my body is itchy and i think i busted out in a small rash from the steak dinner i cooked myself,
and i’ve already downed 3 bottles of water. :P
i’ve been over eating this week, and i will be the first to admit,
i can’t help but put amazing flavours into my mouth sometimes, even when i know that i shouldn’t be eating such rich foods when i need to be “detoxing” right now.
haha. the car needs an oil changeeee
and it’s hard when i still need to take it for a roadtrip. ;)
we going the distance baby,
and i know,
i need to take better care of it, esp now. with all the stress from work.

but come on…
perfectly seared off steaks with finely chopped red onions sauteed in butter with an orange juice balsamic reduction compote with sides of sauteed spinach with chopped hierloom mini tomatoes from mexico, and roasted rosemary potatoes with sweet potato mash?! how can you resist.
and i just threw it all together!
“how can i make you cook on your day off from work?!”
“because it’s fun, and i miss making my own food :)”
“i cook. let’s eat!”

you know how i roll.
i spent 22 bucks,
for a dinner for two (cooked for my god bro tonight, since the idea of both of us trying to find a restaurant to eat out at that is affordable, on the last night of winterlicious, when we both were craving meat, potatoes, and a cold beer — seemed totally out
of the question… i’m sure you have this problem too, i like to call it — restaurant ‘EH’ syndrome, precisely when you know exactly what you want to eat, exactly what you’re craving, but know that you will have to spend over 50 bucks a person to get mediocrity at the ‘usual’ place in town, it’s the weekend, it’s probably packed, you’re in a hoodie, some boots and jeans, and you don’t want to put on your town pants because it’s minus 6 out. Celsius. can’t a sister just get some soul food around here for cheap?! haha not in canada, well at least not in the dead of winter on a saturday night at 7:30pm)

so i had suggested that we go pick up some angus steaks at our local supermarket (well we both drove out of the way to my fav one uptown) and i cooked since i know exactly how i like my meat. –
internally 135 degrees, at most, browned on both sides with salt and pepper.
simple, delicious,
and how steaks should be.
mmmm.

and now,
my body is screaming at me.
because not only did i have that for dinner,
i had a chocolate crossant for dessert right after that (damn the pms and the chocolate cravings!)
and beef pho, spring rolls with fish sauce, and soy milk over a 3 hour lunch date with my favourite dietitian and friend, ms. K tang.
i love arguing and talking about saturated fats, where our meat comes from, and how much food REALLY costs in this country. i love to talk about our peeking and influential global diet of western diseases and nutritional additives
i love discussing what children are eating in schools and how pre natal development can also be so influential.
i love to learn about how a pregnant mother with 7 kids on welfare in canada can get more nutritional support and milk money to support her kids from our tax dollars than ‘rich’ folk do who eat microwavable dinners in front of their tv’s.
i love talking about how our generation is full of heartwarmed change pushers who all want to rebuild these countries full of opportunities and educate people about healthy lifestyle and what that REALLY means.
“how do i survive?”
“how should i feed myself?”
“what should i eat?”
and who decides what our children eat?

and because i can honestly say,
my personal story relating to my diet and lifestyle and eating habits have changed dramatically about 4 or 5 times in my lifetime already due to major health issues and sicknesses that have almost killed me twice before the age of 24,
that i have both relied on and been a ‘victim’ to the confusing health care system in needing emergency care in hospitals ranging from 3rd world status in china to supposidly accredited university ER’s in the states, all of which could not figure out what was “wrong” with me…that i can attest to the many claims of care that i make about how i think people should eat and be aware of the food that they consume nowadays if they care about their own survival at all (their own darwininan bar of fit at least). and wouldn’t you be happier if you not only “got by”, but strived to live a happier, more productive, and energetic lifestyle? :)
i know i do
and i write to share it all,
i write to share my stories
i write in hopes that maybe you will find some familiarity in my words,
to these confusing definitions set by institutions and systems in society that i have learned to challenge and ask questions about, that run my country
cuz let’s face it
we’re all going to die.
isn’t it all about the time we spend here and making it count that really matters?

Hmm,
thank you for giving me your life so i can eat*
and as a dear friend said to me once in high school:
“awareness is everything, yet nothing at all. it is what you choose to do with your knowledge that validates it’s existence in the world” – eL.
so young, so wise,
and so honest.

