You Share Your Advice And I´ll Share Some Recipes

The other night I made some scallops with Hoisin sauce which were sooooooo yummy! I got my inspiration for this meal HERE. 

I will not proclaim to be an expert scallops maker. I know so much lies in the timing of these babies in order to get the crispy outside and juicy (yet cooked thoroughly) inside but I think I didn´t do too badly here. I served mine with broccoli and whole grain pasta...if you´re looking for a seafood meal (and it´s recommended to eat seafood three times a week) I highly recommend these scrumptious morsels from the sea....

This July the Captain and I will be married for 20 years. For those who follow my blog regularly you know that a couple years ago it wasn´t a given we would get to 20 years. We hit a bump...a very very big bump that nearly de-railed us. Thankfully though we made it through that horrible time together and while I would never wish anyone to go through what I went through during that time...when I look back on it, I see that I needed a wake up call. He needed one too. We were both existing...living day to day taking care of the necessities of life and being the best parents we could to our kids..but we had forgotten that we were a couple and needed to take care of each other. So while I wish we could have gotten the wake up call in some other way, I´m glad we got it and I´m glad we were able to work through things and talk and even more important- hear each other. 

So we´ve been talking about what we would do to celebrate our anniversary this year. When we first got married we said if we made it to 10 years we would re-marry each other again but in a big fancy wedding with white dress and all. You see we were young and it was I guess what you could call a "shot-gun" wedding. Sarah was already on her way and the Captain was an aupair at the time...we didn´t want him to have to leave and head back to Norway so we decided to get married. I know...not exactly the most romantic reason to get married, but it seemed right...and it was right. I´ve never doubted that the Captain was the right guy for me...even when we hit our bump. Which is why I fought so hard and I think I can safely say he has no regrets either...otherwise I don´t think we would have gotten back on track after almost being de-railed. When we hit the 10 year mark though we had young children and no money...so there was no new marriage ceremony. I can´t remember exactly but there is a strong chance the Captain was out at sea also. He isn´t always home on big special days...it´s ok though, I´ve gotten use to that. We celebrate when we can...no big deal! Now after 20 years of marriage I know that the big fancy wedding isn´t that important. It´s not what makes a marriage. What makes a marriage is everything afterwards..the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing, the beautiful. The highs, the lows...the sickness and the health...it´s talking and listening, it´s giving and taking, it´s compromise. It´s loving someone at their worst and encouraging them to be their best. It´s not about white dresses and big parties...although those are fun...they don´t make a marriage. 

So...after much yaddy yaddy yadda...(It´s impossible for me to make a long story short...can you tell?) I´m turning to you my dear readers to ask for your advice. What can the Captain and I do to celebrate our 20th anniversary? Something romantic- preferably a trip somewhere. It doesn´t have to be a white beached tropical destination but romantic would be very nice. I´m thinking a long weekend to a week away with just him. Rome is hanging heavy in my thoughts...I absolutely adored that city...but something new could be fun too...maybe Barcelona? Let me know what your ideas are for a romantic 20th wedding anniversary ok? While you´re thinking about that I´ll share with you tonight´s dinner...Roasted pepper, garlic, and tomato soup Ala Amy :-)

This is such a great meal because it´s extremely flexible. I had some tomatoes and red, yellow, and green peppers I needed to use up. I threw in some yellow onion and garlic- all after how much you have and your own taste preferences. I love garlic so I always use LOTS of it. For this soup I used 4 red tomatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, and 1 red pepper, 1.5 yellow onion, and 8 garlic cloves. Put this in a baking dish, drizzle olive oil over and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it starts to get a little burnt on the edges. Stir every now and then. 

While these beautiful veggies are roasting in your oven, get about 2 liters of beef broth warmed up on your stove. Once your veggies are done roasting run them through a blender until everything is pulped into one big mash- pour into the beef broth and add two boxes of canned chopped tomatoes which have also been pulped in a blender..let all of this simmer together for as long as you can possibly wait...the longer the better as the flavors can marry for a long time and taste incredible. I always run my soup through a colander to get rid of the chunks that are left as my kids don´t like chunks in their soup. After you´ve gotten rid of the chunks you can add some smoked sausage pieces like I did..protein is important did you know that?? ;-) 

I´m hesitant to write this as sometimes my kids read my blog and sometimes they don´t...but they asked me tonight if I added something spicy to the soup and I said no....hehehehe.....but I did....hehehehe....I added a couple dashes of garlic chili sauce and a couple dashes of Sriracha Hot chili sauce. I can´t help it....I like it a little spicy and spices like chili increase your metabolism so you can burn calories faster...who wouldn´t want a couple dashes of that magic stuff??? Just don´t tell the kids will ya?? Finally a little garlic pepper and sea salt just to taste..(I didn´t need much)..voila...this is soooooooo I mean....SOOOOOOOO....SOOOOO good....and when you have some whole grain rolls that are getting slightly old...like I had you can butter those, splash a little garlic powder over them and top them with a little cheese, finally a dash or two of pizza seasonings and in the oven for a wonderful cheesy garlic bread you can dip in your soup! I´m telling you I can´t get enough garlic...EVER!!! 

