Inject Some Oomph Into Your Chicken

Although the ways to service chicken are endless, some of us can fall into a chicken rut. What I mean by this is sometimes we can forget about the poultry possibilities and serve plainly cooked chicken with an equally as plain side dish.

One day I decided to get out of my chicken rut and search for exciting recipes online. As I am also a huge mexican food fan, I was elated to find a recipe for Jalapeno Guacamole Chicken. I was eager to spruce up my dose of protein and tried the recipe right away! It was super easy to make and delicious too!

To keep on track with my efforts to eat healthier, I altered some of the cooking directions. Rather than pan frying the chicken, you can bake it in the oven or grill it. You can also substitute regular cheddar cheese with low-fat cheddar cheese. For someone who is not a fan of heat, this recipe works just as well without the jalapenos. Although avocado's have a high fat content, it is an essential fat that serves as a great antioxidant and has vast benefits for heart and overall body health. So, other than the fact that avocados are super yummy it would be a healthy choice to leave them in the recipe.

I hope I've inspired you to give your chicken a boost, if not with this recipe than with some other! Bon appetite!

Image taken from: http://www.jalapenomadness.com/recipe_jalapeno_guacamole_chicken.html

The Snooki Pouf Hits The Runway

For those of you who are familiar with Jersey Shore you know that the everything about the show was an instant success. The guilty pleasure that is Jersey Shore began invading pop culture as soon as it hit the air waves in late 2009. Teens and 20-somethings (okay maybe even 30-somethings) not only began adopting the contagious lingo, GTL being one of the most popular, but also adopted some of the unfortunate fashion from the show. I'll be the first to admit that I have a serious addiction to Jersey Shore, but I wouldn't be caught in most of the featured get-ups unless it was Halloween!

One style trend that received tons of attention was the hair pouf sported by resident mini-guidette Snooki. With hair that reaches two inches higher than her head, Snooki tells Jay Leno she would change the world by eliminating the Bump-It (a hair piece used to create these poufs) because she does her hair the real way by teasing it. Since the show first aired I've been seeing these Snooki poufs everywhere, but one place I did not expect for it to surface is the couture runway!

Vera Wang, a designer best known for her elegant ball gowns and wedding dressess, had her models sport the Snooki pouf on the runway during the showing of her Fall 2010 collection. The models did wear a classier version of the hair style but still, what influenced Vera Wang to amalgamate a hair style that has come to connote trashiness with the elegance she is known for?

Perhaps Vera Wang wanted to tap into a new market. Perhaps she was oblivious to the connection between the hairstyle and Snooki. Perhaps the 61 year old designer wanted to let us know she was "down with the times". Perhaps she didn't have Snooki in mind at all and was really trying to emulate the 60's. Perhaps she just wanted to make us wonder...

Image taken from: http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Snookis-Signature-Pouf-Takes-Over-The-Vera-Wang-Runway-1589817.html

You Gotta Love Dr. Oz

Since one of the main topics of this blog is food it should come as no surprise that I LOVE food. While I think it's good to indulge once in a while, I also think it's important to moderate what you eat. Over the past few years I've accumulated a few tips about healthy eating from various sources. One person who usually has some helpful health tips is Dr. Oz. A few weeks ago I was flipping channels and come across his show. That days topic was about healthy eating and weight loss. During the episode he introduced the audience to his "Ten Commandments of Weight Loss". Even if you are not looking to loss weight, these are some pretty good tips to follow to moderate your eating habits. Here they are:

1. Thou Shalt Not Wear Pants that Stretch

Your clothing is an early-warning system for weight gain. When it’s getting hard to snap your jeans, you know it’s time to be vigilant. Wearing stretchy clothes allows you to live in ignorance of how your body is growing, making it easier to pack on pounds without knowing it.

2. Thou Shalt Not Keep Bad Clothes in Your Closet

When you keep the clothes you wore at an unhealthy weight, it gives you a back-up plan if the pounds don’t come off. Instead, force yourself to stay on track by 86ing your “fat pants.”

3. Thou Shalt Not Eat Meat That Walks on Four Legs More Than Once a Week

Meat that comes from an animal with 4 legs is higher in saturated fat (the unhealthy kind) than that which comes from 2-legged animals such as chickens, or animals with no legs, like fish. Plus: women who eat large amounts of red meat more than once a week have a 50% higher chance of dying from heart disease and have higher cancer rates.

