You dont look a day over fast cars and freedom.

Today, I want to share with you a bag of quotes. Literally. I have this lulu lemon bag that my new yoga mat came in, and today for the first time I started reading all the quotes that are printed on it. I had read my favorite one weeks ago: "dance. sing. floss. travel". And I thought...how appropriate for me. But there are so many more I never bothered to glance at. Today, they clicked for me...I think this lulu chick is onto something. So, think about the below. I don't preach lifestyles to people (or at least I try not to) but I certainly know what I believe in, and I think lulu and I are on the same page.

"Drink fresh water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins from your body and keeps your brain sharp".

"Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks"

"Creativity is maximized when youre living in the moment. Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. Mediocrity is as close to the bottom as it is to the top, and will give you a lousy life"

"Visualize your eventual demise. It can have an amazing effect on how you live"

"Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water"

(me breathing the salt water air, and living life in the moment)

"Sweat once a day to regenerate your skin"

"Children are the orgasm of life. Just like you did not know what an orgasm was until you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them"

"The conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought"

"What we do to the earth, we do to ourselves"

"Your outlook on life is a direct reflection on how much you like yourself"

~Hope this can be of use to you today. Now breathe deeply, and feed yourself well.
xxx

Strawberries, Shortcakes, & Cream (oh my)

Another rainy summer day means “plan b” for how to spend free time. Some go to the movies, or do arts and crafts. I have spent some recent rainy days painting walls in my apartment, reading, and most commonly cooking and baking. Baking can be therapeutic, but unlike cooking needs to be done accurately (please, no “a little of this, a little of that”)… baking is chemistry. A beach or a park was the original plan for this day, but when the thunder and lightning woke me up, baking happened instead. It is a “semi” from scratch creation that fit in well for Fourth of July weekend. Individual strawberry shortcakes with a homemade whipped cream took less than 45 minutes to make and reminded me of a southern comfort dessert. There are three simple steps:
1. Make biscuits. A friend and I made the biscuits using Bisquick mix (there is the “semi” homemade explanation). I love Bisquick. I feel Bisquick, just like Kraft, are the kinds of food products that bring you back to childhood. This is the first time in three years I have used Bisquick for cooking, so I do not want to send the wrong message that these products are super healthy. (But boy are they delish).
2. Beat one cup of whipping cream until soft peaks form
3. Pour ¼ cup of sugar over sliced strawberries and set aside. The sugar will dissolve and the strawberries will start to appear “glaze-y” and “gooey”.
After the biscuits are cooled, slice them open and layer strawberries and cream as you wish. For the holiday, feel free to stick little American Flags in them also, because they can help hold the shape of the crumbly dessert while also looking adorable.

What I noticed about this dessert, was that while I made it in my apartment, I was planning on traveling with them to a BBQ that evening. This dessert is not easy to travel with. What I ended up doing was bagging all of the ingredients separately and assembling them together at the BBQ right before serving. Other than that, this recipe was easy as shortcake.


Happy Fourth of July. Hope yours was filled with red, white, and blue foods….and fireworks (whether literally, or metaphorically).
Love love love.

Heat Wave

Dear New York,
Now that we are in the month of June, you are starting to look appealing again. We become a complicated relationship between New Years Day and now, since during these months you bring nothing to the table except wind, sleet, slush, and smelly subway stations. Since many of us here do not own cars, we are forced to either be that person standing on the corner trying to hail a cab as trucks go by splashing puddles, and as the wind blows our umbrella backwards; or…we surrender to mass transit. While walking carefully down the subway stairs and folding our broken umbrellas in, we cram onto the subway, no one smiles or says good morning. The train is moving at a snails pace because of flooding, or any other issue the MTA can think of. To top it all off, the tourism people of Aruba, always (always) choose to advertise in the subways this time of year, forcing us riders (who avoid eye contact with each other) to just stare at pictures of Aruba for our entire morning commute. We all put up with it though; because we know it is just a phase. Soon enough, women across the 5 boroughs are taking back out the sundresses, and strappy open toe shoes, and men are cat calling from every corner, because they too…are excited for sundress season. So with this pleasant weather again, what am I most excited for? Walking. After months of bank statements that seemed just not right, I can finally fix the lines beyond lines of checking account deductions due to bad weather cab rides. I am again free, to walk and enjoy the scenery.
To clarify, the weather change does not make the subway better. It will still smell, just now it will smell like sweat instead of wet shoes. People will still avoid eye contact with each other, and no one will say good morning; but thankfully the Aruba signs are down (I mean really, just go away Aruba tourism people). Other perks to the new season? Ice coffees are back, and “park days” are once again added to the list of “justifiable reasons why I am going to avoid responsibility today”.
So now, the peak of our love is once again in season. Similar to relationships with people, it is not about seeing someone perfectly; it is about being aware of imperfections, and still thinking they’re the best thing since DVR. New York, your winters suck, your subway service has gotten worse with nothing but a price increase for my ticket to ride, and yes; I believe you are slightly high on something when you post the rents for your apartments. But I am still looking forward to sharing the upcoming, sunny months with you. I plan on being in a pleasant mood, constantly, from now until Labor Day.
Your loyal (and broke) tenant,
Jessica