Ok, don´t forget to leave your romantic 20th anniversary suggestions in the comment box below...I know there are romantic people out there who will be reading this and have some wonderful ideas to share with me! Put your thinking caps on, I´m counting on you to help me with some ideas that can make this a wonderful anniversary! And one more thing- our celebration doesn´t just have to take place on one day or a weekend or a week- we can celebrate in small ways all year long too!  However a trip could only be a long weekend to a week- otherwise let your creativity flow and fill that comment box below with all your amazing ideas ok?


Have a great evening everyone!


Until next time my friends......

A-MOOSIE

I´m going to share something with you that only those near and dear to me know...my Dad gave me a nickname growing up. Several actually, although the majority of nicknames played off the original. Are you ready? A-Moosie, or Moose....or Amoose. Yeah, I know...sweet eh? What every teenage girl wanted to be called...I know...you see as I was growing there was a period I went through three pairs of tennis shoes in three months. That is when I got the nickname from my Dad and it stuck. I was growing as big as a moose...then my name Amy....A-Moose....Amoosie...you get the drift...


It wasn´t the best nickname I could have thought of for myself at the time but over the years it´s grown on me and I find it endearing now. Of course no one calls me that anymore...not even Dad really. However when I see these guys....

I can´t help but feel a sense of unity with them...how lovely to be associated through a nickname to such a magnificent animal. 

I sat in my warm home drinking a cup of coffee and watching this fellow/lady through my binoculars in utter awe and amazement. Such a patient and slow moving animal. As I opened my window to take these photos the cats who were outside heard me and began crying...Mr./Ms. Moose heard the cat and stopped and stared for what seemed like forever in the direction of the house....not moving, simply looking like a statue...then ever so slowly turned in the slowest motion and moved quietly and slowly even further into the woods....

This amazing animal lives somewhere in the woods across from my house. I don´t see him/her that often which is amazing considering this isn´t a very big island...but I see footprints and I see he/she is on the move a lot...you´d think as slowly as they move and as small as this island is and as big as the moose is you´d see them more often but amazingly enough this is a rare experience and one I treasure every time I get it. 


The other night I made a stew with Moose meat. I know, all animal lovers are probably angry with me over that one...but such is life. Moose meat is actually a fantastic meat if you´ve never tried it. My kids had it for the first time the other night and then all of them in unison said we needed to catch the moose we had seen so we could have more of the wonderful meat! They are such little Vikings these offspring of mine! Have you ever tried moose meat? What is the best way you´ve had it prepared?


Tonight we´re doing scallops. If the recipe I am planning to use turns out I´ll share it with you. I would have shared the moose dish with you but totally forgot about blogging and photographing that evening- can you imagine? 


Until next time my friends....

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillet

Because yesterday´s post was way too long I decided to keep it short and simple tonight. We all know fish is good for us and there are numerous ways to serve fish....imagination is the only thing standing in the way. In case your imagination needs a little help here is a dish that is really yummy and turns plain ol´salmon into a magical dish. You can find the recipe HERE. 

I served our salmon tonight with whole grain pasta and fresh veggies. For my pasta sauce I totally winged it but it turned out really good. I used the sauce for the fish that I had left over (probably 1/2 cup?) and mixed in about 100 grams of cream cheese, 1/2 cup cream, 2 TBSP light crème fraiche, about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded and about 1tsp onion powder, garlic pepper, and salt to taste. Let it all simmer together until you get desired thickness and pour over pasta and mix well. 


With the leftover pasta I´m already thinking of lunch tomorrow. I think I´ll sauté some onions and mushrooms together in a little olive oil and then add some chicken breast meat to the onions and mushrooms- give it a little zip in the pan and then add it to the pasta. I also have some sugar peas which would be perfect to add a little color to my chicken pasta salad :-) I´ll let you know how that works out tomorrow! 


Have a great Hump Day everyone!


Until next time my friends....

Thoughts In My Head...

I look at my attempt at a new lifestyle as much more then just what I put in my mouth and what I burn off. There are so many other aspects to a person´s life which affect their health and or weight. One of these is sleep. I have been thinking a lot about how little sleep I actually get compared to how much I should have.  How much or how little you get can play a big part in how heavy you are or how skinny you are. Here are 16 other interesting facts I learned while surfing the web about sleep...click HERE. You can find a lot of information about sleep on the net and this is just one website I stumbled upon. Bottom line is you need your sleep if you´re going to function as you should and have a healthy life and a normal weight. I´ll be working on getting my 8 hours soon!


