Sweet coconut lemonade

This sweet coconut lemonade is your new best friend. Click to tweet.

Ok so, it isn't summer yet, but we've had a few warm days and I just couldn't wait to have this drink again.

Remember about our trip to Mexico? During our stay in Acapulco, we took a day trip to La Roqueta beach. It took about an hour to get there from the Mayan Palace (car + boat ride), and it was so worth it. It's on a tiny little secluded island and you have an amazing view of Acapulco. A lot of locals go there to chill and hang out.

We were sitting with my in-laws at the beach restaurant when my husband asked: "Would you like a coconut with lemon and sugar?". I gave him a silly look thinking it was a joke. Lemon? Coconut? Say what? Turns out he was serious so I figured why not. Oh-my-god guys, it's seriously delicious. To top it off, it's super easy, thirst quenching and nutritious!

Lemon juice and coconut water are jam packed with vitamins and minerals; vitamin C, calcium, fiber, folates, the list goes on. It's perfect for a daily immune system boost, or even for a little more energy during a workout. You could also just do like me and sip it at your desk during work, or while relaxing by the pool.


Make sure to pin it for the summer, you'll be glad you did on those hot and humid days! What kind of unusual drinks do you like to drink in the summer?

Make a natural and healthy Gatorade alternative with these 3 simple ingredients. Click to tweet.

INGREDIENTS

Coconut water
1/2 Lemon
1-2 Tbsp Sugar

RECIPE

1. Start by squeezing the juice of half a lemon into your glass and stir in the sugar.
2. Fill the rest of the glass with coconut water.




The recipe is actually pretty subjective; you can add more lemon juice or sugar, it's all up to you. On a really hot day you can even add a few ice cubes to make it even more refreshing. Seriously though, doesn't it just look delicious? I'm salivating just looking at the pictures. I know it's still spring but um, bring on the summer!

The flavors of Mexico

Before leaving on our trip to Mexico, I asked on Facebook what kind of posts you guys would like to see about it. A lot of you wanted to see food!

Being married to a Mexican, I usually travel as a local rather than a tourist, which gives me a unique perspective. I find that most of the basic food items are similar to what I would make at home, the main differences are the spices, and the corn flour (as opposed to wheat).

The picture above is coconut with Valentina. Although having a coconut on the beach is not something unusual, to me, the sauce is. Before meeting my husband, I never would have thought of putting spicy sauce on coconut. It's actually pretty good.

In the first picture below is something pretty typical. Re-fried beans with a corn tortilla and rice. The brown part is chicken with mole rojo. Looks gross right? But what if I told you it's chocolate based? Yup, it's a mild spicy pepper and chocolate sauce. It's as delicious as it sounds. 

The following picture is a container of spicy chocolate chunks. You use it to make Mexican hot chocolate. My mother-in-law also uses it to make the mole rojo amongst other things.

Last but not least, the end picture is tamales. Tama-what? This is a delicious breakfast made with a corn-based starchy dough that is steamed in a corn leaf. They're filled with different things from fruit to meat. I'm pretty sure anything goes, even cheese.

There's a lot of other things, but those are the ones I was able to take pictures of. If any of you are interested, I could ask my husband to help me write up some Mexican recipes so you can try them. What do you think?

Have you ever tried any of these?

Mexico 2015

You may have noticed that things have been quiet around here for the past 2 weeks. My family and I just came back from our Mexico vacation. Every few years we go and visit my in-laws in Mexico D.F. It's hard to live so far from family, but the bright side is that we get to travel. Right? ;)

For this trip, we decided to mix things up and spent half the time in Acapulco. We hadn't been to the beach in quite some time and we wanted the kids to see the ocean. Our family joined us at the Mayan Palace and we spent quality time together by the pool, or the beach, every-single-day.

