Week 1: Sprints, Headgear, & a Gelato Tasting.

Click here to vote Regina for Fan FavoriteIMG_1257Sunday thoughts (August 7th)

This weekend was filled with intense training sessions. Definitely far more than I’ve been doing up until now. 10 – 3 minute rounds (with 30 second rest) was definitely the biggest physical challenge I’ve ever had until the next day with 30/40 minutes of conditioning drills. After each round I kept thinking “Ok, that must be the end… it couldn’t possibly keep going” and yet it did. I couldn’t help, but laugh through most of it (when I wasn’t desperately trying to gasp for air- my breathing could stand some work). I’m not complaining by the way. I’m no huge fan of sprints or anything (a giant understatement), but take my word for it… Sprints will become my favorite activity before this is all over.  Continue reading “Week 1: Sprints, Headgear, & a Gelato Tasting.”

So You Want to Learn to Cook: The Basics, Onions & Garlic

So you want to learn to cook, do you? That’s great because I really really really love making food happen!

finished_onions Continue reading “So You Want to Learn to Cook: The Basics, Onions & Garlic”

Food Journal: Grilled Cheese.

Ok so maybe this week wasn’t the healthiest of weeks (I ended it with an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner which just about killed me). But I decided to indulge in the beloved grilling of bread with cheese… only 2x this week but what the hell.

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The classic turkey grilled cheese… with Havarti dill cheese and a side of roasted spicy cauliflower & sweet potatoes.

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One of my classic Veggie Medleys with Buckwheat & red Quinoa on the side.

* Mashed cauliflower: with lots of browned onions, garlic powder, fresh scallions, fresh dill, and dried dill weed.

* Greens medley: turnips and collard greens seasoned with smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, browned onions, and raw walnuts.

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Open faced grilled cheese. Sourdough bread, Havarti dill cheese, and the greens medley from the meal above. I used a toaster oven to get this crispy and melty grilled cheese and skipped the butter.

Ate with a side of a garlic pickle & edamame (seasoned with coarse sea salt & dried red chili peppers)

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shrimp

I ended my week with a shrimp & black bean medley.

Shrimp seared in soy sauce and seasoned in garlic powder and dill weed.

Mixed with

Turnip & collard greens, browned onions, fresh dill, scallions, black beans, and quinoa. Topped with shredded Mozz.

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Food Journal: Sweet Potatoes, Zuchinni, & Cauliflower.

I barely cooked at all this week… I ate a bunch of simple meals that I didn’t bother taking photos of (beans and quinoa) as well as left overs. I made 2 dishes that were not like the rest. Here they are…

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Basil and cayenne pepper baked sweet potato with a side of mashed cauliflower.

I love the spicy tang with the sweetness of the potato.

The mashed cauliflower is dressed with browned onions (in soy sauce), lightly browned garlic, lots of garlic powder, and smoked paprika.

zuchinni

Zucchini Salad with a side of quinoa + beans on a bed of fresh greens (Spinach, baby kale, and romaine lettuce).

Zucchini salad: thinly sliced (using peeler) zucchini, red onions, pecans, finely chopped whiskey sour pickles, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, coarse sea salt, and dill weed.

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As always, these take 30 min. or less.

 


I don’t like recipes, as I’ve mentioned, but I’m always on the lookout for ideas on something new to make. Care to share what yummy dish you made this week?

Food Journal: Keeping it Bulky.

This week was pretty shitty. I made a couple of batches of dishes so that I wouldn’t have to cook much… I made 3 dishes and ate out/ordered in one too many times. When I did manage to summon the energy to make something, it was pretty damn delicious.

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A light cherry tomato and herb goat cheese angel hair pasta dish with sautéd yellow squash, black beans, and tempeh (seared in the sauce) and garnished with a crap load of raw green onion.
bunch

3 dishes: (1) A light edamame, cherry tomato, and red onion salad dressed with rice vinegar, olive oil, coarse sea salt, and green onions.     (2) Squash veg. medley (soy sauce blackened onions, yellow squash, & tempeh) (3) Truffle & dill weed roasted cauliflower and baby carrots.

desert

Baked apples and pears topped with Vanilla gelato & raw pecans.

left oversI’m not even sure what was below the pile of freshly chopped green onion and melted mozz. (leftovers from some veggie and cashew medley I made the week before) accompanied by a piece of a Wang (Wangs in Brooklyn = BEST chicken wings).

