Your Healthista

Challenge: Buy Groceries at Whole Foods on a Poverty-Level Budget

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:20:00 -0500

Challenge: Buy Groceries at Whole Foods on a Poverty-Level Budget:

“I contacted Whole Foods and suggested a bet. If I could feed my family of three for 30 days exclusively from items purchased at Whole Foods for $491.10 they would reimburse me for my food. If I didn’t make it, they’d owe me nothing. The budget worked out to $16.31 cents per day total for all three of us. In case you’re wondering, here’s what we bought for the month.”

The Allure of Low-Quality Foods

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:45:06 -0500

The Super Bowl is one time of year when I unabashedly eat low-quality junk (trust me, it’s not the only time). What do I mean by “low-quality”? Mostly cheap chain food that’s been prepared in huge quantities to be consumed in, well… huge quantities.

This year, we ordered Chicken Parmesan pizza from Jet’s, wings from Champp’s, and then my man got me what I call movie nachos — just cheese sauce and tortilla chips — because he knows I love them.

Let me tell you something: You can make real, high-quality nachos with homemade or similar chips, shredded marinated chicken, seasoned beans, expensive cheese, lettuce, tomato, guacamole (I could keep going), and they WILL taste good. They’ll taste amazing. I love those kind of nachos too.

But to me, there’s something about that cheap queso-esque cheese over plain store-bought tortilla chips that really hits the spot in a way that real deal nachos just don’t.

So I get that there are some foods that, no matter how nutritionally abyssal or chock full of chemical additives, people just love (as the author of The End of Overeating would argue, they were designed to be not just loved but obsessed over).

The cheap foods we just can’t get enough of — despite having access to higher quality options — are designed to be addicting. That much is clear. So I don’t recommend making them a regular, everyday part of your diet. But if you’d often rather have a cheap burger from the greasy diner down the street than a homemade grilled one made from top sirloin and seasoned to perfection, I can understand why.

That’s why it’s so important to make a list of the foods you really love and own it. Don’t feel guilty about your list for one second. You might love cheap burgers because when you were growing up, your dad took you to get one every time you ran errands with him on the weekend. Or maybe you just genuinely love the taste… That’s okay, too.

I recommend making the low-quality foods a part of your life in a very intentional way. First, make a list of the ones you love and the ones you’re just “meh” about. Then, decide on a reasonable number of those kind of treats you’d like to have in a given month (once a week? Twice a week? What seems reasonable but also won’t prevent you from reaching your goals?). Finally, make sure you can eat those foods without going totally overboard every time you try.

I know I can seem like a big food snob, and sometimes, I am. But I appreciate the allure of low-quality foods because sometimes they hit the spot in a way nothing else can. There’s no reason to fully eliminate movie nachos, candy bars, or chain food from our lives completely; we just have to be very intentional about how we eat it.

Which “low-quality” foods do you crave?

10 Things to Eat When Protein + Veggies Seems Impossible

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0500

By now, you all know that the basic meal formula I go by is meat + veggies + (maybe a little bit of starch) + fat (either in the meat or cooked with the veggies). But sometimes, that combo just doesn’t seem appetizing. Sometimes, when our appetites are low or are stomachs are upset, a juicy steak and grilled asparagus just sounds inedible (I know, crazy, but true).

I went through a period like that last week. I’m not used to not having an appetite. I always have an appetite. So not having one is a little bit foreign to me, and it makes me crave things I’d usually stay away from. I want bland foods (I kept asking for Cream of Wheat), white foods, refined foods. But I tried to compromise with myself.

