About my recent diet...

I APOLOGIZE FOR MY DIET. It's not that I haven't been eating, exactly the opposite actually, but I've been without internet access. This past week my family went to the Grand Velas resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, and I can confidently say that I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life. The reason? The resort was all inclusive. What this means is that food and drink are included in the initial booking price of the hotel, so in my family's eyes it meant that we literally ordered one of everything off the menu. From the moment we woke up with huevos rancheros, fluffy waffles, and homemade granola, to massive fresh salad bars, burgers, and tacos for lunch, to flank steaks and grilled sea bass for dinner, and insurmountable options for dessert, this was definitely a non stop eating vacation, just the way I like it. The best thing I ate this trip was probably the most ironic. We went into the town of Playa Del Carmen one night looking for authentic Mexican food but wound up at quaint Italian restaurant instead. House-made pasta made the spaghetti carbonara absolutely insane. Crispy bacon and loads of fresh parmesan made this pasta literally heavenly. Unlike other carbonaras, it was dry, not heavy with a creamy sauce, which elevated it to the next level because you could really taste the fresh pasta. UGH TAKE ME BACK!!
Below, I recorded some of my food adventures. My own food porn. Enjoy!

Green Tomato Gaspacho with a vegetable pillow (think Vietnamese spring roll status), tangy, tart, and a potent kick of habanero

Fresh tuna with pickled onions and cucumbers and a sweet balsamic glaze, SO fresh, so good

Mussels in a sweet creamy poblano sauce, totally smokey and delicious, the broth could literally be made as a soup

Grilled flank steak, grilled cactus leaves, fried poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, and mashed yuca Steak was amazingly flavorful with a brown sugar sauce that was to die for

Grilled rack of lamb crusted with breadcrumbs and rosemary, so good baby JJ ordered two...

Grilled vegetables with a sweet potato puree, crisp, healthful, and still flavorful!

Waffles with powdered sugar, fresh fruit, and a hash brown cake. YUMMY and FLUFFY

Fresh fruit salad, tasted as good as it looked

BEAUTIFUL fruit stack. PICTURE PERFECT

Egg white omelet with a hash brown cake, grilled cotija cheese, a roasted cherry tomato, and a tortilla cup filled with a black bean puree. Sounds simple, but the black bean and egg combination had me SINGING.

Grilled vegetable and shrimp kabobs with a fresh green salad, the perfect light and tasty lunch

Gaspacho served with baby scallop kabob, soup was so chilled and so fresh tasting

Crab and artichoke ravioli. Who would have thought of this combination? It was such a good pairing

Grilled steak with a potato gratin stack and some fresh vegetables, steak was sooo tender and had a rustic grilled taste