Category: Fabulous You - Foods. Fitness. Fabulous YOU.

It's That Time of Year Again!

4/8/2015

Passover!

Well, we are five days in at this point, but there are still three to go before our Jewish holiday is over! I think Passover is one of my most favorite holidays, because the huge dinner (called Seder) Friday and then again Saturday evening is literally heaven-- so much food! And for most people it is a time to unite with family and friends too.

Incase you don't know the first thing about Passover aside from the word, I will tell you little bit about it! Passover is a holiday typically celebrated sometime in April. The date is all dependent on the Hebrew calendar, though, so every year it is slightly different.

Passover lasts for eight days and celebrates the emancipation of the slaves in Israel. We eat matzah to help us understand what our ancestors were forced to consume when they fled Jerusalem so quickly that their bread didn't have time to rise. Therefore, on Passover, we cannot eat anything that rises ("chametz" in Hebrew), such as wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye.

Yep, this means no crackers, cake, cookies, bread, cereal, oatmeal, bagels, muffins, doughnuts, to name a few. In the grand scheme of things, Passover is not a difficult holiday. Now-a-days, there are so many non-Passover versions of foods like Passover-safe noodles, cake and pancake mix, etc.

But the main staple in our 8-day diet is matzah which is a thin cracker that you can basically put any topping on that may go on a bagel or bread. I love putting Nutella and peanut butter on mine while my boyfriend loves doing cream cheese and jelly and my mom enjoys hummus. The famous concoction is matzah pizza. It's a great and quick dinner alternative to that favorite American classic.

While you can now buy whole wheat matzah, egg matzah (a moister cracker-consistency) and chocolate covered versions, to be completely honest, most of my Passover days consist of an abundance of fruits and veggies.

I hope all of you had a great Passover or Easter holiday!
Thanks for reading :).

My Restaurant-Filled Weekend

1/20/2015

My apologies for totally lagging on my blog posts recently. Getting back into school-mode and starting up my last semester of classes has been eating up my fun time to blog and do what I love!

I need to fill you in on my weekend home in this post, though. I have to admit, Buffalo, N.Y. really has some great food hotspots. I definitely got around to a few good ones this weekend. So, my vegan friend who recently created her own instagram account featuring her dairy free, animal free and overall healthy meals @everyday_vegan-- Taylor-- came to visit my hometown this weekend.

Boy did we have a good time eating; something we both love to do. It's great though because I love trying new foods so going to vegan restaurants and exploring alternatively created meals is part of my food fun.

I knew that I had to take Taylor to two known places in Buffalo for some tasty vegan. I took her to Merge for dinner and Amy's Place for brunch the next day.

Merge is a sit-down, pricier restaurant with vegan, vegetarian and organic options. They support the local farming community oh and have live music playing almost every weekend.

Now for our meals. To start, we ordered a tuscan bean soup.

On such a cold night, we both agreed that that cup of soup really warmed our insides and our taste buds to prep for our main course.

Taylor and I split our dishes. We ordered this enchilasagna, pictured above, which was a special that night and it was phenomenal. A little on the spicier side but so delicious.

Our second dish was a moussaka with cashew cheese on top! That was my favorite of the two. It was layers of eggplant and zucchini with this sweet yet nutty cheese on top and a baked kale salad not the side. To say the very least, Taylor and I devoured the two. Us girls can really eat, especially when it's a vegan meal and I can leave the restaurant feeling good about myself and my meal choices. Vegan is healthier, right?

Ah, but Merge's desserts sounded amazing. From raw to vegan, they were hard to pass up but we were too full to even consider ordering one.

Now onto Amy's Place, a tiny restaurant across from University at Buffalo South Campus. Tucked away on a small strip of a few shops, you'll find a counter seating and full-service table, vegan and "regular" food filled menu.

I've dined at Amy's Place a few times before bringing Taylor for her first experience this weekend, but I ordered my first omelet on Saturday morning.

Egg whites with spinach, mushrooms and broccoli; my favorite fillings. With a side of tabouleh, and non-greasy home fries, you couldn't get any better than that. It was great.

Taylor ordered vegan french toast and vegan butter and said it was better than she expected. We both gave Amy's Place two thumbs up on their brunch variety :).

