Month: May 2020

Bitty & Beau’s Coffee – When a cup of coffee is more than a cup of coffee.

This trip was more than a couple of cups of coffee. It was a re-affirmation that the world is still good and that we are all one world family who should support each other.

I recently was with my daughter and we were looking for a cup of coffee in the peninsula of Charleston and came across Bitty & Beau’s Coffee. I had heard about Bitty & Beau’s and their unique story and decided that I should give it a try.

Bitty & Beau’s originally opened in Wilmington, NC in 2016 and they opened up their Charleston shop in 2018. The owners of Bitty & Beau’s are Amy Wright and her husband. The Wright’s have four children, two of which have Down syndrome. The Wright’s were determined to create a better place for their children and others living in the world with disabilities. Knowing that over 80% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed nationwide, the Wright’s decided they wanted to create a business that shows value, inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and from that idea was born Bitty & Beau’s Coffee.

Four years later and Bitty & Beau’s now has four coffee shops in Wilmington NC, Charleston SC, Savannah GA and Annapolis MD. They currently employ 80 people with disabilities and have been featured on The Today Show, Rachael Ray, CNN, Harry, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, HLN, People Magazine and Southern Living Magazine. In 2017 founder Amy Wrights was named a CNN Hero of the Year.

My trip to Bitty & Beau’s didn’t disappoint at all. The shop rivals any Starbucks and the staff was friendly and full of a contagious spirit of joy. There was a line to order and many patrons were taking selfies next to Bitty & Beau’s signs and checking out the various shirts, mugs, and other items for sale that go to support the cause of Bitty & Beau’s. Our order was prepared quickly and handed to us with a smile. This trip was more than a couple of cups of coffee. It was a re-affirmation that the world is still good and that we are all one world family who should support each other. Thank you Bitty & Beau’s for reminding me about this, and making my day brighter. I have found my new favorite coffee shop in Charleston.

Bitty & Beau’s is located at 159 Church Street, Charleston SC 28403.

You can get more information about Bitty & Beau’s from their website: https://www.bittyandbeauscoffee.com/

10 tips to successfully start Intermittent Fasting

Over the last 10 months I have lost 50 pounds. The first 30 pounds took me nearly 9 months to lose. The last 20 pounds only took me 45 days! The secret to my success for the last 20 pounds was Intermittent Fasting. Here are 10 easy tips to make Intermittent Fasting work for you. Learn how to be successful with your intermittent fasting, whether you want to lower your blood sugar, lose weight, work on lowering your blood pressure or cholesterol, or try to reverse diabetes.

  1. Know your reason for starting Intermittent Fasting. Are you doing this to lose weight, lower your blood sugar, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, or reverse diabetes? Whatever brought you to intermittent fasting, know the reason and work towards that goal.
  2. Do your research on Intermittent Fasting. Check with your physician to make sure that you are healthy enough to start a fasting regimen. If you have an eating disorder, are pregnant, or an adolescent then you should not be starting Intermittent Fasting. There are plenty of resources for you to go through. You can look it up on the internet, YouTube, books, and ebooks. Dr. Jason Fung is a great resource. You can google him, or look him up on YouTube. You can also read his books. His books are “The Obesity Code”, and “The Diabetes Code”. Another author to read is Gin Stephens. Her book “Delay, Don’t Deny” is a great resource. Other great resources are podcasts.
  3. Take pictures of yourself, take your measurements, and record other data such as blood pressure and blood glucose levels. These are handy to look back on as you go through you Intermittent Fasting journey.
  4. Select an Intermittent Fasting cycle. Popular cycles are 16:8, 18:6, 20:4, OMAD, and alternate day fasting.
  5. Tell other people about your Intermittent Fasting. One of the best ways to hold yourself accountable is to make sure that others know that you are doing this. It will help them understand why you may be going through a physical transformation and why you may not eat at the same times as they are.
  6. Do a clean fast. When in a fasting state do not drink anything with artificial flavoring or with real sugars, or artificial sweetener. Limit your beverages to water, black coffee, and unsweetened tea.
  7. Create a support system. Besides finding someone else who has done Intermittent Fasting you can also join online groups, Facebook groups, and listen to podcasts.
  8. Drink plenty of water. You don’t want to get dehydrated and your body needs plenty of water when fasting. Drinking water also helps to fend off hunger pains.
  9. Start with a family member or buddy. You can hold each other accountable or even compete with each other. It’s good to have someone to talk to about your successes and challenges with Intermittent Fasting.
  10. Persevere. When weight loss is slow or other results are slow and you are down about it go back and look at the pictures you took and review your numbers to see your successes. Give your body time to heal and don’t be afraid to change it up if you need to. Go ahead and switch to a new cycle such as go from 16:8 to 18:6 and see what type of difference that makes.

How to make homemade Hummus – Quick and Easy

Hummus is quick and easy to make with this recipe. Make your own hummus that is better tasting than the one you buy at the grocery store.

Ingredients: 

1 can chickpeas

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup tahini

1 small clove garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon zaatar (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cumin

3 tablespoons water

paprika (garnishment for serving)

Directions:

First mix lemon juice and tahini in a blender or food processor until it is “whipped”.   

It is important to mix this first to get a smooth and creamy hummus. 

Combine the remaining ingredients and mix.

Add additional tablespoons of water until hummus reaches the desired consistency.

