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

Skincare is a Must

Ever seen a skinny girl with nasty skin? Gross.

Basics of skincare:

1) Wash your face (pat it dry with a clean towel or tissue paper that won't leak leftovers onto your face)
2) Use toner (feels good, rids any excess dirt not removed from your wash and makes the skin all one color)
3) Use moisturizer (more moist your skin is, the more OOMF it has and the younger it looks...dry skin = old skin)
4) If you're going into the office, SPF 15, if you're out in the sun, SPF 25 and don't forget to reapply, if you're going to the beach, the tan only looks nice now missy.. in 10 years, you'll be sorry... lather on the SPF like the Asian mommas and just use bronzer to get the desired tan.
5) Drink lots of water (like lots and lots and lots)

Fresh Watermelon Juice

I like juice. What I don't like is the sugar content in most store bought juices.

Luckily for me, I have learned the art of buying sweet watermelon!

Tap on it with four fingers together (like when you're burping a baby but lightly as if for the first time).... if it sounds hollow (like nothing is in there) it is ready and most likely, sweet!

Take it home.... refrigerate it and then cut it up. If you only have one fridge like us, chop it up, put in some ice (just water, zero calories), and nosh it up in your blender (or if superior like us, your Vita Mix!).

Fruit juice WITHOUT any sugar besides what's already in the watermelon. Miam!

Convenient Push-Ups

It takes a while for the water to get warm when I shower. In its place, I can...

a) stare at myself in the mirror
b) wander around the house
c) watch TV
d) do some push-ups

D is fun and good for you! Using the sink, I place my hands so that they create a perpendicular right angle in my elbows, my body is in a plank position at approximately 45 degrees since my feet are about 3.5 feet away from the sink. Imagine it for a second (if you don't have as much bathroom space, adjust your plank angle, you'll still get a good work-out). 12 reps.... twice... and water is ready and my arms are just sore enough to have worked out a bit.

Not sure if it works.. but it sure feels good to do something productive in a mere 3 minutes.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese people don't like cheese. My aunt once told me eating cheese makes your butt grow big (hence all the flat butted Chinese people).... but whether or not that's true, it's important to remember for a delicious Chinese chicken salad, NO CHEESE should be used!

You can make your own dressing... but considering you probably don't have all the typical Chinese ingredients lying around, just go buy some Chinese chicken salad sesame vinaigrette! My favorites include: Feast from the East from Costco (beware of the really big spout) or Wish Bone's Light Asian with Sesame and Ginger Vinaigrette.

1/2 can of Mandarin oranges drained
1/2 cup of sliced almonds
3 1/2 cups bean sprouts
1/2 head of cabbage (mix it with white and purple) - throw in some shredded carrot for visual presentation
3-4 scallion sticks (also known as green onion) chopped and use mostly white parts
2-3 chicken breasts cooked and sliced (don't season)

Serves 6-8 people

This is an easy salad which devoid of cheese, is high in protein and fiber yet sweet and fun to mix into your regular lunch or dinner routine. (For dinner as a main salad, use more chicken

Yummy Broccoli Salad

Not sure how good this is fat content wise... but I do know that using smart substitutes goes a long way and everybody loved it... so here's the recipe:

1 cup LIGHT mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar (can use Splenda if concerned about calories)
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (red wine vinegar works also!)
Whip the above together and set aside in fridge for about 30 minutes

Combine above dressing with:
3 bunches of broccoli or about 1 lb (uncooked, at first I cooked it cuz I'm lame like that)
2 fiji apples, peeled and cut into small dice cubes
1/2 cup sliced almonds (can add more depending on your preference)
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 cup raisins (can add more depending on your preference)

Egg White Breakfast Burrito

It's more expensive to buy egg whites in a carton... but trying to take out your egg whites from a normal egg usually means less egg whites than you wanted so I normally use 3 egg whites to get about 2 eggs.

2-3 egg whites
Pepper and salt for flavor
1 cup of cooked spinach
4-5 Cherry Tomatoes
1 cup of black beans
sprinkle of cheddar and jack cheese
1 wheat tortilla
Flavor with Tapatio or Tabasco and Ketchup

Cook egg whites, cook spinach, cook cherry tomatoes (cut in halves), and heat black beans

In another pan, place tortilla with cheese, once it's half melted, put the other cooked stuff on and wrap into a burrito of healthy yum.

Oatmeal Goes a Long Way

Oatmeal is the best item to eat if you're going to do a workout in the morning. It fills you up, keeps you energized and gets you going until after the workout. For a good post workout, eat a banana or an orange.

