At Home Cooking with Jenna & Antonia…

About a year ago, my lovely best friend and I were attending a Media Workshop. The entire workshop had to direct and produce their own short videos on varying topics: fashion, health, cooking, sports, etc. We were placed in the cooking category and made a one-episode, short series called “Quick, Cheap and Healthy” and we covered the “Breakfast Edition.” Needless to say we did not get the air-time the show deserved. Ha. I just remembered how ridiculous this entire process was but the important part was that we had so much fun while filming. I hope you enjoy 😉

Quick, Cheap and Healthy

Crossfit Providence vs Cynergy Crossfit Throwdown!

Sign-up to join one of the CFP co-ed teams this Saturday, May 8, 2010 in Providence Rhode Island! First workout starts @ 11:30! If you can’t stay the whole time let us know and we’ll find a way to make the teams work. As with all our events, everyone is welcome, members and non-members! There will be scaling options provided the day of the Throwdown. BBQ to follow at 2:30.

Visit CrossFit Providence for more information!

Forever Young….? Yuppp

Just browsing through the April issue of Allure and instantly noticed a trend! The whole issue is about age, ways to look younger, ways to fake your age, actresses who played parts in films that were WAY off from their real age…. Some pretty good stuff in here. But what I found interesting was this quick piece called “25 Ways to Look Younger–Instantly!” Many of the tricks are really simple.. no Botox here! Now given I’m only 22, I don’t know how much younger I want to look, but in a few years I’ll definitely want to remember these. Here are a few I found interesting and almost ridiculous, but who knows.. Check it–

#1 “the easiest way to take years off your face? three words: wear less makeup.” Agreed.

#5 “get a pedicure at least once a month!” <– of course I love this one!!

#8 “spritz on a grapefruit fragrance… women who wear them are perceived to be ten years younger. seriously” … Hmm, maybe when the perceiver is blind folded?

#16 “wear nail polish or a ring. researchers have found that doing so makes your hands look younger.” Any excuse to paint my nails… but I neverrrr wear rings.

#20 “go to bed an hour earlier. you’ll reduce dark circles, perk up sallow skin and improve your mood.” I really need to start doing this… maybe after college!

#23 “have more sex. doing it three times a week makes women look up to ten years younger.” sure, why not?

One of my personal favorites who has definitely mastered the art of fighting age, which you should know by now, is Jennifer Aniston. There is a lot of gossip over whether she has had plastic surgery or not, and frankly, I don’t think it matters. She eats well, she exercises and she even used a few of Allure’s look-younger tips….

Jen looks even hotter now in her 40s than she did in her 20s….. Maybe because she used tip #3 “whiten your teeth,” #6 “add highlights to your hair,” #19 “warm up your make up,” and #22 “switch from lipstick to soft pink or rose gloss.”

Shake what your mama gave you… or what I give you.

Ok so here it is…

I have been doing relatively well on keeping my diet clean of crap. Yesterday, I had a huge and delicious sandwich with bread and cheese and let me tell you, those two wonderful items ruin my life. Every time I eat something like that, I legit fall asleep afterwards and then feel tired, cranky and terrible. Basically, the food hangover I mentioned after my binge of cape cod chips and heluva good dip. Let me first tell you that, I did know going into the sandwich that I would enter a food coma after, but sometimes, it is worth it to give into your cravings.

But back to my clean diet discussion. For the past few weeks I have been making smoothies for breakfast every day. They are perfect for me because:

1. I can buy all the ingredients in one shopping trip and they last me all week.

2. I don’t need to cook.

3. I get a nutritious filling breakfast, and breakfast is supposed to be the most important part of the day.

4. It takes under 5 minutes to prep, cook and drink! Perfect for someone who likes to wake up and GO.

This awesome juice that you can find at the grocery store is already thick and and packed with fruits and vegetables, making it even easier:

Bolthouse Farms Fruit Smoothies! I love them.
Each is a different combination of fruits and veggies to support a healthy immune system. Each large container includes 8 1/2 servings!

The Fruit Smoothies come in the following flavors:

Strawberry Banana
Contains strawberry and banana pieces. 100% natural.

