things that make me happy when life is crazy

Today was a crazy day in clinic., so naturally, chocolate chip cookies seemed like a good idea. Made with ethical (non slave-children, as Dave likes to say) chocolate nonetheless. This was 70% cacao, but I could have definitely gone with 80%. Btdubs, I could only make these because it cooled down from 87 to 77. You know things are desperate when you're turning the oven on in that kind of heat...

This is the recipe I use 99.5% of the time for cookies. They almost always turn out. I say almost because they don't fare well when you bake 2 trays on racks one above the other. Or maybe that's just a general baking rule and something I've failed to remember from food science class.

To avoid a sugar high, I rounded things out with a salad. I don't care what Coca-Cola says...sugar makes people hyper. This ended as a fresh spinach salad with sun dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and almonds. Balsamic vinegar is great when you're craving something salty because it tastes salty but has no salt.  Then you can make up for the lack of salt with some goat cheese; it's worth it.

Elements of a successful salad:

• separate dressings/any juicy components from rest of the mix
• include all the macronutrients: carbs (dried fruit), protein (beans or nuts), fat (avocado)
• use a giant container to prevent messes 

It's no secret that sunsets are one of my favorite views in Michigan. Despite icy winters of getting sprayed with overzealous snowplows and dumped on by crazy lake effect snow, these nights kind of make everything worth it. There's something quite amazing about seeing the patterns of nature and recognizing the vastness of it. For me, it serves as a reminder that bigger things are always happening, and my problems are insignificant in the scope of a cycle that continues to write its own history. Looking forward to spending some more time here this weekend.

How is your week so far? Any exciting plans for the heat wave to come? (or tips to stay cool when you don't have central air and live in an ancient hot apartment that holds heat like crazy??). 

[refresh]

Hello, hello. Thanks for all of the comments those of you who're still reading. I'll likely keep blogging, albeit a bit sporadically, but read and hopefully enjoy what's here. :)

I have a difficult time not falling into food patterns of eating the same things over and over again [see breakfast trends over the past few years]. It takes a lot of energy to plan meals, especially for just one person. If I make a batch of soup or a salad, I have to be willing to eat it for at least a week...or longer. Some day I'd love to institute a dinner club where everyone makes a different dish, and then you're left with 5 different meals to eat over the course of the week [now, just to find 5 friends ok with a veg-heavy diet...].

I recently had dinner with my friend, Jenn, and she brought along a new recipe for a raw kale salad that was really delicious.

I have to admit I was a little skeptical about raw beets, but they actually made a lot of sense in this dish. And as much as I think kale smoothies are awesome, it's a little different to eat a pile of raw kale. We deviated from the original recipe, but our toppings of choice were beets, carrots, candied pecans, and goat cheese (similar recipe here). I'll definitely be trying out more varieties of raw kale salads in the future.

I'm excited for blueberry season in Michigan. I'm still quite addicted to smoothies because they are easy to prep a night ahead and provide quick fuel when I'm running out the door to work (as in, literally). Blueberries + banana + kale + cinnamon + a shake of vanilla extract = new fave combination. Don't drink this before you going out-it will turn your tongue a lovely shade of purple.

And the first trial of gluten free granola bars. I usually eat a granola bar each day, but that can get pretty pricey fast. Due to being raised in a family of tightwads, I've been searching for an alternative. Let me know if you have a good recipe. Most of the ones I've tried turn out pretty crumbly and more like granola than granola bars. 

I did a little crafting for Mother's Day. I'm kind of obsessed with kraft paper and baker's twine right now. I haven't done any crafting projects in a while, but I think that soon I will try to do something creative such as reupholstering my extremely ugly chairs in need of a pattern change or something like that. I feel like I've been in transition a lot the past couple of years, and that's caused me to abandon some of the things I love doing while portioning energy for finding jobs, packing and repacking apartments, and moving to new cities. 

Maybe this crazy talk is the result of recently turning 27 [yikes?!] and not wanting to waste more time on the activities mentioned above [seriously who moves 5 times in 2 years?!]. So, hopefully, I'll slowly start wading back into the things that energize me, music, good books, theatre, teaching and learning, and dance classes? I love nutrition, but I crave balance. I can't do one thing 24x7 and expect sanity to happen automatically.

