Tonight, I will be celebrating my first Thanksgiving as a vegan. My first without turkey, dairy, butter, eggs, etc. I am grateful to have family that respects my wishes and is preparing some things for me to eat.

It’s days like today that make me feel so good about my decision

For breakfast, I fueled up on my favorite meal. Oat bran with banana and peanut butter. I used 1/2 cup of oats this time to hold me over longer.

Suzie spent most of the morning doing this!

We are out of coffee at home and I had been drinking tea but today, I had a major coffee craving. I felt guilty for doing it since they have to work on Thanksgiving, but I went through the White Castle drive thru!

I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’d ever had their coffee but man, it was good! I can see now why they have “America’s Best Coffee” or some sign like that.

I went and visited with my mom for a bit since we are spending Thanksgiving with my in-laws tonight. When I got home it was lunch time!

I used to eat these all the time when I was younger but I hadn’t had them in forever! I heated up a cup and threw them on some leftover brown rice.

Yum! I didn’t include any other veggies because I’m going to be having a plethora of them tonight!

I think I am too sore from yesterday to go for a run today so I’m thinking yoga, some strength training and a walk with the dog is all I need today.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I am very thankful for this blog and the friends I have made because of it. Have a great day

Breakfast is my favorite meal.

I love:

- french croissants with butter

- toast, salted Irish butter and cheese

- bilberry jam

- fresh juice, fruit tea, cappuccino

- honey

I’m not crazy about meat for breakfast, except for ham or some German salami.

I have nothing in common with British breakfast like sausages, bean or fried eggs. Way too heavy for me.

www.swats.ch

www.extrapercs.net

www.countryliving.com

I could eat all that anytime, anywhere.

Another Thanksgiving has arrived and I  know that I am very lucky and have a lot to be thankful for.  Among those things are you!

OK,  enough sappiness.   Here’s a quick sketch I did while waiting for breakfast  on a cloudy morning in St. Croix.   This was not in the Flamboyant Lounge, but the service was just as slow.   Matt was off for a dive and my other vacation friends were heading home.   After I ate, the sun came out and it was blazing hot.  I went to the beach, sat down with my book, iPod, and sketch pad to enjoy some sun, quiet and ocean waves.  And then it happened.

Like a wall of locusts.

A Disney cruise had just come to Carambola for a day excursion at the beach.  As they ran down the beach towards the west end where I had just settled in, I heard someone screaming GET A CHAIR, GET A CHAIR.  I turned, looked and was horrified at the vision in front of me.   Hundreds of people with screaming kids.  I took one look and I ran.  Right back to my air-conditioned room and cable TV.  I enjoyed a nice morning watching TV and knitting in cool, quiet and solitude.  I was very thankful for that!

Weight increase-whether it is due to genes is under active study.People ,who despite eating heavily remain slim,whereas who eat less gain weight.Reasons are yet to be established.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Exercise seems to simultaneously make people hungrier, yet more readily satisfied by a meal — and differences in these responses from person to person may help explain why some exercisers shed pounds more easily than others, researchers say.

In a study of 58 overweight and obese adults who started an exercise regimen, researchers found that exercise tended to boost participants’ hunger before a meal, compared with their sedentary days.

On the other hand, they were also more easily satisfied by their morning meal than they had been before becoming active.

But while both effects were generally at work across the study group, there were subtler differences between participants who were more successful in their weight loss and those whose extra pounds stubbornly hung on.

In general, exercisers who did not meet their expected weight loss were both hungrier after fasting — that is, right before breakfast — and throughout the day, compared with their hunger ratings at the study’s start.

In contrast, those who were more successful in shedding pounds generally saw their pre-breakfast appetites increase after becoming active. But they were not hungrier throughout the day.

“The reason that some people are more successful (at weight loss) could be due to a lesser increase in appetite and the prevention of an increase in food intake,” lead researcher Dr. Neil King, an associate professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, told Reuters Health in an email.

But the bottom line for new exercisers, he said, is that they should not throw in the towel if they start feeling more hungry than normal — or fail to shed as many pounds as they’d been hoping.

Other research shows that exercise has health benefits — like improved cardiovascular fitness, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol — even if weight loss is modest.

For the current study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, King’s team had 58 overweight men and women go through a 12-week supervised exercise regimen designed to burn 500 calories per session.

At the beginning and end of the study, participants were given a breakfast of cereal and toast, and were asked to rate their hunger before the meal, immediately after and throughout the rest of the day.

After 12 weeks, 32 participants had lost the expected amount of weight based on the calories they burned during exercise; 26 had not. On average, both groups showed a revved up appetite before breakfast on week 12, but daily hunger was greater in those who had not lost a substantial amount of weight.

Both groups of exercisers, though, seemed to be more readily satisfied by their breakfast than they had been before becoming active.
Story:
It’s not clear why these two different appetite effects arise from exercise. But physical activity, while spurring hunger, may also boost the sensitivity of the body’s fullness-signaling system, according to King’s team.

“The key messages,” King said, “are exercise is good for you, don’t expect unrealistic weight loss and don’t give up exercising just because of lower-than-expected weight loss.”

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5AO2LC20091125?feedType=nl&feedName=ushealth1100

This morning I am thankful for my friend Cherie who picks me up in her warm car every year early Thanksgiving morning on her way to The Bolt.

The Boulevard Bolt, a Nashville Thanksgiving day tradition, is a 5 mile race that I have run 7 years in a row…until this year. This year, I swallowed by pride and walked most of it. Instead of beating myself up and trying to run the entire course, I turned it into a sprint workout, and I had the best time. I ran as fast as I could for one minute and then walked for five. I repeated this throughout the entire race and then ran the last half mile finishing in 1:01:25. Definitely my slowest Bolt time ever, but I’m A-okay with that.

