First of all, I loved Julie and Julia

Second of all, I love food.  Who am I kidding, if you know me then you know that already.

Okay but lets get one thing straight first.  I didnt turn off the movie like most of America and decide that it would be a great idea to start a food blog.  For one, Im not that good of a cook and for two, who the hell really wants to read about what I eat? But since Ive been on a health food kick lately (yes, go me!), I decided to show off by posting some of the delicious eats Ive come up with. 

Bon Apetite :)

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Whole wheat pizza dough with artichoke hearts, black olives, sauteed onion, feta, and tomatillo peppers.  I bought the pizza dough from Trader Joes and put Ektor to work on making it into a pizza shape.  He did an amazing job! This pizza was soo good!


This picture is pre-baked

Directions:
sautee half onion with tomatillo peppers in 1T butter until translucent
spread your favorite spaghetti sauce on uncooked dough, top with feta and parmasean cheese, and then add the onion/tomatillo mixture.  finish by adding black olives and artichoke hearts.  bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

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Salmon burger with steamed green beans, kobocha squash, and cottage cheese. 



Not a lot to this one.  I buy the salmon burgers from costco and they are sooo good! high in protein and really delicious, not fishy like some of the others Ive tried.  You just bake them for about 20 min on each side and thats it.  The kobocha squash is one of the most flavorable squashes Ive tried.  When cooked, the skin gets really soft which is nice because then you dont have to peel it first.  I rubbed it with olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper and then baked it at 350 for about 25min or until the meat was tender.  The green beans were steamed with dill and garlic salt...so good!

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Super Charge Me Cookies! (vegan, or could be)



these bad boys are awesome for a post workout snack.  They pack about 250 calories so you dont want to go crazy with them, but they last for about a week and are so good!


Ingrediants:
1c oats
2/3c flour (i used whole wheat)
1/4t sea salt
1/2t cinnamin
1/8c unsweetened coconut
1/3c nuts (i used sliced almonds cause that is what I had in my cupboard)
4T karob chips.  I used white chocolate, the only non vegan thing in this recipe. 
1t baking powder
1/3c ground flax seed
1/2c maple syrup, the real stuff
1.5t real vanilla extract
3T almond butter
2T canola oil


throw it all in a bowl, or stand mixer if you as lucky as me (yes, im bragging) and mix it altogether.  I mean you could follow that mix the dry and then mix the wet nonsense but I dont have time for that shit. Bake it until it looks edible.

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Wasabi-Ginger Ahi tuna steak with kale/quinoa stirfry.



Whoa, protein overload! I marinated the fish in a soy sauce with wasabi and fresh ginger for a few hours at 4C.  I then grilled it using my awesome George Forman Grill (shoot out to Grandpa S for the awesome wedding gift!).  For the stir fry, I heated up 1/2c dry quinoa until a it started to smell real "nutty" but not burnt.  I then added 1/2c water and let it cook covered for about 15 min.  After it was fluffed up, I added 2c chopped up kale and carrots to the mixture, drizzled on some olive oil, and sauteed it altogether.  The wonderful thing about quinoa besides being super nutritious, is that it sticks to whatever you cook it in.  This is great because quinoa itself doenst have a lot of flavor.

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Spaghetti Squash



This is probably one of my favorite things to cook! All you do is cut and clean a spaghetti squash, rub it down with olive oil, and bake at 350 for about 20 min or until the meat is tender.  Once it is, pull it out of the over and allow it to cool to room temp.  Once it is cool enough for you to handle easily, take a fork and pull the meat out.  It will come out looking like spaghetti noodles.  1C of this stuff is only like 40calories and is amazing served under some delicious marinara sauce with a fresh salad. yum!

So for those of you who do not talk to me everyday probably do not know the struggles that I have had with maintaining a constant weight.   Growing up I was stick thin and thought that metabolism and weight issues would never be a problem for me.  I actually remember thinking that pimples were my biggest problem in life.  Oh to be young again.  Since my living female blood line consists of my mom and grandma (both short with small bone structure) I couldnt help but be frustrated the last few years that maintaining a steady weight didnt come easy to me.  Let's be honest, I have the boobs and hips of an 18th century prostitute!

It wasnt until my paternal grandmother passed away and I was able to see pictures of her when she was my age that I realized where my genes actually came from.  So instead of trying to change myself into a different woman, I am learning to embrace my femininity and the curves that come along with it.  Problem with that is I gain weight easily and will not lose it without sweat, and a lot of it! Now dont get me wrong, I dont consider myself an obsessive personality especially when it comes to weight loss.  I think gaining and losing weight is just part of life with me and Ive come to terms with that.  However, in order to lose weight, I must work out daily and stick to a strict calorie regime.  Thing is, life doesnt always allow for such inflexibility.  But since my jeans are a little tight and I'm too broke to buy new clothes, its time to get myself back in shape again.  I've done it before (2008 I lost 12 pounds!) and I can do it again!


