Thanksgiving with Ohana: So Ono

[Hawaiian dictionary: Ono=good, Ohana=family]

Aloha readers! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, I love its universality. No matter one’s race, religion, or creed, you can give thanks. Unfortunately, this is my second Thanksgiving away from home (I spent last year’s Thanksgiving in Belgium). But it was perfectly alright, because I am lucky enough to have such a generous, welcoming ohana right here in Hawaii.

That is what I am thankful for today. Ohana. I don’t think I could have moved to Hawaii as a nanny had it not been for Sophie’s family. As I am not in school it was through Sophie’s family that I was able to meet other people here on the island. For my first two months here it was so nice to spend my weekends at Sophie’s house. As I was so far away from my family, I loved having a family just across the island.

You know you’re family when you can be be absolutely ridiculous in photos as such:

Usually my family has large Thanksgiving dinners, wherein everyone scatters across the house because there isn’t enough room at the table and we spend hours and hours cleaning up. Sophie told me her family usually does, too, but this year’s dinner was quiet and just the 7 of us, which, as much as I love large Thanksgiving parties, was kind of nice.

Sophie’s mom prepared most of the food, and made the most delicious pies (apple and pumpkin) and fluffy rolls. I contributed my favorite Thanksgiving food, sweet potato casserole:

and cranberry sauce with crystallized ginger and orange zest:

I did miss my mom’s roasted chestnut stuffing and corn pudding. Classics.

We took lots of pictures:

I call this look: we [aka the team, aka Sophie, Trine, and I] decided to dress up at the last minute, so I grabbed a dress from Sophie closet, threw up my hair that had been nice and humidified with the day’s off and on rain, and hoped my bra wouldn’t show as it was not the right fit for the dress. At least it was just a small family dinner!

Trine et moi.

Of course, we had to use everyone’s camera and compare pictures.

Sophie was pretty excited about the wine.

And I have to admit, so were Trine and I.

My favorite dinner companion was of course, Sophie’s dad, the Frenchman Jacques.

He’s lived in the U.S. more years than he has in France, yet still has an accent. We believe it’s out of pride.

Trine, the Bargiel family’s exchange student from Norway made an adorable card expressing her gratitude.

After dinner, the team walked down to the beach and enjoyed the salty ocean air for a while. Beautiful.

Even if I were at home in Maryland, this Thanksgiving would have been a difficult one. As I’ve posted before, my parents are getting divorced. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, and filled with the most traditions for my family (see aforementioned chestnut stuffing!) and I know if I were home it would have been a stressful day.

If you have a divorce in your family, how do you cope at the holidays?

But let’s end this post on a vocabulary lesson, shall we?

The Norwegian phrase is pronounced “fawn tye dye” and it means…um…f you. To me, if you say it quickly it sounds like cursing in an Asian language. Love it.

PS: Check out my guest post on Whit’s Getting Fit! Whitney is also preparing for a marathon, and I love checking in on her progress.

Also check out Marathon Val’s awesome giveaway! I’ve got my eye on the runner’s package!

Have a happy shopping/gym/tree decorating day!
Maya

Wiping the Tuto Out of My Brain

When I woke up on the wrong side of the bed as a wee curly haired tot, eyes heavy and listless, my dad splashed cold water on my face while getting ready for preschool. “Wipe the tuto out of your eyes,” he told me. I’m not sure if tuto is the correct spelling of the Spanish phrase (maybe it’s just a Chilean phrase?), but the basic gist of the word is sleep. Tiredness. Grogginess.

Physically, I certainly have been pounding the tuto out of my body. Training for a marathon will do that to you. When I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday he couldn’t comprehend how anyone could run for three hours and not be bored out of his/her mind. I say the same for three hour football games. To each her own.

But mentally, I do feel quite groggy. I know that next year I will be attending college, but right now I crave the mental challenge. I miss the feeling of being overwhelmed with such interesting, thought provoking material (remind me of this post in a year, while in the midst of exams, and I am certain I will laugh hysterically).

So I decided to give my brain a good splash of cold water. I walked to the local library and picked up a few materials.

I don’t want to lose my French fluency!

Not that I’m taking the GRE anytime soon, but I figured the math and vocabulary are always useful to know.

I purchased pencils and a notebook for my self assigned homework. I am a huge nerd and love a new mechanical pencil and fresh paper.

I also checked out the New Republic and an environmental magazine. I feel very out of touch with the world lately, which is not good for a political science major wannabe.

I have been listening to podcasts whenever possible (I highly recommend This American Life, Radiolab, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and Studio 360). I’d also like to read at least a novel a week, and watch more movies. Lately it seems that I have the attention span of a fly for anything other than TV shows. When watching a movie I check my email, read blogs, text, etc. A well made movie requires my full attention. Last night I watched Closer and actually gave it my undivided attention! Success! Not that it was very difficult, I love Natalie Portman and the story was so emotionally wrenching.