So based on my experience, here are 10 recommendations for you when your stomach just says NO to your usual eats:

Oatmeal with cream or coconut milk + nut butter. Oatmeal is NOT one of my go-to foods (it’s just not that delicious or satisfying to me), but its blandness is appealing when my appetite is low. I compromise by adding some fat in the form of cream, coconut milk, or nut butter. There are also a dozen other ways to mix it up (just in case you haven’t seen millions of recipes on other blogs yet).
Full-fat Greek yogurt with fruit. Another bland, white, easy-to-eat food that actually packs a significant protein + fat punch.
Creamy or brothy soup. This is kind of a gimme (especially since you all know how I feel about soup), but soup is easy to eat and comes in plenty of bland varieties. My favorite this week was a creamy butternut squash and crab soup from Whole Foods, but there are plenty of options. You could also try lentil, Asian dumpling, or broccoli cheese. Don’t worry about calorie-dense soups since you can probably use all the calories you can get!
Bananas. Yes, bananas have a lot of sugar, but you need those calories during low-appetite periods. Bananas feel a little bit like baby food, but that’s a GOOD thing when you can’t imagine doing a lot of work chewing.
Sprouted grain bread or tortillas with butter. Toast is the ultimate BRAT/sick food, so of course I crave it when I’m not craving much else. Just try to shoot for sprouted grain to up the health/satisfaction factor.
Mashed potatoes. Another great bland food that fills you up without filling you up with nasty processed chemicals. Add as much butter/cream as you want.
Cereal. I know, I know, I’m usually pretty anti-cereal. But when your stomach says “no” to more nutrient-dense foods, just try to pick a cereal that’s low sugar and absent processed/artificial ingredients. Read your labels, kids!
Warm fruit. This sounds weird, but sometimes one of the most comforting things when my stomach is upset is baked apples or pears with a sprinkle of cinnamon. Use the microwave, or if you’re up for it, bake ‘em in the oven.
Real Deal Chicken Soup. I know I already said soup, but trust me, this deserves its own place on the list.

A Different Kind of Pie

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:26:00 -0500

You all have probably guessed by now that I’m not a baker. But I have much respect for bakers who experiment to make their recipes more health-conscious. Enter Alicia Scotti, owner of Pie Country in New York City, and a friend of a good family friend of mine. All of the Pie Country baked goods are made in the Bronx using local fruits, farm-fresh dairy, and fair-trade/organic products whenever possible.

Pie Country will make almost any kind of pie — gluten-free, low sugar, etc. They say many of their pies are naturally gluten-free, and they’ve been experimenting with quinoa flour. In this guest post from owner Alicia, she talks about a recent pie challenge she was given by a customer. Find Pie Country on Facebook here.

A few months ago, I started a new company in New York City called Pie Country. It’s dedicated to local ingredients and pie, of course. Though I love all sweets, over the years it has become clear that most sweets are completely bad for you — like that beautiful Devil’s Food cake with marshmallow frosting that I made so well and would devour when my kids weren’t looking.

But pie. Pie is different. It’s filled with beautiful local fruits or nuts, and there are so many different ways to sweeten them. Recently I have been using evaporated cane syrup instead of regular white processed sugar, but my favorite sweeteners are NYC or Block Island honey and Vermont maple syrup. Yum! No more of that nasty corn syrup in my pies.

Over the holidays, we’ve made dozens and dozens of beautiful pecan pies and pumpkin pies, all sweetened with a lovely organic Vermont maple syrup. I take pride in meeting every challenge our customers present. So we have a few nice gluten-free pies, and a rabbi from the Jersey shore asked us to make a vegan pie, so I used a fragrant EV olive oil in the dough, which made his kippah spin with delight.

I thought that would be my greatest challenge last season until my friend Mary called. Her husband was on a special diet. “It’s not to lose weight, Alicia, it’s to build muscle,” Mary said about this special diet that Howie and his brother had undertaken. No grains whatsoever. No sugar whatsoever. No salt. They wanted a fruit pie and a nut pie. This was a challenge.

For the fruit pie, I mixed together pears, apples, and cranberries and tossed them with a generous amount of both NYC honey and Meyer lemon juice and zest, plus a good sprinkling of cinnamon. I scooped this into a pie shell made from finely chopped almonds and pecans mixed with some sweet creamery butter. Mary told me later that this was devoured well before dinner was ever served.

For the nut pie, well, I couldn’t exactly use a nut crust! So I looked to my gluten-free pies and created a coconut pie shell and filled it with our traditional pecan pie mixture that is basically pecans, eggs, and maple syrup. Pretty simple and pretty delicious. I made several individual-sized pies out of this, toasting the coconut shell a bit before pouring in the filling. From what I hear, these too were gone before dinner.

If you’re in NYC and would like to order a custom pie from Alicia, head over to the Pie Country website to get started!

Five Healthy Super Bowl Snacks that Satisfy

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:07:50 -0500

In honor of the big game this weekend, I’m reposting an article I wrote last year at this time about a few of my favorite healthy Super Bowl-worthy snacks.

1) Easiest guacamole with dippers.

Easiest guac is, well, easy! Just combine a pre-made pico de gallo-type salsa with a few ripe avocados (you can use whatever proportion you like). If you’re feeling REALLY ambitious, add a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt. Serve with veggies to dip (carrots, celery, bell pepper, and cuke are most dip-able). Hey, you can even bring a bag of tortilla chips for your not-so-health-conscious friends. Guac is yummy, easy, and full of amazing fat!

2) Chicken wings.

Okay, so, I’ll let you in on a little secret: Chicken wings are not alwys unhealthy! As long as they’re not drenched in a syrupy-sweet sauce, they’re actually one of the better options at a traditional Super Bowl food fest. A little bit of protein, a little bit of fat. What’s not to like? If you order out, ask for light sauce. If you make ‘em yourself (recommended!), try this recipe from Alton Brown.

3) Kale chips.

Instead of potato or Dorito, try kale. No, really. These chips are BOMB! Don’t believe me? You’ll just have to make them yourself. For the perfect crispy, veggielicious, tastes-too-good-to-be-this-good-for-you treat, I always turn to kale chips.

4) Chicken skewers.

Sort of a prettier variation on wings, chicken skewers are also a fun finger food for the big game. The version pictured above is from this recipe, but really, you can go nuts with the seasoning. Make ‘em spicy, Thai-flavored, or Italian. As long as it’s chicken on a stick, you can’t REALLY go wrong.

5) Steamed artichoke with butter sauce.

This is my absolutely favorite appetizer that I always forget about! So simple and SO good. Just steam a few artichokes (Mary actually wrote a post on all the different ways you can prepare them), and then whip up an easy dipping sauce of melted butter and a pinch of salt. People might look at you like you’re crazy for bringing such a big veggie to a Super Bowl party, but once they try it, I think they’ll shut up.

And the Winners Are...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:20:00 -0500

Thanks to everyone who entered the Hello, Healthista giveaway! I’m so glad you’re sticking with me. So without further ado, here are the winners.

The winner of the $50 Amazon gift card is…

Meagan, who entered by commenting!

The winner of the Trader Joe’s gift basket + DAHlicious Lassi samples is…

isoldmysoul, who entered by reblogging.

And finally, the winner of the 30-minute consult with me is…

Blessedbe, who entered by commenting.

CONGRATS to the winners! Thanks again to everyone for entering! If you won, please email me in the next 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thanks for Sticking with Me!

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:53:00 -0500

As a thank you to you all for sticking with me through the name change, I wanted to give away some sweet prizes!

Three people will win one of these awesome prizes:

$50 Amazon gift card
Trader Joe’s care package filled with all my favorite goodies (worth about $50) and samples* from DAHlicious Lassi, an amazing smoothie drink that has minimal ingredients, isn’t too sweet, and is great for on-the-go breakfasts. Find them on Facebook here!
30-minute nutrition/fitness phone consult with me

*DAHlicious is providing samples of their drinks.

Since I had to change my name on all the social channels as well, all you have to do to be entered to win one of the prizes is like Your Healthista on Facebook (I had to totally delete the old page since Facebook doesn’t allow username changes) and follow @healthista on Twitter.

Leave a comment on this post OR reblog it and let me know you did those two things, and you’re in! Last day to enter is Monday, January 31, at 11:59 PM EST. I’ll pick a random winner from the comments/reblogs on Tuesday.

ETA: The FB link should work now! Sorry, guys.

The Best Meatballs in Easy Tomato-Cream Sauce

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:00:05 -0500

Despite my ambiguous feelings toward Giada, her meatballs are really something special. I first discovered them when I made Giada’s Italian Wedding Soup. I had some leftover meatball meat (is that the right word?), so I decided to cook some up and eat them on their own. Best idea ever. They were delicious and totally carried themselves without the rest of the soup. (Side note: I’m SO behind on Season of Soup! I’m going to try to catch up, but I don’t know if I can. I think I finally got sick of soup! I can’t believe I’m saying that!).