Afterwards, I am came home and swallowed a big bowl jar of oat bran, my first in almost three weeks.

As you know, I’ve been eating fewer grains and more protein, but this morning I was thankful for a warm filling breakfast straight from the sunflower seed butter jar.

I’m also thankful that the rest of the day will be spent with family and friends…perhaps some football and a nap later, maybe a movie…if I can drag CD away from said football.

Wishing all of you a wonderful and joyful Thanksgiving.

Much Love,

Heather/HEAB/Heabie

This was a very common breakfast at my home, simply because it is very easy to prepare , wholesome and very yummy.With some salad and yogurt, can be had at lunch or dinner too.

Upma is usually made with Sooji or Semolina in most parts of India and most are not aware that cracked wheat can be an awesome substitute in this recipe.

Why cracked wheat upma?

Sooji is a refined product and cracked wheat is not

Cracked wheat need not be pre-toasted, this reduces the cooking time considerably

Cracked wheat does not form lumps when you cook…so you can make a Carefree cracked wheat upma!!! absolutely zero concentration required.

Now to the recipe…

Ingredients

Cracked wheat – 1 cup

Water – 2.25 cups

green chillies – 3

red chillies – 3

carrots+peas – 1 cup (if not using veggies reduce the water to 2 cups)

1 mediu onion sliced thin

Mustard seeds – tsp

Channa dal aka broken chickpeas – 1 tsp

chopped ginger – 1 inch piece

Salt

oil – 2 tbsp

Method

Heat a wide thick-bottomed vessel with 2 tablespoons of oil and let it reach smoking point. Now crackle the mustard seeds, fry the channa dal to a light pink, add the chillies , ginger and onions.

Once the onions are translucent add the veggies, saute for a minute, add the 2.25 cups of water, season with salt and close it with a lid. It is important that the water is slightly salty than how you want your upma to be. Once the water starts boiling, add the cracked wheat, give it a stir, close the lid and cook it for a couple of minutes till it is done. Once you feel the upma is done and soft, switch off the stove, close it with the lid and leave it to rest for 5 minutes. This step is very important if you do not want a gooey upma. Enjoy the wholesome upma with some pickle and yogurt or coconut chutney.

Just wanted to write a quick post to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving! This morning we left for New York at 5am and made the trip in record time. I slept a little since the boyfriend was nice and drove the whole way. When we arrived there was a beautiful breakfast spread waiting for us! I had a wheat bagel with cream cheese and lox….yum! I could really eat bagel and lox all day and be happy, but I guess that is another story

Now we are relaxing and resting up for all the eating we will have to do later. I just called my Mom in Florida and it is kind of sad to have my first Thanksgiving without her! I am definitely thankful for her and also thankful that we had an early Thanksgiving in October together when the airfares were cheaper

I know I have lots to be thankful for, and plan on enjoying the day without counting calories. I hope everyone has a wonderful turkey day and enjoys a few delicious treats!

Wow there was so much to be done yesterday. I was literally on my feet from 8:30 am till 1 am. But it will all be worth it when we get to eat all the delicious food today.

Breakfast:

My morning started out with my mother-in-law making me “real” oatmeal. “Real” meaning the oats were made on the stove as opposed to the microwave (how I ALWAYS cook them). I learned that I prefer oats in the microwave because they are dryer and not as creamy. Yep, that’s right I do not like my oats creamy… it is a texture thing. (= My oats contained a banana, pumpkin seeds, chunky peanut butter and raisins. Overall great flavor! With maximum staying power for my busy day.

My bowl o'oats

Lunch:

Lunch finally came around 2:30 pm. But, before lunch my sister Chrissy made the family some amazing Tiropita. For those of you not familiar with it, it is Greek cheese pie. Here is a recipe very similar to my sisters.

Chrissy piecing together the Tiropita

I was freakin excited about my lunch!!! I blogged before about my FAVORITE veggie burgers from Don Lee Farms, well, they now make veggie meatballs. My mother-in-law happened to pick some up on her recent Costco run and I was itching to try them. With the vegetarian meat balls I decide to make a meatball sandwich on sourdough with feta and banana rings. I cooked the meatballs in a little bit of olive oil in a pan. The end result was SO GREAT. This may be new favorite product from Costco. The little balls taste similar to the veggie burgers with a hint of cheesy tater-tot yumminess.

Meatless meatballs with feta and banana peppers rings!

Awesome sammie

After lunch there was lots more baking to be done. Chrissy, Alex and I did a batch of cookies, brownies and lemon bars. The night before we did 3 batches of cookies… and this is only the beginning of the Christmas cookies.

Chrissy and I working on some Lebcuchen

Before dinner Chrissy and Mrs. P decided to clean and brine our turkey for tomorrow. This bird was a free range, 27 pound, big boy!

Thats a big bird!

Dinner:

Dinner was the oh so good! A combined effort of Chrissy, with the spare ribs, and Sean, with the Alton Brown mac n’ cheese.

Dinner plate

Dinner with a glass of Shiraz

Close up on the tender spare rib!

I am sooooo excited for Thanksgiving!!! My brother has came in from Arizona and I can not wait to see him. He and my mom and dad and coming to my in-laws house to celebrate Thanksgiving together.

I didn’t feel that much pressure to get out and run yesterday. At the same time, I wasn’t sure how many opportunities I’d get today and tomorrow, so I decided to take the time and go out. It was a slightly slow 6.7 but felt good to be active for an hour(because I firmly planned on being lazy the other 23). When I got home, I challenged myself to make a lunch not with the microwave. It’s simple enough but there’s so many flavors and textures it just can’t achieve. After planning out a menu, I got to work with my fancy pan I won from some Hood milk promotion last month.

