SOCIAL MEDIA

Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Jan 28, 2014
I'm becoming a massive cauliflower fan. It's such a great base that doesn't taste too horrible when it's a substitution for something carby or meaty and it's super healthy.  In honor of my love of hot sauce and the upcoming Superbowl I made some crispy Buffalo Cauliflower Bites.

Preparing this took about 15 minutes and eating it took about 20 seconds. Just kidding! I take a sip of water after each bite in order to trick myself into thinking I'm full.

Below is a quick rundown of the preparation process. This was my first attempt and I kind of overdid it with pouring the panko in but I wanted the flavor to stick in the cauliflower for when I poured the buffalo sauce. It was a spicy/crispy treat that is perfect for someone that wants to eat more veggies in a fun way.

First I mixed panko, water, crushed garlic, red pepper flakes and some parsley 
my new favorite main ingredient

Then I tossed the florets in the mix and let sit for a bit before laying them out

While the mixture got a chance to set in I sprayed a baking pan with EVOO  then baked the cauliflower at 450 for 15 minutes
Then it was time to get saucy! After getting em all nice and crispy I added a mixture of hot sauce and melted butter then continued to bake.

Voila! 5 minutes in the oven with the buffalo mixture and done! Next time I make this I'll use prettier plates!


I served this with a bit of ranch dressing but I want to find a way to make cut down the fat and sodium by making my own hot sauce AND dipping sauce. I'll have to brainstorm.
Read More

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Jan 27, 2014




Trying to live an unprocessed lifestyle does not make eating quick or easy. Last night I wanted to make my cauliflower pizza again and decided on trying the marinara sauce a bit different with a bit more basil and less time on the stove. I was able to prepare it in just 20 minutes without resorting to the canned tomatoes that almost every recipe I've found online calls for.

For the sauce I basically sautéed onions and garlic and then added diced tomatoes along with some that I mixed in my Magic Bullet with a little bit of water for a base. Then I added some fresh herbs and voila. In just 20 minutes I had a homemade sauce that was free of as much sodium as possible as well as extra chemicals.


sautéed garlic in onions 

Chopped my tomatoes in a bowl in order to save their natural juices

All the ingredients ready to go. Fresh basil is key when making marinara sauce
The final product. Once it cooled down I mixed it in my Magic Bullet to make it a bit smoother and easier to spread on the pizza crust

The end result was a fresh sauce that allowed the flavors of all the ingredients to be savored instead of just a bland orange base that most canned sauces contain.  The complete recipe with step by step guides will be available very soon when I announce something exciting that I'm doing with two of my favorite people, my cousins Jenniffer and Doris.

In the meantime stay healthy and away from processed food as much as possible!
Read More

Hiking to the Hollywood Sign

Jan 25, 2014
Downtown LAHollywood SignGriffith ObservatoryHollywood SignHOLLYWOODHOLLYWOOD
Los AngelesThe ValleyThe ValleyThe ValleyCLoser ViewHollywood Sign
Downtown LADowntown LA

I woke up at 7am this morning to go for a hike up to the hollywood sign. It took about 2 hours from he Griffith Observatory to reach the peak and the view was breathtaking. Standing behind the sign I was able to get an amazing view of Los Angeles and behind me was The Valley. In total we had hiked about 7 miles in 3 hours and I burned about 900 calories. Perks of getting up early on my day off!
Read More

Celebrate Yourself Everyday!

Jan 22, 2014
I've been reading The Secret over the past few months and finally got to the section about relationships and how it's okay to put your wants, desires and needs first. It makes me really happy to read that because I always believed that a person can't take care of someone unless they take care of themselves and see how great they truly are. We all make mistakes and go through rough things but it's important to not let that type of stuff define us. For that reason I decided to make a list of what I love about myself and I encourage everyone to follow suit!