So here's to more growing and continually moving forward and doing//finding good things...

weekend to-do list

• make a delicious pasta salad (green pepper, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, red onion, artichokes, and a smattering of red pepper flakes + sundried tomato dressing).

• thrift a crockpot for $10 and make the best (and creamiest) homemade hummus ever.

• explore the outdoors with a squirrel-chasing poodle who never catches squirrels [be thankful for that].

• be outside as much as possible because it’s the weekend, and you don’t have to be attached to a phone or computer.

• run 7 miles and make a stop by the beach just because it’s there.

• start to adjust to a new OS…see ya later, dell [I think this will be a good switch]. :)

What are you doing this weekend? I’m so thankful for the chance to relax!

Happy easter everyone!

hello spring

An unseasonably warm 80 degree day today…pretty fantastic if you ask me. I’m officially done with [pseudo] winter. If it’s going to be summer weather, the warmer temps better stay. Can’t wait to spend more time here…

This weekend Dave and I attempted to duplicate the Mediterranean veggie sandwich made by a certain bread company. I have to admit that he did most of the work, baking bread and blending pesto. I chopped veggies…and ate.

1] Things started with homemade tomato basil bread…

2] And lots of chopped veggies: red onion, tomato, and cucumbers.

3] Basil pesto: the pesto was amazing. Incredibly excited for more farmers’ market fresh basil.

4] Final product: it didn’t taste exactly like Panera’s version; I actually thought it was much fresher (there’s also a sprinkling of feta cheese in there).

My sister is also here on her last spring break ever. We are going to eat vegetarian food and ice cream (it all balances out, right? right??) and probably yoga. I’ve been doing this yoga podcast almost every morning before work, and it’s pretty nice to start out the day in a de-stressed fashion.

Do you have a famous dish that you’ve tried to recreate on your own? Success or not?

 

ps. wheatgrass post is still forthcoming. and so is a new little series i’m pretty excited about…

new spin on the salad…

It may be slightly cliché, but usually I find myself eating a giant salad around dinner time, not just because it’s easy and fast to prepare, but because it’s a really good chance to sneak in some veggies. You may think that eating vegetables comes naturally to a dietitian, but I definitely have to be intentional about working them into my meals. 

And salads can certainly be more refined than the icky iceberg lettuce and dried out carrot shreds that compose most packaged mixes. I have found this spiralizer super helpful in making my salads a little more creative. The above salad contains:

• spiralized cucumber
• spiralized sweet potato (roasted in olive oil and dijon mustard at 400 for 15-20 minutes)
• candied almonds (slice almonds and heat in a frying pan with a slight sprinkling of sugar)
• feta cheese
• spring mix

Tahini is a nutrient packed and makes a great salad topper. I like it mixed with a little balsamic vinegar or BBQ sauce (weird, I know but so good). I also will often top my salads with hummus. I find that eating so many green things at once is both energizing (hate eating heavy meals and then going to bed a couple hours later) and definitely filling.

If you find that salads just don’t fill you up, add some extra protein in the form of nuts, seeds, cheese, or an egg.

Also a new soup recipe for you (adapted from here).

Black Bean and Quinoa Soup

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced small
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can tomatoes
• 3-4 cups homemade vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in heavy soup pot, add diced onion and cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, or until onions are just starting to brown.  Add minced garlic, chili powder, and fresh-ground black pepper and saute 1-2 minutes more or until spices are becoming fragrant. Add cubed sweet potatoes, black beans, and stock. Simmer on low-medium heat for 25-30 minutes or until sweet potatoes are cooked.

And wouldn’t you figure…after a crazy weekend of snow traveling and skiing, it was 60 degrees today, and I ran a lovely 4 miles outside in the sunshine in shorts. Crazy winter, but I’m not complaining.

Fave ways to eat vegetables??

 

p.s. post on wheat grass in the works…

germtastic

Let me just preface this post by saying that everyone at my place of employment has some kind of cold or upper respiratory illness. This means I am slathering on the hand sanitizer like nobody’s business and using bleach wipes to clean my desk every day. Germs!

