V is for Vida Sana

Will and I have what I like to call PMS digestive tracks (the correct, scientific terms are Crohns and UC). Our systems get cranky, yell at us for no good reason, and we're left wondering what the hell just happened. The thing with both diseases is nobody really knows a sure-fire way to control them. We've just been told to take our pills on time (check) and watch our diets (ummmmm....).

I'll let you all in on a little secret. Will and I have gotten away with eating crap food for entirely way too long. Star Crunches, Spicy Doritos, Sour Patch Kids: We practically own stock in these goodies. But, a couple of months ago, when I realized we've both been in the hospital way too much for adults in their mid-twenties, I figured it's time for a change.

But change is hard. So I started small. Here are itty, bitty, healthy changes we've made that lower the sodium and fat intake and up the nutrients in our diets, keeping the PMS at bay:

1. The less ingredients that we can't pronounce, the better: This means buying more fresh produce and protein and less chemically-filled, preservative-packed products. It's hard, but we try. 
2. Whole wheat everything: our pizza dough, bread, crackers ... all whole wheat. Why? White flour is bleached flour, and bleaching takes out a TON of nutrients our bodies love. Just be sure to read the back of the package your buying. Some products claim to be whole wheat, but they really are a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and white flour.
3. Yogurt instead of mayo: I'm a sauce gal. I love a good chipotle sauce on my sandwiches and a kick ass remoulade on my burger. But both of these sauces contain a ton of mayo ... a.k.a. fat. A good substitute is plain Greek yogurt. It has a great tang and makes a great mixing sauce for very few calories. 
4. Organic Milk: It's a little pricey, but we buy it because it's richer than non-organic milk. 1% organic milk tastes creamier than 2% non-organic, and 2% organic mine as well be non-organic whole milk. What the reason behind this? I honestly don't know. But it probably has something to do with the diet differences between cows. Just try it.
5. Skip the cheese: I thought I wasn't gonna be able to do this one. I LOVE cheese ... ALMOST as much as I love chips. But once I just stopped eating it on my sandwiches, I forgot about it. Plain and simple. 
6. No fast food: I mean zero (although, I don't count sandwich shops). I've actually gotten to the point now, where I can't eat fried items without making myself sick. My body reacts negatively to it. 
7. Water instead of soda: I've never really liked soda, so this hasn't been difficult for me. But Will ... well, he's still working on this one. If you absolutely need a flavored beverage, try adding Crystal Light or something like that to water or drink juice. But get rid of the carbonated beverages with the high sugar counts.
8. Pick one or the other, and don't feel bad about it: We all have weaknesses, and mine comes in the form of a martini glass. So when I decided to get healthy, I made a pact with myself. I get to indulge in one thing I love per day (chips, a vodka and cranberry juice, a Lulu's treat), but I only get one. So if I have a beer, I skip the ice cream. If I eat a cookie, I skip the Irish coffee. But I enjoy e-ver-y bite (or sip) of whatever I decide to indulge in. 
9. Eat out less often: You have no idea how much oil and salt goes into your food at really good restaurants. Trust me, I used to be a line cook that used about 1/8 of a bottle of oil to grill a chicken breast because of time restraints. If you cook for yourself, you can control the amount of ingredients that go into your meals. 
10. Herbs are your friends: Cumin, rosemary, paprika, ancho chile powder, mustard, basil, cilantro, parsley ... they are here to help and contain zero calories. Use them, abundantly, to add flavor and leave out fat.

V is for ReVerting to Old Posts

In about two weeks, a year will have passed since I first wrote a list of things to do before 2011. Well, in case you haven't noticed, we're in 2011. So, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane and look back on that lovely list to see how I did: 

- Do twenty reps of the stupid, evil dual ab crunch machine on twenty pounds: Sooooooo, I actually got rid of my gym membership ... about four months after this post ... which kinda made this goal unachievable (thank god, cause I don't think I could have done it). But, I did run my first 5k last October, and did pretty good! So, I'll just substitute 5K for twenty reps and call it a win!

- Kayak with Blair and Chappy (because we've been talking about it for a year now, and haven't done it yet . . . it's time): DID IT! And ooooohhhhh was it awesome! A couple of photos to recap: 

 Blair doesn't actually kayak; she gets Chappy to do it for her ... which is why I wanted to go in the first place ... I had to witness this. Here, she's directing (very Blair-like).