This was definitely a treat weekend for me. I'm not a huge fan of going out to eat for a few reasons, one being its expensive and the second is that we all know that cooking at home is far healthier. But it's important to treat yourself once in a while, especially when family and friends are in town!

If you've ever been to Merge or Amy's Place, tag me in your Instagram or Twitter photos! I'd love to hear about other great menu choices!

Thanks for reading :).

My Turkey Day Festivities

11/28/2014

Over-stuffed. Tired. Well-bonded. These are the three words I'd use to describe my feelings Thursday night. But hey, everyone knows that Thanksgiving is one of the days of the year where it is perfectly acceptable to chow down whatever your heart desires and not worry about it. That's why it's my favorite holiday!

Anyways, now that the Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving dinner and Black Friday shopping have both passed, the craziness is starting to subside in my household and I can hope the same for you.

I had a super delicious dinner on Thursday night celebrating with my parents and brothers. In fact, my 13-year-old brother, Jordan, cooked our entire meal...all day long he stood in the kitchen and cooked and baked everything from scratch. Oh, then left all of the dirty dishes of course all over the kitchen for everyone else to clean up #typicaljordan.

Here is what Jordan made. Freshly carved turkey with steamed broccoli with lemon squeezed on top, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes with a really thick, over-cooked gravy that I refused to try (sorry, Jo!). I think my favorite dish was the sweet potatoes which were just mashed potatoes and cinnamon! Healthy and delicious, just the way I like my food :).

I just had to share my delicious and impressive dinner with you before I shared my other great Turkey Day accomplishment. I ran my first 8k on Thursday morning! With my motivating boyfriend (matching jersey on the right) and his friend by my side, it was a really enjoyable and relatively easy 5-mile run.

Here is a photo of the three of us just before heading out to the starting line!

I was so proud of myself. I am not a huge runner and to be honest, I didn't really train too much for this race but managed to almost run the entire thing (well slowly jog is more like it). I ran outside for four miles a few weeks before the race with Max and died (literally, almost). When I go to the gym I sometimes go on the treadmill for about 2 miles but that's three shy of 5.

Incase you didn't know, running outside is very different than on a treadmill though. It's much more challenging with the wind resistance beating against you and the cold air flowing into your lungs. On the plus side, the outdoor scenery and the mindset that you are actually going somewhere, not just running on what feels like a never ending moving belt, makes running outside more enjoyable, for me at least.

Back to the race, I was nervous at the start and for days prior but was so determined to run this thing, in its entirety. When I crossed that finish line, 5 steady miles later, it was the best feeling, one that I will never forget.

For your knowledge, the race that I completed is called the Turkey Trot. Composed of 14,000 participants, and in its 119th year, the Trot is an annual outdoor Thanksgiving Day race, organized by the YMCA. To learn more about it, visit their website.

I hope you had a really nice Thanksgiving!
Thanks for reading :)

Brr...So Cold Already

11/20/2014

Okay so I know that I have been out of the blogging game for the past few weeks. Yeah, it's been far too long since I've written a post. My apologies.

I'm back though and am going to try to get into the habit of writing a few times a week once finals cool down (First week of December). Can't wait.

My days and nights have already been filled with papers, making outlines for upcoming exams, job hunting oh and eating fabulous foods (well not so fabulous with limited cooking time) and working out when I have motivation to move out of bed in the bitterly cold mornings.

Seriously, guys, it has gotten so cold so quickly here in Syracuse, N.Y. This whole week, temperatures have not risen past the 28 degree mark. Brrrrr.

We all know that awful feeling of getting out of your warm, cozy sheets in the morning when it feels like 10 degrees in your room. Especially to motivate yourself to go to the gym? Eeeek. It's been a rough week but I am proud to say that I have been successful so far and am very proud of myself :).

But in 3 hours from now, will be a great time. I get to drive home (assuming weather is clear enough in Buffalo) for my week long Thanksgiving break! Let me clarify, a much NEEDED Thanksgiving break. Although it'll be filled with work at Wegmans for a solid 32 hours of that week, the other hours I can't wait to just chillax.

What are YOU thankful for this year?

Bulu Box Surprise

10/22/2014

Happy Hump Day, everyone! Half the week is gone and that means only two days left until the weekend!

