Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Focus on your outcome!!!

in life we must focus on what we want. and it’s very important to know what you really want and move in that direction.

then also remember to understand and know your direction also, a simple mistake can cause you allot of ... well you watch the video and your understand.

Raising My Standards

I can't help it. I'm living in one of the best culinary cities in the country, but I crave the food I ate in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago. I feel like an ungrateful child, the one who wants the proton pack instead of the shiny red fire engine (you know who you are!!!). When I was in Minny, I had a delicious huevos rancheros at Grand Cafe - melty cheese between two fresh tortillas topped with braised pork, black beans, and a mole sauce. Oh yeah, and some huevos. I had amazing Thai food at King and I Thai - flaky curry puffs, red curry with chicken, a shrimp pad Thai. And where else can you get Somali food at a wedding? Savory sambusas with a spicy green chutney, chicken fantastic (that's what it's called), and vegetable curry.

Dining in Minneapolis seriously raises my standards for home cooking. But traveling means my home cooking has suffered. I ran out of food the other day, and while my zucchini soup was tasty it was not enough to satisfy and left me stuffing my face with cheese and crackers. My lentil salad was lackluster. When I finally made it to the store and refreshed my fridge, I decided to make a simple but incredibly satisfying pork chop with apple compote. A good dinner makes a huge difference in how I feel. I stop craving the great food in Minneapolis, I stop missing my old home. I feel a little better about where I am.



Pork Chops with Apple Compote
serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 center cut pork chops (thick cut)
salt and pepper
1 large shallot, minced
1/4 cup white wine
2 apples, sweet and crisp such as Gala, peeled and diced
1 cup chicken broth
2 tsp balsamic vinegar

I like to use thick cut pork chops because they don't get overcooked as easily. Season pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Add olive oil to large skillet and swirl to coat. Add pork chops before heating pan. Heating the pork chops more slowly allows them to retain more moisture and not dry out. They lose a lot of moisture when you add them to a hot pan. Heat pan on medium high heat. Cook chops until browned, about six minutes on each side, or more if very thick. Remove to a plate and keep warm in oven. You may need to cook chops in two batches.

While chops are cooking, peel and dice the apples and mince the shallot. After removing the pork chops, add shallot to pan and stir until brown. Add white wine to deglaze the pan, stirring to loosen the brown bits. Add chicken broth and diced apples. Simmer apples for ten minutes, until tender. Stir in balsamic vinegar and any accumulated juices from pork chops. Season with salt to taste.

Serve pork chops with apple compote on top. If pork chops have cooled off, return them to pan with apples for one minute to heat before serving.

childhood beverages


Study finds that girls consuming two or more 8-ounce servings of sweetened beverages a day at the age of five were “more likely to be overweight than were girls classified with lower intake over the study period.” Those drinking more than two servings of sweetened beverages at age five had a 53.9% chance of being overweight by the age of 11 [1].

The authors did not, however, find a link between milk or fruit juice consumption and weight status over this ten year data collection period [1].

Possibly of most importance was the finding of increased sweetened beverage intake over time. Those girls at the highest intake of sweetened beverages at the age of five had significantly higher intakes from age 7 to 15 compared to those drinking one serving of sweetened beverages a day or less. Consumption remained the same for those girls consuming one to two servings a day of sweetened beverages [1].

What to take away from this study is most certainly pushing water and low-calorie beverages with children. Habits and food preferences are instilled at a young age – don’t set your children up for a lifetime of weight struggles. Consider also the caffeine and sugar content of beverages as well, and how those contents can affect sleep, dental hygiene, attention span, and learning opportunities.

Did you drink soda as a kid? Juice? KoolAid? Whole milk after the age of 2? 

I think my mom did well with this, actually. We rarely drank soda, as it was not kept in the house. Dinner was typically milk (2% and later to skim), water, or Crystal Light. Possibly some juice, but it wasn't a staple from my recollection. 


Even programs such as WIC no longer support juice consumption for children and opt to provide access to the whole fruit, providing both the nutrients AND volume, thus increasing the satiety of the calories consumed.


Dinner tonight: 1/2 acorn squash with 1 1/2 Tbsp melted Smart Balance Light, 2 tsp Splenda Brown Sugar, 1/2 tsp turbinado, and 1/2 ounce pecans....mmmm!! Talk about fall comfort food! Mama N used to make these babies sans the healthy butter and reduced-calorie 
sugars...and way more pecans! She was trouble, that mama of mine!!!