I also decided to wake up my meals a bit. Try something new. My lunches and dinners seem to be in a bit of a rut lately. A while ago I read about making tofu ricotta and I decided to try it today. I mashed 1/4 of a block of firm tofu with a fork and with my fingers and added garlic, salt, and nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor. It does taste a bit like ricotta! I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely use this in the future for pasta dishes and as a pizza topper.

Today I used my tofu ricotta in a wrap with zucchini, tomato sauce, and sweet potatoes, a delicious combination.

I’m not quite sure why it looks like a good bite was taken out of the upper left hand corner…maybe my camera got hungry?

So yesterday, at about 10 pm I was ready to go to bed after a long day and a long 20 mile run. I didn’t feel any particular aches and pains, beside the expected stiff legs from a long distance. I remembered Megan’s ice bath and knew I had to give it a try. I grabbed the keys and headed to the local market for ice.

Oh lord, look at the bags under my eyes. Can’t you tell that I woke up at 4 am, ran 20 miles, and never napped? Anyway, I dumped the ice maker’s contents and the purchased ice bag in the bath tub and grabbed some reading material.

The verdict? It actually wasn’t too bad! My bath water wasn’t as cold as it could have been, as I didn’t have the time to let the water cool down more, but it was definitely effective. And perhaps a better alternative to stretching?

What are your post run rituals? I could always use some pointers!

A toute a l’heure!
Maya

Nativas Naturals Love

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. It’s noon here in Hawaii and after getting up at 4 am for a 20 mile run my agenda for the day is to laze around, watch movies, read, and eat. In no particular order!

So far I’m definitely improving on the intuitive eating front. It’s a work in progress for sure. For so long if I was hungry at a time that seemed abnormal to me I would just eat whatever, and that’s a hard habit to break. My meals and planned snacks were always well balanced and delicious, I just need to extend that thinking on a 24/7 basis.

Anyway, I love huge jass salads as much as the next blogger. But the other day I got a little overambitious…

 

That would be a salad with orange slices, avocado, chopped carrots, grated beets, broccoli, and cottage cheese mixed with flax. I think the broccoli was pushing it, as the flavor seemed out of place. I love the orange/avocado/beet combo, though. The flax was a great way to add a nutrition boost to the cottage cheese, so I give myself credit for a solid effort.

But I did make an amazing pancake combo the other day. I got some Quaker oatmeal pancake mix, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted peanut butter or yogurt as a topping. Why not do both with the magical PB2? I’ve tried mixing yogurt and PB2 before, but it didn’t taste sweet enough for me. But this time I added just a tad of stevia. Perfection!

I also added some sliced banana. Oh stevia, how I love thee.

Inspired by my recent care package from Navitas Naturals (thanks Mic!), I made another awesome pancake platter.

I spread some coconut oil on the pancakes:

And mixed teaspoon of acai powder mixed in yogurt with a little stevia.

I also added sliced banana and shredded coconut. The crap kitchen lighting doesn’t do this picture justice, but it was delicious! There is a pancake under there, I promise. I loved the delicate flavor of the coconut oil and I’d love to experiment with the acai powder to create my own acai bowl. Acai bowls are very popular in Hawaii–it’s basically a smoothie in a bowl with banana slices and granola. Navitas Naturals makes many other superfood products I’d love to try, especially maca powder and mesquite. Definitely check out this company’s catalog.

In other news, 20 miles down! Today I ran most of the Honolulu Marathon course, which has beautiful views and is thankfully very flat besides a small Diamond Head incline. I’m feeling more and more confident about race day! Post run we stopped at Jamba Juice, and I know the blog world would appreciate their seasonal menu item: Pumpkin Smash! It was basically a pumpkin pie smoothie. A little sugary, but I needed it after a long run, right? I added some extra nutrition with a free soy protein boost. Definitely try the pumpkin smash before it’s out of season!

Alright, must run, I have a very important date…with my computer. To watch episodes of Glee. Thank you blog world for introducing me to this show, because I am generally not pop culturally savvy enough to follow current TV show trends (I’m always a season behind, at least). So thanks!

xoxo
Maya

Vegan For A Day

Aloha blog world! Like many other bloggians out there, I went vegan for the day.

I participated in Blogger Vegan 4 A Day, part of Vegan Week, hosted by Katy and Michelle. This wasn’t too hard for me, as I’m already a vegetarian and don’t really drink a lot of milk. But I do like yogurt. And it was a little hard not breaking into my new 32 ounce Dannon plain yogurt this morning.

But it wasn’t too bad once I saw that I had a tasty alternative:

It’s an empty jar of Marantha crunchy peanut butter. You know what that means, folks.

Yup, it’s my oats in a jar. I topped my oats with a baked apple (diced apples nuked in the microwave for 90 seconds), tons of cinnamon, flax, and a few crumbled Newman’s Own cinnamon graham alphabet cookies. Unfortunately, the cookies became soggy because I crumbled them and mixed them in, and you couldn’t taste them that much. Maybe next time I’ll keep them whole? They’re small enough.

