Hey guys! I know I’ve been gone forever. School got hectic and so did life, but I’m back! I’ve moved URL’s, so come check me out at http://consciouscravings.wordpress.com/
It is going to be an epic nutritious adventure, and I hope ya’ll join me for some good memories and foodie fun!
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Hey ya’ll! Wow, I haven’t blogged in a week. Shocker, but not really. I’ve been busy with school and MAN FRIENDS. Yes you heard it right here. I finally have a man friend (after being a jealous person over Kara and Britt’s man friends), but technically I’ve sort of had him for a while. Details don’t really matter. Anyways, he came over for dinner on Saturday night because he didn’t believe that healthy food can be delicious. Totally proved him wrong. Winning. Then we went to this insane concert. I fell in love…not with him, but with electro house music. Oh no she didn’t. Oh yeah, sadly after teasing it for so long, I finally have understood the magic behind it. Plus who doesn’t like sick lights to a dope beat? A crazy person probably. Plus you get to dance dance dance. Literally I couldn’t walk the next day. My body hurt so bad. Lets get to the good stuff: The fooooood.
Oh yeah, can’t believe I forgot to say thanks to Jenn for hosting my favorite day of the week. It is probably one of the main reasons I always remember to blog at least once a week. I need to get better about that.
This is the concert I was at in Austin. Wolfgang Gartner. Check it out.
Back to the food.
Lemon and Strawberry Heaven Pie Oats:
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. oats
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1 packet truvia
1/4 c. cottage cheese
1 banana
1 tsp of Lemon pudding powder
slices of strawberries
1. Prepare oats with water in microwave for about 2:55 minutes.
2. Slice up banana into small slices then add to oat mixture and microwave for 1:15 minutes.
3. Add in vanilla, truvia, and cottage cheese.
4. Add lemon pudding powder and mix thoroughly.
5. Slice strawberries and throw into bowl.
Oh lord, this combination is so delicious. Who knew that adding a little pudding powder to your oatmeal would take it over the edge? Thank god for that discovery. The oatmeal is not overly sweet or sour, it just has a nice hint of lemon and when mixed with the strawberries it is like the perfect pairing ever. Not only is this tasty, but it is also really cheap. Pudding is like .40 cents a box. I’m going to run to the store now and load up for a lifetime. Not even kidding. I just bought butterscotch, pistachio, and chocolate. Yummmmmmy.
Speaking of pudding powder, I have discovered another lovely creation from the blog world:
Pudding in greek yogurt. Just go out, buy a huge thing of plain chobani or whatever brand you like, and add in pudding powder. This bowl here is chocolate pudding with strawberries. Can you see a trend here? Yes, I love strawberries. No, they are actually on sale right now, so the Jew in me is like MUST BUY every week until not on sale. Good deals get the best of me usually all the time. Anyways, this is such a tasty snack to have every day. I can’t wait to try out my other pudding flavors on this bad boy. Also I should probably invest in some other types of fruit. I think I’m going to go the frozen route that way I can get a variety of fruit for a cheap price. I really need to stop Jewing everything.
Mmmm my version of a burger salad. Chopped up extra lean turkey burger, sliced up pickles, onions, lots of lettuce, and top it all off with dijon mustard. So good. I love salads that are jam packed with a bunch of stuff. Especially pickles. I’m a freak about pickles. My roommate eats my pickles sometimes, and I literally want to kill her. Yes, I’m crazy. I pay for my own food, so please don’t eat it or I will turn into a bank and ask for money. Sorry. Too much drama. Can’t you tell that I’m excited to find a new apartment and live with my future roommate?
J-E-L-L-O. Jelloooooo. Totally not kosher, but when you want a low calorie snack that in my opinion tastes really good (especially with whipcream) then Jello is going to be your best friend. Make sure it is the sugar free version because I think it is actually 0 calories or something close to that. Jello should be weightlosses best friend. Beat those cravings with Jello. I should advertise for them or they should at least give me free jello packs.
Now to the dinner that shut the guy up. I used this amazing recipe from my new favorite website: Skinny Taste. Not only are all of Gina’s recipes super beautiful to look at, but they are tasty and really low calorie (also random plug, if you are doing weight watchers, she has all the points on the website for each recipe). I made the Chicken Rollatini with spinach. It turned out so amazing. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the dish that had all the chicken in it because it looked sooo beautiful. Anyways, I served it up with a side of spaghetti squash and gluten free rolls. Man friend was like wow this is actually good. Well obviously it is good, I made it. Also eating healthy is actually tasty, you just have to know what you are doing.
Remember how I told you I was sewing an apron? Well I actually finished it a while ago, I just forgot to post a picture of it. I made man-friend dinner in this cute little thing. I’m actually thinking about opening an Etsy account with a friend and selling them on there along with artwork and other things made by us. What do you think? Do you think people would buy these aprons? I would also do custom ones too. Let me know. I want the money, honey.