Brussels And Sausage In A Pan

First I scrambled 2 eggs and cooked those in the pan to the perfect doneness–so much easier than in a microwave! Then I steamed raw brussels for 3 minutes in the microwave and then pan-browned them for another 2 minutes. I also heated up a pre-cooked chicken sausage in the microwave(btw, all these uses of it don’t count ) and finished that in the pan.

Scrambled Eggs, Spicy Chicken Sausage, Brussels Sprouts

This deserves a Holy Yum award. Brussels sprouts are seriously my favorite green vegetable and by far the best thing here, even though they were a bit dry, with a touch of salt. The browning gave a good crispness to the outside. The sausage was also quite good. Note: It was real meat and not faux meat. I think I can love them equally. The fennel in it was really impressive. For dessert I had something that took neither pan nor microwave.

Oikos With Banana Pineapple Rum Jam

So perfect. Well, OK, it could have used more jam, but then again my ideal would be eating the jam from the jar with a spoon, which is a no-no when it costs as much as this one does. I had a lovely evening on the couch planned, but then my mom asked if I wanted to accompany her to Market Basket while she picked up some last minute food. My knee-jerk reaction was a big yes, and next thing I knew it I was in the car. Oops. At least I brought a little work with me. For those who don’t have a Market Basket, it’s a place full of interesting finds…

Christmas Decor

Oh, Canada. What are you doing up there? Jk, but Market Basket does have good finds. It’s right across the way from Whole Foods, and while it might only carry about 30% the same stuff, what it does have is very often cheaper. The only thing I could find on my list this trip was a 4-pack of deep chocolate vitatops for 3.69. they had faux meat, but unfortunately nothing all-natural and breakfasty It was pretty late when everyone was done, so I was happy to grab a snack in the car.

Banana Walnut Gnu Bar

Wow. Wow wow wow wow wow. All you have to do is read my review to know I loved this. I don’t like bananas that much, but I swear anything that tastes like bananas I’m game with. And this was just like banana bread. There wasn’t a large presence of walnuts, but that was fine by me since I don’t care for the. And all the fiber filled me up and kept me calm when I realized I still had to make the pie! Yikes. By the time we got home it was dark and I was getting anxious about that, until I remembered this is the simplest recipe and I didn’t even need to check my computer to remember how to make it.

Unbaked Crustless Pumpkin Pie

There was a mini-issue with the pesky water bath, but otherwise crisis averted and sanity restored. I felt a little something was in order along with a pat on the back.

Chocolate Elan Frozen Yogurt

This snack ended up being a little littler than I expected; who knew we were almost out and there was hardly a serving left in the container! Too bad nobody realized this over the past 4 weeks we’ve been having freezer-space issues. Normally I’m happy to finish an ice cream but I love elan and this flavor so much I feel like I need to get an exact replacement for it. I watched 1 of the 2 SNL’s I slept through and then the pie was done.

Crustless Pumpkin Pie

It had a couple bubbles but no cracks and definitely nice and firm so that it will stand on its own at the table. Amen And then there was dinner.

Haddock With Soyaki, Beets, Parsnips With Peach Salsa

Not quite my pan-licious lunch, but this was pretty good, too There was a little more beets taken after the photo and we finished it all! We didn’t want any leftovers going in to Thanksgiving. I swear this house empties of all vegetables when I’m not here so I made sure we got good ones at Market Basket. Parsnips are so good for a soft and white vegetable; I don’t like white potatoes because they always taste dry and starchy but I think I’ve found a new friend in parsnips.

I almost forgot about The Biggest Loser last night! I was so thankful my tivo reminded me of it. I brewed some coffee and had a naked dessert.

Deep Chocolate Vitatop

I kept racking my brain to try and figure out what to do with this vitatop. It finally occurred to me: If it wasn’t coming naturally, it wasn’t meant to be. And this vitatop tasted just delicious on its own. It was great to see where former contestants are and to know they’ve really changed their lives. I think finding and staying with that balance must be the toughest thing. There was another snack.

Oikos With Turbinado Sugar And Chocolate Chips

Turbinado sugar is good for you because it has the minerals crystalized in, right? And it’s from Trader Joe’s so it cures cancer, right? We’re just going to go with all of that because this hit my sweet tooth. It was so depressing seeing the winner who gained back so much weight. Clearly, though, he felt bad about it, too, so it’s hard to be upset with him.

Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple And Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter

Let’s just say, this bowl took a lot of work to figure out what to do with it, but I’m happy where I settled. I forgot how good and chocolatey(not to mention thick) the chocolate sunflower butter is. And probably a better choice at 10:30 than chocolate chips with my sugar tolerance(or lack thereof).

I set my alarm for 7 this morning. On a holiday–why’d I do that? To run, of course. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen but it was actually reasonably warm and I felt refreshed with only 8 hours of sleep. I grabbed a bar for the run.

Amazing Grass Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar

What a delicious way to start Thanksgiving I ate 3/5ths of it on the run and then never needing the last bit. I ended up doing 10.55 miles–my longest run outside! The course was completely new to me; they demolished a bridge near my house which pretty much eliminated as options all my longer runs but I figured out a new course that worked perfectly. I came home to a house already smelling of food–love that. I got a touch creative with breakfast:

Pumpkin Yogurt With Smart Balance Peanut Butter And Nog Cream Cheese Frosting, Peanut Oikos

Ok, I’ll admit it, I used the microwave for the oats and I don’t regret it because this bowl was perfect. The frosting, which I dreamed up on the run, really made it; the recipe is 1oz greek yogurt, 1 tablespoon low fat cream cheese, and 1 tablespoon Silk Nog with 3 drops vanilla liquid stevia. I wouldn’t give such precise measurements if I weren’t convinced those are the measurements of the Greek Gods. It’s sweet but not so much that you lose the cream cheese, and it’s entirely seasonal.

Happy Thanksgiving, all! Now I’m kicking back, watching The Parade with Pikachu just having floated by. My relatives are coming in just 2 hours! I’m so excited, even though I realize the 2 little cousins will probably have me tearing my hair out of my head by the end of the day, haha.

