Travel, travel, travel

Tel Aviv Beach

I think that all those that travel somewhat frequently know that it can be challenging to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regimen. You are knocked out of your routine, your normal surroundings and your normal schedule. Add jet lag and visiting relatives to the mix for those further travel destinations and it is a recipe for a serious setback for your goals. We travel a lot (a title that was in the running for the blog was "14 months on companion pass") so a few tips we follow...... 

• Include food as a carry-on - nuts, fruits and dark chocolate are our favorites
• Drink lots of Water
• Set a goal to exercise while on travel..... and plan for it and if you don't do a good job planning- take a walk once a day, use the steps and keep on moving
• As for Jet Lag - exercise, hydrate, be disciplined about staying in bed when your body wants to get up and we take Melatonin supplements (in a all natural sleeping aid) it really works! I got this tip from a long distance traveling pro.

We spent some time thinking about the Blog and what we are writing about these last few weeks. In the end we are excited about sharing things from our life that we find interesting about living in the moment and being happy. For us eating healthy and staying active is a life style, not a diet, and is important for our happiness, simple as that. Don’t get me wrong- we love good food, a nice drink and to travel, more often than not it is the company at the seat next to you rather than the destination that makes all the difference and this is what we write about.

We sampled a lot of Israeli cuisine which I would describe as a potpourri of the Middle East, Europe and America with a good bit of all fusion. What about Thai ribs with curry coconut vegetables?

 

A classic Tel Aviv meal looks like this- we were treated to this by friends of ours on a Saturday Brunch looking out over Tel Aviv, a city close to our hearts and stomach.

 

Tel Aviv Brunch with Friends - Gorgeous table!

Tahini is ubiquitous in Israel, it is as Ranch Dressing seems to be in the US. When we got back our first meal was eggplant with Tahini. We realized we were out of Tahini paste after the eggplant was in the oven, no problem - I knew of a bag of sesame seeds hiding in the pantry and so we made our own paste (pretty much toasting and grinding here is the recipe) after tasting and congratulating ourselves we continued on to make Tahini dressing. The difference being converting the "peanut butter" like paste to a smooth flowing dressing with water, lemon, garlic and salt. Just remember that there are as many ways to make it as there are home cooks in the Middle East. Also I was a little lazy and jet lagged and I don't have a good yield on this recipe which means I don't have a good serving size so if you try it or have better information, please share. An interesting website that has another version plus a lot of cool facts is http://mideats.com/. I gathered a lot of tips and recipes about making Tahini sauce from those who make it often. They include making humus and tahini together and using the water that the chickpeas were cooked in to add to the Tahini, using parsley, using cilantro etc. Sesame has one of the highest oil contents of any seed and is made of Omega-6 fatty acids.

We will end this post with some pictures from meals we had while in Israel for your enjoyment.
Kiss your Valentine’s and have a happy healthy weekend!
Bob and Yifat 

Hummus plate for breakfast with tahini and egg! yummy

Two of my favorite salads: Root salad and "Israeli" salad - tomatoes and cucumbers chopped finely.



Breakfest Feast
 

Home made Salmon and Couscous salad!