Tag Archives: peppers

What Do You Know About A Reduced Sodium Diet?

by

Hello, hello!  We’ve officially hit the weekend, woot!

Breakfast, which was eaten during class, was all about the fruit group.

A baggie of purple grapes,

and a can of coconut water from Goya.

There were pieces of coconut floating around inside and it was too good.  Major props to Goya, because even without the pulp this was the best coconut water in terms of texture and taste that I’ve ever had!  Minus coconut water drunk straight from the coconut of course.

My morning was a little nerve-wracking because I had a class presentation, but at least since I don’t mind public speaking all I really had to worry about was knowing my stuff.  Just in case though, I rocked the Cameron from “House” look to make myself feel more confident.

It worked; everyone told us we did a great job!  Not to toot my own horn totally to toot my own horn, but when I was in the library after class another student came up and told me that our presentation was the best in-class presentation she’d ever seen.  Woot!

Our topic was the reduced sodium (2g) diet.  Our teacher played the patient and a fellow student and I had to give her the diet education.  I had a whole analogy about your viens being your pipes and your heart being your pump that I thought was pretty compelling (toot, toot).  I can’t share the entire handout that I made, but here are some of my tips that I thought you guys might be interested in –

When Can You Reduce Sodium On Your Own?

  • In the kitchen –
    • Experiment with new spices and herbs for extra flavor.  Don’t buy pre-made seasonings though as most contain sodium.
    • Make your own soup instead of buying canned.  If you do buy canned look for a low sodium variety and/or dilute each serving with water.
    • Replace canned vegetables with fresh or frozen varieties.
    • Replace soy sauce with balsamic vinegar.
    • Make your own microwavable entrees by making large batches of meals and freezing single portions in freezer-safe containers.
    • Use a homemade hummus in place of cheesy or cream-based sauces.
    • At the table –
      • Say goodbye to the salt shaker, sprinkle fresh lemon juice over chicken, fish, or vegetables instead.
      • Replace a glass of milk with water or unsweetened iced tea.
      • Replace condiments that are high in sodium with homemade salsa.
      • Top your salad with chunks of avocado instead of bacon bits.  While you’re at it, replace store-bought dressings with oil and vinegar.
      • Instead of a slice of cheese, spread a Tbsp of tahini (sesame paste) on your sandwich.
      • For crunch, snack on baby carrots instead of potato chips.
      • Sprinkle your popcorn with cinnamon or chili powder instead of salt.

After class I spent an agonizing hour in the library finding an article for an upcoming paper, then had to hurry home to make it to 1:30pm yoga.  I stopped at Subway for a quick lunch along the way.

I did some Googling in the library and everything on my veggie delight was confirmed to be vegan.  On roasted garlic bread – lettuce, tomato, green pepper, red onion, banana pepper, extra pickles, and sweet onion sauce.  All for $2.50, woot!

Plus a piece of dark chocolate.

Lunch was good, even when shoveled in in under 10 minutes.

And I made it to yoga on time.  60 minutes of hot yoga had me feeling good.  But it wasn’t my best practice, I definitely prefer the 90 minute class because it gives me time to really warm up.  Plus, running through each pose twice means I have double the chance of actually doing each pose!  My 30-day pass expires this weekend and I’m pretty devestated.

I’ve been hanging out instead of showering since I got home, but hopefully my partner in crime doesn’t mind that I’m smelly.

Do you pay attention to how much sodium you consume?

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

by

Physical activity is a funny thing.  I went to a 60 minute hot yoga class today.  I was dreading it all morning, and sure enough, when I got there it sucked.  I felt like I was going to pass out the entire time and spent most of the class in child’s pose.  It was my worst practice to date.  But by the time I was done, I was so happy that I went.

When I got home from the yoga class that was both frightful and fantastic, I made a smoothie for breakfast.

1 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1 frozen banana, 7 oz frozen soursop pulp, and nutmeg (for garnish).

The flavor wasn’t quite right but the texture was luscious.

And nutmeg on creamy drinks, especially piña coladas!, is the best.

Adam and I ran a few errands in the snow and then it was time for a double-decker lunch.

On a hamburger bun with schmear of sour cream, 2 nacho turkey burgers topped with 1 oz of melted sharp cheddar.

It was totally swoon-worthy.  The burgers are nice and juicy but have this great chew from the chips too.

I’m glad I made the patties small and stackable.

For dessert, Adam and I each had a mug cake.

I followed the basic recipe, with the inclusion of a handful of chocolate chips.

Dinner was one of my older recipes that I decided to revisit.

Green Tuna Enchiladas!  I updated the recipe page too.

