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July 15, 2009
Very Interesting Article By Peter Singer
Why We Must Ration Health Care
What do we, as life extensionists, think about this?
Looking forward to your comments!
Posted by april at 5:13 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 5, 2009
Tomatillo Chardonnay Gazpacho
It's the perfect weather for a big batch of cold veggie soup, and gazpacho is one of my favorite things. I've often kept a running vat of it all summer long, just mixing up more every few days. Like a lot of soups (and Christina Aguliera) it keeps gettin better the longer it marinates in the fridge (to a point, of course.)
I've done a million different variations on the basic gazpacho recipe, but this one was particularly fun and weird.
1 cup vegetable juice, 2 small green peppers, 1 large cucumber, 50 g red onion, lemon juice, tarragon vinegar, cumin, chili, black pepper, minced garlic, 1 oz chardonnay, 4 or 5 tomitillos, tsp olive oil, dash Texas Pete!
You blend the veggies in a food processor to desired consistency (some people prefer more pureed, some less) and then add the other ingredients, spices to taste. The chardonnay gives it a funny little kick, and the tomatillos, when fresh, taste vaguely like apples. They are very mild, whereas when canned, they tend to be very salty.
I am so happy to finally be able to cook again. It's beautiful weather here (according to me... MR thinks it's way too bloody hot and humid, and I am frequently treated to descriptions of why, in addition to everything else being better in Calgary, the weather is definitely preferable.) and I've had time to hang out with friends, do a lot of yoga, even get back to Pilates!
Try the gazpacho!
Posted by april at 6:40 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 4, 2009
Fun Ways to Stuff Tomatoes on the Fourth!
It's wonderful to finally have some time to cook! I tried out two new ideas with stuffed tomatoes this weekend.
Tomatoes Stuffed with Curried Zucchini
Big old tomato, cut a whole in the top, hollow out, reserve the guts
Zucchini
2 tbsps nonfat sour cream
curry powder
garlic powder
apple cider vinegar
1 oz nonfat mozzarella
1 tsp olive oil
Finely chop the zucchini and marinate in about 1 tbsp cider vinegar and a lot of curry and garlic powder. Mix with the reserved and chopped tomato guts and the sour cream. Replace in the hollowed out tomato and top with nonfat shredded mozza. Microwave for 1 - 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with 1 tsp olive oil and serve immediately.
Tomato "Cheeseburgers!"
Great for the Fourth!
One large tomato, hollowed out
85 g Quorn grounds, or you could use ground beef or turkey
30 g red onion (or thereabouts) diced
1 slice nonfat cheddar
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp dill pickle relish
Walden Farms Thousand Island Dressing
dash Worchtershire sauce
dash black pepper
dash garlic powder
Mix the hollowed out tomato with the Quorn grounds, sauce, dressing, pickle relish, and onion. Add pepper and garlic powder to taste. Add ketchup and mustard if you like. Stuff the mixture into hollowed out tomato and top with slice of cheese. Microwave for 1 - 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with olive oil and serve immediately.
These are both fun stuffed tomato recipes that go well with a holiday theme.
Posted by april at 12:16 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 1, 2009
The Olive Garden Diet
Now I'm not suggesting that anyone make a habit of this, but I ate two meals at the Olive Garden yesterday. There was one right outside my hotel, and it was near where my mother lives, so between meetings we met for lunch. I had the linguine alla marinara (310) lunch portion and a salad, no dressing. Then after my last meeting we met for a late light dinner, and had minestrone soup (100) and a salad, again no dressing. It was a horrendously low protein and low fat day for me, but the chance to eat calorie controlled pasta is not something I'm willing to give up!
For the record, I do not think that Olive Garden is Italian any more than I think that Taco Bell is Mexican. I've lived in Philly too long to mistake it for real Italian. That being said, I love it! My old employee Lisa, the girl from England, used to love Olive Garden too... we'd eat there when we were on the road. Made me miss her to be there, and even more so to be in Scranton.
Today was a more normal day, even though I'm on the road. Breakfast was a whey protein shake with skim milk and flax oil while I drove here from Reading from 5 am to 7 am. Lunch was a garden salad with a cup of the cottage cheese that I brought from home, plus a teaspoon of the flax oil so lovingly packed by MR in multiple ice packs and a cooler bag. Dinner was a Subway Club salad. After my last meeting, which starts at 7:30 pm, I plan to enjoy a nice glass of wine in my room and go to bed! It's been a long day: two hour sunrise drive, meetings at 7:30 am, 1:30 pm, 4 pm and 7:30 pm, and I took Bikram yoga in between the morning meetings! It was an amazing class... a guy taught it, one I'd never met, and I got to contemplate the fact that the one time a cute guy is teaching my yoga class, I am wearing the most hideous yoga outfit I've ever put on. Apparently the sky blue yoga top one size too large was a Poor Life Choice. I'm sure it would look good on someone... else. Oh well, no matter, I got an incredible workout, and learned a lot in the process. I was still sore from Monday and probably didn't drink enough water beforehand, so I wasn't very good, but I'm extremely accustomed to looking like an idiot in front of attractive men, so it was no big deal.
Okay, back to work... home tomorrow: work during the day, advanced vinyasa at night! When it's difficult, I just remind myself: it's not 108 degrees in here!
Posted by april at 6:05 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack