Guest Post: Hubby's Crash Course-Photography Lesson 101

I hope you guys enjoyed your weekend!  I sure have- I had the whole weekend off, even from blogging.  The post below is another guest post from the hubby.  I am incredibly biased, but I love when he steps in and shows things from his own perspective.  This post is another recap from our recent trip and I love his new skill of photography and am so happy to share it with you.  I hope you enjoy this post.
 
Hello Friends! While One Healthy Apple has already done a great job recapping our recent vacation to Australia and New Zealand, there is one other dimension to the trip that is worth sharing. This dimension is our (well, mostly mine) evolution in photography skills. The trip provided a great opportunity to familiarize myself with the new and relatively advanced camera, the Canon Rebel we recently purchased (after standing out at the recent Foodbuzz conference as what seemed like the only couple not taking food photos with a professional camera).  In addition to breaking in the camera, I also brought several photography books with us that I tried to draw upon throughout our trip.  After taking more than 800 photos on the trip, it is still unclear whether I have learned anything and whether I have any artistic ability when it comes to photography.  However, given the beauty of some of the places I was able to capture (please don't judge HOW they are captured - I'm still a beginner), good photographs were not difficult to take (or at least trying to take). I started with these in Sydney.

These photos made me question if I am better at capturing certain elements more than others. Am I a nature photographer? Do I have an eye for an urban theme? In New Zealand I tested my skills with nature shots.  I was especially impressed by sky and water.  New Zealand sky had a lot of character - dynamic, with clouds reflecting sun light and colors constantly changing, mirroring the diverse landscape of the island. Clouds were very low hanging and provided a dramatic look, covering the peaks of various mountains and hill tops. The sunsets sparking the New Zealand sky were even more beautiful. The views were so stunning that the photos (at least my photos) do not tell half the story, but here are a few anyway.

Water impressed us the most in New Zealand.  Whether in the ocean, inner lakes, or glaciers, its color was striking turquoise, one of the brightest colors on the island.  Its clarity allowed great reflections of the landscape around it, which I tried to capture.

I also tried taking artistic photos of One Healthy Apple or photos of us together.

On our trip, I learned as much about using light, exposure, and aperture, as I did about the two countries' history, culture, and culinary landscape.  But even after taking 800+ photos, the one lesson I learned, is that I have some stiff competition with One Healthy Apple's artistic photography level, and have admired her photos the most. Here are some of my favorites.

 

It's me again- see you later this week for some more regular posts.  I am participating in the Vegan For A Week Challenge, hosted by Morgan of Life After Bagels.  I'm excited to see how living the vegan lifestyle will work!

Food Flops

I'm so excited for another weekend- no big plans but the Superbowl, weekend yoga, and spending time at home will be fun. 

3 Week Lifestyle Update
This week marks week 3 of my new lifestyle and I'm still doing fine.  I can't say I love it 100% but I seem to be craving sugary treats a lot less since I know I would have to try to make them myself or spend a ton of money on packaged treats and that kind of misses the whole point.  I have screwed up food combining a couple of times with food order (see example of eats below) but I still say as long as I do it most of the time, my head won't spontaneously combust.  My big milestone is February 28 and I'll probably have a big chunk of chocolate that day.  A BIG chunk of chocolate.  My coworkers are probably more excited about this than I am.  At this point, I think I may implement this permanently and live happily ever after as long as it includes some occasional treats, just ask me again in a couple more weeks.

Food Flops
Not everything I have been eating is fabulous.  I made amaranth and found the texture absolutely foul.  It tasted like something people eat in jail, so I had to camouflage it a LOT to not throw it all out.  I am guessing I did something wrong when cooking it.  Here is how I ended up eating it:

Amaranth in a jar- amaranth mixed with goat milk yogurt, chia seeds, squirt of agave nectar, almond butter, and raspberries.  Between the presentation, the actual food substance, and the combination, it wasn't bad, but very mediocre.

The other flop is the juice I bought from Safeway's Organics line.  There is nothing wrong with fruit juice, but the label said it was a pomegranate juice- apparently it's a pomegranate juice blend.  It tasted like grape juice and that is just wrong.  When I see a picture of a pomegranate I expect it to kinda taste like the juice it needs to be.  This one was my fault for not reading the label more carefully.  I still drank it, but diluted it with a gallon of water.

Things I Love
Enough whining on a Friday!  Here are the things I am loving right now:

Artisana Raw Organic Coconut Butter (picture source)

White watches (picture source)

Millet Bread from Food For Life (picture source)

What are you loving right now?

