Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Oh, and Two Other Things

#1: This may be a crappy room, but guess what? NO FRUIT FLIES HERE! So I will no longer describe it as a crappy room.


#2: I know I promised the brown sugar shortbread recipe (stay tuned, it's worth it). I took the photos and I actually have the recipe with me, so I will publish it in the next day or two.


Sorry for the lapse!

What to Eat When You Can't Eat Anything and You Find Yourself in NYC

Yeah, that's true. Here I am in NYC, food capital of the f-ing world and I am still working this diet. (I hate to use the word "diet", everyone says it's just a new way of eating but truth is, it's still a DIET - yuck). Yet here I am, and I'm doing my best to stick to it.

I'm here in New York to work. We have a family-owned apartment building on the Upper East Side that has too many vacancies. Not a surprise, given the real estate market in the entire country right now. So we need to set up a model apartment. Guess who's gonna do that job?

The good news is that I get to go shopping on someone else's dime (well, not really since it's family money, but still...) The bad news is that I would love to eat my way through New York, but I can't. I'm staying in a crappy Marriott Courtyard on 3rd and 53rd and I'm in the middle of UN opening. Barak Obama is here and so is Bill Clinton, along with a million other folks. Traffic is horrible and don't even think about trying to land a cab. I checked into my crappy room (with an exorbitant price tag - not fair) at about 8pm and wondered what to do for dinner.

Room service? Not so much. In this place, room service means ordering from Outback (I'm not kidding). So I ventured out onto 53rd Street and came upon the Brasserie.

Mind you, I've eaten here before. Mostly just for breakfast, though. They remodeled the place a few years ago and now it looks like the Jetson's lair. Pretty silly, if you ask me. But I sat at the bar, nobody bothered me and I had a very good (and legal) meal of Pacific oysters on the half-shell and chicken paillard with arugula. Not half-bad and of course, helped enormously by the two glasses of Zin I consumed. Hey - I'm on the road. At least it wasn't chocolate.

I'm back in my (crappy) room now. Oh well, at least it's clean and the a/c works. Up early tomorrow to start my shopping. Figuring out what to eat while still sticking to the diet will be a challenge.

I'll keep you posted.

Blog topic request: sleep and diet



Our friend Lena requested a blog topic: sleep and eating. She asked, "How does sleeping tie into what/how you eat? Is there really much of a connection?" Lena, I'm so glad you asked!

Yes! There most definitely is a connection between sleeping and what and how one eats. There has been a lot of recent research focused on sleep and diet/weight/nutrition with the ever expanding obesity epidemic.


What's the deal? There's lots of theories and ideas, let's discuss.

Scientifically speaking, hormones such as leptin, ghrelin, and cortisol can become out of whack with insufficient sleep. Leptin is the hormone playing a central role in fat metabolism; ghrelin is a hormone counterpart to leptin, which stimulates hunger -- increasing before meals and decreasing after meals; cortisol is a hormone commonly referred to as the "stress hormone", which helps the body use sugar (glucose) and fat for energy (metabolism). A lack of sleep triggers a wave of reactions in the body that begins with the hormones mentioned above. This results in the body waking up exhausted and craving fat and carbohydrates, says Dr. Joseph Koninck, director of the University of Ottawa's Sleep Research Laboratory. There is no doubt that the hormones which control appetite are effected by insufficient sleep [1]. So, sleep more!

Basic math would also lead any logical person to the conclusion of less hours awake leads to less hours of eating, and thus, less calories consumed. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Those staying up late to watch TV, catch up on emails, or surf the Internet are more often than not consuming high-calorie foods. When you eat late at night, Dr. Koninck suggests one's sleep is more fragmented due to the body's digestion process. Lack of deep sleep can also cause a drop in the "satiety hormone", leptin. This can cause excessive hunger the following day, even after eating. All the while, ghrelin, the "hunger hormone", is rising...setting one up to overeat [1].

Stanford University connected a lack of sleep to the rise in obesity back in 2004. Their 15-year study of 1,024 volunteers with sleep disorders found that individuals sleeping less than 4 hours a night were 73% more likely to be obese [1]. If you don't have time to sleep, you certainly don't have time to cook or eat properly, right?

Think YOU'RE getting enough sleep? Maybe not!

In 2006, University of Chicago researchers found that while adults may be in bed for 7.5 hours, the average woman slept for 6.7 hours, while men enjoyed a mere 6.1 hours of rest [1].

How much sleep does one need? Follow these steps to find out...


1. Set a bed time. Calculate back 7 1/2 hours from the time you need to get up to figure out what time that bedtime ought to be.

2. Go to bed 15 minutes earlier every day. Make note of what length of sleep leaves you feeling refreshed and awakening without the use of an alarm clock. This is your optimum length of sleep -- likely between 7 1/2 and 9 hours each night.

3. Keep a journal. Track when you go to bed, when you get up, any restless periods, when you ate and exercised before bed, whether or not you napped, and if so, for how long.

4. Keep on this schedule! Your body and waistline will thank you!

Key points to remember:
- exercise 30 minutes daily, but not within a few hours of your bedtime
- keep your bedroom a place for sleep and sexual activity only
- get into a pre-bed routine (i.e. bath, music, reading)
- DO NOT check email, watch TV, or play video games before bed -- it can leave you sleeping restlessly or unable to get to sleep
- cut out caffeine in the afternoon and evening hours
- DO NOT go to bed on a full stomach OR hungry
- use alcohol in moderation, and not as a sleep aid!

I have to say, I may ace this test. Mark and I climb into bed around 9:40 every night. My alarm goes off at 6:22 am, which is when I get up, so long as Lily has a restful sleep, too. Generally, I feel refreshed and ready for the day. While I still require one dose of caffeine and an alarm clock, I think we happily master the sleep routine.

What time is your bedtime? Are you often tired? What gets in your way of getting more sleep?

[1]. Beun, Chown, Julie. Dozing to diet: Sleep as a diet aid works, research shows.
Canwest News Service. September 18, 2009.

Claypot chicken rice

It has been a days of experimenting with claypot dishes. This dish - chicken with lap cheong and rice are cooked separately in claypots.

The chicken are marinated with Chinese soy sauce, pepper and a little dash of salt.
Then cook the chicken with ginger.
For the sauce, add Chinese rice wine, thick black soy and oyster sauce. Cook until the alcohol from the rice wine evaporates.
Add lap cheong.

Finally, pour the chicken with sauce into the rice claypot and let it set.

Claypot tofu

Save as Draft

This is what we had for dinner one of the days. Tried making "ma po" tofu. It did turned out beautifully.

Homemade miniburger


This is a simple and balanced meal which can be served practically anytime of the day.
It has burger as the main with mashed potatoes and lettuce and tomatoes as side.

The selection of bread for the burger is important. You can get best burger buns from Carrefour.
But, like any burger buns they need to be lighted toasted.

What's inside the burger?
a) HOMEMADE Burger patty
b) Cheedar cheese (melted on top of the patty)
c) Japanese mayonaise
d) Thin sliced of tomatoes, gurkin
e) Lettuce

The patty consists of minced pork and bacon bits, seasoned with coriander seeds, nutmeg, pepper, salt with an egg and breadcrumbs. More on this later...

Chicken Cordon Bleu



Keeping with my endeavors to try more new recipes, I made Chicken Cordon Bleu last night...and it
was delicious! My husband doesn't care for ham, so next time I may make his portion with turkey pepperoni. I made rosemary potatoes as the side and we had a fresh garden salad with Kraft Light Asian Sesame Ginger dressing.

Yum! I forgot to take pictures last night, but here's my leftovers for lunch today, sans the salad...those never travel well for me.



For a snack, however, I will be spreading leftover Laughing Cow onto a ripe, delicious Gala apple (my favorite variety!).

Chicken Cordon Bleu
Taken from Weight Watchers, Inc.

4 - 4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 wedges Laughing Cow Light (I used original)
4 servings extra lean ham (I used Deli Select)
1/2 package Shake 'n Bake (I used less -- looked like too much!)
crushed garlic

Directions

Pound each to about 1/4 inch thickness. Spread one wedge of cheese and garlic on top of each breast. Put 2 to 3 slices ham over the cheese and garlic. Roll up the chicken and secure with toothpicks. Place on a baking tray and sprinkle with Shake N Bake.

Bake at 400 for about 35 to 40 minutes.

I have a blog topic request I'll post on tonight if the day isn't too hectic. If not, catch ya tomorrow! Have a great day!

Quick post: Julie Andrews

One of my favourite actress is Julie Andrews... Don't you think she's gorgeous? I simply love her since I was a child... I've been a very big fan of Mary Poppins (I've got a lovely pair of boots that are similar to the ones she was using at that film); and I really love her play in Victor/Victoria... and, of course, I know all the songs of The Sound of Music... and love Torn Curtain... and the funny Thoroughly Modern Millie...



But if there is one quality that I love her, is how she danced with Gene Kelly!





Aren't they simply gorgeous?

And a little inspiration from other times ... Lately I miss a time that never lived ...


By the way, I'm searching desperately a pair of t-strap shoes... I'm in totally love with them!! I've found a pair of Vera Wang's shoes and I'm thinking about buying them... But they're sandals, and I want them close...



Any ideas?

Have a nice day!