1. My ability to say a thousand words with just a glance.
2. My love of cooking and making up fun recipes.
3. My amazing skin--all the obsession over my skin care regiments have been worth it.
4. My taste in music.
5. The love I have for my family and that I get in return.
6. My desire to only ever impress myself.
7. My creativity in the kitchen, with my hands and with words.
8. My boobs---I love em!
9. My love of history. Knowing where we came from and what makes us who we are.
10. My positive outlook on life. It only took me 33 years to crawl myself out of unhappiness and I'm not going back in it any time soon!
11. My love of lists.
12. How I travel to Europe not to see Piccadilly Circus again but to spend some time with friends that are near and dear to my heart.
13. My great memory.
14. My sense of style.
15. My handpicked inner circle of friends.
16. My ability to teach myself new things.
17. My face. I have to admit that my face is divine. It's asymmetrical, with eyes and brows that were made for showing off makeup, high cheekbones, well defined jawline...perfection.
18. My movie nerdiness. 'They'll fix you. They fix everything'

Writing this list put a huge smile on my face. So now it's your turn! What do you love about yourself. Don't be shy people, put yourselves first!
Read More

Stylish Workout Gear for 2014

Jan 20, 2014
Working out doesn't have to be unfashionable. Wearing black baggy clothes and old boring sneakers never motivates me to work out. Having styling clothes from adidas by Stella McCartney and a top in 2014's Radiant Orchid will have your fashion sense and dedication complimented!

2014 Workout Gear

Read More

Caprese Bites

Jan 19, 2014

Last week I was craving a Caprese Salad but wanted to make it look more appealing. Traditionally it's very beautiful to look at but since I'm all about bite size food I wanted to try a different spin.  I used the same ingredients that go into any caprese salad except I added garlic and didn't bother with the olive oil. Next time I'll drizzle a bit on top but in the end these turned out amazing. A Caprese Salad is Mozzarella cheese, Tomatoes, Basil and Olive Oil and there really is no need for a recipe. You can plate these items however you want but the traditional method is a slice of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese basil and a drizzling of olive oil. Sometimes a bit of pesto is added into the mix but I prefer it without.

Check out what I did with it below. It was not only great tasting but nice to look at!

Cherry tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and garlic

I didn't chop the garlic, mozzarella or basil super fine because I wanted the colors to stand out

I cut the top portion of the cherry tomatoes and drained the insides into a bowl for mixing


I was surprised at how much fit into each cherry tomato!


Closeup of my Caprese Salad Bites


Read More

Broccoli and Mozzarella Envelopes

Jan 18, 2014


As a big fan of bite sized meals I always try to make healthy snacks to munch on when I want something other than juice or as a companion to any meat that I'm having for lunch or dinner. Here is my recipe for my delicious bite sized enveloped filled with tons of flavor and only a small amount of carbs and fat per piece.

Ingredients:

-7 full sized Nasoya Egg Roll Wrappers cut in quarters
-2 cups of pulsed broccoli
-2 oz grated Parmesan cheese
-2 oz shredder Mozzarella cheese
-3 tsp chopped white onion
-3 chopped cloves of garlic
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
-garlic infused olive oil in a misto
-1 cup of water

Directions:

1. Pre-heat my oven to 350 degrees.

2. Pulse the dry broccoli until it becomes fine. Make sure there is no moisture in them to prevent them from accidentally becoming a puree. I use my Magic Bullet for this and it works like a charm in about 2 minutes.

3. Pulse the onions and garlic in a food processor or finely chop them by hand.

4. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.

5. Spray a baking pan with the olive oil. The pan doesn't have to be lined but I prefer to.

6. Cut and lay out the wrappers in a dry area. If you're going to stack them to save space be sure that they remain dry to prevent them from sticking.

7. Place a small amount of the mixture in the center of the wonton wrapper and fold as if making an envelope from scratch.



8. Wet the top flap with some water to secure in place. Place on baking pan and repeat.

9. Lightly spray the tops with the garlic infused misto.

10. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until desired level of crispiness.


11. Let cook off for 5 minutes and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce or just eat them plain.



The end result are a delicious low fat/calorie snack that is fun, quick and easy to make. The worst thing in these are the wonton wrappers but the total amount for 28 of these envelopes equals 396 calories, 1.67 grams of fat, 956 mg of sodium, and 81 grams of carbs. Of course the calories, sodium and carbs are nowhere near idea for one person but these were shared between 5 people. I also had my portion as my dinner for the night which meant nothing additional was added and of course I drank lots of lemon water to flush out the sodium and cut the fat. My next goal is to find a way to lower those numbers while keeping the flavor. The best thing about these is that thanks to the misto no one knew these were baked because they so much flavor and crunch. I'd love to hear some feedback whenever someone tries these!

