Healthy Eating and Gardening

Kale Soup (for those who want to eat kale another way!)

2013-10-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

Tuscan Kale Soup

Great Way to beat the cold weather!

Inspired by reading a WebMD Diabetes Magazine

Every now and then when I feel like I'm missing out on those leafy greens, and especially when the Fall and Winter season come around, I love adding kale into soups because it's one of those hearty vegetables that works the best when it's cooked this way, not only to add flavor but healthier as well. I found this recipe while waiting in the doctors office off of a WebMD Diabetes Magazine.

If you want to experiment with kale but not sure how, or have never tried, this is a great recipe and tastes really good. Is there something that you make when the cooler months hit? If so, I'd love to get any tips or recipes!

Top Gun - Great Dim Sum Place on the Eastside/Bellevue Area

2013-10-16T22:26:00.003-07:00

Great Dim Sum Place on the Eastside/Bellevue Area

Top Gun Seafood Restaurant

If you are ever wanting of great dim sum, check this place out! It's called Top Gun Seafood Restaurant and it's located in a neighborhood of Bellevue called Factoria. My husband and I go to this restaurant when we feel like we're missing out on dim sum and we're never let down on the quality of food that they serve. We went camera happy and on this occasion, we wanted to take some pictures off the food.

The last time I had dim sum, I believe I also had jasmine tea along with it and it was delicious.

The dim sum that we normally order are:

1. Chinese broccoli with sauce

2. Shiu mai

3. Honey Walnut Prawns (not shown)

4. Shrimp on green pepper

5. Turnip Cake

6. Shrimp on sugar cane
7. Taro Puff
8. Sesame Balls (w/ red bean paste)
9. Shrimp Balls

Top Gun Seafood Restaurant

Chinese broccoli with sauce

Shiu mai

Shrimp on green pepper

My favorite dim sum is this man!

Yummy, yummy!

If you have a favorite dim sum order, what is it? and why? Which dim sum would you recommend for me to try next time? Comment below! Or let me know if this blog was helpful!

Orange Colored Raspberries!

2013-07-24T14:40:00.001-07:00

They're not orange colored blackberries, or berries that have been pissed on by roaming dogs...

Nope! Strangely enough, these orange-colored berries are a variation of the raspberry. A red raspberry and yellow hybrid at that. According to this article written in the UK, this berry is about the same taste as the red cousin. I came upon this fruit while taking my Chinese Crested Powderpuff doggie for her walks. I tried some and nothing bad happened! In fact it tasted like a red raspberry but not as tarte, very mild.

Has anyone come across this interesting variety? I found this article that sheds some light on it!

When I Feel Like Eating Like a Korean Woman

2013-07-24T07:47:00.002-07:00

A Typical Korean Lunch

How to make your house stink? Whip up some Korean food and you will succeed in doing so. Recently I've been ingesting the famous soy bean paste stew called Dang Jang Jigae. And why you may ask? It is because I read that fermented soybeans can be good for you. Check out the wiki on DoenJang here. (Also, I've been craving it as well.) It is salty so that is why I eat it with rice. I eat brown rice.

Korean style soy bean paste stew can be made with tofu, zucchini, onions and potato, among other vegetables and meats. However, there is no meat and tofu is the main protein. There is the anchovy side dish but I make sure to load the stew with more than enough tofu so that I am plenty full. If I eat this kind of meal, I usually eat it as my breakfast/lunch or lunch/dinner.

Aside from the stew, I picked up some radish kimchee from my HMART and this is the main stinker. However! This darling fermented vegetable is my favorite so far! I love radishes and I love practically anything that's been fermented, or pickled. Plus, this is perfectly spiced and for whatever reason reminds me of my childhood when my mother used to feed me this stuff all the time.

I usually eat my Korean dishes with laver as well, or what I call kim. It is basically salted seaweed. It is soooo good!

Finally I like to include a side dish. This one is called seasoned myeolchi, or otherwise known as anchovies. Included with the myeolchi are green peppers. Here is a wiki on Korean side dishes or little side plates also known as banchan.

