Easing In …

I have this rule that I can buy magazines only when I’m traveling. When I’m on the road, I have a permission to pick up any publications, even trashy tabloids, although I usually end up selecting my usual The Oprah Magazine and Real Simple (and maybe The New Yorker when I’m in the mood for some intellectual read).

On my last trip, I picked up the February issue of the O Magazine and found an exercise called, “You … in Six Words,” where you are challenged to come up with a haiku-like memoir that describes your life in six simple words. Oprah’s was, “Seeking the expression of self.” Some of my favorites were, “I dance daily, watched or not,” “Recipe for failure, changed my ingredients,” and “The good child, until I wasn’t.” I gave this some thought during my five-plus hour flight and came out with this:

Finally growing into my true self.

What’s yours?

Breakfast (9:00 a.m.): Had a quick rice bowl with leftover Korean BBQ beef and seaweed salad for breakfast before the workout. I was halfway through the bowl when I realized that I forgot to take a picture.

Workout: Saori came over to my neck of the wood and trained me, Tiffany, and Shannon on Kangoo at Rose Bowl. She has wanted me to try this rollerblade-meets-trampoline exercise for several years but I resisted, until today.

It was a little difficult to get the hang of it at first, but it became super fun once I got over the fear. We ended up having an absolute blast! I think I’m officially a Kangoo addict. I can’t wait to do it again on Wednesday!

Lunch (1:30 p.m.): After the Kangoo workout, we went to Le Pain Quotidien (our usual) for well-earned lunch. Instead of the usual bread basket, we split two chocolate croissants among the four of us.

I enjoyed a plate of smoked salmon tartines with a cup of Café au (soy) lait. I still feel strange drinking a hot drink with a cup with no handle …

I was still hungry so I had two pieces of bread with its homemade Nutella-esque hazelnut spread. I was in heaven.

Snack (5:00 p.m.): After I came home, took shower, and threw clothes in a washing machine for the second time, I had a small bowl of rice with squid kimchi and seaweed salad.

I also had a box of this Korean chocolate snack that I picked up yesterday

Dinner (7:30 p.m.): I realized that I ate just a little too much again today (despite the workout) so I decided to go light and ate shabu nabe with napa cabbage, mushrooms, onion, tofu, and five pieces of sliced pork for dinner. No rice because I already ate it for snack a few hours earlier.

It was a wonderful weekend.  I’m looking forward to a great week!

I’m Just Sleepy …

My sister pointed out that a body sometimes mistakes lack of sleep with hunger, so I went to bed a little earlier than usual last night … and woke up very refreshed! And I didn’t feel hungry all day and didn’t overeat!

Shannon and I met in the morning to go for a run around Rose Bowl. I was looking forward to a nice jog with my running pal, but my soleus muscle on both legs started cramping up very early in the run and we ended up walking the entire 6.2 miles (this is not the first time this happened). I really think it’s the shoes. I’ve had this pair for about a year now and I think I’m due for a new one. I can tell that they have lost their cushioning.  Off to the running store I go next week.

Breakfast (9:30 a.m., not pictured): I ate a chocolate brownie bar for breakfast before the walk.

Lunch (1:30 p.m.): After the run, Shannon went off to the food truck festival, and Kevin (who met me after his hockey practice) and I went to Stonefire Grill for some salad lunch. We really like this place because you get your money’s worth.  It’s not the cheapest place to dine, but you get a pretty darn good portion of a pretty darn good food.

He ordered the South of the Border salad with chicken and I had my favorite BBQ tri-tip salad. I used up half of the dressing and two small containers of its amazing BBQ sauce.  No soda.  No bread.  YAY!

I ate a lot more than what’s on the picture, but I still managed to pack some leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Dinner (6:00 p.m.): Had a bottle of Steelhead beer that Kevin left in the fridge (it was so good). I was completely out of wine but felt like drinking a little so this was perfect.  I’m nicely buzzed now.

For dinner, I had a Korean BBQ plate with grilled marinated beef, rice, seaweed salad, fermented squid, and kimchi. I had a second serving with a little more rice and banchan.  On the way back from lunch, I stopped by HK Market in Glendale and stocked up on goodies like banchan, natto, and lotus.  I’m so happy.

Kangoo workout with my sister　(the trainer), Tiffany, and Shannon tomorrow morning! YAY! Looking forward to going to be early again tonight.