Other good news: My $200 Lulu Lemon giftcard has finally arrived (helloooo shopping), I’m going to Houston this weekend with my mom to relax from the stress of school (lezz be honest, I’m going to shop till I drop), and I have a job interview tomorrow (with a nutrition company). I’m so excited. I hope everyone is having a great week!
What are your plans for the weekend?
Have you ever been to an electro house concert?
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Hey ya’ll! Of course I am going to participate in my favorite day of the week. What I Ate Wednesday. Who cares if I’m a day late. It is always a party at my place. Sort of. Okay, not really because I’m just a typical nerd always doing my work and what not, BUT this weekend it actually is going to be a party. Today is my younger brothers birthday, so I’m going out and I’m going out on Saturday. Uh oh. Double trouble for this weekend. Anyways back to the subject at hand. FOOOOOOD. Thanks to Jenn for doing this every single week. I don’t know what I would do without having WIAW and getting to stalk a million blogs in one day. Cheers to that.
Lets see what I’ve been eating.
Classic Lindsay oats. Duh. Really though, I’m pretty predictable.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Oats
1/2 c. Oatmeal
1 1/2 c. water
1 banana
1/3 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. low fat cottage cheese (1%-2%)
1 packet of truvia
1 dash of vanilla extract
cinnamon
pumpkin pie spice
a sprinkle of chocolate chips
1. Prepare oatmeal in the normal fashion of microwaving water and oats in a container for about 2-3 minutes.
2. Chop up banana into small slices, then place in container and microwave for 1:30 more minutes.
3. Add in everything, but chocolate chips.
4. Sprinkle with a few chocolate chips.
Delicious. The pumpkin provides a contrast to the sweetness of all the add ins, and the cottage cheese gives the oatmeal a creamy flavor that resembles cheesecake. I’ve been on a cottage cheese and oatmeal kick, so don’t worry. I have more cheesecakey recipes coming up in the next few weeks. If you have leftover pumpkin from all the holidays or you want to eat this bowl of oatmeal, I recommend making it as soon as possible. Your stomach will be happy.
Hello newest obsession. Blood Orange Chobani Yogurt. Some people think that it is too tart, but I think it is perfect. When you combine the creamy flavor of greek yogurt with the oranges at the bottom it makes pure heaven in your mouth. It is tangy, so be warned, but those are the kind of flavors I like. Chobani has really outdone itself with its new line of flavors. The apples and cinnamon flavor is also really delicious. I have a passion fruit in my fridge, but have yet to try it. Once I do, I will let ya’ll know what I think. I had been cheating on Chobani with Oikos lately, but with the addition of these new flavors I’m baaaack.
Other new food obsession: Arctic Zero Cookies and Cream. When can you go wrong with cookies and cream? NEVER. I had to sample a couple of bad flavors in order to find this gem. For those of you that don’t know, Arctic Zero is a real low calorie ice-cream that is great when you want a sweet treat, but do not want to consume all the calories from milk fat and what not in normal ice-cream. Now don’t expect a super creamy texture from this ice-cream because obviously it is low calorie, but I like the semi-icy texture and the flavor of the cookies and cream is AMAZING. I topped it with a little whip cream and some mini chocolate chips. Hello delicious afternoon snack. Why thank you, I will gobble you up.
I’ve really been enjoying mangoes lately. While they are super tricky to cut, in the end they are worth it. I’m trying to consume a variety of fruits now instead of just eating apples and bananas because that is boring, plus each fruit provides a different type of health benefit, so why not knock out as many diseases as I can by consuming as many whole foods as possible. I’m smart. Like we didn’t know that. Random nutrition lesson: stay away from pre-cut fruits like mango because those type of foods are not required to have food labels, so you don’t know how these items are being prepared or where they come from. Food safety is so important. You don’t want a foodborne illness – could lead to your death over strawberries or something (that would be a great book title).
My future roomie would probably look down on this, but heck sandwiches are an easy thing to eat before class especially if I’m in a hurry. I’m actually going to attempt to switch to eating tofurkey and go totally pescatarian, but we shall see if I like those products or not. Anyways since I’ve been eating bread in small amounts, these sandwich thins are soo good. They are the perfect size and the bread is really soft. I also tend to always pair my lunch with carrots and dijon mustard to dip them in. Yes, I’m really weird, but I like the bitterness of the dijon.
Things I love in life: Curry, tofu. Curry and tofu. I think I crave it pretty much every day, so instead of shelling out tons of money and buying it from a thai place I decided to make my own. Unfortunately, I’m lacking brain cells right now due to overload from school. Instead of following the recipe, I added a little too much curry. Oh how this was spicy. My mouth was on fire. I think I chugged about 40 oz of water in 10 minutes. While it was really spicy, it was still good. Lesson learned though. Always follow the recipe unless you know what you are actually doing.
Yes my fashion is back. I got so many compliments on this skirt today that I was like I MUST share this with the world. The skirt is asymmetrical and neon pink. I was wearing some black gladiator sandals, but my feet were tired from walking back from class, so I took them off. I promise to deliver more fashion on the blog again and maybe even have some posts only about fashion or maybe how fashion relates to nutrition. That would be weird. I’ll figure it out.
