We headed to Chicago recently to celebrate my Mama’s 87th birthday.
What’s extraordinary about celebrations at Mama’s house is that she won’t allow us to bring any food for the meal. She wants to make it all herself and this time she outdid herself.
What does a Puerto Rican mother make herself for her birthday?
We (the children) were allowed to bring a cake though so my sister ordered a delicious pineapple cake. It was a bit heavy on the frosting (which I didn’t eat) but was good nonetheless. (Yes, I know, I know — cake is not supposed to be eaten on a paleo diet but this was my mother’s 87th birthday! I just knew you’d understand.)
Mama’s Birthday Cake
And, as usual, as I headed out the door, Mama gave me a bag of groceries. That’s my Mama for you!
On a recent cruise (on the Norwegian Cruise Line) that my family and I went on, we chose two (2) paid excursion tours to go on — one in Costa Maya, Mexico and one in Roatan, Honduras. Recommended wear was good walking shoes and, depending on the weather, shorts or long pants. We wore long pants as we were told to take mosquito repellant and I didn’t want to get bitten. (Unfortunately, we were there at the wrong time of the year for the mosquitoes — lucky for us but now we had mosquito repellant that we had to haul home.)
This post will deal with the Costa Maya, Mexico excursion. The cost per person was $84.99 and we chose the tour called “Chacchoben Mayan Ruins” that was approximately four (4) hours long.
This was the first port the ship stopped at after a full day at sea so we were ready to get out and about.
We boarded an old bus which was comfortable and air conditioned. The tour guide spoke throughout our drive to the ruins giving us a lot of information about the area and later about the ruins themselves.
Tour Bus TV
The guide handed out a few samples of things she spoke about. I really liked this part of the tour as I’m a visual person and this helped to put everything she spoke about into perspective.
Cacao from Cocoa TreeChicozapote Chewing Gum (think Chicles chewing gum)
Below is a picture of the fruit of the Corozo Cohune Palm which is a tree that the Mayans made use of for oil, roofing material, etc. and that appears to be prominent in Mayan ruin areas.
Corozo Cohune PalmCorozo Cohune Palm Nut
The tour guide came with maps and allowed us ample time to take pictures of the Mayan ruins that we saw.
The Tour Guide
Below are pictures of the Chacchoben Mayan ruins. The guide told us a few stories as we went along. One story told was of a sacrifice where a person would be rolled from the top to the bottom of the pyramid. (Ouch!)  Since the person was dead when they got the bottom, their skin would be removed and it would be worn by the Mayan chief.
Chacchoben Mayan Ruin
I took quite a few pictures of the ruins so will let you enjoy them without much comment.
One question I had throughout the tour (that I failed to ask) was how they knew in what order to put these Mayan pyramids together. The guide told us that the ruins were hidden for many years under trees and that everything had to be cleared so they could re-construct them. They took each rock off one by one and put them back together. So really, how did they know where each rock went? Perhaps there was labeling done — tedious work.
The guide stood off to the left and told us that baby (child) sacrifices were held at this location. How sad!
Mayan Ruins – Baby Sacrifices
These steps were very hard to climb as I’m short — well, even tall people had trouble climbing them. I took my time and supported myself by holding onto the step above the one I was on.
Mayan Ruin
(This was the pyramid where the guide told the story about the man being rolled down to his death … )
This trip/tour was well worth the money and the time. It helped that we had an excellent guide and driver. There was a “checkpoint” that we had to pass through where men with rifles stood to check for anyone who might be trying to bring drugs into the country. Â A little spooky to go through a checkpoint for me but it was uneventful.
Our next port of call was in Belize. We didn’t take a tour/excursion there but I’ll post some pictures soon on that port also.
You may be wondering if I’m still eating a paleo diet since I haven’t posted much lately. The answer is yes.
Unfortunately, I’ve been sick and today I found out I have bronchitis. I thought for sure the cold I caught was going away but it returned with more coughing, chest pain and a low grade fever. The doctor took a chest x-ray which I questioned because I “normally” get bronchitis when I get a bad cold and I already know what they prescribe  for the cure — antibiotics and prednisone.
