Snapshots of San Clemente

Nothing says summer like a camping trip to San Clemente!  We've been doing it for more than 25 years and have no plans to stop anytime soon.  The beach there is one of California's finest, and the town is simply adorable.  It's a little slice of heaven and our home away from home.  Here are a few snapshots from our lovely trip last week.    

Of course we did a little (okay, actually a lot) Bagel Shack action.  I really haven't had a better bagel than theirs. I was raised in a Jewish home so I'm in the know on such matters.

   

I watched a few sunsets sitting next to this hunk. It was quite nice.

We discovered this great new place for an off the hook burger.  This shot is enhanced with my fun new app deluxe fx.



Speaking of good food finds, may I present La Galette Creperie. If you want to pretend you're French you can pronounce it "crepp-ree."  But if you try and order a "crepp" you will be perceived as an idiot by your server. Not that I would know.

I really felt like I was in Paris until the stunning Pacific ocean view I had burst my bubble(it was rough). 

Yes, that's us kissing on demand for our hopelessly romantic daughter.   


If the ambience above wasn't enough for you, this might further compel you to go.  These were some righteous crepes!

 
There is always a bit of trailer dancing going on.  

 

I love eating lunch on the beach but I'm not much of a sandwich girl.  This was easy to tote and on the menu a few days.  Just some tomatoes, Persian cucumbers, avocado, some good feta, lemon pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and drizzle of evoo. 

We always love it when Kait joins us and we surprised Emma by having Catherine come down as well!  She just "showed up" in our trailer one afternoon! 

We always try to do a group shot of "the kids."  We have so many shots like this from over the years- but a lot of them contain beached-out, cranky, crying babies.  It's a nice benefit that they can now all stand still and look happy.

It's our tradition to have a Pedros-on-the-beach night and watch the sunset, and it didn't disappoint this year.  We usually have the beach all to ourselves at this time and it's lovely.

It basically works like this.  The wives lounge on the beach while the hubbies go get the food and bring it right to us on the sand.  After all, someone has to save our perfect spot on the beach.

It was great that Nick could come spend some time with us.  He's a lot of fun and also happens to be really good at carrying large coolers to the beach.

On our last day we bumped into our dear friends, the Shoemakers, in the parking lot of the beach!  For many years we camped together and our kids spent their babyhood drooling on each other. The kids had a great time playing volleyball and an inventive form of Smashball.  Roxane and I just took pictures and threatened to instagram them all.  We still know how to annoy our children.

And "beach church" on Sunday morning is always awesome!  We all get together at one campsite and begin by singing praise songs.  This always draws interesting looks from nearby campers. 

 Then, Rich usually teaches, and he mainly caters to the littles. He even brings coloring pages from our Sunday School curriculum for them.  But as you can see, coloring is for all ages! 



8:30 pm Sunday evening. Well, maybe just one more Pedros run before heading home.  :-)

 

WDW - Homemade Larabars!

I'm super excited about these!  Have you gotten hooked on Larabars yet?  They are these wonderful, healthy little bars. They taste amazing, and the ingredient list is so clean.  All they contain is cashews, dates, and depending on the flavor, other natural ingredients.  Plus, they are raw.  They are a great product indeed!

Awhile ago, my niece Amy's sister in law Katie (got that?) posted a recipe for homemade Larabars and I thought they looked good, but I hadn't really tasted one yet so I didn't take an interest in making them at the time.  THEN, I tasted one and all I could think of is when can I make these!!


I did a bit more research as well, and found this website which is fabulous in showing how to go about the process.  I like the build-your-own formula they have:  

1 cup pitted dates(I use Medjool)  + 1 cup raw cashews 

+ flavoring (if desired)

+ 1 cup add-ins of your choice

They have also listed the ingredients needed to make some of the more popular Larabar flavors.

The first ones I tried, I used 1 cup dried apricots and 2 tsp. vanilla extract.   YUM!   Then I got on a roll and made another one:  coconut-lemon-blueberry (1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, 1/2 cup dried blueberries, 1 tsp. pure lemon extract).   That one was really good!  Then I made a variation of one from Katie's site - the chocolate almond (substituted half almonds instead of all cashews, leaving some in big pieces + 1 Tbsp. raw almond butter and 1/8 cup chopped dark chocolate).  Rich was sitting at the kitchen table as I worked and at one point I just blurted out, "this is so much fun!!" :-)  He was happy too, because I kept bringing him samples.   I was having such great success, it was starting to become addicting! There are endless combinations I'm eager to try.

The method is easy - I used my trusty big 'ole Cuisinart food processor and first pulverized the dates and cashews together.  You have to let it go awhile so it's like a paste.  Then, I added in the flavoring (the extracts) and pulsed some more.  After that was all incorporated, I added my "add ins" and pulsed just enough to incorporate.  You don't want to totally break up the add ins or turn them into a paste.

I turned each batch onto wax paper and shaped into a square shape about 1/2" thick with my hands.  I cut them into bars and wrapped each one in waxed paper.  I'm storing them in Ziploc bags in the fridge.  I'm not worried about their shelf life because they won't last long around here.   But I would guess it's several weeks.   Emma LOVES the blueberry ones, and has already asked me to make more.   She said "this is pretty much the best bar I've ever had."


These little powerhouses of energy will be great to grab as breakfast on-the-go or as a mid afternoon pick-me-up.  Here are some of the health benefits of these bars:


Cashews:
-protein 
-fiber
-minerals:  magnesium, selenium, copper, zinc, manganese,   potassium, and iron
-vitamins:  B5, B-6, vitamin E riboflavin, thiamin
-antioxidants
-cashews are also one of Dr. Oz's 4 anti-cancer super foods (for whatever that is worth.)

Dates:
-fiber
-tannins (anti inflammitory)
-vitamin A, B-complex, vitamin K, riboflavin, niacin
-antioxidants:  beta carotene, lutein
-minerals:  iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, copper

Plus did I mention these are INCREDIBLY DELICIOUS??  Good tasting and good for you = my kind of food.  :-)