 The great weight loss mystery isn´t really a mystery. It´s black and white. It´s so simple we don´t want to see what is right before us. It´s so simple but yet we insist that it must be a huge difficult thing or we would all be normal weights...It doesn´t matter what you eat as much as how much vs how much you burn off through exercise. There it is folks...in black and white...Every day they are telling you, Ok you can eat this...next day...no don´t eat that...next day, ok you can eat it as long as you eat something else with it. It´s too confusing. I think it´s better to focus on what you know for sure...you can´t lose weight unless you´re burning off more then you are taking in. Simple as that. However, people will continue to become millionaires off of the fact that we overweight people are looking for a quick fix...something that will get us across the finish line with minimum effort. Even if you get across the finish line with a fad diet, you will be running the race again before you know it...the results won´t last in the long run. It´s a simple equation that gives the perfect answer every time- eat less then you burn off and you´ll go the distance...


I´m totally for homemade vs pre-made food. A lot of people use the excuse that they don´t have time to make everything from scratch or they aren´t good enough. Those are excuses. Everyone can make time and everyone can learn what they want to learn. We humans are experts at making excuses for things we don´t want to do. Think back over the last excuse you used for something you didn´t want to do....see how easy it was to come up with that excuse? And that is what happens with weight loss. No matter what diet you follow, no matter if you eat less then what you burn off- the results won´t happen unless you are truly ready....truly committed. If you aren´t then I say don´t even try...why set yourself up for failure?  Unless your heart is truly in it...save yourself the taste of defeat...it´s a nasty sour taste you´re just as well without. Only put in the effort when you´ve decided with all your heart that this is what you truly want. 


I believe I truly want a healthier lifestyle. With that said though, I´ve thought I´ve truly wanted it before too. I´ve made valiant efforts only to crash and burn in a wall of excuses and lack of willpower. So why do I give you advice to not even try if you can´t commit and then I admit that I´ve tried and failed so many times? Because that is who I am. Internally I know exactly what I should do. I´m perfect in my little head...I have the answers to everything....however in practice I´m anything but perfect. I´m all human and then some. I haven´t got a clue and I mess things up more often then not. With this said though...I never give up. No matter how many times I fail...I keep believing I will get it one day. I will cross the finish line and keep on going with my healthy lifestyle forever. It won´t be a chore I cringe at the thought of...it will be natural....like brushing my teeth. I´ll look at bad weather and think...some rain clothes will take care of that....or some wool longs and warm sweaters, mittens, and boots would be perfect today! Instead of...thank God it´s so crappy outside so I can use the excuse that I don´t feel like going out in that horrible weather...I can stay in and complain about it on facebook with all my "friends". It´s attitude and while I have the perfect attitude in my head...I don´t always have the perfect attitude in practice. Anyone else recognize themselves in what I write or am I unique with these thoughts?


With all of this said..(and these are thoughts in my head so if I´m being very random here...sorry...but you´ve hung in this far so I must be saying something too entertain you or you just really have nothing better to do then read this) but with all this said...I´m again making a valiant effort for a better lifestyle and it involves walking my fur babies as well as trips to the gym and watching what I put in my mouth. As I mentioned in an earlier post...geocaching has been a fun way to exercise and go on an adventure all at the same time and we all love a little adventure in our lives now don´t we? 


Today we broke the dogs into two groups and took two walks...first the little dogs and Nanna Banana..Then we took the next group and went Geocaching. We told Cookie we would be walking through the snow...she thought that sounded like fun... 

Nanna Banana did too....

After we explained that walking through the snow didn´t mean with our entire bodies they caught on quickly....Our smart dog Jenny showed them what we meant....But Jenny rarely walks anywhere...why walk when you can run??

By George I think she´s got it now!!!

The woods is a magical place any time of the year but when it´s blanketed in snow there is something extra special about it...I just love the woods...

We are truly lucky to live in the woods...there are so many wonderful things to see here...

As we headed back to the house, Cookie ran far ahead of all of us...even Jenny who use to be the quickest dog we had, couldn´t keep up....something was telling us that Cookie had had enough of our walk and was ready to get back inside....we called to her and she stopped to look at us...she wouldn´t come though...no matter how much we called, she would just tilt her head and look at us as if she was thinking- Come on guys- we´re almost there!!

After much encouragement her need to be close to us overcame her will to get home quickly and she came flying back to us....

Once we tucked Cookie safe and sound inside the warm house we grabbed the last group of dogs and headed down to the marina here on the island. According to our Geocaching game there was a Geocache hidden down there. Off we walked....past the farms.....

