Hey four eyes!

How come no one told me about this sooner? I didn't realize that I may be getting screwed by the eyewear production and sales industry. I'll have to test this out! Tell me if you want me to know how it goes after I visit the optometrist next month for my prescription.

Adventures in $40 eyeglasses


43 folders is my new best friend.

4 Foods You Should be Eating

NPR is my first source for news. Yahoo! headlines are my second:

Beets
Beets are one of the best sources of folate, a nutrient which lowers your blood levels of homocysteine, an inflammatory amino acid produced by the body.

One cup of beets provides only 60 calories, no fat, about 40 percent of your daily value for folic acid and four grams of fiber. Enjoy beets raw, sliced.... or prepare a delicious beet salad by tossing them with olive oil and a splash of lemon.

The leaves and stems are also packed with nutrition - sauté with garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, ground black pepper and dig in!

Cabbage
Part of the cruciferous vegetable family, one cup of chopped cabbage contains 20 calories, two grams fiber and is loaded with sulforaphane, a cancer fighting chemical that's been shown to decrease cellular damage throughout the body. Add cabbage to your salads, order steamed ‘moo shoo vegetables' at your local Chinese restaurant (request sauce on the side and go easy!), or prepare low-calorie coleslaw.

Guava
Guava is a tropical super fruit. One cup provides 110 calories, 376 milligrams Vitamin C (that's more than 300 percent of the daily value), 699 milligrams potassium and nine grams of fiber!Guava also provides a hearty dose of lycopene - an antioxidant that appears to fight prostate cancer (when it comes to lycopene, most people only think about tomatoes). You'll find this exotic fruit in Latin grocery stores and at high end markets.

Swiss Chard
This vegetable's greatest health benefit comes in the form of lutein and zeaxanthin - a matched pair of antioxidants - found in high concentrations in the tissue of the macula.

Because they absorb 40 to 90 percent of blue light intensity, these nutrients act like sunscreen for your eyes. Studies have shown that eating foods rich in lutein and zeaxanthin can increase the pigment density in the macula-and greater pigment density means better retina protection, and a lower risk of macula degeneration. One cup steamed Swiss chard provides only 35 calories.

For a few more calories, try this delicious recipe: Over high heat, warm two tablespoons olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. Add two cloves garlic and cook one to two minutes, stirring constantly.

Add two pounds Swiss chard and sprinkle with kosher salt. Cook four to five minutes until the Swiss chard is soft and reduces half in volume. Serve immediately.

2007 Joy Bauer Nutrition . All Rights Reserved.

She looks like me!

I still can't believe her name is Brooke. :(
It's official--people will ask whether she's adopted from China.

Beat that McDonald's

I baked my first solo-baked apple pie last night. Delicious! I can't believe I did this without a rolling pin.

Filling recipe

Crust recipe

Cook an entire holiday meal, check.

This was my vegan/vegetarian version of a turkey. Stuffed Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin).


Soy-brined citrus turkey. It turned out a little undercooked, but delicious after 45 more minutes in the oven. Yay. Turkey for days! Turkey porridge, turkey sandwiches, turkey salads.


Apple-chestnut/walnut stuffing. I made it with a mix of whole wheat and challah breads. It was great.


Mashed potatoes and gravy (neither from a powder mix), and buttery Brussel sprouts with pine nuts.


Vegetable ratatouille (not a winner), mushroom couscous.

I did not have the time or energy to get the apple pie out for Thanksgiving Dinner, and I was relieved when my cousin came bearing a pumpkin pie for dessert! Heroism is still appreciated even if it is unintentional.

Distracted

I'm in the middle of prepping to cook my TG feast, but my mind wanders. Black Friday is the day after. Maybe I should not overexert myself while cooking so I can have energy to hit the Midnight Madness sales at the outlets. Or, maybe I should add this to my "If I wasn't saving money" list.

Desert Hills outlets in Cabazon are 1hr away
Carlsbad outlets are 1hr 30min away

They are owned by the same company so ... they should have the same items, right? I think I could use 30mins less time driving. And the 10 fwy will probably be less congested than the 5 fwy. Cabazon it is. I wonder if Morongo will be a temptation. Nah. Shopping, here I come!

Revolving Door - This Thursday!

While my parents' house is not quite a prison (reference 1988 presidential campaign), and not quite a modern skyscraper, I would like to invite people through the figurative revolving door. I am making a Thanksgiving feast for my family in Chino Hills. And since I'm making a meat dish and dishes with onions and garlic in them, my parents will need help eating it from more than just my brothers. Even if it's just to make a plate and run or if you need a place to hang out, I'd love to see you. Starting at 4pm, stop on by if you happen to be in the area... before your next party or after your seventh Thanksgiving meal, it doesn't matter.

After Thursday, I get to cross off one more item from my List- to cook an entire holiday meal. I'm usually good in the kitchen so the food should turn out ok.

Tentative Menu
Soy Brined Citrus Turkey
Squash/Pumpkin with veggie stuffing
Vegetable Ratatouille
Brown-Butter Green Beans with Pine Nuts
Sweet Potato French Fries
Mushroom Couscous
Jasmine rice
Homemade Apple pie (yes, folks homemade)

Wines and beer
Soda


I'll make sure to have the board games out, except I think I'm missing my Scrabble set(s).