Hope everyone had a great WIAW and has a happy thirsty thursday!
Anyone have big plans for the weekend?
What is your favorite flavor of Cheesecake?
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Hey ya’ll! So this is something I haven’t really talked about on my blog a lot because I don’t really like people to feel sorry for me or treat me differently because I’m sick. However, I’m about to start writing a proposal for a grant about research on arthritis and nutrition, so I thought what a great time to bring my disease to light on the blog. It is really surprising, but for such a common disease a lot of people are not educated about it. I just really hope that no one else has to go through what I have because let me tell you that you can’t just take an aleve to relieve your symptoms.
I’m going to skip the whole saga about how I became diagnosed with arthritis and leave it for another time. I’m going to talk about the treatments that I have been on with this sucky disease.
The first treatment that I started was called methotrexate. Woaaaaah. Wait what? Isn’t that a chemotherapy drug? Well yes it actually is, but it can be used in arthritis patients to help with inflammation because cancerous cells are actually a product of inflammation. Scary. I know. Anyways, this medication was in pill form and it sucks. I can only have two drinks a week. TWO. I know. This booze head had some serious problems with that. Especially because when I started taking it I was about to turn 21. I had a lame birthday, but I made up for it with my 22nd when I wasn’t on the methotrexate. Unfortunately, I’m back on it now, so back to the two drink a week rule. Also you have chemotherapy symptoms like nausea and hair loss. I don’t know what is more sexy than having your hair fall out randomly or feeling like you are going to barf at random times during the day. It is a blast. Actually I like pills. Much better than the other options.
These are all the pills I have for my arthritis. Isn’t it awesome? I actually only take about three bottles, but right now I’m only doing two bottles because I really don’t want to take my steriods. Steriods make you gain weight, not that I have experienced that, but I’ve been having such great progress that I don’t want to risk it. I feel fine though right now. It is a miracle because I have had a lot of pain for the last two weeks. It has sucked hobbling around campus like an old person. I need me a walker with tennis balls, so I don’t scuff.
The second treatment round were the injectables. Oh how I hated you. Actually, I really only hated the first one, which was Humira. It hurt so bad. I have a high pain tolerance, and let me tell you this thing brought me to tears a couple of times. Plus I would run around my house like a 5 year old, making my mom chase me and hold me down to give me the shot. Oh yeah. I’m pathetic. I couldn’t even give the shot to myself. I got the shot every two weeks. Always my least favorite day of the week. Thankfully this shot didn’t work, so I stopped using it and moved on to the next one. Enbrel. Oh how I miss thee. This shot was every week and wasn’t painful AT ALL. I know. A miracle. Of course I had to have an allergic reaction, develop some welps, and was instantly removed from this drug. Did I mention that it totally cleared all my pain too? Ugh. The life of Lindsay. So sad, but fun at the same time…
On to the next one. IV therapy. If the thought of getting hooked up to an IV bag for two hours every couple of weeks doesn’t sound like a fun time to you then you must totally be sane because my doctor thought this was a fun option. NO.
This is where I got to sit for two hours at a time. Yes. They want you to feel even worse about yourself and make it seem like you have cancer. The room is set up exactly like how chemotherapy treatment is. You get a recliner chair, a tv, and you get to share an entire room with 6 other people. Let me tell you that there were some crazy people in there. One lady came in once going on and on about her wedding and second wedding and how she was having a third wedding soon. I was like maybe you should stop getting married? A different lady went on once about her foster children and there were some crazy stories I will not repeat about that. Anyways, in regards to the medicine, it started wearing off my body and I had to get it in closer increments. Then all together it randomly stopped working. UGH. Seriously? What is up with this? This is my second to last treatment because then I’m screwed.
This is my lovely arm. My nurse moved away. So sad. All my amazing staff at the doctors office would always leave me. However, I got this awful nurse that was unable to start IVs on me, so my arms would end up looking like I was shooting up a bunch of junk and I would get weird stares at school. So uncool of you. Since this drug is no longer working, I am back on the methotrexate and once the remicade flushes out of my body I will start another shot. Oh boy. Apparently this one doesn’t hurt at all, it is once a month, but we shall see. I tend to not trust the authority figures when it comes to pain levels about these medicines because they tend to lie since they don’t have to actually experience them.
So why am I doing research? I don’t want people to have to go through what I did, so if I can find that a certain food will help relieve arthritis symptoms I want to share it with the world. I will keep you posted about how all of that is going. My grant proposal is due Feb 28th and I am meeting with my faculty advisor, my functional foods professor, tomorrow after my class. So excited. Really. I like to get down and nerdy.
Have you ever known someone with arthritis?
Do you yourself have a disease? How do you deal with it?
