New Summer Staple: Strawberry Kefir Pops

Popcicles take me back to the sweet memories of childhood when food was simple and life was uncomplicated.

My mother used to make these homemade frozen treats with flavored sugar water and I remember eating them in the hot summer days in Japan, often letting the sweet liquid drip down my tiny arm. How I miss the good old days before artificial flavored and colored products invaded the supermarket isles …

I decided to make the homemade dessert today using the popcicle mold I purchased recently but with a little twist. Instead of sugar water, I used real fruits, agave nectar and kefir to make the all-natural version of the summer staple that rivals any frozen yogurt shops around. If you are unfamiliar with kefir, think of it as a yogurt with a punch. It is much tangier than its more popular cousin, with a great health benefits. I love it so much (actually more than yogurt) that I buy mine regularly at Trader Joe’s.  It is available at the refrigerated section next to milk and other dairy products.

Strawberry Kefir Pops
Makes 10 popcicles
(This recipe was inspired by yogurt pops recipe from the June 2009 edition of Yoga Journal but changed the measurements and ingredients slightly.  There is a wonderful article on yogurt titled, “Cool Culture” in the magazine where you can learn about the health benefits of bacteria cultures.)

16 oz fresh or thawed frozen strawberry (1 package)
1-1/2 cups fat-free kefir
1/4 cups agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

① Puree the strawberry in the blender until smooth. You can pass the puree through the strainer into a bowl if you prefer a smooth texture but if you are like me and love those itsy-bitsy seeds, keep it as is.

② Mix the puree, kefir, agave nectar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a bowl (you can drink it just like this too … it’s a delicious fruit shake!)

③ Pour the mixture into each cavity of the popcicle mold. I used a funnel for easy pouring.

④ Insert the wooden sticks and freeze the mold in the freezer for at least 6 hours.

⑤ When you are ready to eat, you will find that it is quite difficult to remove the pop from the mold. Simply dip the outside of the mold in water (not with warm water because it will melt) and it should slide out easily after about 30 seconds.

When life throws you a lemon, you make lemonade. On the same note, when the Valley throws you a 110 degree weather, you make delicious homemade frozen treat!  And who said you need an expensive ice cream maker to make delicious summertime treats?  It’s all about getting back to the old-fashioned goodness.

Father’s Day Dinner: Il Auk Jo

Last weekend was a total chick flick extravaganza for me, indulging in movies like Confessions of a Shopaholic, Bride Wars and He’s Just Not That Into You, with my boyfriend (who slept through most of them ) and gallons of frozen yogurt beside me. Of the three, the only movie that impressed me was Bride Wars (the other two were awful). I will admit that the movie was super predictable — as in most chick flicks — but Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson were so darn adorable that you just have to roll over and laugh!

It was appropriate, especially after the chick flick overdose, that my sister, my mother and I took my father to a local Korean BBQ to celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday. I felt like the visit to the carnivore’s mecca offset the girlie-ness of the previous nights. I’m telling you — eating Korean BBQ totally makes me want to go hunting and gathering, and even grow chest hair. It’s extremely soul satisfying and unbelievable meaty, and I certainly don’t smell like a lady after consuming all that garlic!

My family has been coming to this Korean BBQ restaurant in Canoga Park for years – even before it was named Il Auk Jo. When we first discovered this place more than 10 years ago, it was just a wee joint, small, dinky but with the most delicious banchan and marinated meat around. The then-owner was this wonderful little Korean lady who always stopped by our table to greet us and bring us napkins. We always looked forward to seeing her smile that extended from ear to ear.

The place has since changed and the restaurant, despite renovation and expansion, is now a shadow of its former glory.  The food is still pretty good although not as good as before, we still enjoy coming here nonetheless, on special occasions like the Father’s Day to reminiscent about the memories of the yesteryear.  We love sharing stories on how excited our beloved dog now in heaven, Jasmine, got when we brought home the leftover calbi and beef bones whenever we dine here.  I wish you can see it – her happy dance was absolutely hilarious!

By the way, we ordered our usual again — bulgoki, calbi and spicy pork.  We ordered plates and plates of kimchi and banchan — so much so that our waiter disappeared after a while, probably in fear that we will eat up all the banchan they had! (From looking at the picture here on right, you can probably imagine how horribly I wanted the meat to cook  on the hot grill so that I can dive into them!)

