Sparkling Cherry-Cinnamon Water

Hey all,

I meant to post to you all much earlier, but I’ve been swamped with work! In between working hours digitizing US  journals and magazines from the turn-of-the-century (one of my summer jobs) and mentoring undergraduates for a Mellon program (my other summer job), I have been trying to get my dissertation prospectus approved! This means I’ve been having to complete multiple drafts of my work while meeting with professors. And, gasp, I haven’t even unpacked some of my moving boxes! Needless to say, I’m a busy bee this month. It should slow down next month, though.

Oh, and I have fun news! Remember when I mentioned that I’d be attending a national symposium for my students and moderating a panel? Well, I am being put up in the Marriott (with all meals paid!!!) by the foundation and, even better, I was able to swing getting Ron invited with all meals paid! I made a deal with them: if Ron helps moderate a 100 student breakfast that I am in charge of, then he can come stay with me in the hotel and will have a pass to the conference with all meals paid! Huzzah! This may not seem like much, but for poor graduate students, a two days stay in a nice, air-conditioned hotel with all meals paid is a sweet deal!

Speaking of sweet deals, this morning has been filled with healthy sweets. I made myself coffee, of course.

Good morning!

Then I decided to make another batch of flavored water. On the menu today? Sparkling Cherry-Cinnamon Water!

I simply cut up a handful of cherries and a small Gala apple, and then added the produce to a jug of sparkling water with a cinnamon stick. The result? A pretty pink drink that’s perfect for summer! This flavored water will never get old! I love it. So fun for the weekends, brunches, breakfasts, or weeknights after a long day.

Ok, I’m off! I actually have another post to share with you, and I need to work on that! Have a great day, y’all!

Sparkling Cherry-Cinnamon Water

Ingredients:

1 plastic jug

1 liter of sparkling water (or plain water)

1 small apple

1 handful of cherries, rinsed and de-pitted

1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Thinly slice the apple, and rinse, core, and cut in half the cherries. Put at the bottom of your water jug, and add the cinnamon stick. Fill your jug with sparkling water, and then give it a good stir. Let stand for a few minutes before serving. Voila! Fancy drinks at home to feel fabulous!

Day Spa Apple-Cinnamon Water

DIY Home: Apple-Cinnamon Water

Want something low in calories, cool and refreshing, and that’s as easy to make as cutting up an apple? Try this Day Spa Apple-Cinnamon Water by Audrey at Lose Weight By Eating! Ok, I have to admit, I did NOT think this would work. Could an apple and a cinnamon stick really flavor an entire jug of water? Come on!

But everyone, I’m the one eating crow (US slang for eating my words) because this cold water really did taste strongly of apples and cinnamon! I love it! This drink only had to infuse for a few minutes and already the flavors were pronounced! I really recommend making this for yourself or your family. This Apple-Cinnamon Water is low in calories, uses some of her “metabolism-boosting” foods, and is really refreshing. This might be yet another kitchen staple of mine!

Day Spa Apple Cinnamon Water by Audrey at Lose Weight by Eating!

Ingredients:

1 pitcher

1 thinly sliced apple

1 cinnamon stick

water

Directions:

Simply fill one large pitcher with water and add one cinnamon stick and one thinly-sliced apple. You can refill your pitcher three times before you need to switch out your old produce and spice for new.

15 Foods that Boost Your Metabolism!

Hey all,

If you don’t remember, I’m in the middle of changing my eating patterns and lifestyle. I’ve never had to REALLY clean up my eating–usually I lost weight and felt better by exercise alone. However, now with a hectic schedule and living on the more severe weather east coast, I can’t easily work out 5 days a week for all the seasons. I realized I need to change my lifestyle and make smarter, healthier choices for my meals. (Such as eating more vegetables and fruit!) Overall, I’ve made strides not eating out as much, eating smaller portions, and not snacking as much. However, I still have my setbacks. I keep sneaking sweets at night! (Ugh, I may or may not have had more than one Fiber One brownie last night!!) I’ve lost 5 lbs in two weeks by a not-so strict diet alone, but I can tell the weight is coming off more slowly now. This week I want to limit my sweets-sneaking. To feel better, I need to impose a little more self discipline and remind myself it’s important for my overall wellness. BB, do you really need more than one brownie at night? Come on! Eat more fruit, BB!

from Shape. com!