4. Thou Shalt Not Graze

Plan your meal before you open the refrigerator, get what you need, and close the door. Opening it throughout the day leads to impulsive choices and overeating.

5. Thou Shalt Not Eat After 7:30pm

When you eat late at night you are more likely to be eating in front of the TV (when you won’t pay attention to how much you’re putting in your mouth) and you’re more likely to pick high-calorie snacks.

6. Thou Shalt Not Pile Food More than 1 Inch High or Within 2 Inches of the Plate Edge

Larger portions equal more calories. ‘Nuff said.

7. Thou Shalt Not Chew Food Less than 20 Times Per Bite

Chewing allows your body to realize that you are eating food, prompting it to create a sensation of fullness at the appropriate time. When you don’t chew enough, you get ahead of that process, eating well past when you are actually satisfied.

8. Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Plate

Spend your day nibbling bites on someone else’s sandwich or afternoon snack, and you will add on 1,000 calories easy.

9. Thou Shalt Not Carry Small Bills

Nothing loves a small bill better than a vending machine. When you have them at the ready, you are one step closer to an impulsive, calorie-loaded afternoon slip up.

10. Thou Shalt Not Eat While Standing Up

Eating sitting down enables you to be aware of what you’re eating and eat it slowly so that your body can tell you your full before it’s too late.

I hope these are helpful and remember - EVERYTHING IN MODERATION, EVEN MODERATION.

Image taken from: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-oz-s-10-weight-loss-commandments

It's Funny What You Can Stumble Across...

In a previous blog post I wrote about one of my most favourite bloggers - Scott Schuman. Also known as The Sartorialist, he takes his camera to the streets to capture people who wear garments with confidence and style. Like I mentioned in my post, he most often visits cities famous for style, such as Manhattan, Paris, Milan, etc. As a born and raised Torontonian (ok fine, I'm actually from Mississauga, but that's close enough), my many ventures to the city's core and its surrounding areas have made me realize Toronto has some pretty fashionable citizens too. So I hit the streets to do my take on "The Sartorialist in Toronto". At first I felt somewhat awkward approaching random people to explain what I was doing and asking permission to take their photograph, but it became easier with every shot I took. It even ended up turning into somewhat of a networking experience, with some of my subjects handing me cards or writing down addresses for their own websites.

While I was walking through the Eaton's Centre I walked by the two people in this photograph. I thought their outfits were very stylishly "Siberian" inspired and asked if I could take a picture. They gladly let me and in between shots told me they were actually in a band. The girl in the photo pulled out a crumpled receipt from her bag and wrote down the name of their band - "The Vicious Guns".

I've always been a supporter of local talent so when I finally got a chance to "google" them, I made sure I had ample time to see what they were all about ... and I am impressed! I don't think it would be fair to compare their sound to that of other artists, since my knowledge in music isn't extensive enough to do this accurately. I also think that there is tons of hidden talent out there, so if you get a chance to expose some of these gems you should definitely go for it. Having said that, I suggest a visit to The Vicious Guns MySpace page to hear a few of their songs. Hope you enjoy this homegrown talent as much as I did!

DIY Salad Dressing

I've always been a fan of salad. The ways to serve salad cannot even be counted. You can pretty much throw whatever you like into it. And the best part of a salad that completes it - the dressing. Sure KRAFT and Paul Newman make some very delicious salad dressings, but even better than those are ones that are homemade.

Two of my most favourite homemade salad dressings are stolen from my parents. My mom can make a mean garlicy caeser dressing and my dad makes one of the best balsamic dressings I've ever tasted. The best part of both these dressings is that they use raw garlic. Raw garlic does not only taste great but does wonders for your health (click here to read about all the health benefits of eating garlic). Also, most of the ingredients in these dressing recipes are things most of us have in our cupboards. They are quick, easy and delicious, so give them a try! Please note that the amounts of the ingredients depend on taste preference as well as how much you are serving, so I will only list the ingredients and it is up to you to be playful and add as much as you think.

Garlic Caeser Dressing

Mix together: white vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, grated garlic, worchestershire sauce, tobbasco sauce, lemon juice, parmesan cheese, egg whites (I only add this to large portions), salt and pepper. If you feel adventurous you can also grind up some anchovies and add it into the mix.

Oil & Balsamic Dressing

Mix together: balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, grated garlic, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

ENJOY!