I hope all the wonderful fathers out there had a fun Father’s Day! And to my fabulous dad — you are the best father EVER! We love you so, so much.

Il Auk Jo
20200 Saticoy St
Canoga Park, CA 91308
★★★★☆

Welcome Home Dinner: Pho Nga

How much does a girl have to take off to get home around here?

I didn’t think anything of it when I first booked the flight from Indianapolis to Los Angeles — I would board the plane at 8:30 a.m. and arrive at 1:30 p.m. A five-hour flight — no big deal, right? Well, what I failed to realize was that I would arrive to LAX at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, which was really 4:30 p.m. my time (since my body was still operating under Eastern Standard Time).  So today, I spent a total of eight lovely hours in a little plane that stopped in Kansas City, Dallas and El Paso, before touching down in Los Angeles. I had to endure four take offs, four landings, four emergency announcements, and four flight attendants telling me to turn off my iPod (it wasn’t even on!). Since I didn’t have any time to run out to get food in between and Southwest Airlines only serves peanuts and little snacks to passengers, I went for eight hours hungry … and tired.  But the good thing is that the airline began serving 100 Calorie Snacks and low-fat ginger cookies for snacks, instead of just greasy peanuts, which helped me tie my hunger over until landing.

After P picked me up from the Van Nuys Flyaway (thank you so much!), we went to eat pho. It was such a wonderful treat because I didn’t have a chance to eat any Asian food in Denver and Indianapolis and I was craving some great noodle pretty badly. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant in Canyon Country called Pho Nga that serves, no joke, one of the best pho’s around. You may not expect to find an authentic Vietnamese join in a little Canyon Country suburbia but the food served here can no doubt rival any place in the San Gabriel Valley! God bless P – since she’s a regular, a chef brought out a complimentary order of egg rolls! After I had a satisfying bowl of pho with rare beef and a refreshing spring roll with shrimps, rice noodle and basil serviced with sweet peanut-butter sauce, I knew I was finally home.

Ah, I’m so happy to be home, to my own bed.

Pho Nga Vietnamese Restaurant
18741 Soledad Canyon Road
Canyon Country, CA 91351
★★★★☆

Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument

I just cannot get over how beautiful the Soldier’s and Sailor’s Monument is — standing tall at 284 feet overlooking the city of Indianapolis! (You can read about the history here.)  It is truly impressive!

Indy definitely grew on me and I am sad to leave this city behind as I head home to the sunny Southern California tomorrow morning. The last four days flew by so quickly and I didn’t have a real chance to explore the culture and the rich history of Indy but when I return next month (more traveling!), I will make sure to take some quality time to walk around the neighborhood and enjoy it a little more.

I did take a quick stroll around Downtown Indy to check out the nearby shops and the mall and I even made a new friend!

Oh, hello there.

It was quite surreal to see carriages in the middle of office buildings like I was in a fantasy movie or something.  I would have loved to see Hugh Jackman appear, dressed as Leopold.

And a big thanks to Qdoba Mexican Grill for its fresh mango salad which helped me get my healthy eating back on track! I feel much better now than I did in Denver, and I even managed to squeeze in a couple runs on a treadmill at three miles each at the hotel gym.

I had a wonderful time in Denver and Indy the last two weeks. Although the trip was long, it was certainly worthwhile. I am now looking forward to coming home and finally sleeping in my own bed. I can’t wait to see my boyfriend, family and friends!

Bringing Back the Cocktail Hour!

I can cross off “attend bartending school” from my “things to do in your lifetime” list, thanks to the fun team-building activity D organized for the five of us tonight at Indy!

We headed over to this little dive bartending school tucked away in a shopping center after work to learn how to make cocktails from an instructor who turned out to be … well … the most unenthusiastic person we’ve ever met (and a prick!). We had to look at each other to make sure that we’re in the right place because we all expected a bartender / instructor to be friendly, social and a burst of energy – characteristics you would think come with the profession – and not, you know, a plain vanilla!

The class, however, was pretty interesting and we learned some new things about the art of mixology. Did you know that the only difference between a Martini and a Gibson is the garnish (Gibson is served with three cocktail onions on a pick, and martini, of course, is served with an olive) and four seconds of pouring equals to an ounce?

