BLACKSTRAP!

It's just me and my BLACKSTRAP!

 I have the honor of starting this stud tomorrow! I call him BLACKSTRAP! Starting tomorrow I will be taking 1 tablespoon of this stud daily. Wish me luck because it does not taste good. But I will be taking it because it has a significant source of Iron, Calcium, and Potassium! I need Iron because I am anemic, I need calcium because I am a woman, and I need potassium because I do not like bananas!

This bottle of studly goodness is from my lovely friend Liz (from church)! She was kind enough to provide my first bottle! Kuddos to Liz!

Recipe of the Week

Lentil Mixed Rice Casserole
I bought some lentils not knowing what to make with it, but knowing that it is good for you.

Here we go...
1. Chop up an onion and carrots. Saute in 1-2 tbs. of EVOO.

2. In the mean time rinse and soak 2/3 c.lentils and 2/3 c. mixed rice. (Probably better to soak lentils and rice for hours ahead of time).

 

3. Saute Lentils and Rice in pan for 15 mins. Then throw in the lentils and 2 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Simmer for about an hour (until rice is tender).

 

 4. Top with cheese. Then Enjoy!

5.Enjoy with a steak. Mine looks unattractive since I cut it. Remember PORTION CONTROL!!!

Grub & Pup

Skinny Sinigang...
Sinigang n. (see/knee/guh/ng)
A tamarind based Filipino soup. Can be cooked using pork, meat, fish, chicken, or shrimp. Usual vegetables are onions, tomatoes( I know, it's a fruit) radish, spinach, and green beans.

My "skinny" version is made with Kale... (that's the green leafy stuff)

As you can see we made it with shrimp. Shrimp is low in fat but high in cholesterol. But... "Studies show the high percentage of good fats in shrimp lowers the part that cholesterol plays in the body."

It was quite delicious if you ask me... The hubby got these big succulent prawns from Costco and boy was it delicious. As for the kale.. well it is tougher than I am used to. Kale is the extreme opposite of the silky smooth texture of spinach. But knowing that the Kale is better for you helps you appreciate it.
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Puppy 101...
This past weekend we stayed at my in-laws. That means Mimie is left out in the backyard the whole time. Well when we were ready to leave I went outside to get Mimie all packed I found her bag (the one she goes into) is soaking wet from the sprinklers. So we improvised... Here is what my father in law came up with... See that hole on the side of the box (not the one Mimie's head is through). Well that is the size of the other hole that Mimie's head is through. How did she do that? We have no idea!  

 Yup! She is one crazy puppy! Oh Mimie!

Recipe of the Week

Today was one of those I am super tired but yet need to be productive day. I did three loads of laundry and made up a new recipe. Here it goes...

Ingredients
- Steak
- Soy Sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Honey
- Maple Syrup
- Crushed Red Pepper
- Cayenne Pepper (my favorite!)
- Carrots

I mixed all the ingredients and let the meat marinate for about 15 minutes. Then got a pan and a tad of butter then seared both sides of the meat. After that I put the heat at low covered it as I peeled and cut carrots. Then placed the carrots in the pan. I added some of the marinate into the pan. I flipped the meat a few times. I let it cook for 45 minutes as I was folding laundry.

I made some mixed rice with it... Black rice, red rice, and brown rice. It was delish!

Here was the finished product... It was way better than I imagined it to be!

Puppy 101

Meet our puppy Mimie! She is an almost 6 month old Maltipoo. She is definitely a handful. We got her when she was about 7 weeks old and boy is she a lot of work. Potty training is not my specialty. My hubby is pretty decent at it if he had the time. But now as his work schedule is getting better we have come with a game plan (thanks to our friends David and Paola).

Lately we have tried to train her to stay in the restroom. Basically we give her the command "Border" that means that she cannot cross the carpet. She had been doing pretty well, she ran out a few times. Well we were kind enough this evening to put her bed back since she recently lost her bed privileges. We she decided to be a slick puppy. Watch what she did...

Before

  

During

After

I don't know if you notice how she is on the carpet but technically not because "she" isn't on the carpet, technically her bed is on the carpet. Ay yay yay... this puppy is slick and has a crazy personality of her own. She is quite the mischievous puppy! Stay tuned to our puppy training endeavor!

[Food for Thought]

WATER
 Apparently water should not be consumed during meals. The reason? Well it is said that consuming water during meals dilute the digestion acids that help us digest our food. Is this true? I don't know. I used to save my water drinking until after my meal but when I got married I developed the habit of drinking during my meal. This habit was infectiously obtained from my husband. So I can see how this can be true but at the same time water is good for you. I figure that water during meals only help flush it through your system. But what do I know...

<SHOUT OUT>
Congrats to one of my favorite bloggers... MyCakies to their new addition to their family, Glow! Check out her blog.... I love her! I aspire to be like her... she is super mom and super creative! I love love love her and her ideas! Congrats on your new blessing!!!

lower calorie LA dog

whole wheat tortilla: 80 calories
turkey dog: 70 calories
ketchup: 3 calories
mustard: 0 calories
light mayo: 10 calories
onions: ?
= all together around 163 calories... not bad!