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Hey ya’ll. I am mentally fried right now. I have a huge biochemistry test tomorrow, a paper on a book that I haven’t even read, a medical terminology quiz, and a nutrition exam all this week. Then next week I get hit with even more work. Ahhhh. School literally will be the death of me or over consumption of tooo spicy food. You don’t even want to know. Anyways I was reading one of my favorite bloggers, Alyssa, and I saw that she did a super fun survey about 11 things on her blog. I’m stealing it, well not really because she said it was open to anybody who hasn’t done it. You know how I love my surveys. So while I’m on my short study break I’m going to get this thing rolling, so ya’ll can have some epic laughs tonight during the grammys (although the grammys are so amazing that you are probably in a trance and won’t look at my blog – I don’t have TV plus I have to study). ANYWAYS.
1. List 11 random things about myself
2. Answer the 11 questions she (they) asked me
3. Come up with 11 questions to ask other bloggers
4. Tag 11 other bloggers to do this next
1. I always say I’m going to fail something, but really I studied all night or week so I know I’m for sure going to get a good grade (which I do – Hello 4.0s)
2. I’m actually currently hiding in my room, so I don’t have to speak to my roommate’s mother. She is insane. She made me not bring all my kitchen stuff because there wasn’t space, but there is TONS of space.
3. I’m planning on having Beyonce 2.0 in the future, now all I need is a boyfriend who will want to marry me (obviously needs to be dark since I’m super pale) and make this a reality.
4. I have about 8 canvases sitting on the floor of my room. I really need to get some motivation to make some artwork.
5. If I were to get a large sum of money right now, I would probably go spend it all on super cute fabric. Yes, I’ve become addicted to fashion design. It is my new crack. I guess it is better than doing actual crack.
6. I’m really obsessed with looking at apartments right now. I seriously can’t wait to move out, which is probably why, but I also live in a hamster cage with a closet not even big enough for a fashionably impaired person.
7. As you can tell from 2 and 6, I complain a lot. It makes me feel better.
8. I had to work at an elderly home last week, and I got hit on by some old guy named Michael. He wanted me to work there, so I could spend every day with him. He kept telling me how beautiful I was. Yeah, maybe if you were my age and healthy, I would.
9. I like being cold. I’d rather be snuggled under a bunch of blankets than be sweating to death from the heater.
10. I have secret stashes of chocolate and sweettarts around my apartment that I reward myself with when I do something amazing or when I’m feeling down.
11. I’m in love….with myself..well yes, but sort of with someone except they probably have no idea how I feel. I’m shy. Well sort of.
1. What is the best book you have ever read?
2. If you could only eat one type of candy for the rest of your life, what would it be?
3. If you could marry a celebrity, who would it be?
4. Favorite food combination?
5. What is your dream vacation?
6. If you could be able to see your future, would you want to or would you want it to be a surprise?
7. If you had to be on an island for a year, what would you want with you?
8. Would you rather sail around the world for a few months or go to outerspace for the same amount of time?
9. If you could eat only one thing forever, what would it be?
10. Who is your fashion inspiration?
11. What movie describes your life?
Hope ya’ll had fun with this post. Don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow with my typical awesomeness.
Oh yeah and like Alyssa I’m not going to tag anyone because I think everyone should enjoy the survey if they want to do it instead of being all cliquey and only sharing it among a few blogs. The more the merrier I believe!
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Seriously ya’ll, where have I been? I need to stop deserting you. I was sort of pouting in my little Lindsay cave because of something that happened. Remember when I said I was super excited because I was running for social chair for my organization? Well guess what? For the first time in my entire life, I didn’t win. I guess that should humble me, but in this case I feel like I actually deserved this. Unlike the two chairs that were elected, I actually came to events and know how to be a position on board. UGH. So angry, but what can I say since girls are cliquey. Oh how the world is so messed up. Anyways, I’m done with my funk. Lets see what I’ve been doing since I last posted.
Friday afternoon I had to go work at the HEB distribution center in San Marcos, Tx. I’m currently enrolled in a class called Food Systems and Management where we have to actually go work in food service locations for two hours at a time, WITHOUT pay, and then report on it. For my first lab experience, my partner and I went here to learn more about procurement and inventory. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures inside, but this was what the outside looked like. Super intense security because apparently everyone wants to steal groceries? It was actually pretty interesting though. We got to see how different grocery products are stored, where they are sent to, how they handle them when they arrive, and more business stuff. The class is important because for most of us nutrition students we want DIETETICS DIETETICS, but there are other options out there like food service, which is actually one of the most high paying jobs out there!
I FINALLY got to hang out with my friends from my Birthright trip. You don’t understand. We went from spending every freaking second of the day together then we go back to the real world where we rarely get to see each other and that is quite depressing. I miss these people like no other. I mean helloooo one of the girl’s has an epic fur coat. What is there not to love? Haha it is fake, so don’t worry. Apparently it was an 80′s theme party we were at, but none of us got the memo. Typical.
Yes, I have been nomming on some epic Lindsay oatmeal. Right here we have some blueberry cheesecake oats with a sprinkle of chocolate chips. Mmm. So freaking good. In Israel I wasn’t as happy in the mornings because I never got to eat oatmeal. I tried some “oatmeal” one morning at the breakfast, but it was so disgusting and was pretty much pure soup that I stayed away from it for the rest of the trip. My days are so much better when I have Lindsay oatmeal. Everyone should get on that train.