love = baked goods

I found the idea for these chick and egg cupcakes on the food network. I made a few changes to the recipe, and ultimately ended up with organic lemon cupcakes, a made from scratch vegan frosting, and an adorable looking "easter basket" on top made from food dyed bakers coconut, mini cadbury eggs, and of course...peeps! A cupcake is still a cupcake, but I believe when you adapt a healthy lifestyle of allowing the sweet things in moderation, you can absolutely enjoy these treats guilt free. In my opinion, the best part about baking is giving out the goodies to friends and family. I have an odd obsession with watching people eat. I love to see people I love, smile and go "wow!" and then say "this is so delicious!". I feel that when you spend time in the kitchen preparing treats or meals...you have put more love into this kind of gift than any kind of material gift could relay. And so the title of this blog is born.

The frosting is so simple! Thanks to soy products these days such as Earth Balance soy butter, and soy milk, I was able to make a vegan frosting (great for those who are watching their cholesterol since this is dairy free). Ingredients include sugar, soy milk, soy butter, non hydrogenated shortening, and vanilla extract.


My "grass" was made by tossing bakers shredded coconut in a bowl with green and yellow food dye. 3 green to 1 yellow ratio worked best for me. After you reach your best color, place the grass on parchment paper and bake at 250 for 10-15 minutes or until dry.


Frosting the cupcakes, placing the grass on top, and then finishing with mini cadbury eggs as you like. Peeps are rather large, even when I bought the smallest size they sold. They look great for decorating, but they are not practical for eating. It is expected that your guests may remove half the toppings before eating, but the initial reaction makes it all worth it.

Some of my finished product. Happy Easter to all who celebrated. :)

lots of love (with extra frosting)
xxx

Nutrition is just like...

Nutrition is like fashion. Yep. While you may not immediately think to compare an organic apple to a Burberry jacket, the similarities are there. The superior products are more expensive, there are imitations everywhere, and what is considered cool and acceptable is frequently changing; only to repeat it the next decade. Remember in the 80s when low fat diets were in? (I don’t, I was only 5 years old in the 80s…but I read all about it once I started studying nutrition). Or how about in the 90s when we banned Carbohydrates? I remember “Carb Free” aisles in the supermarket. Carbohydrates were removed from any product you could think of, wrapped in a bow and put on display to practically dance around. In the 1950’s, we pushed red meat and potato diets. That is, until we all started dropping dead from heart attacks. See, it’s all about “what’s in”. Since nutrition is considered a young science, there are always going to be new studies done to sway us into a particular eating habit. Remember for every purchase you make, someone somewhere gets paid. Who is really benefitting when you decide to “Got Milk?” it. For every article you can find saying vegetarian diets are the way to go, you can find the same number of articles telling you a vegetarian diet is foolish. Both will have loads of “studies” to back themselves up. So it all comes down to how much you try to educate yourself on food, and what you decide to believe. This makes food not just like fashion, but kind of like religion. And yes, sometimes when I go into deep food thought, little light bulbs go off in my head just thinking about how the sun and soil give me the foods that are best for me. I don’t really know how the sun and soil got here…but naturally born food seems to fit well into the grand plan, whatever it may be.
Moral of the story? Just like fashion, stop trying to be trendy and stick with what we know works. It is not cool to give up carbohydrates. It may be the trend every few years, but we know that whole grains, rice, (and even fruits, Mr. Atkins) are great for us. Carbohydrates should be about 50% of your daily calorie intake. They are the primary way our body receives energy, and we need to break them down first and foremost. Select wisely. White bread is a whole grain that has been stripped of 2 out of its 3 parts, and then bleached. It is an imitator. It contains calories, but no nutrients. Choose whole grains, a variety of products, and ones that have been processed very little.
Just like religion, it is not about what is wrong, what is right, or who is going to win. It is about faith and that inner feeling some of you have about knowing what to do. You will come across articles, tv shows, news specials, you name it; that tell you processed foods are just fine for you, high fructose corn syrup is no big deal etc. Does this sound right? What do you think is better to put into your body? Food is what makes our body function (no exaggeration here). So how do you want to function? Stay as close to nature as possible, and when that is impossible, stay as close to “food” as possible.
Is it weird that I compared food to religion and fashion today? I don’t think so. Some of you value cashmere, and some of you wouldn’t know what to do if your church were to be taken away. We may come from different cities, countries, parts of the world; but everyone knows what food is. Food brings us to the table. And while I may not speak the same language as you, we can still enjoy the same meal together needing no words to connect. It is, in my opinion, the common ground.