Mid morning I wanted an Amazing Grass pick me up. I mixed it with just water and ice cubes, which tasted creamy enough pour moi. I am also used to the taste of Amazing Grass, and I find the chocolate flavor to be really good. If you’re just starting out with the Grass try milk or almond milk.

I also noshed on a few unpictured grapes.

I was already ready for lunch at 11:30. Which is odd as yesterday I was barely hungry for lunch at all and had only squash until I snacked at 4. But I’m riding the intuitive eating wave, so I went with it and had a big ol’ plate of orange.

Roasted kabocha squash, baby carrots, an orange, and Tribe hummus. Which is not as good as Sabra hummus, fyi. This lunch left me very happy and impregnated me with a food baby. I haven’t picked out a name yet.

I unexpectedly didn’t have to make dinner, so I decided at 4 to go on my 8 mile training run. I did feel a little snickety snackety, so I had my baby sized Pure bar sample.

It is a raw fruit and nut bar, and I love the motto “It kinda does grow from trees.” This was the brownie flavor, and it did taste like a fruity brownie. I would definitely purchase the full sized bar.

My 8 mile run was glorious. I usually run the same route, give or take a few miles. But today I went the other way up the hill, and zig zagged through neighborhoods. Nothing is as wonderful as a new running route. I still had some challenging hills, as anywhere near the road I live on is hilly. But I liked how it was interspersed with downhills and flat roads. Usually the route I do is lots of downhill+flat+lots of uphill. Despite the fact that my food baby was entering its third trimester, I tackled the steep short hills. Before all this marathon training, if I felt uncomfortable during a run I would walk and go home. But today, despite the discomfort, I persevered. It helped that it was beautiful and breezy outside. 8 miles tackled.

I collapsed when I got home for about 10 minutes and then whittled my middle. The AP dad did some military ab training with me on Monday, and suggested I do 30+ minutes three times a week. I like ab training, and he has a good plan, but I also like a quick and dirty ab session, especially when feeling unmotivated like I did today. So, instead of hitting the shower asap, I did lots of planks and plank jacks a la Angela. The Whittle My Middle goal is ab strengthening 5 times a week. I slacked off on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I can still hit 5 times this week if I continue on to Sunday. I just have to remember that darn yoga headstand that I would love to tackle (and requires a very strong core) as my inspiration.

Now, confession time. I did eat something today that was not vegan.

I don’t get a lot of calcium in my diet precisely because I don’t drink a lot of milk. My main calcium source is yogurt, which I don’t even eat every day. I also occasionally eat cheese (this is not to say I exclude milk from my diet, I just rarely have a glass of it). Calcium intake is very important at my age. I don’t want to lose my 5′8 height later on in life because I didn’t build my bone strength in my teens. I also want to prevent stress fractures as I increase my running mileage. So I eat two of these calcium chews a day. Each chew provides 50% of one’s daily calcium needs. It ain’t vegan, but I really think it’s the best thing for me. Despite the shady ingredients.

I really don’t think two little squares of hydrogenated oils and artificial flavor will kill me. But hopefully it will increase my bone density.

And I really think its affected my nails. I’ve done this calcium thing for a few weeks now, and my nails have gotten much longer. My mom’s family doesn’t have the strongest nails, which I’ve oh so fortunately inherited. But look here! (exclude the ring finger, I lost the nail tip because of a knife incident…)

I also need a manicure. But the point is, sometimes a few of my nails are long. But right now they’re all long and strong. Calcium chews are here to stay.

Anyway! I had a glorious salad for dinner. And I may have snacked on a bit of trail mix while frying up the veggie burger.

The salad also included avocado and grated raw beets.

SO. Many thoughts I’d like to share. As I posted before, sometimes my eats get a little all over the place. I love healthy, nourishing food and delicious treats but sometimes, aliens invade my head and I find myself snacking on things that I don’t approve ethically. Such as artificial ingredients in cookies, or bites of pancakes made from a mix, or highly processed artificial cereal. I never give myself a proper portion, but I nibble at them. And I really don’t even like them. But I think my marathon training+emotional craziness affected my eating. Also, I lost weight this past year. I am very comfortable at this weight, and am just trying to maintain. But somehow, being in a maintenance mentality made me think I could eat whatever I wanted sometimes. While I still maintained, I need to think about my overall health, as I posted before. My skin looks awful these past few days, and some of this emotional roller coaster has left me feeling groggy and napping often. I just feel like I’m in a daze some days. I truly believe that diet is the key to health. It’s time I practice what I preach.

I’d really like to eat more intuitively, which I’ve been trying out these past few days. Before if I felt hungry at 3 pm, I would deny it and nibble at crap. Because somehow calories count if you eat something nourishing, but don’t if you eat random handfuls of crap? Instead, I will acknowledge my hunger and eat until I’m satisfied. If that means more than the apple I planned, than so be it. If it means that I still need something after dinner, I’ll have it. My body knows what’s up. I know what being satisfied feels like. And if I’m not hungry yet for lunch, I’ll wait, unless I’m with other people sharing a meal.