P.S. It tastes WAY better than it looks!
P.P.S. My diet yesterday looked a lot like the day before so I am sparing myself and you from writing and reading it!


[1]. Thomas, Caroline. Kids’ Soft Drink Habits Predict Teenage Weight: Study. Vol. 90, No. 4, 935-942. October 12, 2009.

Shopping and meeting day!

Hi everyone! I hope that all of you are having a great day! Mine's been so great, I've been with lots of friends today!



This morning I was with Chris, Rocio, Danu and Manel for coffee and catch up, then went to eat at Sushi-ya and we were walking through the center of Barcelona. Dew me a couple of pictures that I have to go, it's an excellent photographer!



Later we went to the store Tamar, where we meet Gerard, Eva and Laia Let me feel like a doll, was eager to see them!

Laia and I must to go to the cinema to see The September Issue and make the fashion-freak around Barcelona!

Well, today I did some shopping and cute ...


Skirt from H&M

 

A pair of cute notepads from Sfera


And the most important... my Muse and mando Diao's tickets for their upcoming live concerts!!

Tomorrow I'm going to explore a bit and at night I'm going to a photo exhibition, as my dear RocĂ­o exposes six photos! So, tomorrow, more!!

Thanks for reading :)

14th oct 2009 - day 2


Ya Allah. hanya Kau yg tahu tujuanku... nawaituku. bantulah aku.
sekiranya Engkau masih mengasihi hambaMu yg hina dan kerdil ini.
berikan aku kekuatan tu Ya Allah. aku terlalu, rungsing. sadis.

jap. ejaan die RUNsING ke RUNgsING? erm. ade G ke tak tgh2 tuh? T__T

1st of all. maaf. semua. kawan - kawan. maaf sgt3. sy tpu kalian.
sy tpu yg sy dah buat bodow dgn lelaki itu. tpu yg kami hanya kwn biasa.
sy tpu bersebab. sbb kalian da penat. bosan. leteyh nasihat sy utk tinggalkan beliau.
sy taw kalian da tataw nak ckp ape dkt sy. yer sy degil. sy taw.
mula - mula sebulan. tup tap dah setahun. serious. tak sangka~

mcm mane sy blh sabar? mcm mane sy blh biar dan biar dan biar...
tak kisah ape org kate? x kisah ape kawan2 ckp. ape mama n abah pesan.
semua sy ketepikan. utk ape? utk peluang2 dkt beliau. dan utk diri sendiri.
utk perasaan yg makin lame makin menebal tnpa disedari.
hingga saat ini, di mana terpaksa melepaskan jgk akhirnya. terpaksa~

sy fragile. terlalu fragile skrng. sy lebeyh suka ke kolej. jmpe kwn2.
gelak ketawa dlm mase same tahan tangisan yg tah tak sabar2 nak mengalir.
kenapa menangis? entah. sbb perasaan itu sudah setahun. rasa itu...
menebal. bercampur baur. aqilah. bodohnya kau tak sedar rasa syg itu.
rase kasihan kau, yg jd syg, dan akhirnya, mmg kau da jd yg terbaik.
kau sedar, dan kau ckp 'i gave him the very best of me'. best of me~

tak tahan. semlm. yess sy jrng marah. kalau marah pun cpt sgt reda.
kalau marah skit2. tak sampai 5minit dah ok. gerenti! but. semlm.
ble da jrng marah, skali marah, mmg teruk. and, still, x lebeyh 30min.
call seorg kwn. kwn lame dr skola. akibat tak tahan marah sampai nangis.
call, terus nangis sambil jerit yg lantang. and, sy benci ble sy terlalu mrh nih.
sbb, semua kaum kerabat caci maki keluar. tak tahan. sgt~ penyudahnya.
kwn ckp "1st time dgr ko marah camni skali sejak dr zaman skolah" 1st time~

kwn tu jgk ckp bnde yg same semua org dah ckp. "tinggalkan beliau. plz."
still. rase sgt amat tak mampu tertahan rase terkilan itu. akhirnya. type SMS.
SMS seorg kwn lama yg sgt fhm diri ni. yg taw 100% ttg diri sy. 1st love.
semlm. jmpa sekejap. dinner skali. lame x jmpe. tp, sy perlu. sy ckp.
tp x pndng muka die. sbb, rasa nak nangis sentiasa time bercerita.
dia. diam. dan dgr. awk. maaf jgk sy kecewakan awk sebgai kwn.
awk diam. tp nasihat. dan mmg kte nmpk jgk, awk kecewa. nmpk~

