Lent - The 6-Week Challenge

It's decided.  I am going to observe Lent this year!

While I am not exactly Catholic, I have actually tried to observe this practice for several years now.  Unfortunately, I have never been successful - not even a little bit.  Having turned 25, however, I really want to be better about following through with things & I would really like for this to be my start off point.

One of the best ways to hold anyone accountable for anything is to broadcast it to as many people as possible because once it's out there, the pressure to follow through & not fail skyrockets.  So even though it is obnoxious, I am going to let the world - or however many people who happen to come across this - know about my goal & have them be my accountability "partners".  Another way that I'm going to hold myself accountable for sticking with Lent this year is by updating on my progress.  I don't think I'll be doing this every single day but I'll definitely be writing down short little blurbs here and there so that not only can I encourage myself to stick to the plan, but also allow myself an outlet to reflect on this experience.

For the next 6 weeks, there will be no meat & no obvious sugar (fructose & carbohydrates are OK) in my diet.  I apologize in advance to anyone who has to deal with me on a daily basis during this period because I can already see myself as being incredibly blah, irritable, crabby, & bitchy (if it gets bad enough).  But here's to following through & for starting off on a new "adventure".

Getting Canned

Coffee is an essential part of many people's daily routine.  But let's be honest - how many people actually have the time or the energy to fire up their espresso machines, their French presses, or even just their regular-ol' drip machines every single time they want an extra jolt of energy??

Surfacing in 1969 in Japan, canned coffee has become a popular & convenient alternative for the multiple-times-a-day coffee drinker; & sometimes even for the non-regular coffee drinkers.  Its existence has spanned worldwide & has even been made into energy drinks.  But do canned coffees really deliver on the same levels as real coffee?  Being ever so curious & adventurous, the Boy decided to pick up 3 different types of canned (or bottled) coffee & did a taste test.  Here are the results according to him...


Specimen #1: UCC Original Coffee with Milk
     The first to introduce canned coffee to the world, the UCC Original Coffee with Milk smelled bland.  The taste was overly sweet to the point where it tasted artificial & more like condensed milk than anything.  The Boy actually said that the after taste of the coffee made him thirsty...but not for more.  A can costs about $1.28 and it contains 17.7g sugar per 8oz.

Specimen #2: Sangaria Milk Coffee
     Priced @ $2.13 a bottle, this coffee was really, really, really sweet.  It's so sweet that it can be classified as milk with a little bit of coffee flavoring.  After only 1 sip, the Boy called it quits.  Even though this was much sweeter than the UCC, it only has 16g super per 8oz.

Specimen #3: Pokka Milk Coffee, Real Brewed
     Credited as the company that put the canned coffee industry on the maps, this can of coffee was also really, really artificially sweet.  While it does have more coffee taste than the Sangaria, its after taste was cloying on the tongue.  This was the cheapest of all 3 brands - only $0.93 - but it had the highest sugar content of 17.8g per 8oz.


While the wanted to try as many brands of canned coffee as he could get his hands on, the Boy decided to discontinue his experiment in order to prevent premature Diabetes.  So the final verdict is UCC > Pokka > Sangaria; but none of the specimens could truly be considered as coffee.  While almost all Japanese drinks companies & many European/US companies (i.e. Starbucks, Illy) offer canned versions of our favorites coffee beverages, nothing can really compare to the real deal.  So next time, when you're looking for a quick caffeine fix - or when you just need that taste of coffee in your mouth - but you absolutely don't want to break out the big guns, can the canned stuff & go for something like a Starbucks Via or just shell out a couple of dollar and go to a cafe.

Nothing Homemade - Double'y Clam'y Linguine

Ever had a day where nothing goes as planned?  It's 4pm & you just got off work.  Your plans for dinner fell through & so you had to get groceries, get home (which takes ~1.5 hours), & put dinner for 2 on the table in less than 30 minutes.

That was my Monday.

Yeah - pizza delivery was definitely an option but it would've taken $15.00 out of my wallet & put in 620 Calories - along with 26g of fat, 1600mg of sodium, & 76g of carbohydrates - into my body*.  No thank you!  Instead, I bought $7.28 of food & made a delicious dinner in 10 minutes.

All it took was 1 package of Trader Joe's Linguine with Clam Sauce, 1 box of Trader Joe's Steamer Clams in Garlic Butter Sauce, & 3 tablespoons of water...

Start cooking the steamer clams according to the instructions on the box.  Add in the linguine after 1 minute & cook that according to the instructions on the package.  In 10 minutes or less (I timed!) you are going to end up with 2 servings of delicious food that looks like this...

