fishy kiss kiss <3

-temporary post-

2010-05-09T22:23:00.001-07:00

:)

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!!

2010-05-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-04-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-04-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Shopping day!

2010-04-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

Today I went binge shopping because Sephora is having their Beauty Insider sale (15% off!), so I bought some new makeup that I don't need. Then, I tried on some clothes that I don't need and almost bought some stuff but managed to contain myself. Instead I spent my money on new tea from Teavana, even though I have at least 16 oz total of various teas in my cupboard at the moment. So I guess this means that I need to throw a tea party next week!

In other news, my new yoga mat from amazon (pink!!!) came today! I ordered an "extra thick" one (1/4") since my old Nike one, although good, wasn't too great for floor exercises involving knees or hip bones. I think this mat will help me on all my floor-based home workout exercises!

Also, this is completely random but why do 'mixed nuts' have so many peanuts in them? If I wanted peanuts I would've bought peanuts! Photographic evidence below. (Note that this picture is a biased sample, since today, I ended up picking through and eating a bunch of non-peanuts.)

Finally, Love Veggies and Yoga has an awesome giveaway scheduled for a Tag You're it necklace! I totally want one... I've stumbled on the website and was thinking of saving for one! Everyone should enter--pretty awesome.

Eggy oats, tea, and activity.

2010-04-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

Breakfast was delish today! It was my second time having what I like to call "Eggy oats", and I was excited! Inspired by a combination of Egg white oatmeal from Foods of April and various savory oat combinations from Lighter portions. Here's my version of the recipe:

Eggy Oats (base)
248 cals, 10 g fat, 16 g protein, 25 g carbohydrates

Ingredients:
1/3 cup oatmeal
~1 cup water (I don't measure)
1/2-1 cup frozen spinach
Basil
1 whole egg
10 g (a few pinches) of shredded cheese
2 tbsp salsa

1. Cook oats as directed on package. Add frozen spinach and chopped basil when oats are almost done, and cook until melted and warm.
2. Lower heat on stove to low. Add 1 egg (can use egg whites) and mix as if you're scrambling eggs in the pan. Keep moving the oats so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot.
3. Remove from heat. Add 2 tbsp of salsa and some cheese, mix.
4. Eat!

Also, my tea from Saturday's post arrived in the mail! I tried the Berry Berry Scarlet Rooibos tea.

It was very pink (yay!) after steeping, and it was quite nice and berry-y, as you would imagine. I didn't put too many tea leaves because the color looked strong even with only a tiny pinch, and so I can imagine this bag will last a long time! I haven't tried the other two yet, but they smell like they will be nice and flavor-packed.

My workout motivation for today: an article that was linked to from lifehacker:

"Byberg and her associates examined the relationship between activity and death rates among over 2200 men first studied when they were 50 years old. Their activity levels were assessed with pretty simple questions such as whether they engaged mainly in sedentary activities, went walking or cycling for pleasure, and engaged in heavy gardening or active recreational or competitive sports. Over the next 32 years, the death rates of these men were tracked. A clear trend emerged: the men engaging in highly active leisure pursuits were significantly less likely to die than the men whose activities were entirely sedentary. What's more, the improvement in mortality seen among the exercisers was equivalent to the higher survival rates of men who quit smoking..."

Really? Everyone 'knows' that smoking is hard on the body, but it's interesting to think that not doing something is just as bad as a bad habit! Whoo, long term motivation!

Lemony chi-chicken!

2010-04-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

A box came for me today! An environmentally unfriendly styrofoam box, but it'll be reused at least once or twice by me in the summer so I guess I don't feel too terrible. I ordered some salmon fillets from Omaha Steaks last week (they were on sale at Hautelook, which is a sample sale site. Usually they sell clothes, but I've bought pretty much every category of item from them... clothes, makeup, perfume, sunglasses, and food! So now I have 12 beautiful individually vacuum packed pretty pink salmon fillets in my freezer, just waiting to be devoured. Mmmm.

Okay, the salmon looks weird in the picture, but I swear it's just a combination of the frost and the flash.

For dinner today (dinner? it was closer to 9 PM... I got distracted from my workout), I made some lemon chicken loosely based off this Lemon Walnut Chicken recipe from fitness magazine. I subscribed to Fitness when it was on sale, and I think overall it's a pretty good 'workout' centered magazine. Good recipes, pretty good routines to try every month. Here's my version of the recipe. I just ate it alone, since it was pretty late, and I had a balanced combo of snacks in the early evening before working out.

Lemony Chi-Chicken!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp dried parsley (can use chopped fresh, but I never have it!)

1 tsp lemon zest

2 chicken breasts/thighs (~4-6 oz)

pinch salt

pinch pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon

Leftover white wine

1. (Optional) Marinate the chicken in white wine for 1-2 hours, to give extra flavor! Keep in fridge while marinating.

2. Salt and pepper the chicken to your taste (don't add too much salt, since the chicken broth will add some seasoning).

3. Heat olive oil in a skillet, add the chopped shallot, and saute until it smells awesome in your kitchen. Move shallots to one side of your pan.

4. Add chicken breasts in pan, and cook until juices run clear when you poke with a fork, or until internal temperature reaches 165 F.

5. Add chicken broth and lemon juice, simmer. Flip chicken at least once during this step!

6. Put chicken on serving dish. Let the shallot and broth/lemon sauce simmer in the pan until you don't have much liquid left. Take pan off heat.

7. Zest lemon into a small bowl. Add parsley and pour the contents of the pan into the bowl. Mix until it looks pretty. Garnish the chicken with the shallot sauce.

The chicken was delish! I don't even usually like chicken breasts so I was happy to find such an easy, low cal recipe to flavor it up. Sorry the picture is bleh. I forgot to take a picture of the nice plated version, so this is my chicken that went in a container for lunch tomorrow (with salad mm!). I used about 7 oz chicken per serving, since I didn't serve with rice, but if you want to serve with sides, I would aim for closer to 4 oz servings. I can see the 'sauce' being an easy addition to tofu, as well, for those of you who don't like meat. Yay for successful recipes!

Mmmm, microwave.

2010-04-10T15:29:00.000-07:00

Tried something new today, a frozen meal! I haven't had one of these in a long time but they were on sale so I figured, why not! Today, I had Healthy Choice: Roasted Sesame Chicken for dinner.

So I guess it was okay. I think the bowls of random crap I usually throw together taste better, but I suppose this was less work! The chicken was pretty good, but the rice was totally soggy. The veggies were good, but too little! I think I will supplement with more veggies later. I do like how it comes with dessert, though the dessert in this dish tasted like ginger... soap. (Yum?) I wanted something to wash out the taste after, so I ate my last maple sugar candy (~6g of sugarrrr!). Is that a bad sign? Haha.

Beginnings!

2010-04-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

This blog, as an introduction, will be random insights into my life, what I eat, and what I do! I currently am enjoying exercise-induced endorphins and hope to continue. <3

So, what did I do today? I ordered some tea from Tea District. I've never ordered from them before but they have interesting teas (wild rose? mmm!) and there was a groupon a few days ago (Groupons are group-discount gift certificates, basically. I've been using them pretty much since they came out in Chicago, and definitely love them).

This week's eating will be pretty boring. It's mostly freezer cleaning out. Fun!!