Brown rice, fish, green beans, dill, black pepper, paprika

To me herbs have kind of been a mystery. I grew up with the standard basil, oregano, Italian seasoning, dill, and black pepper. Of all the many others I am not familiar. It is time I learned about them. Starting with paprika. Paprika is a wonderful herb because it is a bright and distinctive powdery red. It tasted decent on my fish. It comes in many varieties since it is made by crushing dried peppers. To my understanding it is high in Vitamin C. To note it is a wonderful word to pronounce. 

Taking this to heart, as well as the obesity epidemic in America and the fact that portion sizes are out of control whenever I eat out, I go with the micro-size me policy. Instead of super sizing portions, going Xlarge/Venti/Super etc I ask for the kid’s size or the smallest size. Ice cream? Small please. Coffee? Small/Tall please. Dinner size? I’ll split it with my companion please.

It seems like everybody these days is on a diet. My “diet” consists of trying to eat wholeful foods, such as veggies, sweet potatoes, fruits, brown rice, and fish instead of all the other food options out there. However, good luck trying to eat on the healthier side when you go out. I have found that the majority of restaurants will resort to the cheapest food option or the food option that will appeal to your taste buds. Did you know that when you take excessive sugars and salts out of your diet you appreciate the natural taste of food more? Then you don’t need sugar or salt added for ‘flavor’ because the dish has enough flavor for your taste buds. My new beef with eating out is 1. I can make it better in terms of healthy ingredients, 2. I can make it better in terms of what I like regarding taste about half the time, and 3. I can make it cheaper. That’s why my favorite restaurants are ethnic, I can’t make good Indian or Thai food.

My real issue is not what I eat but how I move, or rather don’t. I like to sit. All my daily activities seem to involve sitting; driving, working, writing, reading. I dislike traditional exercise. My favorite form of movement was dodge-ball but I have outgrown that sport. Sometime in the near-far future I would like to start playing volleyball but in the meantime I have picked up one of my favorite pastimes as a form of exercise: dancing. I enjoy dancing because it is a challenge for me. It is exciting and fun. So far I am currently doing zumba. I’d like to find some hip hop classes and perhaps some belly-dancing classes as well.

• Mixed greens (the darker the better)
• Tomatoes (Campari or Cherry are my favorites)
• Peppers (I like to use yellow and orange ones for that fresh burst of flavor and color)
• Carrots (Chopped is the best way to go believe it or not)
• Avocado (See previous Foodie Friday post)
• Hummus (Add the protein and the garlic zest)
• Broccoli (Tear the florets up and toss them in)
• Sun-dried tomatoes (Pack a powerful punch of flavor so be careful not to use that many)
• Artichoke hearts (Break them up into small pieces)

Avocados are quite versatile. They can be mashed up into sauces or sides, sliced and placed in salads or sushi, or cut in half and eaten with a little vinaigrette. I tend to use the avocado raw, plain, and unadorned.

There is an art to preparing an avocado. Step one is to de-sticker the sucker so that you can compost the skin. Step two is to cut around the entire fruit longways and pull apart the two halves. Then you can get fancy with your knife work and hit the large seed with the knife so that it sticks into the seed a bit and then twist it out of its place and throw it away. The last step is gutting out the good parts. I usually just use a fork or a spoon.

Avocados contain the good fats, proteins, vitamins, potassium, and more.

Avocado or guacamole makes a great topping for any burrito or in any salad!

Less well-known is the avocado smoothie! I wholeheartedly recommend trying one of these bad boys, just be careful of the added sugar.

True story: When I had my wisdom teeth removed, I ate/drank avocado smoothies every day as I recovered. They are thick and delicious.

One of my favorite stores of all time carries avocados in a five pack, which is great because I eat 1/2-1 avocado every day. However, if you buy five near-ripe avocados they have a tendency to ripen all of a sudden and nobody likes an overripe and browning avocado. One trick I use is to stick a near ripe and ready avocado (or two) into the fridge to slow down the ripening process. Or, if it is too late and you must gut the avocado you can store the thick goodness in a Tupperware in your fridge to enjoy in spurts. It will turn brown but still be uber delicious and ready to consume! If it starts to smell funky then it’s time to chuck it. Generally I would never keep a gutted avocado (unless it’s store bought with preservatives but why do that when you can buy ’em fresh?) longer than a week in the fridge.

Pair your avocado with some salmon and you’ve got a super serving of those omega-3 fatty acids!