I recently checked out a lot of books from the Austin Public library. Mainly cookbooks and health related books. I copied down some recipes, so hopefully I will have some successful posts coming soon on recipes I used. Unfortunately, I did make a recipe from a hungry girl book involving tofu shirataki and let me tell you I HAVE NO IDEA HOW PEOPLE EAT THAT STUFF. It makes me want to vomit. Power to you people that have the skills to digest that gummy nasty stuff because you would have to pay me a lot to eat it and I mean A LOT.
Tomorrow is going to be a fun day. After my boring technical writing class, I get to go to a private sewing lesson. I’m going to be making an apron out of this super cute fabric. Hopefully it turns out like what I picture in my head, but I am just a beginning designer, so ya’ll shall see in my post tomorrow. Also after my lesson, I get to go work at a elderly home. Weeeee. Sort of, but not really. It is for that Food Systems class, and this time we are learning about meal planning and actually get to assist in meal planning there, which will be pretty fun because that is what I like most about nutrition. Fooooood and recipes. Eventually I have to study, but that is for nerds (hahah I know I am a nerd and we all know I’ll have my face buried in a book when I get home from that).
BTW has anyone ever listened to White Panda? They do really cool mash-ups, that I’m sort of addicted to right now. They are great to have on your workout playlist to get you pumped up! Have a fab Monday!
Have you ever had to work, for free, somewhere?
What is your favorite cookbook?
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Hey ya’ll! Welcome to the best day of the week, WIAW. Hosted by the one of the sweetest hosts Jenn. Today is super special for some reason. It must be the WIAW magic going on, but I have been so happy. For one, I created a tumblr. Hahaha. Yes, I’m a dork, but I really like just having a thing of pictures. Check it out or follow me, Functional Foodie. In other news, I got on the Dean’s list at school for making a 4.0. Success. Also, I’m going to be assisting my functional foods professor in research with tomatoes and broccoli on prostate cancer. Even better is that she said I could focus on the inflammation part of the research since I have arthritis and that is what I’m interested in studying in. MORE news is that I am going to apply for a research grant to start up my own research about arthritis. Oh yessssssss. Oh and I am going to apply for some scholarships and hopefully I get them. Did I mention that I won 200$ to Lulu Lemon. God I’m fantastic. Enough about me, let us get back to the real reason you came to my blog, the food.
Mmmmm. A veggie omelet for breakfast. I have been loving the switch to eating vegetarian. It actually isn’t hard, so I don’t know why more people don’t do it. The benefits outweigh the juiciness of meat. This omelet has the best melty cheese in it. I was impressed with my omelet making skills at 6:30 am. Way to go Lindsay! The omelet had green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and low fat mexican cheese. Soooo goood. Definitely the best thing to eat before going to the gym and then heading to my Food Systems and Management class.
This was the best sandwich combination EVER. First layer was PB2 peanut butter. Then on top of that was a few slices of banana. Next were a couple of sliced strawberries. To finish it off there was an organic raspberry jam. Perfection. Not only is it tasty, but it was also really filling. I’m going to have to eat this now ALL THE TIME. Must invest in some more jam because that was the last of it. I’m going to bust out this sandwich in all kind of flavors. I wonder what will be the best combo?
For dinner, it was tofu. What could I just throw together really quickly? Hmm stir fry? Yes with spicy peanut sauce? OH YES. First I chopped up all my tofu into small cubes. Yeah it made a lot of tofu. Barely fit into the pan. I sprayed the pan with some cooking spray and cooked the tofu until it was brown on all sides. I like my tofu sort of crispy.
I then threw in some broccoli and chopped onions to the mix. Cooked those for a few minutes in the pan and then added the special sauce. My sauced contained PB2, soy sauce, spicy asian sauce, ketchup, and a small amount of brown sugar. It was epic. I cooked it for a couple of more minutes and I was ready to eat. I was hoping that it wasn’t too spicy because sometimes I have problems with the asian sauce and overloading too much in the pan.
Luckily it wasn’t too spicy. Sorry for the dark picture. I was in my room watching 30 rock and realized I needed to take a picture of my plate. It was really delicious though. I definitely am going to have to actually put some real effort into perfecting this recipe, so I can share it with ya’ll. Luckily I just bought two more packages of tofu!
Dessert! Seriously the best time of the day. Why are these vitatops soooo freaking expensive because they are so delicious. I want to try more flavors, but it is impossible to find more than just the chocolate one where I am. I’m probably going to go on the hunt for some this weekend. Oh yeah. I live a real exciting life. Anyways, I had the chocolate one and topped it with sliced strawberries and whipcream. I really know how to treat myself. Oh I’m fancy huh. So good.
Anyways, I’m going to go back to celebrating my awesomeness and watch more episodes of 30 Rock!
Anything good happen to you lately?
Do you watch 30 rock?