 It was beautiful. But what you don't see is Manda and I getting clotheslined by our own paddles when they got stuck in between those stupid trees.

We even ate lunch under a bridge. Yeah... we're classy like that. 

- Take Lola to a lake and watch her go crazy: DID IT! As an added bonus, my dog got in the lake too... on HIS OWN. 

- Paint a picture with oil paints that doesn't look like like crap: Ummmmmm ... does painting on cake count? 

- Cook beef bourguignon & duck confit: FAIL. I don't even have a good excuse. 

- Bake bagels & pretzels: I only half fail this one. Made the pretzels, but didn't make the bagels. 

- Take Will to visit his Papa's grave (again, something we've been meaning to do, but haven't done yet): FAIL.

- Go on a hike with Bunk: FAIL.

- Go to Puerto Rico with Will: FAIL. But, when you don't have money; you don't have money ... thanks stupid car and your stupid expenses (you're not really stupid Ellie, and I love you; don't break down on me while driving to work).

- Sew a dress for myself: FAIL. But, I did sew a pajamas for Will! 

- Make a piece of pottery: FAIL.

- Get back to letter writing (I used to have the cool stationary, wax stamps, and such . . . but I just haven't made time to write to people lately): WIN! I made some awesome homemade Christmas cards!

- Sell homemade goodies (like cake or candy) at a local farmer's market: I'm totally gonna say this is a win, and here's why. I originally wanted to take this first step as a way to start selling cakes. But, Amanda and I kinda skipped this step altogether, and with the help of Will J., decided to just start a business. You really did read that right. Here's our website to prove it. 

So, doing five and a half things on my list is better than none ... right? RIGHT (so glad you agree). I'm proud of myself any way you slice it.

V is for anti-verbiage: Flash Fiction Tuesday

Fallen Dreams of East Broad Street

I am in my family's living room, zooming Barbie around the beige carpet in her pink convertible. Her blonde hair flails in the wind as I pull her up to Ken's place, a bunch of pillows strategically stacked against the couch to make a house.

“Honk, honk” I yell, as I push Barbie's hand against the convertible's horn.

My other hand waddles Ken out of his white house and to the passenger's side door, which he doesn't open, but jumps over to get into the passenger seat. I force their heads together and make kissing sounds. As I drive Barbie and Ken into the sunset, desire creeps over my five year old body.

I want.

long blond hair

a boyfriend to kiss

a car to drive.

So I take my mother's car keys from the table while she is talking on the phone and go for a spin. But when I stick her house key and car key into the electrical outlet, the engine only backfires.

***

Sixteen years later, I am stealing jellybeans from an open apartment on Oglethorpe Square with the wife of the man I am sleeping with. We taste all of the different colors. I put a black jellybean in my mouth, bite down, and promptly spit it out on the hardwood floors.

“You don't like the licorice?” she asks, and I trade her black for red.

Later that night, when she argues with her husband, she turns to me and says, “It's not your fault.” And I believe her.

***

The thing I realize about pain while staring down at the new Mickey and Minny Mouse bandages the doctor has wrapped around my hand is that it is relative. My mother sees my imaginary driving as a near death experience. I see it as an awesome driving lesson that ended with my favorite cartoon characters practically tattooed to my hands. The next week is spent with Mickey declaring his love for Minny in afternoon puppeteer shows.

***

My legs seem to be controlled by some unknown being as I walk to meet him in the dark, where no one will see, where we can sneak around, and play pretend. It is only when he pulls me close to him so he can put his hand on my breast that I realize I am not five anymore. And this is not a game.

***

I am disappointed when the bandages come off and I can't make believe anymore.

***

The worst thing about pretending is coming back to reality, only to realize all the Barbie doll dreams never actually existed. What's horrific about make believe is waking up in need of urgent care, because I've electrocuted myself all for the sake of an imaginary ride.

V is for Vitamins

Back in January, I started that whole work-out-to-build-muscle-and-be-more-healthy thing. And I am proud to say, I've stuck to that (insert proud look here). Unfortunately, working out has made me more aware of the unhealthy food I eat on a daily basis. There's something about lifting weights and running on a treadmill that makes deep fried, beer battered fish and chips seem less appealing than it used to be.

So lately, I've tried substituting bad-for-me ingredients, with less-bad-for-me ingredients (hey, I'm a baby-step type of girl). The latest substitution: organic wheat flour instead bleached white flour.