Image taken from: http://www.pollsb.com/polls/p3985-perfect_gift_kitchen

2010 Fashion Forecast

Hello dear followers,

Check out my videocast about some of the upcoming fashion trends for the ladies in 2010. Fashion is always evolving and is most definitely in the eye of the beholder, so these are only a few among the several fashion trends that will surface in 2010. Enjoy!

One Of My Fave Bloggers...

I have a secret...I'm in an online relationship. Me and my online love were brought together by none other than Google. How it happened is quite simple. One day I "Googled" the words "popular fashion blogs" and I became introduced to my online love - The Sartorialist.

I am going to say this is a blog produced by Scott Schuman and not written by him (although he does write the text that appears on the blog) because the essence of the blog is not so much what he writes but the pictures he produces and then posts. By simply looking at the name of the blog you can guess what it is about. Schuman uses this space to convey his interest in the tailoring of clothing. He does not concentrate on what is trendy at the moment but instead highlights individuals who can wear something (not particularly trendy) and give off a certain aura. Therefore, his blog is not so much about fashion as it is about style.

Schuman reverts most often to traditional fashion hubs to photograph his muses. These include places such as Manhattan, Milan, Paris, London and so forth. While he has shot the likes of famous people such as Kanye West, Mila Jovovich, and Olivia Palermo, Schuman is more likely to photograph random people who have caught his eye. Sometimes he meets people that are so inspirational to him that he will photograph them over and over.

In 2009, "The Sartorialist" was released as a book. Like his blog, the book contains few words and it is left up to the viewer to derive whatever they do from the images. I've been told that Schuman purposefully avoids text descriptions of most of his images because he does not want to taint the viewers opinions with his thoughts.

Named one of Time Magazine's Top 100 Design Influencers, Schuman's blog, The Sartorialist, is an excellent place to visit for style inspiration. Regardless of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation...The Sartorialist caters to all. Definately worth checking this one out!

Image taken from: http://materialisticboy.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/the-sartorialist/

A Little Lesson In Sushi

I don't know when I started liking sushi, all I know is that I've loved it for as long as I can remember. When I became old enough to go out to restaurants with my friends, trips to sushi restaurants became quite confusing. What can be so confusing about this raw fish dish, other than the utensil used to eat it? The naming! When it comes to ordering sushi one must be very careful with the terminology they use.

When we hear the word sushi, I think it is pretty accurate to say the image of the sushi roll pops in our head. Well this is in fact a makimono. In the past I've heard that the sushi we eat in North America is not at all like the sushi that is eaten in Japan. One of the biggest differences lies in the makimono rolls found in North America. Take for instance the very popular California roll. This roll was created in North America to serve western tastes better. Now think about the Philadelphia roll, that consists of smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber. Although I am only speculating on this one, I don't think the japanese created this roll and decided to name it after an American city. One of my personal favourites is the Tex Mex roll, which consists of California rolls topped with tuna, avocado, tomato and spicy sauce, and surprise surprise it is also named after a North American city. Therefore, the makimono rolls we find and eat in North America, although extremely tasty, don't exactly mirror the makimono rolls we would be eating on a visit to Japan. But that's the beauty of makimono rolls in North America, you can be as creative as you want to be with them. Anyways, on with the lesson...

On the other end of the spectrum lies sashimi. Those who are new to eating sushi tend to avoid this type because it is simply raw fish slices. For more experienced sushi lovers this is a great way to enjoy the taste of the fish without it being masked by the flavours of everyday grocery items such as avocado and cucumber.

Although sashimi is often served with a side bowl of rice, there is a way to get the fish and rice served together. This would be called nigiri sushi. Served this way the fish tends to be sliced thinner than sashimi and lies on a small bed of rice, just a bit bigger than the size of a thumb. If you are not the biggest fan of spicy flavour be careful, many sushi restaurants hide a dash of wasabi between the fish and the rice.

Yet another way to order sushi is in the form of temaki. This type of sushi is a hand roll, meaning it is served as a large cone or roll. Similar to the makimono, all the goodies are stuffed inside but the difference is that this type of roll is not cut into bite size pieces. And just as the name implies, this roll is eaten with your hands.

I hope I have helped all of you sushi amatuers out there and PLEASE don't be afraid of the sashimi! Stay tuned and I may blog about all the different and fun variations of sushi flavours out there. It will make your mouth water!