(here I am after the last major weight loss)

Unlike other diet regimes Ive tried in the past, this time Im doing it at a slow and steady pace.  I want to improve my lifestyle more than I want to lose weight and luckily, those two go hand in hand.  The first step of this process for me has been to reduce my alcohol consumption.  Bummer right? Truth is, I just love beer and wine and both of those add up to extra calories quick! Now I admit, Im not always the best at refraining (dont judge me, mom and dad!) however Ive done a lot better in the last few weeks than I have in the past.  Eh, except for last week, but that doesnt count.

Next step was to cut down calories and this is the hardest step! Cutting down on calories means eating less, boohoo :( I am now trying to maintain a 1500-1700 calorie limit and that means no processed foods, limited cheese, and absolutely no chips or cookies. Damn! I am also trying to increase my protein content to at least 100grams a day which can be somewhat challenging for a pescatarian like me.  There are some days like yesterday when I consume 198 grams of protein (whoa, go me!) and other days when I can barely get above 50.  It just requires being conscious of what you eat, bottom line.

The third and final step has been exercise.  THIS IS MY WEAKEST AREA!  The truth is, Im freaking lazy! But Im proud to admit, thanks to the nike ipod device that I have started running again and thoroughly enjoy it! Yesterday I ran a nonstop 3 mile loop at a rate of 12minutes per mile.  That is my longest run ever.  I am hoping to work up and eventually do a 10K soon.  I have also started a weight training regime on opposite days which is crucial to toning which I definitely need.  Since the gym is full of my students and other undergraduates (awkward running next to your student when you are barely able to breath on mile 1 and they are talking away on mile 6) I recently joined the housewife phenomenon called Jillian Michaels DVDs.  I have to admit, Jillian kicks my butt!! Im still on level 1 and usually need a day or two to recover (aka walk again) before going at it.  This bitch really is crazy Im telling you!  And with a promise of losing 10 pounds in 30 days, I cant go wrong right?

Jillian, Im putting you to the test!

1.  saltine crackers.  These have been a favorite for a long time but Ive recently rekindled my love affair with them
2.  Oxygen Women's Fitness...this magazine has the best recipes and workout tips
3.  Saturday farmers market and Sprouts Farmers market on all other days
4.  Hot Miso Soup at the Japanese super market... YUM (see photo below)
5.  Walking my canine friends around Irvine in 65 degree weather
6.  Kitten adoptions on petcos on saturdays
7.  Mass Spectrometry.  Next week this will probably be the farthest thing from a favorite for me
8.  Nike + running device.  Absolutely great motivator!
9.  The daily food and workout log I update with one of my BFsF, Amber
10.  Knowing that this week is the last week I will have to miss Ektor because he will be here in 4 days!

I can't believe how long I have been blogging! I mean I know over the years I have gone through many periodic hyaduses (i mean, does anybody still read this?), but I think I can at least give myself some credit for maintaining it, even if inconsistantely.

So as I was browsing through old blogs tonight I could help but try to think about what I was doing at that exact moment that I blogged 2-4 years ago.  I especially love reading over some of my old quizzes or "loves this week"...its so great to be able to reflect on how you grow and change over the years.  So even if this blog is just for me, its great being able to document my life and on times of emotional confusion (this is for another post) be able to look back and find oneself again.

Phew. Enough of that.

On a lighter note, Ive also been thinking about how my eyes are ridiculously small.  Just check out this photo.  I'd like to title it "OC Madness" but its far from madness here in OC.  This is about as exciting as it gets here folks.

I guess its time to take down the wedding countdown huh?

Actually, this month Ektor and I will celebrate our 4 month anniversary.  I went from getting the constant questions of "are you nervous" and "are you ready" during our engagement time to "how is married life" now that the big day has come and gone.  And every time the question comes, I reply "the same, but yet better".  Really that is the truth! I dont know if there are any girls out there who expect that they day the wedding band and I Do's are exchanged will be the day that all the problems in their relationship cease to exist.  Reality is, those problems are still there but you are faced with having to deal with them instead of thinking that they will magically just disappear.  Not that Im saying we have problems in our relationship, quite the contrary, but I think after you get married you have to settle in on the idea of that all problems are now our problems and things that we will work out together. 

I love being married though.  I couldnt have imagined a more perfect person to spend the rest of my life with.  And since I havent blogged in awhile, I thought I would start off by sharing just a few pics that we have accumulated since September 20, 2009. 

Happy New Year, bloggers!