My week's been a little hectic, but when is my life ever not crazy? Rarely. Keeps me on my feet though, so I guess I can't complain too much.

I came home from class yesterday afternoon with a nice surprise sitting at my doorstep, my first Bulu Box! I signed up for a half off regular priced subscription through a friend's inspirational blog Eats and Exercise By Amber. I was browsing her blog page one day and saw a code to subscribe and thought I'd check it out! I'm so glad that I did!

By now, or maybe even from the beginning of reading my blog, you're probably sitting there wondering what the heck a Bulu Box even is. Let me fill you in. A Bulu Box is a monthly subscription service where you're sent (with free shipping), a small box filled with healthy foods and supplements all tailored toward your personal goals.

Whether your goal is to lose weight, bulk up, or just change your dietary habits to become more healthy, Bulu Box is a fun way to learn about new products and try them before you go out and purchase full-size, often expensive products/foods.

I got my subscription for only $5.00/month. My personal reason for subscribing, aside from the unbeatable price, was to broaden my knowledge of healthy foods out there that I have yet to try.

Given my health and nutrition passion, yet my restricted college budget, I thought this may be a fun and inexpensive way to try new foods and supplements. Not to mention that receiving mail is always an exciting time too!

So, in my first month's box, I received Nuvia Cafe Instant Coffee packets, Probium (probiotic supplements), Natrol SAM-e (a compound that may help maintain healthy and balanced emotions), Barlean's CoQ10 Swirl (a heart healthy swirl), BiPro Whey Protein Isolate packets and a MHP Fit and Lean Power Pudding Pack.

Aside from the great sample packets in the box, there are a few coupons to use for various products and a great description of each sample that is inside the box.

I am so glad that I subscribed to Bulu Box and am not only excited to try all of my samples, but also looking forward to your thoughts and opinions on certain sample products you receive when you subscribe (which I really hope you do)!

Who doesn't love surprises? Especially when it's food, and healthy food, meaning your body will love it too! :)

Do you have a Bulu Box subscription? Tweet me your Bulu opinions!

Farmers Market Success!

9/27/2014

It's a beautiful day here in Central New York and I thought what better way than to wake up early and head to this huge farmer's market that I've heard rants and raves about.

Only an easy 10-minute drive away from me, the CNY Regional Farmer's Market was a huge success for me. Not only was it filled with more local farmers than I've ever seen at one market before, but the crowds were great. From kids to grandparents and everyone in between, there were hundreds of people flocking the farmers and eagerly grabbing their colorful fruits and veggies.

I've always been a huge farmer's market girl. Supporting our local economy is extremely important, and not to mention that the produce prices always beat out the grocery store tags by a long shot!

Who isn't down for saving a good chunk of money while mingling with your local growers and learning about the produce you are eating (i.e. where it comes from).

My mom and I used to always go to farmer's markets when I was back home. Every Saturday morning was our tradition to wake up, sometimes head to Starbucks and then off we were, to a large market about 20 minutes from my home.

At todays market, I picked up some Italian broccoli (I'd never seen or heard of it before until today), sweet peppers, homemade fudge (yep, you can also find some homemade goods at these markets too), a huge eggplant, brussels sprouts, avocados, organic, heirloom tomatoes (for only $4 for 8) and a nice, firm, yellow spaghetti squash (for only a dollar).

$17 and a colorful kitchen table later, I can happily say that the market was such a success.

Another exciting find I made today was this super sweet woman who bakes treats using avocados as a base. Her company, Avocadough, with it's slogan, "Guilt-free foods that satisfy," actually does just this. Deliciously tasty and rich, but relatively healthy and unique, I fell in love with her sweets and treats. I sampled just about every flavor she had. Although the Ginger Chip Cookie was my favorite flavor, she was sold-out so I settled for the Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, still delicious of course :).

So that was my fun and healthy Saturday adventure. Any farmer's market I am able to go to, I take every opportunity to make the most of it. In fact, my boyfriend and I have started a tradition of visiting different markets together.

Wherever we are on a weekend, summer through late fall, we make every effort to search out the local markets. So far, we've visited about 5 different markets together since June, all around NY State!

Where is your favorite market that you have visited and why!?