I tweaked Giada’s recipe slightly, but it’s pretty close to the original. Here’s my version:

You’ll need (makes 10-12 large meatballs):

For the meatballs:

1 medium onion, grated
1 cup fresh Italian parsley
3 large eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 cup almond meal (you could also use bread crumbs)
2/3 cup grated Parmesan
16 ounces ground beef (I used organic grass-fed beef from TJs)
16 ounces ground pork (I used organic local stuff ground pork from Door to Door)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-3 Tbsp olive oil

For the sauce:

1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes (with basil if possible)
Italian seasoning to taste (basil, oregano, etc.)
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf

Make it:

Combine all ingredients except olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Mix well with your hands. Really get in there and mush stuff around!

Form large (palm-sized) balls and roll them in your hands before putting them aside on a plate or cutting board.

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat and add the balls (make sure to leave a little space between them for turning).

You’ll need to cook them on each side for about 5-7 minutes. When one side gets brown, turn it. The balls should cook for around 25-30 minutes total, but remember to keep turning so nothing burns!

While the meatballs are cooking, start the sauce. Pour tomatoes into a large sauce pan, add seasonings and bay leaf, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Once the meatballs are done, take the sauce off the heat and let it rest of a few minutes. Then, add cream and remove the bay leaf.

Ladle the sauce over your scrumptious meatballs and add Parmesan for garnish if you want. I served my balls with some roasted kale.

Ugh, so good. The tomato-cream sauce is so ridiculously easy, but it tastes genius. I think adding a bit of cream to a really acidic sauce is the way to go. A little goes a long way and it makes your sauce taste so much more rich and complex.

Giada, maybe you’re not so bad after all.

Happy Hour Healthista Quiz

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:53:16 -0500

Recently, Mary presented me with three common happy hour options and asked a simple question: Which is healthier? I’ve written about how to have a healthy happy hour before, but this seemed like a fun and challenging happy hour dilemma to tackle. Here are the choices Mary gave me:

Glass of wine and a bread basket with olive oil at an Italian restaurant
Sliders and light beer at a sports bar
Skinny margarita with chips and salsa at a Mexican Restaurant

First let’s establish portion size. I went with 3 5-oz. glasses of red wine and 3 smaller pieces of crusty white bread with 1/2 tbsp olive oil for the Italian restaurant, 4 small sliders and 3 12-oz. light beers for the sports bar, and 25 chips + 6 tablespoons salsa and 3 skinny margaritas for the Mexican restaurant.

The first thing most people would probably be tempted to do is look at the calorie count for each of these options. You might be surprised to know that the approximate calorie counts for each happy hour pick are pretty similar: around 850 for the Italian restaurant, 745 for the sports bar, and 745 for the Mexican restaurant. Yes, you could save around 100 calories by avoiding the Italian option, but calorie count isn’t telling us much here.

So let’s go beyond calories, since I don’t think they tell the full health story anyway. The Italian happy hour choice not only has the most calories, but it also has the most carbs by far — around 95g compared to 50g for the sliders and beer and only 35g for the Mexican meal. But that low carb count in the Mexican happy hour might be due to some artificial sweetener in the margaritas — and I definitely don’t think artificial sweetener is healthy. But if you don’t want your blood sugar to spike, stay away from the Italian happy hour with all that bread! White bread has pretty much no redeeming nutritional qualities anyway.

Looking at protein, the sports bar meal packs the most punch, with 30g compared to 16g in the Italian meal and 11g in the Mexican meal. The sports bar meal also has the most fat (presumably from the burgers), which you all know I don’t think is necessarily a bad thing. No, the beef in those sliders is probably not very high quality, but the fat will still be more filling.

If I had to give a final verdict, my vote goes to the sliders and beer. It will be far more filling than either of the other options because of the protein and fat. If you want to kick the health factor up a notch, eat your sliders open-face and cut back to two beers. That brings the calorie count down to around 545 and the carb count down to 20g.

