Yummies and stuff

Hey everyone, it’s been a while. Not much new to report. I’ve been pretty much on track all week, exercising once or twice a day and eating well. A couple weeks ago I chose not to go to a dinner party with friends because I figured it would be really hard to eat enough while following my rules, so I ate at home and then met up with them afterward for the second party. Another friend of mine did the same thing, which was awesome because it felt like we were comrades in this fight to be healthy. Any more comrades out there? Send me some comments so we all know we aren’t alone! What are you working towards, what do you find challenging, and what have you had success at? Even if we have different approaches to health, let me know! We all have different goals, different bodies, and different beliefs about what’s healthy, but we don’t have to agree to support and motivate each other!

In food related news, last Friday at school the fifth grade students made mochi. For those of you not familiar with this, it consists of cooking a special glutinous variety of rice and then pounding it with a large wooden mallet until it’s a big glob of sticky gooey deliciousness. It is then separated into smaller pieces and formed into balls that can be eaten right away or allowed to harden and saved for quite a while. Hardened mochi can be cooked to return it to its original texture by being toasted, grilled, fried, or boiled in soup. One of my favorite ways to eat it is fried and then put in soup, or with kinako (soy bean powder) for dessert! But this fresh mochi was great to eat as is, and I very much enjoyed my two pieces! It might not be the healthiest of foods, since it’s a lot of carbs and not a lot of nutrients, but it didn’t break any of my rules! Plus, it was Friday, so why not have a little treat?

 

Right after it's made is when mochi is at its best!

And in other food related news, I cooked some pretty awesome dishes this past week. Check it out: crazy looking cauliflower, slow cooked pork with spinach, wakame and tomato salad, and Hawaiian chicken.

This is so much more exciting than regular, round, while cauliflower.

Craving laulau, made this instead.

Love me some seaweed. Plus the secret ingredient, sesame oil!

First a laulau substitute, then Hawaiian chicken... I must be missing Hawaii.