Homemade & HEALTHY popcorn

Hi friends!

Its been awhile. I'm one rusty blogger. To be 100% honest, I just haven't been inspired to write lately. So tonight I'm going to ease back into it and do a quickie post. I thought I'd share a short list of some of the superfoods I've been enjoying lately. I try to eat all of these foods every week. I'm a veeerrry busy eater.

Avocados • Beets • Blueberries • Dark, Leafy Greens • Whole Grains (like quinoa and bulger) • Cinnamon • Ginger • Cayenne • Black pepper • Yogurt • Walnuts • Almonds • Green Tea • Dark Chocolate • Flaxseed • Figs • Cruciferous vegetables (like cabbage, cauliflower and brussel sprouts) • Lemons

I'm actually about to make an easy after dinner treat for my husband and I that incorporates 3 of the super food ingredients from above. I'm making stove top popped popcorn with dried oregano and lemon. So gooooood.

Here's how I make it:

Whisk together some olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl. Coat the bottom of a 4-quart pan with some vegetable or olive oil. Pour kernels in pan and pop on your stove top with a covered lid. Allow popcorn to cool for a few minutes before pouring the reserved oil-lemon mixture on top. Season with oregano, sea salt, black pepper and sesame seeds.

Have a good night :)

Brown Rice Breakfast

I am loving this yummy breakfast recipe. It takes about 5 minutes to make start to finish and it's filling and nutritious. If you eat brown rice for dinner the night before, just make a little extra and just reheat it in the morning with some almond or rice milk for a healthy breakfast.

My husband has named it Breakfast Risotto.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of brown rice

1 tablespoon of nuts (optional)

1 tablespoon of dried fruits (optional)

1/4-1/2 cup of almond/soy/rice milk

1 tablespoon of honey, maple syrup or agave syrup

dash of cinnamon and vanilla extract (optional)

Experiment with this recipe and make it your own. You can try using any mixture of dried fruit or fresh fruit. Toss in whichever nuts or seeds you like best. Or you could also top your rice with a little milled flax seed or flax seed oil in place of the nuts. I had mine this morning with dried mango and cranberries, walnuts and raw cocoa nibs.

Mix all the ingredients together in a pan and heat on the stove for 3-5 minutes. Try it out! It's very similar to oatmeal or my quinoa porridge.

Multitasking: screwing things up simultaneously :)

Do you multitask? C'mon. Of course you do! We all do. In fact, right now while I'm writing this post I'm also talking to my husband, brewing a pot of tea, clicking between window tabs to check my email, and creating a "to do" list for tomorrow. Yeesh.

But it makes sense. Our culture today seems to demand and even prides itself on multi-tasking. All of us are working longer hours but are still trying to cram in all that we can (hello twitter, facebook, emailing, texting, web surfing) into our limited free time. In addition to that, we also want to spend an optimal amount of time with our families and friends and still have time for ourselves. The solution seems to be simple: do more than one thing at a time. But research shows that multitasking is not as efficient as we think.

"Several studies have conclusively shown that those trying to do multiple activities simultaneously lose time when they have to quickly switch between tasks. Then the time costs increase with the complexity of the tasks, so it takes significantly longer to switch between more complex tasks. In other words, while you think you’re saving time, you’re actually wasting it. In addition to that, the quality you’re able to put toward both tasks is significantly lowered" (Prof. D Meyer of University of Michigan).

Furthermore, multitasking can bring on more stress in our lives. "Due to the amount of time multitaskers take to flit between one job and another, they become less efficient and their brain literally slows down, which causes stress levels to rise, which in turn leads to mistakes being made and stress levels rising even more. So it's no wonder we feel frantic when we try to do too many things at once" (source).