If you can mix and match, go with 1-2 glasses of red wine (a healthier option than beer) with 2-3 open-faced sliders. That’s around 400 calories, 15g carbs, and 15g protein. It would also be pretty satisfying because of the protein/fat, and keep you from walking away feeling bloated. Not a bad option!

10 Health "Tips" You'll Never See on Your Healthista

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:51:18 -0500

If you think you’re hungry, you’re probably just thirsty. Drink more water! Your body needs 8 glasses of water a day! (Nope.)
Try to choose low-fat foods as much as possible. Fat in food = fat on your body! (Ugh, so sick of this “tip.”)
Check your BMI. That will help you figure out a healthy weight for your height. (This actually a really dangerous “tip.”)
Look for foods that say on the label how great they are for you! (Then you’d just end up with crap like this. I’m sure the “B vitamins” in that artificial sweetener are super good for you….)
If it tastes good, it’s probably bad for you. (This one just annoys me because it’s so blatantly untrue).
Low-cal imitations of higher-calorie foods are great substitutions! (Usually, they’re full of questionable ingredients and just leave you unsatisfied.)
The more calories you burn during your workout, the better! Keep running! (When I was burning the most calories during my workouts, I also weighed the most. Take it or leave it.)
Non-starchy vegetables are always the answer. Eat more of them always! (They’re great, but not always what you need).
Egg whites are a perfect source of protein. (It makes me SO sad when people skip the nutrient-dense yolk.)
There’s a definitive answer to every health/food/nutrition/fitness question — you just have to find it! (Sorry to say, there’s so much conflicting research, you just have to do what works — and makes sense — for you.)

The Story Behind Your Healthista

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0500

As you may have noticed (and if you didn’t notice, I told you), this blog has a new name: Your Healthista. The name change wasn’t an easy one for me, since I’ve been blogging as Your Nutritionista for almost three years. It had become a part of my identity — I was the Nutritionista. Your Nutritionista.

But around Thanksgiving, I got an email from someone who claimed to own the trademark for “Nutritionista.” After I looked into it a bit, I discovered this person had started her website back in 2008 and secured the trademark in 2009 (after I started blogging, but she had started the trademark acquisition process before I created Your Nutritionista).

I consulted every lawyer I knew (including Tumblr’s very own Meg, who, as a law student, was ridiculously helpful), but it seemed like there was no way around it — I couldn’t keep blogging or consulting as Nutritionista. Letting go of that name was harder than I thought it would be. I mean, this is just a blog. But like I said, Nutritionista had become part of my identity. I pretty seriously considered quitting the blog altogether, since changing the name just seemed totally unfathomable.

Luckily, a few good bloggie friends convinced me that I should keep blogging under a new name, and even helped me brainstorm new names. This process was harder than I could have imagined and involved Google docs, long brainstorming sessions over gchat, and desperate emails to every creative person I know. When I began my health/nutrition blog three years ago, competition for blog names/brands wasn’t as fierce. Now, health/nutrition blogs seem to be a dime a dozen, and most of the great names are long taken.

After a lot of indecision (my poor designer! Jona deserves a medal for sticking with me through this whole process), I decided to go with Your Healthista. It’s similar to my old name and thus felt familiar and comfortable, but it also represents a change I’ve wanted to make for a while — expanding the scope of my blog (and business) to encompass a more holistic view of health. Health isn’t only about nutrition and food. It’s about fitness (clearly), but there are also so many elements that contribute to health. I never want to get stuck in nutritionism (i.e., “Eat more Vitamin B and you’ll be healthy!”). I think that’s a scary attitude. No food or workout is magic. So being able to change my blog and business name to reflect my focus on ALL components of health is actually sort of timely.

So how will Your Healthista be different from Your Nutritionista? In a lot of ways, it won’t be. I’m still going to be posting recipes, workouts, general food and fitness advice, contributer articles, and commenting on health/nutrition news and research. But I might also write about those other components of health — sleep, relationships, organization, careers, etc. I might post anything I (or my contributors) know about and believe can contribute to a healthier life in all senses of the word. As for me, my passions will always be food and fitness, but I’m open to other post ideas if you ever have them. Seriously. Just email me.

