Boeuf Bourguignon by Julia Child

Scrumptious, belly warming, mouth watering .. how else can you describe this magnificent dish? After watching Julie & Julia, I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to make this, meaning i'd have to own a Le Creuset first. Everytime i walk into Sur La Table i stare at all the colors and sizes and just dream of a colorful kitchen filled of Le Creusets.  Last weekend i finally broke down and got one. my first choice would have been yellow (as are most things) but they didnt have it in the size i wanted .. Orange it is!

it would be unjust for me to somehow tutorial this recipe in any way, just because i believe you have to get the book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  It presents its recipes in such a unique way, i feel if you are going to prepare this dish, you have to do it her way, by her words.

yay! so i did it. and let me tell you, it was easy, but it really wasnt that easy.  i followed her recipe to the T, but i couldnt find bacon with the rind. and the whole foods guy said he wouldn't know where to get it either, so he suggested i just stick with their regular bacon. and not that i know what bacon rind looks/tastes like, everything turned out fine to me.

Also, there are recipes within the recipe like brown braising the pearl onions and sauteing the mushrooms (like i said, get her book) so there were many steps, but it was totally worth it and i would definitely make it again!!

March Madness Update

Sooo .. its been about 23 days into this action and im sorry to reveal that i only lasted 14 days. saadddd. BUT guess what? i lost 7 pounds. and for those 14 days, i did it well. i literally didnt have a drop of sugar, a grain of rice or a piece of bread. and i had SO much energy i was bouncing off the walls. then life kinda happened (parties, birthdays) and not that i fell into the old bad habits or anything but i did allow my self to eat things that i would normally eat, just in very small portions.

3 weeks into March and im very happy! i'll probably do another 2 week run in April, but until then im still eating very very healthy! (except for that Sonic meal over the weekend .. ever had that strawberry limeade drink? a little slice of heaven ...)

SUPER KAWAII!!!!!!!

haha! i love my entry title. im ALL about the japanese culture. I've been to Tokyo and man oh man, it is one of the most amazing cities in the world. the food, the people, the trinkets, the Harajukus and of course, my Hello Kitty. I came across these cute bento boxes and i just had to share!!

Uh-May-Zing!

Breakfast 1, week 2

Yay! I love milk in my hello kitty cup :) scrambled eggs, turkey bacon .

Nummy.

Day 6

Its day 6 already and honestly I'm loving it! I'm def a carb girl so I miss my fries, rice and potatoes but my energy levels have been through the roof so I'm very happy.

The homies and I are gonna watch Alice and wonderland tonight and this is what I'm smuggling in as snacks: sugar plam tomatoes, edamame and celery with all natural peanut butter :)

I'm a changed woman.

Healthy Tuna Salad

i looove tuna salad. especially on white bread, but since white bread and i dont get along right now, im going to have it on a bed of salad. mmm, so i did a bunch of healthy shopping at Trader Joes and i was debating if mayonnaise was a good choice for me at the moment. then i made a discovery ... Reduced Fat Mayonnaise - Unsweetened, Low Sodium, Eggless, Cholestorol/Dairy Free. iiiii meaaaaan, that cannot be bad for you at all! so i got it ($2.99, um bargain!), mixed 3 tablespoons of it with 2 cans of albacore tuna in water ($1.49 ea), finely chopped up some celery hearts ($1.69), added about 2 tablespoons of sweet relish and a tablespoon of dijon. easy! i cant even taste the mayo difference! Go Trader Joes! thanks for taking my march madness off to a great start, yay.

March Madness

There comes a time where you feel like you've let yourself go. you know the feeling: eating everything in sight, claiming its "my birthday", "its christmas", "i can't let it go to waste .." YUP, and then it all starts to creep up on you and you say, ugh, i shouldn't have eaten those 19 taquitos.

Well that time is now for me and i feel as if it always happens around March because its the perfect 3 months after Christmas and a perfect 3 months before summer. SO, i declare March Madness eating good clean food month. No sugar, no simple carbs, no fried food, no alcohol. YES, i said it. NO AlCOHOL :) i believe all these foods are things that you can over-do it real easy so im just going to cut them out. if i say im allowed 1 cookie, im just going to eat 3. but who sits around an eats 3 chicken breasts? so, here it is. March Madness.

(i was going to upload pics of what i gorged on in the past month .. but blogger is being mean so i'll do it next time)