 

Food Journal: Kale.

Ok, so maybe not only kale. But I bought a big bag of the green goodness and had a bunch this past week. I’ve failed to take note/picture all of my meals (I think that’s just not a possibility), but I did manage to take a few… so if you’re in the market for some fresh healthy (and yummy if I do say so myself) ideas, here ya go.

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Browned onions in red chile sesame oil, soy sauce sautéed shitake mushrooms and asparagus with balsamic marinated artichoke hearts mixed with kale. On the side of curried lentils & a brown rice medley.

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Pearl couscous medley (with baby garbanzo beans, orzo, and quinoa) mixed kale and raw cashews in a garlic and yellow tomato sauce (browned onions, yellow tomatoes, garlic powder, garlic, and smoke paprika). Topped with 2 semi-runny eggs. (I really wanted these to be more runny…)

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Quick breakfast… buckwheat, shredded mozz, and season chick peas. BOOM.

I like to keep chick peas around for snacking and quick meal additions like this. I buy them dried (cheaper) and soak them in water (not the whole bag at once, because that’s like a LOT) over night. I drain them in the morning (you can just try one to make sure they’re soft) and season them with whatever I feel like that day. These were seasoned with sea salt, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, and dill weed. I never go ‘easy’ on anything… the more spice the better. Bold is YUM.

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Browned onions, raw cashews, and sautéed kale over a bed of roasted parsnips and beets (seasoned with a bit of yellow curry powder).

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Kale was definitely the key player this week. I ate ‘out’ 3x this week. 2 times too many :\ The fried chicken wings down the street were calling my name!!! I’ll do better next week.

Have some yummy Kale recipes/ideas to share?! I’d love to hear them.

My Week in Food.

The point of these posts (as with all of my posts) is to keep a food journal. I’ve been getting completely off track with my eating habits and it’s starting to affect my health, mood, and wallet. So, I’m going to keep a food journal of sorts that will hopefully keep me accountable.

I’ve had some friends come to me with questions on how to make easy, yummy, and HEALTHY food. I don’t have any real recipes, in the traditional sense. I don’t use anything to measure or proportion anything. That’s where the fun comes in anyway! This may help. It may not.

I haven’t had a salad week in a while so I went with that idea for this week. Salads won’t be the -only- thing I eat, but they will be the majority and highlight.

My week will start with today (Saturday 01.24).

Breakfast:

I had some leftover brussels sprout hash with wild rice combo I made earlier last week and I made some quick scrambled eggs with scallions, shredded mexican blend cheese, and hot sauce to top it off and snazz it up a bit.

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Saturday Breakfast

Lunch:

Love this one! I had just come home from a trip to Brighton Beach where I bought some tongue (it was already boiled and ready to eat) so I decided to make a Roasted Carrot & Tongue Salad (remember, this is Salad Week). I had everything ready to go so I had myself an amazing (if I may toot my own horn here) salad in about 10 minutes.

Saturday Lunch

Ingredients: Roasted carrots (leftover from a couple days ago), fresh parsley, boiled tongue, fresh baby bella mushrooms, chickpeas, browned onion (leftover from a couple days ago), and green onions. Dressed with a teeny bit of olive oil, course sea salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and my favorite ‘everything’ seasoning from TJs.

*What isn’t pictured here is the German strawberry preserves (I got from a European Gourmet food store at Brighton) I indulged in post-meal… I promise I didn’t eat the whole jar.

Snack: Not-so-healthy veggie root chips.

Dinner: I wasn’t really hungry after my snack. I did end up finishing up the tongue salad really late at night so maybe you can consider that my dinner.

Sunday (1.25)

Brunch: My roomies and I went out to brunch. I forgot to take a picture so I took this from the yelp page.

Bass fishcake, poached eggs, & a cauliflower salad.

Sunday Brunch

The cauliflower salad was disappointing, but everything else was delicious.

 Dinner: Russian Film Club… Pelmeni & Chebooreki from my trip to Brighton Beach.

russian film club

Monday

Breakfast: A banana and coffee.

