Tuesday, July 30, 2013

i went to my friend's lake house this weekend and had a ball--loved getting to do "water sports" and being active, and also being really, really inactive. their house, though, is spectacular. it's been in their family for generations, and although rustic, it is beautiful and quirky in it's own special way, the perfect little place i envision for a nice get away from the bustling furnace of New York City. 

I was a little nervous going to a friend's house becuase I didn't want to be a pain regarding food-- this did not happen on this trip, because my friend and her mom are totally up for paleo cooking!! time to spread my love for cooking and paleo and nutrition and everything! at one point i felt a little weird because i didn't want to overstep my boundaries in the kitchen, but all in all, i think it was okay. my contributions to the meals were sweet potato fries baked in coconut oil rather than normal, the whole batch was consumed, maybe just by me? does that still count as being appreciated?? 

then i taught Mack that whipped coconut cream is divine and heavenly and glorious and thrilling. pairing that with roasted peaches is even more godly, something that surely would bring Hercules back to Mount Olympus. 
the whipped cream melted when the peaches were plopped in the bowl. i didn't mind one bit. 

to top the trip off, as everyone was packing up, Mack and I made a yummy frittata for breakfast. freshly steamed broccoli, red bell peppers, tomatoes and sausage all covered in eggs and baked in the oven. YUM. we had this as our lunch on the car ride as well-- travels so easily-- yay!!

i know that the whipped coconut cream doesn't sound very whole 30, but I'm not a sweets addict, so i figure that won't knock me off of the great track i'm on. i'm not dependent on sweets, that little portion of coconut cream and peaches hasn't sent me into a rage to rip apart every fridge and cupboard in sight. 

after listening to Steve Kamb, on Abel James' podcast, i have decided to make a big goal and reward for this up coming semester/school year. from what i understand, Steve gives himself goals, and when he reaches them, and "levels up," he rewards himself by allowing himself to do something fun and enriching that will better his life from a nutritional/physical standpoint.

well, i really want to do another NOLS course, National Outdoor Leadership School, that is. I went to the Yukon for thirty days after my junior year in high school, swan dived into the wilderness, never coming up for a breath of air, never looking back to see how big of a splash i made. it didn't matter to me that i couldn't check my phone for thirty days, couldn't have contact with anyone but the seventeen other people, strangers, that joined me on this trek. it didn't even matter than i didn't have a mirror or a hairbrush or a shower for those thirty days. it was one of the best experiences of my life, and i am itching to get back into the back country, out of cities, out of civilization, and into the wild. 
me, the Yukon, Canada. shorts and snow, good combo

although i could easily sign up and be on my way right now, i want to earn it and push myself and use this experience i long for as a reward. in order for me to be able to go on my backpacking trip,  i have to make the dean's award at Colgate for the fall semester. as you can see if you click that link, i'm not on the list. it literally makes me sick looking at that list and knowing so many of my friends are on it just because they stayed in the library an extra few hours when i decided to go nap, eat, etc..... i could be on that list, but last year i decided school was not a priority. i didn't do terribly, but i want better. if i get above a 3.3 GPA fall semester, i can apply to go on another NOLS trip. if not, i get to work all summer :) the choice is mine, really, i just have to do what i know i can. thanks to Steve Kamb, i realized that i have to reach the next level in order to really be happy with myself as a student and a motivated person in general. 

check out my sister's blog. she's doing a whole 30:vegan style!!

Thursday, July 25, 2013

okay so i think this is going to be a long one, so hang in there with me and if you get bored, skip stuff or stop reading, whatever. 

as an intern, we have this intern speaker series that we can go to and listen to different people working at my ngo speak about their experiences. yesterday, we listened to two fellows talk about their experiences in russia and somewhere else, i can't remember. so to start off her story she introduces herself and and says that she got into this field of study because "her interest was...(insert interest)"... i literally don't remember what she said because her "interest" was so subdued i almost fell asleep during her talking. thank god for facebook, instagram and all the other modes of technology i use to entertain myself when bored. 

