What Breakfast Looks Like on Vacation

....yup.

 

 

I went there.

What's your favorite breakfast to splurge on?

Psst...I'm blogging about Beach Reads over at The Peach & The Pit...I hope you'll head over to check it out!

Garlic Teriyaki Pork Chops from Lauren's Latest

Hi friends! I'm still on vacation, but today I have a fantastic guest post for you from Lauren @ Lauren's Latest. I recently found Lauren's blog and was instantly smitten by her beautiful photos and ah-mazing recipes (try her Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Filled S'mores on for size! Yowzah!). Today Lauren is sharing a recipe that has my mouth watering! I adore teriyaki and I just don't make enough pork chops, so I cannot wait to try this one!

As I was leaving for vacation, I hooked up with Lauren to trade guest posts, so be sure to check her site for my guest article coming up soon!

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Hello readers! I'm Lauren from Lauren's Latest here guest posting while Rachel is on vacation! I haven't been following The Avid Appetite for long, but I definitely was hooked after one look at Rachel's Pizza Dip.

I found it, bookmarked the recipe and made a version of it the next day. Yeah....it was amazing. I'm hooked and now dream of this pizza dip. Literally. I had a dream about it. My husband and I ate the whole thing in one sitting!

I am not embarrassed. {You'd understand if you made it.}

When I'm in the kitchen, I typically only like to make recipes that are simple, easy, delicious and use very common ingredients. Whoever doesn't cook like this probably doesn't like cooking. Just sayin'.

Today I'm posting a Garlic Teriyaki Meat Marinade that is really versatile, really easy to put together and will leave you salivating.

It all started when I found some pretty little pork chops at the grocery store. They looked really good and were on a super sale. {That's usually how things end up in my cart.} I brought them home and rummaged through my cupboards to see what I could come up with for dinner and this is what I got. A moist, juicy, sweet yet savory piece of pork with a smokey undertone from the grill. Yeah....they were good. Like, really good.

I got rave reviews from everyone who tried them and even my two year old daughter said "yummy, Mommy!" which is unheard of these days. It was the definition of a culinary home run. And don't forget this marinade would be good with any other meat too! So, give this one a whirl!  You will love it! Happy grilling! :)

Garlic Teriyaki Pork Chops
yield: 4 servings

by: Lauren Brennan of Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:

for the marinade-
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup pineapple juice + 1/2 cup pineapple tidbits {I used canned pineapple...}
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced

4 1/2-inch thick Rib Pork Chops {bone in} or any other meat

Directions:

Mix all ingredients for marinade together in a small bowl. Pour into large plastic food storage bag. Place meat inside bag with marinade and seal. 

Move bag around to coat meat, place into plastic container {incase the bag breaks} and refrigerate to marinate. The longer the better! {I marinated mine just over 24 hours.}

When you are ready to grill, preheat outdoor BBQ to medium heat. Remove meat from marinade and place onto hot grill. Cook 5-7 minutes per side or until grill marks form and meat it thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and cover with foil for 10 minutes before serving.



So a giant thanks to Lauren for sharing this fantastic recipe! I hope you'll all give it a try...I know I will definitely be adding it to my repetoire! What is your favorite marinade for pork, chicken, or any other grillable (or roastable) delight?

Psst...Kimberly's talking about working out while on vacation over on The Peach & The Pit. Hope you'll check it out!

A Typical Day in Aruba

One of my favorite things about our annual family vacation to Aruba is that everytime I arrive here, I feel like I never left. It's such a nice vacation filled with relaxing, eating, family and sunshine. I thought it would be fun to tell you exactly how our days play out 'round these parts.

6:00 AM: My alarm goes off. It's still dark out. I quickly get dressed, grab my beach bag and head down to the beach.

6:15 AM: I arrive on the beach to find my mom who has reserved and set up camp under 2 chickees (those palapa huts all over the beach) for our family. I quickly plop down and gaze at the darkened sky with the sun just starting to shine.

6:30 - 7:15 AM: I head over to a little hut on the beach that has free coffee. It's not just any coffee. It's served in tiny cups and the only dressing offered is evaporated milk and sweetener. It's heavenly. I sit with my mom and sister and chat. We read the Aruba Daily newspaper and try to briefly catch up with what's going on in the world. Brevity is a virtue here.

 

7:30 AM: I call up to the room to wake up Shaun. I am so sleepy, but I want to get to the gym and move on with sunning and swimming (and napping on a lounge chair)!

8:00 AM: We hit the gym.

9:00 AM: Back in the room, we get changed into our bathing suits. We sunscreen up. We gather our beach toys (float, towels, Kindles, snacks) and head out for the day.

9:15 AM: We grab breakfast, usually a breakfast sandwich from Dushi Bagels...

 

...or a donut and giant iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts on the beach.

 

9:30 AM - 12:30 PM: We alternate laying on lounge chairs and reading books with dipping in the ocean and laying on floats for hours at a time. Occasionally I will reapply my sunscreen. This is what I like to call "Heaven".

1:00 PM: Possibly eat lunch. We eat when we are hungry. I did a little food shopping so that we could have lunch in the air conditioned room and get a break from the sun while saving some coin. Or, if we are so inclined, we hit up some cheeseburgers.

2:00 PM - 5:30 PM: Continue laying on lounge chairs, reading books, swimming in the ocean for hours at a time. We may also have a few ocean cocktails at this time (yesterday it was Absolut Pears + Sprite Zero).

5:30 - 7:00 PM: Head back to the room where I defunktify the many layers of sunscreen that have hardened and collected on my skin over the course of the day. My eyes are usually blood shot and I feel so tired that I could easily head to sleep for the remainder of the night. I might even shower, then curl up in our giant bed and watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians until Shaun tells me it's necessary to put my contacts back in and get dressed for dinner already.

7:30 - 9:00 PM: We eat a delicious dinner at one of the many amazing restaurants here on the island. Since we've been coming here for 7 or 8 years (we couldn't figure out which year this is), we definitely have our favorites! On Sunday, we ate at Smokey Joe's for ribs and last night we ate at Hostaria da Vittoria where I had a giant piece of lasagna. Bellissimo.

9:00 - ??: I like to immediately follow dinner with...what else?...dessert! This usually consists of gelato, a Nutella + banana crepe or my favorite red velvet cake.

 

We are then full and exhausted. We pretend to try and find something to do for the rest of the night, but truly, we are spent. And that 6:00 AM wake up call comes knocking mighty early. Last night, Shaun and I headed back to the room and watched the first episode of The Walking Dead. (No, we do not actually need another show to watch since we are still in the middle of Breaking Bad & Big Love). But it was SO. GOOD.! I know already that I will be a big fan of this show. Is anyone else watching? On tonight's agenda is a showing of Harry Potter at the local movie theater. I can't wait to see it!

And that's pretty much how we spend our days in Aruba. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Of course, we also throw in some kind of excursion, like a jeep tour of Aruba...

 

...or a sunset catamaran booze cruise.

So what do you think? What's your favorite way to spend a vacation? Are you a get up and go, sightseeing type? Or does endless hours of beach relaxation tickle your fancy?

Psst...Christine's talking about the perfect beach playlist over on The Peach & The Pit. Hope you'll check it out!