I may be photographing more of my daily eats to help me eat intuitively. Plus I haven’t been very creative with my meals lately, and I think blogging about them will help.

I just found out that I will be taking the two AP girls to the Twilight premiere tonight. I’m sorry if I offend the Edward fans out there, but I’m definitely not a Twilight fan. Let’s just leave it at that. I refused to leave 5 hours ahead of time, so we’ll be leaving in an hour or so for a 2 hour wait. I’m packing a delicious snack though!

I received Ricemallow Creme from Suzanne’s Specialties and bread from Rudi’s Organic Bakery. I also just bought Costco Organic peanut butter. Are you catching my drift?

It got a little bent in shipping. But who cares when you taste the glorious ricemallow creme. This took me straight back to childhood. And yes, it is VEGAN. So deliciously fluffy. I made a small movie snack: 1/2 a fluffernutter! To be sneaked into the movie theatre.

FOODGASM.

So there you have it. Vegan eats+product reviews+running+resolutions. I’d post more about veganism, and maybe I will in the future, but here’s some thoughtful posts on the matter in lieu of my own.

I’m thinking Twilight will be a good nap time for me. Please, refrain from throwing anything at your screen in anger Twilight fans. I saw the first one in Belgium, so it was in French. At least this time it will be in English!

A toute a l’heure!
Maya

Things I Am Thankful For #14

I wasn’t going to write a post tonight, and figured I would write one tomorrow.

But I just had to write a thank you for all the support you guys have shown me.

Which leads me to what I am thankful for today: the blog world and you bloggians!

I was going to save this thank you blog world post for my last one in the series, but it’s just so apropos today. Yesterday’s post was difficult to write, as I never intended to divulge so much of my personal history on this blog. I am so glad I did. It is so nice to know that not only do I have my family and friends for support, but also countless blog readers and fellow blog writers. While I have struggled with body image and disordered eating, I have made so many strides this past year thanks to reading blogs. While I have slipped up a bit recently,  with a little confidence and this blog I can set myself straight again. I think the most important thing is to realize how much is going on in my life, and give myself permission to have a little setback. I think sometimes we beat ourselves up too much. I AM going through a lot and it’s OKAY to have a few weak moments and I will come out stronger in the end.

The blog world has also helped me make some winning tasty and nutritious meals. The other day the AP family went to Denny’s. I ordered the Grand Slam with whole wheat pancakes, yogurt, and fruit. I proceeded to slather the yogurt and fruit on my pancakes in a parfait like fashion. The family thought it was strange and the waiter said “What a healthy breakfast!” Yes, it was healthy, but I also love yogurt coated pancakes and waffles, something I picked up from reading blogs. Blogs have taught me to embrace a food I once feared for its fat content: peanut butter. I now have an undying love for the stuff and am not afraid of large spoonfuls. And thanks to blogs, I have taken oatmeal concotions to soaring new heights.

Also, thanks to the blog world, I’ve learned about so many new products.

ProBar recently sent me their new fruition bars to sample. I snacked on a cranberry raspberry bar on the way to yoga. Hence why the backdrop is a car seat. Classy.

ProbBar is known for their meal replacement bars, but the fruition bars are much more suitable for snacks. It is fruit based and the comprises mainly of oats, fruit puree, brown rice syrup, nuts, and chia (!!) seeds. If I’m having a granola bar, I love crunchy texture. But a bar like this I like soft, and this was delicious! Comparable to a fruit Larabar, I would say. It reminded me of a soft granola bar mixed with fruit leather. I highly recommend the fruition line.

I also received some sprouted weight tortillas from the French Meadow Bakery.

I’m not particularly interested in flushing fat, but I liked the sprouted wheat. I made a pseduo burrito with spaghetti squash, tofu, tomato sauce, and zucchini.

And rolled it up.

I like sprouted wheat things, I decided. I need to try Ezekiel products, for sure.

In other news, this whole feeding the heart instead of the stomach business is getting better. I took over 2 hours to eat my breakfast, post run, to let my hunger build up to it. I wasn’t really feeling lunch, so I just had some squash, but when hunger did hit, I fed myself well with a Heart Thrive, an early dinner, and just now an orange, because I could still feel the hunger pangs. When I feel down on myself about this, all I have to do is read your wonderful comments. Seriously, you are all the best.

I’m sure I’ve asked this question in some way, shape, or form before, but I’ll ask it again anyway:How has blog world affected you?

Thank you so much again lovies!

Peace!

Maya

Pumpkins and Pondering

No Things I Am Thankful For post today. I have a lot on my mind, which I’ll get to later.

But first things first. When I first came to Hawaii, I joined several Meetup groups. I joined a hiker and adventurer group, an All Things Oahu group, and a French group. As I spent most of my weekends in Kailua, I never did any of these group activities, even though I got emails almost every day with new activity updates. This week I decided to  pursue some of them. I wanted to go to a night snorkel on Saturday, but it was canceled due to hazardous weather conditions (curses!) It was probably for the better for me anyway–I went to bed at 9 pm which gave me over 7 hours of sleep for yesterday’s 18 miler.

