He's going to WHAT!?!

Ryan is going to jump out of a helicopter.  I did not mention this yesterday, but during our stay in Jackson Hole, Ryan will spend one day heliskiing, but since he's a snowboarder, I guess it would be heliboarding.  Basically, this means, he will board a helicopter, they will fly him to various areas, and he will exit, and snowboard to the bottom.  The helicopter will then pick him up, and the process continues.  No need, to worry he will be with an instructor.  And, to answer your question, in case you were even thinking, NO, I will not be joining him.  Both my feet will be safely on the ground as I take part in a snowshoeing tour.

It would work best if I was a snowboarder, and participating, because it would make the weight restrictions must less restrictive.  The company gives weight restrictions for each person, they cannot weigh over a certain amount.  Ryan is close to the weight restriction, which I think is absolutely crazy, he's not a big guy, but then again, I have never been on a helicopter, so I don't know how it works.  But, I do know, Ryan wishes I would be joining him, because then he would have plenty of extra weight room since I am well under the weight restriction.  Needless to say, he has been watching his weight, and wants to have plenty of weight wiggle room.

Since our return from New Years, much to my delight we have been (mostly) vegetarian.  Yay!  For some time, I have been doing one vegetarian meal a week, but the past few weeks, we have been doing only one meat meal a week.  This was a multi-week culinary challenge.  It has gone very well, and as a result, I think we will continue.

It's not easy to be vegetarian in Novorossiysk, and still get adequate amounts of protein, and not gorge on carbs.  Below, you will see some of our favorite meals:

Ryan's new, signature dish.  Honey, apple, and cheese appetizer. 

Butternut Squash Soup with Quinoa, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppers. 

Eggplant Parmesan with Spinach stuffed Mushrooms 

I reworked my Chicken Curry soup to Tofu Mushroom Curry Soup. 

A breakfast scramble with spinach, carrots, and ham.  Meat day.

Spinach and bell pepper enchiladas. 

No flour pancakes!
A great no carb breakfast of banana pancakes with peanut butter ricotta topping.

Ryan made this one.
He called it barbecue tofu flatbreads.
Do you see the message?  He's so sweet. 

Crab cakes with cilantro lime sauce. Meat day. 

I can't remember if I ever shared this, but the one thing I have never been able to make is (was) homemade pudding.  I have imported boxes, and boxes of Jello pudding.
The other day, I told Ryan I was going to make pudding for dessert.  His response, "Isn't that the one thing you can't make?"  I gave him the look, and said, "the JELLO kind!"
Well, I decided to give it another try.  With flashbacks to the previous failed attempts, I decided to add some whip cream and toffee pieces to hopefully cover the unfortunate pudding.  No need to, it was actually good!  Yay, I have finally conquered homemade pudding.  

Our bags are packed.  Ryan has all his snowboard gear ready to go.  I have pulled together as much warm clothing as possible. We are ready to go.  I am so excited for Ryan, he is finally going to complete his dream of heliskiing (heliboarding?)!!