Bread Pudding Flan?

I didn't have enough eggs last night to make a large (9 x 12) pan of bread pudding, so I reduced the recipe by half and attempted to used 1.5 eggs (go figure) and ended up using more egg whites... the result was a weird combination of semi bread pudding on top and flan on the bottom!

Here's how I made it:

2.5 cups of sugar
1 t vanilla
4 egg yolks
1 egg and 2 egg whites
1 8oz can of coconut milk

I used 12 Hawaiian rolls, cut them in half (as if you were making sliders) and placed the bottoms into a 9x9 Pyrex dish.  I then poured half of the well beated mixture above over the 12 halves in the pan... put the tops on and then used the rest of the mixture.

Cook for 45 minutes at 350 degrees with a piece of foil covered... then remove the foil and cook for another 45 minutes.

The result is flan-tastic!

Product Review: My Lululemon Obsession

When I first bought an Equinox membership at a charity auction and the Santa Monica location back in 2008, I noticed three things.  

1. The group fitness classes kicked my butt to another level unlike any I had experienced at 24 Hour Fitness
2. There were quite a bit of good looking young and hopefully available victims (but who hits on people they meet in the gym... oh wait, my friend and me)
3. What was this weird Omega symbol on every girls' really cute-I-am-totally-jealous-want-that-cute-yoga-outfit?!

I kept spying the number of Omega symbols I counted.  Every single pair of yoga pant that fit on a butt very nicely seemed to have one.  There must have been something magical about this brand, but what I did not know yet.  All I knew was it looked cute and these girls could probably wipe off the sweat and spend their whole day in those clothes and look great!

Shortly after that, I was with my brother in Old Town Pasadena and noticed a store sign with the big Omega symbol.  "What is that?" I asked my brother.  "That's Lululemon, that store I told you about with expensive yoga pants that look DANG good on any girl."  "Oh, is it expensive?" I asked my brother, who six years smaller than me, sure knew a lot about this new brand.  "It might be, I don't know what that's aboooot."  Oh, they're from Canada folks.  HA!

Still single, in my mid 20's and with a lot of disposable income, I decided against my frugal instincts to check out the store and try on some of their stuff.

Here's what I learned.

• Sizes for ALL: Lululemon pants come in short, regular and long - which was PERFECT for me, because at 5'9... most pants owned at the time had me screaming "flood's a coming!" and only my dance pants seemed to be long enough.
• Store extras: Lululemon pants come with free hemming and re-hemming if they get it wrong (and they will even take your already worn pants back for stitching up small holes if you accidentally create one).  They also have free water inside the stores, and offer free yoga and fitness classes, normally one on the weekend and one on the weekday - check your local store for more details or subscribe to the nearest store's newsletter for more details!
• Expensive: Lululemon pants are not cheap.  A regular pair of "groove pants" which are fitted yoga pants, are normally $98.00, and my favorite baggy straight legged lounge pants (I have worn one pair on every single flight or road trip I have ever been on since owning them) is called the "still pant" and runs at $108.00.  I would definitely splurge on the pants, the tops are not always well made.  I have noticed some side seams that are crooked and after trying a few styles (I did purchase many on sale), I decided most were too thick for me to sweat in.  I prefer Ion tops or a nice sports bra with a thin yoga shirt over it (as I also hate shaving my pits!) but the Lululemon tops are nice if you're hopeful of meeting someone while working out or going to work out with a guy you may be interested in (as my husband and I did before we were dating and yes, I sported Lulu!)
• Amazing Fit: Lululemon pants have a magic elastic yoga material that makes your bum look awesome.  My husband is not a fan of my Lulu obsession, but once, he even commented - oh your bum looks good in those pants... to which I responded with... thank you Lulu to which he slammed his forehead, realizing he was encouraging my Lulu obsession.  Too flat in the chest when wearing sports bras?  Never fear, Lululemon has booby inserts (see above - the four little weird beige things in the middle)!  I actually never used 'em but it was nice to know they were there in case I wanted to.  
• Environmentally conscious and cute: Every purchase comes in a cute reusable Lululemon bag (with special New Year's editions coming out right about now!) with sayings such as "drink more water" or "friends are more important than money" or "do one scary thing a day."  Encouraging, environmentally friendly... can we get more granola here folks?

