Packing for Nicaragua/Avoiding Spirit's Luggage Fees

4 years ago

As mentioned in this previous post, we are going to Nicaragua next week to celebrate four years of mawwiage. We have a rule that for each anniversary, we have to travel somewhere we haven't been before. Year 1: Brunswick/Jekyll Island/St. Simon's Island, GA, Year 2: Cape Haze, FL, Year 3: Charleston and Beaufort, SC, Year 4: Nicaragua!!! 

We only have our first 2 nights planned (staying in Granada at an Airbnb place) and we will figure out the rest when we get there. This is my favorite way to travel because sometimes you think you need 3 days in a place and when you get there you discover that 3 hours is just fine (Copan Ruinas, Honduras for example).  

This week we have the challenge of paring down our luggage to fit into two small backpacks. We want to avoid paying carryon fees on Spirit and to make our lives easier as we will be using a lot of public transportation (chicken buses). It's really not as difficult as I thought it'd be and helps me to focus. It's so easy to overpack for all of those "just in case" scenarios but ultimately, all of that stuff just weighs you down! We are bringing some laundry detergent to hand wash anything that gets nasty and we have invested in a quick dry travel towel and some quick dry pants for the both of us that can be worn and washed daily (if needed). 

Note: I just typed up my pack list and it seems like a lot when I type it but, you guys, this is still pretty good! Second note: Just typed up Ryan's list and he is obviously the winner of packing light. Whatever, I'm a girl.

My bag:
-1 pair bright pink athletic shoes...won't stand out in any way *Edit: Just found a black pair of Merrell shoes (on sale!) that aren't quite so obnoxious. I love my pink shoes but they should probably stay in Florida.
-1 pair Tom's, for comfy walking
-1 pair Kino flip flops
-1 quick dry shirt
-3 black cotton short sleeve t-shirts, 1 long sleeve
-1 pair  Columbia quick dry capri pants (just came in the mail, thank goodness they fit!)
-1 pair black linen pants (they never get dirty. The longer you wear them, the blacker they get)
-7 pair underwear (Technically this could be 2 pair and they could be washed but gross)
-1 pair athletic shorts, lightweight and quick dry
-1 pair black cotton leggings
-1 jersey cotton dress and 1 pashmina (just in case...)
-4 pair white cotton socks, 4 pair black foot liner socks. *Edit: Now that I'm not bringing the pink shoes, the black liner socks will be plenty!
-Travel size shampoo, conditioner, body wash and laundry detergent
-Coppertone Water Babies Pure and Simple sunblock, which according to EWG is the bee's knees.
-Waterproof camera and charger
-Toothbrushes and toothpaste
-Fleece jacket, will wear on plane so it doesn't take up space
-3 sports bras, 1 sports bra tank, 2 bandeau bras
-1 swimsuit
-1 UCF hat (b/c I went to school there once), 1 bandana, sunglasses
-Passport/money holder thing to wear under clothes. So dorky looking but makes us feel safer.
-Lara bars, Clif bars and trail mix
-Need to get a poncho, so that will also be in here

Ryan's bag:
-1 pair Sperry slip on loafer things
-1 pair Vibram toe shoes (NERD)
-1 dry bag (for his fancy camera)
-1 fancy camera
-1 pair quick dry pants
-3 pair boardshorts
-2 (or 3?) t-shirts, if it's 2, I'm going to make him bring another
-1 pair travel/quick dry underwear that he plans on washing each day....have fun with that
-Rain jacket (sorta, it is waterproof on accident)
-First aid kit, bug spray with DEET, CVS generic equivalent of Skin So Soft, Neosporin
-Clothesline and a few clothes pins
-Bungee cord
-Quick dry travel towel

So, that's it. For one week, we will get to live like vagabonds and it will be beautiful. I'll post pictures and stories when we get back. Hasta entonces!

Ocean Friendly Garden

This is what 2 tons of rock looks like...didn't fit in the hybrid

If you read my past post about Home Improvement Adventures, you know that Ryan and I have been slaving away to transform our yard from this:

Not our car...this picture was taken by the previous owners

to this:

Looks like we added palm trees but they were always there

It took a lot of hard work and we still have a few loose ends to tie up (note the grass growing in the gravel parking area...whoops) but we are nearly there! The plants growing in the dark brown area (where the pine straw is) are kind of hard to see but eventually will cover the brown area and will be green...and pink and yellow...they have little flowers! We also hope one day to make our driveway permeable (by cutting into the concrete) to further prevent runoff. 

Our front yard now requires no mowing, is drought resistant, salt tolerant and is not a wuss when it comes to massive amounts of wind (welcome to the beach). It also retains rainwater, preventing runoff into the ocean and river. We used no pesticides or fertilizers and followed the directions set out by Surfrider Foundation on their Ocean Friendly Gardens website. 