I had two enchiladas and some roasted brocoli on my plate.

It was a good, green meal.

But I wasn’t feeling satisfied.  In fact, I’ve had a gnawing hunger all day, and I know it’s not thirst in hunger’s clothing because this pitcher and I have been fast friends all day.

That h2o is spiked with limes and sugar cane, fyi.

So I honored my hunger and  finished up my dinner with some leftover beans and rice with sour cream and cheddar cheese.

Now I’m done.

What do you do when you’re hungry when you “shouldn’t be?”

The Final Location

by

Today we traveled to the final location of our winter vacation.  It’s good to be “home” for good!  The last two days were spent with cold-like symptoms.  Hence the no-blogging, no-working, no-working out, and no-resolutioning.  Well, that’s no entirely true.  I have read a book a day from Kathy Reich’s Temperance Brennan series.  Each one is better than the last, I swear.

Anyway though, today, we were headed to Toronto. The morning got off to a rough start – I am feeling less than 100% still and it’s possible I’m cranky – but by 12 we were on the road. And by 12:30 we were back home getting our passports. But then, we were on the road.

A Big Gulp of Cherry Coke Zero did a lot to raise my spirits.

As did starting another Temperance Brennan book.

And before I knew it, we were there.

Our plan was to head to a neighborhood with froyo and then hunt for a late lunch there.  We weren’t certain what we would find, so we were thrilled to come across a cheap, all-you-can-eat sushi joint.

Just what the doctor ordered!  What?  Adam’s practically a doctor.

Everything was delicious.  I had … A small bowl of green salad.

Cheese wontons split with the husband.

A piece of tomago sushi (egg).

Two rolls split with the husband.  The Rock and Roll white fish, salmon, pepper, masago, cream cheese, tempura, eel sauce.  The Fire Roll crab meat, avocado, cucumber, masago, spicy mayo, tempura, eel sauce.

A Sakura Roll avocado, tempura bits, hot sauce.

Fried tofu split with the husband.

A piece of butterfish sushi.

Some baked eggplant and grilled veggies.

And finally spicy crab, tempura, and california hand rolls.

We got our money’s worth but weren’t too too stuffed; a perfect all-you-can-eat experience.

To clear some stomach room before froyo, we took a short walk down ultra-cool Bloor St.

And then finally it was time for Menchies.

I topped plain tart and hot chocolate yogurts with small amounts of Skor bar, hot fudge, Smarties, and crunchy pb, and large amounts of rainbow sprinkles and popping bobba.

Perfection.

We had an uneventful drive home and now the boys are over for a game of poker.  I’m banished to the office so it’s possible I’ll get a jump on some schoolwork, but it’s doubtful.  It’s looking like our late, big lunch with count for dinner, but if I end up munching on anything I’ll update.  Otherwise, catch you in the am!

Cheesetastic

by

Last week, we made pasta with a cheese sauce that was delicious.  It was ooey, it was gooey, it was cheesy.  But I wanted to go for the er.  Ooey-er, gooey-er, cheesier.  It had to be done.  I needed to make a cheesetastic mac and cheese.

We included red onion and green chilies to add a bit of flavor, but overall this was cheese on top of cheese.  Awesome.

Cheesetastic Mac and Cheese, serves 4

  • 3 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 oz can diced green chilies, drained
  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 4 heaping Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 and 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 8 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
  • 2 and 2/3 cup prepared short-cut pasta  (we used gemelli)
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare an 8×8 inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt to pan and cook 7-10 minutes, until softened and beginning to brown. Stir in green chilies during last minute of cooking. Remove to a large bowl to cool.
  2. Reduce heat to medium and melt butter in pan. Whisk in flour to form a roux.
  3. Raise heat to medium-high and carefully whisk in milk, working in 1/2 cup batches. Add all but a medium-sized handful of cheese and stir until melted.
  4. In a large bowl, toss together peppers and onions, cooked pasta, and cheese sauce. Carefully pour into casserole dish. Top with panko and remaining handful of cheese. Drizzle remaining 2 tsp of oil over the top.
  5. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

pro tips

  • cook pasta just to al dente because it will continue to cook in the oven
  • don’t burn your roux, but don’t pull it off the heat too early either; the browning gives it flavor
  • want more kick? whisk a few tsp of hot sauce into your cheese sauce

What are your tips for really good mac and cheese?

Wednesday – Thursday, Still On The Move

by

Hello again from another location, this time Ohio.  Once we get home from here we have a day trip to Toronto and then I’m staying put until the end of break!