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Hey ya’ll! It is Sunday night, and instead of doing work I’m watching 30 rock on Netflix. Oh watch instantly, you are the downfall of all my schoolwork. Back to my favorite subject. ISRAEL. Ya’ll are probably sick about me talking about my trip, but I don’t care because it was the best trip EVER. Now it is time when the trip started to really pick up and we were doing amazing activity after amazing activity. It was like the crammed all the great stuff in the middle of the trip and put the just good stuff on the ends.
The fourth day we went on another hike. They sure do love hikes on birthright. This time it was more of a hike rather than just a walk up a big hill like at the Golan Heights. I didn’t bring my camera with me, so I have no photos of my own, but I just stalked one from facebook. It has a pretty epic photobomb in it too from a soldier.
Also before we went on the hike that morning our Israeli soldiers came to the hotel! We got 4 guys and 4 girls. Seriously some of the coolest people I have ever met. The reason birthright trips do this is because it allows us to understand that people our age in Israel have sort of a different life. Instead of going to college after high school, they go to the army and then college after if they want. Everyone is proud to serve in the Israeli honor because defending our Jewish state is a mitzvah.
Enough with that. Our next activity was going to a winery. Uh oh. College kids and alcohol. Probably not a good idea, but I think everyone handled themselves pretty well. First we got a brief history the Dalton winery and then we had a quick tour of the entire factory. Give me the booze please. I have a deep love for wine, so let me tell you this was one of the highlights of the trip. The chaperones warned us to not get out of control. We went into this smaller room with about 6 tables. My friends and I circled around one with one of the male Israeli soldiers and sat down for an epic wine tasting.
First we sampled a bottle white wine. It was delicious. I seriously should have bought about ten bottles to bring back. Although knowing me, I would have drank all of them before I left Israel. I like my booze. Next we got to sample a red wine. Most people poured their left over wine in the buckets on the table like you were supposed to, but my friends and I chugged each glass down like the classy people we are. Finally, the last wine was a light zinfandel. Delicious. It had a sort of sweet woody taste. I know it sounds weird, but it was really good. Everyone was feeling pretty good, especially because we hadn’t eaten in hours, but no one was drunk or tipsy really.
They did provide these little crackers on the table, but the guys pretty much ate all of them in about 1 minute. Thanks. After the tasting we were allowed to go into the shop for the winery. They had walls and walls with goodies. Not to mention tons of samples. This one man was giving samples of chocolate liquor. Oh god. This was seriously mind blowing. It came in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. I think I had about 10 shots of it. All the flavors were delicious. Then they had samples of various jams and marinades. My brother ended up getting a pear and wine jam, and I bought some gourmet chocolate. That was eaten in a flash. Unfortunately we had to leave the winery. I was pretty depressed because I wanted to be left there.
Next on the agenda was the old city of Tzfat. The name provided entertainment for the rest of the trip and still going on with people’s facebook album titles. This place was magical. Literally though it is where Kabbalah originated from. Maybe Madonna should visit because that is what everyone associates with it not the actual city of Tzfat. For lunch I had falafel. I forgot to take a picture of it, but it was SO FREAKING GOOD. Although it had tons of gluten in it and I ended up having stomach problems later, but totally worth it.
After we had lunch, we went on a tour around the city. Mainly we looked at old synagogues. At the first one we went to the owner was super cranky and wanted us to hurry through it. An interesting story about it is that during services on Saturday Shabbat, bombs were being dropped on tzfat and a shrapnel flew through the window, but it didn’t hit anyone because everyone was bending over in a specific prayer and it hit the bimah instead. What a miracle. Unfortunately, the next synagogue we tried to go into thought we were loud and obnoxious, so they told us to go away. How rude.
This guy was totally nuts. As we were walking down the street, he started screaming at us. Not mean things, but that he sold the best whatever he made in the entire world. The main reason I took this photo is because my best friend has this exact photo from two years ago when she went on Birthright. However, his food station did smell really good and I am kind of sad that I didn’t try out what he was making. It was sort of like a pizza, but on a pita or naan bread. He provided some great laughs though because he turned on some music and was making all of these funny faces at us and another group that had walked by.
Finally it was shopping time. The shops at Tzfat were so beautiful. I saw this painting in a window and it took my breath away. The colors that the artist achieved are amazing. I ended up buying a hamsah necklace. It is really unique, which is what I wanted because so many people just buy a traditional Jewish star and I don’t want to mark myself like that (not that I’m ashamed to be a Jew, but it just reminds me of the Holocaust and I would rather wear other symbols). All in all this was a really lovely day. We drove back to the hotel that evening, had dinner at the hotel (vomit), and had a special activity planned. We watched a variety of Israeli movies. They were some of the weirdest films I have ever seen in my entire life. One was sort of mafia style while the others were just plain odd. Afterwards, the soldiers had planned a special activity for us where they gave away some army gear through a game. It was pretty funny because people had to do certain challenges, and this one guy had to dance to oops I did it again by Britney Spears. I was in tears.
Have a great Sunday night!
Have you ever been to a winery?
