Anything Goes

Yummy Sauteed Zuchinni!

2012-10-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to share with you a little food tidbit! I had some zuchinni leftover from a zuchinni pasta I tried last week and it was needing to be eaten stat! So I decided to stir fry it to accompany my salad for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. So here's what I did: I heated coconut oil and garlic, sea salt, and pepper in a skillet. Then added some onion for a little additional flavor. Then added the zuchinni and sauteed it for a good 5-10 min or so. I wanted to make sure the flavor soaked in (I don't mind the soggy texture). And that's it! I ended up with a juicy/brothy liquid afterwards which would make this dish excellent served over rice! Note: Do a taste test. If you want more flavor, add more seasoning. If it's too strong, add more zuchinni. So don't just dump everything in there all at once. Use your judgement and alter according to taste. Just make sure to heat up the seasoning in the oil for a couple minutes! I recommend an organic oil with a high flash point (which is why I choose coconut), unrefined is always best because it means it has not undergone any heavy processing. I used Spectrum Organic Coconut oil from the Fresh Market. Here is a link for the unrefined Spectrum coconut oil. Spectrum Naturals 21624 Organic Unrefined Coconut Oil (Google Affiliate Ad)

Spreading Love Through Home Cooked Meals: How to and why we should make our own salad dressings!

2012-10-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered why on earth anyone would just use the oil and vinegar bottle at the salad bar in the restaurant? Or why the restaurants even bother to offer those at all? Perhaps you just shrugged it off and thought to yourself, "Oh, must be for the pretentious types or for someone with allergies or something." I myself am guilty of those thoughts. Many times, I just passed over it, turning my nose up and reaching for the manufactured balsamic vinaigrette that I mistook for a healthier dressing. But I'd like to share with you why we should opt for the oil/vinegar both at the restaurant and at home. First, it's much better for our health. The manufactured dressings are full of preservatives and synthetic substances that are extremely bad for our health. Our liver has to break down these substances and really doesn't know what to do with them. They get recycled back into our blood stream and get stored in our fat cells. They basically become toxic in our body. They're useless to us and over time, can cause health problems. And don't be afraid of healthy oils like olive oil. We need good fats in our body to keep our bodies functioning well and olive oil provides those. The "fats" we need to stay away from are fats like hydrogenated oils, also known as "trans fat." Those are the fats you will find in dressings even if they are "low fat/low calorie." So by choosing oil and vinegar to "wet your veggies" and add flavor, you are making the best possible choice for your health. Second, it's much better for our environment. So much dressing and sauce gets wasted at the restaurant and that increases energy required to manufacture and ship more (only to get thrown away!). When we choose oil and vinegar, we are helping to lower the overall demand for these items. The same goes for at home too. By making oil and vinegar our dressing of choice, we decrease the amount of garbage thrown out and the amount of energy required to manufacture and ship those items to the grocery stores. Third, it's much better for our pocket book. We can get creative with dressings. We can use the ingredients on hand and create "masterpieces" if you will with very little cost to us. Just keep a good bottle of olive oil on hand and just about any flavor of vinegar will do! Throw in some seasonings or fresh/dried herbs from your garden and you've got a major hit on your hands! Your loved ones will thank you and you will have a little extra cash on hand to go see that new movie together! Ok, now that you're convinced on why you should make your own dressings, it's time to get to work! Just check out this video and you will see there really is nothing to it!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGceJkSAMFg&feature=plcp If you have any trouble with this link, you can visit www.youtube.com/mimsterschannel to watch it! Until next time, hakuna matata! Ingredient list: 1/4 c olive oil Biolea Organic Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, 17.6 oz. (Google Affiliate Ad) 2 TBSP balsamic vinegarBionaturae 32783 Organic Balsamic Vinegar (Google Affiliate Ad) seasonings/herbs (optional)

Let's Get "Back To Basics" - Blog inspired by Xtina's album "Back to Basics" and her hit "Candyman"

2012-09-11T20:17:00.001-07:00

Tweets by @mimicadorette I used to live in Seoul, South Korea. I lived there for about a year and a half and taught English there with a top language institute. I chose South Korea primarily because I have roots there, wanted to pick up a second language (and I had always wanted to be able to learn Korean), and experience the culture and eat the food (and of course see family and make some new friends too)!! Ironically, one of my most memorable experiences is seeing Christina Aguilera in concert at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in June of 2007 for her Back to Basics Tour. I'm sure most if not all of you are familiar with her album. The title, "Back to Basics" and the music video for one hit in particular, Candyman, spoke to me in a rather profound way recently as I was reading a book titled, "Food Matters: A Guide To Conscious Eating" written by Mark Brittman. Over the course of the last two months, I've been discovering more about the unsound practices in food production, the effects on our health, and really and truly that cooking is not as difficult as it is made out to be in the media and food market. And the overarching theme I've found in all my reading and cooking during this time correlates with getting back to the basics of food, cooking, sound methods of farming that have been the source of survival since the beginning of time. We have moved the basics to the factory. We have removed the basics with GMOs, synthetic substances,and preservatives. And the most upsetting fact I came across thus far is that 90% of the world's soy production goes to feeding animals destined to be slaughtered for marketing. Why is this so alarming? Because that is farmland that could be used for other food production and the farming practices are at best not sustainable and likely to be destructive. Because those are resources that could be used for feeding the hungry. Because farming of grains fed to animals is linked to deforestation. Because meat consumption is at an all time high and expected to go higher and it's contributing to many of our health problems. And because, according to Brittman, the meat farming factories are "hellholes and these conditions affect the meat we are consuming and thus affecting us. This is evidence that we have ignored the basics and are steadily forgetting they ever existed. And honestly, 60-100 years ago none of this was in sight. We are better off in many ways than we were 60-100 years ago but worse off in a way that is very critical to a thriving existence and that is our food. This is somewhat of a brief isolated discussion on the evolution of the food industry and unethical business practices which is also kind of ironic considering that I majored in international business marketing in college and dreamed of a corporate executive marketing position with companies like Proctor and Gamble, Samsung Electronics, or a high end fashion retail company (Express, Limited, etc.) or a career in the financial services industry and even have started MBA studies (which have been put on hold due to financial constraints and other personal reasons). But to be honest with you, these are not my dreams anymore. And here are the reasons why: 1)I was highly disillusioned with these dreams and had a misconception of the corporate reality. 2) I've had experiences in the corporate world that have left a bitter taste in my mouth. 3) After the economic downturns we have faced since 2001 (and 911) and corporate and political agendas and greed, I'm completely and thoroughly disgusted. Now hear me out please. I'm not a hippie who wants to move to a self-sustained commune or anything. I'm just a 31 years young woman who's learning more about who she is as a person and what fulfills her in life. To be honest, I wouldn't trade my job now for a company (who is destroying the environment and poisoning its consumers) who pays me a six figure salary unless I was able to contribute to a new strategy for more sustainable and greener practices. So in short, I am learning what my true passions are in life and I can only hope opportunities to live out those passions present themselves to me in the future. Of course, I have to be practical about survival. We all do. This is not aimed at us "little people" but the big corporate giants operating greedily and carelessly despite all current levels of activism and information out there purely out of greed. I do not agree with their business strategy or ethics, or philosophy and want to do all I can to reduce the effects of these social and environmental atrocities aimed at only benefiting CEOs and other top executives and corrupt government officials. Wow, this blog entry is turning out to be really long. Well thanks to you for continuing on! lol ^o^ Despite the lengthiness, I needed to provide that disclaimer there for what's coming in the second part. I wonder what was going through Xtina's mind when she created that title, "Back to Basics." And Candyman? Was that just a homage to an era of "greats" in the entertainment world so we would be reminded of music's history and what music really is? Is that what she meant by the title, "Back to Basics?" Wouldn't "Back to Our Roots" be more appropriate if that were the case? Maybe that just doesn't quite have the same ring to it so "Back to Basics" had to do. But I sat reading my latest book and this memory of her concert and the album and song sent a flood of thoughts along these lines through my mind. Things like not losing sight of how food is made, what goes into preparing dishes, and the process of changing food from its rawest form into a tasty dish our loved ones love to eat! Manufactured food is almost an insult to the actual dish and its heritage. When you prepare foods from scratch you gain a real appreciation for the women of the "old days" and all the work that was put in to feeding the family. And I especially developed a fondness for the farm family. I used to think that farm life must be the pits but now I have a new found respect for the farm family that I didn't have before. So gardening is definitely something I intend to master in this lifetime. Raising cattle and pigs? Not so much. Maybe chickens though. For the eggs only of course. Sure it's not convenient the most convenient thing to do. Sure it takes a little extra work to be able to eat and eat well at that. But thinking about the amount of work that went into feeding themselves and their families in the past, I can only laugh at the challenge! If we change our food mindset, not only will our health vastly improve, but the environment will benefit greatly too and who knows, we might even be able to put a dent on world hunger. It doesn't require farming our own land. It doesn't require massive overnight and impractical changes to your lifestyle. But with a little TLC when it comes to food, we can make some very real shifts in market demand that will leave these corporations no choice but to supply what the market demands. We all have to work together and cooperate with a common goal. Some shifts are already in the making such as delivering certified organic produce right to your door. If we work together, we can bring down the prices of quality food and make green and clean eating more affordable for everyone. Let's get back to the basics, ya'll! Thanks for reading! Hope this was helpful, informative, enlightening, inspiring and not too terribly long! Until next time, Hakuna Matata! The Food Matters Cookbook By Bittman, Mark (Google Affiliate Ad)

Subscribe to my blogs please! Thanks in advance!

2012-08-02T20:22:00.001-07:00

Tweets by @mimicadorette My first attempt at blogging was a bit futile in that the posts never "posted" for some strange technical reason or another. So anyhow, I just created another blog and re-posted my original first attempt. So yes, the theme still remains "anything goes." I figure that about sums up everything so I can't go wrong, right? I mean blogging is all the rage now. People are making a career out of it! I wish I could be one of those people but I was never much of a creative writer but one can dream (and play make believe. Let's make believe I am good at this! haha.). I suppose this blog will be a way in which I can practice creative writing. Yep, definitely. That's how I'll look at it. I've always considered myself an "open book" and now that I"m blogging that description has become somewhat literal. Oh and I should let you know now that I'm also an aspiring comedian along with blogger ROTFLMBO! So in addition to practicing my creative writing skills, I will also be making feeble attempts to make others laugh. So the way I see it, either way you will be entertained. Either you will laugh because it's funny or you will just laugh... at me. Oh well, I'm fine with either outcome. Topics I intend to blog about: well anything goes really. No pun intended. Really. My obsessions these days besides trying to keep up with social media is cooking, running and fitness, reading (about cooking and running/fitness), and yeah those are my two obsessions right now. Of course, those are subject to change at anytime so no guarantees that's all you will read about on my blog site. I might do some reviews, share some tips on various things, talk about something I feel strongly about, or even solicit information from you, my new friends out there in cyber world, which is very likely someone right across the hall from me in my apartment building (where's a drum roll when you need one! Ha! I kill me). I promise not to hold back anything and not try too hard to make my blog just like the others ( you know, the well written ones that are making people enough money that they can quit their day jobs - *sigh*). So subscribe to my blogs please so I will feel better about my existence on this planet and I will feel liked by others and just maybe, even a little popular. That would absolutely make my world! And I hope to bring something to yours! Until next time, hakuna matata! Create Your Own Blog By Hussey, Tris (Google Affiliate Ad)

I finally jumped on the Blogging Bandwagon!

2012-08-02T19:57:00.001-07:00

Tweets by @mimicadorette Well I've been wanting to do this for a long time now and finally I came across this site through a friend who had started her own blog. I've read many but was intimidated by the whole process so I refrained from trying it out. But when I saw one of my friends on Facebook had started her own at blogspot.com (a popular one it seems) I decided to give it a whirl. I spent a good hour playing with the design templates (something I love to do actually) and finally decided on the current one (I say current because it could change once I get bored with it lol). Like the title implies, this is an anything goes blog"spot" because well I'm 30 and my life has been pretty much anything goes. I've come to realize that in my ripe old age of 30. Thirty for me has been a year of reflection, personal growth, and change (all for the better) and I'm definitely optimistic about what the future holds. I used to think 30 was pretty much over the hill and 40, well 40 was just not even fathomable but there's no stopping age, that's for sure. But there is stopping aging. I am taking on a new philosophy - that I am "ageless." the last 30 years of life have determined many things about me and now, I feel like I know who I am, where I am going, and what's important to me more than ever! It's a great feeling that leaves me feeling "ageless" literally. But like I said, there is no stopping age and I still cringe at the thought of life slipping me by day after day, year after year. After all there's still so much to do and see and experience and the clock is ticking. So rather than fear getting old, I fear letting the years go to waste. everyday is another day I can wake up and experience the joys of life, the things that I love and the people that I love. And each day is another chance to make things right. This somehow creates a feeling of "ageless"ness that I think we all want to feel. I hope you find what makes you feel that way too! Yoga to the Rescue: Ageless Beauty By Luwis, Amy (Google Affiliate Ad)