This post has gotten too long already, but I wanted to make sure to say THANK YOU. Thank you all for sticking around. Thank you for reading my blog. Thank you for helping me reach an amount of followers/readers I didn’t think was possible when I started this blog three years ago. And thank you so much for your input when I asked for it a couple months ago. You inspired me and lit a fire under my butt to work on this whole name-change thing. I really can’t thank you enough.

In conclusion, I’m asking a few things from you:

If you have a health topic you feel like you’re an expert on, I would love to hear from you and maybe hire you to write for Your Healthista. Email me.
If you have any feedback about this blog — what I’m doing right and what needs improvement, let me know. I’m all ears.
Stay tuned for a nice lil giveaway later this week. As a thank you to all of you for sticking with me through this whole renaming business, I’m going to be giving away some sweet prizes!

Your Nutritionista is Now Your Healthista!

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:58:50 -0500

"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell..."

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:36:13 -0500

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”

- Julia Child (via themoderncavegirl)

This is perfect. Might I suggest doing this workout while...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:43:50 -0500

This is perfect. Might I suggest doing this workout while watching your favorite 22-minute show (not including commercials)?

workitoutt:

# something different to try

For Your Next Brunch: Pancetta, Onion, and Basil Frittata

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:01:00 -0500

I know I said I was going to make Baked Egg Boats for a brunch I had over the weekend, but I had a last-minute change of heart. I wanted to make a separate egg dish and bread dish, since I’m not a huge bread eater. For the egg dish, I went with my go-to “tastes fancy but is really simple” dish: frittata.

For my frittata technique, check out this frittata cooking demo video I made last year. I used ingredients I had picked up for the Baked Egg Boats: pancetta, onion, and basil (basil isn’t part of the original recipe, but when does it NOT work in a recipe?!).

You’ll need (makes 6 fairly large slices):

large bunch basil
1 medium onion, chopped
.5 lb pancetta, finely diced
1.5 cups sharp cheddar, grated
dozen eggs
.5 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Make it:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Whisk the eggs with the cream and add salt and pepper to taste.
Saute the pancetta and onions for 5-10 minutes over medium heat in a large oven-safe pan until the onions start to become translucent.
Stir the basil into the onion and pancetta mixture and let everything saute together until the basil cooks down — another 5ish minutes.
Lower the heat (you may even want to take the pan off the burner for a few minutes), and then add the egg/cream mixture.
Cook on the stove until the edges of the egg mixture begin to harden (another 5-10 minutes).
After the edges are firm, add the cheese and stick the whole pan in the oven.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the middle is visibly firm (not liquidy).
Optional: I turn on the broiler for a few minutes at the end to caramelize everything. If you do this, WATCH CAREFULLY! It will burn easily.
Slice and serve!

One of my brunch guests said this was the best frittata she’s ever eaten, and my boyfriend said it may be his favorite thing I’ve ever made. That surprised me, but at the same time, basil does make everything better… so it could be true!

I served the frittata with cinnamon French toast I made using the baguettes meant for the egg boats (recipe here - more like a bread pudding than French toast, so be warned).

Oh, brunch, you’re the best. Unfortunately, now I’m sick, and the only thing that sounds good is (you guessed it) soup.

I know I’ve seen these floating around Tumblr, but even...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:48:00 -0500

I know I’ve seen these floating around Tumblr, but even before that, Rachel sent the link to me and I immediately decided to make them for a book club brunch I’m hosting this weekend.

Though I love eggs more than I can describe, sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all. This was a new preparation for me, and I’m excited to try it out.

Baked Egg Boats
Makes 4

Ingredients:

4 demi sourdough baguettes
5 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 ounces pancetta, finely chopped and fried until crisp
3 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
2 green onions, thinly sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut a deep “V” through the tops of each baguette until about a 1/2 inch to the bottom. Partially unstuff the baguettes. Set aside.
3. Place the eggs and cream into a mixing bowl and lightly beat together. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and lightly season with salt and pepper.
4. Divide and pour the mixture into each baguette boat and place onto a baking sheet. 5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown, puffed and set in the center. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Blogging has been light lately because my lovely designer Jona and I have been working on some big blog changes behind-the-scenes. Get ready for some fun announcements next week!