This morning, I found inspiration from yet another health and wellness blog: Lose Weight by Eating! Audrey, the woman behind the blog, lost over 100 pounds by simply eating more healthy food, drinking lots of water, and avoiding snacking! She also eliminated processed food from her diet (no diet sodas, fake syrups, or fake sugars) and recommends eating “metabolism-boosting” foods. She includes a handy pictorial of these metabolism-friendly foods and ingredients, which I want to pass on to you all. Thanks, Audrey, for being such an inspiration! I love how healthy of a relationship you have with your body and food. And I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

15 Foods that Boost Your Metabolism! (Audrey at Lose Weight by Eating! blog)

BB and Ron Move!

So, I told you we were still living out of boxes in our new apartment, and that is partially true.

But I made sure to unpack all of my books and then some!

Here’s some of my favorite books all on one shelf!

Along with our kitchen (complete with a pin up on the fridge):

Can you see my Martha Stewart flour and sugar canisters? And yellow kettle? So cute! And you can’t tell in the picture, but the night light plugged into the wall is a black and white picture of San Francisco! 

I’m greeted by Betty Grable on my fridge every morning!

And we even found pop art for our laundry room!

We also are trying to set up a few light white, textured curtains that brighten the rooms.

Ron and I are trying to have a vintage modern look (on a budget) with lots of pop art! (Thankfully, him and I have the same style: old pin ups, vintage produce ads, coca cola prints, etc. with clean, modern furniture.) We’ll see. More to come soon!

DIY Home: Olive Oil as Furniture Polish (untreated wood)

Kitchen tip for households with dull or dirty untreated wood furniture:

Is your untreated wood furniture dull or dirty? First, wipe surface with a lightly damp, warm towel to remove dirt. Let dry, and then use a folded paper towel and 1/8 tsp olive oil and buff the surface of the furniture. This oil buff will leave your furniture brighter and looking like new! Be careful, though: a little oil goes a long way. You don’t want to stain your furniture! I would suggest half a dime’s worth on the paper towel.

Inspiration for this tip:  Imagine my dismay when I made a water mark on my professor’s untreated side table. (I’m house-sitting, remember?) I didn’t mean to! I had no idea! I tried buffing out the ring with commercial furniture polish, and that product literally had NO effect. (That was a waste of 5 dollars! Harumph.) Then I showed my problem to Ronaldo, and he suggested buffing the mark with everyday oil, like olive oil. If it’s good for skin and hair, it’s good for wood, too! I was skeptical. How could this do a better job than a commercial, store-bought furniture polish? Come on! Umm, I was wrong. No more watermarks! See?

Phew! Saved by an everyday kitchen product!

Music to Write Home About: “She’s So Mean”, the new Matchbox 20 single!

I told you all the 90s are back. This generation has f-f-f-finally realized how great the era is (duh). To add to the 90s revival, Matchbox 20– a popular 90s pop band led by frontman Rob Thomas–is releasing a new album! You may remember Matchbox 20 from “Push” and “3 am”. Now the boys of Mbox 20 have a new fun pop-rock single out called, “She’s So Mean.” If you exercise or hit the gym, you will want to download this song ASAP! Mbox 20 definitely has a new sound!

 

They’ve released their own lyric video for the song–interesting marketing, right? And they hired Rob Thomas’  stunning wife to star in it! The color pink and bright lollipops fill the video, but the actual song is bittersweet–something akin to Maroon 5′s single, “This Love”. In fact, there is a whole slew of songs that follow the narrative of  “the supposedly innocent, good guy in love (or in lust) with the bad girl.”

