Love Spanish wines? How about Spanish food? Maybe you just want to learn more about both by experiencing them firsthand. Your chance is less than a month away to do so!
Harrah's SoCal is hosting the 2nd Annual Latin Food & Wine Festival in the afternoon of May 2nd, and tickets are still available. Celebrate Spanish wine and Latin cuisine with Celebrity Chef Javier Plascencia that Saturday while enjoying live entertainment via Spanish guitar with flamenco dancers, Cumbia, Latin Pop, Mariachi, and Latin Jazz.
This post is one of several as part of the Mushroom Council's 30-day weight loss challenge called the #MushroomMakeover. I am being financially compensated for my participation as an ambassador for this program but the opinions and anecdotes posted are my own.
This is it - the final post. How quickly the Mushroom Makeover challenge has gone by! I am so honored to have been part of this great group of bloggers who were participating and to also have been a participant in a live Google Hangout session about mushrooms. If you haven't seen the past posts, I have just finished this Mushroom Makeover challenge held by the
Mushroom Council and
Mamavation where I replaced mushrooms for meat (or just make mushroom-centric dishes) four times a week in addition to followed some dietary guidelines and a defined workout schedule. Last week I didn't lose any weight but this week, I dropped off 1.2 lbs. While the total amount for the past 30 days might not seem impressive (2.6 absolute loss), I know that the progress has been much more impressive on my health. It is a definite truth that mushrooms are great fillers with less the calories than meat.
In addition to my weight in pounds, I was also asked to measure myself progress at specific areas. I had some interesting changes between Day One and the end date. As aforementioned, 2.6 pounds were lost but I would suspect more has been. It is very possible that doing all of my workouts has built out muscles and therefore made little progress on what is lost, numerically. I lost 2" off of my waist but gained .5" on both my hips and thighs (leg workouts and muscle growing?). I also managed somehow to lose about 2.5" from my chest! Throughout the journey though, the weight loss was secondary to getting my health back on track. With help from Corinne Dobbas, our dietitian during this program, and Mark Segedie, our physical trainer, I think I have done a good job kickstarting myself back to a healthier me. This week's meals involved some help from others in the family as they wanted to get in on the mushroom action - check the photos after the jump:
This post and giveaway are sponsored by Islands Restaurants. However, I value the integrity of my work on this website so all opinions and experiences posted are my own and as truthful as possible.
[Giveaway details at the bottom of the post] I recall having fond memories of Islands restaurants in my high school and early college years. It was a place that one of my friends introduced me to at a spontaneous dinner. He was in town with his buddies and apparently Islands was one of their favorite restaurants to visit. I stopped by to meet them and appreciated the apt decor. It soon became a restaurant where we would eat often (so I'm guessing it really
was a favorite) and I would find myself frequenting on other occasions. So when Islands Restaurants reached out about us giving them a try, I was not really hesitant. After all, it had been a few years since my last stop in, and I had enjoyed my previous visits. The restaurant seems to have grown to various locations since then but I opted for the spot where I had my first Islands experience - Huntington Beach. Before we get into my visit though, perhaps we should see where their
fine burgers & drinks come from.
This post is one of several as part of the Mushroom Council's 30-day weight loss challenge called the #MushroomMakeover. I am being financially compensated for my participation as an ambassador for this program but the opinions and anecdotes posted are my own.
I am absolutely shocked that I am still sick! Well, I say sick in the sense that I still have sniffles and cough every once in a while. Other than that, I feel fine so it's a bit of bummer since I appear to others sicker than I really feel/am. Dang. What it has certainly also done is made it a little bit difficult to get through my workouts through the Mushroom Makeover schedule but I PERSEVERE! I'm still getting through them one by one. This past week, I spent most of my days in San Diego at the Social Media Marketing World conference so I admit that I did not have much of a choice in adhering to the guidelines 100% when it comes to the lovely nutritional plan given to us by Corinne Dobbas. Nevertheless, I still managed to get my mushrooms in! I would attribute my straying from the plan to why I did not lose any weight this week but I would credit the workouts to why I also did not gain. That's right - I stayed precisely the same to a tenth of a pound. Yay, no gain!
If you haven't seen the past posts, I am heading into the final week of this Mushroom Makeover challenge held by the
Mushroom Council and
Mamavation where I replace mushrooms for meat (or just make mushroom-centric dishes) four times a week in addition to following some dietary guidelines and a defined workout schedule. So far so good, and I have been losing some weight along the way. Given that they are low in sodium and quite filling though lesser in calories than other protein sources, mushrooms are a great way to go when it comes to making meals. I was already a fan of the fungi but after these past few weeks, am a bigger fan! For Week Three, I had gone a little bit in the direction of comfort food. Check out the recipes after the jump:
This post is one of several as part of the Mushroom Council's 30-day weight loss challenge called the #MushroomMakeover. I am being financially compensated for my participation as an ambassador for this program but the opinions and anecdotes posted are my own.
How long is it that people say you need to do something daily before it becomes a habit? After Week 2, this
Mushroom Makeover feels more like a habit which is fantastic. In fact, I think both Duc and I are starting to get the hang of it, eating mushrooms often and filling our days with healthy foods. If you are just tuning in on this post about the #MushroomMakeover, I'll give you a brief rundown - for 30 days starting March 10th, I have been participating (along with other bloggers) in a weight loss "challenge" by the
Mushroom Council and
Mamavation where I have to replace four meals per week with mushrooms, follow a dietitian's food plan, and participate in a workout plan. It was a tough start at first just because I had to find ways to add in workouts to my already jam-packed days but it has been great since I need that kind of structure to get back into shape!
For Week 2, we found some beautiful mushrooms in a local Asian supermarket that we know as a good source of great produce. This resulted in our abundant shopping cart that held several varieties of mushrooms typically used in Asian cuisine so I decided to do an Asian Week for the Mushroom Makeover! Luckily for us, there is already so much umami in mushrooms and a lower salt content that I didn't have to worry too much about seasoning my dishes. I was also surprised at how quickly these dishes came together, and I absolutely recommend working some mushrooms into your meals. As for the physical progress, I've lost a total of
1.4 lbs since the last weigh-in last week so whoohoo for that! Our dietitian, Corinne Dobbas, has been a fantastic and supportive resource these past two weeks. Anyhow, recipes below!
This post is one of several as part of the Mushroom Council's 30-day weight loss challenge called the #MushroomMakeover. I am being financially compensated for my participation as an ambassador for this program but the opinions and anecdotes posted are my own.
Wow. The first week is over already? I can hardly believe it. I started the
Mushroom Makeover Challenge just last Monday but I have definitely learned a lot more about myself than I thought I would. I posted last week about what the program was about but in short, it's a 30-day challenge sponsored by the
Mushroom Council and hosted by
Mamavation for 15 bloggers to replace at least 4 of their meals' meat with mushrooms. I love mushrooms so I was more than happy to be a part but then I started learning more about their nutritional value, their overall health benefits, and creative ways to use them. We also have the lovely guidance of an oh-so-helpful dietitian, Corinne Dobbas, and a personal trainer, Mark Segedie, who both have meal and
workout plans ready for us!
So what's been happening so far? It's called a weight loss challenge, right? I weighed myself at the start of the program and want to track that progress weekly. Bodily measurements, I'll be checking at the end of the 30 days to see where they've gone.
For Week 1, I'm actually quite happy to say that my weight stayed exactly the same to the tenth of a pound. Why am I not disappointed in that? Well, with the workout plan in place, I know for sure that I have been building muscle back in my body and muscle "weighs more," as in it is denser than fat. If I'm regaining muscle mass but my weight hasn't changed, I must have lost weight somewhere (is my logic right? haha). I'd say that's pretty good considering that a sore throat came on Friday afternoon and I had to miss that day's workout! Aside from the exercising, a good food regimen helps manage the weight, and having mushrooms fill me up just the same as meat does while taking in less calories is a major bonus. I've got my mushroom meals posted after the jump!
This post is one of several as part of the Mushroom Council's 30-day weight loss challenge called the #MushroomMakeover. I am being financially compensated for my participation as an ambassador for this program but the opinions and anecdotes posted are my own.
All of us need a kick in the butt every once in a while. At the start of 2014, I told myself that I would be more focused on my health this year because the food blogger habits were catching up on my waistline and sleep schedule. I am the biggest now that I have ever been, and that is troubling to me. When I went to my first blogger/media event in late 2012, I took a look at the copious amounts of food we would be tasting and
promised to Duc and myself (he promised too) that we'd continue to stay fit throughout all of the events. Less than two years later, we look down at ourselves and know that we broke that promise long ago.
The problem is...it's so much easier to gain that weight than lose it, isn't it? Working full-time (with an hour-long commute each way!) and running Much Ado About Fooding while trying to balance other responsibilities doesn't leave many hours in the night for sleeping nor time for exercise. Even though I said 2014 would be a huge change, I've only done little things here and there that are different. Then came the
#MushroomMakeover challenge.
'Tis the season for comfort food, and sweet potato easily makes it to the top of that list. I'm also a fan of soups during the colder weather. When
Savory Spice Shop's seasonal recipes hit my inbox though, it was relieving to see that they had a solution for these two cravings: a
sweet potato bisque. Chai spices, dark brown sugar, white pepper - it had all the makings of a cozy night in. Of course, you could also bring this creamy delight to your holiday parties or serve it as a starter to dinners but let's be selfish for a moment with this beaut and pretend it's all for you. The recipe and directions below are from Savory Spice Shop's recipe repertoire!
Step 1: Ingredients (yields 4 cups)
Step 2: Preparing sweet potatoes
Peel sweet potatoes and dice. Place Chai spices into the muslin bag and combine it with the sweet potatoes and chicken stock in a large pot. Boil over high heat until sweet potatoes are fork tender (about 15 to 20 minutes). Remove muslin bag and sweet potatoes, reserving liquid in the pot.
Step 3: Finishing
In a food processor, puree potatoes until smooth, adding chicken stock as needed to get desired thickness. Add brown sugar and spices; pulse to combine. Add heavy cream and apple juice; pulse to incorporate. Pour out and enjoy! I cracked some black pepper on mine.
Photography by Duc Duong.
This post was sponsored by Savory Spice Shop who provided us with the spices necessary to prepare this recipe.
Some may think that the bird is the main show of Thanksgiving but I think it's the side dishes that make you give in and forget all about any diets. As you start to gather recipes together, consider these delicious orange and maple whipped sweet potatoes. They are creamy and light but bold in flavor (and in my opinion, better than a typical mashed sweet potatoes dish). I normally have a
Test Kitchen recipe posted on Tuesdays but knowing that the holidays are upon us, I predicted not being able to prepare something in time. However,
Savory Spice Shop had me covered because they have recipes posted online for all to try. This particular recipe for sweet potatoes requires just a handful of ingredients too so it's simple. I appreciate the way the orange zest (we used a navel orange)gives a unique pop to the dish. If you want the full recipe on their site, it's
available here. Ingredients and directions below are by their instructions online.
Step 1: Ingredients (yields 6 servings)
Step 2: Prepping the sweet potatoes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse and scrub sweet potatoes. Poke a few holes in each with a fork and rub each lightly with oil. Place on a large foil-lined baking sheet and bake until easily pierced through with a knife, about 45 minutes. (While I waited for them to bake, I prepped the other ingredients.) Remove from oven and let cool until comfortable to handle. Peel off skins and slice flesh directly into the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment. (I used a hand mixer since I didn't have an electric mixer to use.)
Step 3: Finishing
Add remaining ingredients and whisk at medium speed, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary, until smooth. Transfer to a large baking dish and serve or cover and place in a warm oven until ready to serve.
They also have suggested examples of alternative spice blends to use when making this dish such as
Bucktown Brown Mustard & Honey Ham Rub,
Pumpkin Pie Spice,
Garam Masala,
Park Hill Maple & Spice Pepper or
Brown Sugar & Spice Honey Ham Rub.
*
Their notes on this spice blend: "We handcraft this ras el hanout from cinnamon, turmeric, nutmeg, mace, white pepper, galangal, black and green cardamom, ginger, anise, allspice, rose petals, cloves, lavender, orris root and cayenne. Marrakech, one of our curry style blends, joins Ras el Hanout, Tan-Tan Moroccan and Harissa to give you a nice selection of Moroccan spice mixtures."
Photography by Duc Duong.
This post was sponsored by Savory Spice Shop who provided us with the spices necessary to prepare this recipe.
Who here wants a chance to get at a 12 piece set of
T-fal Stainless Steel with Thermo-spot? Heck, I know I would (but unfortunately I can't as a participant in gifting these things). I and an insane number of other food bloggers are teaming up with
Cooking Planit once again to provide for you a giveaway worth talking about and sharing. The Cooking Planit T-fal Giveaway gives you a chance to get your hands on one of these beauties to get your cooking itch scratched. Aren't they beautiful?
The last time you probably heard of
Cooking Planit on this blog was from the
huge spice giveaway we did in March with 49 other awesome bloggers. We posted up, also, a
recipe from using the app as well as a
product review of the process of using it. It's a pretty nifty program to use for beginning cooks to more medium-level cooks who need better ways to help with meal planning and kitchen timing. Enter Cooking Planit.
So what is Cooking Planit? It's an app that walks you step by step while cooking. This includes prompting of when to prep a certain ingredient and when to start another while notifying of when a third may be already done. It helps with pre-planning, shopping, and even cooking by keeping you on track and not wasting time. Whether you don't have enough time in the day to think of all of these things or you are just looking for ways to hack your meal making, Cooking Planit works to have your bases covered and has been awarded by Toque Magazine in 2012 with the Best Food App Award for Best Cooking.
Pictured above is the
Creamy Orzo with Corn and Peas recipe done with Cooking Planit. You can check them out by visiting their
app page.
Curious about the actual cookware now though? This set of T-fal Thermo-spot "combines
the
best
of
both
worlds:
with
a
sleek
exterior
of
brushed
stainless
steel
and
the
T-fal
patented
non-stick
interior
and
unique
Thermo-spot™
technology
this
set
is
the
ultimate
in
cookware.
Thermo-spot™
technology
indicates
when
the
pan
is
perfectly
preheated
by
changing
from
the
pattern
spot
to
solid
red,
to
seal
in
the
flavor
of
your
food
and
eliminate
food
soaking
in
oil
prior
to
heating.
The
stainless
steel
base
delivers
optimal
heat
distribution,
eliminates
hot
spots
and
prevents
warping
for
a
lifetime
of
outstanding
cooking
results." Included will be oven safe (to 500F), dishwasher safe, stainless steel cookware:
- 8" saute pan
- 10" saute pan
- 1 qt. saucepan & cover
- 2 qt. saucepan & cover
- 3 qt. saucepan & cover
- 5 qt dutch oven & cover
- 2 stainless glass lids
They'll come with a limited lifetime warranty too! On how to enter, check out the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway entry period will last two weeks, and prize fulfillment will be completed by Cooking Planit. My thanks go out for this opportunity to gift my readers!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You can also increase your chances by visiting any of the main bloggers featuring their own set to give away as well.
[THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED: Congrats to Christopher S. for winning!] IT'S LIVE! I hope you had kept today on your radar for the launch of my super awesome
Cooking Planit spice giveaway. Courtesy of Cooking Planit and Spices Inc., I happily get to give away to one of you lucky readers a spice set of 26 of the most commonly used spices (retail value: $100+). As you may already know, there were 49 other bloggers given this opportunity which gave you more chances to win. The full list below shows you whose contests are still up and running.
Much Ado About Fooding's contest period is March 26 - April 1. I'll be announcing the winner (randomly chosen through the Rafflecopter program) on April 2nd. The more ways through which you participate, the more chances you have to win a newly stocked spice pantry! The winner will be contacted once chosen and must respond within 48 hours with the proper information to receive the prize which will be shipped out to the winner by the giveaway sponsor.
This means that anyone in the U.S. can win so don't be afraid to enter!
So what's in this fabulous free set? Check out the spread:
- Ground Cumin
- Basil
- Saigon Cinnamon
- Bay Leaves
- Smoked Paprika
- Thyme
- Garlic Powder
- Mediterranean Oregano
- Onion Powder
- Rosemary
- Nutmeg Powder
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Coriander Powder
- Cayenne Pepper
- Ground Cloves
- Chinese Five Spice
- Turmeric
- Curry Powder
- Yellow Mustard
- Pennsylvania Pepper
- Cardamon Powder
- Cajun Seasoning
- Allspice Powder
- Hill Country Chili Powder
- Ginger Root Powder
- Manzanillo Mexico Seasoning
So what is Cooking Planit? It's an app that walks you step by step while cooking. This includes prompting of when to prep a certain ingredient and when to start another while notifying of when a third may be already done. It helps with pre-planning, shopping, and even cooking by keeping you on track and not wasting time.
Whether you don't have enough time in the day to think of all of these things or you are just looking for ways to hack your meal making, Cooking Planit works to have your bases covered and has been awarded by Toque Magazine in 2012 with the Best Food App Award for Best Cooking.
You have multiple ways to participate in this giveaway - via Facebook, Twitter, and commenting on the blog post itself. I highly encourage you not only to enter my contest but the other contests that are also happening as well. You should
definitely also invite your friends and family to participate in this contest because it really is a swell deal, isn't it?
Cooking Planit Spice Giveaway on Much Ado About Fooding
Photography courtesy of Emily Wilson, eChef for Cooking Planit.
Uh, readers, this is just an announcement but it is a heck of a good one and a reason for you to keep posted. I've got an awesome offer from
Cooking Planit to give away to one of you lucky readers a spice set of 26 of the most commonly used spices (retail value: $100+). However, I'm not the only one giving away these grand prizes that have been gifted to us - there are 49 other foodie/mommy/tech bloggers nationwide also partaking in this giveaway. That means that
you get 50 chances to win!
The first kick-off is starting today, and they'll be continuing throughout March.
Much Ado About Fooding's contest period will be March 26 - April 1. Every day, two sets will be given away (for 25 days!), and the spices in each set are all the same. You'll get a full spread of the following:
- Ground Cumin
- Basil
- Saigon Cinnamon
- Bay Leaves
- Smoked Paprika
- Thyme
- Garlic Powder
- Mediterranean Oregano
- Onion Powder
- Rosemary
- Nutmeg Powder
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Coriander Powder
- Cayenne Pepper
- Ground Cloves
- Chinese Five Spice
- Turmeric
- Curry Powder
- Yellow Mustard
- Pennsylvania Pepper
- Cardamon Powder
- Cajun Seasoning
- Allspice Powder
- Hill Country Chili Powder
- Ginger Root Powder
- Manzanillo Mexico Seasoning
So what is Cooking Planit? It's an app that walks you step by step while cooking. This includes prompting of when to prep a certain ingredient and when to start another while notifying of when a third may be already done. It helps with pre-planning, shopping, and even cooking by keeping you on track and not wasting time.
Whether you don't have enough time in the day to think of all of these things or you are just looking for ways to hack your meal making, Cooking Planit works to have your bases covered and has been awarded by Toque Magazine in 2012 with the Best Food App Award for Best Cooking.
While I may not be starting my
giveaway until the 26th, don't forget that you have 49 other bloggers' contests to enter. Check them out below and when they're running their contests! Come back on the 26th to see how you can enter to win the set I'm going to give away.
Photography courtesy of Emily Wilson, eChef for Cooking Planit.
