Beyond Paradise
 

Fort Myers Beach, Florida, USA - 2017's vacation location

Yes, Fort Myers Beach, we are coming for you this summer :) We've been planning for a while and yesterday we finally decided on that Fort Myers Beach, Florida in the USA it is. So we, meaning myself, my husband, our son, my parents and my two younger brothers (22 and 14 years old) are going to spend 2 weeks at Fort Myers Beach. We've rented an amazing condo just right by the beach, with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (awesome, one for each "group"), amaxing balcony with amazing view, it has a pool, security and much more. I've already started to fill up my TripAdvisor trip with things to do, places to visit etc. We are going to rent cars so that we can easily move arround.
 
I've been in the USA before, in 2002, when me and my family (parents and brothers) visited Miami during the holidays. I remember that i really enjoyed our stay there. It was during the holidays, we whent on boat trips, visited Universal Studios (hoep to visit this trip too) etc. My parents and brothers have been to the USA 2 times after that (New York and then California) but my husband and son haven't been there, so it will be so amazing to take them there :)
 
So, you will probably be able to follow my planning for this trip here on the blog, i don't know how yet :) Ig you live in Fort Myers Beach or in the nearby area (2-3 hours away) or if you have been there, please let me know places to visit/things to do, that we just can't miss out on :)
 
Can't wait! :)

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crock-pot lemon chicken with oregano

yield: serves about 4 total time: 6 hours

ingredients:

 

  • 8 skinless chicken drumsticks, (about 30 oz total)
  • kosher salt and fresh ground pepper 
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • juice of 1 lemon 
  • 1/3 cup feta cheese, grated (optional)


descriptions:

 

  • Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and lemon juice.
    Place in the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 5 hours. Make sure the chicken is completely done. 
    When the chicken is cooked through, sprinkle with grated feta (if applicable) and cover until cheese is melted.



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chickpea tomato soup

yield: serves about 4 total time: 6 hours

ingredients:


  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1/2 cup diced carrots
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes or 2 tbs of tomato paste & some water
  • 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable)
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary 
  • fresh black pepper
  • 2 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus extra optional for garnish




  • directions:

    1.Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and saute until they are soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. Put it all into the crock pot along with the broth, tomatoes, chickpeas, parmesan cheese, rosemary and pepper. Cook on low for 6 hours.

    2. When done add the spinach (i used chopped frozen). Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Serve the soup into bowls and top with extra parmesan cheese if desired.


    I then served it with some bread with avocado :)

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    FOREO Luna Go - Best facial cleanser

    Remember the post i did on the FOREO Luna Play? Well i finally got a new one that is rechargable. It's the amazing Foreo Luna Go for Combination Skin (which i have). It's a face cleansing and anti-age in one, to go. Size wise it's almost the same size as Luna Play, a little bigger in width and height, but the perfect size, to have on the go, but also fits perfectly in the palm of my hand and makes the cleaning easy. 

     

     
    Luna Go vibrates more than the Play one, it has a great little light at the bottom and it notifies you when to change cleansing area (every 15 seconds) and when to start using the anti-age function.

     
     The anti-aging part is on the back, and you just press it against wrinkle-prone part of your face for a total of 1 minute. This means that you entire facial cleansing process takes you 2 minutes in the morning and 2 minutes at night. How amazing?

     
    Foreo Luna Go comes with a cute little bag, a charger and an authenticity card. I'm loving my Foreo Luna Go and can really, really, recommend it! :)

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    Bath essentials from LUSH

    This is by far my all time, current favourite bath essentials combination. The smells just work magic together and i feel like a million bucks whilst I'm in the bath and when i get outside. It's kind of amazing how such "simple"/"small" things can do so much for ones mood and how that sometimes can be enough to change your state of mind. 

    So, what do i have/use you might ask :) Well, it's what you see above. I will do more in depth posts/reviews of all the products (except Jersey Bounce & Mask Of Magnaminty, which i've already dedicated posts to, you can read all about it HERE and HERE), but what i have is:

    Shower gel: Rose Jam - It's a seasonal/Christmas product that just smells roses, deep, strong and comforting roses.
    Schampoo: Jersey Bounce - Read all about it HERE
    Conditioner: American Dream - The conditioner of all conditioners with the amazing smell of strawberry-vanilla, that just lingers in your hair for days. I'm ADDICTED.
    Face mask: Mask Of Magnaminty - Read all about it HERE
    Bath oil: Eucalyptus essential oil from D7 - So relaxing and gives you that feeling of being at a SPA

    All of these just work wonders together, not only as products with great benefits for you skin, hair and mind, but also, all the scents together just sets you in that perfect, calm, relaxed and content mood. 

    You must think i'm crazy, but i know that you LUSH-lovers/addicts out there know EXACLY what i'm talking about, right? :)

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    The glasses

    I finally got my "dream" glasses. But unfortunately they are not prescription glasses, just regular with a glass. Why? You might wonder? Well, it's because my eye sight is to bad for this kind of frame on the glasses. Meaning that the glass it self has to be thick and this bigger frame would just be to heavy to wear. 

    So what do i do? I solve my problem by getting "fake" ones and just having my contacts on. Perfect solution, right? Well i love them and if i can toot my own horn, i do look good in them, or what do you think? :)

    I got these for like 1 dollar (10 SEK) from Wish! :)

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    Favorite face mask - Mask Of Magnaminty

    Let's continue on the skincare train :) Here comes my favorite face mask and it's from no other brand than LUSH (of course, my favorite). It is their Mask Of Magnaminty. I've used it for about a year or more and it quickly became my favorite face mask of all time. Prior to this one i was (still am of course) a fan of their fresh face mask, Chocolate. But what’s great about Mask Of Magnaminty is that it gives you the sensation of a fresh face mask but it is self-preserving. This means that it does not need to be stored in the fridge and has a longer “to be used before”-date.

    The mask is minty, fresh and also exfoliating, since it has ground aduki beans, so when it has dried and you rinse it off, you just need to scrub it of in a circular motion, and your face is left smooth like a baby’s bum. It’s really the best of all worlds when it comes to face masks. Try it out! :)
    "This tingly, minty face and body mask was formulated to be intensely cleansing but never harsh or abrasive. Kaolin clay and peppermint oil rid your pores of debris, giving you a delightfully tingly clean sensation. We add loads of ground aduki beans to exfoliate flaky or dry skin, vanilla absolute to calm redness and honey to soothe and moisturize." - LUSH
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    Best facial cleanser - Dermalogica

    For 2 years ago, i was one of those people that washed their face with soap and also removed make up, with soap. I know, it's awful. For 2 years ago approx. my husband got me a facial and full body massage appointment at a local SPA. That's where i got informed of why my face always was so oily and that soap, isn't a good facial cleanser or make up remover. I wasn't really surprised, i must say. :)

    So i was introduced to the cleanser above, the Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel and since then, it's the only thing i've used mornings, nights, and for make up removing. For me, quick, easy and multitasking, is key. This product really applies to that, it works great to easy and quick cleanse my face, it removes make up (and with a cleansing brush from Foreo, it works wonders) without any problem and leaves the face feeling clean, smooth and fresh. It lathers in a great way, is soft and the smell i calming and refreshing.
    Soap-free, foaming gel cleanses all skin conditions. Refreshing lather thoroughly removes impurities without disturbing the skin's natural moisture balance. Calming Balm Mint and Lavender extracts soothe the skin, while natural Quillaja Saponaria gently foams away toxins and debris. Formulated without artificial fragrances and colors. - Dermalogica
    I always buy the big 500 ml bottle. Sure it might feel a little pricey, but it really holds for months and is totally worth it. So if you want an easy, great and multitasking facial cleanser, try it :)
     
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    crisp eggplant burger

    yield: serves about 4 total time: 45 min

    ingredients:

    burger:
    1 eggplant
    2 eggs
    1/2 fresh parsley
    2 cups of panko (panko breadcrums)
    1-2 cups of grated cheese (parmesan)
    Olive oil
    4 hamburger buns of your choice
    Lettuce leaves

    chipotle dressing:
    1/2 jar of pickled or "in oil" bell peppers
    2 cups of sour cream
    1/2-1 tsp chipotle chili peppers
    1 tsp honey
    2 pinches of salt

    coleslaw:
    200 grams of carrots
    1/4 radish
    200 grams of cabbage
    2 tbs olive oil
    1 tbs white balsamic vinegar
    salt

    fries:
    700 grams of potatoes
    olive oil
    salt

    directions:

    1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
    2. French fries: Wash the potatoes and cut into wedges. Put them on a plate and add the oil and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and roast in oven about 30 minutes.
    3. Coleslaw: Peel and grate the carrots and radish. Shred cabbage thin using a cheese slicer or mandolin. Mix together in a bowl and add oil and balsamic vinegar. Mix around thoroughly and season to taste salt.
    4. Chipotle Dressing: Drain the oil from the roasted peppers and chop them small. Mix with sour cream in a bowl and season with chipotle chili peppers, honey and a little salt.
    5. Burger: Wash and cut eggplant into ½ cm thick slices. You need at least 12 discs. Salt and pepper eggplant slices lightly on both pages.
    6. Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Finely chop the parsley and mix with breadcrumbs and grated cheese.
    7. Dip the eggplant slices first in the egg and turn them in the breadcrumbs mixture.
    8. Heat plenty of oil in a pan and fry the eggplant slices over medium heat on both sides until they get a golden color and crispy coat.
    9. Heat the loaves in the oven according to package instructions. Rinse the lettuce leaves.
    10. Assemble each sandwich with lettuce, dressing, three crispy eggplant slices & coleslaw.

    Serve the burgers with the french fries. So amazingly delicious!

    (Recipe is from mathem.se)

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    LUSH - Jersey Bounce Shampoo

    Hi there! :) So, another passion of mine is LUSH; or well, LUSH products, to be more precise. I've been a real #lushaddict for years and i've tried LOTS of their products during the years both hair, body, face, bath & make up. You will probably be seeing more of LUSH here, so stay tuned if you are interested.

    So, for this post i wanted to share with you my newly found lovehe shampoo Jersey Bounce. To give you a little background information, i have a curly/wavy hair that is semi-thin, some what flat and sometimes dull. I have previously tried their volumizing schampoo called Big. It's awesome, it really gives you volume and brings out the curls, but, yes, there is a but. You cannot use it on a daily basis, because it will dry out your hair, like crazy, so you do have to alternate between it and another less drying shampoo. So, here is where Jersey Bounce comes in.

    Jersey Bounce is like Big, but gives the hair more moisture and doesn't dry it out, but still gives you that volume and "bounce" to you curls. The best of boths worlds, right? :) LUSH says:
    "This honey, linseed and sea salt shampoo is sure to get your hair into the swing of things. Fresh organic lemon juice, hand harvested sea salt and Fair Trade olive oil deliver bounce, shine and an extra bit of TLC to your hair. A trip into the shower with this shampoo is a great way to cleanse the scalp and strengthen your hair. A dose of Fair Trade olive oil will make it easier to comb and shiny to behold. A sumptuous, plumping shampoo for those who want to swing both ways." - LUSH
    It smells amazing and really does what it promises. So if you haven't tried it yet, do it! :)
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    About Me



    Welcome to Beyond Paradise!

    I'm a 30 year young woman, mother (4 year old premiee), wife (going on 12 years together), dogowner (8 year old Chihuahuamix) and Operational Risk Specialist. I'm half Cuban and half Russian but i call Sweden my home, where i've lived in since the age of 7! :) My biggest passions in life (besides my family and friends) are cooking, beauty, movies/series and fashion!

    So, this blog is going to contain a mix of all my passions. You will find a lot of cooking, recipes, tips, beauty, fashion and other mixed post.

    My moto is: Live, Love & Laugh!


    *You can translate my blog, by selecting your language, at the bottom of the site, in the navigation bar!

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