Lunch: I was working from home for the next two days on account of the ‘blizzard’. I used my leftover bass fishcake as a salad topper. Monday Lucnh Monday Lunch

Salad: Lots of fresh parsley, orange pepper, green onions, and baby bella mushrooms topped with a part of the Bass fishcake I had for brunch the day before (it also had some chipotle aoili sauce on it). Coarse salt, smoked paprika, and my beloved ‘everything’ seasoning.

Also, a side of TJ’s root chips.

Dinner: With a glass of red wine. yum.Monday dinnerSalad: fresh parsley, Persian cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, orange peppers, and red onions – dressed with a bit of balsamic + olive oil + garlic powder + cayenne pepper.

I made some buckwheat and roasted carrots and sliced up some smoked salmon on the side.

Dessert: Not pictured (I was too busy eating it).

Sliced Granny Smith Apple with TJ’s cookie butter. YUM.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Normally, I stick with fruit for breakfast on week days, but today I was working from home again and thought I would treat myself. Tuesday Breakfast

No salad. Eggs scrambled with cheese and buckwheat (that I made last night) with a side of smoked salmon and a few pieces of leftover sliced apples and the rest of my raw walnuts.

Lunch: Remodeled leftovers. Tuesday lunchTo the right salad: same as Monday’s dinner. To the left salad (cold): Cut up roasted carrots (from the other night), buckwheat, green onions, olive oil, smoked paprika, and ‘everything’ seasoning.

Snack: A banana.

banana snack

Dinner: A cold brown rice medley salad.

Tuesday's dinnerSalad: Brown rice, black barley, Daikon radish seeds, cherry tomatoes, red onion, Persian cucumber, orange pepper, green onion, black beans, and blackened onions in a red chili sesame oil and soy sauce blend. Dressed with garlic infused olive oil, garlic powder, more soy sauce, cayenne pepper, dried dill weed, and coarse sea salt.

Dessert: A small bowl (without milk) of chocolate rice krispi cereal. Healthy. I know. I still have some left over from a sugar binge a while ago so I thought I’d better eat that than go buy a new pint of ice cream.

Tuesday desert

Wednesday

Breakfast: Back to the office I went… not pictured, but I had a couple slices of Old Amsterdam cheese (yum), a Fuji apple, and a coffee. [I’ve finally kicked my red bean for breakfast addiction!]

Lunch: A cold buckwheat and smoked salmon salad.

Wednesday lunchMore roasted carrots (leftover), buckwheat, the rest of my orange pepper, cherry tomatoes, green onion, Persian cucumber, smoked salmon, and blackened onions in a red chili sesame oil and soy sauce blend. Dressed in more soy sauce, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, a shit ton of garlic powder.

Snack: Dried cranberries and raw almonds.

Dinner: Vietnamese inspired warm salad… (kind of).

Wednesday's dinnerBrown rice, daikon radish seeds, black barley, black beans, Persian cucumbers, 2 sunny side eggs (I like em’ runny), topped with a bunch of ‘everything’ seasoning and hot sauce.

I also ended up eating more smoked salmon on the side.

**Here is where I dropped the ball completely. I forgot to take pictures.**

Thursday

Breakfast: Cold Pressed Beet Juice. TJs has them for $5 a pop… not bad.

Lunch: Something similar to my brown rice medley salad I had for dinner on Tuesday.

Dinner: 2 slices of Joe’s Pizza & a Whiskey Ginger. A lady can’t -always- be on her H-game (healthy).

Friday

Breakfast: 1 boiled egg, a handful of raw pumpkin seeds, and half a cucumber (half way through I realized it was going bad so I decided it was best I didn’t finish). Oh, and coffee.

Lunch: We had a long meeting planned for the day so we ordered Chinese take out. Shrimp fried rice & shrimp dumplings… it wasn’t the healthiest decision I’ve made as of late.

Dinner: I was still epically full from lunch (sleepy food coma was written ALL over me), but I had plans to go out so off I went to eat some Chicken meat balls in a pesto sauce and a glass of a Malbec blend that was quite tasty. The meat balls were delicious, but I could only eat 2. I wasted money and food. Bummer. It was at the Meat Ball shop in Williburg — pretty hoppin’ spot.

Yes, I like to eat with chopsticks. Only while at home… who wouldn’t want to get to play with their food?

A few tips:

* make a batch of grains to use in daily cooking (brown rice medley or buckwheat for ex)

* Browned onions will make -everything- taste better. Except for your dessert.

*Use your leftovers in new ways so you don’t get bored.

Week 28: Potatoes for Everyone, Dumplings, & an Egyptian Smoke House.

[This post is coming a week-too-late. I’m still working on getting posts ready in time. I wrote everything on time, but for some reason posting the pictures got the best of my procrastination.]

It’s getting colder. My mood seems to be plummeting with along with the thermometer. Unhappy Regina means Pho for everyone! I have happily sipped on a giant bowl of Pho 3 times this week. In my ideal world, Pho would replace every meal, every day. Including the Turkey. I’m not a big fan. I’d much rather enjoy a bowl of warm bowl of beef broth than munch on dry meat. Just saying.

I decided I should be more visible online – so I joined the world of Twitter. I’ve only made a few posts while researching how to get the best out of it. Twitter is quite the tool.

This Thursday, as all of my US fellows know, was Thanksgiving. The day in America that precedes the greediest day of the year. It’s quite ironic that Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for everything in one’s life… Clearly, for many Americans, this is just a day full of lying to themselves and their families. If everyone was so thankful, we wouldn’t have masses of people lined up and trampling others to buy a toy. Or a TV. Seriously? We might as well call Thanksgiving the Day We Prepare Ourselves to Buy More Stuff. Not very succinct, but I’ve never been good with titles. Some people have actually started shopping ON Thanksgiving. Let’s be clear. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays (right next to my birthday & New Years). I try to remind myself to be grateful on a routine daily basis so the whole giving thanks is not the allure. Yes, giving thanks is important, but quite frankly if we had a culture where giving thanks didn’t get squished to ONE DAY of the year perhaps we wouldn’t have people trampling others for a freaking iPhone.

On this magical day, I’m able to eat as much food as I [really] want without anyone being the wiser. I’ve mentioned my disdain for turkey (I eat it anyway, thinking ‘this time I’ll actually love it!’), but the other dishes are worthy of seconds. This year, I wasn’t able to afford a ticket home [traveling around this time costs 3x more] so I joined one of my roommate’s family for the day. She is from Long Island. We took the LIRR (pronounced by saying out each letter L I R R – I naively thought it was pronounced leer) and met the most adorable older lady couple on the way. One had short light hair with green triangle earrings that reminded me of the 80’s and a very spunky outgoing nature. The other, wore a black visor over her short curls and a black long sleeve shirt that read ‘Unarmed Citizen’ with another black shirt underneath that read ‘Greed Kills’. Needless to say these ladies had my heart immediately.

Prior to leaving for Long Island, Mary Alice & I made truffle oil garlic mashed potatoes for a group of 30. It was a lot harder than I thought, but success was inevitable. They were pretty amazing.

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11.30: Today was the perfect example of what I had thought my life would consist of constantly. Of course this couldn’t be farther from the truth, but days like today do take place periodically.

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Union Square Holiday Market

* Made a couple dumplings stops in the East Village followed by some bubble tea.

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* Smoked hookah at an Egyptian Coffee House. This place screamed authentic with the dark and somewhat smokey interior and a handful of Egyptian men hanging out. A couple of men were playing Chinese checkers (?) while enjoying their hookah while another seemed to be dozing off. This was right off of Steinway in Astoria which is filled to the brim with hookah lounges. If you’ve ever walked this street, you’d know what I’m talking about. This hookah spot looked about as far from the other ‘lounges’ as possible. The other spots looked shiny and dark all at once. This spot didn’t have the fancy lighting or seating (the chairs had holes burnt into them), but it was adorned with a giant replica of an Egyptian Mummie at the entrance.  We sat there for quite some time, engaging in conversation. I had failed my coffee consumption ritual that morning so I enjoyed my first Turkish coffee here… needless to say my yawns had said their last goodbyes.

* That evening was chilly so I thawed my fingers while sipping a Cosmo by a small fireplace in the back of a small cafe (Cafe Vivaldi) in the West Village. This place is adorbs… very quaint and lovely indoors with tiny tables assembled in just the right orientation to view the front of the room (they host musicians nightly). One of my brother’s friends performed tonight. A perfect ending to a perfect day.