Yesterday, April 27, is what would have been my dad's 62nd birthday. He died of heart disease. His first heart attack happened when he was 29. His next heart attack happened when he was 51 and it was fatal. I was only 17 when we lost him.

This progress isn't all about physical appearance. Of course it feels good and looks good to be fit. But this is mostly about health.

Though my dad was clueless about his heart until it was too late, I refuse to follow in his footsteps. And my birthday gift to him is staying healthy. My BMI is in the "fitness" category and that feels good. So, happy birthday, Dad. You couldn't help genetics, but I am beating them. Thank you for showing me how to live a healthy life.

Buckwheat Pancake Modifications

 Here's the deal: Living well is important, and we all need a treat every now and then. The other morning, I came across my roomie's buckwheat pancake mix, which looked delicious. Instead of skipping the sweet and carb-filled treat, I decided that, being that the mix is buckwheat, I could indulge. I also decided to health it up a bit.

Instead of adding the milk and eggs the recipe called for, I used 1/2 water and 1/2 unsweetened almond milk. I also used cage free egg whites instead of whole eggs.

Coconut oil is my new cooking obsession. I heated up 1/3 teaspoon for each pancake.

While the oil spread onto the pan, I cut up some bananas and added them to the batter. As I have mentioned before, once bananas caramelize, they become sweeter. There's your syrup sub.

Cook your pancakes by following instructions on the box. You can get buckwheat pancake mix at most grocery stores or even online.

Bake a few slices of turkey bacon, and you have yourself a compromise meal.

Any questions? Please comment and I will get back to you.

Cheat Day, A-OK!

We all need cheat days, aka your day every week where you have treats of your choice. When I cheat, I make sure that it's the best cheat ever by going somewhere with variety.

Living in the South Bay Beach Cities, Hot's Kitchen is one of my favorites. Their menu is custom, their beers/wines are local, and their furniture made of recycled materials.

The main reason I go, however, is for the street tacos. The whole few dozen of them fused with local ingredients, each made to taste uniquely delicious.

My three (from left, clockwise) are flavorful pork with white barbecue sauce and coleslaw, veggie with a custom sauce, and a chicken veggie concoction. I also had pieces of red velvet ice cream sandwiches for dessert and some wine.

I posted this to remind you to give yourself some slack. We all need our cheat day and there is nothing wrong with that. Remember that too much deprivation can lead to a binge, so treat yourself every week.

When in doubt, run it out.

Or dance it out. Or Jazzercise it out. Or spin it out. Or cardio it out. Whatever works for you. 

Tonight, I'm going to Cardio Barre in Redondo Beach. It combines cardio, weights, and ballet barre moves. 

Triana's Roasted Chicken and Steamed Lobster

Me and Triana.

Remember those delicious-looking pictures of lobster and roasted chicken I posted yesterday? Well, my best friend Triana was nice enough to share her recipes with the world! We have no calorie count here, but as you can see from the ingredients, good stuff. I admire her cooking because she uses little sodium or salt-based spices, but her recipes burst with flavor. We have a little bit of butter, but with the lack of sodium, we are good to go. If you have questions or comments, let me know and I will pass them onto Tri.







Roasted chicken:

Healthy and hearty.

• Preheat oven to 350
• Clean the cavity, remove giblets
• Stuff with a head of garlic (best used inside the cavity for smell and flavor without altering the taste of the meat), one quartered onion, and one lemon halved.
• Clean the chicken and pat dry... this is very important! 
• Moderately sprinkle salt on the bird, and go heavy on the cracked pepper.

VERY IMPORTANT STEP:

• Zest on full lemon and sprinkle on the chicken. 
• Finally, drizzle olive oil, and juice from lemon over the chicken and massage it around, creating a coating that will seal in the flavor. 
• Sprinkle dried parsley flakes, and place in the oven to bake. 

• After 20 minutes, use one tablespoon of unsalted butter and some milk, and let that melt/combine with the juices in the pan. This becomes your basting sauce, and browns the chicken. (Milk in butter sours in the oven and burns the skin somehow when heated, and gives you that beautiful brown roasted color that everyone thinks you spent hours doing, when really a baked chicken only needs 1:20 minutes)
• Leave in for 60 more minutes, and you got yourself a delicious bird!

Mouth-watering goodness.

Lobster:

• Steam two lobster tails in a medium pot, using a colander, until the shell turns from rusty brown to bright red appearance in color (about 5-7 minutes). 
• Remove meaty filling from shell by cutting (using kitchen scissors) a line directly down the back of the shell, and again on the front side. 
• Remove the meat and cut with a knife down the middle of the meat, splitting it in half. Place in deep square baking dish, and preheat oven to broil.

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup of white wine. Dry in flavor is always best for cooking.
• 2 tbs of unsalted butter
• A few dashes of garlic salt
• Fresh parsley, loosely diced

Pour sauce over lobster tails and place in the oven for 5 minutes on 350.

Remove, and cut into bites. Serve as an appetizer, or side (really yummy over brown rice or veggies too!).

Apple Pie Oatmeal

For breakfast on-the-go, try this yumminess, which will keep you full for hours.

Mix together 1 packet of Fresh and Easy instant oatmeal with flax seeds (or whatever you prefer, sugar free), with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup almond milk. Microwave for one minute.

While it's cooling, mix in one pack (about 6 oz) of unsweetened apple sauce and generous shake of cinnamon. Top with a few walnuts, if desired.

Calories will run you about 220.

"Better For You" No Bake Ice Cream Cake

 Every night, my sweet tooth kicks in, begging me for a fix. Most nights, I have a few pieces of dark chocolate, some fruit, or frozen yogurt. Tonight was a special dinner with friends and family, aka Sunday Dinner, so I made a healthier dessert with fruit, cool whip, skinny cow ice cream, Nutella, and sugar cones. It takes only five minutes to make.

Bomb Diggity!

Your ingredients (about 8 servings): 

• 2 cups Skinny Cow Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream (It comes in cups at the super market, 150 calories each, so you don't need to portion it). 
• 3 bananas
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 20 strawberries
• 3 tablespoons Nutella
• 5 sugar ice cream cones
• 6 large dollops of Cool Whip, fat free

First, slice your bananas into circles. Line the bottom of a square serving dish with the circles, completely covering the bottom. fill in any gaps with the blueberries. 

Drizzle with one teaspoon of Nutella, slightly melted.

Take the ice-cream out of the freezer so it can melt a bit. 

Crumble your ice-cream cones with your hands into medium size pieces. Cover the fruit and Nutella with the sugar cone crumbles. 

Next, scoop out the ice-cream onto the cone crumbles and spread evenly across the cone, covering completely. 

Scoop out your Cool Whip, generously. 

Stick the strawberries into the Cool Whip the way the picture shows. 

Drizzle with the remaining two tablespoons of Nutella. 

Enjoy!

The Calorie Count:

• 2 cups Skinny Cow Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream: 300
• 3 bananas: about 300
• 1/2 cup blueberries: about 45
• 20 strawberries: 75
• 3 tablespoons Nutella: about 310
• 5 sugar ice cream cones: 200 
• 6 large dollops of Cool Whip, fat free - 90 (12 tablespoons) 

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1,320/8 = 165 calories per serving. 

This one is super easy and tastes super bad for you. You can always use less Cool Whip or cones to cut even more calories. 

As always, please let me know if I can help with questions. 

Happy, happy eating and happy reading!