It's almost December! And other thoughts

I am almost done with this semester in school and it is almost officially December. I am anticipating my winter break being filled with exercise. I also envision myself cooking super fresh, whole foods to continue eating healthily. However, as the end of the semester approaches, I am feeling stress and pressure to get my work done. Now, I just have to resist the urge to eat my stress in the form of baked goods and to 'just say no' when I am offered a lovely homemade pumpkin muffin from my friend Kate. A kind offer and super yum, but I now regret eating it (muffins and cookies are my weakness). However, my lunch consisted of organic brown basmati rice and black beans, while dinner was whole grain couscous and tons of veggies like squash and carrots- yum! I am also trying to cut back on my impending coffee addiction, because I think it dehydrates me to the point where I don't want to drink water, but feel super hungry and eat more than I should because I did not drink enough water in the first place.

In terms of week plans, I am going with Liz and Pooja to Counter Culture Coffee for a tasting and Rishi Tea for a tea party on Friday! #excited

Also, I wanted to share my favorite odd-food combo story that was published yesterday: http://nyunews.com/life/2011/11/29/29odd/ (it has healthy and not-so-healthy items).

Burgers in pasta! And ice skating!

I just wanted to share some pictures of the pasta I made myself. I know it isn't too fancy, but I am proud of my macgyver-ness! I cooked 1 serving of whole wheat pasta (yes, I measured my food for once) and added frozen veggies, curry sauce (all-natural and crazy delicious), and added small pieces of organic, pasture-raised, grass-fed beef burger from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats (I made this well done with olive oil). I have never cooked a burger myself before, so I was excited that this worked out, too! I felt like I was a cooking machine. It was a small victory over the larger cooking world. Like I said in my last post, I don't eat much meat, but this was fairly easy to prepare and by cutting the meat into smaller pieces (I know it is a burger, which defeats the purpose) so it was easier to eat (and also made it seem like I was eating a lot more)!

I like my food well-done! (Not actually burned, just poor lighting because I am no photographer- just a writer!)

Last night, I couldn't sleep for a while and decided I would just be awake and go ice skate at Chelsea Piers' Sky Rink because the freestyle sessions (high level skating) starts at the crack of dawn. I haven't skated for myself in a while, though I have continued to coach, and I was terrible. Like really terrible. But, I am so happy I skated. It helped me feel good that I did something fun and important to me, and that I was really taking time for myself and using my energy postively. I feel like I have just been really focused on work and school lately, and have been neglecting my skating. I hope to continue my new pace- going to sleep and waking up earlier (though not as early as today), eating better (today for breakfast I had muesli with unsweetened soy milk, figs, cacao nibs, and flax seeds- so good!), and skating more (not just going to the gym and all that jazz). I am already thinking about lunch...Maybe I will make Pooja's Meatless Monday Basil and Jicama Salad :)

Photo courtesy of poojasway.com

Thanksgiving! (And Black Friday)

I just got back to my apartment after a day of traveling from Wisconsin! I ate lots (which I didn't have to cook- a nice break!)! I really paced myself eating and had tons of pickles and olives (my weaknesses) before the official meal. My aunt Nancy (who was the official Turkey Day chef) is on a low-sodium, low-fat diet due to developing cancer, so she made everything without salt and little to no butter- including the turkey, sweet potatoes, gravy (which I skipped anyways), and mashed potatoes (fat free half and half). Check out these tips for healthy eating for any big meal: http://poojasway.com/article-tips/november-23rd-2011-delicious-healthy-eating-tips-for-your-thanksgiving/

I admit it- I had two servings of this size, but I  def ate less than everyone else by pacing myself!

My family was amusing as always. My cousin Andrew fell asleep several times throughout the day because he works in Toronto and was struggling with the time change (and missed his Canadian girlfriend, who I refer to as 'Moose'). I didn't actually buy anything on Black Friday, but I went to the Bayshore Mall and the Mayfair Mall, where I helped pick out gifts for Moose.

