Asian Noodle Stir Fry

   When we were in the Keys {1, 2, 3} we spent some time in Peppers of Key West, an amazing store with more hot sauces than you could ever imagine! When Stephen and I first walked in we were greeted by the man working in the store behind a bar with hot sauces circling the counter. He invited us to sit down and do some taste testing. We started off pretty mild and worked our way up. I'm pretty proud of myself, I'm not a hot sauce person at all but I was able to hang until the first sauce you used a toothpick to try, that was HOT! And Stephen just kept going!

   Anyway, one of the milder sauces was a Peppers of Key West original Asian Marinade was soooo delicious! As soon as we tried it I knew it was something I would actually eat. Perfect for stir fry, chicken and rice, or you know as a marinade lol. Here we used egg noodles, broccoli, snap peas, onions and the Asian Marinade to make a delicious stir fry. Let me warn you though, even though the sauce is mild in heat it does build, my little mouth was burning by the end of this meal. But then again I don't ever eat hot sauce.

   This sauce and all of the others we purchased are absolutely wonderful! If you are ever in Key West I recommend you stop by and test your hot sauce stamina. Here is the address:

Peppers of Key West
602 Greene Street
Key West, FL 33040

*This post is not sponsored in any way, we just had a great experience and I thought I would share!*

The Keys || Day 3

   So, I got back late last night from my trip all through England and boy did I enjoy sleeping in in my own bed with my purring kitty. But, before I get into all those fun details let me share the last few images from our last day in the Keys.

   We got up early so Stephen could do a little fishing with his dad before we all grabbed a quick lunch at a local seafood restaurant. I cast (well reeled in) once, but I'm not a fishing enthusiast so sitting on the dock watching the little fish and jellyfish swim by was good enough for me. On the drive back this mural on a K-Mart store wall was just too good to pass up, so I made Stephen pull over to take some pictures. The rest of the drive was pretty easy and Albert was very happy to see us come back. 

   I had so much fun and am inspired to keep finding ways to adventure. Even if that means having to get creative with local options. 

The Keys || Day 2

   Back to our trip to the keys. We all got up pretty early Sunday morning and packed up. Everyone else was headed home and Stephen and I continued on to Key West. The drive was pretty easy even though it was only one lane most of the way. The views were amazing of ocean on both sides of the car, the old bridge was neat to see with trees growing out of it, birds hanging out and most of it falling down.

   Once we got into downtown we parked the car and started to walk everywhere. We went into just about every shop and made our way up and down every street. We got in line to take a picture at the southernmost point and met up with Stephen's parents. After getting our picture taken the four of us continued on to find the end of Route 1. It was so hot and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, I had forgotten to put on sunscreen and was sure I was getting burned. Next to the southernmost point there was a fresh coconut stand, a straw in one of those was the best solution to the heat.

   We were told that Key West is a totally different animal at night so we stopped at the little Cuban restaurant in front of our hotel for some Cuban coffee. I'm not really a coffee drinker so that little buggar was enough to keep me up for days! I guess every evening they have a sunset festival with street performers and local vendors on the pier. We found the perfect viewing spot right next to a man with his performing cats. The guy was really hard to understand but he sure did enjoy performing with his cats. It was very strange but they did jump through fire so that was pretty cool.

   The sunset was really beautiful even though it was partially blocked out by clouds. Stephen and I then had dinner on the boardwalk at a lobster house. I'm not a huge seafood fan but I tried a bite of Stephen's lobster sandwich and it was pretty yummy. We had this delicious salted carmel cheesecake for dessert, I think we licked the plate clean. So, even though it was late we still had that Cuban coffee coursing through our veins so we went back through downtown. Everything had a whole new energy, there were people everywhere, music drifting through the streets, and all the buildings were beautifully lit up. It was such a full day and we had a blast!

  I'll share our last day in the keys next week and then I'll share all about my trip to England! I'm having a blast! Sign me up to travel the world, ok thanks.

The Keys || Day 1

   So as you may know I am currently tromping around England with my family but I wanted to share my trip to the Keys from a few weeks ago. I was able to get off work early Friday to start making the journey to Key Largo. That's the first Key and is about an hour and a half south of Miami, but about 5 total from Tampa. Stephen was so kind and drove his car (mine is a ticking time bomb and we knew we would find trouble if we took Jimmy) the whole long haul. We stopped about half way at the only gas station in the middle of Alligator Alley. And what do you know there was a HUGE alligator just chilling a couple feet away from the fence.

   There was a lot of traffic as we went through Miami so we got to dinner at Ballyhoo's a little late, but it was nice to meet up with everyone and get this mini vacation started! We were invited down to Key Largo by my bosses (they are the best!) and a few clients came along as well. We all stayed in this gigantic house right on the water, it was gorgeous! I guess this is more like day one and two but Friday was mainly all driving. Saturday we got up fairly early and ran some errands getting SCUBA gear so the guys could go diving. Once we got back to the house we all broke up to go do an assortment of things. Stephen and John went diving, Lauren and Clair went snorkeling, Charlie captained the boat, Chris stayed in the house reading and Caroline and I went out on a kayak. We were only gone for a little bit and decided when we got back that we would make some bread for dinner.

   Once everyone got back to the house we had a feast for dinner, there was chicken, pork, steak, our bread, twice baked potatoes, green beans, and grilled vegetables. It was all so delicious and I was so full afterwards. Then came the entertainment, breaking the piñata! Everyone took a whack at poor sparkles until candy flew everywhere :) We finished up the evening with Cards Against Humanity and a run to the ice cream shop down the road. I had such a good time with everyone there, it was such a good group of people!

   I'll blog about days two and three here over the next few weeks because for now it's time to enjoy the vacation I am on currently!!

Oh hello there. 

There's nothing like warm, fresh bread.

Sparkles!!!

Chris took the first swing

Then Caroline next

Lauren did some real damage

Then Clair finished him off!

Poor Sparkles

Lauren's new ride!

Amazing right?!