You might think this plate of yummy'ness is going to be disastrous in terms of its nutrition.  As it turns out, 1 plate contains 310 Calories, 11g Fat, 670mg Sodium, 33g Carbohydrates, 90mg Cholesterol, 21g Protein, & 2g Dietary fiber.

There you have it!  At half the price of a pizza, you can consume half the Calories & other bad stuff from , & be able to enjoy twice the goodness.


* Nutritional contents were calculated for the consumption of 2 slices of Papa John's pepperoni pizza.

Quick & Easy - "Whole Bunch'a Crap" Fruit Salad

What is Christmas without a little disaster??

When my mom found out on Christmas morning that our neighborhood grocery store wasn't opened for business - even though it said it would be - she quickly came up with a plan to make a homemade fruit salad using only 5 ingredients.

The name "Whole Bunch'a Crap" came about when my cousin's boyfriend asked me what was in the salad & I didn't feel like explaining so I said "there are apples, cucumbers, and...uh...a whole bunch'a crap."  Nothing clever, I know.

This delicious concoction was made using these 5 things...
     Apples - We used 2 fuji apples & 2 granny smith apples to get the red/green as well as a little bit of tang.
     Cucumbers - We used the baby kind since cucumbers are not in season anymore (I think).
     Dried fruits - We have a big bag of mixed dried fruits @ home so we tossed in all some raisins, dried peaches, & dried pineapples.
     Nuts - The  nuts we used came in the same bag as the mixed dried fruits but if you want to need to get nuts in addition to the fruits, we used peanuts, almonds, and toasted walnuts.
     Mayonnaise - We would've preferred another dressing (i.e. poppy seed) but the stores were closed & all the Chinese supermarket had was mayo (ew).

Putting all this "crap" together...
     Cut the apple into segments, remove the core, & then cut into chunks.  We left the skin on & kept the chunks pretty big so people actually have something to bite into.
     Put the apple chunks into a big bowl of salt water as you're cutting them (this prevents browning).  Leave the chunks in for about 10 minutes, rinse them off, & let them drain.
     Cut the cucumbers into the chunks also, keeping them about the same size as the apples.  Set them aside in a bowl (no need to soak them).
     Once the apples are rinsed/drained, toss them together with the cucumbers, the dried fruits (cut up the larger pieces), & the nuts.
     Mix the mayo - about 0.5 to 0.75 cups - with a about 0.75 teaspoon of sugar (this cuts down the tangy'ness) & dress the salad.

That's really all there is to it.  If you like, you can add celery, mixed canned fruits, or even potatoes (yep!).  The key thing is not to over'dress the salad because then it would just be goopy, tangy, & just plain gross.

Weekend Dinner - Squash Beans & Kale "Minestrone"

My partner's mother got me a butternut squash a couple of weeks ago & I finally have time to cook it.  Coincidentally I had read about a recipe in Self magazine that I wanted to try out that uses butternut squash.  Perfect!  I ended up deviating quite a bit from the original recipe because I didn't have all the ingredients.  But the end product was still delicious.

Here are the ingredients I used...
     1 quart of chicken broth
     2 cups of water
     1 can of diced tomatoes with the juice (I was feeling lazy)
     1 can of cannellini beans (the original recipe calls for kidney beans)
     5 cups of butternut squash, cubed
     7 oz of kale, chopped (I used a 10oz bag of chopped kale from Trader Joe's for $1.99)
     Salt & black pepper to taste (I also added some chipotle powder for kick)

And this is how it went...
     In a small pot, boil some water & blanch the cannellini beans for a couple of minutes.  I did this to get rid of the gooey gunk that canned beans usually sit in.
     In a large soup pot, bring to a boil the chicken broth, water, & tomato.
     While waiting for the soup base to boil & for the beans to blanch, peel & cube up the butternut squash.  This was 1 of the hardest things I have had to do in cooking.  I did find out though, that my ceramic knife is far superior to my metal one.  I used the entire squash which came out to about 5 cups even though the recipe asks for only 3.

     Once the soup base is boiling, add in all of the butternut squash cube.  Season with a little bit of soil & let it all boil for 15 minutes.
     After the 15 minutes, add in the kale (making sure to submerge it into the soup) & the beans.  Once the soup comes back up to a boil, season with black pepper & a tiny bit of chipotle powder.

There you go!  A delicious, healthy, warming meal...all in 1 bowl.  Oh, & did I mention it's anti-cancer too??