Thanks but no thanks

So these past few weeks I’ve been on a carb overload… Thanks to my mom who had a craving for bagels, there was a baker’s dozen from Panera Bread  lying around the house.  I’ve been known to chug a green smoothie with the best of them but I’m not that strong when it comes to bread especially when they come asiago cheese and cinnamon crunch flavored.

Any-who yesterday my sis and I was in an adventurous mood after church , so instead of our usual Chipotle we decided between Pei Wei or Gyroville. Never having either we chose Pei Wei,I had some Pei Wei Spicy Shrimp while my sis had Caramel chicken. At first  i was so intrigued by their soda machine that offered different flavored sprites and cokes, that i forgot all about the food. But i digress, The food was good but it was a bit on the high sodium side for my sis and I.  I truly believe its cause our body hasn’t been use to sodium levels like this in a long time ,since 75% of our daily intake is low in sodium or close to natural as we can get.

It was an interesting experience, but a few hrs later my sis and i felt like crap and i had a burning sensation on my chest that wouldn’t go away….All in all, Thanks but no thanks Pei Wei  -_-

Grand Lux’n

Over the weekend, Me and my sis decided to head over to the mall to do some light shopping. We worked up an appetite and  decided to stop at Grand Lux for lunch.  Instead of getting the usual lunch items we decided to order a bunch of things off the Mini bites/ Tapas menu. I ordered the Warm Goat Salad, Macaroni and cheese skillet and  Fried Pickles. While my sis had Avocado and Heirloom Tomato salad, Fried Calamari and Spanish Chorizo and cheese croquettes. It is known that we eat with our eyes as well as our mouths, and this my friends was nothing short of both.    Good Food, Good People, Good Times!

Mediterranean style quesadillas

On my weekly stops at the farmers market, i saw that they had these huge pita breads on sale. Not knowing what i would do with it, i threw it in the basket along with some greens. I than headed over to Whole Foods for some spirulina tablets and decided to grab some cheese. I bought a mozzarella cheese ball and pre- diced goat cheddar. This was my first time trying Goat cheddar but for those who haven’t tried it before , i would say it taste like  a mixture of  goat cheese and sharp cheddar.  Its pretty good but this is coming from a person who likes goat cheese lol, but if you want to try something different this is great to try.

Any-who when i got home i just threw in anything i had in the kitchen and created this Mediterranean style quesadilla. First you spread some pesto sauce on half the pita bread and sliced the mozzarella cheese and goat cheddar. Warm it up for about a minute in the microwave until the cheese is evenly melted. Add sliced tomatoes and fresh spinach followed by a couple splashes of balsamic vinaigrette and dried basil. Fold over the pita bread and cut into 2 to 4 pieces.  🙂

Did you know? Bananas

For the past 2 weeks ,I found myself eating 2 bananas a day.  So i decided to do research on bananas to see what health benefits do they actually provide, And it turns out bananas are considered a super-food!

Bananas have two times as many carbohydrates as an apple, five times as much Vitamin A and iron and three times as much phosphorus.

Bananas are rich in potassium,which  help the body’s circulatory system deliver oxygen to the brain. As well as lower one’s blood pressure,and  prevents the weakening of the body’s bones.

Bananas have a certain type of fiber that helps to restore and maintain regular bowel functions.

Bananas can help you lose weight or gain weight.

Last but not least , Banana provide  dopamine and serotonin which gives of a feeling of  relaxation and brain power.

I would say that these benefits are worth peeling away for so…. peel away my friends!

image source: publicdomainpictures.net

Hot and Cold

Summer in South Florida is not what its cracked up to be, Its usually one of the two extremes. Which is generally Super Sticky Hot or Super Wet and Rainy. Usually if we’re lucky, we tend to get both in the same day. Any-who, I don’t know how to explain the science of how the temperature of an air conditioned room drops to practically below zero when it raining outside. But at  my job this is what pretty much happens. So usually mid day when  the afternoon showers roll in, I’m in need of a parka and snow boots. Well today i couldn’t take it any more, so during lunch i went over to Starbucks to grab a hot zen green tea . When she handed me my tea, it was such a euphoric feeling that words can not describe how great it felt. To just hold that hot cup in my hands and defrost *sigh*… life simple pleasures :).

