All the walking and hiking we’ve done over the past two years, and the changes we’ve made in what and how we eat in the last six months have made a real difference. Both Brett and my lab numbers this year were better than they’ve ever been and the doctor is very happy with our current weight as well. More than our appearance, the fact that our eating and exercise these days has made such a profound improvement in our health is what really matters to us. We feel like we’re heading overseas this time in our best shape ever, complete with vaccines, boosters, and our cholesterol and other numbers in a very good place. We’re determined to keep it going!
With the girls gone Brett and I are back to having to finish up lots of leftovers. The curry I made last week provided days of leftovers as did the broccoli & tofu stir fry. I guess it’s one of the curses of eating smaller portions these days. Other than the risotto we’re going to have next week though, everything this coming week is a one-and-done meal. Both Brett and I enjoy having leftovers available for our lunches, but day after day of the same thing is something we always hope to avoid.
We have once again using the dishes we bought when we arrived in 2020, before our storage shipment arrived. We had put them away for YaYu, but she doesn’t really want them and we figured it will cost us less to give her what we would have paid for shipping them and let her buy something she likes. We can either sell these dishes at our yard sale or take them to the thrift store. Anyway, photography has been a challenge. I miss our Japanese dishes but they have now either been packed for storage or sent on to Meiling and WenYu.
Sunday: Japanese curry with tofu & vegetable; brown rice
Monday: Chopped vegetable & barley soup; Parmesan toasted bread
Tuesday: Broccoli & tofu stir fry in spicy peanut sauce; brown rice
Wednesday: Chick’n pot pie; roasted zucchini
Thursday: Vegetable potsticker soup with spinach
Friday: Cheese mini pizzas
Saturday: Chili shrimp; brown rice; namasu
We enjoyed small pieces of the chocolate mini cakes all last week but finished them last night. This coming week we’re having lemon meringue pie again!
Next week’s menu goes around the world: We’re having Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, and American dishes, all without a bit of meat!
- Zaru soba & hiyayakko (chilled tofu)
- Vegetable spring rolls with rice
- Poblano enchiladas
- Mini pizzas
- Vegan corn dogs & onion rings
- Turk’y cutlets with gravy
- Risotto with peas
Monday through Wednesday we walked the perimeter of the golf course – the weather and temperature were perfect, and my foot barely hurt at all and was getting better. As we got near to finishing our walk on Wednesday though, the groundskeeper (not our favorite guy) rolled up to us in his golf cart and told us he would ignore our walking that day but going forward there would be NO further walking on the course allowed until after 6:00 p.m. and he would be enforcing the “new rule.” He was very unpleasant. There was not a golfer in sight at any hole on the course, and we don’t go out on the course if there is, so we’re not sure what changed or why, but Brett and I decided it was the last straw for us and we would walk elsewhere for the rest of our time on Kaua’i. We have loved walking at Kukuiolono, but we are not willing to get into it with some guy on a power trip (our favorite groundskeeper ignores the rule if there are no golfers out) and we’re not the types to sneak around. The park closes at 6:30, so there’s no longer a way to get in a perimeter walk in if we come at 6:00 either.
We enjoyed beautiful views from the Maha’ulepu trail on Wednesday.
So, on Thursday we headed over to the Maha’ulepu heritage trail. That hike didn’t go so well. We had come directly from my skin check appointment and my blood sugar was low, and we hadn’t brought a snack. It was also hot and humid, and I had forgotten my hat. Finally, we walked too far into some very rough terrain which set off the neuroma in my foot and the bursitis in my hips. By the time we got back to the car I was a wreck! Still, the views were beautiful and we decided to give it another try on Friday, this time equipped with snacks and hats. We turned around before we reached the rough part, ate our snack at the turn-around, drank a lot of water and we both felt great when we finished. Best of all, my foot and hips didn’t hurt at all. We thought rain might keep us from walking there on Saturday, but the trail was dry and although the humidity was a bit high, the temperature was cool and there was a nice breeze. The trailhead for Maha’ulepu is located fairly close to us, and as it’s a beautiful walk along the shore it’s where we’ll do our walking until we leave. We got in a full six days of walks/hikes this past week, something that hadn’t happened in a while.
The Occasional Nomads 
The photos of Hawaii keep me coming to this blog, that for sure! The ones of Maha’ulepu are amazing. I’m going to google about that. The sign is really interesting. Glad you felt better after the rough day.
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We’re enjoying our walks/hikes at Maha’ulepu. They’re a bit more strenuous than the walks at the golf course were, but there’s those beautiful views and the sound of the ocean as we walk that make it all worthwhile.
You’d think I’d have learned by now to not attempt walking in certain conditions, but no. I seem to need lots of reminders.
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The golf course and the photos reminded me of somewhere my husband and I went in Kauai. He looked and said, yup, those were places we’d walked. Nice to think about that while it’s below freezing and there’s an inversion where we live. Your walk sounds a lot nicer than the walk through our neighborhood we just finished. I’m wearing my long underwear. . .
Your meals always look so good. I like tofu, but my husband does not so it’s always chicken with the spicy peanut sauce. We discovered tempura cauliflower at Trader Joe’s, which works really well with a stir fry for a meatless meal.
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Both the golf course and Maha’ulepu are great nearby walking venues for us – we’re very grateful for them both. It’s been colder here than usual the past few days. Nothing like what’s going on back on the mainland, but still a bit unpleasant here. We had wanted to go to the beach yesterday because the sun was out, but we would have gotten chilled to the bone out there from the temperature and the wind.
I miss Trader Joe’s so much – Meiling brought us some miso-ginger broth and Thai red curry sauce for Christmas, but the tempura cauliflower sounds delicious! We had tempura mushrooms as a substitute in Mandarin orange “chicken” and liked that; I can imagine it would be the same with the cauliflower.
Tofu is an acquired taste for sure. We’ve learned that it needs to be allowed the time to absorb flavors, and smaller pieces work better than bigger.
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