Tasty Recipes: Broiled Grapefruit Breakfast

I've made this little breakfast treat 3 times now. Once as an experiment for myself, for visiting family, and a visiting friend. Everyone said it tasted great, and I sure loved it, so here it is! 

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe grapefruit 
• frozen berry mix 
• butter
• nutmeg
• cinnamon
• brown sugar

1. Cut the grape fruit in half, and cut each little segment and place in a separate bowl. Once you've finished that, using a spoon scoop out all the extra pith and throw away. 
2. Mix the frozen berry mix with the grapefruit segments and place back in the emptied grapefruit bowls
3. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter (I use a zero calorie butter myself), with a couple large pinches of brown sugar, 3 good shakes of cinnamon, and a shake of nutmeg. You could really adjust this with different sugars and spices- but this is what I had on hand- honey may even be nice too
4. Once the topping is melted, pour over the filled fruit bowls
5. Spray a backing sheet with cooking spray and add place the filled bowls on the rack and place in the oven. I normally already have the broiler on low while I prep the meal. 
6. Broil over low for 3 mins, then switch the broiler over to hi for the last 2 mins. I keep the rack in the middle, and watch it closes through the oven window. (one time I broiled to close to the rack and had a little fire).

When my friend was visiting I served with whole grain toast and peanut butter, and sliced bannas with honey and cinnamon. We had some low calorie cool whip for the fun of it and sipped on hot coffee and aloe water. 

When my family was visiting we went all out on this breakfast! We had homemade mixed berry muffins, with sliced bannas and cherries, and then some turkey sausage and bacon. WOW, I am suddenly craving grapefruit, off to the farmers market I go. 

Fireplace Plans

Fireplace Plans by flemingavenue on Polyvore

I'll just leave this here... A little something I put together for my fireplace. 

Hiatus Week

See you in a week!  

Sunrise in South Florida

One last sunrise before we move out of Florida. Eric couldn't come along because he is still on the road, but it was a peaceful morning and a chance to reflect on the present and the future. 

The below photo was my favorite shot of the morning. Sunrise took about 30 mins longer then the estimated time because of the clouds. When it finally happened it was breath taking.

Psalms 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west..."

Girls Weekend: -20lbs Tattoo Celebration

Jamie, Jina and I are really close friends, the surprising fact is that we are all family. Jina is my mother in law, and I married her son Eric. Jamie is my sister in law and she married Jina's son Brian. A few months ago, when Eric took a new job, it would mean he would be away for a few months. During that time Jina came up with the idea that the 3 of us would have a little Girls weekend at my apartment. Pretty cool the 3 of us get along as well as we do to, because we had a blast. The weekend was full of cooking, tanning, crafting, and matching tattoos. Took us some time to figure out what we wanted, and after much planning and meetings with the tattoo artist we finally picked something. Jina made the final product with all her photoshop skills. The tattoo is 3 hearts, each representing our favorite colors, with wispy details around them. I personally did my tattoo black and grey with white hi-lights. I'm not one for color tattoos myself. I did keep the original artwork to be framed in my new apartment gallery wall. We had so much fun celebrating our first girls weekend, that we are planning one every year now! The plan is to save all coins, and dollar bills for the next year. 

Original artwork 

 Here we are at the tattoo shop before the tattoos started. It was an all day affair, but a lot of fun!

Here I am in the tattoo chair with my stencil in place. This is my "I'm so excited but I know this is going to hurt smile. Then my sis Jamie photo bombing. I love her!

Before I looked in the mirror I had Jamie take a quick snapshot. Still screaming red! 

Finished product that night after I took the bandage off and adding some healing ointment. 

Showing off my new ink the next day.

So even though the tattoo was a family affair, it was also to mark a milestone of losing a total of 20lbs. I also got my -30lbs tattoo before I technically lost the 30lbs. I will talk about that when I loose that total amount. 

Instagram...again

I have a feeling this "instagram" thing is going to get over played rather quickly (hopefully not). I promise to actually share my DIY and decor projects soon. With that said I only have a few photos to share with you this beautiful Monday morning. Let's dig into the 4th of July. Both the Eric and I had the day off, so we slept in, stuffed our faces with a big breakfast, lounged around this awesome apartment, and then went for a drive. Eventually we found ourselves at a friends apartment (on the inter coastal) with free beer and  a sandy beach.

During the entire 12min firework show (short show right?) I was signing Katy Perry's song... you know the one...

Week, and a half through Instragram

I like to do these posts on Mondays, but I let this past week kind of get past myself. I also don't normally post on Thursdays here, but in my fitness and health blogs. Anyways, here is life in South Florida through the lens of my iPhone, and the clever techniques of instagram. 