I Must Be A Rice Addict …

Breakfast (10:30 a.m.): I ate kimbap, Korean-style sushi, that Kevin brought over last night for breakfast. I had a side of kimchi.

Lunch (1:30 p.m.): Made a rice bowl with the leftover broth from last night’s chicken hot pot. I had a second serving because it was so good (but half the portion of the pictured one).

Snack (3:30 p.m.): Special K with almond milk.

Pre-Dinner, not pictured (5:30 p.m.): I don’t know what came over me but I had another rice bowl. It was a small portion but I feel like I really didn’t need to eat this.

Dinner (8:30 p.m.): Leftover gyoza that my mother packed for me a few weeks ago, with some leftover pork cutlet, with shredded cabbage and a side of white rice. Yes, that’s a dollop of mayonnaise you see on the vegetable.

What’s going on?  I’m eating WAY too much food lately!

Back to the Regular Routine …

Breakfast (9:30 a.m.): Back to the regular routine – Special K with almond milk for breakfast. I’m surprised how long a carton of almond milk lasts. I feel like I’ve had this same carton forever (for about a month), but the expiration date is not for a couple of days. And it still tasted fresh.

Lunch (12:30 p.m.): Lunch with my friends / coworkers at Maggiano’s. We ordered our usual appetizers of chopped salad, bruschetta, flatbread (this time, we ordered shrimp and asparagus from the special), and fried zucchini. I had two pieces of breads, and two glasses of diet coke with grenadine. It was so much fun to catch up with Roxanne, Mary Lee, and Marcus.

I ate this portion, plus more salad and flatbreads.

Dinner (7:30 p.m.): Kevin and I cooked Torinabe (chicken hot pot) for dinner. Kevin made the miso sauce while I chopped vegetables. He’s usually the chef in the kitchen and I’m the sous chef. The ingredients in the hot pot are: Free-range chicken, two kinds of mushrooms, tofu, napa cabbage, onion, and harusame, and sprinkled chopped green onion on top.

The nabe was so delicious, and we ate it with white rice, and a few glasses of red wine he got for Christmas.

Trip to Mason

I spent the last three days in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, and had a blast. It was so nice to see everyone there!  I didn’t take pictures of most of the things I ate during my business trip, but here are some.

Monday, January 23:

Lunch:  I ate sushi during my layover in Charlotte, North Carolina. I know – it’s crazy to fly across the country to NC and backtrack to OH, but that was the cheapest flight I can find (direct flight from LA to Cincinnati was about $900).

Dinner:  After I checked in to the hotel, my friend / colleague Mandy and I want to a neighborhood Asian fusion restaurant, Dao Bistro, for late dinner.

Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomach when we ordered these massive amount of appetizers, between the two of us!

I had Ja Jang Mein, sutamyeon noodle with vegetable and pork serviced with black bean sauce.  This was really delicious!  And it came with a side of takuan (Japanese picked radish) and kimchi.

Tuesday, January 24:

Breakfast:  Super-fattening croissant breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, and mushroom from the hotel.  Kinda regretted eating it afterward … I should have totally gone with a bowl of oatmeal or yogurt …

Lunch:  (Not pictured):  Had a pan-fried chicken breast with green apple and fennel salad, with a side of rice pilaf and green beans for lunch.  I couldn’t believe how delicious everything were, especially considering that they came from an office cafeteria!

Dinner:  Dinner at Montgomery Inn with the group.  I had its famous ribs and pork chop combo.  They were so delicious, especially the BBQ sauce.  For snack, we went to Ohio’s own Graeter’s and experienced its divine Black Raspberry Chips and Black Berry ice cream.   I wish I took pictures!

After I returned to the hotel, I had to put in a few hours of work, and I was up until around 3:00 a.m. to get it done. I was so mad at first that I had to stay up so late but I felt much better when I found my favorite movie, It’s Completed, on TV!

Wednesday, January 25:

Breakfast:  Breakfast biscuit with egg, ham, cheese, and potatoes.  Another bad choice.

Lunch / Dinner:  Ate a smoked salmon bagel sandwich with low-fat cream cheese, onion, tomato, and capers, at the airport.  I also ate half a bag of Kettle Chips.  The only thing I was able to get my hands on once I was on the plane was the cheese and cracker box … so I spent a hefty $8 on four tiny pieces of cheese, four crackers, two strawberries, and some grapes.

