main reason for my post today (sorry for my rambling) was her cooler!! I am not sure why I have not blogged about it before, but it is amazing. we have used it many times for past races. it is a cooler where you do not need ice. just plug in it. this cooler works in cars as well as hotel rooms. so perfect for people like us who travel with a lot of food. and we have traveled a lot.

keeping up with our trend of reusing kombucha cans to use for traveling green smoothies. we do this so when we are done, we just recycle the bottles instead of worrying about mason jars.

our cooler was full of green smoothies (in old kombucha bottles),  Twin Cakes dough balls and truffles, coconut curry, sauerkraut, gluten free chocolate chip cookies, gluten free scones and kombucha. a little food to help our time here at Disney at little easier. as you all know we have to be careful with the food we eat, as we do not want to spend our time curled up in bed or in the bathroom. we are pretty used to it now, traveling with food.

when we get to drive to an event it makes it a lot easier to bring more food options that way we do not have to worry much about getting food else where. so makes everyone’s lives easier.

hello from Disney!

Twins Question: Have you heard of this type of cooler before? One that needs no ice, just plugs in? Do you prefer traveling by car or plane? Do you bring food when you travel? Do you hate when you have to travel with someone who requires so much “planning” out food? I know there are people out there that probably think we are high maintenance (or weird) or something because we travel with our own food. but to be honest it does make life easier in the long run.

till next time,

Michelle

hello friends!

well you saw Michelle’s brief Christmas holiday highlights now my turn to share my weekend highlights. as you may have already noticed we spent Christmas separately this year. I went with Gary to see his family in Raleigh, NC. it was fun to head back to where I used to live before moving to Charlotte. plus Gary’s oldest brother and wife just had their first baby. the first grandson for Gary’s parents so a real exciting time for the family!

before heading out of town I made myself some mostly raw pumpkin pie mousse to be my dessert over the weekend

I ended up adding a chocolate sauce on top. I just love pumpkin and chocolate together!

made Gary and I some gluten free pumpkin baked donuts with pecan coating for the road – it is an updated recipe that we plan to share soon. it was delicious and the perfect road trip breakfast this holiday.  *they are not minis donuts they are regular size, the plate I grabbed for road trip was just that big

then of course stopped by Starbucks

Gary and I stopped by Whole Foods for lunch before arriving at his brothers house.

love my whole foods salads!

I think I got a little bit of everything! so good

then we were off to get the Christmas celebration started plus I finally got to see my future nephew.

little baby boy Greyson

then after hanging out with Gary’s family a few of us were off to go workout. I ended up doing a walk/run while Gary and his dad played some tennis.

this lake brought back a lot of memories for me as this used to be the lake that Michelle and I would come and run at a lot when we lived in Raleigh

showered and got ready for Christmas Eve dinner.  I did not really take too many pictures as I just really wanted to enjoy the night with family.

next morning it was Christmas!!!

there was coffee and hot chocolate to pick from

plus we all enjoyed some mimosa

then it was time for presents

I got some wonderful things this Christmas from clothing, to Tom’s shoes, to money to nice bottles of wine.

I think Greyson was the present king.

after a wonderful morning and leisurely afternoon it was time for Christmas dinner, Gary always teasing me about taking pictures of myself in the mirror so he joined in on the fun

while we were all in the kitchen getting dinner ready Greyson joined the party as well, such a cutie

we also enjoyed lots of wine.

my dinner looked something like this (this is my dinner from last night but it pretty much was the same thing). when traveling to friends or other family members houses I usually bring my own food. it just makes it easier on everyone I feel. there are moments when I feel silly that I bring my own food but if my tummy happy and I am happy then I feel it is worth it.

be back with great recipes to share with you all.

Twins Questions: Do you bring your own food to friends or family’s houses? Do you like it when someone with ‘certain’ food habits bring their own food or does it bother you?

till next time,

xoxo

Lori

Merry Christmas from Gary and Lori from NC.

Merry Christmas from Michelle from FL.

Wishing you all a merry, joyful, peaceful, blessful, and happy Christmas!!

xoxo

L & M

hello from Las Vegas!!

my time here in the Vegas is coming to an end, but what a time I have had.

I have walked a lot. I have seen a lot. I have ate a lot. and I have drank a lot.

so I feel I have experienced Vegas, well for the most part.

last night we went from casino to casino. gambled. won money. lost money. repeated.

delicious sweet potatoes fries

nothing like having a little cocktail while taking some pictures. I think it helps me take better pictures. well it makes me more relaxed does that count?

what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?

Lori and Gary do not get any ideas?? haha

cheered on the marathon and half marathon runners.

saw iconic symbols of Vegas.

but the highlight was seeing O Cirque du Soleil.

my older sister surprised me, and what a great surprise too!

enjoyed O so much!! I enjoy shows like the Cirque series. 

it was different than I was expecting but wonderful to see. now I just have to come back to Vegas to see the rest of the Cirque series!  I have seen the one in Orlando already which is another great show to see!

I have just a few hours left here..what will i do today…

* post and pictures done on my iPhone

Twins Question: Have you seen an Cirque du Soleil show before? Do you like seeing shows? What is your favorite?

till next time,

Michelle

* check out one of our favorite biscotti recipes over at Eating Bird Food.

hello again friends! Vegas is still treating me right. keeping me full and always peaking my curiosity of what I am going to see next too.

again can not get enough of the Venetian hotel. almost makes me feel like I am Italy again… almost

my first full day in Vegas was great. still getting used to all the smoke around here.

had a great time selling at the health and fitness expo with the Raw Threads team. when the expo got over we got ready for dinner. though I forgot to bring a pair of jeans! yikes! who forgets to pack jeans?  who forgets to pack cute clothes? umm that would be me. lets just say I was not too happy with myself on forgetting those. so I did by best to look cute in bamboo running tights.  I guess I am starting a new fashion trend, kidding.

Vegas has so many great restaurants to choose from. we decided to eat back at the Venetian before walking around some more

love all the Christmas decorations

adore this pink tree, anyone else? maybe it is just cause I like pink

got some mint gelato, just hard to pass up because I am in Italy right?  haha now I normally do not eat gelato because of the dairy factor but this might be my only time I am in Vegas and I wanted some gelato. so I got some. enough said.

moving on to more beautiful sites of the Vegas strip

saw the Bellagio, such a site to see

fantastic water displays

the Eiffel Tour in Vegas? haha  I would have to say that real thing in Paris is better

there is so much energy here. I see how you could never really sleep while in Vegas.

after another night of some sleep then it was time for breakfast again

this morning I got a veggie omelet along with more coffee

my day 2 outfit for the health and fitness expo with raw threads. here I am wearing my all time favorite raw threads shirt- the pirate run runner shirt!! love it! even though I do not drink rum that much, I still love this shirt because I am a pirate girl at heart!

last day of the Rock n Roll Marathon health and fitness expo then it is time to take down booth and finally really get to explore Vegas.

I wonder what trouble I can get into, haha

thoughts so far about my first time ever to Vegas? feels weird to be here in Vegas I admit. especially around Christmas time. how it is not really busy here and how weird Vegas is cold. hard to imagine for me because I always thought of Vegas as being hot. overall being here for 2 days and I am loving it.

Twins Question: do you like gelato? have your ever been to Paris? have you ever forgotten to bring certain clothes to your final desination before? if so, what did you do to make up for the missing clothes?

till next time,

Michelle