I'm Not Perfect: The Hummus Course

The Hummus Course
Not that I have you guys fooled, but I think we can all agree the healthy living blog community likes to keep things beautifully edited and styled- from food pictures to meal posts.  I like to keep things positive because I love the uplifting community and the motivation I get from interacting with you guys.  However, I think sometimes we perpetuate a life of perfection.  It's 9:30 PM and I just settled in after my workout, bringing stuff in from the car, cooking buckwheat for tomorrow (you're welcome, hubby), and packing lunches.

In case you ever had a fleeting thought that I have my stuff together, I present you with my typical weeknight culinary delight- the hummus course.  I really, really like having this and eat something more filling along with it.  The sharp objects in the background are optional.

Instructions:
1. Fill bowl with veggies
2. Dip in hummus
3. Refill bowl and repeat
4. Find a nice snack to eat after, like millet toast with almond butter and coconut butter

I did make something last night that was true perfection.  We all know Gena's banana soft serve, yes?  Since I'm not eating chocolate or other fun stuff like ice cream, I made my own soft serve and added some raspberries and it was fabulous. I ate it out of order in food combining rules, but it was perfect according to my rules.

Adapted Soft Serve:
Adapted from Choosing Raw

*1 frozen banana
*1 cup of frozen raspberries
*little bit almond milk.
*Blend, blend, blend!
*Optional: coconut butter topping

 

 I loved this and I'm definitely going to be making this more often.

Question for you: Tell me your quick 5 minute go-to meal. Go!

Some New Staples

One of the things I was afraid of in cutting gluten from our shopping list was missing out on food- really good food.  I'm not even going to think about things like chocolate chip cookies, chocolate bars, ice cream, or CAKE since those items were usually for the hubby and I broke into the stash when I was extra munchy.  I'm talking about my obsession with pita chips, regular yogurt, and whole wheat bread.

I had to make adjustments and of course my other boyfriend Trader Joe's came through.  Each of these items is affordable and delicious- tested by all the members of my household. Both of us.

Going from left to right, here is my breakdown and description of our new favorites:

Rice and beans chips- these are adzuki and rice flour chips and have just a little bit of bite to them and are perfect dipped in guacamole.

Grade A Goat Milk Yogurt- tangy like regular plain yogurt but with a decidedly different taste.  I add a little bit of honey to mine and stir in some chia seeds.

Savory Mini Edamame Crackers- crunchy, salty, made with soy flour and good with dips. 

Roasted Seaweed- good as a salad topping or on its own.  Just make sure you brush your teeth after eating this.

Brown Rice Tortillas- I found these much harder than regular tortillas so these are best heated.  I top them with almond butter, eat, and then repeat.

Brown Rice Cakes- I know these have a bad reputation as a 'diet food' but these are really good.  The brown rice makes these more hearty and a little nuttier.

Organic Red Quinoa- I love the protein content, the texture, and the color.  You can have this savory or sweet and if you are food combining (or trying to), then you can eat it with protein...which is good!

Another new staple is the gigantor salad that makes its way into my belly at least one meal a day.  I add a little of everything to it- mainly the produce that I buy on a weekly basis and a few fun items.

Arugula, spinach, red quinoa, sugar snap peas, butternut squash, kale and onions roasted in coconut oil, and fresh cilantro on top.

I topped it with some guacamole and it was a filling, delicious meal.

Question for you: What are some new products you have tried recently? 

P.S. I'm adding some pages to try to make this site a little less chaotic.  If you haven't found it hidden in the mess, check out my 'About Me' page.  Also, please let me know if you are not on my Blogroll yet and I will add you as long as you leave your URL.

New Zealand Recap: Hiking, Glaciers, and Black Swans

When we planned our trip to go to Australia and New Zealand, I had no idea what to expect when it came to New Zealand.  Not that I'm not worldly, but when I think of New Zealand, I think of The Lord of the Rings and not much else.  It turns out that there is so.much.more.  Of the 700 photos we took, I wanted to share a few things that stood out to me.  I won't drag you through the daily activities- you'll thank me later.

Most of these were photographed by the hubby, and he'll be doing a guest post to share more of the scenery and his photos with you.

We arrived in Christchurch, the main 'hub' to the South Island.  All of the water is this gray-blue color and extremely peaceful.

While it was summer time, it never really gets hot in New Zealand.  The weather hovered around the low 70s the whole time we were there- and this is what one day at the beach looked like.

Apparently the hydrangea flowers brides pay gazillions of dollars for in the US are a common garden plant.  I loved the color here- they also came in purple and other vibrant shades.

Black swans are the norm in New Zealand.  It is rare to see white swans there.

You can drive on a road for hours without ever hitting traffic.  The clouds are so close to the ground it looks like you can jump up and catch one!

We (I) stayed in a hostel for the first time ever.  You can buy food and cook it there and you share and do your own dishes...and meet lots of travelers.  I like hotels better :)





Kea birds are scary. That is all.  This one tried to open our cooler and take our food.  I ran into the car and locked the doors to hide from this dinosaur.

