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It’s May 21st and the
weather feels like it’s August 21st.
There’s one month more until it’s officially summer but here in Miami we are already
feeling the effects of the heat and humidity.
I’m not complaining, I’m just stating the facts. I live in a tropical paradise. Key word, tropical. Tropical weather allows for a variety of
fruits to grow here. We’re gearing up
for mango season – with over 400 varieties – it’s hard to pick a favorite.
Besides mangos, we have lychees,
longans, carambola, mamey, passion fruit – and that’s just to name a few. So, yes, we are lucky to have tropical
fruit. The not so lucky part? Dealing with all the heat, humidity, and bugs. Watch out for the cockroaches and
mosquitoes. It’s just a part of the
environment unfortunately. The heat is a
definite factor when it comes to my running.
During the week I run early enough the sun isn’t out. And even though the sun isn’t out, it’s been
beyond humid – the sweat factor is ON. It’s
pretty bad when I can’t stand my own smell.
Which leads me to why I’m even talking about the weather – hydration. I’ve had previous blogs on hydration – here and here – so read up and drink up. Water
that is. Drink water to hydrate. If you are doing extensive exercise or if you’re
out in the hot sun, it’s possible you’ll need an energy replacement drink. But the truth of the matter is most people
just simply need water. We are not all
athletes. Be mindful of your liquid
calories and stay hydrated this spring/summer.
To say I’ve been recently
cookbook obsessed is an understatement. All
I want to do is bake and cook. My latest
find, Bread Illustrated.
I’ve been successful with a few other bread recipes as of recent just
through searches on the internet. But I
knew if anyone could help me to have more success it’d be America’s Test
Kitchen. They’ve tested the recipes so I
don’t have to. Am I right?? And in theory
most should come out successful – unless there’s a user error, which is most
commonly the case! I am a very visual
person when it comes to directions and was thrilled that this book was called
Bread Illustrated – a picture for
almost every instruction?! Sign me up. I knew this might be the answer to all my
bread failures. I’ve still been trying
to make everything homemade this year and bread has/is my nemesis. I just made chocolate babka this weekend:
I should’ve read the introduction
pages to the cookbook because they clearly state that the easier recipes are in
the beginning of the book and the harder recipes are towards the back. Clearly chocolate babka was in the back. Leave it to me to pick what sounded the best,
when in reality I should’ve started with a few more successful recipes before
tackling the hard ones. I’ve decided to
begin to work my way through the book. Not
only is it something that I’ve wanted to attempt for a while now – in my all
things homemade quest – but also as of recent baking has been a form of stress
relief for me. Some people may not
understand or see how that is, but it’s been working for me. I’m able to channel all my energy into making
bread and not have a care in the world when I am as focused as I have to be
while baking the bread. Not to mention
the smell of my house? I mean, come
on?
It’s been a common theme in my
nutrition counseling sessions with patients over the last month – find a form
of stress relief that doesn’t involve food.
Each person has to find their outlet for stress, whatever that may
be. It will be different for
everyone. In so many patients that
struggle with weight loss, their outlet is food. I teach patients to find an alternative
outlet – honoring your hunger cues – but definitively finding something else to
channel their stress. I meditate for 10
minutes every day and that truly helps me to focus solely on my breath. I find additional moments, 1 minute at a time
during the day, to help me reconnect with my breath. The simple act of focusing on my breathing
clears my mind of extractions which then enables me to better connect with
those around me and my spirit within. Everyone
has stress. How do you handle it? For me, it’s meditation and baking – now if
only I could bake all day…
In my quest for making everything
homemade, I’ve come to the realization that not everyone can make everything
homemade. I get it – remember you have to begin where
you are at. And I’m not asking you to do
everything homemade – remember, that’s MY goal. You do YOU! People will always try and say
that I eat way too healthy and they can never be like me – that’s not the idea
behind healthy eating. The key is to
begin with one key change and keep adding on ways to improve. The idea is to continue to form healthy
habits AND stay consistent with the ones you’ve established. I definitely make my own homemade salad
dressing, but if you’re struggling to find one that tastes good and isn’t going
to take the salad from healthy to unhealthy, enter Bolthouse. I am not sponsored by them (which is another
story for another day), I just know that they taste good, will add flavor to
your salad and won’t turn your salad into something unhealthy. They also make a yogurt version of their
dressings, but I selected these to share as they have less ingredients and are virtually homemade. You’re welcome.
I have been making this over the
last month on repeat. I can’t get enough. A quick pickle of sorts – pickle referring to
the technique, but not actually a cucumber if you will. I take a Mason jar and thinly slice a mix of
vegetables – typically red onion, carrot, and radish – and pack it into the
jar. Bring ¼ cup of white wine vinegar, ¾
cup water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon of sugar to a boil. I pour the brine over the vegetables and
cover. Let it chill for at least half an
hour. Keep it in the fridge. My go to?
Adding these vegetables to my Taco Tuesday! They’re also great on salads and
sandwiches.
Last but not least, my inner
creativity. I mentioned earlier how I
meditate and bake for stress relief.
Stress can really wreak havoc on a person’s body, in more ways than
one. Truth be told, stress has been
limiting my creativity abilities as of recent – hence why my blogs sometimes go
every three weeks instead of two. I
recently did a presentation for a group and while I was stressed getting it to
come altogether, the truth is the end result turned out just fine. Ideas don’t just come naturally to me, they
take time – it’s all a part of the process (for me anyways). Each night I would come home and try to
brainstorm what my topic would be. I
think it was five nights straight and not one idea came to fruition. Enter the strawberry rose tart –
How did this help my presentation
you ask? I started to watch a youtube
video –How To Make A Strawberry Rose. A distraction if you will. From there I started to practice on a few strawberries. In the video they continue to fan the layers
all the way to the top. I decided that
it looked more natural if you cut an actual hole at the top instead of fanning one
last layer. Five to 10 strawberries
later an idea for my presentation came to mind.
I immediately jotted down a rough draft, slide by slide, as quickly as I
could. The minute I began to feel less
stressed my creative ideas started flowing.
I didn’t know if they would ultimately lead to a presentation, but
minimally I had more ideas coming. Cut
more strawberries and get more ideas? Or
now begin to channel some of these ideas into a presentation? The truth is as much stress as I was putting
on myself the less creative I was. Each
night as I came home to work on my presentation I did something in the kitchen –
whether it was simply creating an amazing salad to have for dinner that night,
baking bread, or simply throwing a few ingredients for dinner together – the key
was disconnecting from the stress in order to have my creative ideas flow. It worked.
My presentation came together and was a success. Some people might call it procrastination, I
prefer to call it channeling my inner creative ideas. Stress surfaces for everyone in different
ways. For me the stress has been
stifling my inner creativity. Every day
isn’t perfect and some days are better than others. I’m working on better controlling my stress
levels with whatever comes my way through cooking and baking. Enter my finished product – a strawberry rose
tart, with a rosé simple syrup drizzled on top, otherwise known as my way
of letting go of what I can’t control and knowing that what will be will
be. Stress, let go. Creativity flowed. Mission accomplished.
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