So here is what the overall lunch looks like. I don't have this type of dish all the time. This does have quite a bit of salt and I don't want to over do it on the rice. I am more confident of how to make the soy bean paste stew than I was a few weeks ago, that's for sure. I make sure to drink plenty of fluids to offset the salt in the soy bean paste such as hot tea or just water. Anyway, thought I'd share what I eat and makes my tummy feel full and good! Have a great day!

Sugar Free Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

2012-11-18T18:58:00.000-08:00

Hi y'all!

Are we ready for the Fall season chilly evenings so that we can snuggle in front of the fire place yet? I am! I love the Fall Season because it's a nice change from the warm or hot long summer days. Even when the cold settles in, I just sink into a warmer jacket or jack up the heater, with a, you guessed it, a warm drink.

Anyhoo, the reason why I wanted to write tonight is because I just made myself a pumpkin spice latte! It's a skinny too! (By the way, for those of you that don't know, skinny refers to the drink as sugar-free and fat-free.) The Torani Syrup that I used is this: Pumpkin Spice (Sugar Free) Syrup and I used fat free milk. For the espresso, I used two ounces of our coffee which is already very strong. If you're intersted, it's the Lion's Coffee from Hawaii in Chocolate Macademia Lions Coffee.

Whether it's tea or coffee, or a hot chocolate, or even just hot water, warm yourself up!

I used a video from pinkmacprincess on youtube called How to Make a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Thank you pinkmacprincess!

FYI, since I can't seem to find my camera battery, I will have to take a picture of this lovely drink at a later time. You can purchase the Torani Syrups at most grocery markets and World Market stores. I'm not sure where I got mine from though, hmm....oh well!

Sip well!

Shepard's Pie, squash style!

2012-10-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I was trying to find something to eat that wouldn't spike up my sugar levels. I didn't prepare by looking online for recipes like I usually do, but I had faith that I at least had the ingredients to come up with something healthy. Wait a minute, that's right! I took some time to prepare squash and had loads of it in the refrigerator. I also had ground beef from making spaghetti the night before. (Yes, we had spaghetti, but we used Dreamfields pasta and that's ok - just don't eat spaghetti every night!) So, I thought to myself, why not make a shepards pie using the butternut squash as the topping instead of mashed potatoes and add the spaghetti squash pasta as filling? I added cheese on top just like you would a shepards pie recipe.

My pie actually turned out to be quite scrumptious! Here are some pictures!

Butternut Squash, Salmon, and Green Beans

2012-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a dinner plate that I just had to take a picture of because it has all the stuff (in my opinion) that makes a good meal without skipping on any carbs or protein and is good for you!

I bought the salmon from Metropolitan Market, I believe it was silver salmon and it was fresh! The butternut squash I bought from Safeway and pretty much left it in the oven (with some butter) to cook. After about an hour, I cut it into small pieces and mashed it up with some salt and pepper and wha-la! Mashed butternut squash! With the green beans, I washed and cut the ends, boiled it for a few minutes and placed in cold bath to leave the green beans bright in color and less tender, and cooked it with some olive oil and spices.

Butternut squash mash is a great alternative to potato mashers because it has a lower glycemic value so you don't get that spike in sugar as you would with potatoes. You just have to be careful when preparing the squash itself. Make sure you use a sharp knife because the squash has a very hard exterior. Sometimes I have my husband do that part for me!

Food Notes: August 29, 2012

2012-08-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk, Knudsen's low sodium tomato juice(tastes exactly like a virgin bloody mary!)

