I don’t consider myself a feminist. Or at least, I didn’t until yesterday when I read Gena’s post and then today when I had this particular discussion with Kate and her mom. I am not a feminist in the traditional sense; I don’t think that women should have high-powered executive jobs and I don’t think that women have to have wonderful exciting careers to prove that they are just as capable as men. No. I just think that the work women do for their families should be considered just as important as the work that a CEO does (if not more important, actually). I think the feminists of the 60s and 70s got it wrong, and I think they actually made life harder for women of my generation.

I actually have a lot to say about this, but I am saving it for something – you will just have to wait and see what it is! I promise; it’s exciting. Kate is in on it.

Here are some things I might do if I could do whatever I wanted all day:

• Review a macrobiotic diet plan (this was such a fun experiment).
• Make new creations with PB2… (PB2, where are you?? I ordered a new box over a month ago.)
• Experiment with rice cooker recipes (I’m on this weird mailing list for recipes – I don’t know why they send me recipes all the time, but I’m actually kind of glad for it!)
• Bake more! I have been meaning to make these black bean brownies that I made a long time ago.

In an effort to use my womanly baking skills and show off a bit, I made these cookies for my office last night (Monday was a rough day; baked goods are always good for cheering up) and took them in this morning. I think they worked. I enjoy baking even if it’s not as “important” as working in an office.

Quinoa Flake Cookies (Gluten Free)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• dash of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F.

Mix everything together. You can mix the dry together and the wet together separately if you want, but I didn’t and they still came out good.

Drop onto a baking sheet – heaping spoonfuls – and bake for ~15 minutes. Make sure they don’t burn! Soft yet crispy – see:

What would you do all day if you could do anything you wanted? I forgot to mention I would also play with my fats…

Fat cat in a bag (we didn’t put him in; he just likes it).

Fat cat on a couch.

Anyway… What would you do all day if you could do anything you wanted?

We have picked a place for the ceremony – the meetinghouse I grew up going to in Yardley, PA. Here is a nice picture (this is in the winter):

They are so sweet – when my dad told them I was getting married they blocked off every weekend in July for us (we still haven’t picked the exact date).

Now for the reception! We have a few options. We may be able to have it at the meetinghouse, if we can get them to let us have wine and beer (Quakers typically do not drink, myself included). If that doesn’t work out, we will likely have it at my parents’ house in New Jersey. My really sweet Auntie Jo and Uncle Morris (remember our gingerbread houses?) offered their house (in Flushing) for the reception as well – they have a great backyard. I think we will have a party there this summer anyway even if we don’t have the reception there.

Speaking of Auntie Jo, we took a really awesome cooking class last week… I must update about that. Soon, I promise. It was called “Eat Local, Drink Global” and the focus was fish. The very talented Peter Berley was the teacher. I think Bobby is jealous of my celebrity crush on him.

Onto the food! Here are some yummy things I have eaten recently: frozen yogurt from Berrywild – The Art of Yogurt.

Berrywild has two kinds of yogurt – “berry smooth” and “kinda icy”. Bobby and I both got “kinda icy” (they taste the same, but “kind icy” has fewer calories). So good! I will definitely go back. Bobby always gets toppings but I am too cheap for toppings.

I like to switch up my morning breakfast grains (when I go for grains). This is grits with lots of cinnamon (that’s why it’s kind of brown and looks like oat bran). I topped it with agave nectar and coconut oil.

I don’t understand what the difference is between coconut oil and coconut butter. The oil is solid at room temperature, so it’s kind of buttery. The butter melts really easily just like the oil. Are they the same?

I was thinking a lot about oil this past weekend (I have weird thoughts). I went through a phase where I did not eat much oil, and I was miserable. You can’t get full not matter how much you eat, you are cold, and your skin is dry. High quality oil is amazing for your skin, hair, hormones, etc… You have to eat fats! It is so important. I would even go so far as to say that eating more fat will help you lose weight, provided that you don’t overdo it. I have gained weight this winter and I know it’s because I wasn’t eating enough fats and I was eating too many carbs. That is changing though – I want to look awesome in my wedding dress this summer

What’s your favorite healthy fat? I think mine is coconut oil or butter. Love them both.

• Becoming Whole, by Meg Wolff (book review)
• 2-week wrap-up
• 1-week thoughts
• Lessons learned

Here are some more tips for a DIY Macrobiotic Lifestyle…

Tip #1: Don’t stress. Chill out. Do the things that make you happy, not the things that make you sad/angry/depressed/anxious/etc… So many people forget that stress is probably the number one cause of disease. So don’t stress!

Tip #2: Don’t exercise too much. Incorporate movement into your daily routine, but don’t overdo it. I like to get my movement through walking – I aim for about 2 miles a day. Last week I walked to work every day (I think), so that was 2 miles a day. Then yesterday I didn’t really walk at all, and Today I ended up walking about 4 miles because Bobby and I went out to enjoy the lovely weather we’ve been having in New York. Central Park was beautiful today. Anyway, it all balances out.