Weekend Re-cap!

This weekend we got to enjoy the sights of Thousand Oaks because of our friend Victor & Desiree's wedding. It was a ton of fun, and it was nice to see some Biola friends!

Friday

The beautiful venue...

The Wedding Party

 Me and the hubby enjoying the landscape! Tiger woods plays at this golf course!

 Victor & Willie

Saturday
 Then on Saturday we had lunch with my parents... Pho and bluberry donuts! Then later that evening we went to this seafood restaurant (forgot what it was called) to celebrate my grandma's birthday!

 Oh it was sooo delicious!!!

Sunday
We enjoyed church! Led worhip for Junior High & High School, went to service, then served in the nursery. Ok side note... Our Junior High ministry is undergoing a revamp. Our kids are excited and we are ecstatic!!! There will probably more posts to come in regards to them.

Back to work...
My job is not bad. I am enjoying getting to know my co-workers day by day. I am grateful and truly blessed. One of my co-workers (Ranie) decided that we are both going to make candied pecans to add to our salad. Here is what mine came out to look like...

 My yummy pecans on our yummy salad for dinner!

Weekend Preview

This past weekend primarily consisted of EATING! We had a wedding to go to and also spent the weekend with my parents. Here is a preview of what we ate..

BLUEBERRY DONUTS!!!

I thank my parents for introducing this to us and thank Darrel for introducing this to them!!! They were scrumptious! My new favorite!!!

More to come on our adventures from this weekend... but this was the highlight! Haha!

First Day!

So as I mentioned I got a new job! Well today was my first day... I was nervous but it was a fantastic first day! I had to alphabetize a ton of files (but ABC's are my specialty), clean, replenish supplies, etc. Very relaxed and busy at the same time for a first day. It was a good first day! My supervisor is great, I like her and I think she likes me! So Praise the Lord!!! I am very blessed!

SOLD OUT!!!

These suckers are sold out!

So unfortunately the juicer we got doesn't last very long (due to research of my great friend Jessica!) so we are returning it and trying to invest in this one. SOLD OUT everywhere... all because of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead! Everyone has joined in the revolution and the company didn't even know they were going to be in the documentary and didn't know their machine was such a hit. Well apparently now they know and now they are making more. So that's good news! We are going to just order this puppy online!

Praise the Lord!

God is good! The Lord provides! I am no longer unemployed! The Lord has blessed me with a job to be a Project Assistant (basically a receptionist and help out with projects). I will be working in my dad's office in Riverside. It may not be the job I would hope for but nonetheless it is a job! I am grateful and give all praises to the Lord!

Healthy Endeavors

Cucumber Delight

- 1 Cucumber
- 2 Huge Fuji Apples
- 4 Organic Carrots

 Man it is sooo yummy! The hubby and I wanted to try it, so here is our first official juice! It is pretty sweet, and there was no sugar added! All natural! As my husband would say "Nada Artificial, Todo Natural!" Yeah this pitcher is supposed to be a meal for one person and to be honest I wouldn't mind drinking this whole pitcher. It's addictively (not a word) delicious!!!

Healthy Endeavors

Fat Sick and Nearly Dead!
Here is another revolutionary documentary we watched, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead!

So the hubby and I talked it over and we are adapting what this guy did into our new healthy lifestyle. Basically this guy was very much overweight and had a disease. He had resolved to going on a juice fast for 60 days! Basically instead of eating he was drinking juice 3 times a day in place of his meals. You have to watch it!!!

Willie and I have resolved to do the same but modified to our needs and our lifestyle. We are going to substitute 2 meals out of the day for juice and then have a healthy well portioned meal for the other 1 out of 3 meals a day. We still haven't decided how long we are going to do this but eventually we are going to try to adapt this juice thing into our lifestyle to one juice meal a day.

Why are we doing this? Well it isn't mere to lose weight. This whole juicing endeavor is basically a detox or a cleanse. It is surreal how much nutrients our body is lacking and juicing is one great way of getting those nutrients.  But back to the question... Well the hubby wants to do it for the nutrients and I do too don't get me wrong. But for myself it is for several reasons... 1. I am 15 pounds overweight. 2. I have a lot of health issues and want to resolve them... NATURALLY! Because if you watch the other two documentaries I talked about you will see how medicine actually brings toxins to your body. They appease the symptoms not necessarily heal you. Don't get me wrong there isn't anything wrong with medication but I just don't want to be popping 10 pills a day. 3. I just want to start feeling better physically and emotionally (if you are a female you understand the emotional aspect that I am talking about).

So it appears that our Moval Adventures will probably revolve around our Healthy Adventures but it will also entail exciting occurrences here in Moval.

Stick around the next post will be about Organic! (dun dun dun!) 

Oh yeah and in result of this documentary we purchased a juicer!

Please watch the documentary, you will know what I am talking about. I am not saying a lot about it because I do not want to spoil it for you guys!

P.S. There is a fire out in our area. We are not too close to it. I suspected there was a fire because it smells like fire, but I didn;t even know there was one until Ate Glo texted me asking if we were ok! Thanks Ate Glo, I love you and miss you soooo much!!!