C-Boost
Contains camu camu and acerola cherries for high doses of Vitamin C.

Berry Boost
Contains 5 types of hand-picked berries, plus apple juice and banana puree. 5 essential vitamins!

Blue Goodness
Contains blueberries, blackberries and elderberries. High in antioxidants!

Green Goodness
Includes 8 delicious juices/purees and packed with 14 powerful nutrients!

The Simple Smoothie:

1 banana

3 large strawberries

1 tsp. of organic wildflower honey

3 ice cubes

1/4 cup of any Bolthouse Farm Fruit Smoothie you desire!

–Place all ingredients (minus the honey) in blender. Blend on high for a minute. While blending, open the small opening for adding ingredients (if your blender comes with this) and squirt the honey in so it gets completely mixed around–

Pour. Sip. Enjoy.
XOXOX

Go Organic or Go Home.

Hi! I was following Self Magazine on Twitter, and found this link called “3 Ways to Munch Meatlessly” It details the menus you can follow if you are interested in leading a meat-free lifestyle. Whether you are Vegan, Vegetarian, Flexitarian etc. your options are very broad. Here is the link to the menus varying by the food lifestyle you might lead:

Self Magazine

Speaking for myself, I eat meat all the time, but what I wanted to share was the breakdown of the different types of food lifestyles out there these days. We often only hear about vegetarianism or veganism. But there are many variations available for your particular needs and preferences. Just because you hear about few eating lifestyles lately doesn’t mean those are the only available, or that they are perfect. Everything is created for a reason, mostly because there are enough people out there who agree. It can get confusing… so here is your vocab list of the week 😉 If you are going to make a decision about the things you put into your body, make it an INFORMED decision. Read up on all the options, know what you are actually agreeing to. It is YOUR lifestyle after all. Even if you do want to eat meat, find a environmentally and body-friendly way to do so…. Here is what I found in about 5 minutes of research. Imagine what you could find in an hour. Just one hour devoted to the rest of your life as a conscious eater…. Think about it:

Vegan is a philosophy and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. Products include meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy products, honey, fur,leather, wool, and silk. Common animal products also include gelatin, lanolin, rennet, whey, casein, beeswax, isinglass, and shellac.

Vegetarian does not eat meat, including: red meat,game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, and products of animal slaughter such as animal-derived gelatin and rennet.

Pescetarian a diet that includes seafood and excludes mammals and birds. In addition to fish or shellfish, a pescetarian diet typically includes some or all of vegetables, fruit, nuts, grains, beans, eggs, and dairy.

Pollotarian is a semi-vegetarian diet in which a person only eats vegetables, fruits, and poultry meat (particularly chicken), but does not consume meat from fish or mammals. Pollotarians tend to include non-flesh animal products such as dairy and eggs in their diet, as well.

Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian is a vegetarian who does not eat beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but is willing to consume dairy and egg products.
**A Lacto Vegetarian will add only dairy, an Ovo Vegetarian will add only eggs.

Flexitarian is a semi-vegetarian diet focusing on vegetarian food with occasional meat consumption. A self-described flexitarian seeks to decrease meat consumption without eliminating it entirely from his or her diet. There are no guidelines for how much or how little meat one must eat before being classified a flexitarian.

Paleolithic a way of eating in the modern age that best mimics diets of our hunter-gatherer ancestors – combinations of lean meats, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

I’m sure there are a million others I haven’t even heard of or thought of yet. If you know some you’d like to share, please do! And one final tip…. be cautious of substitutes. Just because it isn’t meat, and it isn’t terrible for the environment, doesn’t mean it is good for your body! Be mindful of processed goods! SERIOUSLY….. If you want to give up cheese, give up cheese. Don’t sub in that fake shit, whether it ‘tastes’ like it, ‘looks’ like it or even ‘smells’ like it…. Fake is Fake in my book. Go organic or go home.

back in the day…

Hiiii Friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend! I was so happy to see the sun again. I spent as much time as I could outside. I even went for a hike @ Blue Hills in Mass (If you live in the area of Southern Boston or are passing through, definitely check it out–Gorgeous Views, Wear SNEAKERS). Unfortunately I only had flip flops and cut my toes…