from her talk, i didn't grasp the importance of fellowships or her projects at human rights watch, but i realized that whatever i do as a profession in my life will have to have much more oomph behind it than a mild "interest." what i really need, what i really want, is a burning fireball of passion and desire to get up, day after day, year after year, to do whatever i choose to do out of the millions of options that really, everyone has. i can tell you something that i know for sure about me, among the many things that i don't know about myself or my future, but i know for a fact that if i'm doing something without one hundred percent devotion to it, i'll do it shitily and pay attention only to what i'd rather be doing. for me , a simple "interest" just won't cut it. 

that was what i was thinking about yesterday as i sat in my cubicle for eight hours, fyi.

on a totally different note, as i was walking to work today, i saw the biggest, jiggliest set of boobs i've ever seen before 9 am. i then started to think about the appeal of boobs versus butts.... is that weird of me? probably, but who cares.

my thing about boobs is that i feel like they're just blobs of fat on people's chests. other than breast feeding, which is absolutely natural and healthy, but totally grosses me out beyond belief, boobs really don't serve any purpose except discomfort for some, embarrassment for others, and complete and utter fascination to guys, and/or girls. i just don't really get it. butts are so much better. 

butts are strong and majestic. they get you places. they get you to the peak of a mountain, they get you to the end of your 100th ultramarathon, they pick up your trash and your kids, they even get you up the stairs and into bed at night. without butts, we would literally not be able to do anything. love your butt, don't try to make it smaller. do squats.

on ANOTHER note, i made a fucking kick ass meal tonight. salmon cakes, brussel sprout hash, steamed broccoli and a homemade mayo dipping sauce. killed it. i was a little hesitant because a lot of the recipes for salmon cakes call for canned wild salmon--- wild of course, never buy farmed salmon. but i imagine gross canned tuna when i think of canned fish. anyways, i went for it and got the whole foods 365 brand of canned wild salmon, and it actually turned out really well! i threw some green onions, parsley, ground ginger, dill and some cayenne pepper into the bowl and mixed that up with the salmon and two eggs. cooking the cakes in a pan with oil, they taste gooood. look at this recipes for the brussel sprout hash, winner. 

also, i literally just learned, this very second, that it is brussels sprout hash. plural? random. 


the other night i made pistachio milk and walnut milk!! cool. also, newly obsessed with chia seeds.

i've been listening to podcasts the last two days while i go to work instead of listening to music. the fat burning man has a ton of super interesting things to talk about, all related to nutrition and the body. podcasts are freeeeeeeeeee.

Monday, July 22, 2013

after my first day of my last week at Human Rights Watch, all i wanted to do was come home and make and prep the meals that i had planned for this week. i get home, and like usual, can't find my keys in my purse, so i dump the entirety of the contents of my bag out onto the stoop, and still don't find my keys. i left them in the house. they are less that five feet away from me but a big, secure, locked door resides in between me and my kitchen, my happiness, and my would be satiated hunger. 

i call my dad, i have to go all the way up to his office and then all the way back. UGH. 

anyways, i go back up to midtown, come back, go to whole food and gather the ingredients i need and make it back home just as the clouds roll in, the sky darkens and the rain starts to fall. 


coconut chicken curry with cauliflower rice: get in my belly.
i wish someone had already invented a device that allows a picture to capture smells as well, because, damn, this smelled good. creamy, coconuty, and delicious!

i sat down and started to watch matilda while i ate my scrumptious meal, but then realized i really only wanted to watch the part where mrs. trunchbull makes bruce eat the whole chocolate cake, probably because i want to eat a whole chocolate cake right about now. not that i'm not loving the amazing paleo food i've been making for myself, but i was in the presence of something godly this weekend, and i haven't been able to stop thinking about it.


just LOOK at this. gooey, homemade chocolate cake/brownie with homemade ice cream and raspberries topped with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. literally my dream dessert, and it was presented in front of me this weekend. i turned it down repeatedly from my step sister and friends and then finally when i had escaped the endless offerings, my dad walks up with the whole shebang on his plate and goes "want some?" NO. that killed my soul. 

instead of watching Matilda though, i decided to make my own mayo and then some chicken salad, because i LOOVE chicken salad and i've been missing it a lot. 

making homemade mayonnaise seams scary, and i was pretty scared not that i wouldn't  end up with nice, creamy mayo, but that i'd have to clean up the gross concoction of egg and oil if the mayo didn't come together as planned. as i started pouring the oil in carefully and slowly, the mixture did not start to thicken and i was super worried, however, after a few minutes, and a lot of very slow pouring and shaky arms, i got mayonnaise!! 

and then i made chicken salad... YUM

to top it all off, i even clean up the whole kitchen!
but actually, who am i? i never clean and i also hate it, but tonight, i cleaned all the dishes, unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, and even cleanup under and around each individual grate on the stove. 