Sleep burn off calories!

Also, for dinner, I made myself the organic grass-fed, pasture-raised beef steak from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats. It was quite delicious and the first time I ever prepared a steak. I like mine well done, and because I don't eat meat that often, I made sure to cut it into little pieces and eat it with organic basmati brown rice and veggies (with curry sauce for a kick). I enjoyed my apartment-made naked burrito with a hot cup of licorice tea (Organic Stash). It was super delicious and I was proud of myself for not burning my apartment down (not that I would ever actually do that, of course!).

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend!

DELICIOUS & HEALTHY EATING TIPS FOR YOUR THANKSGIVING!

Pooja, Jane, and I shared our healthy (and delicious!) eating tips for Turkey Day.

As a sneak peak, these are mine:
1. Don’t eat because you or bored (or stressed by your family!) and eat slow during the meal (no need to eat fast – there are guaranteed leftovers for the next week!). [This is my biggest struggle!]
2. Choose whole, minimally processed foods at dinner: skip the gravy, marshmallows and added butters, skip the whip cream, don’t fry the turkey- baked is better, steam veggies and don’t fry/ douse them in oil!
3. Share pie slices if you want more than one flavor (I do this every year and try a bite of 3 different pies from other people’s plates!).

Photo courtesy of PoojasWay.com.

For Pooja's and Jane's tips, go to: http://poojasway.com/article-tips/november-23rd-2011-delicious-healthy-eating-tips-for-your-thanksgiving/

Photo courtesy of thesportsbank.net

Happy traveling! (Just landed in Wisconsin and I forgot what it is like to be in the suburbs... #surreal)

Apartment-made Chili with Rocky Mountain Organic Meats' Beef!

I love chili and soup- especially for this time of year when the weather is becoming colder! I made this chili with some food I had in my cabinet and fridge before I leave for the airport tonight (I am going to Wisconsin, where my Dad's side of the family lives, for Thanksgiving). I also wanted to make sure to use some beef from Rocky Mountain Organic Meats:

Ingredients:
- Tomatoes (aka left-over marinara sauce that was just basil and tomatoes- no chemicals or sugar!)
- Frozen veggies! (corn, carrots, green beans, soy beans)
- Black beans (my favorite bean!!!)
- Rocky Mountain Organic Meats' organic grass-fed, pasture-raised beef kebab (@grassfedorganic) [I usually don't eat that much meat, so this was a major thing for me]
- Hot sauce (sugar-less!)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
*Side note: I don't measure- I'm in college!- I make as much as I think I will eat :)

Instructions:
1. Add all ingredients into a pot and simmer on low heat until too hungry to bear waiting longer, but acknowledging that one will burn mouth if one doesn't wait.

Nothing beats homemade (ehem... Apartment-made)!

For a more legit and veggie-full recipe that the whole family would approve of and I would actually allow other people to eat, try Pooja's Autumn Veggie Chili:

Pooja's Autumn Veggie Chili. Photo courtesy of PoojasWay.com.

Regarding my fitness, I need to restart being intense, but I am making my vow for when I come back to the city at the end of this weekend! Happy Thanksgiving (looking forward to sharing my pics!). :)

Days 2 + 3 of my 3-Day Yogurt Reset!

I was able to try the Maple Hill Creamery pasture-raised yogurt from grass-fed cows (not sheep) for Days 2 + 3 of my yogurt reset, and I was a fan of this yogurt. I definitely like this yogurt, which tasted very thick, creamy, and delicious. Even though the plain was still a bit sour, I really liked the taste. The thickness and fat was shocking at first to taste, but I got more used to it. I definitely could not each that much of this yogurt because it was so rich and luxuriant (basically all fat). I also had to add other things like cacao nibs to this to add some texture so I didn't feel like I was just eating fat. 