Down past the sweet little church so many of you liked as well as I do.....

Til we came upon the marina....

But guess what? The Geocache isn´t exactly at the marina....it´s close...but not down where the boats are. I won´t ruin the surprise for the next person who wants to find it and perhaps by luck stumbles upon my blog and sees what it looks like but I will say this- get the program from Geocaching for your android telephone- Geocaching Live API as this has a distance measurer and a compass which will let you know where exactly your cache is...we found the area where the cache was but finding the actual cache was difficult but when we found it at last we had to laugh that we didn´t notice it before!!! We had been so close to giving up but then we found it....

WIth the cache found and signed there was nothing left to do but head back up to our cabin in the woods.....past the church....

and back up into the woods we love...

This was a very very long post. A lot of rambling in the beginning...but you know this girl has a lot of thoughts floating around up there in her head...and since my blog is like an online journal I write my thoughts down here and it´s up too you if you want to follow along the whole way or skim through the photos and be on your way ;-) But thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I´m watching the ticker on the side...seeing where all of you are stopping in from. So many countries...so many interesting places...I wonder so many times how you happened upon my blog...did you stumble in, been here before, seen me somewhere else on the web and followed me home? hahahahaha....however you got here doesn´t matter, I´m just glad you´re here...I love to share my world with you and I hope you like what you see and come back again...I promise I´ll try not to be so chatty next time ;-)


Until next time my friends.....

Our First Treasure Hunt!

A few posts back I told you all about Geocaching. I also mentioned that without a GPS we failed miserably trying to find our first cache. Today...armed with the Captain´s new cell phone which he has been able to download a Geocache program on and the GPS that comes with his phone we headed out again....into the cold...into the winter...into the woods...

It really is magical right now in the woods when the snow lays heavily upon the branches and you feel you´re walking in a winter wonderland....

Another positive about walking in the cold is the wonderful color you get in your cheeks...

She´s beautiful without the pink cheeks also but this color brings out her blue/green eyes don´t you think?
Ok ok, back to the Geocache.....the first one was at the Trollstein not far from our house...with the help of the GPS and the Geocache program we got close...

Then we saw it!!! Do you see it? Look hard....amazingly enough we´ve lived here for five years this summer and we´ve taken numerous walks past this tree and never ever been aware of this cache and it´s been there since 2008! I didn´t take photos of the stuff that was up in the box because to me that is half the fun of these things...seeing what you find. However, I will say there was some things I think we could have taken with us but we didn´t want too, so we left a little Kinder chocolate and decided to move on to the next cache..

On the way to the next cache which was at Helgøya church we passed an old abandoned farm which we walk past a lot with the dogs. The home isn´t lived in and I don´t know who owns the property but I dream of buying this place and taking down the old farm house and building a lovely home here. The views are breathtaking....don´t you think?

With the help of the Geocache program and GPS the next cache was no problem to find...there was also a clue on this one- "Behind a stone, Bak en stein" that helped a lot too...

I think Helgøya church is so sweet. For several nights there has been snow coating the trees outside the church and when the lights from the church shine on the snow covered trees it´s so neat..looks like frosted trees. I thought several times I needed to take my camera but every single time I walked out the door that thought eluded me...hahahaha...so today when we were down there I took some photos but unfortunately the frosted tree look was gone..still....there is something incredibly charming about this church and her little yard of trees...

After this Geocache find we turned our noses homeward....

Someone, I won´t mention any names to protect their identity but I can give you a hint- the person is in this photo, was having fun kicking the heavy snow filled trees so the snow would fall off and onto whoever was walking under...some people are so easily entertained!

Home sweet home.....


I can highly recommend the Geocache game to anyone. It gets you out and exploring the world and it´s fun!!! For we who are trying to live a better healthier life it´s a great excuse to take a walk and when I see how tired my doggies were after the walk I think several of us can benefit from more Geocaching walks!!! ;-)

Isn´t that right my big ol´puppy wawg??? Ahhh, look at that sweet baby! 

Kiss Kiss Kiss!!!! 


Sorry I have no recipes for you this time. I´ve been trying to eat healthy and well, yeah of course I can come up with recipes when I´m eating healthy but so far it´s been some salad and lasagna...this is a pasta salad I made the other night. I did kinda a little stir fry thing in a pan first, cooked up a little whole grain pasta (which is why it looks so brown in the photo) and then chopped up a bunch of salad ingredients and then tossed the whole thing together- stir fry, salad, and pasta....a hearty and I´m hoping pretty healthy meal!

I´ve gotta run, Thomas is going to soccer and I´m heading to the gym with the Captain for a workout!! I know I´m amazing right??? hahahahaha.....ROFL!!!! Ok be good people!!!


Until next time.....