Suburbanette

A few observations/comments on my second week of healthy living:

- Cooking and seasoning vegetables is 100x less time consuming that cooking with meat
- When you cook with vegetables you don’t have to worry about cross contaminating knives, plates, and cutting boards (less dishes to wash!!)
- All veggies taste better with a hint of lemon
- I now know the joys of being “regular” — if you know what I’m saying
- I don’t feel as sluggish around 3pm as I usually do
- Whole Foods is FREAKING EXPENSIVE.  I bought a small (the size of a small Asian female hand) package of gluten free crackers for $4.  They were pretty amazing but $4??!! Do quinoa and brown rice grow on money trees?
- I am still having trouble socializing and staying true to my new lifestyle.  It’s really hard to be a professional food blogger on a diet.
- But I am thinking it all might be worth it because I am saving the most exciting news of all for last — My jeans, work pants, and sailboat skirt now fit comfortably around my waist again!

After speaking to a few people, I realized that buying organic produce is not always an option for those with kids to support, a house to pay for, student loans, expensive shoe habits, etc.  This is something that you should not beat yourself up over.  If you arm yourself with the correct information you will find that there are some vegetables/fruit that lend themselves to more contaminants than others.  These are the products that you should buy organic — the rest….feel free to buy the cheapest of the lot!

For example, regular bananas are 19 cents at Trader Joes.  Their organic counter part is 29 cents — a whole ten cents more per banana.  If you are like my (living-in-sin/fake) family, you consume two bananas a day.  Those extra ten cents can really add up.  After doing some research about what vegetables/fruits I should purchase, I learned that since bananas have a thick skin, the fruit inside is protected from most of the pesticides.  Since Rob and I buy two bunches of bananas a week, that is a whole $1 saved thanks to a thing called KNOWLEDGE!

[#1] A few friends and I checked out the famous $3.49 Raw Bar Happy Hour at Dogwood Tavern for the first time.  We ate so many oysters that they cut us off.
[#2]  In order to play this How I Met Your Mother  related prank on Rob, I slept with a pineapple and then woke up in the middle of the night to strategically place it next to his bed.
[#3] One of my best friends from college decided to join the army so a few old friends and I got together for some good, old fashioned karaoke (which means empty orchestra in Japanese — another How I Met Your Mother reference…can you tell I’m obsessed?)
[#4] I took Kassie to the park and for the first time ever, she LOVED the swings.
[#5] I got invited to the Capital Cooking event at the House of Sweden and got to try Swedish food for the first time (not including meatballs!).
[#6] I went to a Real Housewives of NOVA event where I got a makeover that made me look like I had two black eyes.  On the bright side, I was able to test-drive Aveda’s all-natural, all-new, stress relief hand lotion and it is a-mah-zing.  When I came home, the first two things Rob said was “HAHAHA, What happened to your eyes?” and “Wow your hands feel awesome.”
[#7] Rob got Mass Effect 3 on his XBox so he got me a new book as a “I’m sorry, I won’t be spending a lot of time with you for the next few weeks” gift.
[#8] Luckily for him, Brand About Town sent me a brand new pink Nintendo 3DS to test-drive!  It has Wi-Fi so I can play it anywhere…I can’t wait to get my game-on.

These mushroom fajitas were JAWSOME.  And I’m the type of girl who appreciates an extra juicy steak fajita. Even though I had cheese as a topping option, I didn’t use it because the dish was so flavorful as is.  The best part?  It was super easy to make.  Rob helped me make the pico de gallo and guacomole while I made the mushroom filling which consisted of  giant Portobello mushroom caps, orange bell peppers, and red onions drizzled ever-so-slightly with olive oil and seasoned with Goya’s Adobo seasoning.

Unfortunately, I am starting to run out of vegetarian ideas so if anybody has any recipes they would be willing to share please send them over!

Rob and I love chicken wings but since he gave up fried food for Lent and I am trying to eat healthier in general, I had to come up with new alternative.

I really love Mediterranean style flavors so I seasoned some organic, free-range chicken wings I found at Trader Joe’s in olive oil, oregano, parsley, garlic, and onion powder and threw it on top  Cuisinart Griddler for about twenty minutes.  For an inside grill, the Griddler makes some amazing looking grill marks!  I topped my chicken with fresh squeezed lemon juice and some parsley that I snipped off my new herb plant.

