Nutricious and Delicious

For a while now people in my life (including, but not limited to, my Dr. and a certain boy with four names who I'm beginning to suspect has stocks in the vitamin industry) have been encouraging me to take a multivitamin and calcium supplement.

I've actually owned a bottle of One-a-Day multivitamins for a few years now, but have probably only consumed about a handful of them over that period of time. Why? Good question. I think it's a combination of laziness/forgetfulness and an aversion to taking pills.

Then, the other day I saw a commercial for adult gummy vitamins (sigh, advertising does work). I sort of already knew these existed but I'd forgotten about them. With a newly perked awareness I headed down the vitamin aisle at Target last night.

And low and behold, I must not be the only adult who's not a huge fan of swallowing vitamins. I kid you not, there were no less that eight different varieties of adult gummy vitamins (there are only like 3 kid gummy vitamin options!). The One-a-Day ones even came in gummy sours (which I hope means they taste like sour patch kids). I would have gone for the One-a-Day ones but they contained 20 fewer gummies in the bottle than all the other brands (I'm partaking in a new activity these days, it's called "Reading the labels").

After spending waaaay too long looking at my options (Target ones are cheap! But are they crap? Do I want essential vitamins or vitamins for bone strength? Ahhh too many choices), I opted for VitaFusion's Essential Daily Vitamins gummies along with Viactiv's chocolate calcium chews (cause I've had those before and knew they're freakin delicious).

Once I got home I immediately indulged in multivitamin nomming. The VitaFusion gummies are fine, though their flavor isn't as good as Flintstone vitamins or real gummy bears. The Viactiv chews lived up to my memory of their deliciousness and I seriously considered way over fortifying myself with calcium (5 chews can't hurt right??), but practiced some will power.

I'm feeling pretty good about my new adventure into taking vitamins. It means I pretty much get to eat nutritious candy every day. Health for the win!

Dust Storm in Sydney

Have you heard about the dust storm sweeping across Australia? It blanketed Sydney this week in a reddish haze. And while I can't imagine how awful it must have been to have to walk through all that, it has generated some amazing pictures. I visited my favorite Aussie in Sydney in 2005, and it's crazy to compare what I saw to the dusty pictures being posted. Here are some comparisons.

My photo of the opera house:

A very dusty opera house:



Sydney skyline:



Dusty skyline (the opera house is to the left if you look very closely):



The fabulously creepy Luna Park entrance:



The now even creepier Luna Park entrance:



Luckily for my friend Sorrel (pictured in the Luna Park photo), she's in Hong Kong now watching a High School Musical performance at Disney. Awesome, and way preferable to choking on dust at home.

Cooking with Quinoa

Last week I was poking around the internet looking for something good to cook for dinner, and I came across this: Zucchini and Corn Taco Seasoned Quinoa Salad. I've had a box of quinoa sitting in my pantry for like 6 months now so I was glad for the opportunity to use it.

My friend Sian introduced me to quinoa a while back and calls it a "super-grain," but according to wikipedia it is actually a grain-like pseudo cereal. Whatever it is, its good, and good for you. In one cup of quinoa you get 8g of protein, 5g of fiber, and assorted vitamins and minerals. To me the texture is cous-cous like, though it looks very different. I think it could be easily substituted in places where you'd use rice or cous cous.

So after I hit the gym last Thursday, I swung by the grocery store, picked up the ingredients, and set to work on my Zucchini and Corn Taco Seasoned Quinoa Salad.



The recipe's ingredients included:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 batch taco seasoning
1 ear corn (grilled and kernels cut from cob)
1 cup zucchini (grated)
1 cup black beans
1 jalapeno (sliced)
1 green onion (sliced)
1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
1 tablespoon oil
1 lime (juice)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup cotija (crumbled)

I mixed things up a little. For one I just got canned corn. I know grilled corn on the cob would have been much much better, but canned corn was easier. I passed on the jalapeno because I'm not into super spicy stuff. But in retrospect a little more spice would have been a plus. I was going to add cilantro but what we had in the fridge was a little sad looking, so I left it out. And I couldn't find cotija anywhere at the grocery store, so I opted for a crumbled goat cheese instead.

Once I had all my ingredients lined up the cooking began:

I measured out the quinoa, which looks very grain-like indeed:



Then I added the taco seasoning and cooked it on the stove:



Once the quinoa was cooked I threw it in a bowl and mixed in the veggies and beans. In a separate bowl I made the dressing and then added that in too:



And finally I finished it off with cheese:



Dinner accomplished:



The recipe made two servings and I'm currently enjoying the leftovers right now. It was a tasty little recipe, but if I do it again in the future I'm going to going to do a few things differently: 1) Add in the cilantro 2) Track down some cotija cheese 3) Add something, like chicken or tofu 4) Use this as a side dish to another meal, or make it a stuffing (like for peppers)

Homph

This was on my daily calendar this morning and it brought me joy.

Homph.

Hom nom nom nom nom.

I love how the kitty is not freaking out at all. As if he's resigned to it cause it happens all the time.

And the dog is all like, "You're my favorite! I love you so much I want to hug you with my mouth!"

And the cat is like, "Whatevs. I know where you sleep. Your time will come."

A Steaming Mug of Inspiration

During my last two years at Virginia Tech I lifeguarded at the university's pools. It was an awesome job. It paid well (by Blacksburg standards), there was sufficient downtime to get school work done, and most of the swimmers were pretty skilled (which kept things relatively stress free). My only regret was that I hadn't started lifeguarding there when I first began my college career.

There was also a decent community feel between the lifeguards, and even the lifeguarding management. The management put together a program to give out stars for good work, and said stars could then be redeemed for VT lifeguarding gear (which is how I have the complete VT lifeguarding beach set - towels, shorts, shirt, etc.)

They also made a point to recognize outgoing Seniors. Toward the end of my senior year they gifted me (and the other lifeguards in my class) with mugs. Inspirational mugs. And they didn't do this ironically. Nevertheless, I appreciated the gift, and this morning as I drink out of my senior year mug, I can't help but taste a little inspiration.

ACHIEVEMENT
Unless you try to do
Something beyond what
You have already
Mastered, You will
Never grow.

And now for another take on achievement. :)

Mini Paper Dolls

Sometimes the crossword puzzle isn't working out. Sometimes you left your book at home. Sometimes that little scrap of post-it note beckons, and that's when magic happens. Like paper dolls. Super mini paper dolls. And by super I mean they have powers...okay, maybe not.

Gingerbread men



Shooting Stars



Cupcakes (work with me here)



Post-it Notes (it's meta... or something)

Ode to Aladdin's

This blog has become all food, all the time! But hey, who doesn't like to eat? Today's gastronomical post centers on Aladdin's Eatery, a chain Lebanese restaurant that's my go-to when I want cheap, delicious food. My friend Liz and I hit it up last night and after 1 smoothie, 2 main courses, and 2 large desserts our bill came in under $30. Not too shabby.

Whenever I go to Aladdin's I pretty much stick to the same menu: hummus or baba appetizer, maybe a smoothie, and always for the main course the Mujadara plate. Mmmmm happiness. The Mujadara plate is a heaping serving of "steamed lentils and rice topped with Lebanese Salata, and garnished with toasted onions." I'm not gonna lie, the toasted onions are my favorite part. This meal is cheap, delicious, and best of all, I can get two meals out of it (I'm eating the second half of it right this moment... mmm). Check it out:

Mujadara plate(image from Aladdin's Eatery web site menu)