One of the trails we walked on had completely different 360 degree views- mountains, bush, and lots of squishy mud for me to walk through.

Two hours later on this hike we hit the top and sat on this branch to eat chocolate and trailmix.  No other food will work for recovery. Yum!

In New Zealand, once you finish a track, you have to take a picture.  Here is us with our post-hike apples in our hands and in my face.

We got pretty good at posing near tracks.

 Really, really good at it.

The pancake rocks, named for the shape of their formation were so cool.  The only thing that would have made them better would be a stack of pancakes to eat on the trail.

This blowhole went off every 10 seconds or so- I counted down so we could get a good shot of it.

See? Pancakes!  I'm not sure why I am so excited in this picture, but it was pancakes, guys.

The trails we walked on had New Zealand rain forest plants and tons of ferns.  Ferns were everywhere and I kept calling them little palm trees.

The most intense walk?  We went to see a glacier.  Walking to the glacier was an intense experience.  It was raining sideways all over us as we walked through a valley and it felt like you were walking into a refrigerator.  If it were not for this view (and my husband telling me to 'be a man') I don't think I would have made it.  I whine a lot when I'm cold and rained on.

After we walked to the glacier, we frolicked in the valley.

Everything about this trip showcased and played on the nature that makes up New Zealand.  It's hard to not be impressed by the diversity of plants, animals (except for the kea birds), and scenery and we only saw a small part of the island on this trip. If you are looking for cosmopolitan glamour and amazingly snooty food, then this is not the place for you.  However, if you want to see some crazy spectacular views, humble friendly people, and get your hike on...bring your sunglasses and a rain jacket (which will permanently be attached to you at all times) and have a great time. 

2 Week Recap on the Eats and Fitness Update

Happy almost weekend!  There is something so hopeful and fabulous about Friday that makes me all giddy for the weekend!  Don't you think so?

As promised I wanted to give another update on our new eating plan since it has been 2 weeks.  I am proud to say that I am 2 weeks sober today- no chocolate or coffee in.2.weeks.  That is insane for me!  Would I jump into a pot of coffee and a dark fudgy brownie?!  Heck yes, but I haven't yet!  This week has been fairly easy.  Overall I'm happy with how things are going and looking forward to seeing if this lifestyle is something I can maintain.  Here is a short recap and a few highlight of my favorite eats:

Highlights of the week:

• Planning, planning, planning!  All lunches, dinners, and snacks were packed for hubby (and me most of the time) and I also made a lot of progress pre-cooking for the week (go me)!
• Trying new foods and snacks (like my new beloved millet)
• I've kicked my coffee habit and feel great
• Eating lots of almond butter and avocado
• My vacation ice cream weight is gone and I'm holding stable at my happy weight
• We have been eating so.many.veggies- I have gone through 5 pounds of carrots this week and will soon be orange.   My favorite dinner is this millet, mixed greens, kale, onion, garlic, and sauce-filled salad:

This bowl is a gigantic mixing bowl.  Please don't hate on me. I get hungry.

Things that can use some improvement:

• While planning for hubby has gone fabulously, I have found myself a little unsatisfied.  I had to resort to buying these before the gym so I wouldn't pass out, my snack was missing, and that's just stuuuuuupid.  Ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right? These were yummy!

• I should make my own juice.  I bought this kale, cucumber, lemon, celery, apple juice for the price of a down payment on a condo.  No bueno.  I need to stop being lazy and make my own.  It was so good though!

•  I'm not sure if I'm getting enough protein because I get hungry pretty quickly after meals.  I'll be sure to monitor this week
• I'm probably mixing up some foods in the wrong combos and in the wrong blood type, but I'm flexible and this is not meant to be restrictive

Fitness Update
In my last post, I also mentioned that I would do a quick fitness update. I haven't been accountable lately and I think now is the time.  I'm still LOVING my yoga classes. Loving them!  However, while on vacation and hiking, I did notice that my cardio was not where it was before and I have decided to incorporate more cardio into my routine.  This may be the first time in my life that I'm eating and exercising for health and I want my fitness to reflect that too. 
My goal for now is 3 yoga classes and 3 cardio per week.  I tend to lean towards yoga, but the gym has been fine and I have had a chance to zone out, people watch, and listen to some ghetto fabulous beats while I pretend I'm in a music video in my head.  Am I the only one?  I am still not running like I said I would, but when my new shoes come in, I might give it another try.  Always time to try something new, right?

Questions for you:
1. What kind of music do you prefer to listen to when you workout? Rap and a little Euro trash house for this lady
2. Do you have any new exercise plans going on right now?  I'm adding in some cardio for my ticker.