Lunch:
Hominy grits scramble (1 egg, black beans, hominy(white corn grits), olive tapenade, hot eggplant sauce)

Dinner:

Snacks in between:

Food Notes: August 28th, 2012

2012-08-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
Huevos egg scramble from Whole Foods (egg, black beans, sour cream, tomatoes) coffee

Lunch:
ground meat salad (leftover ground beef, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese balls, lettuce, small pieces of tortilla chips, balsamic vinegar and garlic olive oil)

Dinner:
Broccoli hominy grits with pad of butter

Snacks in between:
salami and low fat mozzarella cheese stick
cashews

Food Notes: August 27th, 2012

2012-08-29T11:51:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk

Lunch:
leftover korean food (Pork Soon du-boo chigae with a little brown rice and cucumber kimchee)

Dinner:
2 chicken and 1 pork taco, 1 meat taco salad

Snacks in between:
cherry tomatos, 3 shots! of Canadian whiskey and diet 7up to follow!, tic-tacs and piece of cheese

Food Notes: August 26, 2012

2012-08-26T20:09:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk

Lunch:
tofu with white kimchee

Dinner:
3 Mexican authentic tacos (2 pork and 1 chicken)

Snacks in between:
cherry tomatos
cashews
coffee and creamer
1 piece of chocolate

Food Notes: August 25th, 2012, Day off!

2012-08-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
water

Lunch:
white wine, clam chowder, 2 pieces of fried cod, cole slaw, coffee, bites of hotdog and chili, 2 fried cheesy peppers

Dinner:
water, coffee

Snacks in between:
Trader Joe's potato chips
cashews

Jim and I went to the Queen of Seattle boat trip in the mid afternoon. We knew that we were going to go all out for our lunch so we kept it on the down low as far as calories were concerned. Now is this the right way to have eaten our calories today?

Any suggestions? :) We definitely had our fill, but by the same token, we were starving by the time we got into the boat.

I'm back up to 2 pounds but this week I'm holding myself responsible for any calories that i ingest. Speaking of which, I have a wedding to be at this coming Sunday and would like to look nice and un- swollen. This goes for you too Jim!

Food Notes: August 23rd, 2012

2012-08-24T17:30:00.002-07:00

Breakfast:
egg scramble (eggs, pancetta, heart of palm, parmesan)

Lunch:
tofu and white kimchee

Dinner:
chicken salad

Snacks in between:
Salami, heirloom baby tomatos plate
1 dark chocolate
popchips

Food Notes: August 24th, 2012

2012-08-24T17:25:00.002-07:00

Breakfast/Lunch:
Taco Time taco salad (salad mix, black beans, salsa, cheese,)

Dinner:
Korean food, (fish, tofu, side dishes)

Snacks in between:
Starbucks iced coffee latte
cashews
1 glass red wine

Food Notes: August 21st, 2012

2012-08-22T17:41:00.002-07:00

Breakfast and Lunch:
tomato juice, water, Genoa Salami And Provolone Cheese snack pack from Trader Joes

Dinner:
Pizza Tortilla (ground beef, mozzarella cheese, black olives, whole wheat tortilla, hot green pepper, red onion

Snacks in between:
wine
popchips/doritos!

Food Notes: August 22, 2012

2012-08-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk, egg salad

Lunch:
Tomato and feta salad with cucumbers and garbanzo beans, garlic EVOO, balsamic vinegar, water

Dinner:
1 chicken and mozzarella homemade soft taco with salsa and sour cream
1/4 cup chili salad (canned chili, chopped up romaine lettuce and sour cream)

Snacks in between:
15 cashews
3 tic tacs
20 popchips
1 cup tomato juice

So far I've kept about 5 pounds off!

Food Notes: August 19th, 2012

2012-08-20T11:50:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
IHOP 7 for 7$ meal Sirloin wrapped in bacon and two eggs. ( I shared half of two pancakes with my hubby), coffee with half and half

Lunch:
BBQ with friends (hot dog, no bun, mustard, broccoli and imitation crab meat salad-delicious, by the way!) and iced water

Dinner:
tuna and mayo mix

Snacks in between:
popcorn
spiked diet whiskey! (spiked with Canadian whiskey from Las Vegas)
cashews
4 small spoon fulls of chocolate and peanut butter ice cream

Food Notes: August 18th, 2012

2012-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

Breakfast:
tofu, chicken, and pepper stir-fry, coffee with non-fat milk, water

Lunch:
Taco Time chicken salad, black beans, vegetables, lettuce and mild taco sauce as dressing, coffee with non-fat milk, added some sour cream, water

Dinner:

Snacks in between:
mozzarrella stick
tablespoon of natural peanut butter with 1 small piece of 80% dark chocolate
tic-tac Strawberry Fields
xylitol, Fresh fruit mints

Food Notes: August 17th, 2012

2012-08-17T20:58:00.003-07:00

Back to life in Kirkland!