This week I joined a new group for foodies. The first activity? A Sunday dinner featuring…pumpkin! Everyone brought a pumpkin dish to the dinner party and we discussed about future plans (ideas included movie+themed dinner, cookie swap, wine tastings, etc.) I love dinner parties. My mom loves to entertain, and I think there’s nothing better than good food, good conversation, and good company. The menu included cheese+dried/fresh fruits, pumpkin bisque, pumpkin dip+cookies+sliced apples, salad with roasted pumpkin, grilled chicken with pumpkin mole sauce, pumpkin oatmeal cookies, and pumpkin cheesecake.

I wore this dress, which I found at a thrift store for 4 dollars, to the party.

I made the pumpkin dip, a combination of these two recipes. I used less sugar and added fresh ginger.

I put it in a more attractive bowl when I got to the party, I promise.

I brought apples and Newman’s Own cinnamon graham Alphabet cookies as dippers. Loved the cookies! They were part of the sample box Newman’s Own Organics sent, and I was happy to share my Newman’s bounty.

I would have taken pictures at the party (after all, a group of foodies understand food photography) but the lighting was rather dim and…ok I’m just making excuses. Next time, I promise!

The highlight of the party for me was the salad with roasted pumpkin. The pumpkin was roasted for a long time and had a caramelized taste. It was mixed with coriander and other savory spices, which contrasted nicely with the sweetness. The pumpkin cheesecake was also a hit. It was ultra fluffy and the crust had pecans. I love talking about food with people who love food.

Pumpkin has made an appearance in my breakfasts as well:

I think I get negative points for cleaning up the bowl for photos. Apologies. Anyway, these are halfway oats. I cooked 1/2 cup of oats in a cup of water and refrigerated them for 15 minutes.  I then added plain yogurt, pumpkin, diced banana, cinnamon, and flax. Now, I usually don’t sweeten my oats. I add plenty of toppings, banana, and peanut butter which is normally perfectly sweet for me. However I received a sample of stevia from NuNaturals.

I got it a while ago, but I never needed to use it. But this bowl was lacking…something. It needed a sweet something something. I added just a smidge of stevia. It did wonders. I recently tried Stonyfield Pumpkin Pie yogurt and was a bit disappointed. This combo of plain yogurt, pumpkin, spices, and stevia tasted just like a better version of Stonyfield’s pumpkin yogurt. Stevia is also great because it dissolves so much better than regular or brown sugar, so if I occasionally want a slightly sweet tea, I’ll turn to stevia. I now see the stevia light. However, I’ll reserve it for the times that I feel I really need it (I don’t want to cultivate a dependent sweet tooth!)  Thanks NuNaturals!

It was like oatmeal pudding! I had another bowl this morning with the Newman’s Own cinnamon graham cookies sprinkled on top for a crust effect for my pumpkin pie filling.

Now for the heavier issues. As I have written before on the blog, my parents are getting divorced and I’ve had to deal with a lot of life changes in a short time span. As I may have briefly mentioned before, I have a complicated relationship with food, with both restriction and binging, and while I never had an eating disorder, I would definitely say that I experienced disordered eating. Thanks to the blog world, I have felt much more confident this past year, and my relationship with food definitely improved. But with these issues weighing on my mind, I’ve lost my footing a bit. It can be so frustrating that something so basic and necessary, like nourishment, can be so complicated. I recently learned about distinguishing between feeding the stomach and feeding the heart. It’s easy to feed ourselves with food when really, our heart needs to be nourished. It is hard to find emotional nourishment when my family is thousands of miles away. Now that I am so conscious of the difference between feeding heart and stomach, when I need it, I will be turning to other forms of comfort than food. As I learn more about this and make strides to feed my heart and stomach when necessary, I’ll post more about my reflections. Just now I finished dinner and feel more than satisfied. I still had the munchies, but I knew it was because this matter is weighing heavily on my mind right now, so I decided to blog instead.

What do you do when you feed your stomach when it’s really your heart that is hungry? How do you cope?

I know this is an issue that affects everyone, particularly women, at some point. I hope  my thoughts and postings on this subject will be helpful.

Also support these lovely ladies and their charities: Holly and Chocolate Covered Katie. Holly is asking for donations to build a well in Cambodia for Christmas, and Katie is donating the funds from each page view for her blog to her charity drive. She is also hosting a Chocolate Covered Giveaway!

With lots of love,

Maya

Things I Am Thanful For #13

I love learning about new cultures. This should come to no surprise considering my zest for traveling. My favorite travel experiences are when I can stay with people from the area. I loved exploring France with the French exchange student who stayed with my family when I was younger.  I stayed at her house in the French countryside–an area many tourists miss. In Milan I stayed with a family friend and in Venice I couchsurfed. (I absolutely loved couchsurfing, and highly recommend it to travelers.) The best part of meeting people in the area is being introduced to delicious new foods. Pierrette introduced me to soft goat cheese eaten like yogurt and topped with jam in France. My couchsurfing hosts took us to the best gelateria in the city (the gelato was truly divine) and introduced us to campari, an alcohol made from bitter herbs.

