Sunday Recipes: Sweetheart Cookies

Since every store is kindly reminding us that it's Valentine's Day (seriously CVS almost blinded me with the red and the pink), I decided to embrace the Hallmark holiday and send a little love to my dear ones.

Cookies made using Sally's Baking Addiction's Funfetti Cookies recipe. Instead of regular sprinkles, I used the hearts-and-kisses ones from Target. When the cookies are out of the oven, allow them to cool for two minutes. After the two minutes, gently press a candy heart into the center of each cookie and let them cool completely.

A glass of milk pairs perfectly with the sweet and chewy texture of these little valentine's treats. Now excuse me while I go mail this little bag of love to my best friend.

Milestones

What better time than your birthday to ramble on about what life lessons you learned so far. As I enter my late twenties officially, here's 20 things I learned about life of a twenty-something-old living in San Francisco:

1) Finding a career that you love is rare, so cherish it if you have it. I love my work. That doesn't mean work becomes play; it just means work becomes meaningful.

2) Most of your friends are still figuring out what they want to do in life and that's OK. Be supportive and listen to them when they want to talk about their shitty days or when they tell you they want to quit and become a princess at Disneyland.

3) Go to lunch and happy hours with your co-workers. You are going to spend more than half your waking hours with these people, so why not get to know them and become friends.

4) It's OK to be ambitious even if you are a girl. Planning for a career and getting excited about your job is great! There is no rule that says being a leader in industry and being a woman are mutually exclusive. Get past the labels and do what you love.

5) Trust the people who have earned it. Figure out who your true friends and make them your confidants instead of blindly trusting the whole world. This will eliminate a lot of drama and back-stabbing in your life.

6) Age and mellow Friday nights are directly proportional to each other. At 22, Friday rolled around and I would be down to stand in line for an hour in heels at Bootie/DNA. Now when Friday comes, I just want to be on my couch or at a nice dinner with some good friends - both cases wearing comfy shoes.

7) Don't wear UGGs or Crocs. No matter how bad your day is, ugly shoes are not the answer. A pair of TOMS or cute booties from Seychelles will serve you better than stomping around Sutter in sequinned UGGs from college.

8) If you need to get drunk, take your best friend with you. You will need the emotional, physical and mental support when your motor skills and emotional intelligence rival that of a toddler.

9) It's OK to date the wrong people but don't make relationships out of them. If things aren't working out with someone and you already tried your best, let them go for the good of both of you.

10) Don't be afraid to be single. Learn from Taylor Swift; sometimes you need some time alone to figure out what you really want in life.

11) A weekend road-trip with your friends is the best way to unwind. If you are lucky to live in a place like California, grab your best friends and go for a trip to Napa or Big Sur or even L.A. Long car rides where you belt out '90s songs make for some great memories.

12) Travel. Before work and personal schedules need to be worked around families, pack a bag and visit a foreign country with your friends. One of my most cherished memories is wandering around London at 10:30 PM searching for a closed Chanel flagship store.

13) It's OK to dork out over things - be it TV shows, movies, electronics, volunteering, pets, fashion. It shows your personality and passion. The feigned apathy of teenagers is not that cool as an adult. The people I had the hardest time connecting with are the ones who seemed disinterested in everything.

14) Develop a passion or a hobby. Learning past college hits a stalemate unless you actively pursue it. Learn to play tennis or how to code or how to take amazing photographs of food.

15) Learn to cook. Ramen a la Microwave won't be as appetizing as it was in college. Also, Philz and a breakfast burrito everyday gets expensive and unhealthy really fast.

16) Spend time with the people who matter in your life. A dinner with your parents will make you happier than making small talk with strangers at a random party. Figure out who in your life is valuable to you and vice versa and spend some quality time with them. Parents become cool again after the age of 22.

17) Beware of the online world. People's Facebook, Instagram,  and online dating profiles are just a well curated story of what they want to want the world to see. Don't get so caught up in trying to one-up someone else's online life that you miss the important things in your real one.

18) You are never too old for Disney or Harry Potter. You need to hold on to some of the things that fascinated you as a child because those things will make you just as happy as an adult. It's just a good reminder there's still a little bit of magic left in the world.

19) Express yourself. Be it in style, words, or actions - be brave enough to express yourself.

20) This one is from my favorite episode of Doctor Who  - "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice-versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things and make them unimportant."

Cleaned Out: Pressed Juicery Cleanse

So I finally did a juice cleanse. Pressed Juicery had an offer for all-day cleanse for $39 and I decided why not try it out. I did cleanse 2, which was a combination of green juices and root juices. The juices come numbered in order of consumption and there is an all-day (AD) water drink as well as a before bed (BD) water drink. Here's how my day went:

9 AM - Drink 1: Greens 2 (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon)

Loved the taste and it was a very refreshing way to start the morning! I did miss my usual cup of tea but I had a good night's sleep the night before, so I was fine to keep going. 

11:30 AM - Drink 2: Citrus 2 (cucumber, lemon, pineapple, coconut h2o, aloe vera)
This one was definitely sweet and I could taste the pineapple the most. I definitely sipped this one slowly since the sweetness was a little overwhelming. I really liked the taste and I can almost have this for dessert. I didn't feel hungry at all during after my two drinks.

1:00 PM - Drink 3: Greens 3 (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple, lemon, ginger)
This drink served as my lunch and it is one of my favorite drinks that they offer. I had this before the cleanse too and I love the blend of ginger and lemon. The taste was amazing, but I will say that my body started craving solid food by this time. I slowly sipped the juice and avoided all pictures of food because even the name of my favorite restaurant had my mouth watering. It wasn't that I was hungry; it was just that I had a really strong craving for something I could bite into. I did cheat slightly by having a piece of gum to keep my mind focused.

3:00 PM - Drink 4: Roots 3 (apple, lemon, beet, ginger)
This was the point when I wanted to call it quits with the cleanse! This was my least favorite drink since I am not a fan of beets. It was also too much ginger for my taste. I have friends who really enjoy this drink, but it just was not for me. The ginger and the beets together made me a little nauseous. I sipped this for an hour and decided I am not going to finish it. I left a quarter still in the bottle and chugged some water and the chlorophyll water to get the taste out of my mouth. Overall, I was feeling tired and slightly nauseous at this point in the day.

5:30 PM - Drink 5: Citrus 4 (cucumber, lemon, pineapple, coconut h2o, aloe vera)
I was tired by the time this drink rolled around. I was a little hungry, so I was happy to sip this down. It's definitely more tart than the first citrus drink but it was crisp and I loved the smell of it. I felt a little better after finishing this one. I did still feel tired and little feverish though. I was also incredibly cold, so I had a cup of warm water with lemon. Drinking cold juice in the winter meant I was huddled under my blankets a lot during this day.

7:30 PM - Drink 6: Vanilla Almond (filtered water, almond, dates, vanilla bean, sea salt)
I was starving by the time I had this! It didn't help that the rest of my family was sitting down for a nice dinner. I just shut myself in my room and had my sixth drink. This was absolutely delicious! I love the smell and the taste and it is hands-down my favorite drink. It helped to have something substantial at the end since I was really hungry at this point. After the drink, I wasn't hungry but I was exactly full either. It was enough to keep me satisfied and that's about it.

Throughout the day, they recommend you sip with chlorophyll water, which is a combination of water and chlorophyll. It had zero calories but it's meant to keep you hydrated. I drank this and I also was drinking warm water through out the afternoon. Needless to say, I was glad I was working from home since running to the bathroom every hour was the exercise routine with this cleanse.

9:00 PM - Aloe Vera H20
This was a before bedtime drink and by the time 9 PM rolled around, I was ready for bed. Cleansing is exhausting. I drank this and read in bed for an hour or so before drifting off to sleep.

I woke up this morning with 9 hours of sleep under my belt and definitely felt great! Overall impression of the cleanse - effective in getting rid of the bloat and getting a good night's sleep. I think next time, I will stick with the cleanse routine until 3 PM, but after that switch to solid foods. I would trade in drinks 5 and 6 for a healthy protein filled snack and a clean dinner. I did love the Pressed Juices though! They were delicious and I can definitely see myself getting some for breakfast or lunch in the future.

Comfort Food: Creamy Polenta with Eggplant Marinara

 I have been a polenta fan for a while now but this is the first time I actually tried cooking it. I always thought it was a little finicky since you have to get the right consistency to get the texture right. However, it was surprisingly easy to make! Since I was craving comfort food tonight, I made creamy polenta as the base and topped it off with some veggies cooked in marinara sauce. Recipe was inspired by this version.


Recipe for 3 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup dry polenta
3 cups water
1 Tbsp butter
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 cup low-fat Mozzarella cheese (can use parmesan for a richer taste)
1/2 large eggplant cubed
1.5 cups of marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's brand)
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Preparation:
1) In a large saucepan, pour the water and salt and bring to a boil
2) Add in the cornmeal while stirring to make sure no lumps are formed.
3) Add in the crushed garlic and let the polenta simmer on low heat for 20 minutes while stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn't get lumpy.
4) Add in the butter and cheese and mix together until both are completely dissolved in the cooked polenta. Set aside polenta mixture to cool.
5) In a separate sauce pan, sauté the eggplants in olive oil until they are tender
6) Add the marinara sauce, pepper flakes, and a half-cup of water to the eggplants and let simmer for five minutes.
7) Spoon the polenta into a bowl and top it off the eggplant-marinara mixture and a little bit of cheese

Friday Favorites: Pastis Brunch

Featuring: Pastis

If there is one ritual that defined the twenty-something generation in the city, it's the weekend brunch. So it's no surprise that I have been to my fair share of brunch places in the bay area. That doesn't stop me from trying new places and finding the next best place though! This little gem was actually discovered by one of my friends and it did not disappoint! We were seated right away (always a huge plus), the food was beyond delicious, and it was a great way to sit outside and enjoy a leisurely meal with the last of the California sunshine. I would definitely go back before it gets discovered by more people and become the "it" brunch place of Palo Alto!

Sunday Recipes: Veggie Enchiladas

I was in charge of family dinner night, so I took a stab at whipping up some enchiladas. Here's the recipe for roughly 8 enchiladas.

Ingredients (makes 8 enchiladas):

- 1 onion chopped

- 1 bell pepper chopped

- 2 garlic cloves minced

- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained

- 2 small green chili peppers minced

- 1/2 cup of roasted corn

- 3 Tbsp olive oil

- 1/2 cup minced cilantro

- 2 Tbsp taco seasoning

- 1/2 cup enchilada sauce

- salt to taste

- 3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend

- 8 6" tortillas warm

Preparation:

1) Heat olive oil in a pan and saute the onions and bell peppers for 3 mins.

2) Add in the garlic, black beans, corn, chili peppers, and cilantro to the onion and bell pepper mixture and let them cook.

3) Season the mixture with taco seasoning and set on low heat to cook for 2 mins. Add some salt if needed (optional based on the taco seasoning).

4) Take a warm tortilla and spoon the seasoned vegetable mixture in the middle. Roll the tortilla and place it seam side down in an oven-safe casserole dish. Repeat this step with the rest of the tortillas.

5) Top the rolled and stuffed tortillas with enchilada sauce and cheese.

6) Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until thoroughly cooked and serve.

We enjoyed ours with a side of fresh avocado and tomato slices.

Sunday Night Dinner: Quinoa Stir-Fry with Kale

Qunioa? Kale? Talk about a meeting of the power foods! I also finally got to pan fry tofu so that it has the crispy on the outside texture. As a vegetarian, this is a huge coup! Here's the recipe:

Ingredients (serves 2 really hungry people or 3 lightly hungry people):

- 1 cup uncooked quinoa

- 2 cups of water

- 1.5 cups of tofu cut into cubes

- 1 cup of frozen peas and carrots thawed

- 2 cups chopped kale

- 4 Tbsp vegetable oil

- 3 Tbsp soy sauce

- salt to taste

- 2 tsp red pepper flakes 

Preparation:

1) Rinse quinoa thoroughly. In a pot, lightly roast the quinoa in a drizzle of olive oil. Add 2 cups of water to the lightly roasted quinoa and cook for 15 mins. Set aside once cooked.

2) While quinoa is cooking, place the tofu cubes on 2 sheets of paper towels, drizzle all sides lightly with salt, and let blot for 15 mins. The point of this is to remove the water from tofu, so use additional paper towels if necessary to blot the water.

3) In a sauce pan, heat 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil.

4) Add the blotted tofu cubes to the sauce pan and fry until golden brown.

5) Add the quinoa mixture to the tofu cubes and lightly sauté for 3 minutes on medium heat and set aside.

6) Add 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil to a Wok and heat. Add kale, peas and carrot mixture, and cook for 2 - 3 mins or until kale is wilted but still dark green.

7) Add in the quinoa and tofu mixture to the veggies and stir fry for another 3 mins on low heat

8) Add in the soy sauce and toss lightly on low heat.

9) Add salt and pepper flakes to taste.

10) Serve topped with a little bit of Sriracha sauce for some extra kick and done!