We ate the meal with a side of kale, cucumbers and tzatziki sauce for dipping.

….and rice!  I can’t give up my rice.

I’ve been so caught up in mourning Lewy/becoming a crazy health nut that I forgot to update about some not-so-recent going-ons.

[1] Shannon, Kristina, Devon and I attended the Spicy Candy DC brunch at Hudson Lounge. [2] We extended our brunch till 4pm with some mandu and sojutinis. [3] Tasting menu at Graffiato’s for Devon’s birthday — one word, A-MAH-ZING. [4] Wearing my SPRING IS HERE!!! pansy trench (also worn by Quinn on Glee) [5] One of the many loves of my life — Kassie!

A few months ago I was traveling in New York and by pure kismet my hotel maid left an unattended cart of Aveda products by my hotel door for a full 24-hours.  Rob was completely mortified but you can BET I filled my little toiletry bag full of their famous rosemary-mint shampoo and conditioner (As a beauty junkie, I know the street price for Aveda products is way high).

Unfortunately, my stash ran out a few months ago, but I NEEDED that special high of a tingly-clean scalp that could only be achieved by essential oils and expensive salon brand shampoo.  Luckily for me, Trader Joe’s saved the day (as always).

Their Tea-Tea Tingle shampoo is sulfate-free (see my previous post on the benefits of sulfate-free shampoos here), has a blend of certified organic botanicals such as peppermint and tea tree oil all for the LOW price of $3.99.

I have used this shampoo on a daily basis for two months now and it is officially going in my beauty product hall of fame.  Besides being good for the environment and my health — the results are amazing!  My hair has never felt squeaky clean, shiny, soft and manageable.  The smell is also invigoratingly delicious!

I can see this shampoo easily being drying for thin or curly hair but on my super straight, horse-like Asian hair it is perfection in a bottle.

*I was not compensated to write this review and all thoughts are my own.

So it has been one week exactly since I decided to make the decision to get healthier, salvage my poor heart, and make sure that my fiance stays with me for a very long time.

Here are a few observations/notes:

- That weird tingly feeling in my leg?  SAYONARA!  The only time it made an appearance this week was after a meat-laden meal at one of Rob’s family parties.
- I am becoming more aware of how my body digests things, what food items makes me feel sick, when I am thirsty, when I am in pain, etc.
- My body CRAVES green smoothies!  I have been making them every morning and it is the perfect light breakfast to hydrate me and get me ready for the day.
- I have started doing ten minutes of yoga per day to clear my mind and relax my body.  I am having a hard time with my poses and figuring out if I am doing them right so a class might be in my near future.
- Upcoming challenges for me:  Eating more raw food (I hate eating cold food!), cutting out processed carbs like white rice and pasta, not gorging myself on food and alcohol when I am out in social settings (I cooked and ate at home mostly this week but I am missing my fun socialite ways)

Also thanks to the following people:
Rob – For supporting me and eating my food even when he doesn’t like it
Kristina – For giving me free medical advice and getting me excited about living a healthier life
Maricel – For introducing me the ways of Green Goddess/Hottie-Mc-Tottie/Name Twin Kimberly Snyder
Myra – For reminding me to drink water
Pear - For yoga and healthy eating tips
And everybody else who left a comment of support!  Hopefully I will never have to worry about cancer or heart disease again.

Ever since I saw a Facebook photo of my sister Kristina’s pesto noodles made with homegrown basil, I have been JONESING for the dish.  My time finally came last Thursday night.  I didn’t get home from work till about 8:30 and I wanted something carb-filled and creamy in my belly.

I followed Ina Garten’s basic pesto recipe but since I had so much spinach in the fridge (I’m already up to my second bag this week) I decided to add some spinach in it as well.  I made a boo-boo and added 100x more garlic than I should have (I confused the difference between bulb and clove but stopped myself before things got crazy) but I actually really enjoyed the dish (I think it is because I am sick and have no taste buds or sense of smell).  Rob on the other hand politely had one plate and then promptly brushed his teeth and popped ten altoids.  You live, you learn!

By day 3 of our vegetarian diet, Rob was begging for some meat!  I was okay with that because everything is fine in moderation.  I was able to find some thinly sliced grass-fed beef so I decided to make bulgogi.  I served the meal with lots of romaine lettuce and kim chi so we could make our own Korean-style lettuce wraps.