Read More

Food for Thought

After a long day of lounging I decided to make three juices for tomorrow and watch something on Netflix. I decided to feed my brain and watching a documentary called Hungry For Change by Food Matters. I was hooked by it instantly. I've spend the last two years building a better relationship with food and my health and started to see a dietician a few months ago to ensure that I wasn't missing out on anything I needed nutritionally.

One of the things the documentary showed me was that the reason I don't crave carbs or sugar anymore is because I haven't eaten them in a very long time and lost my taste and desire for them. I haven't put sugar in my coffee since about 2010 and thanks to the South Beach Diet that I first tried out in the fall of 2012. I eat only eat carbs about once every few weeks. Had I not cut myself off of carbs and sugar for 6 weeks I don't think I would be where I am today physically and mentally. I lost some weight but what it did for me was more than make me 10 pounds lighter. It helped me change the way I ate, it forced me to cook healthy meals and eat with the idea of quality over quantity.

People say diets don't work and I disagree with that 100%. Diets do work. DIETS DO WORK! But they only work if used as a jump start to a healthier lifestyle and if the diet does not consist of food and snacks that come in cans, bars, or food that is extremely high in sodium. They work if you do the right one that involves preparing your own meals or discovering combinations of food that are delivered fresh and don't have any sodium to preserve them. They especially work if you implement them into your lifestyle and even if you don't follow it exactly there's no reverting back to eating crap. End of story. Diets are not bad and if used properly there are no arguments against them.

Thanks to the South Beach Diet and doing my 3 day juice cleanse earlier this month I find myself doing things today that 3 years ago I would not have done. I woke up this morning and before I did anything I made two vegetable juices. Before my shower, before having coffee and even before looking at my phone I juiced. When I got home a few hours ago instead of making a pit stop to grab something quick and easy to eat, I juiced. But I also don't keep junk in the house and whenever I feel like I really want something fun I eat a few walnuts and call it a day.

Having said all this I will say that it's still a process. I ate a burger from Carl's jr last night because I wanted one. Will I have one again in the next few weeks? Doubt it. I eat what I want, when I want and I'm glad that I don't crave bad, over processed food more than once or twice a month. But being that I spent about 31 years eating whatever I wanted without caring about what nutritional value I was or wasn't getting I am really happy that the way I've been looking at food and their worth over the last two years has dominated my way of thinking.

I've noticed the positive effects of my new found diet from head to toe. My hair, which has never wanted to grow past my shoulders is stronger and scarily longer, my skin requires less treatments and I can go about a week without exfoliating (shhh!!) without having any flakes and maintaining a healthy glow, I'm not bloated because of the lack of sodium and I have more energy and endurance when I do cardio. I highly recommend that every take the time to look at what they have in their kitchen and make some changes. Right now my apartment is free of sugar, salt, cans and anything processed (aside from my beloved cheese) and the only fruits I have are apples and oranges. Every now and then when I want to cook something that requires carbs I buy only the amount that I need but in general I've been sticking to very non processed lifestyle and I'm a much healthier and happier person because of it.

One last thing that I have to point out is that I don't care about my weight. It's a non issue for me. Not because I'm at a point where all my clothes are fitting again but because once I finally started to take care of my body my focus shifted and it's given me the mindset I have today. I only wish that people who are unhappy with their weight take a look at what is causing it to not budge and do something about it. Winter turns into spring and spring turns into being miserable all summer because nothing fits. Friends, family, readers: don't push things off until the next day. Don't allow yourself that one last french fry or can of soda. You already had it yesterday and now is the time to make some changes so that when you break down and want a deliciously bad for you burger you can have it without it turning into two, three or four.

And now it's time for breakfast. My pineapple, carrots, cucumber and parsley juice. YUM!



Read More

Pretty, Pretty Things

Jan 16, 2014
Hello world! I'm done working crazy hours for a while and decided to use the time to find a template that would make me want to share my site with the masses without feeling like it's still a work in progress on the surface. I found this template late last night and loved it so much that I had to do a complete revamp and now I'm so happy with it! Just wanted to send an update and see what you guys think. It's pretty much exactly what I was looking for and I'm looking forward to filling it up with my tips, tricks and everything in between.