Some Lines I Rep

9/22/2014

I hope everyone had a great start to the week ahead! :)

You may have noticed that a few clickable icon images were recently added on the right side of this website homepage-- Bogavia and Piece Apparel.

It is time that I fill you in on a little side work that I just excitedly got myself into. I am a product representative for two different lines, both sold in a local store in Buffalo, my hometown.

Bogavia is a premium collection of luxurious, plant-based skin and hair care. Each Bogavia product is a blend of pure plant extracts, with rich plant oils and butters, creating vegan, gluten-free, products that are free of parabens, harsh chemicals, sulfates, artificial fragrances and preservatives.

The second line that I am newly repping is Piece Apparel. Piece is a casual clothing line, with everything from dresses to pajama pants and yoga pants and beyond. With premier comfort, performance and value in cute everyday basics, Piece offers it all.

If you click on the icon images on my site, you will not only save 10% off your purchase, but your'e also helping to support my blog!

Thanks for reading and let me know what you think about my new lines!

My Favorite Magazine

9/16/2014

Whenever I have downtime, I love educating myself with the latest health and fitness buzz from Women's Health Magazine. They put out monthly, and sometimes bi-monthly, magazines focused around anything and everything woman related.

I've been reading Women's Health, religiously, for about three years now. Although I may not always read the last month by the time the new issue is published, I eventually catch up. I love that up-to-date feeling.

My favorite features of Women's Health are the fun facts interspersed throughout the magazine pages. They are so quick and easy to read but still jump out at you and grab attention effectively to educate!

Another convenient feature about Women's Health magazine is that you can order a print subscription but also a digital one with no additional charge. Having the ability to read on-the-go on your phone, tablet or computer is a really nice added bonus.

I would say the target audience for this magazine is any woman age 18+. Although Women's Health contains some sexual content, I think a lot of the rest of the pages cover really important, interesting and informing content.

If you're interested in subscribing to Women's Health, click here.

What is your favorite magazine?

My Bikram Experience

8/11/2014

What if you had to walk outside and stay out there for 90 minutes...but the catch is-- what if it's 105 degrees that day?

Well, this was pretty much how my 10 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. valuable morning time was spent. In a 105 degree sauna for a 90 minute, what is called "hot yoga" class.

Today, this "hot yoga" is more commonly known as Bikram and it's really, really intense. This type of yoga is filled with 26 different postures created by Bikram Choudhury from traditional Hatha Yoga techniques in the 1970s.

I tried my first Bikram class maybe five years ago with my aunt and I enjoyed it but agreed it was something I could never commit to on a daily basis. It's definitely a different kind of workout. I'm more of a "stay cool in the air conditioned gym" type of workout junkie.

Above is a photo of the studio that I took my class in yesterday. The above pose, although I am not sure of the exact name, it stretches the back very well and oh can you feel it in your glutes a lot too.

So, yesterday I guess I agreed to try another Bikram class with my boyfriend's mom because she raved about how much she loves it and got me interested again.

Workout variation is always great for your body, too. Mixing up your workouts means you, nor your body get bored! I'm really happy that I gave Bikram another shot though, because I've been meaning to do so for a long time! I took my class at Bikram Yoga Williamsville and loved the instructor and the facilities, a place I'd highly recommend my friends to try it at.

There were people of all different ages and experience levels in my class and watching other "yogis" in the mirror at the front of the room really helped me stay on track.

I'm sure that this entire time you've been reading this blog, you've been thinking to yourself, "what fun is there in sitting in a super hot room for 90 minutes?" Well, I completely understand your thought and I was thinking the same thing the first time I heard about Bikram. But let me fill you in on the benefits of doing hot yoga before you make a quick decision to forgo this type of exercise:

1) Increases oxygen supply to all parts of your body: At the end of class you practice breathing out quickly and throughout the class the instructor reminds you to breath deeply during certain postures.

2) Release toxins: The more you sweat, the more toxins are though to be released from organs, tissue, and muscles through your skin. Maybe this explains why after a solid workout, where I'm left dripping in sweat, I feel so amazing...

3) Increase flexibility: The warmer your muscles are, the easier they are to stretch, bend and work with. Taking advantage of being stuck in a hot room can increase flexibility of tendons and ligaments in the short and longterm.