Solution? Practice UNI-TASKING. Slow down and experience the present moment. I tried this for one whole day and I was truly surprised to discover how relaxing it felt to just do one thing at a time. Try it: have a phone conversation without checking your email, making a list, or surfing the Internet. Make dinner without listening to the TV or cleaning up your kitchen. Just chop up your vegetables and notice their color and texture. Drink your tea or coffee and notice the flavor and temperature. This is a great new thing to do in 2010. For a few minutes every day, focus your attention on one activity at a time, without bringing in anything else. It's an exercise that requires attentive "tunnel vision" and resisting the multiple distractions of our increasingly over stimulating environment. But I think you may be surprised at its calming effects.

A new decade...here's to 2010!

Home For The Holidays
I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year! As they say, "cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right." With 2009 out the door, I'm ready to start fresh and be even more mindful of who and how I want to be in 2010. I've declared my resolutions and I'm thinking about writing them down and posting them somewhere to keep me focused and on task all year long.

Last night over dinner my husband and I reflected back on our 2009. I realize how much I am continually grateful for so many blessings including my health, my family, my happy marriage, my amazing job and coworkers, and my truly wonderful friends.

I have to say, I've really been enjoying my Christmas break this winter. I'd even go as far as to say I feel ready to return to school bright eyed and bushy tailed (...and ready to begin my count down to summer vacation. Let's be honest).

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This break was really relaxing. One of my first breaks without something like wedding planning, graduate school papers, or teaching work. I spent quality time with my family and husband in Ohio and caught up with lots of old friends. We did plenty of eating, drinking and celebrating, a little skiing, lounged around in our pajamas, saw some movies, slept in late and went to the gym longer than we usually get to.

While visiting, my older brother, Wes, took me and my husband to Ohio State University's R-Pac facility to workout. The R-PAC is one of the newest physical activity centers on OSU's campus...and it has so many amazing amenities in addition to their cutting edge cardio and weight training equipment. There's a golf simulator, squash and badminton courts, a childcare/playroom for kids, basketball courts, a state-of-the-art acquatic center, a cafe and juice bar, in addition to a bunch of multipurpose and activity spaces. While we were there, we took full advantage and played squash, badminton, watched a cricket match (rando...yes), soaked in the hot tub, and used all of the training equipment.

Tar Heel Tough

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So during one of our workouts, Wes reminded me of an abdominal circuit he showed me a few years ago that I haven't done in a long time. It's a tough core workout and I'm definitely feeling it today after doing it two days in a row. I thought I'd share it today before I forget about it again!

The circuit is called the UNC 200 (or as the Tar Heels call it, the Med Ball 400) and it's a routine that's taken from North Carolina's basketball training handbook. It has 2 names b/c the average person, like you and me, does the UNC 200, which includes 200 reps total. But Coach Jonas Sahratian refers to it as the Med Ball 400 because the team does 400 reps each and every practice. How cool is it that you and I can do a version of the same strength and conditioning program coach Sahratian uses to whip the Tar Heels into championship-game shape?! The circuit is designed to give you a toned core and improve your overall sports performance. And trust me, you'll really feel it in your abs after doing it just once. I really like incorporating it into my workouts because you use your whole body (with all the squats and presses) with just a 4-8 lb. medicine ball. You can do this workout in under 5 minutes, any place and any time.

Learn the UNC 200 workout here, courtesy of Men's Health (don't worry, ladies...we're tough enough for this workout).

1. Big Circles (10 in one direction, 10 in the reverse direction)
2. Woodchoopers (20)
3. Standing Russian Twists (20)
4. Squat Press (20)
5. Medicine Ball Sit-ups (20)
6. Rocky Solo Twists (20)
7. Toe Touches (20)
8. 45-degree Twists (20)
9. Suitcase Crunch (20)
10. Diagonal Crunch (20)

I'm off to big tailgate for the bowl game today. The Buckeyes faceoff against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl this afternoon. Send your good thoughts to the Bucks while they battle it out in Pasadena!

Wishing you and your loved ones love and happiness in 2010. Here's to a beautiful and HEALTHY year!