Now to sleep. YAWN!

xo
Read More

Posh v Pinch: Quilted Leather Skirt

Jan 15, 2014
The look of quilted leather just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's a way to show a little edginess while staying classy and fashionable. Below are two very similar skirts with different price points for the fashionista in everyone.



On the left we have one from Love Leather that retails $374. It's made with 100% lamb leather, is 15inches long, unlined  and quilted throughout. Now the one on the right is Dolce Vita's faux leather skirt that retails $83. At 17inches it's 2 inches longer but also contains a hidden zipper and is also unlined. This is a great alternative not only for the fashionista on a budget for the ones that aren't too keen on wearing leather,

Paired with a nice pair of simple booties to not draw any attention from the skirt and you'll be good to go. If you're in the NYC or LA area get in touch with us at The Closet Fashionista and we'll make give you some tips to make this look work for you!


Read More

First 30 Days!

Jan 13, 2014
Just want to say hello to the blogger universe! Work started for me on Wednesday and it's been super busy. 14 hour days straight until Monday! Which means my blogging has been down. I have been starting blog posts on my phone during little breaks but I don't like to send from my phone because I don't get a chance to properly preview it.

While I haven't been able to blog I have been working on my fitness challenge. I've been doing the 30 Day Shred after work and while that isn't running I think it'll help with my endurance level for when I can wake up for a run on Tuesday and so on. Additionally I have been able to work on my challenge for February because I've been spending a lot of time with the designer of my eyeshadow palettes and it makes me really happy. She has a great idea of what I want and she's enthusiastic about the design, the brand and being a part of it which makes me even more excited.

Anyway, I'll be free from [I had to sign an NDA stating I wouldn't speak or blog about it] I will be able to finalize my posts, write new ones and have a bit of breathing room!

xoxo
Read More

Work Attire Essentials

Jan 7, 2014




This week I've been asked to write a guest blog post for Romeo Communications website regarding fashion or beauty and the workplace. Here is just a sneak peak of the items I chose that I hope every woman has in her closet. Additionally if you're having trouble piecing outfits together and are in the NYC/LA area don't hesitate to contact Maria and I at The Closet Fashionista for a personal wardrobe analysis.
Read More

Running Update

Jan 5, 2014
I've been running every other day for the past 10 days and I'm happy to report that I'm still going strong. My endurance has skyrocketed, I'm pushing myself mentally to just do one more 1/4 mile at a time whenever I feel spent and I've already become a fast runner.

I started off with running/jogging/walking/dying 1.6 miles and can already keep a steady page for 2 miles.  I think I'll be able to achieve my goal of running 7.5 miles without ending up as part of the pavement!
Read More

Unprocessing My Life: Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Jan 4, 2014


As I've mentioned before I have been changing my eating habits over the past 6-9 months because I want to put less junk into my body. My latest endeavor is trying to unprocess my life.

I already avoid fatty foods and anything high in carbs but after coming off a 3 day juice cleanse I wanted to chew something but nothing that was pre-made. Or that had any pre-made ingredients. This is where I stumbled up this: Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe. It seemed pretty easy enough and I already use cauliflower when I want to have mashed potatoes without the carbs so I decided to give it a try today.

I followed the recipe for the crust almost exactly. I had frozen veggies and have no cheese grater so that was an issue. Also like a dummy I did not strain the water out of the grains that were created when I pulsed the veggies which made my dough a bit soggy. Other than that it came out really tasty and took less than 30 minutes to make 4 3 inch pizzas. I made marinara sauce for NYE and had a bunch left over so I was able to use that for the pizza. It was super garlicky and delicious!

it begins! I decided against the goat cheese for this first attempt

this is as fine as I was able to get the cauliflower. Next time I will use a grater

Ready for mixing! cauliflower, egg, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, oregano and basil


The end result was very tasty. Next time I will make the crust thinner in order to get more bite out of it but it pretty much tasted like sautéed cauliflower with cheese. I also didn't get the cauliflower sandy enough because I don't have a cheese grater so that is next on my list before I attempt this again.

Two of the four pizzas. I pre-heated the crust for 10 minutes and then added the sauce and toppings. I love cheese!


PS: My camera phone is being a bit weird and the bottom right is always cloudy now. Maybe it's time I dust of one of my cameras and start to use it again being that I'm a photographer and all!
Read More