StephanieQuilao

Challenges: The Year in Food 2012 on Instagram

I love doing challenges!

I have never tried to do anything for a year long before, so I decided that since I really love taking food shots on my iPhone I am going to take at least one photo everyday this year and post it on Instagram. I'm tagging each photo with each day number (#day7) and the hashtag #yif12.

If you're on Instagram, you can follow me at: stephaniequilao.

If you're not on Instagram, here are options for you to follow along:

• on my @skinnyjeans photo gallery
• on Followgram at stephaniequilao
• subscribe to my personal Facebook page.

It's going to be a foodtastic year!

My 10 Predictions For 2012 Related to Food, Fitness, Health, Publishing and Mobile

Normally, I just enjoy reading the trends and predictions lists that come out for the new year. For 2012, I decided to share what I think will be big this year related to Food, Fitness, Health, Publishing and Mobile, the topics I am most passionate about. Here we go in random order:

Food: Quinoa will go even more mainstream. You will see this grain as an ingredient in more pre-packaged foods, frozen foods, snacks, and in bulk outside of natural food stores like Whole Foods and Sprouts. Quinoa will be offered in more school lunches and a nation-wide restaurant chain will offer it as a side dish.

Food: Move over cupcakes, paletas, frozen ice pops made with fresh fruits and creams or water will be the popular sweet treat as people become more health-conscious and want a sweet but healthier treat. Paletas have more of a diversity in flavor and texture than your traditional fruit popsicle.

Publishing: The rise of the 3rd publisher between self-publishing and traditional book-publishing: micro-book publishing. Think books around +/- 30,000 words, selected authors, price points under $4.99 and all digital (no print.) The Atavist, Byliner, and Kindle Singles are current business models.

Food publishing: As more people buy iPads and smartphones, sales of traditional printed cookbooks will diminsh mainly because consumers will not want to pay the higher prices. Digital is cheaper and access is faster, easier, and more interactive. More food magazines and (smart) book publishers will focus on digital books, web and apps versus print.

Fitness: Mobile fitness rises. More people will be using their smartphones and iPads for personalized workouts that will allow them to customize exercise programs and give them the flexibility to exercise anytime, anywhere.

Media: The most influential media mogul of 2012 will be 15 year-old Tavi Gevinson. I'm telling you this girl may be young in her years but she is wise beyond her age. 

Apps: Mobile apps that allow people to curate and connect around specific topics will become most popular. Think Pinterest. 

Health: Food allergy testing will be on the rise. Food allergies will get more press and will be a bigger concern for consumers as more Americans are being diagnosed with multiple food allergies. Currently, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, around 15 million Americans including 6 million children have food allergies. 

Family cooking and eating: Mom is vegetarian. Dad is meat and potatoes. Kid is Celiac. Cooking and eating out for families with mixed-eating styles is becoming a bigger challenge. Recipes, restaurants, apps, books or magazines that offer easy and fast solutions will highly benefit.

Food regulation: The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act will pass. Other U.S. states will get more aggressive in passing similar required GMO food labeling.

Bonus prediction: The world will not end when the Mayan calendar ends in 2012. Humans will still be on the planet in 2013.

Those are some of my predictions and trend forecasts for 2012. What do you foretell for the new year? 

Photo: ruse laris via Flickr

Chipotle Serves Brown Rice And It's Yummy Healthiness Goodness

 
Oh yes, Chipotle has brown rice and it's really good. Here is my usual steak burrito bowl order except with brown rice instead of white. Chipotle looks to be using the same type of rice used in the Cilantro-Lime Rice except it's the brown version instead of white.

My friend @ElizabethHannan ate a chicken burrito with the brown rice. See yum!

The brown rice is not listed on Chipotle's website yet, and they haven't made an official announcement as to nationwide availability, but the company did announce in July that they were going to roll out the brown rice in an effort to expand their healthful offerings.

Check your local Chipotle to see if they have the brown rice. If not, ask when it's coming because this is some good stuff :) Over at Livestrong, here are nutritional benefits of brown rice.

 

Holey No Cow! Who Knew A Dairy-Free Greek-Style Yogurt Could Be So Delicious

Before I delve into more details, behold my latest breakfast creation - a blueberry granola parfait with fresh blueberries, blueberry Greek-Style Yogurt, and chunky granola with flaxseed oil, dried cranberries, almonds, and raisins. The whole parfait is vegan! Yes, the Greek-Style Yogurt is from So Delicious and made with coconut milk.

*jumping for joy*

This Greek-Style Yogurt is chalk full of wow especially for those like me who have a dairy allergy and cannot enjoy regular thick Greek yogurts made with cow milk. I love how things are changing. To indulge more, here's a top mixed view of the blueberry parfait. See creamy!

Was it good? Let's just say I licked the glass clean.

My love affair with So Delicious is no secret. For someone with dairy allergies and avoids soy as much as possible, So Delicious allows me to still have a creamy life. I was one of the lucky bloggers who got a sneak preview of the new So Delicious Greek-Style Yogurts which will be in stores this Fall.

Let's eat some more shall we? With the Vanilla Greek-Style Yogurt, I got a little creative and made a mango pudding topped with fresh mango, coconut shreds, and pistachio chunks for protein.

Whole Foods had a sale on organic mangoes for $1 each, so I chopped one up, put it in my 3-cup food processor, and pureed the mango. I took some of the puree and mixed it in with the Vanilla Greek-Style Yogurt, and voila, pudding in one minute.

The Greek-Style Yogurt is about as thick as a pudding, and that's exciting to me because you can use the Vanilla flavor as a pudding base and make whatever flavor you want.

And because two flavors aren't enough, let's eat some Raspberry Greek-Style Yogurt. In this creation, which can be fun for the kiddos, I mashed up some Barbara's Double Chocolate Snackimals cookies and put it in the bottom of a juice glass to simulate a graham cracker crust, and then put a layer of yogurt and more cookie topping.

My first bite of the Raspberry Greek-Style Yogurt reminded me of raspberry cheesecake. That's where I got the idea to make something cheesecake-like. I got the Barbara's Snackimals because Whole Foods sold them in small 2oz snack bags. I didn't want to buy a whole box of graham crackers because you know who would be eating those crackers all day. And plus, hello, double chocolate cookie crust!

Here's a top mixed view of my raspberry "cheesecake." And yet again, a glass licking experience.

What I found interesting is that these Greek-Style Yogurts have less fat and sugars than the regular So Delicious coconut milk yogurts. When we compare just the Vanilla flavors, both have equal calorie count at 140 calories per container, but the regular yogurt has 6g of Fat, 2g of Fiber, and 19g of sugar. The Greek Yogurt has 4.5g of Fat, 10g of Fiber (more), and 12g of sugar. Surprisingly, the Greek-Style Yogurt had way more sodium at 115mg versus just 5mg for the regular.

Besides the blueberry, vanilla, and raspberry flavors, the So Delicious Greek-Style Yogurts will come in Chocolate, Plain, and Strawberry flavors. The Greek-Style Yogurts are also made with organic coconuts, are certified gluten-free, soy-free, Parve, certified Vegan, and Non-GMO Project Verified. This stuff is all kinds of win my friends. You see why I continue to be madly in love with So Delicious.

When these Greek-Style Yogurts hit your local store shelves, it's a must try! Get creative, and use these thick yogurts in place of other traditional cow milk products. In fact, I could see using the Vanilla or Plain Greek Yogurts as sour cream replacements like in dips. I'm excited about the possibilities, and grateful that someone is showing great examples that a dairy-free life doesn't have to be "without" but "with."

 

PS. all the photos were taken with my iPhone4. I'm so blown away by the camera on that thing!

Ninja Leprechauns Green Tropical Protein Smoothie

Forget Ninja Turtles, I'm talking Ninja Leprechauns for Saint Patrick's Day. That's how we roll here!

Not only is this smoothie uniquely kickass, isn't it a pretty darn beautiful drink for something green? There are chunks of kale in my smoothie because my blender is like from the 90's and the blades are not as sharp. No biggie. I just imagined it's like drinking OJ with pulp.

As you can see, I'm in a pretty good mood. Last night, I practiced pitching a new thing I'm launching soon, and I felt pretty superhero-ish, so thus my creative take on a green smoothie.

Ninja Leprechaun juice sounds way more interesting than plain Green Protein Smoothie.

Let's take a look at the potent ingredients in this magical elixir I concocted which btw is vegan and gluten-free:

• Kale
• Spinach
• Kiwi
• Banana
• So Delicious Passionate Mango Yogurt
• Coconut water
• Nature's Way Alive Pea Protein
• Garden of Life Perfect Food RAW
• Pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds)

Oh yeah! This smoothie might even be nutrient overload with all kinds of vitamins, minerals antioxidants, enzymes, amino acids, essential fatty acids, phytonutrients, prebiotics, and probiotics.

I added the fruits not only to add some fun with a tropical theme, but the Garden of Life Perfect Food RAW powder although awesome in nutrient-density tastes icky just mixed in water. It feels like drinking green slime from rocks on the riverbed - mighty nasty. The fruits help make everything taste better, and kiwi also happens to be one of my favorite fruits.

This smoothie is packing a load full, but sometimes, I'd rather drink something healthy dense than eat a whole bunch of food. Just saying. Not always, but in the morning, this smoothie is a good start to the day versus eating some McMuffin thingy or a bagel surprise.

And on St. Patrick's day, I will be drinking the green beer later on, so why not start off the day with something that helps power the Ninja Leprechauns :-D

Best Deal of The Day: A Box of Organic Multigrain Hot Cereal For $1

I just had to share this because it's proof that yes it is possible to get some ridiculously cheap deals on organic food...even at places like Whole Paycheck Foods.

Yesterday, I'm @wfmscottsdale and on sale they have Three Sisters multigrain hot cereal on sale for $1 per box (which is 5 packets) for the Cinnamon Plum Spiced and Chai Spice flavors. My eyes bugged out when I saw $1! ...that's Walmart pricing.

I got the Cinnamon Plum Spiced which contains oats, flaxseed, barley, quinoa, and rye. For sweetener they use evaporated cane juice...oh did I mention it was organic. Okay, covered!

Healthy Lunch Idea: Grilled Manchego Cheese Sandwich With Tomato Soup and Arugula Salad

I'm all for simple lunches, and a classic favorite is grilled cheese with tomato soup. Here's a way to health-up this classic combo.

I am very grateful that although I have cow milk allergies, anything sheep milk made is okay like Manchego cheese. I love the nutty flavor of this cheese.

Aged Manchego is normally a hard cheese and therefore not the best for a grilled cheese sandwich. However, if you get young Manchego like 3 months-old, then the cheese is much softer and melts just fine. Yay!

For the "butter", I use Earth Balance Soy-Free buttery spread and really this Earth Balance stuff tastes and gives you the same effect as regular butter. I prefer the Soy-Free version of the EB over their other spreads because the soy versions have an odd after taste to me.

I like to put some greens in my grilled cheese because it helps bulk up the sandwich, so that's why you can't see much of the cheese in the picture. I also go light on the cheese as a way to help cut down the fat and calories yet still get cheesy goodness.

Whole Foods has an awesome organic canned tomato soup under their 365 brand which is $1.99. One 14.5oz can lasts me two days, so I think this is an incredible deal.

In my local Whole Foods salad bar, they use this vegan brand of dressings so for the first time I tried the Ranch which is not normally one of my faves, but what the heck, it's something new. I loved the Chipotle flavored Ranch. I'll have to get back to you though on the brand name of the dressing because you can by it by the bottle.

What are ways you have made the classic grilled cheese and tomato soup combo healthier?

Healthy Eating Is Not Perfect Eating. Practicing An 80/20 Philosophy To Stay In My Skinny Jeans

I was out at happy hour with some new friends a couple months ago, and I ordered french fries with bacon and a big IPA beer from tap. When my food arrived, I was completely focused on gleefully dipping that first crunchy potato stick in ketchup and then into my mouth.

Oh how I love french fries!

As I continued in my blissful fried noshing, being the energy sensitive that I am, I felt glaring eyeballs digging into me. I looked up and noticed that my three companions were holding their cocktails in silence staring at me with jaws practically dropped. It was like a scene in a sitcom.

"What?! I'm a chick who digs beer and bacon. Doesn't that make me cool?" I joked, as I continued to dip and munch my fries with bacon.

Girl holding raspberry martini says, "Um, aren't you Miss healthy living? Why are you eating fries and worse topped with bacon."

I wasn't quite sure if her tone was judgmental or just confused. No matter, I was in bacon bliss.

The other two nodded in agreement and wonderment as they took sips of their Gin & Tonic, and Chardonnay.

Another asked, "I thought you were vegan. Why are you eating bacon?"

Looking back at the three of them, I took in everything in stride, and remembered that I have never been one to ever follow norms. This is one reason people find my blog and Twitter content interesting.

I explained to them in my most happy self because french fries just make me happy much like chocolate does for many others,

"Yes, I am Miss healthy living and I help inspire people to live healthier lives. However, healthy eating doesn't mean perfect eating. I'm not vegan, but I eat lots of vegan foods because I have a dairy and egg allergy, and vegan recipes are far more creative with the vegetables. I am so done with baby carrots and steamed spinach."

Honestly, one of my pet peeves about diet and wellness books, magazines, and sites is that they sell this notion that to eat healthy means a menu of only things like apples, brown rice, boiled spinach, and steamed chicken. And oh boy, once in a blue moon you get to eat a "free" food like pie or chocolate chip cookies like you've won a prize at the carnival for being "good" with your eating all week.

Living in America surrounded with all this decadence in the land of the food courts, Costco, and drive-thrus not to mention my mom's Filipino cooking, I do not think it is either realistic or doable to eat perfectly healthy all the time without feeling you're living on some program where food is constantly judged to be good or bad.

This mentality is why diets have failed for me every single time...it's about control and deprivation versus the enjoyment of food and how food brings vitality to your life. My psyche goes nutzoid the second I say something is forbidden and I end up wanting those "bad" foods more than ever.

So, I found that what works for me is this 80/20 rule-of-thumb where 80% of the time, I eat vibrant tasty dishes like kale and avocado salad with lemon juice, seared salmon with fresh tarragon, dairy-free rotiserrie chicken salad with mandarin oranges and walnuts, and Quinoa chicken "fried rice."

Then 20% of the time, I eat whatever the hell I want...without any judgements or feelings of guilt. Operating this 80/20 way has helped me keep off 35lbs for the last three years now. I get to stay in my skinny jeans and enjoy food! Most importantly, I no longer live with that anxiety of, "Oh shit! I effed up with my eating because I ate a glazed donut or a fried chimichanga."

Life is too short to not enjoy food, and I've spent way too many years being afraid of food and letting it control my life. Besides, there is a big difference between eating french fries every day and a couple times a month.

So today, as I sit here with you lovely people and eat my french fries with bacon and a frothy IPA, you are witnessing one of my 20% moments...and life is good!"

I also added,

"This morning, I ran 5 miles. So one of my compromises when I know I'm going to have a 20% type meal, I do an extra hard workout that day. It's a trade-off that is easy for me to do."

All three of my new friends nodded their heads as they thought about what I said, and chimed in with their own philosophies in how they maintain give and take with food in their lives.

We continued on with happy hour talking about dating and why reality TV is a sign of the end of times. I thoroughly languished in my fries with bacon.

Healthy Lunch Idea: Salmon Burger With Sauteed Onions

I saw these salmon patties bathed in sauteed onions at Whole Foods and of course had to get one because hello it's fish in burger format! What a fun way to get a good dose of Omega oils.

Plus, I like the option to use whatever bread I want, or no bread at all which is what I opted. I ate my salmon patty with kale.

Healthy Snack Idea: Warm Shelled Edamame With Sea Salt

Shelled edamame is one of my favorite afternoon snacks as it is also a nice source of protein. I like edamame best when it is warm and sprinkled with sea salt. The nice thing is that many stores sell frozen edamame which is cheap and lasts longer.

I soak my edamame in warm water for about 2 minutes and then heat it in the microwave on High for about 20 seconds. Longer than that and the edamame starts to fry.

A 1/2 cup of edamame is about 120 calories, 4g of fat, 0mg cholesterol, 4g of fiber, and 13g of protein.

Nosh healthy!