Wednesday

Yesterday was Adam’s and my 4-year wedding anniversary, aka our 9-year anniversary of being together!!!  It’s crazy to think that we’ve shared so much of our lives.  Sappy sidenote – I am grateful every day that I get to spend with my husband.  I am so thankful that the man I love is handsome and funny in addition to being intelligent and kind. </sap>

I had an early morning orthodontist appointment and we had to do a grocery restock and then we reunited with another man I love.

I sort of want to get those pictures framed.

Adam and I spent our anniversary doing our favorite things – namely tons of eating good food and cuddling on the couch watching good tv.  A big, made from scratch breakfast felt downright gourmet.

For the eggs, we went to the deli and requested two, 1/4 inch-thick slices of honey roasted turkey.

We chopped them up and sautéed them in a bit of butter, then scrambled in 4 large eggs.

Out of control delicious.  I quit eating most meat (mammals) before I had gotten to try everything and I suspect that I would really enjoy ham.

We also had hash browns made with white potatoes, onion, red bell pepper, 2 Tbsp of butter, and 2 tsp of chipotle oil.

Adam bought me some fourth year gifts for our anniversary.

A book with a sweet inscription, persimmons for fruit and rugelach for flour (substituted for flour because we were going out-of-town).

I’ve been picking up the persimmons and deciding that they were too expensive to splurge on for weeks at the grocery, so they were such a nice surprise.  We split part of one persimmon but decided that it wasn’t ripe enough yet.

Adam was careful to buy squishy ones because once in the city, before we knew better, we tried to eat an unripe persimmon and about died when all the moisture was sucked from our mouths!  This one had a good flavor but was still a little cotton-mouthy.  So we washed it away with rugelach.

The snack was perfect to bring us into lunch.

I had an Applegate Farms Turkey Bologna sandwich on half a cheddar jalapeno bialey with a little bit of Miracle Whip.

Plus a huge pile of roasted green beans.

Adam hates jalapeno but knew I’d like that bialey more than the others and I gave him the half with more cheese, so we both compromised in the name of love.

It would have been easy and fun to go out for a romantic dinner, so I’m extra proud of us that we stayed home and cooked together instead.

I started by steam-sauteing 3 chopped zucchini in a bit of chicken stock.  Then I finished them off with 1 Tbsp of evoo and this packet of Garlic Gold I got in my HLS swag.

I was expecting to adore the Garlic Gold after all the love it got in the healthy living blog community, but we found it to be pretty “meh.”

We set the cooked zucchini aside and while Adam boiled 3 servings of pasta I made a roux with 2 Tbsp of butter, 2 Tbsp of flour, and 1 Tbsp of milk.  Into that, I whisked 1 cup of skim milk and 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Once the sauce came together all we had to do was toss it with the cooked squash and pasta.

We topped our bowls with a bit of panko and more cheese.

Dinner was great, definitely as good as anything we would have gotten in a restaurant.  This was on the healthy side, but now I am absolutely going to make a similar sauce and use it in oozey, gooey mac and cheese.

We stayed up later than planned watching “That 70’s Show,” which was good for anniversary fun but bad for me working out this morning.  I can’t do anything active here in Ohio and I’m worried that all my vacation workout momentum will be for naught.

Thursday

Today was a day of many meals.  Due in parts to time of the month and restlessness from 7 hours in the car.  And we got junky food too; a healthy living blog no-no but an unavoidable part of existing in the real world.

Chicken biscuit from Chick-fill-a.

The leftover serving of dinner.

A juicy pear.

Animal crackers split with Adam (70/30 his favor).

Mid-way we got to stop for froyo.

I got eggnog and toffee mocha yogurts, topped with candy bar pieces and some marshmallow topping.

Alas both of my flavors were too spicy and I ended up throwing most of mine away.  It was a sad day indeed.

But hundreds of miles later we found a Sonic and I ordered a diet coke with strawberry that totally made up for it.

Adam and I also split fries and chicken tenders.

Good thing my grandma served a lateish dinner, huh?

Webster was a perfect angel for 95% of the drive.

We even got to take him in to meet my grandpa this afternoon.  I like it when all the men in my life are well-acquainted.

Per usual, my grandma made a great dinner.

Side salad,

cooked spinach with feta and cherry tomatoes,

truffle mac and cheese to make up for Adam not having any on Christmas,

and italian breaded chicken, 

which I only could eat a few bites of because I felt like food was coming out of my ears.

After dinner, Nana and Adam worked on a 750-piece puzzle while I wrote this monster post.  I hate all these super long posts I’ve been writing lately!  I know none of my readers are interesting in scrolling for hours, but since I use my blog as a journal I don’t want to skip days that are so great.  I promise to get back to a less annoying schedule once I’m home for good.

