Greetings from...

...Oberlin, Ohio! 3 states down, 1 to go. I am still alive, but not quite kickin - I, of course, have caught a cold and am going to be sniffling my way through the next few college tours. Good thing they're for my brother and not me! It's been a successful but LONG trip so far, and we still have 2 days left! Get ready for some serious photo overload - LuLu the Canon camera has been my faithful friend all along :) We've been eating quite well - food porn, anyone? I'll be back ;)

~Namaste~

What's in a Name...or Post Title

Welcome to...

My yard. 

A.k.a, the Gillianasana photography-practice site.

No Flash

----->

 w/ Flash.

Couldn't decide.

All my mother. I bake, she gardens. Hobbies are important.

Especially when they become your career! Yesterday I zipped down to Providence, Rhode Island to check out the Johnson & Wales culinary school campus. It hopped to the forefront of my list when I read about their Culinary Nutrition program and decided it was definitely worth a visit. It was indeed, and I got a lot of really good information and now have way too much thinking to do. I'm going on a college tour road trip with my brother (a senior-to-be in high school) and madre this coming week, and on the way back we are stopping in Hyde Park, New York to check out the holy land  CIA - Culinary Institute of America. It's the big one, where you go to be in the food industry. It scares me. 

That said, tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia and will be on the road until Friday night! I am bringing my mini laptop and will hope and pray to find hotels with wireless access or computers - but just in case I can't, I promise I WILL return! With pics. LOTS of pics. I'm looking at this trip as a good time to practice my [food]photography skillllllz. 

Speaking of which...breakfast anyone?

Melon is one of those foods I could (and often do) eat every day and never get sick of it. Especially this kind:

Tuscan melon!

It is a lot like canteloupe, only smaller and I find a little sweeter and stronger in taste.I had this in, where else, Florence, and fell in love. Look for those indented lines in the rind. It's amazing.

Blueberry Acai Dannon Light & Fit

Yes, another new flavor I was powerless to try. I actually really liked this - I could actually taste the acai and it blended wonderfully with the sweet blueberry! It's kind of a hard flavor to pinpoint, but I find it a little tart and a little sweet at once, a bit like pomegranate. The only issue, other than the ingredient list, is the awful fake-sugar aftertaste. WAY too sweet. I wish it had just been sweetened with real fruit! Oh well, I 'll just have to do it myself.

Nothing like a waffle on a Saturday morning (er...afternoon...)

AB-squared: apple butter + almond butter. A perfect combo.

Did some shopping at Old Navy. Ugh, shopping. I can never find exactly what I want. BUT, I did get a pretty cute dress 50% off because one of the straps was broken! Sewing won't even be necessary. LOVE that!

I came ravenous. Nothing a smoothie can't fix - especially when it involves this:

Amazing Grass's Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion protein powder.

I used half the packet + 1 c. frozen mango + 1 c. almond milk + splash vanilla. I should have added a little extra cocoa powder, but didn't.

Aglow with healthy goodness!

I didn't love the Amazing Meal - it was a little too spirulina-y for me. But I didn't hate it either, and liked it with the mango very much. Of course, I like pretty much anything with mango....Either way, as far as Amazing Grass goes, the Kidz Wildberry and Original Superfood powders are in the lead.

The liquid health theme continued with this:

I got it on sale at WFs last week. As usual with Kombucha, I have no idea what to make of this! What I love about it is the complexity of the flavor - it changes every second it's on your tongue and definitely keeps me interested. This one went from berry-sweet to flowery and then very pine-y. I probably wouldn't but it again, but it was a fun try. I wish the Honest brand would go on sale again!

Because my mother, brother and I hit the road tomorrow, we had to have Father's Day a little early.

Dinner on the patio!

Including:

My grandmother's salad: romaine, tomatoes, avocado, red onion in red wine vinegar+olive oil and S+P.

Grilled eggplant, marinated in balsamic + olive oil. Melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Probably one of my favorite things.

Roasted taters

Fresh pasta in a vegetarian sauce for me, lamb for the fam. [Don't worry, I had some tempeh for protein ealier!]

And my present to the man of the day:

Chianti, straight off the boat plane.

YUM!!

Tippy agreed.

For dessert, I whipped up some peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies (Dad's fave)  using the Supercharge Me cookies recipe:

The first batch was gone before the second even left the oven. I think they liked them. 

Dessert also included this newbie:

Chobani Champions honeynana!

It's not thick at all; it's basically like regular yogurt, but I suppose that could very well be more appealing to kids which I assume are the target consumers here (although I know plenty of "grown-up kids" who would be attracted by the cartoony design). The flavor is great though! Unlike the chocolate, the cane sugar taste blends  in very well. It reminded me of a yogurt I ate all the time when I was little, but I can't remember exactly which one - I think it was Yoplait Custard-Style Vanilla. SO good. Gotta love nostalgia foods :)

Time to go pack, pack, pack! 

~Namaste!~

P.S. Remember that surprise I mentioned? Check out the sidebar --- I'm a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher!!! Dancing most definitely ensued when I got the email. I love Foodbuzz, and my absolute favorite blogs are all a part of its awesome community, so I'm super excited and proud to be too. Share the foodie love!

All My Single Ladies

I think it's about time I introduced some of the ladies in my life:

Daphne, the newest addition to the Gillianasana family. We even like the same music ;)

And a traveling chica of a different sort:

Isabella the Polka-Dotted Moka!

I bought her in Florence because we had one in our apartment and these seriously make some incredible coffee - and it's TOO easy!! I almost squealed out loud when I saw Whole Foods actually sells them. I highly recommend if you only drink a cup or two a day, because they're easy to clean (NO soap, just good rinsing), fast, and the taste is bravissima! Unfortunately, they only have the regular one here, no polka dots...all the more reason to pop over to Italia, no?

I've met a couple other singles...

Raspberry Goji Dannon Light & Fit

Unfortunately, I did not like this enough to put a ring on it. It was just kind of a vague berry flavor. Admittedly, I can't think of what gojis alone taste like - haven't had them enough - but all I could taste was a strawberry-raspberry-ish flavor. Oh well. Made for a decent enough snack.

The next one was slightly more likely to be a keeper:

Chobani Champions! I guess these are the greek-yogurt-for-kids attempt. I personally am a fan of the starburst design.

Normal Chobani consistency - not super thick, but enough to be called a respectable Greek yogurt. The flavor was, well, cocoa+vanilla+cane sugar, which is pretty appropriate considering that's basically what it is. I liked it and it made for a fun little dessert, but to be honest, I could make this on my own by just mixing in cocoa and vanilla to plain yogurt and be just as happy, if not more (the cane sugar taste was a little much for me). But, the package also comes with a "honeynana" flavor which sounds quite promising, so stay tuned!

And finally...

This Odwalla Sweet&Salty Peanut bar may have been single, but I wasn't really lovin' it. It had a very peculiar flavor that reminded me exactly of spirulina? It was muted but strong enought o distract me with every bite from the sweet & salty peanut goodness. I was in my car when I gobbled it down, but it looked pretty much like a wider, flattened Kashi TLC chewy bar. This was odd. And when I wasn't distracted by the mystery flavor, I noticed it was almost all sweet and very little salty. Oh well. 

Being single is all well and good...but couples can be pretty cute too.

What could be mingling with the Fage?

MANGO!!!! Oh, yum. These were perfectly ripe and juicy and wonderful. Despite my obsession with them, I don't often buy them fresh because they tend to be pricier. But as I walked into Whole Foods, lo and behold - cart after cart of mangoes on display for 5/$5!! It was a good day.

That mango is a bit of a philanderer - he was also seen canoodling with oats last night:

[Almond milk, flaxmeal, and cocoa powder may or may not have also been involved.]

And he didn't leave 'til this morning!

Scandalous!

Ridiculously long-stretched metaphor aside, this was a seriously delicious bowl of overnight oats. Mango + chocolate=love. Maybe star-crossed lovers?

The next mingler was:

Amazing Grass Green SuperFood in Lemon Lime - the "energy" drink powder.

Schmoozing with frozen banana and cherries, almond milk, spinach, vanilla and a dash of cocoa powder.

I actually kinda liked this. The combo wasn't perfect (but actually I liked the cocoa powder), but it was pretty tasty. I definitely think it gave me energy, though - I drank this before leaving for a dinner party I was helping the caterer with (serving, plating, etc.) for some more food service experience. When I came home, I was still pretty wired and not as wiped as I expected for being on my feet for 4 straight hours! Quite impressive, Amazing Grass!

Speaking of that dinner party, please at some point this summer make these:

Grilled peaches. Cut in half, place on grill. Easy, pretty, delicious. Emphasis on the latter.

On with our couples!

Justin's Honey Peanut Butter.

First spotted with sprouted-grain toast and cinnamon...

Then getting friendly with a cracker...

 The verdict? I liked this much more than the honey almond butter - I could taste the honey a little better. Overall, it's a really decent peanut butter. Nice mouthfeel, and a very classic taste - you think peanut butter, this is that flavor. But, it wasn't good enough to knock over my dear Naturally More, so I probably won't be purchasing the jars. Those packets sure can be handy, though! And I've heard about Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter...NUTELLA with natural ingredients??? YESPLEASE.

I have also discovered that tempeh makes a wonderful sandwich.

Just a leftover block of tempeh with spinach, mustard and S+P on sprouted grain bread. This is my favorite kind of thing to eat because it does leave me full, but not heavy. It lasts me a long time but I never have that super-full-feeling in my stomach. Love that :)

Single Taken Smoked Salmon salad:

Spinach + arugula + smoked salmon + tabbouleh + capers + mustard + balsamic. The only thing it was missing was goat cheese...other than that, yum. Sure made this single girl's tastebuds happy!

Now puts your hands UP!

~Namaste~

Pescatarian: Pesky or Pleasant?

Today was one of those efficient, get-things-done-days. I just love those.