I know what you're thinking, How could substituting wheat flour help anything? I used to think the same thing until I read "Ugly Truths About White Flour". The truth is that this simple substitution can boost your vitamin intake and reduce your bad carb count (and chemical consumption - sorry, my hippie side couldn't resist). Plus, it's easy to substitute wheat flour for white flour and not expensive - wheat, organic flour costs about $2.50 for a 5 pound bag.

Here's a recipe where I substituted wheat flour, without substituting the flavor.

Wheat Pancakes with Strawberries, Pecans, and Honey: I love this recipe for two reasons. It's quick and it's healthy. Normal pancake recipes usually call for sugar, fatty milk, and a calorie packed syrup. This one doesn't have any sugar at all in the batter, uses skim milk, and substitutes honey for traditional syrup. What you're left with is a healthy breakfast that sticks to your ribs, and not your thighs.

Dry Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup of wheat flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cup of skim milk

In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together, then form a well by pushing the ingredients to the side of the bowl. Set Aside.

Mix together wet ingredients in a bowl.

Add a little bit of the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and mix together. Continue this process until the two mixtures are combined.

Heat a frying pan to medium-high. Spray a non-stick spray lightly on the bottom of the pan. Pour enough of the batter in the pan to make a medium sized circle. Cook until bubbles start to form throughout the batter, then flip. Cook for about another minute or two, then remove.

Take honey and pour over pancakes (depending on what honey you use, you may have to add some water to it to thin in out). Cut up strawberries and put on top of pancakes. Crumble pecans and put on top of pancakes.

V is for Value

There are a couple things I hate in life: Mondays, neighbors who think they are the next Timbaland in the wee hours of the morning, and $40 a Day.

That's right, I admit it; I hate a show on my beloved Food Network. Actually, despise might be a better word. Let me back up to where this hatred started (cue flashback music).

On a typical Saturday night in undergrad, you could find me planted in front of my television watching whatever was on Food Network (yeah, I lived dangerously ... but hey, partying required money ... which I didn't have). This particular night I splurged, bought myself Easy Mac instead of the Walmart brand mac & cheese, and assumed the watching position. Just as I was about to put the first fork full of 99 cent mac and cheese into my mouth, IT came on: the "Money, Money, Money," song boomed; the $40 a Day graphics came up; and a piece of my soul died.

There I was, trying to limit my monthly grocery spending to $40, watching a show about a woman trying to not spend $40 A DAY ... FOR ONE PERSON. I wasn't so hungry anymore. In fact, I kind of felt like vomiting.

I'm not living off of Easy Mac these days, but I still wouldn't be able to spend $40 a day on anything besides my bills (and maybe the occasional shoe splurge). So when I lost an airhockey bet to my boyfriend this past weekend and gained the "prize" of cooking dinner every night this week (which really got reduced to one nice dinner due to the St. Patty's Day festivities), I knew I'd have to go back to my budgeting days to get the biggest bang for my buck. So here's one fabulously organic meal, that feeds two people, for less than $20 bucks. Take that Rachel Ray (and make sure to give me more than 50 cents for tip).

Meal: Mussels three ways, peppered tuna with poblano oil, corn on the cob, and ginger creme brulee with mangoes

Cost: From Fresh Market (this is probably the most expensive place to buy food in Savannah, but the quality is soooooo amazing, that I don't mind).

1 Roma Tomato $ .67
1 Small Onion $ .75
2 Ears of Corn $ 1.63
1 Whipping Cream $ 2.19
1 Mini bottle of Chardonnay $ 2.49
1 Poblano Pepper $ 1.16
1 Mango $ 1.99
1 Sashimi Tuna Steak $ 5.43
1/2 a Pound of Mussels $ 2.27
Fresh Ginger $ .69
Tax $ .57
Total $19.84

* Other items you'll need, but you probably have already include: butter, eggs, garlic powder or cloves, oil, salt, pepper and flour.