March is National Nutrition Month!

I am late on that announcement. But before the month is over, I do want to write a blog that goes along with this month’s theme of nutrition awareness. So this week I have decided to write about my teenagers who I eat with once a month. Once a month I head up to a certain neighborhood in Manhattan, set up a folding table, lay out my ingredients, and teach about 21 teenagers how to prepare a healthy snack. Every month the snack is different, but the teens stay the same. They don’t always like what I bring to the table, but my small steps forward with them have gone a long distance over the last few months. Since starting, I have had 2 kids try Almond Milk. I had almost a 100% approval rate on drinking smoothies that had no ice cream, or added sugar in it. We dipped fruit in yogurt and crushed graham crackers, and when I admitted they weren’t getting caramel as an option to roll it in, they ate them (and enjoyed them) anyway. I have one girl who is lactose intolerant and she has agreed to try a soy yogurt cup that I am going to bring for her next time. Each time I go, I push a few more buttons. (mwa ha ha, my hidden agenda of making them nutrition enthusiasts is revealed). You see the first time I went there; I don’t think they cared for me at all. I knew though, that with each month I returned they would start to trust me a little more. It is this trust that I rely on, when I bring something more risky each time. My goals are clear. Introduce teenagers who have had no prior nutrition education, and are dealing with a wide range of health issues, to new foods that they can easily prep at home, and foods that can improve their health. Teach these teenagers that healthy food does not mean “taste like cardboard.”Empower them to prepare food themselves, so they can shy away from depending on bodegas and fast food restaurants to give them a meal. My last goal is that when they eventually move on from this program, they grow up to be open to trying new foods, and that they understand “you are what you eat”.
Since community nutrition is determined by the people who make up the community, changing the numbers relies heavily on education interventions, in addition to improving access to, and affordability of foods. This is why when I am there, I don’t want to make the food for them and ask them to eat it. I want them to touch the food, smell the food, and well…play with it. I want them to learn how to measure out diced garlic, and see that food does not come from a person behind the drive through window. This has been challenging for me. Typically, they rush the table because they know they are getting a snack, but they’re more eager to “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” me than they are to actually learn. They are all about the instant “yuck” or “yum”. We are working on that.  What am I giving them in April? Well, I am taking a leap of faith this upcoming month. White bean bruschetta, with goat cheese and arugula. To me, it sounds amazing. To them? We will see. But this no cook, light snack is going to introduce them to a few new foods, and if they enjoy it…then their diet is once more varied. As for you, go ahead and give this one a go at home. I have faith that at least a few of you will enjoy it.
4 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 garlic cloves diced, and salt and pepper to taste, whisked in a bowl and poured over giant white beans. Toast your whole wheat crostini bread pieces for a minute or two. Remove the bread and spread with goat cheese. Top with Arugula, and finally scoop the bean mixture on top to complete.

To my kitchen: “are you ready for your close up?