How about Third Eye Blind’s “Never Let You Go?” “There’s every good reason for letting you go. She’s sneaky and smoked out, and it’s starting to show.”

 

Or, Beastie Boys’ “She’s Crafty”, where fictional Lucy steals all the band’s stuff? ” The girl is crafty like ice is cold….when I woke up late in the afternoon, she had taken all of things inside of his room….She had taken the bed and the chest of drawers. The mirror, the tv…she robbed us blind!”

In the “She’s So Mean” video, you see a pair of woman’s legs rocking bright pink hot pants and red lips eating candy behind the lyrics, ”For an angel she is a hot mess.. She’s like a one way ticket/cause you can’t come back./ Yeah, you want her, but she’s so mean!”

I don’t love the connotations of this song…… but I like listening to it. The song equates women with candy (women objectified for consumption? annoying), candy stores (women as something to be bought? really annoying), and childlike innocence with hot pants and candy (okay, women are all adults and don’t need to be taken care of. super annoying). However, I somehow feel better by recognizing its faults? And knowing what it’s portraying? I think we all recognize that there are tons of GREAT books, movies, and songs that are problematic: racist, sexist, gendered, and so on. A great example would be the movie Gone with the Wind. The unnamed Black Americans in the movie were portrayed as the nineteenth century US stereotype of the “Mammy”: a jovial, mother-like, enslaved woman who is happy and complacent with her oppressed condition.  This “Mammy” type figure in fact loomed large in 19th century US culture–in stories, poetry, and periodicals–as justifying rhetoric of why slavery was a “positive-good” for the community as a whole. (Did I mention I am an expert in 19th century US popular culture? BB loves pop culture!!) Knowing this, I can still say Gone with the Wind, in some aspects, is a well-made film, but definitely tempered with racist undertones that can’t, and shouldn’t be, ignored. Make sense? There’s today’s pop culture lesson! Cheers!

BB’s Peppy Purple Smoothie

Happy Tuesday, Burlesquers!!

Ron and I are exhausted, but happy. We’ve moved in all my stuff to our new apartment–no movers needed! We did it ourselves! (We, in fact, moved all my books, clothes, kitchen stuff, and bed and mattress down two flights of stairs and up another flight of stairs to our new place. Let’s just say we’re both taking aspirin right now for sore muscles!!) We thought about hiring movers, but we already don’t get enough exercise as academic researchers. And movers are expensive! Why not workout and save money in the process?

As for my wellness, I still feel excited about losing weight and eating well, but admittedly yesterday we ate Chinese food for dinner. And I feel heavy! Unless you eat steamed vegetables and rice, it’s hard NOT to feel a little icky after Chinese Food. Some of the dishes seem like just meat and oil (with no veggies). Ron and I did have one dish we loved though–it was a peanut satay-type dish that offered lots of fresh mixed vegetables in a coconut peanut sauce. The dish was high in fat, but nutritious. We took some of this satay dish home and decided to try and make a copycat recipe: Asian Satay Roasted Pork! We found a recipe online and tried it….

Good, but not post-worthy. Booo!

Looks so scrumptious, right? We liked the roast, but unfortunately, there was something OFF about the final product. Too much lemon juice? Or too much Rice Vinegar? I am not posting this dish, unfortunately, because I wasn’t sure how to fix it!

That’s ok, though—I instead decided to post my new favorite healthy vegan smoothie recipe! And you’re never going to guess one of the ingredients. You know how I’ve been on a coleslaw and broccoli slaw kick? And I’m trying to eat more vegetables? Well, why not change my usual oatmeal and fruit smoothie breakfast and add some greens– specifically broccoli slaw!

