-temporary post-

:)

Just posting to say that I am revamping this blog! Not that it's been around for long, but I'm changing it entirely into a food/recipe blog. Mmm, food.

AHHH! WATER!!

Thanks for all the great comments on the Negativity post! It's so sad how society and standards have become and I'm glad you agree!

I was gonna do some cooking today but it turns out--there's a boil-water order in Boston and suburbs (updates here)! Eek... It's like apocalypse -- no water in any of the supermarkets or anything! It was official as of 5 PM last night, and now people are advised to not drink or put any water in/near their mouths that hasn't been boiled!

They say it should still be safe to shower while being careful, but since I'm OCD, I'm afraid to shower!! (Well, also I tend to get eye infections semi-often, and I think whatever is in the water is bacterial, based on their 'boiling' recommendation? Rather not get pink eye!!) Do you think it would be icky if I 'showered' with baby wipes until it's fixed? Hahaha. Ewww, I'm gross.

Anyways, today I made Glazed Parmesan Salmon from the Healthy Apron! It was pretty yummy--the only changes I made were:
- I cooked the salmon a few minutes before I 'glazed' it--my salmon was REALLY cold and I was afraid of it not cooking through before the top got burnt!
- I used non-fresh parmesan (lol the kind that you put on pizza!) which is probably not as healthy but is cheaper and usually in my fridge!

Here's my salmon--mmm!

(The colors might look greener than in real life FYI!)

What's with all the negativity?

Hey everyone! I was reading SHAPE this morning (Ellen Degeneres is on the cover yay how cool is that?) and noticed in the 'letters to the editor' section that they started including negative letters! Which is kind of cool, since the fake positivity was annoying. But I came across one about last month's cover girl, Katharine McPhee, which made me EXTREMELY angry. WARNING: RANT TO FOLLOW!!

Here's what the letter said (Sorry for the quality, I just took it on my phone):

What?! Okay, I don't consider myself a FAN of Katharine at all, but I consider myself a WOMAN and I was extremely disappointed by the high-horse that Danielle Stewart of New Jersey had placed herself upon. Who is she to judge? Why is she so angry that Katharine is boasting about her rockin bikini bod that she worked so hard for? Yeah, sure, being young, not having kids, being a star--all of these are things that usually indicate 'good bodies' (whatever that means), but Katharine McPhee is open about having been bulimic. I remember this because even though I could care less about her singing, I was kind of shocked at her bravery for admitting this opening. Regardless of HOW she got to her body (or for that matter, what it looks like), why be so mean about the fact that the girl is finally comfortable about her body?

Also, why does being young and not having kids mean that you can't be happy about the way you look? Maybe it is the best shape she's ever been in? Not everyone is the same--people talk about how when you're in your twenties, everything is soooo easy, your body is tighter, blah blah blah. Well, I can say that I'm in my twenties, and I wouldn't call my relationship with food easy at all. Can I eat whatever I want? Nope. Can I NOT exercise? Nope. I realize that when you get older, your metabolism slows, your responsibilities increase, but in the end, if you don't know if she's one of the lucky few who've "had it easy", why hate on her so much?

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but I really wish people would keep their negativity to themselves.

Maybe I'm totally off base here. Readers, anyone also extremely angered by this article? And sorry that this post is sooo different compared to my others :)

Healthy pumpkin pancake mix muffins!

I always seem to have left over pancake mix that gets lost in my cupboards and is suddenly found... I tried this recipe to get rid of my store-bought pumpkin pancake mix! This would work with any flavor pancake mix though (or you could make your own 'flavors' by blending in some dried fruit when you're making the batter. I made this in my Vitamix, although all mixing can easily also be done by hand.

Coconut Pumpkin Pancake Mix Muffins
Loosely based off ehow.com's recipe.


Makes 12 muffins (can be easily doubled!)
(each) 160 cals, 3g protein, 3g fat, 29g carbs

2 cups pancake mix
1/4 cup egg white (or 1 whole egg... I didn't have any)
1/3 cup coconut oil* and plain kefir (I only put in about 1/6 cup of each by eyeballing it in the measuring cup)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
4 tbsp. blackberry preserves

1. Preheat oven at 425.

2. Mix all ingredients together, either using a blender or in a large bowl. (Blender is easier!) Be careful not to over-beat because you will end up with an overly chewy pancake!

3. Pour into muffin cups.

4. Put at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Muffins are done when slightly golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean!

Here are my beautiful muffins! Mmmmmm. These muffins are actually only 'coconut' muffins because of the coconut oil! Next time (I still have a tiny bit of mix left!) I will add some shredded coconut to make them even better!

*Any vegetable oil can be substituted! I only had olive oil which is too strongly flavored (ew olive pancakes?) so I used coconut!

Have a good weekend!!

Oskri? Oskri?

Oskri bars? Hehe. The name reminds me of ostriches for some reason, which makes me feel silly. A week or so ago, Amazon had a goldbox deal on Oskri bars! I was running low on granola bars and the reviews and nutritionals seemed good, so I went ahead and ordered some, which was one of the best shopping decisions I've made recently. (As for my other shopping decisions? I think the word 'excessive' sums up this month).

The bars are a lot bigger than I thought they'd be--they're wide and flat, which makes them look HUGE compared to grocery store bars. I also didn't realize I'd be getting a 20 bar box cuz apparently I don't read, but I'm soo happy that there are 20! I think these are a delicious low calorie snack. They're 140 cals per bar with a whopping 12g of fiber. I would say they're fairly filling for a "bar" type snack (as opposed to, say, 100 calories worth of fresh strawberries or sliced cucumber, etc). The bar is mostly made out of what seems to be puffed rice mixed with dried cranberries and cashew bits. It's a nice sweetness--not extremely sweet but not bland either. I was originally planning to just eat them this month, but after eating 3 bars in the past few days, I'm hooked and am probably going to use Oskri bars as my main bar! Has anyone else tried these? What flavor should I get next?

By the way, I edited my About Me page a little bit! Nothing that exciting though :)