Never EVER forget that pesto in eggs is always a good...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:48:56 -0500

Never EVER forget that pesto in eggs is always a good idea.

Pesto makes everything better.

Get a great recipe here.

Why I Quit the Gym (and 10 Ways to Stay Fit Without One)

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:45:00 -0500

Rachel has been encouraging me to quit my gym (“break up,” in her words) for months, but I’ve been resistant until now. I always felt like I should belong to a gym. As a health blogger, it seemed like a prerequisite. I mean, it almost seems like a prerequisite to being a healthy person.

But now I know that’s not true. There are so many other options! I was wasting my $30/month (yes, I know that’s ridiculously cheap, but even $30/month is expensive if you’re not using it).

Even this nice-looking equipment looks painfully boring to me.

Here’s what happened: I started dreading going to the gym — but not because I didn’t want to work out. The classes I liked (Zumba, Boot Camp) weren’t at great times, and working out on cardio machines bores me to death. I used to do strength training with a hardcore workout buddy, but she stopped being able to go, and solo strength training can get old really quickly. Also, I have gym ADD. I can’t do the same workout more than a few times, and there are only so many options at a standard gym.

At the same time all this was happening, I was spending money on Zumba classes at a small studio that had better times (and a better teacher). I was also eying Groupons for Crossfit and other classes — but felt too guilty to pay even more when I already had a gym membership.

I don’t know what finally tipped the scales, but I realized that having a gym membership was actually hindering my fitness because it prevented me from pursuing the fitness activities I like. It also helped that Daily Burn hooked me up with a free 30-day membership to try out. I used to use the Exercise TV website for free workout videos, but for whatever reason, they shut it down.

So far, I really like Daily Burn. It’s a customized workout video program with an optional meal plan and tracker. I don’t need the meal plan, but I checked it out, and it’s actually not bad! It definitely sets you up for weight loss if that’s your goal.

The Daily Burn videos are really unique, and there are enough of them that I can do a new one every day (which is crucial for me. I hate repeating workout videos!). After my 30-day trial expires, I’ll probably continue paying the $9.99/month, as long as I’m using it at least a couple times a week.

I also finally got to buy a Crossfit Groupon, and I’ll be starting that in the next week or two. Of course, I’ll let you all know what I think.

If you’re hesitatant to bite the bullet and quit the gym, let this be your motivation and permission. If you’re not enjoying your gym membership or using it enough to make it worth your monthly fee, just quit. There are plenty of other workout options.

In fact, here are 10 to get you going:

Like I said above, Groupon and other deal sites always have coupons for fun fitness classes. You can probably get a new one every few weeks!
Try Daily Burn or invest in a set of workout videos. It’s always good to have an at-home workout option anyway. You could always get free workout videos from your local library or find them on Netflix if you have a membership.
Do at-home DIY workouts like my How I Met Your Mother 20-minute blast.
Spend around $50 on workout equipment to guarantee you have everything you need to stay fit at home. All you really need is a yoga mat, two or three sets of dumbbells (lighter and heavier), and a BOSU or exercise ball.
If you’re into sports, consider joining a local team or league. I consider Zumba to be as sporty as I get, but if you like team sports, this would be a great way to motivate yourself.
Make household chores a workout by changing into your exercise clothes before you start doing them, setting the timer to make sure you move for at least 45 minutes, and vowing to keep moving the whole time you’re working around the house.
Walk during your breaks at work or over lunch.
If you like working out on cardio machines, consider buying one! You can find them on sites like Craigslist for a couple hundred bucks, which will pay for itself in no time if you quit the gym.
If you have a gaming system, like the Xbox Kinect or Wii, get a workout game or two.
Check out all my workouts! Many of them can be done at home easily.

The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:53:06 -0500

The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym:

In case you haven’t seen this yet. It’s funny.. and scarily accurate. Here’s a sample:

1. A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4. No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading “The New Yorker” and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.

Read the rest!

Please tell me this is real. See also: Adventures in Inbred...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 12:46:00 -0500

Please tell me this is real.