…..but I survived and made it back to Quincy just in time for a delicious traditional dinner with my boyfriend’s family! They are amazing. Very Italian. Very loud. But even though the kids are all grown up, everyone still comes home and enjoys Marianne’s cooking since no one has flown too far from the nest…

My family is quite different. My mother spent this Easter in Florida, my brother is living in Brazil and my sister lives in Colorado…. Needless to say, it really sucks on holidays when I don’t get to see them because we are all so close. Last night, at home in Mass, I was looking through an old photo album I found. I decided to scan some of the pictures on to my computer. It’s funny how different life is from the late 80s. Before Facebook, Twitter, Blogs. Just kids running around outside with little supervision and ridiculous outfits….. My grandmother was also alive and a huge part of my life. I spent every weekend with her. She was famous for being tall and skinny, having a huge bee-hive hairdo, and always had jewelry and makeup on that matched her stylish outfits. We called her Bargee and were so close to her growing up. Here are a few pictures from back then…. I hope you enjoy

My Bargee and Me 1988

Uncle Arthur with me, My brother Michael, Cousin Jane and sister Jaime 1988

Mommy and Me 1988

Jane, Michael and cousin Chris with Bargee and my Mama 1988

Me as a Baby 1988

My Cousins, Me and Uncle John on Halloween 1988

Hair, There & Everywhere…

Holaaa…. I just got my hair trimmed and it made me think of how important the health of a girl’s hair really is. So I wanted to pass along a few tips that I have learned over the past ten years (since I started coloring my hair WAY too early)… and hope I can get in your head, pun intended.

1. Don’t Start. If you have never colored your hair, do not start now. Your hair is gorgeous and most complementing in its natural hue. I wish I knew this when I was 13 and my mother let me dye my hair. I have been highlighted, black, bleach, a mixture of the two. I have only given up coloring in the past few months and it is really hard… but it will be worth it when my hair is completely back to its natural color.

2. Quit. If you color your hair now, try to quit. Unless you need to cover some grays, try to stop.

3. Wash less. Try to wash your hair as little as possible without it looking too greasy. You can shower and wet it, but really, 3-4 times a week should be the MAX. The natural oils that your hair produces are GOOD and keep your hair looking younger, longer!!

4. The colder, the better. Hot water dries out your hair AND your skin. Your hair will age faster and your skin will develop wrinkles from using hot water, so try to stay on the cooler side and keep the length of your shower to a minimum. (I confess, I take the LONGEST showers, EVER).

5. Cold = Shine. If you rinse your hair with cold water at the end of your shower, it will close the hair follicles and make your hair look shiny all day. This is also beneficial for your skin, cold water closes the pores and keeps toxins out and the nutrients in!

6. Product = Bad. Try not to use hairspray. It is bad for your hair and for the ozone. Its unnecessary, but if you must use it, search for an organic brand, like this one:

Love, Peace & The Planet  Free Ur Mind  Firm Hold Hairspray

7. Hot tools to a minimum. Remember, natural is beautiful. Just because stick straight hair is in right now, doesn’t mean it will be forever. Especially when you notice 5,000 hairs in your drain. If you need to run a straightener through it, do it on a low setting and quickly as possible. When the fad is out, you’ll be happy your hair still looks ‘in’.

8. Trim = Length. Many girls who want long hair, refuse to cut it. Getting a quick trim every 6 weeks will make your hair grow faster and look healthier during the process. If you don’t cut it, it will take forever to grow and look dead the entire time.

9. Warmer climates make your hair grow faster. You might notice your hair is sprouting quick right now as the temperature warms up. The winter stunts the growth of your hair, as it stunts the growth of just about everything.

10. SPF for Hair! Remember, they make hair sunscreen, so even if you are loving what the sun is doing to your length, it needs protection just like your skin. The SPF should prevent damage and color fading. Try this one:Oscar Blandi Capri Sun-Shield @ Sephora

Day Two of Cleanse: Chips and Dip???

Well, our school was shut down due to the rain which was pretty sick, however, I received 4 texts simultaneously about snacks, movies and couching it. The four of us met at the grocery store and I swear I only bought two large Perrier Lime sparkling waters. I was going to just snack on something I already had at home, i.e. nuts, fruit, anything remotely healthy. Well, my dearest friends bought cape cod potato chips and a life-size bucket of french onion dip. After about 4 olives, I decided F this, I’ll have some chips, it’s vacation, let’s go wild. A few chips turned into a chip-induced coma, as my friends watched Benjamin Button, I passed out for the next 3 hours and woke up with a chip-dip hangover. Moral of the story: food really does alter my energy levels and my mood, but snacking and snuggling are two of my favorite things and I enjoyed every moment of it.

Now — a smoothie for dinner and trying to resist the temptation of beginning my vacation today. I must do homework since I have 7 days off… God, help me.

for my bacon-loving boyfriend.

For the sake of love, we all must admit that our boyfriends might be able to eat a lot more unhealthy than we can and feel no regret or face any consequences in terms of weight or emotion. This can pose a problem. Often, our eating habits change when we are in a relationship. It can lead to becoming unhealthy because we go out to eat all the time, bake cookies together or snack each night before bed. On the other hand, some people are missing out on all the treats in fear of becoming the fat gf. I will definitely say that my boyfriend could eat all day, every day and still look the same. He might hit the gym hard and often, but even the emotional side of eating is much different for him. He could eat bacon for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not feel bloated, crampy and pissy…

(That SlimQuick ad puts it so perfectly….)

To work through our own lifestyles and food choices, without letting it affect our relationships, cooking is a great release. You can search for super-healthy recipes that you both enjoy. It’s a win-win: he got a meal, you didn’t feel like you were giving up your healthy diet or like you were missing out on a treat. However, don’t forget men are human. They enjoy indulging, just like we do. I found this recipe that might be on the unhealthy side of dishes but looks too good to pass up, for his sake and mine.

I am going to attempt this meal next time we have breakfast together (basically because he loves bacon and eggs at all hours):

Bacon & Eggs in Toast Cups

▪6 slices of bacon

▪6 slices of bread

▪6 eggs

▪1/2 cup of shredded cheese

▪salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan with butter non-stick spray.

2. Using a cookie cutter, cut circles out of bread slices about 3 inches in diameter.

3. Take bread circles and press them into the muffin pan, set aside.

4. Heat a large skillet on medium-high. Cook bacon on the skillet until partially cooked but still pliable, about 3 minutes.

5. Shape bacon strips into the toast cups, fill with 1 Tbs of shredded cheese. Place in the oven for 5 minutes, allowing the bacon to toast just a little more. Remove from oven.

6. Crack your egg and separate out most of the egg white. Drop eggs into the cups, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste. Place back in the oven and cook until white begins to set, about another 8 – 10 minutes.  The yolk should be creamy.

7. Remove from oven when done and pop out using a spoon, serve warm.

(Recipe credit to www.thenoshery.com)

Mandra & Brad: Heart Transplant

Mandra Biscornet was my dance teacher at Dance New England for 6 years. She is beautiful on and off the dance floor and still continues to teach there. As much time and compassion as she brought to our class, we never truly knew Mandra, the person, just Miss Mandra, the teacher. We knew she was challenging, flawless in her technique and one of the strongest dancers we had ever seen. Still, our efforts to learn rarely exceeded the dance technique.One of my best friends, Kati, just informed me that Mandra was in a commercial for Brigham and Women’s hospital. Before even asking why or for what reason, I rushed to the Internet to find out. Luckily, the web makes it SO easy to find almost anything. A quick YouTube search directed me to “Mandra and Brad’s Story”. I watched the full-length 7 minute video but here is a 26 second clip in honor of Mandra and her husband, who thanks to Brigham and Women’s, has survived a high risk heart transplant and has given them both a chance to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. Although I never met Brad, I am so grateful that Mandra’s story is a successful one with a happy ending. Her and Brad’s love a true testament to what it means to love someone through the hardest moments. Love is not always about the easy times, and it can bring you to the point where you even have to let go of the one you love. Mandra moved into the hospital with her husband for months as his disease got worse and they waited for a donor. Fortunately, a donor came in time and they are both doing great. Here is the commercial: