Month: October 2012

Everything else

You have got to be kidding me! Tomorrow is National Chocolate Day??? How did I not know about this until now? Yum!

Unknown's avatarFoodimentary - National Food Holidays

National Chocolate Day

Five Food Finds about Chocolate

  • Chocolate comes from the Aztec word “xocolatl” which means “bitter water”.
  • Switzerland is one of the top countries for chocolate consumption. The Swiss consume about 22 lbs of chocolate, per person, per year.
  • Cocoa beans were used as currency by the Mayan and Aztec cultures. Perhaps this is where they saying “Money grows on trees” came from.
  • Allowing chocolate to melt in your mouth produces the same or even stronger reactions as passionately kissing.
  • Most cocoa comes from West Africa.

Today’s Food History

1846 (Georges-) Auguste Escoffier was born. Escoffier was called “the emperor of chefs” and “emperor of the world’s kitchens” by Emperor William II of Germany. He modernized and codified the elaborate haute cuisine created by Marie-Antoine Carême, and developed the ‘brigade de cuisine,’ system of kitchen organization. Escoffier was chef at the Carlton Hotel in London, the Grande National…

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Transparency

Weight loss journey

Before I can post anything else, I feel the need to be completely transparent with myself and whoever might be reading this. I have made no progress in trying to get back in shape. I have gone running once in the past month. My weight continues to fluctuate and I continue to hate shopping for clothes because I am so frustrated with how my body looks now. I have only myself to blame to because I just simply have not put in the effort and I have no excuse. I am such a planner and have great plans but my problem is following through. All I can do is take it one day at a time and blah blah blah…. doesn’t mean anything if I’m not doing a thing about it!

OK. That’s enough ranting. I continue to love my food and drink and that is just a fact of my life. I am on the journey to find a balance because soon I will be starting grad school classes again and I really have to have my routine down by then. Thanks for reading. I feel better already.

The following is my post that never got posted to due technical difficulties on Tuesday:

Oh blog.. I have missed you and am so sorry I have neglected you for this long. Blog friends, I have missed you, too!

First things first, I have to provide an update on the weight-loss thing. I succeeded in losing two pounds last week and noticed a visible difference in my abdomen area looking flatter. Then…. Friday happened. Friday, our team at work had a team lunch and we ordered in pizza. It would have been OK if I just stuck to one slice of cheese pizza but I had two… and a garlic knot…and a small cup of Pepsi… and a sugar cookie. Ugh! I was keeping track of what I ate on my calorie counter website and realized that if I was going to eat anything for dinner, I would have to go for a run right after work.

So that is precisely what I did. As soon as I got home, I changed my clothes and laced up my sneakers and went out for a nice run for about 30 minutes. When I came back, my boyfriend and I decided to go out for some appetizers and drinks. I thought that was perfect because with appetizers I could really control my portions. Well, my boyfriend decided to completly wine and dine me! Like the title of my blog indicates, one of the ways I receive love from others is through food and so he was showing me some major love! We had oysters, salads, entrees, drinks, bread, and ended the meal with Bailey’s. It was sooooo good! While I made good choices as far as what I ate such as spinach salad and grilled trout for the entree, when I tallied up the calories… welp, let’s just say I was 800 over my goal for the day and that is including the calories I burned from running.Yikes!

I ended gaining 4 pounds from that meal. (Sad face) I spent the whole rest of the weekend and up to today trying to lose that wieght again. I feel like I have made no progress at all and quite frankly this has been the cycle every week for months! The madness has got to stop! I have to have a plan for the weekend ready to go. Not sure what the exact plan is going to be at this point but I am working on it. Maybe having friends for drinks and a low cal vegan meal? Do some pumpkin carving and have some healthy snacks?

Going on a run tonight and hoping to blast mucho calories. Wish me luck!

This is me having fun in the kitchen

Everything else

This is me having fun in the kitchen

Ahhh the joy of the small kitchen! This small kitchen forces me to be creative with my use of space. I think that’s what I like about it and I’m certain there are even smaller kitchens than mine. I have such a blast cooking, experimenting, and making a mess! I took a moment to take of picture of this moment because I was having so much fun cooking and using my kitchen tools that I didn’t notice the huge mess I made.

I have some ideas to make this kitchen more functional but I am not sure if I am going to be moving in the next month or two, so I am holding off on making any major changes. Who knows? Maybe my next kitchen will be a small one, too.

Good Idea: Chipotle Ice Cubes

Everything else

Good Idea: Chipotle Ice Cubes

I mentioned in a previous post that I had found this can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and needed to put it in another container. I put them in an ice cube tray and the outcome was a success! I lined the ice cube tray with plastic wrap first and once they were frozen, they slid right out no problem. I put the frozen cubes in a freezer bag and now I have perfectly portioned chipotle peppers ready for my next recipe (which will most likely be chili).

