Month: December 2009

Goals for 2010

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The year is almost over!  So now it’s time to look ahead to the beginning of 2010.

I don’t really like the word resolution (I feel like I’m setting myself up for failure, which is probably not true but just to be safe…), so I’m going to call them goals.  Here are my goals for 2010:

  • Try new veggie filled recipes!  I’ll try to do a recipe challenge each month.
  • Take a moment each day to de-stress.  This can mean a number of things: exercise, talk on the phone, read something fun.  Basically do anything except eat, since as we know I’m a stress eater.
  • Stop talking about my body/weight, it’s not helping, only hurting.  I need to accept me for me.  If I don’t like something I need to work to change it but not complain about it.  I want to concentrate on being healthy.
  • Don’t skip weight training, cardio isn’t the only thing that matters!
  • Eat intuitively and cut down on the sweets.  I have a huge sweet tooth, but I should be able to keep it under wraps!
  • Keep up my early morning routines.  Wake up before 7:00am on weekdays and before 8:00am on weekends to make the most of my day!
  • Dress nicely every day, when you look good you feel good!  Ideally my clothing would come pretty much entirely from Anthropologie and Banana Republic.  However, I’m poor so I’ll made due with what I have.
  • Keep doing well in school.  It’s still my #1 priority right now.
  • Spend Consciously:  I tend to overspend on things I don’t really need (i.e. Starbucks and random Target trips).  Make sure I need something before I buy it.
  • Get a good internship!
  • Keep learning about food security issues in and outside of school.
  • Keep in touch with friends.  Just because I live in the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean I have to be isolated from my friends!
  • Keep Blogging!  Blogging has really made my life more fun so I want to keep it up!

I think all of these are realistic and do-able.   They’ll take some work but I can get it done this year!

What are your goals for the coming year?

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Sweet Corn Tamales

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Do you ever eat something and then it’s not as delicious as you remember it being?

That happened to me today.  I heated up a sweet corn tamale (because we always have a ton of Guatemalan food in the freezer, my mother is great at defrosting…).

Freezer Drawer full of tortillas and tamales

I was pretty excited to see some sweet corn tamales in the freezer!

Sadly, it wasn’t very delicious!  Oh well!

I’m off to meet up with some friends then start planning New Years Eve appetizers and reading the next Sookie Stackhouse book!  (I always fly through these books!  I liked book 7!)

Any ideas for good party appetizers??

Have a great day!

Sisterly-ness

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Earlier today I drove to Rancho Cucamonga to have lunch with my friend Rachel!  Since I’d driven that far I figured I would also visit my sister!

The best part of visiting my sister is all the good food her and her husband have!

Before dinner, I snacked on blueberries and raspberries!!  YUM!  They always have such yummy healthy food (and sometimes not so healthy too but mostly always healthy).

For dinner, my sister is making egg drop soup!  Here comes her recipe.  This recipe is not entirely vegetarian as it uses chicken broth.  I’m sure vegetable broth would work too!  (note: I am eating this to avoid being a “picky eater” when I’m in someone’s home I can’t impose my lifestyle on them).

Laura’s Egg Drop Soup

1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
36 oz chicken broth
4 green onions
4 eggs
2 tbsp corn starch

Ingredients were gathered:  Ginger , Chicken Broth, Green Onions, Soy Sauce, Corn Starch, Eggs (Cage-free!)

Step 1:  Grate the ginger (about a tsp) and chop the green onions.  You may get the urge to put in more than a tsp of ginger, but she urges against this.

Step 2:  Put the broth in a pot .  Add 2 tbsp soy sauce and the grated ginger.

Step 3: Gather a bit of your broth and dissolve the corn starch in it.  Then add it to your pot.

Step 4: Heat it, it’ll thicken only a little bit

Step 5:  Beat eggs in a bowl.  Once the soup is heated (but not violently boiling) slowly drizzle in the egg while stirring the soup.

Step 6:  Add green onions.  Serve and enjoy!

This was gingery and very delicious!  I highly recommend it!

Now we’re enjoying a glass of wine and watching Four Christmases!

Have a great night!!

Birthday Celebration!

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I intended to make a recipe last night!  However, it was my friend Talia’s birthday today so a few of us went out celebrate her birthday along with my friend Jessica’s whose birthday was the 24th!

We went to a cute Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant called Gloria’s where I had a delicious pupusa with beans and plantains (as if I haven’t had enough fiber today…more beans… lord help me!).  It was delicious!