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk, tomato juice, and one hard boiled egg, water

Lunch:
tofu fried with peppers, a little spicy but yummy! water

Dinner:
Cobb salad (greens, ham, egg salad, almond slivers, feta cheese, cherry vinaigrette)
diet coke, water

Snacks in between:
1 piece of 80% dark chocolate, I piece of sugar free dark chocolate
water

Food Notes: Aug 14th to Aug 17th, in Las Vegas!

2012-08-17T20:54:00.002-07:00

This is what I remember having between these days

Breakfast:
coffee, egg omelette, ham, tomato juice

Lunch:
Qdoba salad with lettuce, black beans, and chicken, marinated peppers, Korean vegetable side dishes, shrimp, celery, tomato juice, beef patties, marinated Korean perilla leaves, (I had a little bit of bean rice) garden salad with tomatoes and cheese and ranch dressing

Dinner:
protein style InNOut burger, (had a little bit of chocolate shake), no fries! buffet with all protein and vegetables, beef patties, marinated Korean perilla leaves, garden salad with tomatoes

Snacks in between:
peanuts, pistachios, coffee, cheese, whiskey, and red wine!

Food Notes: August 12th, 2012, Sunday (Day off)

2012-08-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
IHOP (My husband and I made a decision that Sunday's are going to be our day off)
International breakfast with German crepes

Lunch:
Starbucks iced coffee-latte

Dinner:
Korean pork-belly dish (pork belly meat, red lettuce)
green onion dressing (julienne cut)
sesame oil, salt and black pepper

Food Notes: August 11th, 2012, Saturday

2012-08-13T11:02:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk

Lunch (on a boat):
open face turkey sandwich (no-no on the bread), red wine (no-no for South Beach for Phase 1), 4 chips*, quinoa salad

Dinner:
I'll have to ask my hubby...I forgot what I had!

Food Notes: August 10th, 2012 Friday (so far...)

2012-08-10T13:48:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk, 1 cup of tomato juice (low sodium), 1 hard boiled egg

Lunch:
Tomato, mozzarella slices, and basil with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Dinner:

Snacks throughout the day:
1 hard boiled egg

Food Notes: August 9th, 2012

2012-08-10T03:05:00.004-07:00

August 9th, 2012, Thursday

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk, 1 cup of tomato juice, water

Lunch:
a few turkey slices, 1/5 cup of cottage cheese, coffee with non-fat milk, water

Dinner:
Spring green salad with chicken, feta cheese, almond slivers dressed with a cherry vinaigrette.
water

Snacks throughout the day:
15 cashews
(kid size frozen yogurt)
1 piece of dark chocolate
leftover chicken
couple pieces of tomato and 1/4 cup of leftover cooked cabbage
Tic tacs

Exercise:
Light interval walking at the mall.

As crazy as this may sound, I've already lost 4 pounds!
Referring to this website helps with what I can and what I can not eat during Phase 1.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/southbeachfoods.htm

Food Notes: Phase 1

2012-08-08T13:08:00.001-07:00

Breakfast:
coffee with non-fat milk,

Lunch:
coffee with non-fat milk, a couple slices of deli turkey, 1/4 cup of low-fat cottage cheese and 15 cashews

Dinner:
Beef, Mushroom, and onion dish, cooked cabbage, green beans

Snacks throughout the day:
mozzarella stick
small piece of sugar free dark chocolate
Tomato Juice