Saturday, July 20, 2013

i've sorta been blindly following the paleo diet without knowing quite what the benefits were. yes, it makes me more energized and feel much better, but i didn't know the scientific benefits of eating a high fat, low carb diet, which is what the paleo diet is. 

i think i've bought like 3 books about paleo that aren't recipe books but actual informational books but haven't actually cracked any of them open. way too many words and not enough pictures! well, this morning i read on Mark's Daily Apple about fats and grains and how eating, or not eating, them properly is so important. 

i'm on day 15 of my whole 30, halfway through, and i feel great! although this change in my diet has definitely benefited me, i've never really known why or how, and never been able to explain it to my friends and family. if you're curious, just read the links above because they are explained beautifully. 

bluuurrrrrr

i almost broke paleo last night because my friends are in town and i can get persuaded to do bad things pretty easily. i literally almost erased the last two plus weeks of hard work for a little fun. i really thought that it's impossible to be that sober friend at the bars still having a good time, but i actually had fun! thank god i didn't break paleo because i would be so pissed at myself i wouldn't know what to do with myself today!! yay self control and determination!! 

for the last 15 days i am determined to be as whole 30 paleo as humanly possible, eating the right amounts of fats, proteins, and veggies; coming up with awesome meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner; exercising, yet not overdoing it; and improving my life in some way or another, whether that be going to museums, exploring a new area of town, or sitting down and reading a book instead of watching late night tv. 

can't wait to finish out this amazing month the right way!!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

praise to paleomg for making up so many amazing recipes! the other night, my roommate and i made her lemon artichoke pesto chicken pasta-- of course, we used spaghetti squash instead of pasta #paleo. it was literally to die for. in addition to that, i used the left over pesto on my eggs the next morning and died again. 
this was literally so good i could eat it for every meal of the week!

now you see it: 

now you don't:
those eggs disappeared in probably 30 seconds. im a hungry gal.

i was sitting at my desk yesterday, probably at the sixth or seventh consecutive hour, and realized that, although my internship has really opened my eyes to issues around the world and taught me a very important lesson about responsibility and accountability, i really just dont think that im cut out for a world where i spend my whole day sitting down in front of a computer in an almost silent office. obviously, as an intern, i have many years to really find the niche that i love and care about, so maybe some day in the future i will be an office gal, but not right now.

all i want to cook. and cook for people. i think one of my favorite things in the world to do is step into a kitchen and start making something amazing--hopefully. i love working away, with music, or just silently, chopping veggies, hearing the sizzle of something cooking in a aromatic olive oil. i love the way people will walk in and out of the kitchen,  asking what im making, if they can help, or keeping me company by just sitting there. people are drawn to the kitchen, and when i have a home, that will be the heart of the house. 

my second favorite thing about cooking is the instant gratification. of course, when i taste the food while im cooking, i get a sneak peek at what the meal will taste like. when other people sit down at the table and take the first bite of food, that is truly my favorite part about being in a kitchen for hours, making something simple or tediously difficult. the first bite, the facial expression, the rolling of the eyes when they say how tasty--hopefully!!-- the meal is makes me happier than a lot of things in this world. 
maybe its my love for making people happy and taking care of them, although that might not be apparent all the time, or my deep relationship with food, but seeing how other people become happier because of my creation is way more fulfilling than working in an office. 


Monday, July 15, 2013

all i want is a pancake!! so many paleo pancakes posted on instagram under #showusyourstack ! browse those pancakes and if your mouth isnt watering then something is wrong with you!!!

im randomly obsessed with zucchini now; its easy, quick, and tastes great! i eat it basically with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and havent gotten bored with it yet! since im  doing the whole 30, and cant have pancakes, i realllly want to make zucchini fritters! how yum! 

pretty much this day was a bore but go ahead and look at all those pancake recipes on instagram and then make some in my honor!!

Sunday, July 14, 2013

last night was a treacherous yet epic feat that i completely and totally annihilated. my dad's friend had a dinner party that we all were invited to. as we walked into their house, their personal chef had a spread more beautiful and more un-paleo than you have never witnessed in your life. although it was difficult avoiding all the nasty, yet scrumdidliumptious pot holes, i succeeded. here is what we were offered:

1. hamburgers with buns
2. corn on the cob
3. salad with feta cheese
4. cauliflower salad
5. potatoes with truffle oil
6. homemade mac n cheese

and to top it all off...

7. homemade white cake with homemade raspberry sorbet in the middle, all dipped in a chocolate icing. 

KILL ME.

im a girl who loves dessert (anything chocolate) and dies for things like homemade mac n cheese. it almost literally killed me not eating those two things, but i felt so accomplished when i didnt, knowing that my stomach would feel great the next morning. another plus to the evening was that everyone else got SMASHED, consuming hundreds of extra calories than i did, and i got to enjoy watching everyone be drunk psychos playing catch phrase--- so entertaining. all in all, i felt really good about my first night actually having to pick and choose from what was offered to me. 
normally i would have just said fuck it and chowed down. 

proud of myself! 

today i found something that i am now utterly in love with. i have always been skeptical of peaches, only able to eat them in pie form because of their freaky, hairy, slimy texture normally. today, i conquered my fear by roasting the freshly picked, pink, peaches in the oven with a skirt of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. SO AMAZING. everyone do this. 

then, even though it's not exactly within the whole 30 regulations, i made a blended coconut milk and roasted peach popsicle to die for, especially in crazy sweaty heat.

pics of beautiful food and surroundings for your indulgence: 

CAKE

DASH the dog

my clean lunch today, so good. lettuce, tomato, grilled bell pepper and onion with 3 slices of turkey and some avocado. lemon juice as the dressing. 

POPSICLE. nuff said. 

Friday, July 12, 2013

so i got up today for the fourth time this week at 6:40 to go work out. i know that's not that early for a lot of people, but for a college gal like me, it's killer. 

turning each pedal of the sticky citi bike was like a never ending feat towards the west side, walking up the stairs to crossfit NYC was excruciating, and the twenty minutes of hard ass work were the worst twenty minutes of my life. i couldnt breathe, sweat kept dripping into my eyes, my pony tail was falling out, my legs were sore from previous workouts and my hands were ripping from holding all the bars even though i used chalk. 

after each round i felt like i wanted to quit and only kept going out of embarrassment of stopping. after every round i marked how many reps i got and each time i had less and less even though i wanted more and more. UGH. 

i left today feeling totally down in the dumps, not able to conquer the world like i want to.

just kidding! i love every moment of every WOD (workout of the day) we do at crossfit NYC. they are all challenging and may not be fun, but they are so worth it. i love the pain and sweat, the rips and short breaths, they are all worth every ounce of discomfort. i also love the power and fulfillment, the camaraderie and the encouragement i get from every single member of every single class. not only do i feel the energy from those around me, a switch flicks on inside me and its an energy that i feel nowhere else. after every single round, i ticked off more reps, competing with myself more than i've ever competed with anyone else in my life. i leave the gym every morning feeling accomplished and ready to take whatever gets thrown at me.

so, get your butt out of bed before work or school or whatever it is that you do and start your day right by going to crossfit!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

monday wednesday and friday i go to crossfit before work. how do i get there you ask? citibike. if youre not in NYC, citibikes are like zip cars but the bike version and they are alllll over the city. my dad got me an annual membership, not sure why since i dont live here, but whatevs. i dont like riding the bikes except for in the mornings because, as a non-native new yorker, the cars are fucking scary. 

most new yorkers are probably super critical of the bikes, it seems sort of touristy, and real new yorkers would have their own bikes. they seem cool to me but also i get the other side. what i dont understand about new yorkers, particularly men, is why they are so so so so forward with girls on the street.