It may seem like more trouble than it's worth to create an OFG until you read about the problems plaguing our waterways, like the Indian River Lagoon. There are massive unexplained deaths of manatee and dolphin in addition to the decimation of sea grass beds and the proliferation of harmful algal blooms :(

If you want information about how you can make your yard more environmentally friendly, it is fairly simple! In Florida, there is a lot of information available about "Florida Friendly Gardens" here and Surfrider has a lot of information about "Ocean Friendly Gardens" on their website (which started in California but whose principles can be applied elsewhere). It can be a lot simpler than our yard (we did this to ourselves!!) or as complex as you'd like it to be. The main idea is to reduce the pollutants that can get from your yard to the waterways by reducing runoff, using less or no pesticides or fertilizers, conserving water and using native plants. 

Here are a few photos of the process:

Shovel champion

Dug up with one shovel...including all the St. Augustine grass

Putting down cardboard is an eco friendly way to keep weeds from growing through rock

More cardboard

Ryan takes better pictures than I do

Pink purslane is native and considered a weed by some

Perennial peanut

Plants we used:

In the mulched areas (lighter brown): texas sage, yellow bulbine, adagio and one olive tree. 

In the pine straw area (dark brown): ice plant, pink purslane, perennial peanut. 

Have you tried to make your yard more eco-friendly? Let me know in the comments! I'm always willing to learn more :) 

Sirloin Pepper Stir Fry with Baby Bok Choy

Ever since we bought a house, our adventures seem to be more of the DIY landscaping and culinary variety. I promise I didn't start this blog to post recipes but it is what it is :) I grew up in a house that did not see much home cooking and so I am constantly amazed at what I'm able to make with my bare hands and (very) little skill. I'm starting to enjoy what I cook at home more than restaurant meals...mine usually seem to have a lot more fresh ingredients and a whole lot less salt. 

This past year, Sundays have been a great opportunity for me to spend some time in the kitchen and create. It's meditative for me and when I'm done "meditating", there is usually something delicious to eat! Today it was a stir fry that I compiled from a few other recipes and just made up as I went along (how I make my best meals!)

I felt very proud of this mishmash recipe and it was invigorating to create with all of its bright colors, so I thought I'd share it with you! 

Brandy's MishMash Stir Fry Recipe

(Or we could just call it Sirloin Pepper Stir Fry with Bok Choy, sounds a little less silly)

Marinade:

(I began by adapting this marinade recipe/steps for beef prep and marinating the beef for 4 hours)

10 oz Humane Certified beef sirloin, cut into thin strips

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

5 Tbsp gluten-free tamari (soy sauce)

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp peeled, grated ginger (I love this part, makes me feel like a chef)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cloves of pressed garlic (you could mince instead)

2 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1/4 tsp dark sesame oil

Stir Fry

1/2 chopped sweet onion

1 red bell pepper, julienned

1 green bell pepper, julienned

1 bunch baby bok choy, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 bunch of chopped scallions

3 cloves pressed garlic

Heat 3 Tbsp coconut oil (or other high heat oil) over medium-high until nearly smoking. Then add  drained beef strips (but retain liquid to add later) for a quick stir around the pan (about 1-2 minutes). Remove beef but keep remaining oil in pan. Add onion and cook for 1 minute. Add peppers and cook for 2 minutes (or longer if you like your vegetables cooked more, we like them crunchy!).



Finally, return beef to the pan and add baby bok choy, scallions and garlic. Cook until baby bok choy just begins to wilt. Serve over basmati or jasmine rice and enjoy! (Note: For a more flavorful dish, you could make another batch of the marinade to add to stir fry near the end for a saucier dish. I enjoy the flavor of basmati rice so I try not to overpower it with too much sauce...which also cuts down on sodium which is a big issue for us!)

30 Day Health Challenge

Oliver the Olive Tree in the background

In an effort to be healthier, Ryan and I have started a 30 day challenge for ourselves: Walking with Romeo or some form of exercise every night (biking, jog/walking since I cannot jog further than a block...one day I will!), and no meat, dairy or alcohol. 

Appreciating the little things 

It has been really nice making the effort to get outside more often and it helps us remember to appreciate flowers, good smells like fresh ocean air and cut grass (our dog taught us that), interesting features in the landscape, etc. The exercise certainly doesn't hurt either! It's so easy to sit on the couch and put something on Netflix or rent a movie at Redbox (we don't have cable but somehow find ways to watch more tv than we'd like). After a long day at work or constant work on the house, you feel like you deserve the break but your body deserves the exercise! You owe it to your self to be as healthy as you can and push yourself off the comfy couch.