Actually, I didn’t see a doctor but a nurse practitioner. Â She explained that the x-ray was needed because of the chest pressure although she didn’t “hear” much in my chest. I kind’ve knew the x-ray would come out negative. Should I have asked her not to give me one or would that have seemed too much like the patient telling the doctor what to do?
Anyway … here is a recent paleo dinner that we had. This salmon with basil pesto and tomatoes was pretty good but I am partial to both salmon and tomatoes and enjoy eating them both.
Salmon with Basil Pesto and Tomatoes
This was served with a blood orange salad. Have you ever had a blood orange before? This was my first time trying one and although it looked like an orange grapefruit to me, it did not taste that sour.
It feels like a long time since I’ve blogged but in reality it’s only been 3 days since I’ve added a new post.
A recent weeklong trip to Seattle to check on a friend who started on hospice a couple of months ago, along with an “almost” weeklong cold has left me feeling quite fatigued and without much momentum.
Image courtesy of Microsoft Free Images
The cold started slowly with just a little cough. Within a couple of days my sinuses were fully congested, I could hardly hear and my chest started feeling like someone was squeezing it. Â Then the wheezing started and that’s when I became concerned.
I started using my asthma inhaler, albuterol, almost daily which is uncommon for me. Today I’m feeling a little better although my ears are still plugged.
Mornings are worst for me because of the coughing yet I’ve been able to sleep through the night.
What have I done to “cure” myself? Not much really. I use a humidifier at night right next to where I sleep, drink lots of water and eat “right” which is easy to do on a paleo diet and then I get lots and lots of rest.
Next week I should be ready to post again — I have a backlog of things to share.
The food on the cruise ship was, well, let’s say interesting. It went from really really good to so-so. This was the case whether you went through the buffet line in the cafeteria or one of the main dining rooms.
Some of the fruit in the cafeteria (called the Market Cafe) was sometimes not quite ripe enough to be served. Other times, the thought ran through my head that perhaps some of the food had been frozen then thawed. Overall it was good.
Once, after dinner, we were walking around and found a chef who was making crepes. Of course, I had to try one and it was delicious! (Not the best choice for a person on a paleo diet though.)
The Norwegian Star has a few specialty restaurants. These are not included in the price of your cruise though so you pay extra to eat at them. Most times you have to make a reservation depending on the popularity of the restaurant. We only took advantage of one of these restaurants which was a Brazilian Restaurant called the Moderno Churrascaria (more about this later in a later post).
This is the first time that we have cruised on a ship that is “freestyle.” Most other ships have formal nights where you dress up and meet the Captain and the waitpeople get to know you and your preferences. The passengers have designated dinner hours in the dining rooms and sit with other people who they get to know during the cruise. Not so on this ship. You can pretty much eat in the dining room any time on the half hour and you’re seated “wherever.” I do like the casual clothing aspect for dining but prefer the same designated waiters and busboys.
There is also much clattering noise as people are coming and going for meals and they have to quickly set up tables. The maitre’d came to our table to ask us how things were going and we spoke to him about the noise and slow service. The following day, he moved us to a quieter area of the dining room and we also had more experienced waitstaff which was much appreciated.
Below are some of the photos I took of some breakfasts and dinners. For this first entree, they had mashed potatoes but later when I had the lamb shank I requested they substitute the mashed potatoes for sweet potato mash and they were happy to oblige.
Lamb Shank with Mashed Potatoes
The smoked salmon tartare (below) was good. It had a cucumber, avocado and dijon dressing.
Smoked Salmon Tartare
The cheesecake was too sweet for my palate. Since I have not been eating sugar for a couple of weeks, I just couldn’t finish the cheesecake that came with a strawberry compote.
Cheesecake
Yes, another picture of the lamb shank because I must’ve had it three times. Can you guess that I enjoy lamb shank? You’d be right.
