Future Vet Student Goes to Maui and Only Cares About Goats and Cats

Date: February 27, 2017

Author: astottler

Hello from Maui! I’ve been here for a day and a half now, and wanted to share some of the fun food and such I’ve been having!
Our first stop was lunch, because it was 2pm Hawaii time, which is 4pm CA time! We went to a mall and got Hawaiian food at the food court (ironically at a chain we have back home). My mom and I split BBQ chicken with brown rice and salad.

And then mango sorbet and cake batter froyo.

By the time we stopped by the grocery and made it to our condo, it was time for dinner! We went to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed dinner with a view of the pool.

I started out with a local beer: Longboard Lager. For my meal, I had a veggie burger on a GF bun with fennel kraut and sweet potato chips.

After dinner we walked down to the beach to watch the sun set, but I missed the best of it because I saw an adorable kitty. Priorities.

Back in the room, we enjoyed some chocolates we picked up along the way.

Our first full morning, my dad and I ran 3 miles along the beach. The start, of course, was delayed thanks to the same sweet kitty.

My post-run breakfast was tropical juice, and then a yogurt bowl with cheerios, passionfruit jelly, and sunbutter.

Then, it was time to head out!

We headed out for my personal highlight of the trip, Surfing Goat Dairy. They had 1-3 week old goats!

When we went last time, we did the Grand Dairy Tour which included a full tour of everything, including milking goats. This time, we did a 30 minute casual tour where we got to feed some of the December babies and taste the cheese.

I swear, my heart was going to burst!

The cheese of course was phenomenal as well. We ended up getting a chèvre flight.

And some lilikoi (passionfruit) and blueberry goat milk gelato.

For lunch, we went to a natural foods store on the way back to our side of the island. We were trying to go to a place form last time, and this wasn’t it. We’d actually been there a loooong time ago though! I got an avocado wrap and some mashed sweet potatoes.

We also enjoyed some goat cheese truffles. I had lilikoi and blueberry.

We made it back in time for happy hour by the pool. I have never in my life enjoyed a drink poolside, and now I understand how it’s nice!

And of course I went back by the kitty’s favorite spot!

That night, we drove in to Lahaina for a nice dinner right on the beach at sunset at Pacific’O.

I wasn’t super hungry, so I had a salad with goat cheese, sweet Maui onions, and smoked tomato vinaigrette, plus some of my mom’s chicken and potatoes.

More importantly, I had to save room for dessert! We ordered a few things to split, one of which had wheat and nuts. Because of that, my dad ordered two spoons for himself. EXCEPT, he’s always been a 2 spoon dessert eater, so I think we all know that’s just a cover. He was a little excited to dive in.

The entrees I split were creme brûlée and flourless chocolate cake. I liked the creme brûlée a lot; it was more custardy vs. creamy.

Any Maui recommendations?

WIAW-Hawaiian Vacation!

Date: September 16, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! Since WIAW last week was so much fun, how about we do it again?

Since I just got back from my Hawaiian vacation (recaps here and here), why not take a peek at Monday’s vacation food for WIAW?

I will say that Monday’s meals were a bit different from the rest of the week. I think at this point we were all sort of burned out on rich food and meat, so towards the end of the vacation we stuck to lighter meals.

Breakfast:

Thanks to all my food restrictions, I ended up scrapping together a meal that included a Starbucks mango orange smoothie, fruit, and crackers with goat cheese from the goat dairy we visited. We had a harder goat cheese, mango chèvre, and herbed chèvre.

Plus some guava and papaya:

Lunch: Joy’s Place, a little healthy cafe we passed a few times earlier on the trip and I wanted to check out! They had gluten free bread and rice wraps, so I had a turkey and avocado wrap on rice paper, which was fun! Plus coleslaw on the side.

I was excited to finally get some Hawaiian avocado. We had gotten one earlier in the week, but the hotel fridge froze it! Hawaiian avocado is big and a bit denser/more solid than California avocado.

(Throwback to my last trip to Hawaii 2 years ago!)

Dessert: Although we had already driven to Lahaina to visit the gluten free bakery (Maui Sugar Shop) on Friday, we decided it was necessary to make another stop. I had to go with the chocolate cupcake with lilikoi (passion fruit) icing again, but we also shared bites of a cream puff, lemon bar, and pineapple upside down cake.

Dinner:

That afternoon, my stomach flared up so I went for a simple, light dinner that my body could tolerate. We went to Whole Foods and picked up some food to eat there. I had some gluten free crackers.