But for those who didn’t know, green tea have great health benefits check  out the list below:

Anti Aging

Immunity Boosting

Promotes Weight Loss

Lowers your risk of cancer

Prevent arthritis

Lower your cholesterol and blood pressure

Fancy Smancy Grilled Cheese sandwich

The other day Publix had a sale on the Ezekiel bread, never having tried  it before i figured why not. I ate it with almond butter and coffee one morning , and it was the driest thing i ever tasted. So I contemplated on what i should do with this, cause i wasn’t going to throw away $3.50 just like that. So i looked up sandwich recipes, and came across this Tyler Florence grilled cheese recipe. It asked for  Tomatoes, Mozzarella , Pesto and bread of course. I never had Pesto, so instead of making it the way he did. I used a store bought pesto which was pretty good. Any-who,  I defrosted the Ezekiel bread while i sliced up the tomato and mozzarella. I then proceeded to spread pesto on each slice of bread and layer the tomato and cheese  and closed it up with another slice of  pesto covered  bread. Instead of butter he suggested olive oil to grill the sandwich, i thought it was going to make the sandwich soggy but surprisingly it did not. The Ezekiel bread took the grilling great, it didn’t fall apart or stick to the pan at all .I had my family test it out for me, and they loved it. Little did they know they were eating the driest bread known to  man lol.

FYI: If you have a panini maker it would make thing easier but laying a piece of foil while putting a skillet on top worked out for me.

 

 

Full and content

This year for Independence day, me and my sis decided to do something different from the norm. So instead of doing a barbeque we decided to go to Joe’s Crab Shack and get some seafood. Some might say why seafood, but like i said in my last post: eating veggie/soy wings is not my idea of how life should be. Any-who Joe’s is known for their steam-pots, but i hate working for my food. The thought of cracking crab shells don’t intrigue me one bit. So instead i went for the instant gratification of fried goodness, and ordered “the hook up”. Which came with coconut shrimp, hush puppies, fish and chips, and crab stuffed shrimp. I know it’s a mouthful literally and figuratively but none the less, me and my stomach left Joe’s Crab shack full and content. 🙂

I just had an epiphany!

While doing this whole transitioning to vegetarian thing, I’ve come to realize a lot of things about me. But one thing i realized is, the whole idea of  eating things like tofu, beans or fake meats products  for protein for the rest of my life  is something i cant see me doing. I’ve been open in trying lots of different things but being  a former meat lover ground chicks peas, tofu , fake veggie wings don’t feel/seem natural to me. With that being said I decided to try Falafel for the first time and lets just say it wasn’t for me. The number one reason for this is because , i hate beans. It sucks because, the best way to get protein would be from beans and what not. But the thought of  a meal being primarily made of beans, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I had the same on going problem with hummus for a while, until i gradually stepped away from it. Poor chick peas, they can’t seem to catch a break lol .

Almond Fig Bar/Nuggets Balls

I rarely  make recipes out of cookbooks, but this weekend i decided to change that. I’m not much of a cook, but I’m definitely a baker hands down. So when i saw this recipe only ask for 2 ingredients , and you could mix it up to whatever you had on  hand, i decided  to try it. So i went on a head and did the almond fig nutribar  found in the Nutribullet Recipe book . I added a handful of raw almonds and dried figs in my NutriBullet, and in about 15 seconds everything was crushed and mix in together.  In the book it said to shape it  and wrap it up in plastic wrap, somehow mines ain’t held its shape though.  Mines ended up looking like the little snacks i feed my pet rabbit but it has the consistency and taste of a  larabar bar.  I give myself a B+ for effort lol.

Documentaries that changed my whole perspective

I don’t know about you but, summer days just makes me want to lounge around the house and watch movies all day. Forget the beach, give me an air conditioned room and unlimted movies and ill be good for days lol…This past weekend i was in the mood for one of those air condition and movies days, so i hopped on netflix and decided to watch for the second time Food inc. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m definitely not a fan of documentaries but this movie is an eyeopener  This movie will have you second think about  your next fast food run ,let alone scared to eat. But once seeing this and a couple other food documentaries that i will list below, you’re whole perspective  on food period ,will soon change.

1) Food Inc. 

2) Forks overs Knives

3) Food Matters

4) Fat Sick and nearly Dead

  

 

Image Source : delish.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com ,jacklalannepowerjuicerreview.com