As for the diet part of our challenge: cutting out meat isn't as hard as you'd think but the dairy and alcohol thing is difficult! We have been allowing slight amounts of dairy into our diets (I think there is dairy in tikka masala sauce and I had cream in my coffee at the coffee shop) but we haven't been buying cheese, half and half (for coffee), yogurt or ice cream...all of which we enjoy but eat too much of. We switched out milk for almond milk a few years ago, so at least that is an easy transition but to make the other transitions easier, there are a few tricks I have up my sleeve like: blood orange flavored San Pellegrino...not quite a glass of red but it feels like a treat.

So far our menu items have consisted of veggie fried rice, lentil soup, Boca burgers, oatmeal, and a not so healthy but meat-free meal: Ramen noodles with an egg, onion, peas, sesame seed oil and sesame seeds. So good but not especially good for you so we won't buy any more Ramen! 

Tonight was our new favorite: Veggie and Chickpea Tikka Masala. We LOVE this recipe so I thought I'd share it with you. First, chop half an onion, 1 million garlic cloves (or however many you enjoy, ours is more like 6), 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery, 6 sweet basil leaves (chopped), a pinch of oregano, a pinch of black pepper and sea salt, and a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes (very scientific measurements). 

This is the Tikka Masala sauce we used...cheat cooking :)

Cook these ingredients in a mixture of 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 2 of olive oil (rough measurements, you want to coat the bottom of the pan) over medium heat for about 5 minutes and then add two cans of drained chickpeas. Cook another 3 minutes and add a 10 oz bag of frozen broccoli. Add jar of tikka masala sauce, then add a bit of water to the jar to get all the stuff coating the inside (it's a thick sauce) and add this to the pan. 

Cover and simmer over medium low until broccoli unthaws and is hot. Serve over basmati rice, top with fresh tomato and VOILA! You're a chef. We cooked 2 cups of dry basmati rice and we have enough leftovers for lunch for at least 2 days for both of us, maybe the whole week...I'll update when we finish it off!

Serve with Aranciata Rossa San Pellegrino if you're feeling fancy and enjoy outside in the mosquito cloud of your front yard. Citronella incense, candles and bug spray will provide slight protection but the bug bites are worth the tranquil dinner al fresco :)

Home and Life Improvement Adventures

We are such old farts. Our days have been consumed by "working in the yard" and "trips to the Home Depot". It's pathetic. We should be hang gliding through volcanoes for Pete's (and our own) sake! I must say though, there is something very satisfying about taking something and transforming it into something completely different and (I think) better. For instance, our latest projects are:

-installing gutters on our 1960's home. Well, some dudes from Home Depot will be installing them. I'll be watching from the comfort of my air conditioned living room. For some reason, many of the homes built in our area during this time were not built with gutters. What a terrible idea. The amount of rain that torpedoes down from the roof to our lawn is unacceptable. If I wanted a moat it would be perfect but, silly me, I'd like a regular yard that doesn't threaten to throw my house off it's foundation in a water slide of disaster.

Holy crap, we're landscapers!

-creating an Ocean Friendly Garden(OFG) out of our yard which currently consists of random grass, weeds (which are kinda pretty when they flower), and a handful of palm trees. Lucky for us, Lindley's Nursery is just a few miles away and they sent a lovely plant expert out to create a landscape plan for us for a nominal fee. We really needed their help....it's so overwhelming. Now we have an idea of what we can do to make our yard low maintenance and friendly to the oceans and the environment. We have already planted Oliver, the olive tree pictured above, some bulbines and Texas sage. All of which are drought resistant, can handle the high winds at the beach and aren't total wusses when it comes to living in salty soil. When Oliver is fully grown, he'll be kind of a bad ass. Google it.

-building a boardwalk path from the gravel parking area to our front door so that you don't have to walk through the grass or all the way over to the driveway which is like at least 3 feet away. Mostly it looks cool and beachy and we really, really wanted it. Sound logic.

Next up? A dry river bed to reduce runoff (a key element of an OFG), mulch or rock to put around plants, more plants, rain barrels for the gutters and converting our sprinkler irrigation to a drip system. All of this will take some time though because who knew how frickn expensive things would be?! A million dollars for gutters, 2 billion gazillion dollars for wood and 3 kajillion dollars for olive trees, rocks and screws. Good lord.

In other, good money news: we are on track to pay off our monster student loans in 3 years!! Woohoo!!! This means sticking to our budget but I know we can do it. Even though I want to spend all our money on gutters and olive trees....I will be strong! We are even going to try to eat a completely vegetarian and diary free diet for the next 30 days to save money and be healthier. We already don't eat a ton of meat but cutting out cheese is going to be just awful. Lentils and chickpeas, let's do this! Does anyone have any delicious vegetarian/dairy free recipes they'd like to share? I need all the help I can get :)