Personal Training

Hannukah Festivities and Florida Wrap up!

Posted on by Naomi

Happy Hannukah to everyone who celebrates! It is the fourth night tonight and things have been going very well so far! I am back from sunny Florida-back to the cold of Boston, however today is a very nice day! not too cold or dreary. I am looking at the sun peaking through the clouds as we speak! I must update you on some Hannukah festivies that took place last night, but first I have a small recap from the rest of my Trip!

Dinner on Friday night at Legal Seafood in Boca Raton, FL with my mom and grandparents. I got the grilled cajun scallops with steamed brocolli and seaweed salad. This is always my go-to dish at Legals! It acutally started in Boston and has made its way all up and down the east coast!
Perfectly Tender and not too spicey-just the way I like it

Lunch the next day was at my Grandparents club. They live in a complex in Boca that has an amazing clubhouse/restaurant/fitness center/pool etc. I always look forward to lunch here because of the amazing chopped salad bar!

My mom’s gazpacho. She loves this and looks forward to it whenever we come here, something about cold soup just doesn’t rub me the right way, but she insisted I take a picture of it!
Chopped salad (romaine, tomatoes, cuke, hearts of palm, roasted red pepper, chickpeas, red onion) topped with marinated cauliflower and sweet onion. Balsamic vinegar on the side.
My Protein Plate. Sliced carved turkey breast, eggwhite omelet with spinach, caramalized onion and ‘shrooms, more grilled veggies on the side and a dollop of grainy mustard.

I was SO full, half way through. I always eat too much here! but it is so worth it.
I didn’t even mention the bread basket of fresh hot rolls and the most amazing flatbread, both cinnamon sugar/raisin and cheesy kinds. I was all about the cheesy bread!

Buffet area

Dessert time. I wasn’t THAT full
I spotted a hannukah cookie! There is acutally a large Jewish population at this club, so there were lots of Hannukah goodies

I was all about the ‘do-it-yourself soft serve!’
With more toppings than you know what to do with! that isn’t even all of them!
I went plain Jane for the fro-yo, I was so full I couldn’t believe I even ate it, but I had to, it was so good!
At least I come back with a SWEET tan 🙂
——————-
Sunday Night
Jason and I were in charge of desserts, so I made it super simple for us and got some break and bake ALL NATURAL oatmeal raisin cookies.
Pretty good!
Break and bake! so simple! at 350 for 15 minutes and….
Perfection. I like them a little under cooked so I took them out JUST in time.
I also made some not so ALL NATURAL brownies with help from the little white guy!

There are real chunks in here though!
1 egg, 1/4 C oil and 3 tbsp water later and TAH-DAH

I love them all doughy and moist, not burnt and hard. These were perfect!

The table was present filled at my house!
We lit the Hannukah Candles. It was the 3rd night so there are 3 candles that we lit. if you look at the bottom of the pan you will see pics of my doggy Jersey. I wrote about him here. We had to put him to sleep the day after the last night of hannukah last year, so this was very sad for us, but we have his beautiful pictures for us to remember him by.

My Big Bro (quite the chef by the way!) carved the turkey.

Its like THanksgiving all over again. I am not complaining.
The spread. Potato pancakes, roasted brussels sprouts & cauliflower, turkey, applesauce (for the latkes) Salad (not pictured)

Potato Latkes (sweet potato) upclose with a dollop of applesauce and greek yogurt. The significance of potato latkes on hannukah is that this is a dish where the potatoes are fried in oil (my mom lightly fried and baked the rest) The oil for cooking the latkes is reminiscent of the oil from the Hanukkah story that kept the  2nd temple of of the ancient Israel lit with a long-lasting flame that is celebrated as a miracle.
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Ingredients
2 cups peeled and shredded potatoes

  • 1 tablespoon grated onion
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 cup peanut oil for frying
  • Directions
  1. Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
  2. In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
  3. In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

My desserts got garnished with some hannukah themed shortbread cookies
On the table (yes that is vanilla ice cream in the background)
Some chocolate gelt (money) garnished the table
Ice cream + Brownie = great way to end a fabulous dinner.
My parents got me the Garmin FR60!!! I am so excited! it hadn’t arrived yet so they printed it out + put it in a box-how cute! I can’t WAIT!