NuNaturals giveaway! I think they’re stevia taste the purest(and this is coming from someone who, from time to time, nibbles on his plant).

(Disclaimer: It’s no longer Wednesday, it’s actually Thursday morning, I was too tired to finish my daily recap last night.However, I really wanted to title my post “Wacky Wednesday.”)

In keeping with the theme of mentioning Children’s television or literature every single day this week (it wasn’t intentional, I just realized the pattern while overlooking a few posts), the title for today’s post stems from the popular Dr.Seuss book. Mina kept referencing the story while we ate lunch, saying, “Chelsea, you have to eat your apple with a knife and fork, because it’s Wacky Wednesday.” Oh, kids.

For breakfast this morning, I enjoyed poached eggs on Arnold Double Fiber toast:

Poached eggs on Arnold's Double Fiber Toast

A perfect breakfast to charge up for a 10.5 hour work day.

I took Ryo out to breakfast at a great diner that, over the years, has become “our little spot.” Mina and I have Alice’s Tea Cup, and Ryo and I have Old Johns. I had a cup of peppermint tea with a little milk whie Ryo scarfed a giant corn muffin with three different jams and a side of bacon:

Then, later on in the morning I snacked on this:

Ezekiel Golden Flax Cereal and Siggi's Icelandic Orange and Ginger Yogurt

Followed by this for lunch:

Half-Way Devoured Apple Pear

And this:

Last Remains of Black Beans and Brown Rice

In the afternoon, celebrating having no school and the upcoming holiday, the kids and I baked and decorated cookies:

Ryo Made a "Ni-Hao Kilan" Cookie For His Baby Sister, Who Loves That Cartoon. So Sweet!

Mina Made a Ni-Hao Cookie As Well, As You Can See, Emi Nibbled On It.

I ate one of my creations:

My Sorry A** Excuse for A Turkey Cookie. I'm No Decorative Baker. It Was a Delious Afternoon Snack, Though!

For dinner, I had some delicious maple roasted acorn squash over mustard greens:

I like to keep the skins on my acorn squash, even though the original recipe calls for them to be peeled, I kept the skins on because I’m lazy and the skin is so thin and edible, I don’t mind eating the squash with it still in tact.

Unfortunately, I cannot share the recipe for the maple roasted acorn squash, but I can tell you it was derived from my absolute favorite cook book, “The Complete Cooking Light Cookboook.” It involves maple syrup, olive oil, kosher salt. pepper, and acorn squash. Super delicious, easy, and simple.

Dessert was a martini glass of Edy’s peppermint ice cream, because that’s how the Rat Pack enjoyed their desserts, and I’m just as classy and suave as they are:

After letting my dinner settle, I did a 60 minute Yoga to the People podcast to candlelight in my apartment. It was grand and relaxing. A perfect exercise to challenge my body after a two day break from real exercise. Also, I’m happy to report the stomach troubles have dissipated! Thank you readers for all your empathy and well-wishin’! It worked, my tummy is happy again… just in time for Thanksgiving!

I slept for 8 1/2 hours and awoke to a nice cup of coffee, some breakfast:

Arnold's Double Fiber Toast, Dark Chocolate Dreams, Chobani Pineapple Yogurt, Coffee

…and the Thanksgiving Parade on TV. I actually went to see it last year with friends and it was tons of fun (if not freezing and a little frustrating to get to). Here are some photos from last year’s Thanksgiving, which was one of the most memorable I’ve ever enjoyed:

Stars Are Always Walking Around In NYC!

Snoop Dog! Rollin' Down the Street! Holla!

That Smurf Looks Nervous Walking Down the Rough Streets of The Upper West Side.

Pseudo-Family (From Left to Right: Jason, Jerin, Jodi, Myself, John)

It Was a Beautiful and Memorable Meal.

This year, though, I’m fully content with watching it in my PJ’s on TV in my cushy little apartment. Later today, my best friend and I are going to a feast hosted by her boyfriend’s friends. They’re a married couple that LOVE to cook for others and put on a feast-i-val of food. Huzzah! I’m looking forward to receiving a call from my family later tonight, where I’ll be passed around the Thanksgiving table on the phone, like one of the many side-dishes prepared by my Grandma.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope your holiday is memorable, filled with love, food, and thanks!

Thanks for the day: I’m thankful for my family. They’re the weirdest, most loving, most supportive, most hilarious, sometimes most charmingly dysfunctional group of folks, and for that…I’m thankful for them. Family is important to me, and nothing has made me realize that more than moving 3,000 miles away from them. I’m looking forward to next year, when I will be living near them again and cracking wise in their company. Love you guys!

PS: Watching John Stamos do a number from “Bye Bye Birdie” right now on TV. Go Uncle Jesse, you got vocal pipes of gold!

Every year on Thanksgiving morning my mom makes us Special Breakfast. My grandma (on my Dad’s side) gave the recipe to my mom, because it is a common family request. There are variations in our family too. My cousin  likes to add a layer of mustard before the ham. At our house, we eat it with maple syrup. People are often afraid to try this dish (my sister’s boyfriend), but when outsiders try it for the first time, they usually request the recipe (my boyfriend). Here’s our recipe:

Ingredients
12 slices Wonderbread
6 slices ham
6 slices american cheese
7 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 cups corn flakes, crushed/ crumbled
butter
9inx13in baking dish

Preheat oven to 350
Butter baking dish
Compose sandwiches: bottom layer is bread then ham, then cheese, bread
Beaten eggs with milk and pour over evenly sandwiches
Sprinkle crumbled corn flakes over sandwiches
Bake at 350 for 30 min

Talk about a fantastic breakfast value!  $7.95???   Awesome!