This makes green smoothies packed with greens, fruit, and oats especially appropriate. I drank one on my way to work the other day, and I’m sure everyone was wondering what sort of green sludge was hanging out in my to-go tumbler.

One of my coworkers ate chicken noodle soup the other day, which I thought was pretty brilliant considering the cold weather and cold illness going around, so I decided to make my own version +/- a few ingredients.

anti-germ vegetable soup

• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1/2 cup carrots or sweet potatoes, chopped
• 1 T butter or oil
• 1 cup quinoa or noodles of your choice
• 1 cup kale
• 5-6 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Sauté onion and celery in butter until translucent, 3-4 minutes. Add carrots or sweet potatoes (or both) and cook for a few more minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and heat until quinoa or noodles are cooked.

And when I feel a bug coming on, I usually do the following:

• drink tons of water or hot tea
• take vitamin C
• eat more fruit and vegetables (natural nutrients)
• get lots of sleep
• cut out sugar

What’s the theory on sugar and infection? This one is up for debate, but some experts think that sugar inhibits the body’s natural defense against invading pathogens and promotes an environment favorable to the growth of pathogenic organisms. Others say the similar structures of sugar and vitamin C create competition for uptake into the body’s cells. Whatever the proposed theories, I have certainly found this to be true.

What about zinc and vitamin C as immune boosters?

According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, oral zinc may help reduce the length and severity of colds, but it also has potential to cause side effects (GI effects) and participate in drug nutrient interaction. Intranasal zinc should not be used due to risk of severe side effects.

Vitamin C has not been proven to prevent colds but may slightly reduce their length and severity.

So, while everyone else is stocking up on puffs plus, I’m having another round of wheat grass [oh joy].

what are your go-to strategies for preventing the plague of death?

substitution

Umm, this is not a valentine’s day post. Sorry for the disappointment, but I feel like there’s enough schmooze going around the interwebs this time of year. Not that it’s a bad thing to celebrate love, but I think every day is a good day to love the people in your life…

So, let the swappage begin…

1} $9 wraps at the deli hurt the wallet and the soul

Good news; you can make your own. Roasted red pepper hummus + lettuce + grated and cooked sweet potato, onion, lentil, and egg mixture + feta cheese on a whole wheat wrap. And it doesn’t cost a kidney.

2} goodbye office supplies of boringness and monotony that make me want to poke out my eyes.

This is my work survival stash: crazy colored post-its and highlighters courtesy of my very thoughtful boyfriend, gum, chapstick, inkjoy pens, peppermint tea, and lots of lined legal pads.

3} bad restaurant food that makes your insides want to die.

I recently met a friend for dinner at the electric cheetah. Black rice with green beans, fresh mozzarella cheese, cherry tomatoes, and grilled tofu = extremely simple but delicious. One of those meals that I’d like to replicate at home.

 

4} work clothes of uncomfortableness and varying shades of taupe.

Who decided that tailored trousers and uncomfortable tops and blazers were considered more work appropriate than say…colored skinny jeans, Toms, and cardigans? 

And thus, I end my rant for the night. What sort of things are you swapping out these days?

vegetable dilemma

Well, it seems that winter has finally arrived. Despite the colder weather, it is quite beautiful out. So beautiful that during my run on Saturday, I managed to distract myself and sprain my ankle for the 3rd time this running season. Not fun. Yoga, it is.

The weekend wasn’t all bad. One of my favorite Saturday morning activities is making breakfast creations such as giant omelets with tomatoes, kale, onion, and local hot pepper cheese.

And I’m still hooked on roasted root vegetables over lettuce or quinoa and drizzled with tahini (and sometimes hot sauce). I know I’m supposed to like vegetables as a dietitian, but I really love them…seriously…and not just because they are good for me. I see a lot of kids in clinic who hate veggies, and it makes me wonder how much patterning is involved. As in, parents feed children baby junk food (Gerber Wagon wheels, random crackers, cookies, juice, etc) and continue these feeding habits until kids are old enough to declare they hate all types of fruit and vegetables (exceptions: french fries and corn).