I think I have to go pick up some sushi now...

Image taken from: sushipalace.com

Olympic Attire Chic

It's finally here! The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games! For the past 2 years the hype surrounding these games has been inescapable...that is not to say that I am trying to escape it, but we can't deny that wherever your day has taken you within the past 2 years it is likely you heard or saw something about the Olympics. Obviously it's a big deal to us Canucks since the Games are taking place on our home turf...and you know what that means for the big corporations - money time! One of the biggest commercial opportunities surrounding the 2010 Games lies in the apparel. Several clothing companies have used the pride Canadians have for the athletes to their advantage and why not? More often than not, by purchasing this apparel some proceeds will go towards supporting the athletes. Imagine being an athlete representing Canada during the Olympics and seeing a sea of millions of people wearing Team Canada attire. Would it not give you that extra bit of drive to strive for the gold?

This year the Hudson's Bay Company has taken on the task of designing the 2010 Olympic apparel for athletes and supporters. I must say even though the apparel comes from one of the same designers, this years attire is way more fashionable than the famous Salt Lake City beret (yuck!). This years Olympic attire has taken off like nothing else, so much so that it is nearly impossible to find the signature red Olympic mittens. Creative Director for the Olympic collection, Suzanne Timmins, along with two designers, Tu Ly and Adrian Aitcheson, discuss their inspiration for the collection on the Elle Canada website. But it's not only the Hudson's Bay Company that is selling Olympic attire. I was walking in the mall and happened to pass Bluenotes, which was selling Olympic graphic tees at very reasonable prices, so I bought one! My only concern is that after the Olympics are over, and with the exception of Canada Day, are people going to wear this apparel again? I hope so!

Image taken from: http://www.ellecanada.com/fashion/home-game-hbc-s-olympic-fashions/a/32430

If It Ain't Broke, Sometimes You Should Still Fix It

The other day I was sitting in my kitchen staring at the shelf of cookbooks my mom has collected over the years. I began to think about how some people tend to cook what they know how to cook really well and hardly try anything new, kind of like an "If it ain't broken, don't fix it" type of thing. So it was somewhat of a shame to realize we had about 100 trees worth of cookbooks (well, that's a bit of an exaggeration but not by much) and were rotating between the same chicken stir-fry, beef stew, and shrimp pasta week after week. This prompted me to choose a cookbook at random (actually it wasn't that random, the word "simple recipes" stuck out to me) and look for something that I've never tried my hand at preparing. I stumbled across a recipe in a Canadian Living cookbook for Portobello Burger Melts (click the link for the recipe). I'm definitely a carnivore but my love of mushrooms made this vegetarian recipe jump out to me. It was quick, easy and most importantly DELICIOUS! Most of the ingredients are things many people have in their fridge anyway. If you want to add protein to this meal, I'm pretty sure a beef, chicken or turkey patty would taste great in the middle of this burger. I also learned not to be afraid to experiment with this recipe. Try a different type of bread or add some cayenne pepper for a little kick. If you get a chance and feel adventurous try this recipe!

Image from this post taken from: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/portobello_burger_melts.php

Not Too Sure About These...

Just because these shoes are walking the high fashion runway does not mean they are nice! Check out the shoes featured in designer Alexander McQueen's Spring 2010 Collection on the runway! Monikered as the "Alien Shoe", this footwear was meant to be strictly for show during the collection's runway display, just as dramatic hair and makeup usually are at these types of fashion shows. Once they made their appearance on the runway the "Alien Shoes" proved to be a bigger hit than the designer had anticipated. Lady Gaga even wore them in her music video for "Bad Romance".

A spokesperson for the fashion label reports that there has been great interest in buying the shoes after they were shown during the Alexander McQueen runway show and that there are even people who want to buy them as pieces of art. Auctioning them off for charity has been discussed as an option to make them available to the public but they were never intended as retail items. The spokesperson also indicated that these shoes are so innovative that they have copyrighted the process that is undergone to create these shoes.

Not sure about you guys but I'd likely only wear these as part of a Halloween costume.

Image taken from: http://fashionbombdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/20091112_mcqueenshoes_560x325.jpg

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog about two of my favourite things - food and fashion!

These are very general and broad topics so essentially I will just be writing about whatever comes to mind that deals with food and fashion!

Stay tuned for my first post!