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s broccoli slaw with fruit in a blender! This smoothie is a mix of cheap (and in season!) bright summer fruits (blueberry and cantaloupe), broccoli slaw, a smidge of protein or fiber powder (optional), and almond milk. I love everything about this smoothie. I threw together unusual ingredients I had on hand one summer morning–just to experiment– and it came out beautifully! This smoothie is also low in calories, because its base (unsweetened almond milk) is only 40 calories a cup! And you can’t taste the broccoli/carrots despite it being a third of the produce–the blue berries and sweet melon dominate the flavors of this peppy purple smoothie.

I say “peppy” because numerous studies have shown that blueberries’ powerful antioxidants improve memory and learning, while broccoli and cantaloupe contain high levels of immune system-loving and energy-boosting Vitamin C. Because this is such an easy breakfast, why not give it a shot? I even prepped this smoothie ahead of time with my Almond Overnight Oats (oats greek yogurt, almond milk, water, cinnamon, and almond butter). Rather than use a ton of milk in my overnight oats, I use greek yogurt mixed with water, almond milk, and a bit of nut butter as my base. This is a much less caloric and higher protein option!

My overnight oats and bagged smoothie ready to toss into my blender! I want to be bright eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow.

Hope you all love it! Back to work for me!

Coconut-Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with chickpeas)

Hey all,

I am back..with a vengeance! I went to the gym again today, and I’ve been eating well. In fact, every day I’ve been eating different variations of the healthy oatmeal-smoothie breakfast! (This morning I made a cantaloupe smoothie, mmmmm.) I’m also loving having coleslaw with protein (like chicken) at lunch. Isn’t it funny how just a day or two of good eating and sleeping can make you feel like a million bucks?Anyway, I am excited to keep going with these changes, because in two months I visit California. And I want to be ready for beach days! In fact, I will post pictures (maybe) when I’ve gotten pin-up ready!

from the pinupartblogspot.com

Some of my lifestyle changes involve eating more fruits and vegetables at every meal and making healthy choices and substitutions. No, Colleen, don’t eat that bread with a ton of butter! Don’t drink full-sugar lemonade! This is why (on my blog) I’ve begun swapping some of my favorite guilty pleasures for healthier options: light butter instead of real butter, low-carb, thin crust wheat pizza with slaw instead of frozen pizza, orange applesauce as a snack instead of chips. Having healthy food on hand, planning my meals, and exercising is key for me. That way, I can feel good when I experiment in the kitchen, lie around with Ron, and read…

One of my favorite pin ups, Betty Brosmer! So cute, right?

Speaking of planning and healthy food, I perused more of RFFMBT’s site (Rabbit Food for My Bunny Teeth) for inspiration. I saw she had a vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was intrigued! Her cookies are flourless with no refined sugar. And she made the dough from…wait for it….chick peas and dates! Considering I love dates, I had to make these cookies. I was really curious as to how a flourless and no added sugar cookie would taste. However, I looked at her standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and knew I wanted to change the flavors. I used less water and added a bit of honey, a packet of stevia, reduced fat, unsweetened shredded coconut, cinnamon, and a little more chocolate chips.  (I got the reduced fat, unsweetened shredded coconut at Whole Foods!!) Next time, I might even add some instant decaf coffee to these little lovelies to make them taste more like coconut mocha. I want more complex flavors to spruce up my cookie.

The results of my endeavors? Um, hell YES. A delish, almost replica of a chocolate chip cookie with no flour or added sugar and made from heart healthy chickpeas and dates? Bring me more of those cookies, ASAP!