Sometimes I wonder what things would look like if veggies and fruit, whole grains, and healthy protein were staples. Sometimes I wonder if I would see so many teenagers with abdominal pain because they are eating pop-tarts and chips for breakfast and energy drinks and pop while scarfing fries and tater tots at lunch. Those things come at cost, and the cost quite often is constipation, weight concerns, and abdominal pain. It makes me sad to realize what the American diet has become and that people are often more willing to live with pain or take drugs vs paying attention to what they’re eating. I get dirty looks when I say words like whole, unprocessed foods, like I'm suggesting some kind of Asian water drip torture.

I’ve been experimenting with a few different recipes, but in the meantime if you’re interested in some good eats for the rest of your week/weekend…

butternut squash and apple soup :: goat cheese quesadillas :: whole wheat oatmeal waffles :: spiralized zucchini and polenta

So, I’m curious. Did you grow up eating vegetables and fruit, and do you like them now? Or do you just eat them because you know they’re good for you??

a good start to 2012…

Are you used to writing that on everything yet? It takes me a while to correctly date everything. Lately, I’ve been getting the year right but the month wrong. Clearly, I want it to still be December.

The holidays flew by but were an enjoyable time of eating good food and spending time with family and friends, including my favorite twin sister.

And someone super awesome knows my organizational obsession pretty well and got me these fantastic highlighters and post-it notes to make work more fun. Best gift ever.

Our family makes Swedish cardamom bread every year, and it’s wonderful with my favorite coffee. Such a good Asian Swede.

NY Eve was spent waiting for the ball to drop and playing legos with some good friends. Love them. Photo courtesy of Misty’s iphone.

As a dietitian, I’m very aware that this time of year comes with resolutions to be healthier, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing…but the motivation often doesn’t last. Rather than go crazy, I believe in baby steps toward better health; start where you are and grow toward something more. If that means walking during your lunch break or eating vegetables 2x a week, that’s good. If it means making dinner from scratch one night a week and giving up diet pop and Splenda, that’s good, too. And if it means giving yourself a break to eat ice cream, that is also good. ;)

My favorite thing right now is roasting a ton of vegetables (sweet and red potatoes, brussels sprouts (?! i know, i know), onions, beets, squash, etc) with garlic and olive oil (and a ton of black pepper) and eating over lettuce with tahini or on top of quinoa. So good. It also is a quick meal to throw together at the end of the day when my energy level takes a dive.

We got our first snowstorm in Michigan last weekend, but the snow has melted, and it’s back to running in 40 degree temps. It’s been perfect running season for a while, and I hope it stays that way. Wishful thinking? Perhaps…

And…I don’t particularly like making NY resolutions, but I think it’s always good to keep moving in a forward direction, and if anything, I hope that this year I’ll keep growing and pursuing good things, being creative, and seeking adventure [while avoiding becoming a boring, working adult without any imagination].

What about you?? Pro NY resolutions or not??

quick dinners and dumb ankles

Quick weeknight dinners are even more essential now that it’s darker and colder, and I have an overpowering desire to take a nap as soon as I get home from work. I’ve been living on soup for the past few weeks, but that does start to get old after a while. Especially since I end up eating the same soup for a week straight.

A new favorite…whole wheat tortillas with goat cheese, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and caramelized onions.

Another quick dinner idea: sautéed, spiralized zucchini with onions, garlic, a shake of parmesan cheese, and lots of black pepper. and organic polenta.

And…sad day for bad gymnastics ankle and running. I’ve had bad ankles since my days as a flippy mcflipperson and an injury that included simultaneous ankle sprains. I heard a pop during my windy run on Sunday that does not bode well for running this week [which is frustrating]. Looks like a whole lotta yoga (and icing) is on tap…

In other news, I have decided that it would be super fantastic to learn Copland’s Clarinet Concerto this year [not so sure my neighbors agree]. I worked a little on this piece my senior year of college…and it’s funny how listening to it brings back a ton of memories, kind of reminiscent of how certain smells immediately remind me of particular places and people.

Amazing dinner of epicness planned for Friday night…and it will not involve soup.

 

btdubs :: fave quick weeknight meal?