St. Thomas to Buffalo

by

Monday

Yesterday was the perfect last day on island.

I got to see some of my favorite people and eat some of my favorite things.

I tried to eat this honey fig Oikos for breakfast.

The flavor seemed like something I would love but one bite in I was twisting up my face in disgust. Why so sour?!?

Instead I ate some leftover crack pie.

And an old-fashioned strawberry candy for good measure.

My unorthodox breakfast didn’t matter, because I had something good coming for lunch.

Chicken patty!

Pattys (pronounced like pate) are fried dough stuffed with spiced meat.

Amazing. The dough is chewy and the filling (usually beef or saltfish, but sometimes salmon or even veggies) is always tender and perfectly seasoned.

My parents and I spent the afternoon walking around downtown with my visiting aunt, uncle, and cousins. Important note – some of the best foods from my childhood are found in town and I spent the rest of the day eating myself silly.

The #1 best thing I had all vacation was this glass of soursop (guanabana) juice.

I never find soursop in the states but it will always be my favorite fruit. It’s sweet and almost creamy.

A while later I bought a fraco with milk (shaved ice with sweetened condensed milk).

I went with tamarind and passionfruit, more local flavors.

I only could handle half of it but that’s really all you need.

And for my final drink of the afternoon we cracked open a jellynut (aka a green coconut).

The water was more sour than I prefer, but I grabbed a long spoon and scraped out all of the sweet flesh.

That evening my parents and I headed back into town so we could eat dinner at Gladys’ Cafe.

I started with a slice of bread with butter.

And a bowl of callaloo (a thick soup made with spinach and okra).

My meal was the special plate, and it was exactly what I was craving.

Mac and cheese,

cole slaw,

rice and beans,

fried plantains,

and stewed chicken.

I could get past the bones to eat much chicken, but I stirred my rice and beans into the sauce and was in heaven.

We ended our evening with a glorious walk down the waterfront.

For nighttime entertainment I headed back to my high school friends’ apartment.

Vodka/something, x2.

Several old friends were there and I was so glad to get to see everyone. Adrien found his old year book which was perfect and hysterical. They were Adam’s grade, so no pictures of me, but I did see a few great ones of the husband!

Tuesday

Today I had to head back to Buffalo; which did at least mean a rendezvous with Adam.

The food situation today was pretty bad. That’s what 13+ hours in the airport will do!

In the St. Thomas airport I ate a johnny-cake with cheese.

On flight 1 I read this book.

In the Miami airport I wandered.

And got drawn in by this sign –

I actually ended up buying a very healthy sandwich.

As well as a very decadent sounding slice of cake.

The dulce de leche did not disappoint!

When I wasn’t eating on flight 2, I was reading.

After a quick scamper through Chicago I was on flight 3 starting my third book.

And before I knew it, I was home with the husband.

We stopped at Moe’s on the way home to pick up a quick and healthy dinner.

After my carb-filled day week I requested that they go light on the rice and cheese.  Topped with cilantro, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and corn salsa.

Off to unpack I go!  P.S. It’s our fourth wedding anniversary tomorrow!

Merry Christmas In St. Thomas

by

I hope everyone is continuing to have happy holiday season!  I know that booze and beaches don’t feel very winter-holiday festive to most of my readers, but to me they feel like home.  We’ve done lots of traditional food and family this year too.  If Adam had been home this would have been my perfect Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Saturday morning, after my run, we met up with my aunt and cousins (the visiting set) for breakfast at Barefoot Buddha.  I got an iced coffee with Silk soy milk.

Barefoot Buddha is my favorite restaurant in St. Thomas (I ate the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich on the morning of my wedding!) and our meal did not disappoint.  My mom and I split two sandwiches so we could get lots of flavor.

The wrap special had tons of veggies, sesame tofu, and a peanut sauce.

And the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich had egg, turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, and a chipotle aioli.

Yum and yum.

The day was spent on holiday preparations and I ate a handful of carrots at one point for some crunchy energy.

Then it was time to celebrate.

My family has thrown a big (tequila shot flowing) Christmas Eve party for as long as I can remember and it felt a little strange not to have one this year.  But the visiting family came over for dinner and then a big group met for drinks at the Island Time Pub and it was nice in a new way.

We had Hanukkah dinner leftovers for dinner.

Salad,

a little bit each of pineapple chili salmon and sour cream dill salmon,

and more potato latkes.

I also had a 7-layer bar and a small slice of “crack pie” before we headed out.