In my last post, I neglected to describe my feelings  about how I thought the taste of full fat- pasture raised sheep milk yogurt differed than plain low-fat brand x yogurt. It definitely tasted more pure and very different from other yogurts I have had in the past. There was more body, more acidity/ sourness, and it tasted less fake (I have trouble comparing this whole food yogurt vs. the regular kind because they are so different). Overall, I think I am not a fan of sheep milk yogurt, though I really liked the full-fat-grass-fed-pasture-raised yogurt from Maple Hill Creamery. I definitely think that the Maple Hill Creamery yogurt is better than regular yogurt, but I definitely would not be able to eat that much of it at once and would feel full after eating less more quickly. I am not sure if I would eat this full fat yogurt all of the time, but I am definitely thinking about it.

Given what I have learned from your sugar and yogurt resets so far, I think my choices will change regarding yogurt over the long-term will definitely remain with me choosing only organic options and plain yogurts with me adding honey and whatever else I like. I am all for supporting farms, being sustainable, and consuming grass-fed-pasture-raised animal products. I also like the idea of eating a less processed yogurt, but I am struggling to wrap my mind around the idea that I could eat a full fat yogurt full-time. I really can't eat that much of it because it is so rich, but I think the calories end up being about the same because I would eat more of the fat-free versions of regular yogurt. I definitely will continue to eat organic and sustainable foods not just for this week, but for years from now and feed these options to my children. Assuming that I can always access and afford sustainable and organic options, I will change my purchasing decisions. I truly believe that we vote with our dollars and that sustainability is important. In a real world example, the crazy weather New Yorkers are experiencing this fall is a direct result of global warming, which can be slowed down if society slows its negative consumption habits.

72 Hour Yogurt Reset

I usually like to eat organic nonfat plain yogurt with honey/raw nuts/ cacao nibs/ frozen fruit (a fairly healthy choice), but Pooja still wanted me to do a 72 hour yogurt reset because she really wanted me to taste full fat yogurts from the highest quality sources. Yes, I said eating full fat yogurt can actually be an improvement over eating nonfat or reduced fat yogurt. It sounds like blasphemy, but let me explain: Sheep's milk yogurt and grass-fed-pasture-raised cow yogurt are a more sustainable and higher quality option than everyday grocery store yogurts. According to Pooja, these choices are more pure, flavorful, and less processed because they are closer to their natural origins(overall better options).

"With these yogurts, not very much has been done to manufacture the product from its original milk source (from the cow or from the sheep)," Pooja said. "Whereas with other low-fat and non-fat yogurts, the fat has been removed and additives have been used. The other important thing to note is that whole milk yogurt from pasture raised sources contains Omega 3's, and in a ratio to Omega 6's that is better for our health. So grass fed products (as natural as they come!) are better for us from both a TASTE and HEALTH perspective."

If more people knew this and demanded more of these types of products, they'd be cheaper and more available!

To start my 72 Hour reset, I went to Eataly to buy "Simply Greek" sheep's milk yogurt (plain)  as well as plain yogurt from "Maple Hill Creamery." I had actually never been to Eataly, so it was really cool to be inside. Because I will be studying abroad in Italy soon, I was excited by all of the foods that I didn't realize were in NYC and that I would also be able to get in the bear future. I actually wanted to share a picture of some of the pretty chocolates that are available at Eataly:

For my first part of the yogurt reset, I tried the "Simply Greek" sheep's milk yogurt (plain). I have never tried any sheep derived products before, so I felt particularly adventurous. I could definitely taste the difference in fat, which was quite creamy. I was surprised by how acidic the yogurt was, and immediately decided to add honey, cacao nibs, granola, raw nuts, and raisins (instant imporvement). Truthfully, I wasn't in love with this yogurt, but it was definitely worth trying and I really like the idea of being more sustainable. Hopefully, I will like the Maple Hill Creamery yogurt a bit more!

Also, I will finally get to pick up the Alter Eco chocolate from Jane today: 

So excited to try this!