For more details on their products, their community, mission, blog, and learn why they are such a hot and growing ticker symbol, check out Lululemon's website.

I got their Company manifesto (what's printed on their cute bags) and decided to include it here.  

12 Snacks I Always Have In the House

90% of being healthy is eating right!  To help encourage that, and because my husband and I are notorious for chowing down on any snacks we have at home, we try to keep the snacks to a minimum and since I'm always home, I try to keep healthy snacks around for those moments when I just need to munch on something and am not really hungry or I'm hungry, but need something with protein and not too damaging as dinner is quickly approaching.

That said, here are 12 snacks (all 100 calories or less per serving) that I aim to always have on hand, in no particular order, which are all great and helped me get back to pre-prego weight asap.

1. Water - see my prior post, water is so important!
2. Almonds - warning, these are jam packed with protein, more than a a handful is actually more calories than you need when just in need of a snack
3. Raisins - need something sweet and quick?  Raisins!!
4. Ritz crackers - these got me through most of my first trimester and are a good snack, not super healthy, but just enough to help curb your hunger a bit
5. Bananas - easy fruit - you just peel it, no cutting!  no washing!
6. Apples - easy fruit - you just wash it, no cutting necessary - and if so, I just cut four pieces around the core and avoid anything else (like peeling it)
7. Dip - for veggie dipping, mine is homemade wannabe Cafe Rio dressing, you can get the recipe here, hummus will also do, but I didn't have it on hand- I usually have one or the other
8. Carrots - helps you see, taste great with dip or hummus ...what's up Doc?!
9. Celery - zero calories.. what?!  it takes you more energy to eat it than to burn it... so whatever you eat with it can have some calories.. like the dip!
10. Dark chocolate - okay, so the raisins weren't doing it... dark chocolate is superior to all other chocolates so eat some (but not too much!) it's supposed to lower blood pressure because it's a potent antioxidant.  What does that mean?  All you have to know is that antioxidants get rid of destructive molecules that are associated with heart issues.  
11. Light Yogurt - mmmm also helps with the sweet cravings and the pro-biotics in it help fight the yeastie beasties!
12. Ice cream - we always have ice cream at home.  It's our go to for dessert and it's a healthy dairy item

Lose Weight By Drinking H 2 the O

Did you know drinking TONS of water can help you lose weight?!

You don't say.  Tell me more Daisy.

Most of the time, when we snack or think we're hungry, we're really just thirsty.

Drinking water ALONE, can help you lose weight - no exercise, no eating right, etc. but of course, there won't be much lost there if you don't do the rest.  The reason lies int he fact that the body is able to flush out waste when you have enough water (poop any?) so having a regular time in the bathroom for number 2 comes with good water and a good fiber-ific diet.

Why do I know this?  Have tried it.  Whenever I look at my food journals and see that I have been eating a lot of sugary snacks - mostly candy and cookies, it's because I haven't been drinking much water.    And.... for the thousands of dollars my mom paid for me to go to charm school when I was 19, the first thing the fitness expert told us was... start drinking more water if you aren't already.  So from that day on, as much as I hated water.. I have started (tips on making it taste better include adding a slice of lemon, orange or cucumber).  Some people think water will bloat them... not true.  Instead, water helps rid your body of excess water ... try it if you don't believe me.

The prescribed amount is 8 glasses per day... but who uses glasses right?  I probably drink about two Nalgene bottles (that's one liter per bottle or 34 ounces each).  If you drink water bottles, look at the ounces and try to get around 64 ounces a day (a coke bottle is about 16 ounces or two cups and a normal water bottle like the one I'm drinking below is around 16-17 ounce a day so four a day of those.. or more!)

Yes, that's a lot of pee-ing and makes it hard if you're in a line of work (teachers... sorry) where you can't go often.. but it's what's good for you!

So H 2 to O, get your drink on.