and sometimes,
it’s just so hard to swallow
because it’s hard.
but it’s the truth, and i can sugar coat it for you,
but sometimes,
you just need some good ol’ h2ohhhhhh!
;)
- J

i was so full the other day, even though i was at work and i knew i hadn’t eaten in about 6 hours straight, but my instincts when i’m stressed out is always — feed my body when i’m tired, because if i don’t get enough sleep, then at least i can get enough calories to counterbalance how i feel – which is lacking something

well, it doesn’t happen that way i guess.
because the next thing that happend was that i went to see my circulation doctor and she said that i had over eaten in the past week, that i was “stuck” and that i needed to detox. and clear my system.
“how’s your appetite?”
“eh, i completely lost it… and i work around food all day long, it’s very strange to know that i SHOULD eat, but don’t feel like it”
“yea, you need to empty your system, it’s stressed out”
“haha, all of me is stressed out right now, so what can i eat?”
- PLUM JUICE.
like oldies do every morning,
i was in dire need of some fibre and liquids.

and the coolest part was –
instinctually i knew it.
because for 3 days, all i was craving was a big fat salad, or liquids like soup, juice, and water when i was at work,
but sometimes getting to eat what you crave at exactly when you crave it isn’t so easy.
(you’d think it is when you work in a kitchen with a huge menu, and hence a ton of MISE EN PLACE to pick from to eat everyday, but my schedule sometimes just doesn’t allow me to even go Pee when i have to for hours!)

so i guess this is where i can get creative.
haha..
i put together a variety of meals with the mise that i do find, which can be fun.
a 4 oz piece of salmon here, some couscous from the special on that section of my plate, a strawberry from my own station, and ooh salads! grab some spinach and shaved peppers there…
vola! mmmm, BRUNNER.

sometimes, i just feel like a machine at work, pumping out dessert after dessert
(my favourite is when a chit comes through my printer and says something like -
“ice cream, cream anglaise on the side – dairy allergy, or berries, but no extra sugar, or bread pudding (with a crushed pecan topping) no nuts – nut allergy”
like WTF??
that’s like saying:
“dessert please, no sugar” — can you pick out the components of the food that don’t suit my diet or health requirements because i want to eat it anyway???
hmmm.
how does that work?

well,
it doesn’t.

listen to your body,
and learn to make adjustments.
haha, it’s funny that people will crave certain foods, but don’t realize what they’re actually craving.
as in, what their bodies are actually telling them that they are depleted of.
i believe that your cravings never lie.
because your body never lies
if you’re feeling lethargic, low energy, or loss of appetite, it MEANS something…

i totally loss my appetite last week,
and i thought it was cuz i was sad,
but it’s also cuz i overate heavy foods and force fed myself because i was so tired and exhausted at work that i thought, the more i ate, the more energy i would have,
but it was making me feel even more tired because i was putting my digestive system in stress…
how funny my bodily sensitivity can be.
and then i did a detox,
and i was hungry after 2 days of a few bites of fruits and veggies here and there, plum juice galore, and three or four number twos all day…
it felt so good to be HUNGRY again.
i wanted food,
because my body was like, umm, ok, i’m ready!
FEED ME now
give me nutrients!!!

and my mouth was craving all sorts of flavours
and i often experience this –
my stomach says stop, but my mouth says i want more banging flavours in my mouth…
hahah what a feeling!!

so i try to figure out what i want,
what an understatement huh?!?! :)

for instance –
if you are feeling like something sweet,
try eating fruit instead of candy
if you’re craving something greasy
try eating some good fats like avocado, nuts, instead of say french fries
if you’re craving something salty, your body needs to retain some water, some liquids, because sodium holds water
if you want like a huge steak or burger –
maybe you need protein and iron

make good choices, your body with thank you later ;)
it’s like a savings account
if you put good stuff in,
it’ll swirl around and give you interest back
if you keep spending it,
it’ll all go away and deplete fast.
and who likes to go down to zero?

be good to yourself!
happy eating ;)

– Hoai: hey i have one question for you
what are the evils of high fructose corn syrup?
my friend told me he avoids it, so now i do too
me: it’s “toxic”, like margerine
it’s the kind of sugar that’s all chemically formed –
it throws your insulin off balance, so you’ll hit sugar crashes
AND, b/c it tricks your body in insulin production, you’ll keep eating more – that’s how ppl get fat
you’ll keep eating b/c your body is craving the nutrients, but b/c you’re producing all the insulin, the cravings will be for sugar..
and hence it’s a vicious cycle.
and since it’ll make you crave sugar, it’s all empty calories that you’ll be eating..
ka-peesh?