Whenever I get the chance I dine at restaurants with ethnic cuisines I’ve never before sampled. I love talking to people about their traveling experiences, and often watch foreign films to get a taste of life in that country.

After living in Belgium for a year, I was ready for good ol’ America again. It’s awesome living in Hawaii because I am still in the United States (no dollar competing with the strong euro! My wallet breathed a huge sigh of relief!) but the culture here is definitely unique. I am exposed to so many new experiences in my own country. I never knew much about the Polynesian islands and I am learning all about Tahiti, Samoa, and other islands. Learning about culture and perspective here is fascinating. For example, there is very little prejudice here. People are proud of their cultural identity, and have no qualms about identifying others by race, which we are often hesitant to do on the mainland. Sophie’s mom told us a story of a woman who came into the shop where she worked while at the University of Hawaii. The woman was describing another sales clerk and said “The lady with black hair, and uhh almond shaped eyes….” The other employees replied, “Oh, you mean the Japanese woman!” They laughed that the woman from the mainaland was so afraid to say Asian, as if it were a bad thing. People here will describe their children as “my Samoan looking daughter” or “my son who looks like a haole” (Haole is the term here for a white person). It’s actually kind of refreshing from our mainland attitudes.

Yesterday I took a hula class, which I hope to do on a regular basis. Many schools offer hula and other Polynesian dances, and teach Hawaiian to the elementary grades.

I am thankful for learning so many new things in Hawaii. I am truly lucky to get the opportunity to live here.

Of course, my growing knowledge of Hawaiian culture extends to food! I am the American Gourmande, after all, The older daughter in the AP family introduced me to this powder:

The Li Hing powder is made from dried plums. It’s sweet and fruity with a slightly bitter aftertaste. It is delicious on apples:

It also pairs well with bananas and pineapple.

I’ve tried coconut water, but I’ve never had a fresh coconut before…until yesterday!

Wonderful.

I’ve also loved my traditional Hawaiian meals, even the poi.

And in other news, the PDRs continue today with an 18 miler completed! My peak rate was 6:40 minutes per mile=wow! Granted I did not sustain that pace for long, but my pace was usually between 8 and 9 miles, faster than my usual long run time. Today I trained on a very flat course, and the miles flew by. By mile 10 I thought really? I’ve already ran 10 miles!? I heard that the Honolulu Marathon course is pretty flat with the exception of the Diamond Head portion, which apparently is nothing like the monster hill I battle near my house 4 times a week. I’m so glad I’ve trained on such difficult, hilly terrain as it makes running on flat courses a breeze. I’d definitely recommend lots of hill work for anyone training for a marathon!

For the past couple of months, I’ve been using Clif shot bloks as fuel during my long runs. I usually take a couple of bloks at mile 8 or 10 and then continue with a couple more every 4 miles. I’ve also tried Gu energy gel so I could compare the two. I like the taste of the shot bloks–they taste like concentrated gummy bears. The taste is very strong, but goes down well with some water. However, I’m not a big fan of chewing while I run, which gives the energy gels a slight advantage. I know that Clif makes energy gel as well, but I did not receive any as a sample.

I also tried the Clif Quench as my beverage during my run. It does have a slightly salty flavor, and overall I preferred this drink over Gatorade (I’m not a big fan of sports drinks). Here’s a comparison of the ingredients in Quench and Gatorade:

Quench: Filtered Water, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Citric Acid, Real Salt®, Natural Flavors, Magnesium Lactate, Potassium Phosphate.

Gatorade: water, sucrose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, salt, sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, ester gum, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, yellow 5

Not a fan of the artificial flavors and colors in Gatorade. Plus Quench uses real salt.

I’d definitely buy Quench over Gatorade, but I really liked the coconut water I sampled last week. I liked the milky, salty, and sweet taste and I love that it’s such a natural beverage. I think I’ll use coconut water for most of my runs but wouldn’t hesitate to use Quench. Thanks Clif for the samples!

I was pretty excited to finally try a hemp bagel from French Meadow Bakery as my post run meal. I defrosted and toasted the bagel, lathered it in hummus, and topped it with egg whites cooked for 50 seconds in a cup in the microwave, sliced tomatoes, and a little cheddar cheese.

I’ve now tried both the Hemp and 16 Grain and Seed bagels. I loved both. I defrosted them a bit in the microwave and toasted them slightly to get the best texture (French Meadow Bakery products are usually available frozen) I don’t usually eat bagels as I prefer breads with a hearty chew, though I do like the texture of bagels. With these bagels I got both. I only wish that they were available fresh, but I’ll get what I can! I also loved the high protein count in the Hemp bagels–19 grams! This is awesome for vegetarians like me. The grain and seed bagels aren’t too shabby, either, packed with 14 grams.They’re also no more expensive than a bagel at a bakery–they come in packs of 5 for 4 dollars (though of course, it is almost 2 times as expensive in Hawaii, but that’s typical) A bagel at Einstein is $1.09. I’d much rather buy these bagels for when the bagel craving hits.