I wonder what else I could turn into ice cubes??? The possibilities are endless…

A good start to a wonderful addition to my compost pile

Everything else

A good start to a wonderful addition to my compost pile

I was so pleased with my idea to clean out my fridge and make a wonderful soup from my organic veggies that had seen better days. I got them all prepared and in the soup pot. I even used up the last of some organic veggie broth. Score! Then… I got caught up watching Chelsey Lately and completely forgot to turn the heat off so my soup could stop cooking. Dammit! So now this soup is going back to the earth via my compost pile and my dogs.

Diiinnneerrr!!!

Everything else

Diiinnneerrr!!!

Sometimes I wish I had one of those bells to call the gang to the table. These are my stir-fry veggies on a fluffy bed of rice. In the background is my hunny’s steak. At least I got him to eat that mountain of vegetables underneath the steak.

Weeknight stir-fry veggies

Adventures

Weeknight stir-fry veggies

Brocollini, carrots, edamame, onions… all the veggies I had in my refrigerator that were screaming at me to become a delicious and QUICK weeknight dinner. Warmed up some brown rice that I had already cooked and dinner was done in like 15 minutes!

My favorite salad

Everything else

My favorite salad

This one right here, as the title indicates, my favorite salad. I love it because I almost always have all the ingredients in house and it is the perfect lunch or light dinner. I use whatever lettuce I have on hand but my favorite is romaine lettuce for this combination. I add creamy cannelini beans, thinly sliced red onion and fennel, then, salt, pepper, lemon, and a drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil.

Deviant behavior and chipotle ice cubes

Weight loss journey

 

I confess, my progress in weight loss was quickly stunted by my indulgance in some delicious enchiladas espinacas (spinach enchiladas) from our favorite Mexican place here in Tucson, Guadalajara Grill, last night. They came drowning in cream sauce and monterey jack cheese. Needless to say I feel heavy today and a little guilty. Well at least I didn’t order the house margarita like I usually do! Baby steps.

Usually when I over indulge, I do not wake up very easily the next day and today was no different. Instead of starting the day with a nice cup of hot lemon water and fruit to start the detox process, I had some Greek yogurt (pumpkin flavor) and two Trader Joes Joe-Joe cookies (the Jackolantern-faced ones) for breakfast with my coffee. I think my stomach is mad at me now because I hear it yelling at me. I’ll make it up to you, Stomach, I promise!

So my plan for the rest of the day is to show my stomach and body some love and enjoy some tasty fruits, veggies, and brown rice. I have to go out for lunch because I didn’t prepare my lunch since I woke up late. Maybe hit up Whole Foods? For dinner, it is going to be brown rice, steamed veggies, and kale salad. I am going to try to get in for some yoga tonight at 8:00 pm but we’ll see – I’m dragging today big time.

Last night, after I woke up from my food coma, I cleaned out my fridge to be able to fill it with wholesome lovely foods when I found an opened can of chipotle in adobo sauce in the back of my fridge. Oops! I use it for a chili two weeks ago and completely forgot to properly store it in another container. Then in my cheese-induced funk, it dawned on me to freeze what was left in ice-cube trays so I can keep them already divided in the perfect amounts in the freezer. I went ahead and lined the tray with plastic wrap and put one chipotle pepper with some sauce in each slot. It perfectly filled six slots. That’s 6 chili recipes worth! I have no idea if it will work out once it is frozen or if I will even be able to get them out. We will see tonight and I will show you the pictures.

That’s all for now. I feel better now that I confessed my deviance from my diet and feel more motivated to get back on track. Until next time…

Yoga Tuesday

Menu, Weight loss journey

I did really good with my menu yesterday, except I sneaked (snuck? snook?) a handful of Kettle Cooked Jalapeno chips while I was making my salad for dinner. I created another menu for today that I have been following already – so far so good. Amazingly, I am not lighter (because I weighed myself this morning) but I feel lighter. On this track of feeling lighter, I am going to do yoga tonight and really push myself to let go of all my extra tension. If you have not already tried yoga, show yourself some love and give it a shot. It’s amazing!

I am also super excited about trying a new pose tonight, Parsva Bakasana (or side crane). I got some really helpful hints from another great blogger, standandfacethesun.wordpress.com, and want to try them out while they are still fresh in my head. The plan is to eat a light healthy dinner of miso soup, stir fried veggies and brown rice. Then, I will go relax and re-center at yoga tonight from 8 – 9pm. Plus, I have a really major interview tomorrow so I need to be at my relaxed best. Wish me luck!

Tuesday menu is as follows:

Breakfast: My favorite oatmeal of whole rolled oats, coconut milk, TJ’s golden berry mix, cinnamon, and raw walnuts.

Snack: Organic gala apple, almonds

Lunch: Greek salad made with romaine lettuce, kalamata olives, English cucumber, grape tomatoes, cannelini beans and parsley. All dressed with balsalmic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.

***Tip: Babyfood jars are great for making and packing your own salad dressing. You just shake the little jar to mix it up just before putting it on your salad. I also use baby food jars to store spices that I buy in bulk.***

Snack: grapes and walnuts

Dinner: Miso soup, stir fried veggies (carrot, onion, mushroom, fennel, broccolini, spinach, celery, and edamame are what I have in my fridge right now) and brown rice.