So, if I were in an episode of MTV Cribs (which, based on the size of my apartment, would probably not be able to fill up the 30 min time slot that the show allows to tour ones home); there would be a critical point of the episode where the camera crew would ask to peek into my refrigerator. I would open the freezer probably first and show off my frozen veggie burger collection, before taking the cameras to the fridge where you would see yogurt, milk, salsa, and leftovers from whatever Seamless Web delivered to me the night before. Recently I have received a few emails from friends with nutrition questions. When I came home from the food store tonight and unpacked the groceries on my counter, I thought “hey now…this is what I eat.” Then, I took out my camera…and my own little “Dear You (reader), this is what is behind my cupboard…with love, the future dietitian” experiment began.
It is true that I don’t buy that much of a variety when I food shop, (and variety is key to a healthy lifestyle) but there are two reasons for this! 1. I only food shop for one (that’d be me) and 2. I am never home. Both of these reasons lead to 3. When I buy too much it usually goes bad before I can finish it and I end up throwing it all away. So I have learned how to stick to my basics, on my budget, while making some important right choices. Here is what you see in my grocery picture below:


Cascadian Farm Cereal (whole grain squares, low in sugar, high in fiber and whole grains. Keeps me very full each morning)
Organic Non Fat Milk (to have with the cereal every morning, but of course)
Cans of beans (both red, and black beans this week). Beans are my favorite source of protein since I don’t eat meat. I eat some form of beans everyday whether it’s with veggies and rice on a plate, in a salad, or in a burrito. If I have time I will make beans from “scratch” (sold in the giant bag, not pre cooked, must soak for 24 hours before cooking them) but with my schedule I rarely have time for this. Canned will do for now, but I always rinse them off first since canned products are typically high in sodium.
Cous Cous/Rice Pilaf/Brown Rice (and camera shy, Quinoa). These are my grains. The cous cous cooks in 5 minutes and comes in all sorts of flavors I enjoy (this week, its roasted garlic and olive oil). The brown rice boils in 10 minutes as well and is 100% whole brown rice. Quinoa is high in protein, low on the glycemic index and also pairs well with vegetables, beans, veggie burgers, soups, etc. All are under 5$ per box but give me about 2 meals.
White Peach Tea: For days I am tired of water and coffee, and when it is too early in the day for it to be socially acceptable for wine. No sugar added.
Triscuits: More whole grains (I like my whole grains. They are good for my heart and keep me full, and since I am active, using the gym consistently, I always feel like I need the energy from my positive carbs. Carbohydrates should be about 50% of your daily calorie intake ( I should put that statement in bold for all my no carb diet readers). I eat these with a cheese stick (more on this snack later) and tomato slices.
The Frozen bags of Veggies! Frozen vegetables are just as great as fresh vegetables, since they are flash frozen sometimes just hours after being picked from a farm. All the nutrients are still locked inside and frozen means no sodium had to be added as a preservative. (Frozen veggies > Canned Veggies). The good news is I can stock them in my freezer and not worry about them going bad. I usually only buy fresh vegetables if I am buying them for a meal I know for a fact I am making that same day. I hate when I buy fresh produce, and then don’t see my apartment for 16 hours a day and forget to eat it. I do, however, like to pick up apples and bananas fresh because I know I will eat them when I wake up in the morning with my cereal. The frozen vegetables, I place in a pot with a teeny bit of water, cover and steam for anywhere from 3-7 minutes depending on the veggie. I add garlic, a pinch of salt, or sometimes nothing at all before eating.
Almost every time I go food shopping, the above items end up in my cart. Some items that I didn’t pick up this night, but usually do most of the time include: Oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, fruit, stoneyfield yogurt cups, veggie burgers, arugula, & hummus.
This food list usually doesn’t go over 50 dollars and can give me breakfast and dinner for approx a week. I tend to eat lunch out every day, (guilty) but before I leave my apt, and when I come home at night…these foods can really last. AND they are easy to cook for just me. If I am cooking for more than just me, I go to whole foods that day and buy exactly what I need to cook for 2 (or more) so that I am prepared, but once again not wasteful. It’s tough cooking for one, on a budget, with a schedule that would make some go insane. I hope tonights blog can be of help to recommend some great brands, in addition to quick and affordable meals. Keep the questions coming.
Remember, when all else fails: “Eat food, not too much, mostly greens”—Michael Pollan