And on another random note–check out this song I’ve been listening to a lot lately:

[Good to Sea by Pinback]

What are some of your favorite foods from other cultures/that you’ve sampled in other countries? I’d love to hear about them!

PS: Check out Danielle’s Blogging Secret Santa! A great idea.

Other items in the Things I Am Thankful For series:

#1: Running

#2: Healing

#3: Warm weather

#4: Spice

#5: Art

#6: Sleep

#7: Communication

#8: Adventure

#9: Leisurely meals

#10: Strength

#11: Technology

#12: Cooking

Things I Am Thankful For #12

During my childhood, family dinners were the norm. My mom cooked dinner almost every night. Specialties included pot pie, homemade cornbread, Spanish style green beans, and lasagna. We never had Bisquick, it was homemade blueberry or gingerbread pancakes all the way. My mom made her own waffles, and churned out waffle after waffle from a machine that definitely looked like it’s seen better days. The resulting stack of beautiful, delicious waffles that came from what looked like a death trap never ceased to amaze me. She made her own pie crust and sometimes, we even made ice cream.

One day my mom brought home Ina Garten’s first Barefoot Contessa cookbook. One snowy day, while browsing the cookbook’s beautiful pages, I was inspired to make my own granola. I’d never really cooked before, aside from helping my mom, but the muses must have paid me a visit, because I had to make that granola right then and there. The granola filled the house with a wonderful smell, and I couldn’t resist letting it cool. I helped myself to a large bowl right away, with cold milk. I could get used to this cooking thing I thought.

It was onward and upward from there. I cooked at least twice a week, and read cookbooks like novels. When I discovered blogs, I perused baking blogs for fun, and became addicted to the beautiful writing style and recipes of websites such as Orangette and Smitten Kitchen. My family and friends loved tasting my culinary efforts, though I drove my mom crazy with the messes I left behind in the kitchen (I’ve gotten much better at cleaning, I promise!)

Due to many years of reading food articles/recipes and cooking, I can now head to the kitchen with a grumbling stomach but no idea what to make,  and magically produce a meal, even if the fridge is practically barren. I can think to myself rice pudding sounds really good right now and whip out a delicious concoction soon after.

I am thankful for my cooking skills. They serve me very, very well.

I am particularly thankful lately as the AP family does not seem to have my same culinary prowness. When I requested they buy a butternut squash from the grocery store, the father said I thought those were just for decoration! You can actually cook with them?! I added yeast to the grocery list and they were shocked when I explained that I wanted to make bread, pita, pizza, etc. The other day I was at an AFS volunteer’s house and she was preparing brussel sprouts. She commented that many people my age have no clue how to cook vegetables. Not this chica. I know that carrots are delicious when roasted, broccoli is a snap to steam in the microwave, and that green beans become very succulent when brasied.

Yesterday I had a hankering for banana cream pie, and we had cream in the house to use up. I prepared a graham cracker crust:

And got to work making the custard.

I whisked flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt together with 2 cups of milk and let the mixture thicken. Then I tempered egg yolks with the milk and cooked it until it became a very thick custard. This blew the family away. Making pudding without a box!

And used one of my favorite superfoods to make this beauty:

The AP family was very appreciative.

In other news, I’m taking the Whittle My Middle challenge. I suck at strength training. I’m a cardio girl. But I am loving my yoga practice, and to improve my poses I need to strengthen my core. While I certainly do this during yoga class, I don’t think twice a week is enough to increase my ab strength. I also know that a strong core leads to strong running. So today, on my day off from running, I did level 1 of the 30 day shred and six minutes of ab exercises. If I ever doubt in the future that strength training does not work up a sweat I will look to these pictures for evidence:

Gross, but glorious. Also, I did not notice the sweat on my shorts until after I imported this picture. Very attractive.

This challenge couldn’t come at a better time, as I have a month until the Honolulu Marathon and stronger abs certainly wouldn’t hurt. Maybe I’ll post before and after photos, but after the challenge. I’m certainly happy and comfortable with my middle as is, but I’m afraid there might not be a big difference…but hopefully that will motivate me to make sure that doesn’t happen.

PS: A stability ball jacknife is very, very hard. Truth. You may find yourself yelling the f word multiple times. Hopefully no one else will be home, or they will understand your pain.

How did you get into cooking? Are you taking the Whittle My Middle challenge/what are some of your favorite ab moves?

Also, check out Leslie’s giveaway!

Things I Am Thankful For #11

It is odd to think that really, I am floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on hardened lava 607 square miles in size.

And many, many thousands of miles away from my family in Maryland.

I recently spoke to two middle aged women who grew up in Hawaii. Calling family on the mainland was An Event. The whole family gathered round to talk to relatives they hadn’t seen in years and really didn’t know that well. Conversations usually were only as profound as a “how are you” and “I’m fine” before the phone was passed to the next person. Sophie’s mom went to the University of Hawaii, and her roommate used to record her day’s events on a tape recorder to send home to her mom. She was able to say much more than she would have been able to in a phone conversation, as calls were so expensive.