so i was riding my citi bike to crossfitnyc this morning at ***7:15 AM** wearing my workout clothes, no make up, hair thrown in a pony and obviously just gotten up, when a man on the corner legit looks me up and down on the bike and whistles at me as i turn the corner. so many things wrong with this. its super early, im on a BIKE, and most importantly, i look like shit! it's not like guys here only hassle the models ... its EVERYONE. keep it in your pants, dude. 

leg days are my fave because.. i've got legs. today i front squatted 113# thanks to my big ole thighs and butt. proud of them babies. 

i decided that even though i really wanted to make coconut whipped cream, i cant yet allow myself to buy anything with the phrase "full fat" in it. im just not there yet now matter what any paleo person says to me. instead, i had nuts, berries, and coconut milk (light fat) for breakfast. 

~~DIVINE~~
look at how the coconut milk drapes over the raspberries, seeping into their crevices just enough so when you bite into the berry it melts all over your tongue. so damn good.

even though i legit didnt stop sweating the whole day because of the heat in the city, i decided to make paleomg's roasted red pepper and avocado soup. her recipes are THE BEST. she used pre-roasted red peppers but i wanted to roast my own. 

voilĂ . crispy skin but juicy, fall-apart-in-your-hands flesh. smells great too!!

final product:
looks shitty but tastes so good! try it. 

Day 5 of my Whole30 complete! feeling good. stay strong everyone

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

y'all. today my bosses took me and the other intern in my department out for froyo. i resisted and didnt eat it. yay me! they definitely judged me. one of my bosses was like, i feel so sorry for you... why are you doing this.. but her eyes were all like, you're such a stupid girl who diets all the time. i ignored her. instead, i brought my lunch which was leftover from last night! spaghetti squash with a broccoli pesto type sauce. 


it was super nom but not the point of this story. coconut milk is.

if i could bathe in coconut milk i would be the happiest person in the world. if storm clouds released a deluge of coconut milk instead of rain, i would never bring an umbrella. if the nile turned to coconut instead of blood, it would truly be a miracle. i'm a believer. 

i've been wasting my time with the coconut milk that is in the cartons all these years. little did i know that what's in the can is gold. the other day i got a can of light fat coconut milk and it was soooo good. i made my spaghetti squash and broccoli pesto into an alfredo type dish. excellent. my next venture is getting full fat and making whipped coconut milk with berries and cocao nibs. YUM! i cant wait to try it!!

on the other hand, i was super stressed out about the fact that tsa took my khiels face wash away when i went home for the fourth of july, so i bought some more... and a few other things as well. welcome to my khiel's addiction.


once i leave the life of an unpaid intern and enter a world with pay checks, i fully plan to buy the whole store.

Monday, July 8, 2013

think back to the summer after your freshman year in college. freshman 15? yes, no, maybe? maybe not 15 for me but it sure is enough to want to do something fun get back to my prom bod-- classic high school girl who does anything and everything to look good in one dress for one night. most girls starve themselves or spend hours on end at the gym. i went paleo and hunkered down with my crossfit friends. it worked! 

after prom however, was when things got a little rough around the edges. my friends and i went to europe for a month, and with all those baguettes, cheeses, and gelaterias, you can only imagine the damage done. then, off to college where they force an unlimited meal plan on us to eat as much, apparently laxative ridden, food as we can shove in our grimy, hungover faces. i made a home in a new place and made friends with people i now love, but for some reason, although im not complaining, we decided to only socialize while drinking our personal bottles of wine, taking at least 6 shots a night, or a combination of the two. Not saying i didnt have fun, but the wreckage left behind is less than amusing. 

first night of the trip spent in munich. first thing we did was go to a beer garden... and drink lots of beer.


we proceed to have lots of fun throughout the trip... thats me in the front on the left. harry, a fourty-ish, very hairy, man, also on the left, and the rest of the ladies are my crazy ass friends. this was the second night of a seventeen night trip. things got a little weird.


now that that's over with, i want to kick ass. so, i've decided to start my first whole 30 and see how that goes.