My final words of advice for you if you try Bikram for yourself, is to go at your own pace (you can lay on your mat in "dead body pose" if needed to relax), but really push yourself to bend your body in new ways that you may not have thought possible...remember it's a hot room and you're now more flexible.

In my class, sure, there were many people that appeared that they'd been taking years and years of Bikram and could probably bend themselves into a pretzel. But, I just focused on myself and MY body instead of envying THEIR movements and bodies. I look up to these professionals now and in my coming Bikram classes, I know that I will be stronger and more flexible to eventually get to the pretzel point.

Have you ever tried Bikram? Or if you haven't, would you give it a try after hearing about my experience?

Is Organic REALLY Worth the Money?

7/25/2014

Happy Friday! Another week behind us and another warm summer weekend to begin!

Although this weekend for me will be filled with 11 hours standing on my feet behind an exciting register at Wegmans, I can’t complain too too much. Working at a grocery store is opening my eyes at how our society food shops.

Since I first started working for Wegmans four years ago, it seems people’s mindsets about how they choose to nourish their bodies has made a 180 degree turn for the better.

Sure, I still ring up loads and loads of pop (or soda, whatever you call it), but I’m also cashing-out quite a bit more organic strawberries and organic chicken breasts. It’s not like prices of organically produced foods have decreased drastically in the past four years, but people are becoming more aware of organic’s health benefits…this is at least what I think.

Most foods labeled “organic” are far from cheap. But, you pay for what you get: no hormones or antibiotics injected into livestock, no pesticides sprayed on produce, no GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in packaged goods, and overall better/safer treatment of our environment.

The problem is that the conventional ways of growing and producing our food (i.e. raising our chickens cooped up in cages then injecting them with antibiotics so they don’t get sick and then making them as fat as possible with hormones, or modifying our crops so they grow fatter and faster) helps mass production. Organically grown foods take greater effort and time to produce, equaling lower supply and increasing prices for consumers.

Too much economics thinking? Sorry, I’ll change direction and talk about what exactly you should and shouldn't buy organic. I watch The Doctors and Doctor Oz pretty religiously, unless I am working, and their takes on the switch are basically dependant on the exact food. Here is a list of top foods that I feel should be purchased organic, based off of their opinions:

1)   Meats: Particularly beef, because there is a link between hormones fed to our cattle and cancer growth in humans. But all poultry is high in GMO feed and growth stimulants which are passed onto us.

2)   Berries: because of the bumps and crevices on strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries, it’s harder to rinse off the pesticides.

3)   Potatoes: Grown in the ground, they absorb all of the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides found in conventional soil.

4)   Dairy: We eat so much of this everyday and the hormones and GMOed corn fed to the cows producing our dairy products passes on to our bodies at consumption.

5)   Peaches and nectarines: With their fuzzy and thin skin, the pesticide residue adheres very easily and is hard to wash off.

6)   Apples: They are heavily sprayed and sometimes even dipped in wax, giving them that shiny look at the grocery stores, but organically grown apples are never sprayed or waxed, just natural.

7)   Spinach: These leafy greens have twice the amount of iron compared to other greens but sprayed quite a bit…beware, you can’t get away from the pesticides by buying canned or frozen either!

8)   Tomatoes: So much lycopene thought to help protect against cancer, but too much pesticide spraying too.

9)   Celery: See the dirt on the celery when you pull it off the stalk? Yeah, imagine the stuff you don’t see…

10)Grapes: They are small and sprayed a lot, but don’t forget about the raisins they make. Aim for both organic because when the raisins dry up, the pesticide residue becomes more potent on the fruit.

If you’re wondering what is okay to buy non-organic, it’s basically anything with a thick skin that you can remove: bananas, kiwi, oranges and cucumbers (if you remove the skin of course).

So after all of this, you may be thinking to yourself, do all the health benefits of eating fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats counteract their nutritional value… or are the pesticides, hormones and GMOs winning?

Write me a comment or tweet me your thoughts.

Author

Hi, I'm Sarah! Thanks for checking out my blog. I'm a recent Syracuse University graduate, working at a public relations agency in Downtown Buffalo. If I'm not blogging, you'll find me cooking, exercising, traveling, grabbing lunch with friends, running to Starbucks for that unsweetened iced greed tea with light ice or listening to country music while multitasking. :)

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