Preparation:

Mussels Three Ways - Garlic Mussels, Pico de Gallo Mussels, Breaded Mussels with Poblano Cream Sauce

- Turn on oven's broiler.
- Take wine, and pour into shallow pan.
- Once the wine has started to boil, reduce to a simmer and add mussels. Put lid on top of pan and let the mussels steam until they open.
- Take 2/3 of the mussels out, and add three tablespoons of butter, some parsley (dried or fresh) and four cloves of minced garlic. Let simmer until the mussels are firm, but not overdone (about five minutes).
- Remove the top shell from the other 2/3 of the mussels.
- Remove the mussels from the shell of 1/3 of the mussels. Lightly roll them in flour and season with salt and pepper. Put back in shell.
- Put the remaining 2/3 of the mussels on a cookie sheet and put under broiler (on the lowest rack) for about five to seven minutes, or until the flour has started to brown.
- For Poblano Sauce: While the mussels are cooking, seed your poblano pepper and cut into three equal pieces. Put one piece under the broiler. Cook until all sides look burnt. Once it looks burnt, take it out, put it in a bowl, and cover it with a towel for five minutes. Take it out, peel off the skin, and put it in a blender with just enough cream to make it a nice sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- For Pico de Galo: Finely chop 1/2 of your onion, your tomato, and 1/3 of your poblano pepper. Mix together. Cut an ear of corn in half, then cut the corn off the ear and add to your pico mix. Season mix with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Once your mussels are done, take them out of the oven. Add pico to the mussels without breading. Add poblano sauce to mussels with breading. Take out mussels from the garlic and butter sauce. Plate and enjoy.

Seared Peppered Tuna with Poblano Oil and Corn on the Cob on the Side

- Finely chop up the remaining 1/3 of the poblano. Put it in a small pan, with 1/2 a cup of oil (if you have olive oil, use it, but vegetable oil will work too. Simmer for about 30 minutes to let the pepper infuse with the oil.

- Put the remaining corn on the cob in a pot of boiling water, cook for 10 - 15 minutes.

- Take your tuna steak and wash it well, then pat dry. Put a generous amount of freshly ground pepper on every side of the steak. Don't be afraid of putting too much. Remember that the steak is thick, so you'll only get a tiny bite of the seasoning.

- Put salt to taste on every side of the tuna steak.

- In a frying pan, put a tablespoon of olive oil. Put on high heat.

- Sear the tuna by placing it in the pan. Only leave it in until a thin line of white appears on the bottom of the tuna. Then, turn it over and sear the other side the same way. Do this on all sides of the tuna.

- Let the tuna rest for about five minutes, then cut it into thin, 1/8" slices.

- Make a puddle of oil on your plate, then put the tuna on top of it.

Ginger Cream Brulee with Mangos

I stole this recipe. So go here to get it. The recipe calls for a vanilla bean, but I used two teaspoons of vanilla extract instead and it worked just fine. It may sound like an odd dessert, but it is absolutely decadent. You'll also want to plan ahead for this one, as it takes three hours to chill in the fridge before eating.

Will ended up loving this meal, and I can say, for the price alone, I loved it too.

V is for Victory . . . after a few failures

I know how to start off my Spring Break with a bang. . . by . . . baking. Okay, so I'm not as big of a partier as I used to be, but I still had a blast checking off an item from my list.

I've been wanting to make pretzels forever (mainly because the recipe gives me permission to play with my food), but have been scared to. Any bread that I have to boil makes me uncomfortable. But I am proud to say ladies and gentlemen, that this past Friday (insert drum roll here) I made homemade pretzels from scratch:Now, here's how I got to these beauties. I don't just trust anyone when it comes to boiled bread recipes. Nope. I wanted someone who understands the science behind it all; so I went to the recipe of good ol' trusty Alton Brown.

First, you put the water, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.
Add one packet of dry yeast (don't mix it, just shake it on the top).
Then wait for the yeast to "bloom." You'll know you've waited long enough when it gets all foamy (then you can take an awful picture of it).

Add the flour and mix with a dough hook for about five to eight minutes (until dough has pulled away from the bowl). Next, add oil to your bowl, and rub it all over the dough and on the sides of the bowl.

Cover with either plastic wrap or a towel and put it somewhere warm. I turn my oven on to 350 degrees for a minute, then immediately turn it off. This heats the oven just enough to make the dough rise well, but not cook at all. Let the dough rise for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

I decided to marinate brats in beer during this time.
Just poke a few holes in your brats, pour some beer over them, and let them marinate for a looooong time. Mine sat for four hours before I grilled them (and they were DE-LI-CIOUS). Now, back to the pretzels:
Get a pot of water going and add your baking soda. Bring this mixture to a boil.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, cut your dough into eight pieces.
Roll them out. Don't be shy about making the dough really thin, it will double in size once you put it in the boiling water.
Then twist the pretzels into a lovely shape.
But not like this one, a.k.a. epic fail number one. I'm not sure what this is, but it sure isn't a pretzel. . . more like a clover? Hey, it WAS the weekend before St. Patty's Day. After this pretzel, I had Will show me how to twist pretzels properly. Now, you may be thinking, how does Will know how to twist pretzels? The sad, awful truth is that he's a fatty at heart. He's watched the employees at Pretzel Time twist so many pretzels, that he has it down pat. When I asked for help, he simply walked over, got a piece of dough and twisted it into the most perfect pretzel I've ever seen. Then he walked away in a what?-doesn't-EVERYONE-know-how-to-twist-pretzels-like fashion.