Scored an amazing iPad2 case from Target

Black bear hanging out on my Grandmas front yard. Nothing scary...at all... She lives in Northern Michigan, just south of Traverse City

I don't go to the mall often, but when I do... I make it count! Who couldn't pass up a buy 3 get 3 free deal from bath and body works? I'd say I am stocked up for the year. 

I prioritized my closet this week, with fitness clothes only. Reaching my -30lb goal by mid August my friends. 

Showing off my freshly manicured nails with a Kate Spade inspired canvas piece. 

Just a friendly reminder

I found this to be rather colorful and inspiring. I have it displayed under my computer monitor as art. 

Lost a couple pounds, treated myself to a reminder of infinite love. 

opps....

Grocery shopping at Target. Getting healthy in this family. What you can't see are the lemon poppy scones... just kidding. 

Feeling oh so pretty with no makeup and my workout gear. 

Having a blast on a day off. 

This stuff is amazing

Welcome Back

I know it's been some time since I've last blogged. We went on a trip, got overwhelmed with car shopping and long work hours, then we both got sick (I was out of work a week), and we actually bought a new car. Those of you who may know Eric and I personally know that the car he has been driving hated us, and we've been playing the car pooling game for a couple months now. The good thing is, we had almost similar work schedules, and days we didn't we made it work. Lucky for us we work the same exact job - just in different cities that are only separated by 2 exits. You would have thought that during my week off work I would visit my blog, but I didn't. I laid on the couch reading blogs and getting hooked on Gossip Girl. Thank you Netflix for that new obsession (please no spoilers I'm only in season 3). So, here's whats been going on in our lives...

 1. One day while arriving to the office early on a car pooling day- I noticed how awesome the brick pattern outside my work is. It looks even cooler though instagram.

2. We went to Jacksonville FL for a convention and had the coolest view from our top floor hotel room. We were on the 19th floor with a great view of the river.

3. Right after a in-home movie night, fireworks went off right outside our apartment window. It was pretty darn cool, we sat right on the bedroom floor peaking our head outside the window.

4. Then another night we hit up downtown with the intentions of open-mic night at a low key coffee shop. Unfortunately the joint canceled open-mic so it was conversation and walking. It's alright though, the ladies of the group had a blast.

5. I've fallen in love with seaweed salad and my awesome new ceramic coffee cup. It's the small things in life that make it count...really.

6. Fact: Whenever I order from Kate Spade, even if its full of all the sale items, I oder gift wrap. If you follow me on instagram @flemingavenue you know my personal obsession with the gift wrap. So.damn.cute...end of story.

7. On one of my sick days- Stella un-avoidably needed a bath. My pure white indoor cats stays pretty clean, so this doesn't happen often- but I had to. I'll spare you the details- but this cat plays off the cliche of being afraid of water. It got messy, I got scratched, she bit me and I cried- like a little girl. Mainly because I felt like my own child said "I hate you" (not that I have a child), but I think you understand. Anyways- we've since made up- I let her come to me at her terms since I was the one forcing her into the water. PS- It is much either to bathe a cat in a sink then a tub. Anyways-  I adore her, don't you?

8. Finally- a little bit of inspiration for the day.

Christmas Recap

I tweeted @flemingavenue yesterday that cashmere, Victoria's Secret & Kate Spade were good to me this Christmas, but what I ment is Eric was good to me this Christmas. Because of the reason for the season, our Savior- this entire 2011 has been good to us - more on that later.

After work, on Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Erics mom, step dad, and step sister. They were making dinner, while his step sister made desserts. Put it this way, my diet was completely left in the car while at dinner.

First we had the worlds smallest cupcake, filled with peanut butter. YUM

  After dinner we had the worlds largest cupcake, made from scratch with real strawberries. It was FANTASTIC! 

We captured a photo on Christmas eve after we stuffed our faces.  

Also, the in-laws hooked us up with an awesome espresso machine, fully equipped with a coffee grinder & and cup and saucer kit. Based on the second photo, and several attempts later, I've mastered a pumpkin cappuccino, with extra foam. 

Now, on to Christmas morning. While I prepared cinnamon rolls, Eric broke our christmas eve's gifts for some hot espresso. We exchanged gifts, and watched movies. My husband knows me all to well & hooked me up with some great gifts. The cashmere scarf was an excellent surprise and I'm in love. He also got me a set of measuring spoons I have been eyeing. Why do I love thee? Let me show you. 

BTW, this is the best smell ever. I was pretty excited to unwrap this, not to mention this box has glitter on it. Did you know that Eric has a glitter phobia? Eric also got me a few other things, including a much needed hard drive. Thanks babe! 

**Photos are all mine, taking with instagram...enjoy**