Lamb Shank with Sweet Potato Mash
I’ve been appreciating salads more and more these day. This one was served with balsamic vinaigrette.
Field Greens, Anjou Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
This was one of the breakfasts I had in the Versailles Dining Room. For breakfast, we normally went to the Market Cafe where they had a buffet and I had fruit with my breakfast.
Breakfast with Turkey Sausages
The quiche, which was served as a “starter” was really good. It tasted very light and was served with mixed greens and lime dressing.
Sundried Tomato and Sweet Onion Quiche
These meatballs were scrumptious. Yes, scrumptious!
Beef Meatballs
The bread pudding was served warm. It was okay but a tad bit too dense.
Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
I can’t recall exactly what this soup is but it was good.
Soup
I ordered the apple pie and thought it would be really really good but I was disappointed (and they brought me two slices that I didn’t ask for). It was just okay — nothing special.
Apple Pie a La Mode
My husband had the coconut souffle with a mango lime sauce. I wish I had ordered this instead of the apple pie as it was heavenly (well, the small bit my husband allowed me to taste).
Coconut Souffle
An interesting thing about the beef stroganoff was that it had beets in it. Very unusual, eh?
Beef Stroganoff
That’s just a small sampling of what they served in the Versailles Dining room on the Norwegian Star. You can click here to see the rest of the menu items from another person’s blog.
Overall, I did okay on my paleo diet although I did have a slice of bread every day, a small dessert and an occasional hot chocolate.
Other posts regarding the cruise are below (just click on the link).
A friend recently sent me a video about penguins that reminded me of my brother who used to collect everything “penguin.” I’m not sure if he still has the collection or continues to collect penguin paraphernalia. Guess I’ll have to ask him the next time I see him.
Penguins (Microsoft free images)
This is a peaceful video to watch. It makes me so relaxed I want to fall asleep.
Some of the scenes are really touching — like when a baby penguin is walking on the feet of one of its parents or when a parent penguin is watching a baby penguin struggle (and succeed) to climb over a lump of snow.
Watch it (by clicking below) and tell me what you think.
Here are a couple more new paleo dinners that we’ve recently tried.
This crustless quiche was very good! It had asparagus in it which I’m not usually fond of but it was complimented with other veggies so tasted great. I had leftovers for breakfast and it heated through just fine.
Crustless Quiche
The quiche was a side dish to this very delicious cod.
Cod
The next recipe we tried was an Ethiopian Chicken in a red pepper paste. Although this looked a little odd with the eggs in it, it actually tasted very good.
Ethiopian Chicken
The chicken was served with a Kale, Sesame and Ginger salad which was not my favorite. Perhaps it was the kale or too much sesame oil. The flavors just didn’t seem to flow right in my mouth so we’ll have to work on tweaking this recipe if we want to use it again.
Kale, Sesame and Ginger SaladEthiopian Chicken with Kale Salad
The chicken was quite moist and very flavorful.
It’s really not too hard to eat paleo. I’d be interested in hearing if anyone has tried any of the recipes and tweaked them some to make them better.
Normally there’s not much to say about the cabin steward on the ship. He is supposed to be invisible and yet make sure that all your cabin needs are taken care of.
Our cabin steward introduced himself on the first day (as they all do). He is from the Philippines and his name is pronounced Why-you. We all (including him) found the name pronunciation funny but easy to remember.
When we arrived in our cabin after the first evening’s entertainment in the theatre, I was surprised and tickled that he had made an animal creation with towels. Not all cabin stewards can do this and on our last cruise we were not entertained in this manner.
Below are some of his inventions. I laughed out loud when I entered the room and saw the mouse and the hanging monkey. A nice way to end the day.
Since there were three of us in an inside cabin we had two twin beds that were pushed together (plenty of room for my husband and I) and then there was a bunk bed over half of the bed. It was a little cumbersome as my son had to climb on the bed to get to the bunk but once I spoke to Why-you about the situation he moved a desk to the other side of the room and put a ladder on the bunk so my son could get up easier.