Plus some vegetable soup with quinoa, topped with nutritional yeast.

And a couple of bites from the hot bar-mashed potatoes and a carrots.

Back at the hotel, I was feeling better and had a splash of wine with my lilikoi goat cheese truffle.

As well as a piece of chocolate covered pineapple. The chocolate covered pineapple was excellent-I haven’t gotten it here before, and it’s the same type of chocolate as the chocolate covered macadamia nuts that I am now allergic to, which was exciting!

I was hoping to have a bit more of an interesting and fun day of food to share, but I really wasn’t feeling well, but that’s life and sometimes that happens!

I still have one more vacation post to come!

What is your favorite vacation food?

Pigs, Goats, and Pineapple-Oh My!

Date: September 13, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! I’m checking in from Maui once again! These past couple of days included some of my favorite parts of our trip. I think the title says it all! Be prepared for lots and lots of pictures!

Friday morning began with a visit to the beachside juice stand. My fresh squeezed orange pineapple juice was enjoyed beachside, with some yogurt and fruit.

First kitty spotting of the trip by the beach!

After we cleaned up, we headed to Lahaina. Folks-it was a scorcher that day! Upper 90s and humid.

My dad is constantly in search for the best lau lau (pork wrapped in taro and banana leaves), so we stopped for lunch at a restaurant with local fare.

Teriyaki chicken for me!

Dessert was much anticipated-a gluten free bakery! We shared a cream puff and then I had a chocolate cupcake with lilikoi (passionfruit) icing.

It was impossible to tell the cream puff was gluten free, and the cupcake was phenomenal. The cake was moist and dense, and the frosting was the perfect tart counterbalance.

We walked through downtown Wailea, burning up the whole time as we stopped in and out of shops. Finally, we reached our destination: Dan’s Greenhouse. This is a little hidden treasure-we’ve actually been coming to this little shop every time since I was a child. This is also where I got my beloved plumeria plant that has lived in my dorm the past 2 years! But the best part??

Miniature pot belly pigs! I’ve mentioned before that I don’t eat red meat, and these guys are partly why. I think I stopped eating pork around 5th grade, after absolutely falling in love with these guys. This little guy was just a ball of energy. I believe he was 6 months old-he was 8 pounds but will grow to about 15. They eat a vegan diet-similar to what they eat in the wild. If you overfeed them or feed them a too protein rich diet, they can grow to up to 70 pounds! You can pay to feed them, which is more than worth the money. I got to sit on the ground with him in my lap, as he gobbled up berries, kale, and oats from my hand.

I think the photo quality reflects just how wiggly he was!

On the way to the car, we stopped for a dole whip for my dad and iced lattes for my mom and me-plus some much needed time in air conditioning!

My final stop in Lahaina was Enjoy the Ride-a spin studio! They had a big screen in front that displayed a real terrain which was cool. The class was fun but not the hardest I’ve ever taken-it was perfect for the vacation!

Scenes form the drive back to Wailea/Kihei.

Dinner was at Three’s Bar and Grill. We started with a miso kale salad-I’ve had a couple of these while here and I’ve really loved them! For my entree, I had fish lau lau, which also included purple sweet potatoes and kale.

Dessert was gluten free lilikoi cheesecake. Gluten free cheesecake is something I’ve seen pop up on several menus around here!

Saturday morning was another highlight. We began with a trip to Starbucks for a quick breakfast (I had a smoothie plus sliced pineapple from Starbucks!)

On the agenda was the Grand Dairy Tour at the Surfing Goat Dairy. This tour allowed us to see the production process of the small, humane certified dairy. We got to feed the goat, milk the goats (!!!-so excited), herd the goats, and finally-taste all the cheese! I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Their cheeses were top of the line. We bought some to et during the rest of the trip, and are planning on ordering more online to send home! The blueberry and the lime goat cheese truffles I tried were delicious as well!

Next stop-higher upcountry for lunch and pineapple wine tasting!

Lunch was at the ranch burger place across from the winery. I had a taro burger on a gluten free bun.

At the winery, we did the complimentary tasting where we got to choose 3 types of wine to try. I tried the sparking pineapple wine, the rose sparking, and the sweet raspberry dessert wine.

I was really torn about taking home a bottle of the sparkling pineapple or the sparkling rose. I liked the rose more, but the pineapple was really unique!

We took a complimentary tour-and I learned that they produce a really small amount of their award winning sparkling rose-it’s made with grapes grown on their property, and because they produce so little, they only sell their award winning rose on the property, so I felt good about my decision to get that! Scenes from the tour: