Actually April - Gopicnic, Gopicnic, Go!

I am lucky enough to have a dad who loves me and feels bad when he takes the whole rest of my family to Disneyland two weeks before I would be getting home from college.  So he took me to Atlanta with him.  Whatsup.
On the plane, I started reading a book called "The End of Overeating."  It actually is good!  The perspective it gives is new and refreshing and appreciated.  The doctor guy who wrote the book talks a lot about how the food industry has realized how to get the public to overeat, and they play into it.  The secret is to combine high fat, high salt, and high sugar.  I'm not doing a very good job of explaining it - you should just read it.  For real, good stuff.
On the layover in Vegas, I was feeling kind of sick to my stomach.  But I needed to eat something.  So I looked around - found lot of candy and lots of Burger King.  I bought an orange, which totes wasn't enough.  then I happened upon a miracle - a thing called Gopicnic.  This little pack of all natural foods - multi-seed crackers, and tuna, and fruit and nut mix, and applesauce, and a square of dark chocolate.  I don't remember the last time a meal had made me so happy.  It settled my tum-tum, it cost less than the stupid veggie tray, AND it had a collapsible spork.  I mean, a collapsible spork?!  What a dream!  Needless to say, good food has saved the day (my mood) once again.
So ending up needing to eat in Atlanta....  Oh my heck.  They aren't kidding about the South being super fatty food.  Everything is butter and gravy and oil.  It's darling, but kinda freaky.  So I totally saw exactly what this book is talking about.  Lots of fat on fat on sugar on fat on salt.  Other than that, Atlanta is so incredible.  Lots of black people, lots of soul music, and lots of a special kind of classy energy.  I am going to love my stay.  Minus the biscuits and gravy I think.

Actually April - Stop speaking in Spanish, please. No one knows what you're saying.

Another great thing about being home: This and a few emails are the only things I've have typed in a week.
So today was great.  I introduced pepitas to my mother.  She couldn't stop asking what they were.  She started dissecting the meaning of the word pepita, asking my Spanish speaking brother to translate, eating each one very slowly and almost suspiciously.  I guess I should know more about these thing.  I just know they are good!  And they may be Spanish.  I will let you know if my mother's curiosity leads us to an answer.
For lunch today, we did a barbeque chicken salad.  Romaine lettuce, blacks beans, chicken, peppers, tomatoes, onion, with homemade ranch and bbq sauce for dressing.  Notice, very similar ingredients from the salad last night.  But very different tastes.  I think some tortilla chips and some cucumber would have been nice touches.
For dessert, I had what I like to call "Fruit Cereal."  I cut up bananas and strawberries (or whatever fruit you have on hand) and pour half and half on it.  And eat it like cereal.  I can't get over how clever I am.  

Actually April - Ooh baby do you know what that's worth - ooh Sparks is heaven on Earth

Finals.  I don't want to talk about it.  Let's move on.
I am officially home in my dear, sweet Sparks, Nevada!  Holler at my hometown!  That is Reno area for anyone thinking I have no neighbors.  It is the greatest place, and I am happy to be home.  Though I will really miss BYU.  There are a lot of great reasons to be home.  A few include (besides the givens of family and friends):
1.  You can do your laundry throughout the day.  You don't have to set timers, you don't have to use quarters, and you aren't nearly as concerned about the clothes that were in the washing machine before yours.
2.   TV!  I completely forgot about TV.
3.  Probably the most important thing - I have time.  Time to relearn the piano, time to sew, time to play with niece and nephew, and the most pertinent thing to all of you, time to cook!  Time and resources and people to cook for!  I am the cutest little housewife you've ever seen.
I have spent the last two days throwing away old food, and food that really had no place being in my house.  I made a deal with my mom that if I made dinner every night, I could throw most anything away (the huge exception being cold cereal).  So I have been.  And today I did a lot of cooking.

Breakfast (made by my sweet mother): Scrambled eggs with red pepper, mushroom, spinach, ham, and cheese.
Lunch: I broiled chicken breast tenderloins with garlic, salt, and onion over it.  Kept it in there about eight minutes, then flipped them over and did another eight.  Then I put havarti cheese on it last second, let it melt for like slightly less than a minute.  Took it out, put some homemade guac on it, ate it.  So good.  So simply and deliciously good.  Stick some grapes on the side, and you have yourself a first-class meal.
Dinner: Taco mango salad.  So, let me try to turn this into a recipe.  Serves 6?

Salad:
Six chicken breast tenderloins
1 can black beans
2 ears of corn
1 large mango
1 avocado
2 tomatoes
1/2 an onion
1 red bell pepper
romaine lettuce
ten corn tortillas, each cut into six piece wedges
cumin, garlic, chili powder
---Spread the cut tortillas on a cookie sheet (probably two). Spray with Pam, and cover in salt.  Bake at 375 for about eight minutes, then flip and cook for another eightish.  Just til crispy.
---Broil chicken for about ten minutes on each side.  Cut into small pieces, then add generous amounts cumin, garlic, and chili powder and toss.
---Boil some water.  Cut the corn of the cob, and throw in the boiling water.  Boil for about five minutes, then drain.
---Cut all the veggies, and throw them together for the salad.  Add in chicken.  Drain the beans, and add those.
---Add dressing (see below), start a scooping with some chips and enjoy!

Dressing:
1 cup plain yogurt
1 - 2 jalapenos, finely chopped
slightly more than half a bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1 - 2 limes, juiced
salt to taste
----Combine.

Dessert: Fruit Smoothie
Fresh mango, banana, pineapple, and frozen strawberries.  Plain yogurt, little bit of cream, little bit of milk.
I probably would've omitted the cream and the milk if we had almond milk, and I would've used plain greek yogurt instead of plain regular.  Still though, it was bomb.
TIP: If you want to be able to taste the yogurt in something, use regular plain yogurt.  If you don't, use greek.

Oh man, this is going to be great.  Cook and blog, Blog and cook.  So far Sparks is handling Actually April extremely well.

Actually April - Fanatic Fans and Fast Food.

It's been six days.  Yea.  this is my fifth post for the month and we are half-way through it.  I know.  I got a couple of people on campus today who were like, "Hey!  You haven't updated your blog!  Are you still doing it?"  Official announcement: Actually April is in full-swing still.  I was actually really happy that people cared enough to notice I haven't updated it.  Way to be supportive, friends.  All two followers of mine :)  Holler!
Finals started today.  Does that explain a few things?  So I have been still eating natural, but it has mostly been great harvest bread and Adam's.  What would I do without this Adam character?  Not be as actually is my guess.  So really, I haven't been making extraordinary concoctions.  But at least we know it is possible to be actually at the most time-crunching, tired, lazy times in your life!
I did make this pasta salad with wheat noodles, salmon, broccoli, onion, garlic, lemon juice, and dill.  It was good!  And I am discovering all the places in Provo that are actually approved.  So far we have:

• In-N-Out (if you don't get spread and don't get a bun - that's protein style, no spread).  And fries are, drumroll please, SAFE!!  Potatoes are cut on location and fried in natural oil.  So if you are scared of fats, still dangerous.  But there is nothing artificial about those fats, baby!
• Guru's:  Delicious hippie place on Center.  Everything is made on location.  I would recommend the curry soup.  It's called something fancy, but it's so good.  
• Benihana's in SLC.  Expensive, but it was a date.  And it was divine.  Not only do they make things healthy upon request, you can ask him to do whatever you want because he cooks it at your table!  So good.  Sooooo good.
• Mountain West Burrito: On State Street, small, and hidden by a gas station.  Love those kinds of places.  So everything is completely organic, including the meat.  Beef was grass-fed!  Burritos about 7 dollars.  And for real, delicious.  Wheat tortillas, optional.  I went for it, and felt I made the right choice.  

So there's the list thus far for you.  Live it, love it.  Good luck with finals.  Or whatever is taking up YOUR blog-writing time.

Actually April - How Sacrilegious Can You Be? (Lettuce Wraps Easter Dinner Edition)

I forgot Easter was in April.  But I feel like that's a pretty easy thing to do seeing as Easter is totally unpredictable.  Two of my roommates and I were talking, and we realized collectively that we never know when Easter is.  It gets to fall anytime between March and May, and there's no rhyme or reason to it.  So we came to the collective conclusion that there must be an Easter Picker and he sits in a room with a bunny and a giant calendar of the three spring months and wherever the bunny puts up camp is when the holiday is.  OR he showers once a year on Easter and so depending on how dirty he got the previous year is how he decides.  Anyway, all I'm saying is, it's weird.  And I'm realizing now that there is probably religious significance for when the date is chosen.  Please, no one be offended.  But feel free to correct this poor mislead young woman.
The whole point of that was this: It is a good thing I forgot about Easter, because I probably would have included an Easter clause saying I got the day off.  But I did not think that far ahead, so I ate completely actually today.  Dinner was divine.  I made lettuce wraps.  And I will just announce now, I don't really do recipes because I just throw things in.  So I try, but they are not what we usually think of as recipes.  Here goes:

Lettuce wraps

1. Marinate small chunks of tofu in soy sauce, lime juice, cumin, sesame oil, and honey for 30 minutes.  Or if you would like to use chicken (I did both), broil the chicken til mostly done, then cut into chunks.
2.  Cook tofu or chicken in a fry pan with sesame oil with cut red pepper and minced garlic, and onion (optional).
3.  Add sauce (I used this fancy Pad Thai sauce from Thailand - it pays to have cultural roommates) and chopped cashews.
4.  Wrap in lettuce (I used romaine and iceberg) and enjoy!  Preferably out in the grass with bare feet and no utensils.  That added a really nice touch if you ask me.

I also made Tofu "Scallops" and Coconut Curry Rice Noodles on Friday.  Here is the link for the recipe I kind of used: http://www.myrecessionkitchen.com/Site/My_Kitchen/Entries/2010/4/19_Coconut_Curry_with_Tofu_%E2%80%9CScallops%E2%80%9D.html
But I used red curry paste instead of red chili and ginger and curry powder.  And I cooked rice noodles in the curry instead of using rice.  And I never measure.  Anyway, it was pretty good.  I would probably recommend a different marinade for the tofu though.

Another favorite recently discovered foods:
 - Greek yogurt with honey, oats, and berries mixed in.
 - Hard BAKED eggs (Bake whole eggs in a cupcake tin at 325 for half an hour).  They turn out perfect!
 - Almond milk, frozen mango pineapple strawberry blend, and a banana blended.
 - Whole limes.  Call me crazy.  That's fine.  Shout out to Ben Erickson for that one.
 - Almond milk ice cream?  Thank heavens, because I was needing something chocolatey.

P.S. It was such a great Easter.  What a beautiful opportunity it is to remember what really matters.  More than Actually April and a lot more than going candy-less.

Actually April - Pepitas, Yoga, and such as.

Yesterday's food list

Breakfast:
Egg white scramble (anytime I say egg white I mean three egg whites and one whole egg) with onion, green bell pepper, and garlic
Adam's Peanut Butter and milk (You're going to be seeing that a lot)

Lunch:
Pepitas (delicious seed things) - had a lot of them
A few clementines
Celery

Dinner:
Spaghetti Squash with tomato sauce, lots of seasonings, a little bit of beef, and mozzarella cheese
Spring Mix salad with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and pepper

After Dinner:
Golean and almond milk

So I'm realizing this looks like it's some fancy hard thing to follow.  It's not. I just buy things at the store that I love and grab some combination of them on the way out the door.

P.S.  I am feeling incredible.  And I did yoga this morning while I was waiting for my laundry.  I forgot how great it makes me feel since I've been spending my time and energy on learning how to not hate running for the past three months.  I don't hate running anymore, and I still can do a chadarunga(?).  My body is totally high-fiving me right now.

Actually April - I is kind, I is smart, I is refusing cheesecake like a boss

Pretend like this is the second of April, and that the first one was April 1st.  Please and thank you.  So today, (April 2nd for those of you who have forgotten already) the second day, I was offered all kinds of terrible things that I said no to.  But the most memorable of all was free cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.  OH my heck.  I was offered raspberry chocolate swirl cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory multiple times.  And I kept saying no.  I ended up having to run out of that kitchen, but not one morsel of it crossed my lips.  I was extremely proud, as you can imagine.  But something even better than pride then crossed my emotion feelers: Fearlessness.  It hit me in that moment: I can actually do this!  No temptation will be greater than that large circle of divinity that taunted me on the stove not an arm's length away, and I resisted it!  So here I am, in a friend's apartment, realizing I can do anything I decide to work towards.  I couldn't be happier that happened so early on, because it took all of the fear and stress and panic out of it.  How positive hard things are for this reason.  I realized I could do it, so I actually am.    It made me realize how many things I have not been able to do in the past only because I have thought that I couldn't.  So no more of that for me.  I will be fearless in working, and grateful in trial.
Here are the take-home lessons:
1.  For anyone who is trying to reach a goal, or is too nervous to even consider thinking a goal is possible, just try it.  Decide.  Imagine the thing that could get you off-track, and imagine yourself withstanding.  I'm telling you, it works.
2.  When you come across  trial in your life, just think about tough you are.  That hard thing is positive for many reasons, one of which is just so you can know how much you are capable of.  You never know what you can do until you are tested.
3.  Cheesecake is great.  But feeling good about myself is greater.  

Actually April

It is April.  And I have had a wonderful, crazy semester.  On March 31st, however, I did not have a good night. I felt yucky and wanted desperately to not feel yucky anymore.  So what did I do?  I decided to have a month dedicated to real food.  That means nothing processed or artificial.  If I look at the ingredients, and I see anything that I don't know what it is, it isn't going into my body.  I do have a few exceptions: cheese, almond milk, and golean cereal.  All of these items have very low amounts of artificial ingredients, and they are good for my body, and I would be super upset to part with them.  Is that fair?  I think it's fair.  So I will document my progress: what I eat, what I reject (if it was super hard), how I am feeling, what's changing, etc.  And this is a perfect month because I get to experience part of it in school, and prove to myself and everyone that eating real food is possible as a student, and I get to try to include it when I go home to my family on the 20th.  Luckily sushi has all-natural options or else I would be putting that on my exception list too.  Hey, at least I am being real.  That's all you can ask of me.  And I have to give things cute names always, so this month is being called Actually April.  I whisper that to myself all day.  Actually April.  I am actually doing it (April).