This is a GREAT base recipe. These cookies (with my changes, at least) come out crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside, and naturally sweet because of the dates. Honestly, there is a long process to make these cookies: you have to let the dates sit overnight in water, rinse and dry chick peas, and then process them together. And I may or may not have soaked my dates for only an hour (which is why the cookies look less “smooth” and more chunky). But, even so, this is by far the BEST “healthy” or “light” chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever eaten. They are 70 calories each! And let’s just say you binge on 4-5 of these cookies in one day (who would do that, cough cough)… you wake up with a flat stomach! You’re binging on mainly dates and chickpeas! This is also a great base recipe for other sweets, too, like bars or dip.  I’m so impressed! I never, in a million years, would have imagined chick peas making a tasty cookie. But they totally did. And, by the way, they are great refrigerated. (It keeps them harder.) I put mine in a tupperware in the fridge and just had one at lunch. YUM! And after trying these cookies over a couple of days, I’ve decided I will ALWAYS have these around, whether in the fridge or freezer. They are a great, healthy alternative to satisfy my sweets craving. Thanks RFFMBT for another great recipe! Enjoy!

Peanut butter Oatmeal with an Apple-Almond Milk Smoothie

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”

~George Eliot

Quite the inspiring quote, isn’t it? Today is a day of new beginnings. I haven’t been taking care of myself lately– missing the gym, eating poorly, and not sleeping enough. I know better than this, but sometimes it’s hard not to slip into old habits, right? Especially when you’re in the midst of a big event, like moving?  Well, I had trouble sleeping last night, partially because of stress and partially because of not feeling great. You know that feeling you get when you know you’re not taking care of your body? You’re tired, you experience anxiety about mundane things, and you just feel….blah? I experienced that last night, and I woke up early. TOO early. I was tired and feeling a little anxious, and mad at myself for it!

I decided in that drowsy moment that today I would clean up my act. No more staying up late to watch a show! No more extra dessert! Eat more vegetables! Drink more water! Get to work! (And look, I’m already at work!)

When left to my own devices, I am quite the hedonist, but it never makes me feel good in the end. I know this! But sometimes we forget. Or need reminding. I actually found more  inspiration this morning from a new fitness/health blog I found called, “Rabbit Food for My Bunny Teeth.” This woman lost 80 pounds, and she now chronicles her daily adventures in cooking, baking, fitness, and weight loss. Admittedly, I think she is more self-disciplined than I ever want/plan to be, but I think she is adorable, and I really like her balanced eating plan–specifically, her “rabbit food pyramid.”

Rabbit Food Pyramid:

Produce: fruits and vegetables.
Whole Grains: brown rice, quinoa, couscous, whole grain pasta, whole grain breads, whole oats, and whole corn.
Protein: tofu, tempeh, Greek yogurt, cheese, beans, chickpeas, lentils, milk, eggs, turkey, and chicken.
Plant Based Fat: avocado, olives, nuts, and seeds.

She recommends for lunch and dinner, for example, that you eat 2 servings of vegetables, 1 serving of whole grain, 1 serving of protein, 1 serving of plant based fat. For breakfast and a snack, you should eat 1 serving of fruit, 1 serving of whole grain, 1 serving of protein, 1 serving of plant based fat. This makes sense! Structuring when you eat your fruit and veggies (to make sure you eat enough!) seems like a great idea. I even decided to base my simple breakfast—Peanut butter Oatmeal with an Apple Almond Milk smoothie– after a sample breakfast she provided. (Her recipe requires cashew butter and soy milk, and I swapped the cashew butter for peanut butter, the soy milk for almond milk, and added cinnamon and vanilla extract.)

I’m going to the gym again today. Considering I still feel sore from Sunday’s workout, I figure I need to start taking care of my body and fueling up! And this breakfast was perfect. Super healthy and fresh with both hearty (oatmeal) and refreshing, sweet elements (Apple-Almond Milk smoothie). I never thought of blending an apple for a smoothie, but it definitely worked! Such a simple idea. And I feel full! Thanks, RFFMBT! You’re my new favorite.

Hey Girl!

Hey girl,

You probably should know that the Feminist Ryan Gosling book is available for sale. Pages of glossy Ryan Gosling pics, all affirming how wonderful you are (and confirming the ridiculousness of misogyny) with cheeky humor. This is always a yes. And by the way, friends: I need a house-warming gift.