Food Reviews: Applesauce

This past Saturday, I ran 6 miles! My first time ever! In honor of this momentous occasion, I treated myself to homemade cookies, and I am providing a new food review!

GoGo Squeez


Ever had applesauce without a spoon? It was always a nice thought, but difficult to do. A friend introduced me to this product.  Since it was on sale at my local store, I purchased a pack to try myself. These fun green pouches allow you to squeeze applesauce into your mouth without ever using a spoon or needing a napkin! It is all natural, where the only ingredients are apples and apple juice. No added sugars is definitely a benefit and I think it tastes great and is super sweet. As an added bonus, one whole pouch is only 60 calories. What an easy way to get a fruit serving. Try the other flavors and let me know what you think!

Dazzling Star Meter:

Maine

I spent Labor Day weekend in Boston visiting close friends and we took a day trip to Maine- my first time! The weather was beautiful, very scenic, and the seafood was outstanding. Who knew that a lobster roll could taste so good? Here are some of our many pictures- take some time and enjoy Maine for yourself! And remember....everything in moderation....

Beautiful Maine

Taking a stroll along the shore

Fish and Chips- The best we've had!

Lobster Roll!!

View of the coast from our restaurant

The seafood in Maine on the Dazzling Star Meter:

Training for a Half Marathon....sort of

Temperatures have finally cooled down outside, encouraging me to start exercising outdoors again. While my job offers a free gym membership onsite, I have failed to take full advantage of all of its features. Instead, I joined a free weekly running club. Who wouldn't want to be rewarded for exercising?

Each Tuesday, my husband, some friends, and I run one lap (3 miles) around the park. We log it into the system, and after 10 weekly runs, we receive a free workout shirt. In addition, the sponsor offers a free meal and drinks afterwards (while supplies last). While I haven't taken advantage of the free food, I just hit 10 runs this past Tuesday meaning I have run at least 3 miles every week for the last 10 weeks! It felt great and I can't wait to reach 20 runs, when I receive half off a much needed massage. 

My husband is an avid runner and will actually be running his 7th marathon this weekend in Chicago. While I was never as motivated to run such long distances, I was finally convinced to run a half marathon...actually, it's a 2 person relay. My sister and I will be splitting the half marathon distance in November, with the first person running 8 miles, while the second runs 5. The trick is to figure out who will run first. 

In the meantime, I have been running on a semi-daily basis. Worried that I may hurt myself, I researched information on proper workouts and came across this article in Runner's World. According to the author, 3 red flags or more may indicate a need to take a break. Looking at my own routine, my soreness and pain is still evident but has drastically been reduced since I started stretching before and after every run. My energy level is frequently down when I start running, but I figure it is because I'm not really in the mood. I also haven't been sleeping well- while I still feel rested, I do wake up in the middle of the night. While I don't think I fit every red flag, I do feel it is time for a break. Stay tuned as I work myself up to 8 miles.....

Miami

Friday marked the first day of fall, but in my hometown, it still feels like summer. Temperatures reached a 100 degrees over the weekend causing my air conditioning to work overtime.

Reflecting on my summer, I am sad to see it end. Recently, I was able to enjoy time with close friends when I took a girls weekend to Florida. While I love being married, I miss girl time and would love to do this every year! Visiting West Palm Beach was the relaxing trip I needed. The view of the ocean was beautiful and the smell of saltwater filled the air. We also had a chance to make a quick trip to Miami to check out Versace's old mansion and take in the view, food, and fun! While we may have overindulged on food and drinks, we definitely had a good time. Moderation is always the key! Goodbye summer....it was fun while it lasted, but I look forward to cooler temperatures and falling leaves!

Miami Beach

Our Resort with a view of the beach!

West Palm Beach

The Fountain at Versace's House

Insider's View of the Versace Mansion

One of the rooms on the second floor is Madonna's!

Restaurants Galore!

This summer has been brutal. With a drought and unbearable heat, finding activities to do has been difficult. To deal with temperatures, I find that I have been eating out a lot- just to get myself out of my air-conditioned home to another air-conditioned place. Luckily, the month of August is Restaurant Week in Houston. Various restaurants around town participate in this city-wide event that includes a 3 course prix-frix meal with a portion of the proceeds ($5 from each meal served) benefitting the Houston Food Bank.

As a former Food Bank instructor, I think this is a great cause to help the hunger crisis in Houston. According to the website, by dining only once at a participating restaurant during this event supports 15 meals for a child or adult in the Houston area. What a great cause, and a great way to experience new foods!