We were fortunate to have a very good cabin steward this time around.
Did you watch the Superbowl game yesterday? I was rooting for the underdog all the way — the Ravens. And … they won (she says gleefully). It was quite a close game though. A real nail biter!
While waiting for the game to start, we had an appetizer that included julienned carrots with Baba Ganoush. Â It was really good and even though it was made with eggplants it tasted very much like hummus (a Middle Eastern dip).
I should have really enjoyed the fruit salad but it had a little too much lime sprinkled on it and made my mouth pucker quite a bit. Next time we’ll use less lime.
The paleo barbecue sauce was actually pretty good as long as you didn’t slather it on the chicken — pretty much the same as with regular barbecue sauce.
Arriving in New Orleans for our cruise, we gathered our suitcases and looked for a person holding up a sign that said “Norwegian Cruise” since they would be the ones who we would follow to take a shuttle to the ship.
Stepping outside the airport terminal, I felt the warm New Orleans air. This I can breathe easily as opposed to the negative degree temperatures that Minnesota was currently having. The ride to the ship took about 25 minutes and once there things moved quickly.
Before boarding, we had a quick photo taken of us and were given a card to use on the ship. You swipe this card every time you get on and off the ship — that’s how they know whose missing. This card also serves as a credit card and before boarding, you have to give the cruise line a credit card and at the end of the cruise they give you an account of everything (outside of your initial cruise charges) you have charged, i.e. soda, excursions, wine, etc. One has to be careful because it’s very easy to swipe the card and then get a bill at the end of the cruise that is enormous. Sure, you get receipts for everything you “charge” but how many people tally up those receipts while on vacation?
The ship was to leave at 5 p.m. and it was prompt in doing so. I was able to see part of downtown New Orleans and the sunset as we were leaving.
The bridge below is called the Crescent City Connection (CCC), formerly known as the Greater New Orleans Bridge (GNO) and the water below it is the Mississippi River.
New Orleans BridgeDowntown New Orleans
As we were getting ready to leave, the moon was hanging beautifully in the sky.
New Orleans Moon
(Side note: Have you ever looked at pictures of the moon from different places on earth to see if you can notice any differences? I never have but wonder if there’s a link to something like that. Â Anyone?)
After dropping a few things  in our inside cabin, I checked out a little bit of the ship. The Star has been around since 2001 and holds approximately 2,348 passengers. This was the first Norwegian Cruise Line ship that embarked with the Freestyle Cruising motto. Casual, casual and casual.
Although the ship was refurbished in 2010 it looks somewhat dated yet clean.
Because there are many people on a ship, they are always worried about viruses that can spread quickly so before you enter the buffet cafeteria, elevators or the main dining room, they have hand sanitizers that you put your palm under. At the buffet cafeteria, they also had people stationed outside yelling “Washy, washy, happy, happy” along with a spray bottle that included hand sanitizer in it.
SanitizingSanitizers
Below are a few pictures of some of the ship’s interior. The artwork on the walls ranged from “just okay” to beautiful and a lot of these are sold at an auction they have on board.
I feel in love with the ceiling in the atrium area. Directly underneath is the Brazilian restaurant that we ate at. Further down is a cafe where I used to have my hot chocolate.
Norwegian Cruise Artwork
Here are more pictures of the interior of the ship.
Norwegian Cruise Interior
The main theatre pictures came out a wee bit dark. This theatre is very similar to the ones on other cruise ships although it was a little hard to see from the balcony area.
Stardust TheatreStardust Theatre
Right before a performance, the children’s group came and performed a pirate song for us. It was very cute.
Kid EntertainmentKid Entertainment
The swimming pool was small although there were water slides for children that were used frequently. We did not go into the swimming pools but I’ve read that they have salt water in them.
Norwegian Star Pool AreaChildren’s Waterslide
I’ll be posting soon on the experiences we had with the food, excursions and the cabin steward.