Also, I totally forgot to share my food adventures from this weekend. Basically, my parents visited me, which was really fun. We ate at Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village, stopped by the Union Square Greenmarket, and visited the High Line (where we ate more goodies!). Here are some pics of our yummy arepas (corn based, not flour based and freshly made!): 

Avacado and chicken

Cheese, black beans, smoky beef, and plantains

The 14th Annual NY Chocolate Show and Florian Bellanger of Cupcake Wars!

On Friday, I definitely did not eat healthy, but I am sharing my faults because they were quite delicious. I woke up late and grabbed some goodies at the Union Square Greenmarket and then after my Italian test, visited the NY Chocolate Show. There were so many cool things like drinkable chocolate (not hot chocolate), chocolate covered grapes/ pretzels/ peanuts/ caramel/ coffee beans/ bacon/ potato chips, chocolate fountains, chocolate truffles, chocolate macaroons- pretty much every kind of chocolate you can imagine (and all of it was some of the best chocolate in the world). I felt lucky to be able to go to the event and it was super fun. I bought my parents cardamom covered dark chocolate chips and I really loved the Broadway-inspired chocolate fashion show pieces. I took a picture of one of the chocolate sculptures that I wanted to share:

Photo I took of a white chocolate city scuplture!!! So cool :)

One of the many goodies at the chocolate show. Photo courtesy of  chocolateshow.com.

I even had the chance to talk to the famous Pastry Chef and owner of Mad Mac, Florian Bellanger (who is super nice in real life)! I was interviewing him for a piece for the Washington Square News and he was telling me about how macarons have become a major food trend. Here is a little of what he had to say that I couldn't fit into my journalistic piece: "The macaron had been a trend for a while in food service and hotels, restaurants, country clubs- all of those businesses- have been using macaroons for years. … Now, the big question is if this trend will stay or disappear. Nobody has the answer to this question, but clearly the trend is very high right now. I believe the macaron are here to stay… For now, it is working well and we are making a lot. I think it is the best cookie in the world. The difference between a macaron and another cookie is simple, it is very sexy, it is a colorful cookie, it is finger food, it is a snack, it is a gift, it is an alternate to chocolate. It looks luxury, it breathes luxury."

Florian Bellanger, owner of Mad Mac and judge on Food Network's Cupcake Wars. Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.com.

Florian was so nice that after the interview, he gifted me his delicious macarons (pistachio and chocolate). I ended up eating chocolate samples (tons) and macarons for dinner because after that wonderful extravaganza, I was too full to eat anything else for the rest of the day.

These are the delicious pistachio macarons from Florian . Photo courtesy of  madmacnyc.com.

The chocolate show completely threw off my healthy string, but I will do Pooja's 3-day reset (again) now that I need to and because Alter Eco shared some of their products with Pooja, Jane, and myself. #soexcited

Something I am excited to try: Alter Eco's 85%  cacao chocolate bar ! Photo courtesy of  altereco-usa.com.

Stay posted to read about my weekend food adventures (hint: Caracas and 16 Handles) and how my fitness-ness is going ;)

Advice from John Sexton (President of NYU)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of having a special group dinner at NYU with the university president John Sexton,  fondly known as J-Sex. He is known for buying up the greater part of Manhattan for 'educational purposes' and giving hugs to students. We ate fish, veggies, and fruit, but the most interesting part of the dinner was J-Sex himself. He is quite the story teller and apparently has a PhD in religion- who knew? Any ways, after sharing his life story in 4 'chapters,' telling us about his high school mentor Charlie, and divulging his first business venture as an 11-year-old, he shared some advice that I found particularly interesting:

1. Follow your passion. You will be better and happier when you do what you love. It will also make your life useful and you want your days to be useful. [Eerily similar advice to that which Pooja gave me...]
2. Be a good friend.
3. Family is important.

I also took a midterm today and am mentally exhausted. Yikes. I think it went well, though. Until next time :)

Today I ate.... Oh, and dinner with John Sexton

Today I ate.... (so far):
An apple!
Ito En's unsweetened lemongrass green tea (never tried this flavor before, it was ok- http://www.itoen.com/)
[SIDE NOTE: I am obsessed with Ito En's mate, which is like a gourd tea- oh, and it is zero calories. Sweet.]

Photo courtesy of itoen.com

Rice, chicken with chickpeas, and cauliflower!
Coffee with skim milk
Raw nuts with raisins
Licorice tea

John Sexton, President of NYU (photo courtesy of  nyulocal.com)

I think it is bad I am already planning my dinner, but then again I change my mind like twenty times a day! I am actually having a special group dinner tonight with John Sexton, who is the president of NYU- he has a reputation for giving hugs and buying up prime Manhattan real estate for 'educational' purposes. I report back what healthy choices are available at NYU's Torch Club (aka 'fancy' on campus restaurant for Alumni) and what  the (in)famous J-Sex (his nick name) has to say...

Dinnertime at the Union Square Greenmarket!

I am about to eat dinner now and love the Union Square Greenmarket! I am not sure what I am going to get yet, but I wanted to share some pics of what I have gotten in the past- everything is delicious and farm fresh. Where I am from in Connecticut is very farm-y, so it is nice to still be able to buy my food from people who grow their wares themselves! I really love Body and Soul (http://supervegan.com/r.php?id=129), which only uses all-natural ingredients and most of their stuff is vegan. Did I mention it was delicious?

Baker's Bounty spinach focaccia = heavenly!

Body and Soul's black bean empanada

I also really want to buy ingredients to make Pooja's Autumn Veggie Chili now that it is officially harvest time!

Photo of Autumn Veggie Chili courtesy of PoojasWay.com

What did Sarah eat today?

This morning, I did an hour on the elliptical and cooled down with a short run on the treadmill. After, I did a few ab exercises like reverse sit ups, and stretched a tad before running around for my crazy day!

In between running around, I ate:
- 10 grain cereal with banana (heated in microwave with water and tasted like pie)

- Massama curry with shrimp (went to a local asia spot with a few friends for lunch)
- All-natural, homemade gelato (not the best choice for a mid-day snack, but I went with my italian class and it was fun to eat and was at least all-natural)
- Whole grain sprouted bread with pure organic peanut butter and organic blackberry jam (sugar-free, all natural; I usually buy Ezekial brand brand, as recommended by Pooja; this is such an easy, healthy classic -> I love PB&J)
- Pooja's snack bowl minus the fruit plus flax seeds (check out my new pic!; also this is a little info for the recipe: http://poojasway.com/article-tips/october-4th-2011-poojas-3-day-reset-chocolate/)

I also have been eating the snack bowl at least once a day because after doing my chocolate reset, I was hooked. I actually think that I am going to start eating mostly (all is unrealistic) 70% or higher dark chocolate/ chocolate foods for deserts. The reason that I love the snack bowl is because it is crunchy and filling and tastes like food, not chemicals. When I started choosing more whole foods, the other more processed items starting to taste less good (and for lack of a better word 'chemically'). I also bought more chcolate bars today and the brand, Endangered Species, gives back to charity- yayyyyyy!

Endangered Species brand chocolate gives 10% of profits to charity and these choices are over 70% cacao! Healthy!

I even bought my favorite tea today -> Egyptian Licorice from Yogi Tea!

Stay tuned for my reviews of the different chocolates that I bought! Have a fab weekend and I will share about the play I am seeing tomorrow :)

Look what I had for breakfast!

Pooja's Snackbowl, also made for my roommates (even though this is really like a dessert)

To do your own 3-day chocolate reset, go to: http://poojasway.com/article-tips/october-4th-2011-poojas-3-day-reset-chocolate/

Also, as an update, I need to go to the store to buy chocolate and tea because I didn't do it yesterday -> mur. Happy November!