Food & Nutrition

  • Food & Nutrition

    Date balls anyone?

    In this month’s grocery haul, I talked about making use of the cashews I bought from TJ’s by incorporating them into this tasty and easy to make snack.  This may be one of few cooking post I ever write, so that’s how you know these date balls are special.

    A year ago, I didn’t know what a dates were.  I just assumed they were figs and therefore would not like them.  For anyone like me, dates are a sweet fruit that grows on trees, date palms, and are native to the Middle East according to bonappetit.com.  They look like this:

    Basically_Medjool-Dates
    Source Image

    Fast forward to today, I buy dates often, primarily because of this recipe from Mona and Olive. I am not a chef and this is not a cooking blog, but  this is definitely worth sharing.

    I like this particular recipe because it doesn’t require a food processor, which I don’t have the space or money for.  Also, you can incorporate protein powder– I use my mocha flavored Vega protein powder–and the outcome tastes like actual fudge.

    Here are the instructions:

    Ingredients
    1 cup of dates chopped
    1 cup of nuts or seeds chopped. I use raw cashews and chai seeds to fill the gaps of the cup
    2 tablespoons of cocoa
    1-2 tablespoons of coconut oil (optional)
    1 tablespoon of protein powder (optional)
    coconut to roll in

    What you do
    1. In a saucepan place the dates with 1/4 cup of water, place on medium heat until reach a slight boil. Allow to slow boil for a couple of minutes until soften. Take off heat and drain.
    2. Allow to cool.
    3. Add cocoa, protein powder and oil, mix in.
    4. Add chopped nuts and seeds, stir in.
    5. Allow to cool completely and roll into balls.
    6. Store in fridge, makes 12 – 15 balls depending on size.
    Don’t eat all at once, you will find that – that many dates are NOT your friend :-)
    Great to be put in the freezer to snack on whenever you need them, once set put a couple in a zip lock bag and put them in your work freezer great for the 3pm snack!

    My finished product!

    There are other variations with dried fruits, nut butters, etc.  If you try them, let me know what you think.  Do you have any date ball recipes that you love?

  • Food & Nutrition

    Grocery Haul: August 2018

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    Grand total: $92.29IMG-0057

    This month’s total was slightly higher primarily because I went nuts for nuts and other dried fruits.  I bought cashews, two bags of almonds, trail mix, golden raisins, normal (brown?) raisins, and coconut flakes. I knew that I would be spending a lot of time sitting down in front of a computer, so it was important to stock up on snacks that I wouldn’t feel too guilty about later.  Also, I’d been staring at this box of dates I’d bought a while ago, and I wanted to make one of the few healthy snacks that I really enjoy, date balls–post forthcoming. The recipe only calls for one cup of cashews, so I plan to use the left over nuts to mix in with stir-fry and of course to just eat by the handful when I get the urge.  Given that they were about 50% of my grocery bill, this month’s VIP is easily nuts.

    Disclaimer: In addition to going to Trader Joe’s once a month, I go to a local store to buy produce and whatnot about once a week.

     

  • Food & Nutrition, Saving Money

    Grocery Haul: July 2018

    Grand total: $85.50

    This is a bit more than I usually spend, but given that I’m working in the library every day during the week, I bought a lot of snacks like raisins, dates, nuts, trail mix and instant coffee.  The nuts especially are relatively more expensive than the other things that I bought.

     

     

     

     

     

    Highlight Buy: Instant coffee packets

    I am by no means a coffee snob.  The most adventurous thing I’ve ever ordered at Starbucks was probably a white hot chocolate.  When I can’t get free coffee from school,  I order a small “tall” black coffee and add sugar–that’s it. My highlight for this month  buy is the TJ instant coffee packets because they get the job done-no frills just facts.

    The instant packets from Trader Joe’s come with sugar and cream already included, which means that I don’t have to grab a handful of sugar packets from Starbucks.   I used to buy the instant packets from Starbucks, but the Trader Joe’s version costs $1.99 for ten packets, and it’s super convenient to just grab one from my desk when I need a little caffeine boost.

    Until next month!

  • Food & Nutrition

    My Trip to Peru in Food

    School is out and so am I.  I’ve noticed that I seem to go through these ebbs and flows in my life when there are years when I do lots of traveling and then years when I am in the US full time.  This also mirrors when I have at least one of the following 1)money to spend 2) free time (before studying for my qualifying exam, of course).  This is turning out to be a year of globetrotting.  After coming back from Cuba, which I talked about in my last post, I spent 7 days and 6 nights in Peru with my mom where we went to Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu.

    With all of the hiking, walking and stair climbing that was required for this trip, I had absolutely 0 qualms about eating whatever I wanted.

    Before coming to Peru, I knew very little about the food options there other than Peruvian chicken–Pio Pio anyone? One of my classmates is from Lima, but other than the one time she invited the cohort over her house to eat, I had a pretty inexperienced pallet when it came to Peruvian cuisine.  By no means do I think this post captures what  local people eat, but if you want to know what a first time visitor might find, keep reading.

    Every breakfast had some sort of a sweet treat.  We stayed in hotels that offered  breakfasts, and I don’t have much self control when it comes to baked goods.  The fruit was very fresh and similar to what is available in the states–I love mangos!
    This fruit salad was only 4 dollars and it came with yogurt!
    I’m sure that I had at least one Pisco Sour a day–they were so good and honestly give mojito’s a run for their money.  I brought a small bottle of Pisco home with me and may attempt to make the drink on my own.
    IMG-3760
    I had the best Pisco Sour in Machu Picchu!
    Restaurante Alfresco–food was good Pisco was great! We ran into singer Mike Bahía here too!
    Quinoa was also in abundance, so I was really impressed with the way the many ways they incorporated it.  This inspired me to try and step my game up.
    Quinoa soup with vegetables
    I am also not a very adventurous eater, and I don’t eat red meat, so I was a little limited on what I could eat in terms of the local cuisine.  I had a bite of ceviche (marinated raw fish) and didn’t even attempt the cuy (roasted guinea pig), but I heard that it tastes like chicken with a chewy exterior.  They have over 100 varieties of potatoes in Peru, so I ate lots of those paired with grilled chicken or trout.
    IMG-3810
    Cheesy trout and potatoes.  Coca sour in the background.
    Also, because there is a large Chinese population, I had to try Chi-fa, a Peruvian-Chinese fusion that is readily available in fast food chains around the country. In a lot of ways, it just tasted like the ‘Chinese’ food I was used to here, but, I appreciated the experience.
    My meal at the popular China Wok fast-food chain with Inca Cola on the side
    If there are any great traditional dishes that I missed, I’d love to know.  Of course, there was no way for me to get really immersed, but this little glimpse into Peru through the food was a lot of fun. Do you all have any trips planned during summer break?  If so, what’s your vacation philosophy when it comes to health and wellness?