My husband and I have enthusiastically participated this year, dining at various restaurants. While all of our choices may not be healthy, it has helped me taste new foods at fantastic restaurants. If you ever are in the Houston area, visit a couple of our new favorites:

1. Strip House. Contrary to its name, this restaurant offers great ambiance, service, and of course, food. The benefit of high-end steak houses is that cows are grass fed- a new important component to my family's diet. While I am unable to taste the difference between organic and non-organic, I am worried about the health risks that corn-fed cows may cause. After a recent conference, I was enlightened by the fact that corn-fed cows no longer solely count as a source of protein, but also as a source of carbohydrate. Therefore, I need to balance my carbohydrate at meal time when consuming corn fed meats. On the other hand, grass fed meat provides a source of vitamins and minerals and reduces the possibility of food poisoning. 

2. Mockingbird Bistro
This restaurant is  known more for being a wine bar, but the food was excellent. Seafood was the food of choice for myself as I chose huge scallops as my main course. While scallops are high in cholesterol, they are low in fat and calories, thus allowing a good alternative to the extensive amount of steak we have consumed. The other bonus to this place is that they claim to use the freshest ingredients- therefore the menu changes frequently to allow customers to eat ingredients that are in season. Choosing and consuming ingredients in season is a good rule of thumb to follow at home. Typically, I choose vegetables and fruit that are in season to save myself money while still being able to enjoy the flavor.

If you visit any restaurants, please let me know. I am always up for trying something new!

Tuna....the fruit?

During a recent visit to my parents' house, I noticed something reddish and semi prickly sitting on the counter. When I inquired, I was told that it was tuna. I was confused. Isn't tuna a fish? I didn't see fish, rather something resembling a cactus:

3 Tuna Fruits

I decided to explore further. After some research, I did find that tuna is indeed a type of fruit, stemming from opuntia, also known as nopales, a part of the cactus family. As a dietitian, I have heard of dishes that include nopales, but typically the actual cactus, not the fruit of the cactus. This prickly pear (as it is otherwise known), can be eaten, but the outer part of the skin needs to be carefully removed. Without proper removal, the pointy spines of a cactus could actually irritate my throat. I wanted to try the fruit, but waited until an "expert" (my mom) ate one.

First, she told me to take off the outer layer of the tuna revealing (in this case) red flesh:

Removing first layer of fruit

Once the outer purplish-greenish layer was taken off, then the inner red layer was also removed (had a spongy texture) but I believe some people eat this layer:

Tuna fruit with all layers removed

Finally, we reached the actual fruit. We cut it in half revealing tiny seeds (that can be eaten). The fruit was slightly sweet and juicy.

Tuna, cut in half 

While not my favorite fruit, it was definitely worth the adventure!

Dazzling Starfruit Meter:

Wine Tasting

This past weekend, my husband and I decided to visit a winery for his birthday.  After a day's worth of research, I was surprised to find that we had many wineries in Texas, and disappointed that there was no need to travel to Napa Valley. At first, we were planning on making a weekend out of it- staying at a bed and breakfast and visiting the nearby winery. Who knew that it was high season, and the bed and breakfast was booked? Instead, we traveled an hour and a half to Bryan, Texas to visit the Messina Hof winery.

As a University of Texas grad (go Horns!), it felt weird to make a special trip to Bryan, Texas, but the winery was definitely worth it! While it was very hot outside, the winery was beautiful and extremely peaceful. Check out our photos of the vines below. The tiny grapes managed to have many seeds, but had an incredibly sweet taste. We sampled one, but couldn't help but grab a few more! After a brief walking tour of the winery, we ended back into the main room, where we sampled some wine!

Sweet grapes!

More sampling!

Who knew Texas was so pretty?

Barrels of Wine

I'm not a huge wine lover, so I expected to give all of my samples to my husband. To my surprise, I ended up drinking most of the wine because I finally learned how to appreciate it.

According to our tour guide, following these steps will make drinking wine that much better!
1. Swirl the wine in your glass. This helps "mix" the wine since it has been standing upright in the bottle.
2. Smell the wine. After swirling the wine, the flavor usually intensifies and the smell is wonderful! I smelled the wine before and after swirling and noticed a difference (although I could have been imagining things).
3. Finally take your first sip. Our guide told us the first sip is always different than the rest. Before swallowing, swish the wine around in your mouth- this helps bring out the flavor and makes the wine smoother. This method worked for me: I had initially taken the first sip, prior to following any of our guide's tips. The wine was extremely dry. After following his advice, the wine was super smooth. Each sip after was better than the last!

Our guide also provided various tips for drinking reds versus whites, but I found these three steps the most satisfying to my own palate. I couldn't wait to bring a bottle home and try in the comfort of my home. Try for yourself- grab your favorite bottle of wine and let me know how it tastes!