Family Time!!!!!!!

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."  -- Desmond Tutu

I've always wished I was a part of those families where every Sunday they get together and have a big meal, talk about memories, and recap each others weeks. I used to think only TV families did that. I promised myself when I had a family, I would start that tradition. One that would last even when they were older and living on their own.

As you get older, you start to value family more. I'm beginning to learn on a day to day basis that NO ONE is going to love me like they do, and because of that I'm making an effort to spend more time with my lovely familia!

Yesterday I visited my aunt, uncle and 3 younger cousins for some Sunday Funday excitement! My aunt is a bigggggg cooking motivation for me. There's rarely a time I visit that she's NOT cooking for her family, and everything is deeeeeeelicious. I love her ability to take ingredients that you would not think of making together, and turn it into an amazing meal! It's nothing extravagant either, just very simple but delectable dishes. Proving, sometimes simplicity is better!

She made shrimp scampi over Spanish rice, with string beans and platano maduros (sweet plantains). It was a Yumfest!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here she is preparing the shrimp. Reason #1 why I hate cooking shrimp - cleaning them!! Yuck! I'm glad she took this mission on :-)

Maduros ready to be cooked!!! Cook them in oil and sprinkle some brown sugar over them. Yum! Reason #456 why I love being Puerto Rican - Having these bad boys with a meal!

Yum! Spanish rice waiting to be eaten...BY ME!!

Shrimp Scampi! I believe she added a little chicken broth, butter, garlic and oregano. So simple, yet sooo delicious!

String beans! She cooked them in chicken broth with a ham hock and salt, pepper and garlic for taste.

TaDa!! The finished product right before I happily devoured it. :-) And of course no meal is complete for me without my glass of wine.
Do you have any family traditions? Or want to share any of your favorite family recipes/meals!? I would love to know :-)

The Lemonade Diet Day 1

I can sum up this diet in one sentence:

It freaking sucks, don't be an A-hole like me and try it or you will be miserable!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was my first day on the diet and my last! Pure torture is an understatement. They claim you should not feel hungry after drinking the lemonade and they lied. I was hungry ALL day no matter how many glasses I had.

AND

The drink tastes like crap! Maybe I put too much cayenne pepper, but I don think so. I followed the directions to the T and put in as much as they said and it was HORRIBLE! By the end of the day I was feeling sick to my stomach. I really only wanted to lose like 5 - 10lbs but this was not worth it! So of course, I cheated. I just had a power bar though because I still, crazy me, wanted to follow through with The Lemonade Diet.

Until this morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I got sooooo sick! I wont go into detail of what happened, but it wasn't nice. I ended up pouring out the remainder of what I had left to drink today!

So I lasted less then 24 hours on this diet and I'm not even ashamed! I listened to my body and it told me, "STOP DUMBASS!!!" And that's exactly what I did!

If you were thinking of doing this, don't! Don't be a retard like me!

My Last Meal 2...

These past 2 days I have truly enjoyed my last meals! Cupcakes, sangria, pizza, a Wendy's frosty, McDonald's fries, Eggplant Parmesan, snickers, and of course last night as my VERY last meal, I chose Taco Bell! 2 Chalupas, a soft taco supreme and a mexi-melt. If you know me very well, then you are not surprised by this choice. If my body let me, I can eat Taco Bell everyday. Please don't judge me!

My most memorable last meal was definitely my hot date with Ms. B BAD herself from Style_Me_Bad.

Side note: Please check her blog out! If you are a (B)eautiful (A)uthentic (D)etermined woman, then you will truly enjoy her. She brings you fashion, relationship, work and everyday life advice! Truly a B.A.D girl!

We headed down to the West Village to Sweet Revenge. It's basically a cupcake bar! Obviously, I was in bliss!

Sweet Revenge is a tiny place, we actually kind of had a hard time finding it at first. I called it our "date" because it was so romantic in there. Dimly lit lights and rustic decor set the mood HA HA!

All day I couldn't stop thinking about what I could possibly order. I knew I definitely wanted some sangria so of course I ordered that right away. Along with a Raspberry Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese frosting and a raspberry sauce drizzle on top!

I literally died and went to heaven after first bite!!

Not only can you order whatever you want as I did, but they also give pairing advice. Such as which kind of wine or beer you should have with which cupcake. My lovely friend opted for this selection and got their Signature Sweet Revenge cupcake and an Argentinian Malbec wine.

Doesn't it look so delicious??? It was a peanut butter cupcake with a chocolate ganache filling and peanut butter fudge frosting!!!!! I'm pretty sure she literally died and went to heaven too! There was a short moment of silence when we dug into our treats...It was THAT good!!

Overall the experience was great. It's definitely a great date spot for an after dinner dessert, or a before dinner dessert, or really for any time. I mean let's be serious, there's never a bad time for a cupcake and good company :-)

My Last Meal...

So I have ANOTHER wedding in about 2 1/2 weeks!! Yes, another one! This time it is in Las Vegas!!!!! I'm super excited to be heading out of New York, I need a break! For real for real. Also, I am a bridesmaid, once again. However, this time, the dress actually fits me...HOORAY!! I do not look like a sausage in its casing nor do I need to spend a crazy amount of money getting it re-done to fit me. It's actually a little big.

BUT, I haven't seen my Vegas peeps in about 4 years. The last time they saw me I was about 20lbs lighter so I have this ridiculous idea that I should really lose the weight beforehand. Call me crazy, but I feel the need to impress. Whatever!

Therefore Thursday I will begin what is known as the lemonade diet. You basically drink 60ounces a day of this fresh squeezed lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper concoction, for 2 weeks and watch the pounds slip away! My aunt has done it and she lost like 20lbs, so she is my motivation right now.

If you read my blog regularly, I'm pretty sure you have figured out that I am a lover of everything FOOD! Which includes mostly fatty, sweet, buttery, "bad for you" dishes, with a few healthy ones in between. So you can only imagine how difficult these next 2 weeks are going to be! I will be documenting my 14 day journey everyday! How I'm feeling, how I'm coping, is it working?, how much weight I have lost, etc. etc.

But until then, I am making sure to indulge in anything I want for these next two days! Starting today, I am enjoying some eggplant parmesan for lunch, for dinner I will be having a BLT from Stokos at Columbus Circle and later tonight I will be in the Village at Sweet Revenge with my good friend Nikki, enjoying cupcakes and wine! I still have to plan tomorrow's last meal menu, but I'm sure it will be just as good! And of course I have to get Taco Bell in there somewhere =)

WISH ME LUCK!!!!!

Has anyone else tried the Lemonade Diet? Do you have any tips? Was it worth it?