Wow, that's absolutely FIBBERIFIC!

When I used to travel for work, I always knew to pack a bottle of Metamusil due to my irregular bowel movements that seemed to increase when I was away from home. Not having a familiar bathroom always made me nervous. When I first went away for college, the same thing happened, and my mom visited and brought along with her a big bottle of prune juice and dried prunes. Prunes were my best friend.

I thought getting married might fright my bowel movements again but I have learned to accumulate fiber through normal and snack foods since my prune college days and Metamusil newbie days. Theses days, I am fiberrific, stocking up on beans, berries, broccoli, spinach, eggplant, and avocado! Yes, these are all high fiber foods! To supplement any fiber not gained from these natural foods, I have the power of Fiber One snacks and cereal, Go Lean Kashi bars and even popcorn.

Recently, I have had a new obstacle - pregnancy hormones. They get in the way and make pooping difficult! I have had to enlist the help of Colace pills, one a day through my first and second trimester, and now, into my third trimester, I am at two pills a day and still not even entirely regular. I think that means I have to revisit my Fiber One snacks on a more regular basis ... eek!

Strawberry Peach Smoothie

We got 4 servings of fruit this morning all from one easy to make smoothie!

I always keep our freezer stocked with Costco's frozen blueberries and strawberries, for the sole purpose of making smoothies!

One peeled (with as much white stuff left as humanly possible) orange
3/4 banana
10 frozen blueberries
6 frozen strawberries
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1/2 Yoplait light peach yogurt
*Add water depending on how frozen the mixture is while mixing

Blend until smooth and it becomes like a liquid.

I call this the strawberry peach smoothie because the taste of the banana and blueberries are very subtle, mostly you get strawberries and peaches! Pair it up with a piece of toasted wheat bread (no butter please) and you got yourself a well rounded breakfast. Miam!

Marketing Genius or Scum?!

There's a book called Skinny blank (rhymes with witch but starts with a B) and the other day, I was in a maternity store with my mum when I saw another version of the book, titled Skinny Witch (with a B): Bun in the Oven. I couldn't figure out what was worse - the fact that the book (I have the first and it's so stupid... they convince you to basically become a Vegan, encourage you to work out (duh), remind you that fruits and vegetables are good for you (double duh), and tell you that pooping is a good thing - wow, all things I never knew!!! *sarcasm) was in existence or that I actually chose to waste 5 minutes of my life skimming through it. Probably the latter... but anyhow, as I scanned its contents, the only thing I could think of was, do people really buy into this? The two women who wrote the book are both very skinny indeed, but their poor lives are minimized to eating Vegan (which I love by choice, but not all the time.... I'm all for a veggie sandwich every now and then but I still love a medium rare steak cooked to perfection!) and they probably go to sleep a bit hungry every night just so they can keep their too skinny bodies in shape to sell their books.

We have to be careful what we read or what we see portrayed by the media. They are all out to market, market, market, because ultimately they want to sell, sell, sell!!! You can still trust some of what you hear (a salad with creamy dressing and fried chicken is not healthier than some chicken and rice, croutons are not making your salad healthier, portion control is important considering America's decline to HUGE DOUBLE, TRIPLE sized portions!) but all of it will be logical. Yes, eating a homemade hamburger is healthier than eating one from Red Robin, because they indeed slather butter on the buns, the meat, and probably the veggies that go with it (that's why it's so dang good!). Yes, eating a homemade smoothie is less sugar than one from Jamba Juice (who uses sorbet in almost all their drinks and also add sugar on top of the natural sugars found in the blended frozen fruit). These all make sense right? But telling your body no more carbs so you can lose weight? ERROR. Telling your body to cleanse itself with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and some sort of water mix? FAIL!

Be healthy folks. Eat a balanced meal full of whole grains, veggies, protein, fruit, dairy and make exercise a part of your daily routine. No time to work out? Fine, take the stairs! No time on the weekend? Do something active with your family and friends! There's this thing called the park, I hear it's free and has lots of places to walk around, play tennis, sometimes handball and even basketball! Oh, and try to limit your sugar intake. Desserts are indeed fun and pretty, but they are dangerously high in calories and bad fats that are harder to burn. If you are accustomed to having dessert every night, try mixing in some fruity desserts and slowly weening yourself away from a chocolate cake, cheeseecake or cookie and soon, you may finding yourself just wanting some apples, watermelon or pineapple (also sugary but better).