George’s Coffee Shop Breakfast- Steak and Eggs $7.95, originally uploaded by captjoe06.

A Pumpernickel Bagel is today’s random meal of the day. It’s a great way to start off your Thanksgiving Day. I had this with topped with butter! Yummy!
Found at Noah’s Bagels in El Segundo, CA.

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f4.0, 1/160, iso 200)

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone and enjoy your random turkeys!

Toi brought moi to visit Chinese sinseh one Saturday morning, once we got the queue number, we went to have breakfast at the hawker/market near Geylang Lor 17.

Toi’s mee siam – not very yummy haha but toi still finished it

Nasi lemak – moi chose all vegetarian dishes, however still very yummy!!  rice very fragrant

There’s a lot of completely useless kitchen gadgets on the market and I used to be a gadget slave, thinking life could not possibly move forward without purchasing something new to help lighten my load. Experience and age have taught me to stop this nonsense! Some are good, most are rubbish. I’ve recently bought a couple that I deem really quite good that I wish to share with you.

While doing a catering job in someone’s home, my eyes were fixed on a tool in my client’s drawer. She spotted this straight away and launched into a speech singing this gadget’s praises. The gadget was a very odd looking knife sharpener and she had bought hers in the USA. “I’ll get you one from a friend of mine in the States”, she said. Thinking no more about it, months later, I received my AccuSharp. Wow – she wasn’t wrong! I have been slaving away, sharpening my very expensive knives on various steels for years. I have even done a carvery course at Leiths Cookery School, being shown how to use a steel properly AND went and bought a really quite expensive one in Lakeland. But now I can proudly announce my AccuSharp, is without a doubt, the best knife sharpener I have ever used. Some of my old knives, that were half way into their coffin have been brought back to life. Check out the website in Britain, I don’t know if they sell them here and if they do I don’t know the cost but if you’re ever in the USA, most good hardware shops stock them at around $10. You won’t regret this purchase!

Apologies for this next gadget – it’s one for a slightly more dedicated cook.

In the butchers today, I was patiently standing in line, watching Steve of Stephen’s Fine Foods in Hinchley Wood, beaver away at his burgers! He put a splodge of ground beef onto a round piece of film and put a round, heavy, steel press over the meat, stamped his palm hard down on the spring in the centre of the press and there snug underneath the press was the perfect looking 5inch round, pressed burger. All these years I have been making with my own hands, moulding and shaping, never looking quite like they should. Butchers up and down the land, I know use far more complicated machines, but I’m glad to say that old fashioned Steve (and I like that bit) uses an old-fashioned gadget that works a treat! They are quite pricy (around £47) and I have placed my order with Steve for one.

Last week, selling my wares at a fair, and being entertained by the lovely Jane from GastroNicks, a chap to my right, was selling silicon kitchen ware, amongst which was what I can only describe as a pirate’s knife. It had a good solid black handle, and a wide silicon style knife head (obviously no blade), which looked like a cross between a knife and a spatula. It was £5 at the fair with a sign next to it saying that it is sold for £9 at the shops. I tried it at the weekend when I was making breakfast, on the scrabble eggs, and it worked a treat! Better than a spatula!

If you have any couldn’t-live-without gadgets I’d love to hear what they are!

November 26, 2009

Dear Diary,

I went to my nutritionist/trainer yesterday.  I was honestly scared because I haven’t been that religious about eating, and have drank a lot lately.  I didn’t gain though, still at 149lbs but I did lose a bit more body fat!

Goals is to not gain over the holidays and to improve body fat.  Maybe to make shakes that can last me all day (balanced, enough for 3 meals).

Also he showed me workouts for when I have no time to get to the gym.

Upperbody: Pushups!  Start with a set of 15.  Rest 30 seconds.  Do a set of 14, rest for 30.  Set of 13, rest for 30 and so on.  Upper body workout in a short time!

Lowerbody: Squats! Set of single leg squats, each leg.  Then wall squats.  Start at a set of 15 with 30 second breaks.  Work down to set of 1 as above.

Intervals: Do a set of pushups, squats, crunch, sprint.  Do for 15 minutes.

Something about being a parent amazes me.  I’ve put my parents through the ringer–first my heavy metal music preference, then my interest in men who listen to/play heavy metal, my choice to go to NYU in the “scariest of cities” to my attitude and sarcastic nature.  Yet still, they love me.  They love me this much:   Yes, for early Hannukkah, my loving parents bought me a stand mixer.  And not just any mixer, my coveted, RED, Kitchen Aid mixer.  I almost cried.  Make that I cried, but didn’t want to admit it.  It was like falling in love with Miley all over again. Now with such a gift, I decided to dabble somewhere I have never ever dabbled before.  MUFFINS.  Fall Style.   

Gently stolen from: http://www.acozykitchen.com/pumpkin-muffins/  

Ingredients:     

• 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (from a 15oz can)
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1-¼ cups sugar
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Place muffin liners inside 12 muffin cups. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.     

   This mixer makes me a better person.   

Whisk together flour and baking powder in a small bowl. Mix together pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, pumpkin-pie spice, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Then mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about 3/4 full).  Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then transfer muffins from the pan to the rack and cool to warm or room temperature. Each muffin costs you around 200 calories.   Makes 12 Muffins. 

   A little off topic, (Who’s surprised?) I really want to see Couple’s Retreat.  Only because it would add more ticket sales to a movie that isn’t the abomination of terrible girl-crap Twilight.  I’m sorry, I have thought skulls and vampires were cool since whenever, however back then I was “crazy and weird”.  Now they are cool.  You all are copy cats.                

Gosh.. i can’t remember the last time i had honey stars!

Gosh.. i love honey stars.. only that they’re not all that healthy. But recently, they added some whole grain.. so it’s up the health meter.. hehe.

Had me some boysenberry oats today..

Overnight oats made with 1/4 cup Yoplait boysenberry yoghurt, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 oats.