It was the first time we went to a hotel since having kids. I was a bit worried about traveling with my son who has an egg allergy because we can't exactly go to restaurants and I didn't know what kind of foods we would find at the local supermarket. I was so pleased to see that, as discussed with the hotel staff, the room had a complete mini kitchen, so my mother-in-law and I were able to cook delicious meals. Plus, we saved a whole bunch of money, win-win! The food at the store was all marked for allergens too so that also made things much less stressful.

As for traveling with kids, it wasn't all that hard other than the obvious need for a schedule and organization. We tried to keep their regular meal and nap times intact to avoid unnecessary tantrums (not that we ever get any, but I didn't want to adventure down the road of sleep-deprived babies). Besides, it kept sunburns at bay since their nap time is usually around noon to 3PM.

In the mornings we went to the pool and in the evening to the beach, next time I'll do the opposite though because the pool water was much too cold in the morning and there was no shade for the 11AM sun! It would have been better to play in the sand at the beach early in the morning, in the shade, and keep the pool for the late afternoon when the sun was less strong and the water warmer. Eh, you learn with experience right? We still had a lot of fun though, the kids played with their inflatable boats and goggles, and we made tons of sand castles.

We took the kids on a horse ride on the beach. They absolutely loved it, and so did we! :) But...did you know that those poor horses are usually starved? My husband was saying that the owners, usually poor, keep most of the money for their family and the poor animals go without food or drink for much too long. Sad isn't it?

My in-laws babysat the kids on one night which gave my husband and I some time to go out dancing. BEACH DANCING PARTY. Like, um, yeah! I almost forgot what it was like to lose myself in music. I love to dance. So hubby and I danced salsa until our feet hurt.

Before I left for my vacation, I had asked a few of you what you'd like me to write about from my trip and I have a few posts coming up about local food, a drink recipe, and some other fun things so stay tuned!

Until then, a Happy Easter to all of you! Don't eat too much chocolate. ;)

Xochimilco

Xochimilco is such a beautiful place. It's like Venice but with super colorful boats on a series of water canals...with murky water that sometimes smells a bit bad.



Being married to a Mexican, I got a pretty special tour of some awesome Mexican sites (tourist and non-tourist attractions); like Teotihuacan. Am I lucky or what?



On the water, you can find other barges playing music for a fee, or selling food/drinks/items. You can also stop on the water side and visit nurseries and other cute shops.



First impression: Oooo, colors!!

Price: about $16 CDN for the boat ride, with free parking (if you drive there).

Cleanliness: The water seemed very dirty, it even smelled bad at times, but it's because its stale rain water. It's not actually dirty, but still, not very pleasant.

Accessibility: Situated inside of Mexico city, you can go by cab from the city center for about $25 CDN.

Service: The person driving the boat was really sweet and informative. The locals on their own boats were selling us snacks and small items as we floated by them.

End feeling: So romantic! I definitely want to go again.

My rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

teotihuacán

These are the Aztec sun & moon pyramids near Mexico City. My boyfriend brought me there on a Sunday afternoon. Did you know Mexicans don't pay to visit their own historical sites on Sundays? How cool is that?



The site is absolutely amazing. Just thinking that people built everything with their bare hands and minimal tools is unthinkable. Makes me feel like we're becoming more and more physically lazy every century.



My boyfriend was explaining that there is a day in the year, where people come to absorb the energy of the sun (at the sun temple obviously). They climb up the pyramid wearing white, lift their arms and face towards the sun and stand there. I found it quite interesting.



First impression: Oh. My. Goodness. I cant believe I'm here! o.o

Price: About $4 CDN. Yup.

Cleanliness: Well... there's the obvious dirt & grass, but it's to be expected on an archaeological site soooo... other than that it was very clean and smelled fresh.

Accessibility: 48 miles from Mexico city, accessible by bus, taxi or car. I went with my boyfriend's family.

Service: There was a tour guide option but we didn't take it, everything is explained on posters at every stop. There were also lots of little merchants selling souvenirs.

End feeling: I want to go back!! I'm an archeologist wanna be, so it was heaven for me.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

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