Each of us had the chance to go behind the bar and make our favorite cocktail. I made Cosmopolitan because it was the prettiest drink (the light pink from the cranberry juice is absolutely adorable). The funny part about standing on the other side of the bar was discovering that everything in bottles were just a colored-water. I guess it’s too expensive to use real alcohol for practice. What you see in the picture, therefore, is not a real Cosmo (the lime slice made out of a cheap sponge should be a giveaway) — but it looks cute, doens’t it?

Cosmopolitan
2 oz. Vodka
½ oz. Cointreau (orange-flavored liqueur)
Splash of Rose’s Lime Juice
Splash of cranberry juice

For aspiring bartenders to pass the final exam, they would have to memorize 100+ recipes so they come up with creative ways of memorizing them. One way to remember the Cosmopolitan ingredients is by using the first letter of each ingredients (V for Vodka, C for Cointreau, L for lime juice and C for cranberry juice) and call it, “V-ery C-lassy L-adies C-ocktail. I know it’s silly but it seems to work!

Although I don’t drink much, this mixology thing got me interested in learning more about cocktails! Maybe a bartending school is in my future … ? Or not.

New City, Renewed Lifestyle: Indianapolis

Hello from Indianapolis

I arrived to Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon and although it’s already been two full days, I can’t seem to get used to the time difference here. It was funny to depart Denver in the morning and arrive to Indianapolis in the late afternoon, although the flight was a mere two hours. It’s even stranger because it doesn’t get dark here until way past 9:30 p.m.

The part of the city I’m staying (called Monument Circle) reminds me of Rome, with Soldiers’ and Sailors’ monument standing tall and proud. It’s quite a monument, and I saw a couple weddings taking place there on Sunday. I can’t wait to venture out the city … but not just yet. I gave myself a permission to be lazy over the weekend without feeling guilty, and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in bed, watching Gladiator (I heart Russell Crowe) and reading In Style magazine, and just relaxing – something I’ve been waiting to do for weeks!

I am, however, more conscious about what to eat here in Indy. Refusing to repeat my poor eating patterns and sedentary behaviors that I displayed in Denver, I am eating healthier options and staying more active. I even hit the gym and ran three miles on Sunday (and it felt great)! The real challenge begins tomorrow when I report to the office but I know I can stay disciplined — yes I can

I had Perfect Oatmeal and Greek Yogurt for breakfast today (I know that Starbucks is not exactly a place for heathy food, but they are much better than breakfast sandwich with eggs and sausages I ate in Denver). I’m proud of myself that I discarded the granola that came with the yogurt and ate only a teaspoon-full of honey, and used only a sprinkle of brown sugar for the oatmeal. I know that I need to be twice as strong to offset the gluttonous days I spent in Colorado but I’m taking it one (oat) meal at a time!

Hitting it Out of the Ballpark

I never thought this day will come but it is here – we’re done with the week long training! Hooray!  Looking back, I have no idea how I was able to survive on a diet of junk food, coffee, and only a few hours of sleep a night, but I did it … and that’s all it matters.

This week in Denver was just the beginning and there will be many more sleepless nights to be had, but I’ve decided to put that out of our mind for a night and just enjoy the relaxing game at the ballpark with my amazing teammates!

As I cheered for Ichiro and watched the Rockies extend the winning streak to 10 games, I thought about all the things I learned this week. This week as challenging, humbling and satisfying all at the same time. It was challenging because there were so many balls I had to juggle at once … it was humbling because there were so many things I could and should have done better … and it was satisfying because, at the end of the day, the participants walked away with newfound skills and knowledge that they can take back with them.

I don’t want to sound overly cheesy here but this few months have been one of the most rewarding times of my professional career. It’s amazing how much I gained (in addition to some weight around my hip from eating all those junk food) working with intelligent, motivated, high performing ass kickers! And to top it off, I established wonderful friendships that I hope would extend beyond the week spent in Denver.

Well, as much as I want to reminiscent over the success of this week, I need to go and start packing because I’m off to Indianapolis tomorrow for another leg of my business trip! Fun, fun!

P.S. Big congratulations to the Pittsburg Penguins for winning the Stanley Cup.