I also got them a cake (because what good foodie friend wouldn’t!?).  Sadly the bakery section of the grocery store was closed at 9:00pm so I had to write Happy Birthday on the cake myself.  I got creative using a zip lock bag instead of a piping bag and some strawberry jam instead of icing (hard to do since jam is chunky!)…It kind of worked…

The cake was completed with a Bratz candle…

Happy Birthday Talia and Jessica!!

In other news…

Anna, Suzanne and Gina passed on the beautiful blogger award to me!  I’m so excited!  Thanks ladies I think you’re all fabulous too (am I allowed to nominate you too!?!?  Probably not right?  I would though!!)

So I am to post 7 random things about me and nominate 7 other lovely bloggers.

Here it goes….

1. I’m 5’3″ (or maybe 5’2.5″… I think the nurse lied at my last doctor visit…) but I wear a size 9 shoe!  Makes no sense!

2. I love red wine!  I learned to love it in Argentina, where I volunteered at a school for a few months.  I’m by no means a connoisseur.  I just love it all!

3.  I’m not a huge music fan (go ahead… gasp away…).  I like rap/hip hop music, but I really only listen to music while I exercise and occasionally while I cook so I like it to be upbeat.  The exception to this rule is Cat Stevens, whom I love with all my heart.

4. I’ve wanted a pet pig for as long as I can remember.  One day I will have one!

5.  Beyonce is my idol.  I wish I could shake it like her!  Also, I want her butt!

6.  I would love to be a cardio kickboxing instructor but not sure how to go about doing so.  I think I would teach a great class!

7.  Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob from Twilight/New Moon) went to my rival high school… many years after I graduated… but may or may not still live in my hometown… who knows?

My beautiful blogger nominees are:

Betsy, Erin, VeggieGirl, Betty, Coco, Lauren and Karin

Have a fantastic day!

Lunch & The Biggest Gift Basket in the History of Mankind

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As promised, I lounged around all morning.  Around 12:30, I started getting hungry and started formulating a wonderful creation in my head.  I really wanted vegetables so the star of my lunch was broccoli!

I started with some steamed broccoli and plain quinoa

Then I topped it with black beans and a dollop of sour cream.  Sorry about the bean overload on this blog but…

This was DIVINE! As I was eating the last bite I thought some hot sauce would have made this even better.  Oh well, next time!

Dessert came in the form of this gift basket. Before going to work my dad broke open this puppy…

I ate the whole thing!

Just kidding!  I made some tea (Peet’s Winter Solstice Tea!! Sooooo good!)

and enjoyed a few Godiva Dark Chocolate covered pretzels.  Yum!!

Luckily a lot of the things in the basket don’t look that good.  But these pretzels are pretty delicious!  Back to my book and maybe some Food Network (I ❤ Giada and Ina!).

Tonight I’m making another recipe for my December Recipe Challenge!  Have a great afternoon!

Back to Normal Eating

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The past few days have been ridiculously indulgent!  Honestly, I’m sort of tired of eating so many rich foods.  Yesterday I pretty much only ate pumpkin pie, chocolate cake and green bean casserole.

So I’m picking up my normal eating again and ignoring all the left overs.

For breakfast this morning I had some yogurt with raw oats and banana.

Doesn’t look at tasty when it’s all mixed together but I think it’s pretty darn good!

The rest of the day will be spend lounging around in my piggy slippers

Reading All Together Dead (the 7th novel in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mystery series, I get so into this stuff it’s ridiculous! TrueBlood anyone??)

Have a fabulous day!!

2009 Highlights

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2009 is almost over!  Here’s a recap of my year!

Early in 2009, I was a senior at UC Berkeley.  I was taking a few classes and writing an honors thesis on housing policy in Guatemala.

Title of thesis… Shacking Up: Latent Government Bias in Guatemalan Housing Policy (I thought it was kind of cute/pun-y…)

There was a little spring breaking… Vegas was involved, as was my sister’s dental school banquet.

May 2009: I graduated from Berkeley and my sister graduated from Dental School.  We had a joint party.

June 2009: India

July 2009: Home for a month before moving.

Garlic Festival in Gilroy

Wine Tasting in Temecula, CA

August 2009:

Aruba with Momma and Poppa!

Then I moved to Ithaca to go to Grad School at Cornell where I made a ton of new friends!