Pour into a bowl and serve. You can sprinkle paprika on top or garnish with more zaatar, or sesame seeds, and a small drizzle of olive oil.

How to make homemade banana bread

Banana bread is one of my favorite breads and its a great way to use up your bananas after they start to get brown spots on them.

Ingredients: 

3 ripe bananas

  2 eggs

  ½ cup shortening

  1 ¼ cup white sugar

  1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

  1 ¾ cup all purpose flour

  1 teaspoon baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ chopped walnuts 

Instructions: mix together the sugar and shortening and blended and forms little balls. Add in bananas and vanilla extract and continue to mix. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda and salt together. Combine the flour mixture with the banana mixture and mix until all ingredients are blended together. Pour mixture into a greased and floured bread pan and sprinkle the walnuts on top. Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour and 15 minutes. After baking let cool and remove from pan. Enjoy.

Dining review – The Salty Dog Cafe

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The highlights of our meal were the shrimp and grits, seafood pot pie, and the fresh catch of the day, which happened to be a marvelous swordfish.

This last Sunday was Mother’s Day, and both my wife and my elderly mom wanted out of the house after nearly two months of social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  The governor of South Carolina just eased social distancing restrictions last week, and this weekend was the first weekend that restaurants were allowed to be open, but only for outside and patio dining.  We decided that we wanted a water view if we were going to be dining outside and chose the Salty Dog Café on Seabrook Island. 

Of course, there was a wait when we arrived at 6:00 PM because every restaurant in Charleston that could have outdoor dining was packed for Mother’s Day. Still, we didn’t mind the wait as it gave us an excellent opportunity to walk around the picturesque Bohicket Marina. 

Once we were seated, we were immediately greeted by our server.  The server recommended several appetizers, which we were happy to order.  The two appetizers that we ordered were the hush puppies and pimento cheese dip.  Both were excellent.  The hush puppies were paired with sweet butter that complemented the hush puppies that were crispy on the outside and soft and tasty on the inside.  The pimento cheese dip came with carrot sticks, homemade pita chips, and homemade thick-cut kettle potato chips.  The pimento dip was savory with a robust mix of spices, but to be honest, I think that those kettle chips stole the show.  This appetizer is worth ordering just to try the kettle chips. 

Our main courses did not disappoint either. The highlights of our meal were the shrimp and grits, seafood pot pie, and the fresh catch of the day, which happened to be a marvelous swordfish. The shrimp and grits were served with creamy andouille sausage and bacon gravy. The gravy was a perfect complement to the stone-ground grits and sautéed shrimp. The seafood potpie contained shrimp, scallops, and fresh fish wrapped in a light but tasty puff pastry. Lastly, the swordfish was quite amazing. It was light and delicious. For those people, like my wife, that like fish that don’t have that overly “fishy” taste, this is for you. My wife, who is not a fan of fish, tasted it and said it was the best fish she had ever tasted. On this particular night, we were too full to look at the dessert menu but were pleasantly surprised when our server told us that the two moms’ in our group would receive a complimentary slice of red velvet cake for dessert. The red velvet cake was moist and delicious and well received by both my wife and my mother.

As great as our food and service was, the highlight of the dining experience was watching the sunset go down over the marina and the surprise visit that the diners had from a group of local dolphins who decided to show up at the dock just about 100 yards from our table.  We give this restaurant a thumbs up, and we will be returning to the Salty Dog Café in the near future. 

How to make homemade vanilla extract

Making homemade vanilla extract is simple and a lot less expensive than purchasing pure vanilla at the store.  A common brand of the extract can cost nearly $16 for 4 ounces, that’s $4 per ounce.  A gourmet bottle can cost $27 for 4 ounces; that’s $6.75 per ounce.  I can show you how to make vanilla extract for $2.86 per ounce.  All you need is a mason jar, vanilla beans, and at least an 80 proof alcohol.  Many people tend to use vodka, rum, or even bourbon for their extract.  I prefer to use vodka.  You don’t need to use premium alcohol because you are not drinking this, and you will use this in small amounts in your recipes.  If you want to spend more money on any ingredient, make it your vanilla beans.  Everyone has a different taste for how rich they like their vanilla extract to taste, and the full-bodied ness and richness comes from how many vanilla beans you use to make your extract.  I prefer to use one vanilla bean for every 2 ounces of alcohol. 

Ingredients:    

6 Vanilla Beans

 12 oz vodka

  1. Slice open the 6 vanilla beans and turn them inside out to expose the beans.  Place them in a 2 cup mason jar.
  2. Fill the mason jar with 12 oz vodka.

Store in a cool, dark place, such as a cupboard for at least 30 days.  The longer you store the extract, the richer the vanilla taste.

My costs:  $15 for a 1.75-liter bottle of vodka, which equates to $0.25 per ounce.  $59 for 25 grade A vanilla beans, which equates to $2.36 per bean.  If I use 1 bean per 2 ounces of vodka, my costs are $2.86 per ounce. 

Blood Pressure milestone

In the spirit of acknowledging and celebrating milestones, no matter how small, I must recognize my blood pressure today. I have had high blood pressure and have been on medications for at least the last four years, maybe even longer, I can’t remember. When I started intermittent fasting, my blood sugar was 127/91. That isn’t bad, and for me, it was one of my best readings. Today I beat that reading, and for the first time, my blood pressure monitor coded my blood pressure as green. Green is good, and for me, this was a first. So, let’s celebrate my reading of 116/78.