My brother and his girlfriend got me lots of running goodies for the outdoor temps. A dri fit Nike head band, Dry fit gloves, warm socks and headbands are hiding under there! GREAT gift!
My mom also got me this Cute 2010 calender! Each month has a different motivational saying and cute picture. I love things like this!


I hope you are all enjoying your holiday shopping or holiday as we speak! I did some research today about running outside versus running on the treadmill and found out lots of interesting information. I will be sharing it with you all tomorrow. For my 1/2 marathon training there are certainly some things I can do to make running on the treadmill more like running oustide! STAY TUNED!

I am off to bake some goodies for my Bloggie secrect santa! I will be sending that out this week. I have a Personal training appt at my gym at 3 which I am certainly looking forward too! I know It will be super hard, but I love it!!
  • Do you have any holiday shopping traditions? For instance I have a friend who’s mom buys everything WELL before the holidays roll around, she shops in the summer and has everything wrapped by the holiday season which I think is quite a smart thing to do!
  • Are you a Brownie or a cookie person? I am certainly a Brownie person any day! Althought I do love oatmeal raisin cookies! There are so many variations on both, I won’t turn either down!

click HERE for a great giveaway at the Actorsdiet.

Naomi
Naomi

32 thoughts on “Hannukah Festivities and Florida Wrap up!”

  1. Joelle (The Pancake Girl) says:

    OMG I love that sweet spread!! I am definitely a cookie person, 100% –but not sugar cookies. Brownies only once in a while..

    Ps. I am way jealous of your tan! I’m hoping to get one back when I get home for the holidays, though Vegas will still be little chilly.

    Have a great night!

  3. homecookedem says:

    Thanks for sharing all of your Hannukah treats with us!! It all looks so amazing… especially the sweet potato latkes! I would love to try those out. Happy Hannukah to you and your family!! 🙂

  4. Jenny says:

    so jealous of your tan, girl! I am currently rockin’ the “Edward Cullen” pale skin look. hot on him.. me? not so much.

    Legal seafoods is amazing! their chowder is off.the.charts!

    Enjoy what’s left of your trip, gorgeous 🙂

  5. Janetha says:

    ummmm. are you trying to kill me with all that good food? like really. i started making mental notes of the things i wanted to comment on and then my head exploded. and i, too, am jealous of your tan!! the scallops, mushrooms and brownies are killllllllling me.

    love to you girl!!

  6. MelissaNibbles says:

    Nice tan! So glad you had a great trip.

    The Hannukah spread looks delicious and your family is great at picking out gifts huh?! I want that calendar.

    Enjoy the third day!

    I’m neither a cookie or brownie girl. Team cake!

  7. Andrea@WellnessNotes says:

    I’m glad you had such a nice trip! And a nice tan in the middle of the winter…

    Beautiful Hannukah celebration! Food that has meaning behind it can really connect you to your roots…

    I meet a few of my girlfriends during the holidays for some “girl time,” and we usually get some shopping done…

    I am definitely a cookie person.

  8. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) says:

    Holy freakin amazing post, Naomi!!!
    Thanks for the trip recap, and for this pic:
    At least I come back with a SWEET tan 🙂

    I was actually seriously gonna post a little sunburnage in the tata region today pic but thought better of it. I still may, I have another few weeks 🙂

    As for the brownies vs cookies. Oh, too hard to compare. I love choc chip cookies but brownies are a love too. As are other cookies like sugar and gingerbread, pretty much everything ive raw’ified. Yours look awesome!