Mountain of Fun at Peaceful Valley

Denver is absolutely breathtaking, and when I say “breathtaking,” I mean exactly that. The air is so thin here, I’m constantly feeling like I’ve just ran an 800-meter dash. My boyfriend warned me about this so I wasn’t overly surprised when I first felt out of breath at the airport, but it still surprises me when I start hyperventilating when I least expected it – like when I’m standing in front of a class, training. I hope nobody noticed me breathing into a brown paper bag in the corner of the room

Today was a hump day so we wrapped the training early and all 23 of us headed over to Peaceful Valley, a dude ranch 90 minutes from Downtown Denver, for some fun in the mountains. We had a choice to horseback ride, fish, hike, or shop for our activity and a group of us (all ladies, of course ) decided to indulge in some shopping at the nearby Estes Park. On the way to the Park, our driver pointed out the famously-haunted Stanley Hotel (the locations for the miniseries, The Shining and oddly, Dumb and Dumber) and we decided to stop by there to check out what the fuss was all about. The place certainly was spooky and most of us stayed in the hotel lobby while a couple adventurous ones went looking for ghosts.

When we returned to the Dude Ranch, we were awaited by an awfully embarrasing line dancing lesson (although a couple drinks beforehand eased the pain a bit), a hayride around the ranch and a BBQ in the barn. We were afraid that the rain will pour on us and while it did rain a little, the Mother Nature was very kind to us. We even went up to the top of the mountains for campfire and some s’mores! This was definitely an experience I will remember for a long, long time!

(Here’s us girls posing at the Stanley Hotel.)

Living Like Rock Stars in the Penthouse!

It is Day 3 in Denver and we’re still going strong (translation:  we’re still alive and breathing)! The training is going well and the participants, who traveled from all over the country, are absolutely wonderful. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people, with such energy and a positive attitude. We trainers are still working hard and burning the midnight oil to prepare for the following day, but all of our efforts are definitely paying off.

I wish I can say the same about my eating, however. With every kind of junk food imaginable only a short reach away (cookies, candies, ice cream, you name it, we have it), my eating has been out of whack since my arrival to Denver. I’ve been eating tons of processed food during the day and super high-fat dishes for dinner (I even ate Fettuccini Alfredo last night at Dave and Buster’s … eek!) and can’t seem to control myself. I even stopped counting Weight Watcher Points after the first day because it’s too freighting to find out how much I’m consuming daily.

Happy news: P and I moved into the Burnsley Penthouse last night! The management team was kind enough to reward our hard work by giving us the pimped out rooms that overlook the beautiful Denver skyscraper! The Penthouse has a living room, kitchen and a dining room downstairs, and P and I are staying in the upstairs bedrooms.

The beautiful living room area

The spiral staircase that leads to the upstairs bedrooms

I wish I can spend more time sleeping!

The only downside is that there is only one bathroom upstairs but who’s complaining when you have a big, beautiful, rockstar bathtub like this one?

Tonight was one of the few nights that we have free for dinner so P and I decided to stay in and order room service while we put finishing touches to tomorrow’s presentation (and cheering for the Penguins!  Go Pens!). 

Crab cakes for me

Salmon and Mango salad for P

Game 6 and keeping my fingers crossed that history does not repeat itself!

Greetings from the Mile High City!

Hello from Denver, Colorado

My colleague P and I landed in Denver safely on Saturday morning after surviving a very scary shuttle ride to LAX, where the driver from Super Shuttle was nearly falling asleep behind the wheel Granted it was 3:30 a.m. when we got picked up, but he has no excuse to put anyone in harms way (you have one angry, strongly-worded letter coming your way, mister!). The plane ride, on the other hand, was peaceful as I was able to fall asleep soon after takeoff. P, however, wasn’t as lucky and she had to deal with a little kid kicking her seat for the duration of the flight (you know how annoying that can be!). It was a bit of a rocky start to the Mile High City but we’re just happy that we are finally here!

We, along with five other trainers from the team, will make Denver our home away from home for the next seven days. We are here to launch an onboarding program that we worked so hard to create. When I first accept this job back in March, I promised management that I will give up sleep for the next three months and I think they took it quite literally. But there’s nothing to complain here because what I learned in the mere few months is more valuable and meaningful than what I learned in years.

With a vegetarian breakfast burrito and a glass of cranberry juice from The Burnsley Hotel in my stomach (eggs, spinach, tomato, onion and herb cream cheese), I am ready to go! The breakfast tastes even better with the picturesque Downtown Denver in the backdrop.