Vacation Highs & a Snack Mix to Match!

Alright so I just got back from being in Carlsbad, California for a week-long family vacation... I just have one question:

WHY is it practically IMPOSSIBLE to eat healthy on a vacation?! Please enlighten me.

From the beginning of the vacation, I was dead-set on making good choices throughout the week so that I wouldn't feel gross and, well... just gross.  When we went to the grocery store for food to fill our tiny beach resort fridge, we bought really healthy things- mangoes, oatmeal, grapes, lunchmeat & reduced-fat cheeses, apples, peaches, light yogurts, tomatoes, and light ice cream treats.

Unfortunately, since the sun decided to hide away during our ENTIRE trip (seriously, it was cloudy and cold the whole week and only had one beach day), we found ourselves improvising by finding other things to do in the San Diego area- shopping, movies, zoo, and most importantly, eating out.

We ditched the beach and headed out to find a good place to eat!

I do highly recommend some of these restaurants if you are ever in the Carlsbad/Oceanside area:

1. Cessy's Taco Shop. If you are a fan of Filiberto's (for those in Arizona and California) or simply of any good Mexican food.... you MUST try Cessy's.  It's a five-minute walk from the beach.  Their bean & cheese burrito makes my knees go weak.  SO YUMMY.

2.You've probably already heard of Ruby's, the adorable 1940's diner famous for their shakes and burgers, but it's a whole different experience when you're dining while overlooking the Pacific ocean! The restaurant sits at the very end of the 1,942 foot-long Oceanside Pier.  It was so much fun and the food is great!

There it is!

3.  One of the most talked-about restaurants in Carlsbad is Jay's Gourmet, a small, pizza & pasta kind of place right on the beach.  My family shared a large "Works" pizza.  It was pretty delicious, as was the appetizer garlic bread!

My brother, Tanner, myself, and my sister, Tatum at Jay's

We ate at a lot of other restaurants, too, but these were my favorites.  Basically, my "healthy" eating kind of went out the window when I realized that it wasn't every day that I got to try all of these fun new places. I am home, now, though and WILL get back on track with a normal, healthy diet woo!

Oh P.S. the day before we left, I made a couple of treats to munch on during the drive to California.  This was one of them

I know I shouldn't have made this, as it was as far away from healthy eating as POSSIBLE, but I have wanted to try this snack mix for a long time, and thought this was the perfect opportunity!  It is a recipe from my Aunt Debbie, that I found in a family cookbook.

The only problem was that I couldn't keep my hands out of it! But neither could anyone else :) YUM.

Smash-Hit Snack Mix

Mix:

4 C. Golden Grahams cereal

4 C. Rice Chex Cereal

2 cups shredded coconut

1 large can mixed nuts

Syrup:

1 c. sugar

1 c. butter

2/3 c. light Karo syrup

dash salt

In a huge bowl, combine cereal, coconut and nuts.  Set aside.  Make the sauce by combining all ingredients in a sauce pan, and bringing it to a boil for 3- 3 1/2 minutes.  Immediately pour sauce over cereal mix and stir well.  Spread onto a Jelly Roll Pan and let set, then watch it disappear!