September 2009:

Went to the NY State Fair saw lots of tractors and MC Hammer

Fostered a dog! Marie the 9 year old (camera shy) German Shepard-Corgie mix with anxiety and a weight problem who I absolutely ADORE but now has a permanent home!

October 2009:

NYC with the Lovely Fella for 3 Yr Anniversary

Went to my first corn maize!

I was Rosie the Riveter for Halloween

November 2009:

Started this blog!  Woo Foodologie!

Went to the UN in NYC

There ARE field trips in Grad School!!

I spent Thanksgiving with the Lovely fella and his family.  Then he came to Ithaca for a week!!

We went to Moosewood!

December 2009:

I started the December recipe challenge and made a ton of recipes!  (click the tag on the side to see them all!)

I got to do the Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 and made a 12 course vegetarian meal inspired by the 12 Day of Christmas!

Then came Christmas!

The lovely fella couldn’t be there because he had to work at 6:00am on Christmas Day in the Bay Area but it was still a great time!  My two friends, David and Talia, came to help celebrate and experience their first Christmas!

Somehow I just seem to attract tall people... tall boyfriend, tall roommate, tall friends...

2009 has been a great year!  I hope 2010 is even better with more friends and family around!

What’s the most exciting part of 2009 been for you?

Merry Christmas!

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My family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve.  Christmas Day isn’t really that exciting for us.  In Guatemala, there are fireworks and everyone eats at midnight.  Here, we have dinner whenever the food is ready around 9pm then open presents at midnight.

Here are a few of the Christmas Highlights: My mother takes every opportunity possible to decorate.

The tables looked lovely.  Even the kids table…

Then there were pictures take in front of the tree…

I fought sliced a turkey

My friend David sang show tunes Christmas Carols…

There was also food!

I realized last night that I forgot to take a picture of the sweet potato casserole and the potato apple gratin!  Oh well! Uncooked…

The potato-apple gratin was interesting.  But I’m not sure I’d make it again.  My brother would like to know why I can’t just made potato gratin on its own… that’s a good question…

By 10:30ish, I was in my pajamas.   Pajamas are a favorite in my family.

That’s me holding a fabulous jacket I got from my sister.  My brother gave me an interesting looking book called On Paradise Drive.  I also got some sweet socks and exercise clothes from my parents.  Thanks family for all the great gifts!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Miracles Happen, Once in a While

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My mother hates cooking.  But today, she was in rare form.

She made tilapia!

It was pretty good (Yes I eat fish.  Although this may change, right now I do.).  Really simple, just salt, pepper and onion powder.  The cooked on medium heat for a 6 minutes total.

I made a salad.

Later I started preparing Christmas dinner. On the menu for tomorrow:

Turkey, Ciabatta Stuffing (minus the pancetta),  Potato-Apple Gratin, My Sister’s Green Bean Casserole, and Sweet Potato Casserole. I’m sure there will be a salad on the side as well.

I always make that stuffing for Thanksgiving, but since I wasn’t here for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make it for Christmas.  The bread is diced and waiting to be made tomorrow.  Tonight I started on the Potato-Apple Gratin.  It’ll be fully made except for heating/browning tomorrow in the oven.

It looks pretty good so far!  I hope it is.

Tips for Cooking a Large Meal:

-Plan your menu in advance
-Make sure you have all your ingredients
-Make as many things as possible the night before.
-Do all the chopping and prep work the day before so all the hard work is done with early.
-If you’re having a dinner, start cooking early in the day so you have time to clean up (both yourself and the kitchen)

Do you have any tips for cooking a large meal for many people?

White Boy Eats Brown Food

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After dropping my aunt off at the airport tonight, the lovely fella and I arrived back at my house quite ravenous.  We scavenged the fridge for a trace of food and finally came across some gems in the freezer.

These diddies were flown in from Guatemala.  They’re called Tamalitos de Chipilin, little corn tamales with a green leaf called chipilin in them.   They’re wrapped in a corn husk, much like many tamales you may have seen in grocery stores but they’re A MILLION times more delicious.

These were enjoyed with  beans, sour cream and tortillas to complete the brown meal.

Mmm so good!  I think the lovely fella enjoyed too!

Or maybe I just make him eat random stuff and he wishes he could have a burger… who know!  Off to watch Arrested Development because we’re mildly obsessed!

Good night!

The lovely fella enjoyed too!

I wish I knew how to make these because I’d make them all the time!