Then I had a great time getting to drink and chat with a bunch of family and friends.  O-bomb shot,

black and coke,

jack and ginger.

Funny, I did not end up running Christmas morning 🙂

Christmas

Christmas with my parents was perfect, though Adam was very missed.

Great minds think alike – my mother and I ended up buying each other the same doxie pen!

While we unwrapped I had a coffee with eggnog,

and a cherry cordial straight from my stocking.

Then our visiting family came over for breakfast.

Turkey sausage,

egg and cheese casserole,

half a mini bagel with cream cheese,

and a piece of 7-layer bar.

Plus a piece of sour candy cane my cousins brought me later.

Then Christmas afternoon was spent on the water.

Fun fact – here is a (far away) shot of the beach where Adam and I got married!

A Christmas tradition is to spend the day in “Christmas Cove.”  There were 40+ boats all connected together but I never did get a good shot.

The crystal light-vodka-whatever I was handed may have had something to do with that.

Is there anything more perfect than Christmas at the beach?

After we washed off the salt, everyone went to my (St. Thomas based) aunt and uncle’s house for Christmas dinner.

Before we headed over I made myself a plate of apple slices and latkes,

but the combination of booze and sun must have hit me hard because I hit the fruit and cheese spread like there was no tomorrow.

Everyone was (lovingly) teasing me about the blog so I did manage to take a picture of every single (9!) cracker/cheese bite!

But I did keep my dinner plate simple.  One thing for health and one thing for fun.

A big pile of salad,

and a big pile of truffle mac and cheese.

The husband is going to be so very jealous; last year he finished off three plates of that macaroni!

After a long-long day we just had to squeeze in one more piece of festivity, so my mom and female cousins and I went out for girly embarrassing drinks.

That’s a virgin pina colada, and even sans alcohol it was a little too much for me.  Merry Christmas indeed!

Monday

Today is my last day on island, so I made sure to get an early start.  My amazing mother drove me to school before 8 so I could get in final run on the field.  ~1 +ish mile ran.  I forgot my sunscreen so I kept it short.  Now as soon as I get some party pictures e-mailed I’m off to soak up as much family time as I can.

Do you Christmas/Hanukkah traditions include any beach time?

Pregnant in Philly

by

Ever since the Healthy Living Summit I’ve been thinking about one thing.  Not blogstalking new people; I’ve been too busy for that.  Not how to improve my blog, though obviously that should be high on my list.  For me, Philly was all about the Philly.

The vegan Philly Cheese Steak.  The minute I took that first chewy yet crunchy bite I knew this was something I’d have to recreate at home.

We hollowed out a roll of Italian bread, piled it high, and melted on two slices of 2% Provolone cheese.  For our filling we sautéed together sliced mushrooms, sliced onion, thin strips of red pepper, and crumbled Seitan.

Meet the /mostly/ vegan Philly cheese steak /done at home/.

It was delicious.  But it wasn’t the delicious.  I was looking to relive the taste I experienced in Philadelphia – the savory yet tangy flavor, my need to pull pieces of the “meat” from my sandwich to eat with my fingertips – and this wasn’t quite there.  Still good though.

I plated myself a small bowl of filling on the side when we sat down.

But I ended up having more than enough food and leaving most of this, plus a few bites of bread, behind.

For the salad course of dinner we ate the remains of some romaine.

Topped with Kraft Light Parmesan Asiago Balsamic Vinaigrette and big handfuls of blue cheese crumbles and buckwheat groats.

My last bite was pure blue cheese and buckwheat and it was ridiculous good.  The crunchiness of the groats makes me enjoy salads 100% more than before.

Other than making a good dinner, I didn’t accomplish near enough this afternoon.  After all my morning workout motivation it was all I could do not to fall asleep on my notes this afternoon.  It didn’t help that Webster was being a distracting little stinker –

That is the top of the couch!  Why/how?!?

Pregnancy Chic?

The other half of my title comes from my afternoon admission that I rock tunic-style tops fairly regularly.  They look good on me, they hide the fact that I spent the summer watching Charmed on the couch, and I generally think they’re adorable.  Like this new top I got at the Banana Republic outlet this summer.

This top is super cute, especially the wrap-style boobs.

But when I was describing my look this morning I heard “second trimester chic” coming out of my mouth.

I’m good with it though.  I may be years away from pregnancy but I’ve already got a ton of concerns about all the things that come after getting knocked up.  At least I can cross *spending money on maternity clothes* off my list of worries, my current wardrobe should carry me through just fine!

Are you a fan of the “pregnancy chic” look or do you prefer tighter fitting tops?