Hoai: sounds like.. cocaine!
me: yeaaa
me: AND cuz there’s shitloads of it — it’s a cheap way of using all the over produced corn in this country
it’s CHEAP to sell to companies to use as sweeteners
Hoai: ok i will stay away
me: hahaha

Hoai: what other ingredients should i avoid in my food?
me: mmm, don’t think avoid –
Think EAT MORE OF –
like veggies, fruit, wheat,
potatoes.
the more of those whole foods and GOOD stuff your system gets, the more nutrients that will actually FEED u
so then all the other stuff like – meat proteins, dairy, and fats will be like bonuses
Hoai: yeah, PROTEIN – where can i go for wheat?
me: couscous -
bread
rice
cereal
(easy on the cereals with lots of sugar though, anything not processed, and any kind of cereal that actually takes longer to cook is less processed and better for you, like hot oatmeal, try to stay away from the 1min stuff, even thought i used to be a big fan of it too…guilty.)
wheatberries
quinoa
any kind of Legumes really –
beans
green beans
peas
mm, start with THIS CHART (link)
that i found on veganpeace.com –
anything on the list is good
and the thing is,
the more whole foods you eat, the more full you actually get.
no empty calories
and by “whole foods” i mean, anything without a package
and anything without listed ingredients that you a) can’t pronounce or recognize b) has more than 5 ingredients, c) something your grandmother wouldn’t recognize either
try to treat yourself to GOOD proteins when you do want meat or fish or chicken — like stuff that is pastured (as in, the animal actually eats grass and not corn)
and organic meats and seafood that have no growth hormone or antibiotics in it. and because of that, all the saturated FAT in these organic foods are pure and GOOD for u. you need fats to absorb stuff like Vitamin A and E in your body (they are fat soluble)
and if you eat like this, you’ll FEEL so different,
you’ll FEEL great! truly.

i was starving the other day, woke up and i ate a steamed sweet potato, a scrambled egg, a vanilla yogurt, and i blended an orange, an apple, and a banana into a smoothie before i went to work. –
and it felt so good!! :)

i love that all my reading has paid off — :) :) :)
Michael Pollan’s IN DEFENSE OF FOOD (link)
and Marion Nestle’s WHAT TO EAT (link)

and my jlo special flambe smoked lamb shanks were a hit too…
well, other than the fact that i almost burnt the house down.
no joke.
but it’s quite funny now that i think about it. hahaha.
i’ve never been so calm watching my food burst into flames before. and of all things, a grease fire.
seriously, after working in a kitchen at a fancy french restaurant where things are supposed to be flambed, nothing phases me anymore… well, until i realized that i was cooking for 8 people in my mom’s tiny unorganized kitchen with my sixteen year old untrained (as in with the culinary world) sister who was freaking out.
“umm, yee chea!!! it’s smoking, it’s smoking… aghh shit.” yeah.
— AND, that the asian pacific brand fume hood over my pan was not exactly umm, how to say: industrial strength?

ok. think jlo think! don’t freak out cuz the rest of the LO’s are and all ran into the kitchen to “help”…
my mom ran into the kitchen screaming. “daddy aghhh!! say LAH! help!” — “it’s ok, it’s ok, i got it under control” i scream back, but then, poof, it got bigger… shit don’t panic.

and i guess the lo’s are used to relying on my dad to jump in whenever we have any sort of family emergency, like the time we all jumped up onto the counter (all 4 of us ladies including my mother) at a vacation rental house in hawaii cuz two mice ran across the kitchen — UMM< DADDDDDD!!! lol.

anyway, you can control this chef, come on, tHINK!
turn off the heat jlo.
ok good.
now throw a lid on it. cover it. shit. it’s still burning. not working…
and at that point, i love that the boy scout in my dad blew at it, umm, whut?!. what are you doing dad!? –
POOF, the rest of the corn oil in the pan that was already smoking that was under the lid, caught on fire at that moment too…
almost like one of those polynesian eat fire shows where the man blows out fire from his mouth, but instead that man was my dad, and he was breathing it.
and exactly then, i grimaced because i almost lost my eyebrows, and the rest of the family screamed in unison.
LOL.
“ok dad, STOP. DON’T BLOW ON IT! i got it… ”
and now i was thinking, “stupid corn oil, your smoke point is lower than that other stupid olive/veggie mix that is the only thing my mom uses in this house…”
think jlo think! — what did chef ted teach us? — right, SALT, or FLOUR. whichever is in plenty or nearest. SMOTHER WITH FLOUR, B was making a PIE So where’s the FREAKING AP?…
grab me that AP!
i dumped about half the 5 lb bag over my pan, it got smaller, so i took the lid off, witnessed another flare up, and dumped the rest of the flour on top.
worked like a charm.

next thought was (AS I AM A COOK AT HEART): SAVE THE LAMB SHANKS!! Those suckers were organic, expensive, and still good still good! They weren’t on fire, the oil was!! And they’re browned so beautifully!! So i dug them out of the flour mound. calmed my mom, told her and my sister to go back to watching the movie, asked B to run downstairs to grab the vaccum, and my dad opened all the windows. He calmed the smoke alarm, and i cleaned up, organized myself again and resumed xmas dinner cooking, T-minus one hour before uncle, auntie lu, and grandpaaa got here.
I peeked into the oven, and like an oblivious bird, the turkey was un-phased. haha, ok good. *few* thank you xmas miracle.
geeessseee lousieee…