So I gave it a shot. First, you take the dough and form a "u" shape. Then, you take the top two pieces of the "u," twist them around each other two times, and attach them to the bottom center of the "u." And that, my friends, is how you get the perfect pretzel, Will Spence style. Make sure you pinch the dough together firmly, otherwise it will come apart when you put it in the water. Which brings me to the next step.
Place the Billy pretzel into the boiling water and let it cook for 30 seconds.
Take it out (or get a trusty side kick to do it for you) and put it on a baking sheet. But make sure to put it on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper THAT HAS BEEN OILED. I didn't do this, which resulted in a major disappointment when the pretzels came out of the oven, but couldn't be pulled off the paper: epic fail #2.
Once your pretzels are on the paper, brush them with an egg yolk and water mixture, then sprinkle whatever seasonings your heart can think up on top. I did three: tried-but-true sea salt, sea salt and garlic, and cinnamon and sugar.

Put them in the oven for about ten minutes, then get ready to nom (or, if you're like me, spend the next 30 minutes peeling off the paper from the back of your pretzels . . . then nom). Toss in a freshly grilled beer brat, and some nachos with cheese, black beans, and pico de gallo and you've got yourself a winning meal.

I consider it a victory. Pretzels . . . check.

V is for Viviendo

I'm turning 25 this summer. Not a big deal right? Wrong. The average American woman lives to be around 77, which means I will officially have lived 1/3 of my life by the end of 2010. And what have I done with these past 25 years? So glad you asked:

1. I've been a student in school.

2. I've been a teacher in school.

3. ???????

4. ????????????

5. ????????????????

Hence my panic.

So, I've decided I need broaden my horizons a bit and try new things. You know, things that don't involve school. Things that I've wanted to do for years now, but have never gotten around to. You can call them life goals if you want to go all counselor on me, or things to do before I die if you want to be all morbid about it. Any way you want to slice it, I've started creating a list . . . of stuff . . . for me to do . . . that doesn't involve school.

I'm starting small though. So here's my list of stuff to do before 2011 (put in no particular order, since I have no clue when I'll finish any of this):

- Do twenty reps of the stupid, evil dual ab crunch machine on twenty pounds (sounds easy? YOU TRY IT)!

- Kayak with Blair and Chappy (because we've been talking about it for a year now, and haven't done it yet . . . it's time).

- Take Lola to a lake and watch her go crazy.

- Paint a picture with oil paints that doesn't look like like crap.

- Cook: beef bourguignon & duck confit

- Bake: bagels & pretzels

- Take Will to visit his Papa's grave (again, something we've been meaning to do, but haven't done yet).

- Go to Puerto Rico.

I need to pause to explain this entry. Will is 1/4 Puerto Rican and loves everything about the place. Eduardo (Will's late papa) came to Georgia from Puerto Rico to go to Georgia Tech, met Will's grandma, a homegrown Georgia Peach, and they fell for one another. One generation and lots of "Besame Mucho's" later, Will came into the picture. And he's proud of his Puerto Rican heritage. I've always had a thing for Spanish speaking countries, and Will's always wanted to take me to meet his extended family in Puerto Rico (who are getting up there in age). We've talked about going, and even looked at plane tickets, but we've never clicked "buy." It's time to click "buy."

Now, onto the rest of the list . . .

- Go on a hike with Bunk (another one of those "hey we should do that soon" that hasn't been done).

- Sew a dress for myself.

- Make a piece of pottery.

- Get back to letter writing (I used to have the cool stationary, wax stamps, and such . . . but I just haven't made time to write to people lately).

- Sell homemade goodies (like cake or candy) at a local farmer's market (with the help of Blair and Amanda of course . . . yeah, I'm gonna MAKE us do this . . . but you started it Blair).

So there you have it. That's my list to do before 1/3 of my life goes by. We'll tackle the next 1/3 after this one passes. What's on your list?

Here's to living out what's been in our heads for years.