Healthy Sloppy Joe's?

I know nobody thinks Sloppy Joe's are healthy... but they can be a little bit MO' healthy with the following twist:

1) wheat bun instead of white (I'd never go wheat with a normal burger but with sloppy Joe's, it doesn't taste half bad!)
2) Add mo' onions and some black beans - normally, I'd use 1/4 cup of onions with 3 pounds of beef... but really, that's just to flavor it but by adding more, you are changing up the mixture to be a little more veggie infused while the beans just add protein (you get full quicker) and are fiberliciously tootful and whatever else you do afterwards!
3) add a healthy side - instead of chips or fries or a creamy potato salad, try a green salad
4) add a boiled egg - talk about your protein fix! I had three freshly boiled eggs to add to the salad but the husband decided to slice it up and add it to his Sloppy Joe. Great idea! For an EVEN healthier kick, take out the yolk and egg whites only!
5) Anytime you decide to go healthier, make sure the flavor is not gone. We've decided to add some cayenne pepper to our mix to give it a kick!

Basic Recipe (for two):
1/3 lb of ground beef
1/2 small white or yellow onion
Cook ground beef in a medium skillet on medium until brown, add onions and cook until tender.

Add following sauces:
1/3 cup ketchup
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
couple dabs of apple cider vinegar (or any other vinegar will do)
shake of some salt
shake of some cayenne pepper (optional)

After mixing sauces, add in about 1/2 a can of black beans.

Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 30 minutes while you go make a healthy side salad. Toast dem wheat buns right before serving, add a little bit of cheese if you prefer before tossing on the hot Sloppy Joe mix! Serve with salad.

Miam!

Endorphins Really Are Uplifting!

I've been more consistent with my workouts and boy, can I feel the difference. I'm more upbeat, energetic, and I can't wait for the next endorphin pumping session. I've been able to make time for working out by leaving work at 5 PM for the past two days (miracle in itself!) which gives me a decent half hour and still time to make dinner and enjoy it with the husband.

It really does take a push to get into the initial mode of things. At first, exercise is bleh. I didn't really exercise via gym until post college (growing up, there was always the dance team and classes and then in college, there was the ballroom dance team).

On another note, I've decided to review all my ballroom knowledge. Having actually gotten to gold level in standard and silver in latin, I know enough to teach friends the basics so I should ensure I have the information to share. It's all about sharing and collaborating and though I can do it myself, it seems useless if I can't share. Maybe I can even get a gig teaching at Arthur Murray?

Spice-Rubbed Fish with Lemony Rice

I love Martha Stewart! Her stuff is just GOLDEN! Her wedding website was awesome and as a result, I not only got a sweet seating chart scaled to size that I inputted, but following the big day, I wrote a couple reviews for my vendors and now get a free Food Magazine by Martha Stewart that has TONS of awesome recipes! I am only beginning my adventure with her magazine but man, do I love having a photo and easy recipes that don't take longer than 1 hour and normally consist of items I already have in my kitchen!

Tonight, I made "spice-rubbed fish with lemony rice," with a substitution of cucumber for zucchini (because that's what Andy got for me but in reality, it's like he knew because I prefer cucumbers!).

First, I made the spice mix for the fish rub:
1/4 cup ground coriander
1 tbls ground ginger
1 tbls paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cayenne pepper (I added this myself)

Any extra spice can be sealed and stored up to 3 months. I put what we had left in a ziploc bag and I think it will probably make one more fish but only time shall tell.

Ingredients:
4 tsp butter
1 small yellow onion - diced
1 garlic clove (or I use the already chopped garlic in a bottle cuz I don't like how it makes my hands smell after handling it)
1 cup rice (we used white but brown also works)
1 lemon
2 cups chicken broth (low-sodium preferably)
1 cucumber
fish pieces - we used tilapia

So, first you chop up the onion, get your garlic ready, zest your lemon and cut it in half, and slice up your cucumber.

Next, in a medium saucepan, heat the butter on medium and then add the onion and garlic for about 4 minutes or until the onion is soft. Next, stir in the rice and cook for 1 minute. Now, stir in the lemon zest, squeeze half a lemon, the cucumber slices and season with some salt and pepper (I used kosher salt and ground pepper). Bring the mix to a boil and then let it simmer for about 13 minutes. While you wait, wash the dishes you already used, fold some laundry (all things I did) and get the fish ready by putting the spice mix on one side. Next, put the fish on top of the rice with the spice side up and cover the saucepan for about 7 minutes (fish cooks fast!). Wa-la! Dinner is served!!!!!

The recipe is supposed to make 4 servings but between Andy and me, we about 1/3 cup of rice left with a tiny piece of fish left (think one tim tam). Not sure what that means but it was delicious and we got our vegetables, grains (sorta) and protein!

Celery with Peanut Butter

celery is supposed to be a zero calorie food item so I guess celery with peanut butter is just eating peanut butter but exercising your mouth while doing so.

Need some more variety? Put some raisins on top of the peanut butter.

Miam!

Easy Fish for Dinner

I made this last night for our New Year's even dinner (from my favorite Mormon cookbook) and it surprisingly took only 45 minutes from start to finish (including waiting for the oven to heat up and not really knowing 100% what I was making until maybe 15 minutes in...)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Ingredients:
2 salmons
4 baby carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion
1 lemon
salt and pepper
lemon pepper
butter
thyme

Chop up 4 baby carrots, 1/4 of a red bell pepper and 1/4 of a red onion - put aside

Put 2 salmons on a generous sheet of foil on a 12 x 9 pan
Squeeze one lemon's juice on the fish
Flavor with salt, pepper and lemon pepper
In separate bowl, warm 2 tablespoons of butter and mix thyme in
Drizzle butter and vegetables over salmon, wrap the foil so that salmon is fully covered
Put in oven for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Working Out in the Second Trimester

Now that the fatigue has worn off, the nausea has stopped and the migraines have calmed down, I am ready to work out! Except, I forgot the beast of slothfulness that prevents me from actually getting to the point of working out. Such excuses include, but are not limited to, the gym is so dirty, the gym is so far, my armpits are hairy, I've got too much work, dinner takes a long time to make, I'll just go tomorrow, I'll just eat less, or I took the stairs today... isn't that enough? Recently, I have learned a new enemy... the tiny bladder. After working out for no more than 20 minutes, I have to go pee. At this point, that means taking all my stuff with me and then when I'm done, I often think - my heart rate has gone down, should I just leave?

On the other hand, the mighty mighty endorphin kick I get is awesome when I do go to the gym! Yesterday, I only went to the gym for 25 minutes, used the elliptical for that or less, and felt good the whole day. The whole very long day in which we traveled 40 miles at 10 AM to watch a bowl game as the ESPN Zone, then drove 10 minutes to watch a basketball game live, another 40 miles to pick up our car, another 30 miles to go home and dress, 10 miles to my company holiday party and 10 miles home, all through the heavy downpour of rain and congested roads of LA. It was a very terrific but long day and as tired as I was, I am confident my endorphin boost helped!

So onto more gym visits and more inspiration for myself to get my workouts back to 5 days a week!

Here are some helpful tips I have come up with that will help me and YOU get back into workout mode (that crazy insane place where you are just dying to work out everyday cuz it feels sooo good!)

1) Go with a friend (this way you are less likely to bail, whether it means a friend to the gym or a friend over to go through that exercise video you keep meaning to do)
2) Work out in the morning (way more effective than putting it off until the late afternoon or night when everything else seems to be more important, helps you start your day and feel refreshed!)
3) Schedule it! Put it in your calendar so you hold yourself accountable and are able to visually see what you need to accomplish including your work out!
4) Vary your work-outs. I like to do my at home videos like bar method, pilates with a band, my GIAM 4 pound ball and the big exercise ball, but I also like to throw in some days at the gym, some days on my own (dancing or putting together weird core wanna be yoga moves on my own), and of course, once our budget is doing better, maybe some paid for classes with an instructor and other students where I have to make sure I'm not slacking off cuz of the pressure from others around me!
5) Don't treat it as a chore. Working out is fun, but it's not unless you have the attitude that it is fun.

Vitamix How I Love Thee

Apparently, for the last 6 months, Andy and I have not been using the Vitamix correctly! We went to Costco (where we often fill up on lunch by eating the samples) and talked to the Vitamix rep about why our machine made funny sounds. It's supposed to make that sound! And in fact, you're supposed to use the high variable speed for liquefying anything, whereas we had only used it correctly for our green spinach drink, hummus, Cafe Rio salad dressing and soup. Armed with that knowledge, I started my quest re-engaging in smoothies using my wonderful Vitamix, and anything else I need to blend (like salad dressing!)

I have made the most delicious drinks from simple items!