SOOOOooOo.
jlo’s cooking tip #1
HOW TO PUT OUT A KITCHEN GREASE FIRE.
- stop. think. stay calm. turn the heat off of your pan or whatever you’re using on your stove top.
don’t panic.
- never never blow on a greese fire.
- never never put water on a grease fire either.
- Smother it with FLOUR, or SALT, and if you have a lid big enough, COVER It.
(you will only feed the fire if you add — oxygen, wind, air, or more heat to it) You want to take away the oxygen component of the fire to put it out. so smother the sucker, aiight? bingo? smango.
*** a fire has three major components -like a pyramid that keep it going – oxygen, dry heat, and the element that is burning — so basically a fire will go out if you have one of the 3 legs of the pyramid thrown off balance — oxygen can be taken away with smothering, dry heat away when the heat source is removed or water is added, and or you wait for the element that is burning to burn out (in which case if the fire is still burning after you put the lid on it for a kitchen grease fire, put the pot/pan into a cold oven carefully and with triple padding oven mits and long sleeves, and let it burn out. if you live in canada and it’s a winter time, make a run for the door and stick the sucker in the snow if you’re even able to carry the burning pan. (that was my plan B tonight) This is when you can call the fire dept if you’re still freaking out, or if it’s just getting out of control.

- always keep a fire extinguisher near your kitchen if you cook a lot. (we have two, but i love that in a bind, no one thought of to grab it, well i was thinking to grab it if the flour didn’t work so well, cuz it’s a lot of chemical, but also, a large size fire extinguisher will only last about 8 seconds, we have two tiny home sized ones)

i’m lucky i paid attention to all the fire safety programs we had in elementary school back in the day and have always been intregued with fire, i’m quite the pyro when i go camping, but, even so, be careful.
fire can be fun,
and cooking can be fun,
but always always exercise caution.

JLO TIp #2
HOW TO PREVENT KITCHEN GREASE FIRES FROM HAPPENING.

-ALWAYS USE HIGH SMOKE POINT OILS / FATS if you’re going to SAUTE, STIR FRY, GRILL, or DEEP FRY, SHALLOW/PAN FRY IN YOUR HOUSE.
– peanut oil, canola, clarified butter. work well.
– olive oils (extra virgin, non virgin, whatever), grapeseed oil, and the like, should be eaten raw — try them in salads! :)

when / if you see your PAN or OILs start to SMOKE in your PAN, remove the pan from heat source immediately and Grab a fistful of salt or flour just in case. When a fat starts to smoke, it’s ABOUT to BURST go into flames.

SO BE CAREFUL,
and ENJOY COOKING!! :)

ps – my smoked lamb shank came out beautifully after i “browned” it good in my flambed pan, LOL. i braised it with mirepoix (25% carrot, 25% celery, 50% onion), leeks, garlic, thyme, corriander, a bay leaf, two cloves, pancaged it with one cut up tomato, deglazed it with half a bottle of red wine, and cover with a pint of beef stock and a pint of veggie stock to stew for 1 1/2 hours on stove top or in oven at 375 F.

xoxox, Happy safe cooking this Holiday!! xoxox

Welcome to my Gastro Heaven.
I have decided to start blogging about the thing that makes my world go roundy round, what floats my boat, and what my gutt talks to me about each and every day; and that is precisely – FOOD
I grew up learning to listen to the conversation between my head and my heart, and i have finally realized that at the ripe young age of 25 (yes, a pretty monumental year don’t you think? ;) ) – that my gutt has been feeling oh so left out.
so here,
in this space you will find:

new foods, new nutritional wonders, properly written recipes (yes there are a lot of not so good ones out there – and that’s a mouthful to say at which i am ready to challenge), and a daily blog of what i’ve eaten. sounds familiar? maybe. that’s for you to judge.
this is how i roll. jlo styles.
cuz
jlo eats.

i live to eat / i eat to live

and i LOVE to write about it.
and that is my motto in life.

except let’s make this fun shall we?

Food should be fun, food should be orgasmic, and food should be everything you’ve ever dreamt of.
Why shouldn’t it be?
Food can inspire you, food can sustain you, & food needs to FEED YOUR body mind and soul.
Why can’t it?

scared and confused about what to eat? about what is safe to eat anymore? and most importantly what is – dun, dun, dun – HEALTHY?!?
me too!
so talk to me, walk with me on my lifelong journey to discover
what should jlo eat today?!
and the question that is always on my mind and minds alike -the same question that will always always be asked every single day of your life whether you know it or not -
What should i have for BRUNNER- (BReakfast-LUNch-dinNER) today/tonight/tomorrow?
(and what the heck did i have yesterday!?)

my stomach loves to hug yours :)
-Jay