sy taw bkn dia je yg kecewa dgn sy. kwn2 lain jgk. tp. dia lebeyh kecewa.
sbb die 1-1 nya kwn yg taw 100% dr a - z cerita tu. kesimpulannya, ada deal.
semua pun tahu, dr dulu lg sy mmg SEWAJARNYA da tinggalkan lelaki itu.
makanya. sy pun mmg sedar, nmpk dgn jelas, lama dlu lg. 1 kenyataan iaitu.
by hook or by crook, sy mmg perlu tinggalkan lelaki itu. sy taw. dia bkn utk sy. tahu~
maka. sy diberi 7 hari dr tarikh semlm, 13 october 2009 utk tinggalkan lelaki itu.
kalau tak. 1st love tak akan mengaku sy kwn lg. that's it.

dan sy tahu jgk. die buat semua ni utk kebaikan sy. itu yg semua org cuba buat.
akibatnya. semlm. sy menangis di dpn dia. sambil bercerita. tangis bnyk sbb.
tangis masa yg dah rugi. tangis dgn kemungkinan2 yg ada. tangis dgn apa yg sy korbankan.
ahhh. bercampur baur. maaflah... sy pernah ckp, x nak lg bercerita ttg perasaan. tp.
ini. sy tak mampu. tak mampu lg. ya, kwn2 dah malas ambik taw ttg beliau.
jd sy hanya pendam ttg beliau utk tah berapa lama. skit pon x cite dkt sape2.
tp. tlg. biar je sy kali ni... sy cuma ingin meluahkan perasaan yg terbeban.

pulang ke rumah semlm. tiada lg tangisan. tp. tiba2 dpt 1 sms. nasihat dr 1st love.
entah. buat rasa nak menangis blk. terharu sbb seriously, die kwn yg baek.
masuk bilik. nak tdow. sbb penink. pukul 12am mcm tuh. baring, dgr lagu.
skali mate segar semcm jgk sampai 230++am. ade phone call. die lg. sy taw.
die risaw. sy, nangis lg... pukul 430++ am. segar lg. penat mcm tuh. tlg. maw tdow.
lupekan semua seketika. 5am. tdow akhirnya. 3 jam. bgn awal. siap ke kelas.

sedar tak semlm 13 oct 2009 itu. hari pertama... hari ni 14 oct 2009. hari ke-2.
ada lagi 5 hari. hari terakhirnya 20 oct 2009. dang~ sy baru sedar tarikh itu.
die kate "20 oct 2009 mulakan hidup baru" insya allah. i hope sooo...
otak sy serabot. kusut. masa suntuk. kelas penuh. esok dr 11am -3pm meeting.
3pm-10pm class directing. sy tak suka sesuatu hubngan akhirnya dgn SMS @ call.
sy lebih suka face2face even kekuatan yg perlu ada, tinggi. benar tinggi.
tuhan. tlg permudahkan perjalanan perjuangan ini. tlg. aku mengaku kalah tuhan...
1 sbb yg paling pasti - beliau mmg bkn utk aku. 1 hakikat yg aku sedar lama.
dr hari pertama kami kenal, sehingga kini sudah setahun lebeyh bersama. hakikat~

1143pm. few minutes to 15th oct 2009. masuk hari ke3. 4 hari tinggal utk ucapkan...
'goodbye'. its hard when u've to say goodbye to the one u love, like, so much.
i just, don't know how... letting go of some1 u love, is not easy, when u're not ready.
but u know u have to. u just really3 have to. sooner or later. but, lg lmbt lg seksa.
so... yes, i hope i've the gut, to say 'goodbye', and again, i'm gonna break my own heart.
and yar, it's me, who's gonna hurt the most again. it always ended up with...
me, who called it'OFF' but, trust me, i hurt more than those i let go off. seriously~

what's the big deal of all this. i just cant tell. just... let say. erm.
i gave him the verrryyyy best of me. i never say NO to anything, for a year.
but it just, every1 around u [fmly + friends] said, he is not the one for u.
and. it just that, u know, u're suffering inside as well and the most important...
that u do realize, that u're going nowhere with him. it just. nowhere.
we are not meant to be together. way 2 different, 1 of the reason as well...
it's complicated. tak fhm pon xpe... just. tu je. utk skrng. tlg. doa~