    Great gifts, love the motivational saying thingey.

    Too cute 🙂

  11. chrystad72 says:

    Hey Im so glad you had an awesome trip! Looks amazing. I have to say I love when i go to restaurants and they have a do it yourself soft serve station! Im all about that=)
    Tough call between the brownies and cookies..both are ssoo good. Although I think im going to say cookies. I cannot resist a good chocolate chip or oatmeal!
    My holiday shopping tradtion…hhmm its been me and amazon this past few years. ha. So i guess shopping from the couch is my traditon=)

    Have a great day and welcome back!! Oh and thanks again for that link. Those stretches worked wonders!! Im not nearly as sore as I was a few days ago.

  12. Jil says:

    What an amazing spread!! I am a brownie BATTER person haha…seriously, it’s my favorite part. I just have a general sweet tooth though…so put either of those in front of me, and they’d be goneee. haha 🙂 Glad you had such an amazing time in FL! Jealous of the tan lines!!

  13. lizzy says:

    HI girl!

    i can’t wait to hear about these running tips tomorrow! i hate running on the treadmill, and i can’t wait for summer again so we can run outside!

    I’m a total brownie person. i would do anything for a warm gooey brownie right about now!

    hope your having a great night! xoxox

  15. Gina says:

    OH I’m jealous of that tan!! Looks nice 🙂

    Glad you had a great time in Florida. And it looks like you’ve settled back in at home. I like my cookies a little undercooked too, nice and soft! I think I prefer brownies though, overall, and I like them undercooked and soft too!

    I do a lot of shopping before hand, as I HATE being out shopping when it’s busy. Seriously, I don’t even like shopping with people. I’m a quick in, quick out type of gal!

  18. Julie says:

    okay there is a ridic amount of good things about this post.

    1. i love potato latkes. ugh SO good.
    2. how about i come to your house for channy and you can come over for xmas 🙂 k great!
    3. WHAT AN AWESOME CHAN PRESENT!!!!

  19. ktbwood says:

    soooo obsessed with YO PROTEIN PLATE!!!! i love protein..nom nom!
    and everything looks soo great!!

    im DEF a cookie person 🙂 or brownies with ice cream doesnt sound half bad either..

  20. MelindaRD says:

    You’re trip to Boca sounds pretty much like how mine goes every time I am there. I am wondering if your grandparents live in the same complex as mine. I know there are a lot, but maybe it’s the same. I love all the Hanukkah goodies. Oh, and I am a brownie person, unless the cookie involves chocolate.

  26. Bekah says:

    Geezeee Miss Naomi- you seriously racked up some good gifts. A Garmin AND cold weather running attire?! Gah, love and want it all.

    And I’m probably more of a cookie person. But either/or it has to be a really good dense chocolate cookie, or chewy brownie. I’m picky with my treats!

  27. Erica says:

    I’m so jealous of your tan lines (SOOOO jealous). glad you had fun. Love the food at your grandparents place!! Self serve soft serve…I’d be there for every meal. Glad your hannukah is going well. GREAT presents. Your family rocks

  28. Low says:

    What thoughtful gifts! I love how healthy your dinner was at at the Legal place.

    I don’t have any traditions. My family hasn’t recently started drawing names for gift giving though. It makes it so much easier and takes the pressure off of the gifts and moves it to family fun.

    Brownies! I rarely have them though. Cookies just seem to be around more often.

  31. One Healthy Apple says:

    Looks like a fabulous vacation, good food, and lots of family love! I love how well your family knows you with all the active gifts!

    Hope you are still having a great time celebrating the 8 crazy nights!

  32. Jocelyn says:

    wow look at all the wonderful goodies in this post! Your easy bake cookies and brownies look yummy! I am a shortbread cookie person…I could eat about 10 of them in a row and not feel guilty because they are sooo good lol..

    That pink garmin is cute! wahoo! Looks like some great presents 🙂

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