This morning topped with honey stars and flax and some nuts (not much left!!)

and of course.. a coffee to wake me up.. Didn’t get up to run cos was still tired and i ran last evening..

BPC + AFA… wow.. brain exhaustion..

Had me a Kashi Chewy trail mix.. sorry no pic.. and a nescafe.. My college charges RM1.70!! Eeessh..

Another round of VERY confusing Current Cost Accounting from AFA..

Came home..

Couple of Wheat Thins and one Honey Maid.. and a prune.. Honey Maid + PB, GENIUS!

hehe.. i’m off to run soon

Loves,

Today did not start out well. I was having the WEIRDEST dream ever, and must have turned my alarm off during said dream, because when I actually woke up and figured out where I was, it was 6:15 am, and I had to be out the door in 15 min! ACK!

I threw on some clothes, washed up, and put some food in containers and was out the door. I even made it to class on time, but had to wait until after class to dig into breakfast. Boy was I hungry!

In the thermos I had yogurt, the last of the quince, and pomegranate arils. The other container was just some Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal to combine with said yogurt & fruit.

Yogurt close up!

It was horrendous weather all day. It just rained, and rained, and rained. Good thing I had my new fancy boots – they kept my feet dry and warm! But to warm the rest of me up, I had to hit up the Sbucks.

Do I even have to say what’s in there?

My last volunteer shift at Agora later, and I was on my way home. First thing on my mind when I walked in the door? What’s for lunch?

I made a grilled ham & cheese sandwich with baby spinach and red pepper jelly. Too bad my cheese didn’t want to melt.

I also heated up a bowl of broccoli soup my sister had made on the weekend.

Topped with a little more cheddar. What’s better than broccoli & cheddar?!

Rainy day food, for sure!

With a Werther’s Original candy for dessert

I spent the afternoon at home, expecting an important phone call. Of course, my mom then ended up on the phone all afternoon, and we don’t have call waiting, so I figured they called and got a busy signal. But, low and behold, and 5 pm I received my call. Looks like I’ll be working with a dietitian on a project at Children’s Hospital. Alas, it is only volunteer, but still – it’s all about boosting that resume, right?

Dinner was served way too early for my hunger, so I only had a bit.

Meatloaf, green peas, and apple/craisin/pecan salad. There were baked potatoes as well, but I wasn’t feeling it. And wouldn’t you know it, all my close ups turned out poorly. So this is all you get!

I made a quick trip up to the store to get a couple things (I was all out of good peanut butter), then had a sweat session with the dvd’s. Then it was time for me to satisfy my baking desires!

I had a hankering for muffins. I thought oatmeal and apple should be involved. I searched out some recipes, decided on this one as my inspiration, concocted a variation in my head, then assembled the required ingredients.

Some mixing, grating, scooping, and baking later, and I was presented with this:

Apple Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Muffins

makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (would have used whole wheat, but we had none)
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 small apple, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins

Method

1. Combine dry ingredients (oats through salt) in a large bowl.
2. Combine wet ingredients (milk through vanilla) in medium bowl.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry, then add carrot, apple, and raisins.
4. Mix until just combined – don’t over mix! (you know how muffins go).
5. Divide equally between 12 greased or lined muffin cups.
6. Bake at 375 F for 20 min, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These turned out really well. I was a little worried that my wet to dry ratio would be off, but it was perfect. They are hearty, moist, slightly sweet, with a nice balance of spices. Both of my parents tried them out, and gave them the thumbs up. I think they would be a great breakfast muffin, pairing nicely with your favourite nut butter.

Obviously, I had one as my evening snack, with a another cup of chamomile tea.

I still have another project on the stove, but it’s totally time for bed, so I guess I’m calling it done. I’m sure you’ll get to see it tomorrow. Night!

As of 3 minutes ago, it’s officially Thanksgiving! I’m cozy at home in my bed, surrounded by my stuffed animals, Polaroids from high school, and hundreds of books, among other things. What was your childhood bedroom like?

Speaking of childhood, I got a fun e-mail from my friend Jenny at 8 this morning while I was sipping on my coffee. Jenny is hands-down my oldest friend; our mothers grew up together, and although Jenny and I have been separate by half a country for our entire lives and only get to see each other once a year, we’ve always been close. When my grandfather was still living, my parents and I visited him in Indianapolis every winter between Christmas and New Year’s; this photo is from the winter of 1988. (That’s me on the right, with the bowl cut.)

Here we are this past summer, in Lake Michigan.

I miss her so much during the year. We look forward to our week on the lake so much!

After my trip down memory lane, I made a quick breakfast: Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter and a banana, raspberry jam on one side and pumpkin butter on the other.

I went to the post office to mail something; it didn’t open until 10 (which seems a little later) but there was a machine that got the job done. Then to physical therapy I went! It as a particularly good appointment. I learned some new exercises to stretch my hips; I can easily do them from the hotel room in Russia. After PT I raced back home to eat lunch before I had to turn right back around and go to an interview. I made a quick salad:

In the mix:

• romaine
• celery
• tofu
• leftover roasted veggiesM

It was one of the rare occasions where I could not finish my meal. Usually, once I’ve dished a certain amount of food out, I will eat every last scrap even if I’ve long since reached capacity. (Last night’s pasta plate was an example of this.) However, today I started getting a stomachache about partway through, and just picked out what I wanted (roast vegetables, tofu, hummus), leaving a fair amount of spinach.

I felt guilty about throwing the rest out (I won’t be back at the house for two weeks), but it was better than making myself sick. As it was, my tum hurt for the next two hours. My eyes are bigger than my head sometimes, and I think the most important thing I need to remember to do is slow down while I’m eating. I’ve been so rushed these past few weeks that although I’ve been eating foods I love, I’ve barely tasted them as I’ve had to practically inhale them to get from appointment to appointment on time. It’ll be nice to have a little break

There’s always room for sweets, though! I had a couple of these strawberry gummy candies from the Japanese grocery store in our neighborhood. Not bad!