What a difference 30 years makes. It costs the same to call my family than if I were in the next town over in Maryland. If I want to only say a small thing, I can easily send a text to my parents and friends. When I want a truly in depth conversation, I arrange a skype call with a friend. We can see each other and find out about each other’s lives in real time. No need for tape recorders.With all that is going on in my life right now, this is a wonderful thing. I can call my dad the minute I have a problem or need advice, and he can be there for me.

A screen shot from a recent skype chat with my sister...I learn my ridiculous faces from the master.

I am thankful for technology. While I yearn for my father’s embrace and my mother’s warmth, I can stay well connected with them. They know the day to day happenings of my life in full detail. Luckily, I will be going home for Christmas, so I will see my family soon enough. But until then, technology allows us to stay in touch.

Technology is also a wonderful thing when you are starving, post run and post shower, and can’t figure out what to make for lunch. Ordinarily, if I want a sweet potato, I plan in advance and roast my darling little root vegetables. But not today. Today it was a very last minute decision. I hastily decided to make a wrap, pulled out a whole wheat tortilla, and rummaged the fridge for wrap fillings. Tofu? Why not. I pan fried 1/4 a block of tofu, and snacked on a little tofu while doing so (I never would have eaten plain, uncooked tofu before, but Gliding Calm showed me the light in this simple, protein-filled snack. ) I found a half eaten individual serving size container of hummus, and spread it on the tortilla. I topped it with the tofu and  1/4 an avocado…but it needed something else….sweet potatoes! I sliced 1/3 a sweet potato into rounds, splashed water on them, and microwaved for 4 minutes. Voila! Cooked sweet potatoes for my wrap! Then, of course, I doused it all in chili sauce.

I think I would eat my left foot were it doused in chili sauce.

The sweet potatoes were not as good as roasted. Sometimes technology can’t replace the good old-fashioned methods, like a phone call instead of seeing someone in person. But it sure does make a fine substitute.

Yum.

Ok, not the most attractively wrapped burrito. What can I say, I was hungry.

I wanted to listen to music while writing this post. But I am in a very specific music mood, and could only think of one song that I wanted to listen to, really (Pulling Our Weight, by Radio Dept.) Genius (on iTunes) to the rescue. I now have a whole playlist of songs in my library that are similar to Pulling Our Weight. I could have also used Pandora. Technology is glorious.

As for my recent posts and turmoil in my life, don’t fret about me! Life is never easy, but I am learning to deal. And of course, be thankful.

PS: I updated my Who? page to include my Hawaii life. Check it out!

Things I Am Thankful For #10

I can be very self absorbed.

I think, or I’d like to think, that this is typical of 19 year olds (typical of perhaps other people as well, but at least excusable and understandable for my age group). Everything seems so dramatic.  Like the floor beneath my feet is shifting and it won’t stop. Every event seems epic. It feels like I alone in my suffering, and woe is me.

Each day has challenges. You encounter an obstacle, rise above it, and then bam there’s another obstacle. It’s easy to scream in frustration, throw your hands up in the air, and sit on the ground and pout. The true test of strength is brushing yourself off, getting back on your feet and overcoming the next obstacle. And then the next one. And the one after that.

No, there isn’t any end. No one gets the easy road in life. There is always another challenge around the bend.

But with each obstacle, I become stronger. I become a better person.

As I said, it’s hard to see that in the face of a new challenge. I hate to admit it, but I still do crumble. Just ask my mom. She had the pleasure of listening to me howling in the phone this afternoon about my latest challenge. Literally howling.

But I am learning. I am getting perspective and realizing how I can use the lessons from this challenge to become emotionally stronger.

In my yoga practice I am becoming stronger. I can see it in every class. It is certainly taking it’s time. After two and a half months of classes twice a week I still can’t do a headstand with wall support. My instructor still needs to help my legs up. I still can’t do a back bend, and I can barely manage a shoulder stand. But my instructor noted today that my chuturangas are becoming stronger. My shoulders and hips are opening up. I see myself in the mirror and relish at the sight of muscles hard at work. With each class they are becoming stronger.

I am thankful today for strength. Both emotional and physical. It is a constant uphill battle, and sometimes I huff and puff, but I am working my way up that hill. And I am thankful for the climb. The constant push towards improvement. It sounds a bit odd to be thankful for such a thing, but when I  stand back and see the strides I made I am thankful for where I have come and where I am going.

Sometimes a brownie can help you overcome an emotional obstacle.

I came home to this pan of brownies after yoga. I had a smidge or two. All for the sake of climbing up that emotional hill, right?

Music also helps overcome emotional challenges:

How are you becoming emotionally/physically stronger?

Other posts in the series Things I Am Thankful For

#1: Running

#2: Healing

#3: Warm weather

#4: Spice

#5: Art

#6: Sleep

#7: Communication

#8: Adventure

#9: Leisurely meals