I finished an application for a job I really, really want with my study abroad program. The experience is the pay, but I see that as invaluable right now, and I think I'd really enjoy and be good at it...fingers crossed!

Today was also a mix of new & old. The new:

Justin's Honey Almond Butter. The packs were on sale at WFs, so I figured, why not?

Trial #1:

1/2 Tbs on toasted sprouted bread with a bit of cinnamon + cinnamon apple jelly, and

Trial #2:

Pre-gym snack of 1 Tbs on a cracker.

The verdict? Well, I'd like to know where the honey was supposed to come in, I didn't taste it at all. I suspect it's one of those "you'd notice if it wasn't there" type of things. Still, it tasted like, um, almond butter. It had a bit of grit to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I found it just lacking in flavor. Especially when compared to Barney Butter & Maranatha! Maybe it had to do with the packet - like it wasn't mixed enough? I got a Honey Peanut Butter packet too, so we shall see...

Newbie 2:

Nonfat Strawberry Chobani.

Sideways spoon test:

Fail. In more ways than one.

I really wasn't going to bother reviewing this - I figured, it's just another flavored Chobani, how different could it be? But it WAS! And not in a good way. The texture was not at all thick and almost a little gritty (?) - it was like eating regular yogurt. Maybe I got a bad cup or something, but I found it totally different from my Raspberry & Pomegranate experiences. The flavor was alright, but I was expecting something a little more worthy of its 1.50 price tag.

And the old:

Chips and dip, a la Gillianasana. For the chips, I used a very complex recipe: I took a cucumber out of the fridge and chopped it. I know...I'll go to great lengths for my chips. In all seriousness, cucumber & hummus is probably one of my top five go-to snacks. It's just a perfect combination - especially when it's garlic hummus!

My mom found this brand at WFs and since I've come home, I'm in looove:

This is probably the best garlic hummus I've ever had. It's so fresh and...well, garlicky!! And I don't think it's much more expensive than other brands, either. If you are a hummus lover and find this, definitely try it!!! It packs a serious flavor punch.

After a trip the gym with mia mama, we returned home to my dad - and a $25 gift card to Legal Seafoods. Legals is a major go-to restaurant in my family, because the quality of the food is unfailingly incredible. In fact, two years ago we started a new Christmas tradition: after opening presents, we go to an afternoon matinee movie and the an early dinner at Legal's. Recently a HUGE new mall was built in our town (where my beloved Whole Foods is - you have NO idea how excited I was) and with it came a biga$$ new Showcase Cinemas and a Legals. If and when I have to name a favorite restaurant (when we're talking the U.S. - otherwise I'd obviously name, um, all of Italy), I turn to Legal's. The seafood is always super fresh and they have these rolls that I little dream about. Golden and crunchy on the outside, doughy and sweet on the inside. And now, the one in my town serves them with this amazing herbed white bean dip that I absolutely must figure out how to duplicate. 

Anyway, the wait was a little long and I was stAHving, and after demolishing a roll, it hit me...I forgot LULU!! This is the 2nd time I have forgotten my camera going to a restaurant. SO annoying - and when my beautifully presented plate arrived, I almost cried. It may be silly, but 1) I know if i freak out about it enough, I will be much less likely to forget it next time, and 2) going to restaurants is one of my favorite things ever, and it's SO nice to share pictures of some professional, beautiful food every so often!

So, I will try to recreate it for you.

I ordered a medium-rare yellowfin tuna steak that looked much like this:

Photo Credit

 +

A chickpea ragout that looked an awful lot like this:

Photo Credit

It. was. AMAZING. Classic Legal, every bite was delicious. Seriously, this chickpea ragout blew me away. Whatever flavors the chickpeas were cooked in totally brought out their naturally buttery flavor and smooth texture and I was in legume heaven. It also was supposed to come with an arugula-pistachio salad in a blood-orange vinaigrette, but I saw a pitiful amount of arugula on my plate. The amazingness of the chickpeas and the tuna definitely made up for it, but the arugula was part of the reason I ordered it, so I was a little letdown. But as always, can't go wrong with Legals. Thank goodness my body is still ok with eating fish!

And on that note - I have mentioned it before, but I have noticed recently that the idea of eating animal meat is completely grossing me out. The mere thought of a piece of steak kills my appetite and chicken is making me gag. I am absolutely fascinated by it; I tend to eat mostly vegetarian anyway, just out of preference - I very rarely crave protein in general so the vegetarian options usually end up sounding more appealing - but I have never experienced this kind of innate disgust. Two years ago I gave up red meat for a year and found it incredibly simple and hardly noticed it, and confirmed what I already knew, that I just don't like red meat much anyway. But with my eating disorder in mind I'm careful about putting any foods "off limits", so I never felt the need to label myself. But BAM! Here I am. I'm toying with the idea of trying pescatarianism for a while, just to see what happens. Either way, I'm glad that I'm honoring my body by listening to it. Now I just need to work on listening when it's telling me to take the spoon out of the ice cream carton...

~Namaste~