I was starving after my interview. Luckily I had about four different snacks in my bag, so I ate one of the apple-flavored Heart Thrive bars that I was sent to review. I’ll do a formal review once I’ve sampled all of the products, but I liked this a lot!

When I got home I folded laundry and did some preparatory packing for my trip to Russia. I am one of the worst packers ever. I always take too much and forget crucial items, like spare contact lenses or pajama pants. Do you have any fool-proof (or LVP proof!) packing tips?

I snacked on some Concord grapes that were about to go bad while I waited for my dad to help me pack some things up. These grapes are really addicting. There are seeds, which I thought I wouldn’t like, but are actually kind of fun to work through and take longer to eat. Plus, these are the kind of grapes used to make grape juice, so they’re the perfect combination of sweet + tart.

While my dad was at a holiday party, my mom and I had dinner at watched Hannah And Her Sisters. Not only is this a really good Woody Allen film, but it’s told between two years’ worth of Thanksgivings! I ordered a bento box for dinner, which came with a spicy tuna roll, tempura, sashimi & shrimp shumai. (It came with rice, salad & miso soup as well, but I’m saving those for tomorrow.)

I also had a glass of Black Box Wine’s Sauvignon Blanc.

My mom brought home dessert from Billy’s Bakery, the same shop she ordered my birthday cupcakes from.

She bought one pumpkin cupcake and one pumpkin bar; we split them three ways. De-lish.

I’m off to bed. There’s a lot on the agenda tomorrow! Have a great night, a happy holiday, and safe travels wherever your day takes you.

Gruyère and onion pastry, originally uploaded by Jen Chan.

My particular favourite. Savoury, sweet, crispy and flaky. So good. SO GOOD. Rivals Tartine’s offerings… (gasp)

// Café Besalu 5909 24th Avenue NW, Seattle | Besalu vs Tartine on foodpr0n.com

This might be one of my favorite and most despised sayings.  When the things that happen are good, I love it.  When it is something not so good, don’t say it to me.  Usually it is heard when something that is not what the person wants occurs and some well-meaning person tries to point out that although not planned, maybe the occurence will set the stage for something positive.  It is hard to see that in the moment but looking back, sometimes it is so obvious.

The night before Thanksgiving in 1998, most people home from college or newly graduated were getting ready to go out to the local bar and catch up with old friends.  I assume that is not just a New England but correct me if I am wrong.  Where I am from, it was a huge night and was always an unplanned high school reunion.  But that Wednesday in 1998, we had just come back from my grandfather’s funeral. 

I am so lucky that in my 32 years, I have only had three people close to me pass away and all were over 85 and had led very fulfilling lives.  But, as anyone knows, it is still hard and this was my first grandparent that I had lost. 

My Poppy was a quiet man, and spoke few words, but he was hard-working and proud.  When I started to become interested in boys and show him pictures of proms, he would remind me that boys will wait and to focus on school.  He would also tell me to write the names and dates of people and events on the back of pictures so I would always be reminded of the people in my life at various times.  And one of my strongest memories is how he would say goodbye to his grandchildren.  He would put his left arm around our shoulder, kiss us on the cheek and take our hand to shake it and there would always be folded dollar bills in his palm.  And then the words would follow, “Put this away, save your money.”

I was crushed by his death and dealing with death was foreign to me even at 21.  I remember laying on the couch feeling so drained and getting a phone call from a friend.  He wanted me to go with him to a party at an old high school teacher’s house.  This teacher had a son who graduated with us and the party would have a lot of old classmates as well as old teachers.  I first said no and he pressed saying he would take me home at any point.  So I went.  And who knew that this was my “everything happens for a reason” moment.

At the party, I was reintroduced with a guy that I had met a few other times.  He was currently a guidance counselor at my old high school as well as knowing my sister who was a junior there still.  In our previous meetings, there were no sparks and sometimes more of an annoyance.  But as we talked that night, he made me laugh.  A lot.  And he made me forget the morning activities even just for a few hours. 

He asked me out that night and although it took us another month before actually going on a date, fate was definitely working.  Maybe through my Poppy?  Since I had a degree and a job, maybe he approved of my interest at boys at this point in my life?!  I like to think our ancestors help us out like that even from ‘above’.  The best part of my new relationship was that it was just so natural.  Neither of us looked back and a little less than 2 years later, we were married.    And 6 months after that I was knocked up, but that is another “everything happens for a reason” story!!!  Are you noticing a pattern of not making decisions and just relying on fate?

I am also a fan of traditions and one of my little ones, is to make some baked goods for my hubs to take along for his coaching staff before the big turkey day game.  I take my role as head coach’s wife seriously although you will not find me at any games.  It has been proven that I am bad luck.  If they are winning and I show up, they start to lose, and as soon as I leave, they will catch up and pass the other team.  So, I bake.  And for these big (usually ex-football players) I do not healthify anything, so close your eyes if you are afraid of butter! 

Sunday Morning (or anytime) Muffins

(makes 1 dozen)

• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 3.5 t baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar

Mix together, the add:

• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all together.

Roll out or press dough out onto a floured surface.  You really don’t even need a rolling pin.

Put little indents with your fingers into the dough.

Carefully pour another (yes, I know) 1/2 cup melted butter on top of the dough.  It gets messy.

Mix:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 t cinnamon

Sprinkle evenly over the butter soaked dough.

Roll up into a log.

Cut into slices and place sliced into greased muffin tin.

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Then go for a run to burn off the calories! 

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

“As a child I had a dream, a marvelous dream, in which I saw a wild place in the country. Dirty children were pouring down the road. The dream gave me the idea for my lifework…the Sanitarium. Everything here has behind it one ideal: biological living to improve the American race.”-John Harvey Kellogg

Emblazoned across the box of Kellogg’s Cocoa Krispies earlier this month (Coco Pops to anyone in the UK or Australia): “Now Helps Support Your Child’s Immunity!“.

Crikey.

Hang on! Where is my childhood breakfast time companion Coco the Monkey? And why do Americans get the correct spelling of “Cocoa” and the three brats from Rice Krispies (Crispies?) on the cover instead? Are Americans really more trusting of three young white kids with pixie ears and big scary eyes (the effects of a century of puffed rice laced with high fructose corn syrup) over a spritely brown big-eared monkey? I guess nutritional health claims carry more scientific weight when they’re introduced by magical singing elves Smack, Crack and Pot.

Are we naive enough to believe that cereal can increase immunity? Why, a box of cereal certainly works out cheaper than visiting the Doctors nowadays. A chocolatey spoon of puffed rice is also undoubtedly more tasty than a metal needle stabbing you in the upper arm. Why not just include a ‘free’ vial of the H1N1 vaccine (syringes sold separately) so we can all shoot up with a healthy dose of mercury and squalene before we “eat”? It may reduce the need for people to go a-rushin’ to their nearest clinic (amidst the “Oh-my-God-we-are-running-out” shortages and “God-save-us-in-the-scary-pandemic” type alerts). There you go ‘, that’s one from me. Keep it. Use it. Go on.

Apparently, the City Attorney of San Francisco, US, Dennis Herrera sent a letter to Kellogg’s and to the Food and Drug Administration in the US asking Kellogg’s to prove its claim:

“I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children.”

No. Really?

Interestingly, in the same year as our friend Monsieur Kellogg (1852-1945), inventor of the cornflake, began selling cereal commercially (1906), he also founded the Race Betterment Foundation to help stop the “propagation of defectives.” Our Kellogg was also on the Advisory Council of the American Eugenics Society.

It seems that Kellogg was convinced that poor dietary and moral habits were leading America down the path of ‘race degeneration’. His solution was eugenics, not merely as a set of policies, but as a quasi-religious ideology. As you do, when you are the business of fashioning flattened flakes of corn.

Kellogg’s’ reveled in his role as defender of scientific efficiency in the realisation of power to control global breakfasting habits. Build up the monopoly; get kids hooked on sugar, playful characters and free toys and then pump whatever ‘immunity boosting’ elements you like into the boxes. For example, there are heaps of interesting articles on Folic Acid in cereal (and now we have it as mandatory for wheat flour – and therefore bread- in Australia). The ridiculousness of the entire situation is that the very target market for folic acid fortification is young women and mass medication is simply not good public health policy. [however, unlike the fluoride in the water, one does have a reasonable element of choice in what we eat for breakfast]. Like most things that get approved by food standard agencies and departments across the globe, there are too many unresolved issues and questions around safety and efficacy- nevermind the issue of the immorality of ‘mass medication’. I say: If in doubt, leave it out. But Kellogg’s insists that once we wake up we all (well, particularly impressionable young children) need to shovel down our mouths:

Rice, Sugar, Chocolate (4.5%), Cocoa Powder, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Malt Flavouring, Flavouring, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin B2, Thiamin B1, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12.

“Kellogg’s Krispies cereals provide consumers with 25 percent of their daily value of vitamins A, C, and E, which play an important role in boosting immunity according to peer-reviewed, published, scientific research” says Kellogg’s.

…Come on.

[Coco Pops are also 40% sugar by weight.]

In his work Plain Facts, Kellogg even prohibits those with contagious ‘urban’ diseases, such as tuberculosis, and cholera, from marrying and reproducing offspring, essentially targeting immigrants, and those whom he collectively labeled “the lower classes”. According to Kellogg, “a few generations of such a degenerating process would exterminate the [white] race, and drive it back to Darwin’s ancestral ape.” Kellogg even compared the product of miscegenation, “hybrid” humans, with mongrel dogs: “Different varieties or races of the same species may form a fertile union, the result of which is a mongrel — a cross between its two parents, possessing some of the qualities of each. All the varieties of dogs are produced by crossing different races, and so are mongrels.

One newspaper said Dr. Kellogg and Dr. Burbank were trying to make the United States into a great stock farm, by breeding for human efficiency.

“I wish we had the power to do that very thing. It would not be such a bad idea,” he continued, “it certainly would be a great deal better than to have the United States a great stock farm, breeding mongrels-which is what we are doing now.” – John H. Kellogg

Very important Americans supported this idea, from Roosevelt, Carnegie, the Rockefellers and the Kellogg family:

“Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind…. Some day we will realize that the prime duty, the inescapable duty of the good citizen of the right type is to leave his blood behind him in the world, and that we have no business to perpetuate citizens of the wrong type” (1913- Roosevelt, Theodore)

Now, this is where it gets particularly interesting…

Apparently, Kellogg was a big anti-sex/anti-masturbation activist. You’ll find that he was actually on such a far end of the spectrum that he didn’t have sexual intercourse with his wife even once in their 40 years of marriage (he worked on his book “Plain Facts” on their honeymoon). It would make sense that a self-proclaimed eugenicist would want to limit the reproductive capabilities of the ‘degenerate’ population who consume the highly processed GM foodstuffs in cartoonised cardboard boxes?

He said (in Plain Facts):

“A plain and healthy diet, with only two meals a day, among other things, would reduce sexual feelings”

So clearly John Kellogg thought there’s link between a person’s diet and his sexual desires. Could the eugenics ideology of today’s global elite NWO have infiltrated our breakfast options by design?

Anyway, don’t let me put you off your cereal. Chew away. But please check the ingredients in “Special K” before you swallow too much…

[Me? I had fruit toast this morning. If you are interested.]