What is your wine drinking etiquette? Favorite type of wine?
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Hey ya’ll! I’ve been so lazy about blogging. Bad me. I should set an alarm for myself during the day to remind me that I need to take a break from my crazy life and relax for an hour to write a blog post. After all, I really do love blogging about food. I’ve been in school for two weeks now and it has completely taken over my life. I’m currently in Biochemistry, Food Systems and Management, Nutritional Assessment, and Technical Writing. It is a handful, but I’m surviving so far. Anyways, it is Friday and you know what that means. Nutrition Fact Friday. Today’s subject is pretty special to my heart. I wonder if ya’ll can guess? Probably because I’m pretty predictable, but it is….
OATMEAL.
All you talk about is oatmeal? Well yes when I’m sober I can be pretty boring. Oatmeal is a great food because not only is it a source of whole grains, but it has many functional benefits too. I know this because I had to sit through this girl’s boring presentation on oatmeal for my functional foods class last semester. YOU HAD OATMEAL. Come on. Snazz it up. Bust out some jazz hands or at least some sprinkles for godsake. However, I did end up learning a lot about oatmeal, mainly because I was going to be tested on it for my final, but oh well.
Blueberry Cheesecake Oatmeal
One of the first things you learn as a nutrition major OVER and OVER again (yeah, they like to teach you the same thing a lot, so it sticks in your mind for the RD exam) is that fiber is important. Insoluble and soluble fiber are both needed in a healthy diet. Well, that is why oatmeal is such a great tool to have in your kitchen cupboard. Not only does it taste good, but it also contains both kinds of fiber. Why is fiber important you say? Insoluble fiber aids in bowel function, and more specifically helps speed up your stools. While the soluble fiber ends up forming a viscous gel within your stomach that allows a feeling of fullness to last for a long time, which can eventually aid in weight loss.
Most people do not know that soluble fiber contains a special bioactive compound that has a variety of positive affects on the body when consumed. The compound is called beta-glucans. In general, the beta-glucans of soluble fiber helps lower cholesterol, which is such an important thing for most people. When you go in deeper, you see that it traps the bad cholesterol, LDL, but there has been no connection to raising HDL levels, which is the good cholesterol. Instead, it just does not affect it, so that it can provide its benefits. Another positive affect of a beta-glucan is in regards to diabetes. Its beneficial effect is shown by slowing down the absorption of glucose following consumption of food.
Oats are seriously going to takeover the world. I know a lot of people that probably are like how are these healthy bloggers obsessed with oats, but really they are good for you and if you spruce them up enough then they are pretty mind-blowing. Wow, I get off track a lot. The ADD that I pretend to have, but really I just like to joke about it. So, where was I? Umm OATS. Yes, one last highlight of oats is that they contain a large amount of phytochemicals. If there is one thing that I took out of functional foods it is that phytochemicals are a killer thing to include in your diet. Why? Well, for the instance of oatmeal, the phytochemicals have an anti-cancer effect on the body. Heck, I’ll eat any food item that has yielded large positive results in research on cancer.
In general, oats are good for your overall health and longevity of life. So go out and buy the largest tub of oats you can find. Well don’t really do that unless you actually like the taste. I have a huge tub of oats in my pantry though. Oats can be confusing with the variety of types, but I tend to stick with the old fashioned rolled oats, but if you are in a hurry buy some quick oats OR if you want to be a super health nut get some steel cut oats, but they contain a larger amount of calories than the other two options.
Since this post was about oatmeal, I obviously wouldn’t leave ya’ll without a great recipe for oats.
Gingerbread Oatmeal
1/2 c. of oats (I used Quaker Old Fashioned)
1 1/3 c. of water
1 banana
1 tbsp molasses
cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
1 packet of truvia
1 tsp of vanilla extract
a pinch of chocolate chips
1 gingerbread man
2 tbsp chocolate PB2
1. Place oats and water in a microwavable safe container, and heat for about 2:55. Let sit in microwave for about 2 minutes
2. Slice up banana, place on top of oatmeal, and microwave for about 2 minutes or until banana is mushy.
3. Stir up so that banana “melts” into the oatmeal.
4. Add all other ingredients except PB2, chocolate chips, and gingerbread man.
5. Stir all added ingredients until mixed thoroughly.
6. Top with chocolate chips, then PB2, and put your little gingerbread man in for a nice swim or crumble him up. Either way it will be delicious.
I hope you enjoyed a little health lesson about oatmeal. My blog may be going in a more serious place. BUM BUM BUM. Yeah right. I won’t be getting serious because lets be honest I’m a total goof, but I want to focus on more health related stuff like the food service industry, government regulations, nutrition in the news, and life as a nutrition student. OBVIOUSLY there will still be tons of food because I’m a pig. Really though. I wish I had one of those cute little tails, but I like to eat HEALTHY nutritious foods unlike the majority of the US population. Sad, but true.
I’m out for the night. It is Friday afterall. You know what that means. SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS….of biochemistry homework because I’m going out raging tomorrow night. I’m going to leave you with some of my favorite oatmeal recipes that I have seen out in the blog world.