By the way, tonight’s flight home was one of the bumpiest plane ride of my life.The turbulence was so severe, I felt like I was riding a roller coaster!  I heard more than a few nervous screams from passengers.

I could have definitely done better food-wise on this trip.  I’m ready to get back into eating more consciously now that I’m back to a regular routine.  It’s so nice to be home!

Weekend Getaway: Day 2 (of 2)

Morning: Tiffany and I stayed in and played the LA Times crossword puzzle in bed while Shannon and Roya went to workout at the downstairs gym. Tiffany is a riot. I don’t think I laughed so hard playing a word game!

(You’ve gotta love the mess — this is the aftermath of us having so much fun the night before.)

Breakfast (11:30 a.m.): After we got ready and checked out of the hotel, we drove to Pacific Crepes for French-inspired breakfast. This was such a cozy and quaint restaurant with wonderful service and amazing food. We started out with glasses of Kir and Café Latte, and shared two onion soups among the four of us.

I ordered Santa Cruz crepe, with salmon (raw fish “cooked” in lemon juice), Portobello mushrooms, steamed spinach, ratatouille, and béchamel sauce. This was very different and super delicious!

We shared a sweet crepe for dessert. This is crepe with Nutella and pear, with amazing homemade whipped cream. I’m not even a whipped cream fan but this one was out of this world.

We are all incredible full at this time but we inhaled it because it was so good.

We did the whole touristy things in Santa Barbara and shopped on lively State Street for a few hours (I picked up a cute top – YAY). We went to Renaud’s Patisserie in hopes of it amazing macarons and other French desserts but the place was CLOSED when we arrived! I was SO bummed because I was really looking forward to it for so long.

Dinner (6:30 p.m.): On the drive home, we decided to go to Jinya for a ramen dinner, only to find out upon arrival that the place was closed for remodeling tonight. We went to another restaurant across the street, only to be disappointed that it was also closed!

We found a Thai restaurant nearby so we ended up having dinner there. I was pleasantly surprised to find Sompun Thai to be quite delicious! I had a glass of chardonnay to unwind, and we shared yum woon sen to start. I had steak salad for dinner and half of Tiffany’s curry for dinner.

What an amazing weekend this was. I had a blast hanging out with such great friends over good food. I can’t wait to do it again soon.  Thank you, Tiffany, Shannon, and Roya!

Weekend Getaway: Day 1 (of 2)

Breakfast (9:30 p.m.): I had a wonderful weekend. Saturday began with me and Kevin getting up early in the morning to partake in the wedding “sneak peak.” We got to visit our wedding venue and watch the set-up process for a reception that was taking place that day.  It was a random couple’s wedding that we were getting the glimpse of, but it totally gave us good ideas on how we want our wedding to look and feel.

Before arriving to the venue, we stopped by Joan on Third for a quick breakfast of chocolate croissant (I only ate 1/3 of it because it was mediocre and I didn’t want to waste my daily calories on something that’s not spectacular) and half of Kevin’s ham and brie sandwich (this was pretty darn good). We only have a few minutes so we ate in the car.

After the sneak peak, Kevin dropped me off at Roya’s place, and Roya, Tiffany, Shannon and I headed to a girls’ weekend trip to Santa Barbara. On the way, I had tall strawberry smoothie and banana bread from Starbucks. (Oh, and we also stopped at Dash in Calabasas because Shannon and Roya are fans.)

After we checked in to Harbor View Inn in Santa Barbara (highly recommend this place), we went out for a five-mile run on the beach. The first two miles were really tough because they were all uphill but coming down felt really great.

We found a local community college along the way so we went to the track to do stairs. I did 1.5 rounds (I think the girls did three or four), and ran two laps around the track. I actually wanted to do more rounds but I got a little scared coming down the steps!  It was such a wonderful day for an outdoor exercise!

Dinner (5:00 p.m.): After the workout, we went to this neighborhood Mexican place that Shannon saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, but was closed, so we went to another, more fancy Mexican restaurant, Casa Blanca, down the street from the hotel. We had a round of drinks (I had blood orange margarita with jalapeno) and chips and salsa. We were only going to stay for drinks and appetizers, but we ended up eating full meals. I absolutely loved the steak salad that I ordered. It was one of the best steak salads I’ve had in years!