I am a huge fan of brown sugar and craisins or raisins with my oatmeal but for something more fantastically awesome and creative, try some maple syrup (not too much!) and bananas with a sprinkle of brown sugar. Or, as my Mom used to do, she'd put some oatmeal into soup - YUM - especially if you want a saltier breakfast. Lastly, we'd often steam eggs and put in a little bit of oatmeal and milk, also another staple favorite when I'm craving a salty breakfast.

Oatmeal! It goes a LONG way!

Green Smoothie

1 1/2 cups of Spinach
1 1/2 cups of white grape juice
1 Orange (cut off orange part, leave white healthy stuff)
1/2 Banana peeled
2 cups of ice
Teaspoon of Honey

Blend until liquidish.

I Heart My Vita Mix

My mom gave my husband and me an early wedding present called the "Vita Mix" which has since then, but an absolute staple in my cooking routine.

The Vita Mix makes delicious smoothies, hummus, soups, and even bread dough! It has an amazing level of destruction power and will destroy anything you put in it to pieces so small in order to liquidize it. And then, to clean it, you simply put a bit of soap and water and mix it again and wa-la, it's clean! The plastic it is made out of is nearly indestructible by usage means as it is the same plastic the windows from a plane are made out of! That's neat!

I've been experimenting with the Vita Mix and the various ways I can use it to sneak healthy vegetables into it for my husband and myself. Most recently, I put some carrots into a mix of orange juice, frozen strawberries and blueberries, and banana and you couldn't even tell there were carrots in it (except for the texture which was a bit different), I then tried the same mix but added celery too. That was a bad idea as the celery texture and taste were both so strong, it made the drink taste "too healthy." My most recent creation was inspired from the Costco man advertising the Vita Mix while I was there to pick up fruit and a rotisserie chicken. I couldn't remember everything he put in it so I improvised, but the important thing was only HALF a banana - which would account for why it did not come out in this weird quickly solidifying liquid wanna be form. I put in a couple handfuls of spinach, green grapes, white grape juice, half a banana, an orange (with the orange part cut off but the white stuff still on as that is where the nutrients lay!), and some ice. In a mere seconds, I had created a fun green healthy smoothie with enough fiber that it kept me full until about 11:45 AM (drank it around 8 AM) which is pretty good considering I didn't have any wheat toast to supplement it with.

In the past, I've also made hummus in my Vita Mix (canned beans, olive oil, some salt, and done) which took about 2 minutes and lasted us for about 3 weeks and went perfectly with celery and carrots, and even as a spread on sandwiches. I plan to make a variation of the hummus by adding in cilantro, tomatoes and whatever else my lil heart desires!

The Vita Mix is just so easy! It's unfortunately not sold on TV, only at Costcos and comes in white and black (we have black to match the rest of the kitchen appliances... absent our yellow stove).

It is so easy, even a kid could do it (with adult supervision of course) and when my niece came into town, she was evidence of that! She was so excited to help me put in the different ingredients and with me holding the lid on, was able to use the mixing stick and actually help make it!

Remember When Bagels Were "In"?

Bagels used to be a huge craze! Everywhere you went, bagels were "in," and you couldn't escape the trends of bagels! Bagel for breakfast, bagel sandwich, bagel for dinner, bagel for a late night snack.... Goldstein's, Western Bagel and Noah's Bagels were among the famous nearby bagel stores we frequented often and in our home, bagel breakfasts were an exciting day! We had Sara Lee, Thomas Muffin and even bagels from Ralph's. Cream cheese came in regular, whipped, strawberry, salmon, garden, jalapeno, etc.

And then, I found out how bad bagels actually were for you. In essence, it was as if someone took a loaf of bread, crushed and compacted it into a bagel, and then said, add some cream cheese for more fat. But man, how delicious they were!

So recently, when I found a smaller bagel, advertised as "toast size," I was excited! The bagels were only 160 calories (normally half of a normal sized bagel get you to around 180 calories) so I grabbed that, some low fat whipped cream cheese, and wa-la, I have been eating bagels for breakfast almost everyday! YUM!

Part of eating right is portion control, so I'm grateful for the smaller bagels... because in the past, even though a half of a bagel filled me up, sitting there, I would feel the other half taunting me to just eat it! And then... after eating it, I'd feel remorseful and too full. For people like me who are unable to just put it aside, it's important to just get it in the right size in the beginning.

Yay for bagels!