Ya’ll should really check out Angela’s post about this delicious oatmeal recipe called Cherry Chocolate Bomb Vegan Overnight Oats. Drool worthy. Oh how I wish I had a nice camera to turn out such delicious photos like this one. She had me at chocolate and cherries. I’m obsessed with cherries, so throwing this classic combo in an oatmeal form. Oh god. Yes please.
One of my favorite blogs to check out for oatmeal recipes is Heather’s amazing blog, Kiss My Broccoli. She has crazy, creative recipes that include favorites such as Sante Fe Oats that have an egg, salsa, and avocado topping them. Ummm delicious. Can I hire you to make this for me please? Fine I’ll stop being lazy and do it myself, but if you want some delicious ideas check out this blog because the girl sure knows her stuff about cooking!
Do you get enough fiber in your diet?
How much do you know about phytochemicals, beta-glucans, and fiber?
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Hey ya’ll! I have finally decided to come back from my period of rest and dealing with complicated things to bring you a wonderful What I Ate Wednesday post. After reading a variety of books like the China Study, I have decided that I’m going to eat vegetarian for 4 days of the week out of 7. Another reason is because my future roommate is a vegan and I can’t wait to enjoy some amazing meals with her. Eventually I may go full veggie, but lets be honest with ourselves I really do love me some good pieces of meat. Mainly healthier cuts of meat like lean turkey, chicken (not so much anymore after watching Food Inc a million times, but still like it), and I love fish. Maybe I’ll go the pescatarian route. We shall see, but in the mean time I want to give a big thanks to Jenn from Peas and Crayons for hosting this awesome day. Seriously it brought me out of my sad funk.
Get this party stared on a Thursday morning….yes I rewrite songs.
I have no idea what my images are being stupid right now, but for some reason my breakfast wants to be sideways. For my first day as a vegetarian, I had cinnamon burst cheerios, banana slices, blueberries, and almond milk. I actually was going to have oatmeal, but I woke up so late that I did not have time to prepare it to my high standards. I was going to be late to class, so I opened my cupboard and was like oh thank god I bought some cereal the other day. Good buy for once at the grocery store (unlike the bag of chocolate chips and marshmallows that I decided I needed).
Okay, so I guess all my photos will be crooked. Oh well. That is me. For lunch I decided that I wanted some brunch. Actually I was at my mom’s for an infusion treatment that I had to go to later in the day, so all she really had to eat was eggs. I made an egg white omelet with tons of veggies. It had mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Yummmy. Oh and obviously cheese because truth be told cheese is the best food in the entire world (besides candy). The omelet was tasty and very filling, so my stomach survived my 2 and a half hour infusion treatment. Success.
For dinner, I picked up my younger brother and a friend of mine and then we met another one of my friends at this amazing Thai restaurant in Austin called Titayas. Isn’t the name fab? I love making jokes about how I’m going to be getting some titties or how I want tits. They should really just change their name to Tits. Yes, I have the humor of a 13 year old boy. Anyways, after waiting for 30 minutes for a table, we sat down and ordered appetizers. My brother and I split an order of mushrooms. Best choice. They were lightly battered and topped with a sweety and spicy thai sauce. It was a great combination with the simple taste of mushrooms.
For my entree, I decided on yellow curry with tofu. I’m going to be honest here and tell you that I have been craving curry and tofu for weeks now, so I actually already knew what I was going to order before we even got there. It was a good choice because the curry was more sweet and not as spicy as expecting. I love spicy things, but curry can be way too spicy and make you sweat. My brother for example. He ordered a green curry and holy heck it was so spicy. My eyes watered when I sampled it and he was sweating to death in the restaurant. That was actually funny though. He makes me laugh. My two friends both ordered chicken pad thai without bean sprouts. It was cute because they are actually roommates and I was like no wonder they get along so well, they like the same things. It was a great meal with good company.
Cake balls are the best dessert to have after an amazing day. Really though. These especially. I had a cake ball at Starbucks over break that was peppermint brownie. So good. I decided that I could recreate this (especially with my new pan) and not have to shell out a ridic amount of money for one stupid cake ball. Another point for Lindsay. They turned out so good. I made a batch of brownies and let them undercook a little, so they were super gooey. I rolled them into balls and stuck lollipop sticks into them then placed them in the freezer for a little while. I then rolled them in melted white chocolate bark and then quickly sprinkled them with crushed peppermints. These were a big success. Everyone loves them. I’m going to have to start creating crazy cake balls.
I’m going to end the day with a laugh. I saw this shirt at Walmart in Missouri while I was there for my grandpa’s funeral service. In such a dark time, this shirt brought some joy to my life, so hopefully it will make ya’ll laugh. Surprise. I bought one. It is green with a huge cat’s face on it. I wear it around my apartment. It is pretty epic, not gonna lie.
Hope everyone has a great day!
What is your opinion about these crazy animal shirts, like the famous wolf one?
What is your favorite thai dish?
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