Late-Night Dinner (11:00 p.m.): We soaked our tired muscles in the Jacuzzi after we returned from dinner which felt incredible! We had a few more cocktails there, and came back to get ready to go out. We ended up at a pub full of Santa Barbara locals, and we shared Mac and Cheese (with bacon, Gruyere, and arugula) and French fries (sweet potatoes and regular). We knew that she shouldn’t have eaten such fatty foods so late at night but we figured we’d have fun on our vacation. The good news is that I didn’t drink and we didn’t polish off the plates.

Way Too Much Food for One Day …

Breakfast (11:30 a.m.): I love Fridays. It’s a prelude to wonderful things to come, as in Saturday and Sunday. Work was still stressful today but I’m beginning to realize that it’s me who’s putting unnecessary pressure on myself.I need to chill a little and not worry too much. I’m usually very carefree (or at least I think I am) but not when it comes to work-related things. Deadlines stress the heck out of me and I’m easily overwhelmed. I have to keep reminding myself that work is just work and my mental health is more important than that presentation I need to build!

Anyway, for late breakfast / early lunch, I had mom’s chicken dish with whole wheat short pasta. I measured it and this was exactly two cups of cooked pasta, which is way too much food for one sitting. My goal is to limit my pasta intake per meal to one cup.

Lunch (3:00 p.m.): I had more of the chicken simmer and tomato sauce for lunch, but with no pasta. I forgot to take photos. I ate a total of two wings and two legs … with skin. I’ll try to omit chicken fat but man, it tastes so delicious with.

Snack (4:00 p.m.): I ate oshiruko (sweetened red beans) with two mochi blocks. This was way too much carb! I don’t know what came over me but I was in a serious need of some chewy mochi.  I’m a total emotional eater.  I think I ate this snack because of the stress from work, and not because I was really craving it …

Dinner (9:00 p.m.): Tiffany hosted another Mozza Cookbook dinner party tonight for Shannon, Roya, Kevin, and me. Yipee! Shannon got down and dirty with cooking too, while I just sat and played with Rosco the dog.  Today’s menu was grilled flank steak with endive salad. Moonstruck chocolates and coffee for dessert.  It was so nice to relax and chill with the girls, plus Kevin (the honorary dude of the night).

I’m so excited about our mini getaway with the girls this weekend.  I gave myself permission to not thing about work at all and really enjoy the moment.  Everything is going to be a-okay.

Deliciousness

Breakfast (10:00 a.m.): Chicken wings and legs cooked in tomato sauce. This is one of my favorite dishes that my mother makes, and my sister brought it over for me when she went back home yesterday.

What a simple but delicious dish this is. Chicken wings and legs are simmered in cooked onions, pickles, and tomato sauce. I’m so happy that I have two more servings of this in the fridge (thank you, mom)! I need carb with this – maybe I’ll eat with a little bit of pasta next time.

Lunch (3:00 p.m.): Pretty late lunch again. This week has been pretty crazy with work. I need to do a better job eating earlier, and eating smaller meals throughout the day, instead of just eating three. I ate natto rice, with a side of renkon kinpira, stir fry lotus. I sliced the lotus root with my mandoline, my new favorite cooking companion.

Dinner (6:30 p.m.): Steak fajita bowl from Sharkeys … delicious.

Natto Overload

Breakfast (10:30 a.m.): Grilled cheese with Fontina cheese. My sister suggested that I add protein to my meal so I added the cheese (cheese is protein, isn’t it?). I only had one slice of the fluffy Japanese white bread left so I cut it in half and “toasted” it on the grill pan. No, I still don’t have a Panini maker.

Accompanying the sandwich is a cup of freshly brew Starbucks Blonde Tiffany and I got as a sample last Saturday during the run.

Lunch (3:00 p.m.): I had to sneak out at lunch to meet with a florist for my wedding so I didn’t get to eat until 3:00 p.m. Good think I cooked white rice in the morning so all I had to do was mix natto with some goodies and pour it on rice.

I made the my natto extra special and added okra and squid kimchi. It’s probably Fear Factor overload for some, but boy, was it delicious.

I had ebi sunomono (picked cucumber with shrimp) on the side. I sliced the cucumber with my fancy mandoline last night.

Snack (4:30 p.m.):  Not pictured.  Had two mochi ice cream balls.

Dinner (8:00 p.m.): My sister came over to train me tonight. After the workout, we had a bowl of rice with natto, and leftover kimchi and sunonomo. No wine tonight but we still had fun!