Energy Drinks

I admit, I like energy drinks.  Not really sure why, can't say they even work once you get used to drinking them regularly.  But somehow they slid right into my weekly routine.  And not only that, they helped slide a few extra pounds around my waistline!

So... I've decided to take a break from the energy drinks and see what happens.  Oh how I'll miss you Red Bull, and SPAM, and Golden Power, and Power Booster, and Bullit, & of course store brands!  (You know me, I buy what's on sale.)

I'll try and give you an update soon to see if it's helped me kick any of the extra weight.  And since I also like smoothies, I'm hoping the natural energy will start taking over soon.  (There should be a smoothie post this week.)

Wish me luck!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Skid Training

Not so long ago, after fish tailing around a curve in my car, I decided maybe it wasn't bad to finally take the skid training course offered by my old driving school, Leeuw.  The course was included in my package but at the time I didn't dare take the course, I didn't feel I had enough experience in a stick shift to willingly put myself in that situation.  After getting my license I mostly drove my husbands automatic and still didn't feel ready.  But now I've been in my own stick shift since the summer and like I said, I've had a couple scares and knew it was time to follow-up on the course.  It was great!  It was fun, it was informative, and I recommend skid / safety training to everyone!  The class was a mixture of enthusiastic teenage boys and older adults out for a day of fun & learning (think I was the only in my 30's).  I was shaking in the beginning, a combination of cold & nervousness/excitement but luckily that quickly went away!  It started out pretty basic, braking at 30kph & 60kph to see the difference in just how far you slide before the car comes to a complete stop.  When riding someones tail in traffic because you're late it's easy to forget just how long it actually takes a car to stop, it was a great reminder.  (Another reason to take the course.)  Then we moved on to braking on a wet road, you obviously slide even further, surprisingly farther.  Each time the tasks grew more complicated.  We worked together, 2-4 people in a car, I luckily had an 18yr old boy with me who listened well and was able to explain things to me just in case I didn't understand what they were asking of me in Dutch.  I could have used my own car, but I didn't want to risk damaging it, plus it was only €15 to borrow one from the school.  It took a while to get the feel of a different stick shift, but it eventually worked out.  After soaking the track and letting us practice braking, we moved on to avoiding obstacles.  There were two places the teacher could shoot up a wall of water and your job was to drive around the wall.  It was a lot of fun, and for the most part everyone in the class did their best to avoid the wall, only on occasion did someone plow through the middle of it.  It's amazing how much noise the ABS makes, not mention how bad the car shakes!  And the last 45 minutes of the class was learning how to keep you car from spinning in a circle, when it skids out on a wet road.  This was awesome, but only because it was on a safe track, not out on a busy road.  The first time around the instructor took everyone out and showed off, spinning us around... then it was our turn!  Obviously the point was not to spin, but everyone did.  The driver controlled the wheel and pedals & the passenger controlled the hand brake.  I'm sure the kid I was with would have liked me to have been better at the brake, but I did my best.  We each had about 6 chances to get it right, and shockingly enough by the last time I was able to keep the car from spinning.  We each earned a certificate (supposedly some insurance companies even give you discounts for this), and had a fun 3.5 hr course testing our reaction times & skills.  I did have to be careful driving home though, I felt like a stunt driver ready for a movie, but then all I had to do was remind myself just how serious driving is and the dangers that always surround us.  As usual I snapped some pics, but during the best stuff we were in the cars, should have thought to pull my camera out in the passenger seat when the wall of water shot up in front if us, oh well!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Smoothie, Yum

When I drink a smoothie, I actually feel my health improving with each sip, as silly as it sounds.  And smoothies have endless possiblities, so they never grow boring.  But they do have their downfalls, fresh fruit & veggies can be expensive, it takes effort & clean up, and they don't store well.  So basically you have to buy the fruit as you go and not make portions larger than a glass, unless you have people you can share it with.  The sharing in our house gets complicated... see my husband rarely drinks a smoothie.  And half the ingredients my tot likes in hers, I can't have.  I end up making mutiple single serving smoothies (like I said, lots of effort & clean up).  I've always liked smoothies, but I originally started making smoothies for my tot so that we could freeze the blend and make healthy popsicles (turns out she also likes drinking them).  Since she has no fruit allergies, I toss in everything, this way the popsicles and smoothies are always surprising.  Some blends she prefers more than others, she'll tolerate some seeds & bits, but I know not to push it.  Now for myself, smoothies are tricky.  During my pregnancy years ago, I developed allergies, and this includes a lot of raw fruits.  Most all of the general ingredients for a yummy healthy smoothie I just can't drink.  So I have to get creative.  I have a couple smoothie recipe books and I keep meaning to gather the ingredients but inevitably I just use what's on sale or already in the house.  I can still manage to make a tasty smoothie despite the fact apple, pear, and strawberries are on my "avoid like the plague" list.  Due to ingredients around the house this past week, I came up with a tasty fruit & veggie smoothie I thought I'd share.  

1 mandarin
2 kiwis
2 cherry tomatoes
5 baby carrots

This mix of ingredients means the smoothie turns a strange orangish color, but who really cares what color it is as long as it tastes nice.  The first time I made one I was overwhelmed with the carrot chunks (luckily I like carrots), so the next time I was sure to blend longer.  And these fruits & veggies are high in vitamin A, C, & K.  A is good for your eyes, C is good for the immune system, & K is good for bone health.  Can't complain!

Hope you give the smoothie a chance, and if not, I'm sure I'll come up with another one you can try out!!!

Van De Streek Bier

Beer is pretty common in our house, sure we have our favorites but we are also willing to branch out and try a variety of brands (generally those on sale, ha-ha!)  When one of my husbands employees decided to take a personal hobby to the next level and start brewing beer for the public, we jumped on board and ordered a 12 pack.  It took a while but a week or so ago the beer arrived!  I was pleasantly surprised to find two types of beer in the box, a pale ale and a dark roast.  Since it was Friday we popped the beers in the fridge and patiently waited for them to cool.  Now I'm not sure if the dark roast was supposed to be served cold or warm, but I'm not a fan of warm beer so we drank it cold.  (Probably should have asked the brewer.)  Both types of beer were nice but I took to the dark roast, maybe because it's a coffee stout.  One thing my husband had to warn me about was the alcohol content, apparently these beers are much stronger than the grocery store beer.  That was quite evident after even just one.  As far as I know, the beer is only available here in The Netherlands, and since it's a fairly new company they are now trying to get their product into bars.. who knows maybe one day it'll be on the shelf at the store also.  I wish the Van De Streek brothers a lot of success in their endeavors, proost (cheers)!