Orange Julius (recommended by our Vitamix dude but modified by us)
1) 1 orange peeled with white stuff (cuz it's healthier)
2) 2 cups vanilla soy milk
3) 1 cup orange concentrate
4) 2 tablespoons of honey
5) 1 teaspoon of vanilla
6) 5 frozen strawberries with stem (healthy!)

Just for Sophie (my niece and I always make smoothies with whatever is in the house, she loves helping but loves the whipped cream more!)
1) 1 mango
2) 1 orange peeled with white stuff
3) 2 slices of pineapple
4) 1 cup of frozen blueberries
5) 8 frozen strawberries with stems (protein)
6) 2 cups soymilk
7) 1 teaspoon of honey
*If you don't have frozen fruit, just use 1-1 and 1/2 cups of ice, but if you have frozen fruit, you don't need ice. We also have done it with water instead of milk, but you may have to add more fruit for flavor. You can also add a dab of whip cream for the kiddos, and when Andy isn't looking, I put 3-4 carrots which when blended with all that fruit, have no flavor!

Cafe Rio salad dressing (given to me by my sister in law, Tammy!)
1) 1 lime (roll it on the counter before squeezing it in for more juice)
2) 1 bunch of cilantro
3) 1 1/3 cup of light sour cream
4) 1 whole pack of Hidden Valley Ranch powder mix
5) 3/4 cup of light mayo
6) 4 tablespoons of green salsa verde
7) 2-3 crushed garlics
8) 1/8 teaspoon of tabasco (or more if your heart desires)

Our Weekend of Carb Overload

Pizza
Paninis
Cheeseburgers
Fries
Bread with Spinach Artichoke Dip
Meatballs
Fruit Tarts
Chocolate Fountain
Caramel Popcorn
Baked imitation Fried Chicken
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans
One apple with a dead worm in it (reason to ditch organic)
Blueberries
Pilsburry Rolls

And that sums up my weekend... with the fruit only being part of what I packed to avoid getting hungry on the drive to Phoenix. It's okay to overload on carbs every now and then.. it just means that today is a day of salad, fruit and high protein to balance out my carb overloaded weekend.

We're a Fruitful Family

Growing up, we always had fruit around. It was like our rice. I ate fruit for breakfast, as a snack when I came home at 3 and after dinner. You could guarantee at least 4 types of fruit in our household at any given time.

My brother and I both realized how spoiled we had been growing up when we went off on our own. I still had enough cash flow to buy myself apples, strawberries, oranges, blackberries and berries, but stayed away from the melons, cantaloupes, papayas, and pineapple because of all the cutting it required. My brother, even worse off in New York, demoted himself to only apples and bananas. When I visited him as a result of many free flight tickets from work trips, I would often splurge and we'd buy fresh cut fruit from Whole Foods (hoity toity!). Oh the joy!

Even to this day, I cannot eat grapes with seeds. Why, you ask? Because mum always cut them in half, removed the seeds and served it to us that way. Spoiled? Just very cared for I think....

I have since learned how to cut my own watermelon, pineapple and cantaloupe (I don't like the green kind... whatever it's called) but I'm quite sure my brother is still quite deprived of the daily nutrients we received growing up as he treasures the days he's home for the holidays where he can find cut watermelon, strawberries (with condensed milk... mmmmmm), pineapple and berries on any given day (so long as they're in season).

It's good to be full of fruit. It's like getting your dessert and your snack all at once. Ode to fruit. How I love thee.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

The sheets come hard - all you have to do is fill a large plate with some warm water and soak the sheet in the water for 1-2 minutes, until it softens.

Then, take the sheet (now limp) and fill it with goodies as follows:

-handful of cooked vermicilli
-shredded carrots*
-shredded cooked chicken or whole cooked shrimp
-cilantro
-bean sprouts
-sliced cucumbers
-chopped fresh Thai basil
-fresh mint (I don't like this in the roll, just as a garnish)

Wrap like a mini burrito and eat with sauce! I have never made the sauce but my makes a killer fish sauce... unfortunately, at this time I'm unable to get the recipe from her so here's one I googled:

4 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce (Chinese kind)

*pickled Vietnamese vegetables
2 cups rice vinegar
1 cup water
1-1/2 cups sugar
In medium saucepan, combine above and cook on medium until sugar dissolves.
Put desired sliced turnips and carrots into glass jar with tight fit lid, pour sauce in and refrigerate overnight