Tip #3: Keep your meals simple. Souen has very balanced dishes – the Macro Plate, the Planet Platter (different names for the same dish at different locations) – that incorporate squash (kabocha), veggies (broccoli or kale, carrots, diakon, and hijiki seaweed), beans (pinto I think), and rice (brown). The dishes come with a great dressing (lots of healthy fats) – miso tahini. I cannot get enough! So I had to make something similar for myself.

This was my attempt at recreating last week’s brunch for lunch: kabocha, broccoli, and carrots, topped with a black sesame seed sauce. After this shot I packed it into a tupperware to eat at the office.

The sauce is so simple, and so good. I have been having it on everything this week.

Black Sesame Seed Paste/Sauce – Ingredients

• 3-4 tablespoons black sesame seed powder (probably just ground toasted black sesame seeds)
• 2 teaspoons agave nectar or other sweetener (maple syrup or brown rice syrup would also be good)
• splash of soy sauce (<1 teaspoon)
• water, as needed (for thinning)

Black Sesame Seed Paste/Sauce – Method

Mix the powder, sweetener, and soy sauce. Add water to thin, if needed. Add more powder to thicken, if needed. Adding more agave will make it creamier, which is how I like it.

Hope you enjoyed these macro tips… I’m off to watch more of the Oscars. Go Sandra Bullock! (I loved The Blind Side.)

Who are you rooting for?

Last time Bobby didn’t like his meal much (I think he ordered the wrong thing), but last night was so different. He started out with a natto roll (fermented soy beans, brown rice, seaweed, and wasabi and ginger) ($4.00).

Then our main dishes came out. I got the Planet Platter ($8.50! great deal), which is very similar to my brunch last week. It’s a huge plate of brown rice, beans, steamed kabocha squash (!), steamed kale, hijiki seaweed, steamed daikon, and steamed carrots.

Ahh, it was heavenly. I got the miso tahini dressing (again). I am a creature of habit, yes. I finished almost all of this at the restaurant; brought home some of the rice for later but caved and had it as a midnight snack.

Bobby got the Chick Pea Croquette (3 pieces of deep-fried chick pea croquette with curry carrot sauce; served with yam and mesclun salad) ($13). It came with veggies and brown rice.

I tried a piece of a croquette at dinner and we took the 3rd croquette home (he was full from the sushi)… which I had with my midnight rice snack. Yum! These were really good but really garlicky – my mouth was so gross this morning, even though I brushed my teeth really well.

I am actually off to Souen again (Soho location this time) to meet a blogger – I have not decided what to get yet. I think the menus are different at each location. I also want to get my nails done today! I haven’t gotten a mani or pedi in ages.

What are you doing this weekend?

This was me in Islamorada at age 6 months (ish). My parents went down to Key West on vacation and I’m pretty sure I loved it. We drove through Bobby’s hometown so we like to say that maybe we caught a glimpse of each other when we were babies.

Jamba Juice oatmeal:

They make the most perfectly cooked bowl of steel cut oats I’ve ever had. I was getting their $1 Wednesday breakfasts, but starting this week it went up to $2. Still a steal!

And I can’t forget salad…

This is from Chickpea, a cute little mediterranean place by my office. Their motto is: “always baked. never fried.” The layout is similar to Chipotle – you pick between a pita, a salad, a platter, or a hummus plate. I got the salad, topped it with original hummus, falafel (spinach flavor), my choice of 4 veggies (pickles, cabbage, black olives, and a cucumber/tomato mix), and tahini dressing. Yum!

Chickpea is located on 6th ave around West 23rd Street I believe. They do have other locations.

I’m out. What makes you happy?

What do you do on the weekends? My weekend involved brunch with Marina and Bobby at Counter downtown. At the server’s recommendation I got the “hearty” faro porridge, which was really just a small bowl of rice-like grains in milk. Fail. I dumped in some fake vegan butter to save it. Not worth $9 at all.

What do you do when food disappoints you? Eat something else of course. Marina ordered goodies for the table and these were actually really good. Also $9, but a slightly better deal.

Or you can eat your fiance’s food (only a few bites). (Tofu scramble with hash browns and toast, $13.)

What do you do when someone you love asks you to give something up in order to get better? You listen. You pray. You love back. You face your fears. You let go. You let go of everything that makes you anxious. You let go of something you have clung to for 8 years. You take a leap. Wish me luck.

What have YOU done recently?

This morning after meeting (3rd week in a row!) Bobby and I went to Souen, a macrobiotic restaurant, for brunch. It was absolute heaven. You might remember that I experimented with macrobiotics last year (actually it was just over a year ago this month) and I really enjoyed it. I cultivated my love of kabocha and I learned a lot about how the food we eat impacts the way we feel (duh). Here are some resources:

• Becoming Whole, by Meg Wolff (book review)
• 2-week wrap-up
• 1-week thoughts
• Lessons learned

So today I wanted to try going back to macrobiotics again. I opted for “Brunch A” ($8.50 – well worth it!! Huge portions for me):

• Kenchin-Tofu Drop Soup: tofu, shiitake, burdock, carrot and watercress in kombu kuzu broth.
• Corn Bread or Spelt Bread (I got corn bread, duh – with miso tahini dressing)
• Steamed Vegetables (carrot, daikon, squash and greens)

Bobby got “Brunch B” ($11 – oddly enough this was less food than Brunch A):

• Yuba: steamed tofu “skin” marinated in kombu-shiitake broth.
• Mixed Grain of the Day (basmati wild rice)
• Goma-Ae: steamed special greens with black sesame sauce.
• Goma Tofu: soy free, creamy and nutty sesame “tofu”.
• Stewed Vegetables: cooked carrot, gobo, yam cake and lotus root in tamari broth.

I thought this was possibly the best lunch/brunch I have ever had. And there were flowers, soy sauce, and sesame seeds:

My soup came first. Bobby and I actually swapped soups because we each liked the other’s better.

The cornbread was really interesting (in a good way) – it was not very sweet at all and tasted healthy (again, in a good way). It came with miso tahini dressing (I finished this dressing and got more – so good). Two related recipes that I made before:

• Corn bitelettes (a BSI entry)
• Cornbread pudding/casserole

My veggies came last. The kabocha was ripe and perfectly steamed. The carrots and daikon were also perfectly steamed. Even the kale was delicious! (Sometimes I think it’s boring.)

Here was Bobby’s spread (clockwise from top left: spinach, rice, tofu skin thing, sesame tofu thing, and soup):

I thought that Bobby’s gomae (steamed spinach with sesame sauce – I have a recipe here) was really yummy. He thought it tasted a little bit like dirt, but I honestly thought it was awesome. I also thought his goma tofu (tofu made with sesame) was awesome, but he didn’t like the texture much. Next time he is getting fish. We’re going to bring his mom here when his family visits in March (!). I think she would appreciate it.

Brunch dessert was a piece of Macasure chocolate. I saw it at Whole Foods yesterday and picked it up. Really good! Bobby liked it too.

I’m gonna end with a mantra that I was contemplating this morning during my hour of silence:

May everyone be happy, well, and peaceful.

How was your weekend?

• Do you have a dream honeymoon?
• What exactly is your past with eating disorders? You’ve alluded to it before, without going into much detail. I’d love to hear more!
• Why do you call yourself Salad Girl? I like you in that you don’t only eat greens, and you actually allow real food. Was that "salad girl" name just bc when you started the blog, you had eating disordered tendencies? If so, do you plan to change it?
• Who’s your best friend?
• How many blog friends do you have?
• Who’s your favorite sister? (Hi, Jules)
• Who do you like better? Bo or Cous? (Hi, Bobby)
• Do you prefer the West Coast or East Coast?

Ask me more!

What are your plans this weekend? I have 2 brunch meetups to go to! My stomach has been really bothering me today (I think I ate something bad last night) so I hope I can go.

I’ve been very inspired by a few (Nicole) beautiful (Gena) posts (Melissa) the last few days. It’s also National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, so I thought it might be an appropriate time to discuss some of those topics. I will try to do another post later today (I’m working from home, so must get back to that!), but in the meantime…

Ask Me Anything.

Enjoy this snowy day if you are in New York, and if you are basking in glorious weather somewhere else – I’m jealous.

• Wrap (why don’t they have whole wheat yet?)
• Rice (yum! I love the way they season and butter this)
• Carnitas (shredded pork)
• Extra fajita veggies
• Tomato and corn salsas
• Lettuce

I ate a little more than half and put it away (I was at lunch with Bobby). Five minutes later I was still ravenous (Bobby was just finishing up his burrito – exactly the same as mine but with beans instead of fajita veggies) so I finished it off. I haven’t been “coping” the last few nights which is why my daytime hunger is so out of control. It was incredibly delicious though.

Ah, here was my breakfast today – grits with coconut oil and maple syrup. My dad used to make grits all the time when I was growing up. Actually – he still does. Every time Bobby and I go to New Jersey he makes us fried grits and they are amazing.

I have been very busy wedding planning this week (did I mention I’m trying to plan a wedding in 5 months?). Luckily it’s a simple wedding and I already have the dress ordeal behind me. It was not an ordeal. Last night I met up with Kate to go look at dresses for her wedding (October). We saw some beautiful dresses made from antique lace (Jana Starr). Awesome.

Anyway, I didn’t get to do my walking yesterday and then I didn’t walk again today (raining). So tonight I plan on doing my Diane Von Furstenberg exercises (sometimes I call them DVF exercises or dvf stretching). I haven’t been into yoga lately but that’s okay. My interests come and go in phases (not that yoga is going – it’s just not top priority right now).

What’s your favorite burrito? What do you put in it? Where do you get it?