What's on your plate?

[lylysa]

Hello there, ladies and gents!

Keeping in line with all the fun and interactive threads asking about your most recent halls, items you have your eyes on, what you're currently wearing, what's your hair routine, and more, I've decide to branch out and ask:

"What's on your plate?"

The beauty world doesn't just stop at skin care and cosmetics, it also goes hand in hand with your overall health and well-being, so with that, I'm curious to see what we're all chowing down and snacking on be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or inbetween!

For those with apps that help count calories or to those who just want to keep a log, here's a place to share, possibly find and share some recipes, and even tips on maintaining a balanced diet.

Don't just share food items, but even drinks! I'm a huge fan of tea and at least have a cup of green tea a day (anti-oxidants) and drink plenty of water.

For lunch today, I had:

-Brown rice

-Steamed egg

-Steamed red snapper with green onion, sesame oil, and black pepper

-Gai lan (it's a type of Chinese vegetable/greens)

Now, tell me, Beauty Talk world, what do you have? 😄

[DiVWA]

Got the oil from Trader Joe's. TJs sells a trio of roasted nut oils and a trio of flavored EVOOs every holiday season--they come out around Thanksgiving. This was the first year I got the roasted nut oils and I regret that I didn't get another trio because they're sold out. I usually get the EVOOs and get an extra of those; around here, they seem to last until at least New Year's.

[knuevekm]

I am just going to take a little bite of your salad. I don't think you will notice! 😉

[DiVWA]

No, I doubt that I would notice. Bite away!

[DiVWA]

Today for Polenta Friday, I did my basic recipe except I made it a little bit spicier by replacing the nutmeg with dried Aleppo Pepper. Add-ins were fresh cilantro leaves and some chopped carmelized onion slices.

If anyone dislikes fresh cilantro, try eating just the leaves. For some people, if they eat chopped cilantro that includes the stems, the taste can be like soap. This is only applicable to some people. I wasn't aware of this for years but learned it when I attended a cooking show last summer. Ever since then, I use only cilantro leaves. It does make a difference in how the end product tastes.

Recipe is pages down but can be pasted again in a reply if anyone is interested.

[EvangelineDamon]

Polenta Friday!!

My favourite. It looks so delicious. 

I need to make this soon..

[lylysa]

I love the polenta photos! The color is so gorgeous! 

How does the polenta keep or what's it's storage time frame? Is there a method you prefer to wrap up leftovers (should any exist :P)?

[DiVWA]

Hi Lylysa. What I do with it is if I don't eat it right away, I wrap each square in cling wrap and freeze all the squares together. The next day, I vacuum pack each square with my FoodSaver. This allows me to keep the polenta for months, I'm guessing. I just starting making it this year so I have no experience with long-term storage. We intend to eat it all year, most especially when butternut squash is no longer available and/or out of season.

[lylysa]

I'm glad you mentioned the freezing bit, I actually had a feeling that some of it would have to be stored away like that. Thanks for detailing things out!

[DiVWA]

This afternoon, I have a beef bone broth simmering on my stove. It has grass-fed beef marrow bones in it and various veggies like onion, carrot, celery, and veggie scraps. Technically, since I want the broth to be gelatinous or jiggly, I should also have some bones that have joints like knuckle bones or oxtail. But today I only have marrow bones. I'm not sure how gelatinous the end result will be, so this is just experimentation at this point. Marrow bones are more readily accessible locally than knuckle bones or oxtail, so I want to see if they would be enough (although I doubt they will be).

I made this after reading the book called "Nourishing Broths: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World," by Sally Fallon Morell. The book is sort of an offshoot of the Weston Price organization (the author is the founder).

[lylysa]

OMG, beef bone broth!!!!!!

Make a bowl of pho! 

[DiVWA]

Definitely!

[lylysa]

My bf's mother got us a Keurig for Christmas, he's never been a coffee drinker (though to his credit he's given it a try on multiple occasions) but I know we can use it for teas (plus we got the "fill your own" K-cups) so for the past weekend and past few days I've been brewing up some coffee in the morning.

I was browsing Kroger and saw they had some K-cups on sale and snagged the last box of LavAzza.

I have some pistachios with me at work to snack on throughout the day and last night I made soba noodles in miso broth with cilantro chicken dumplings (frozen, but still very yummy), fish meatballs, and baby bok choy.

[jisub89]

I definitely use my Keurig for tea more often than coffee lol

[lylysa]

Though I drink coffee, I only have a single serve/personal-sized French press for when I grind up the LavAzza beans I have. I don't drink it too often and really break it out moreso when I have company over and they want a cup but having Keurig have will definitely amp up my coffee drinking. My bf's mom got us samplers and boxes of K-cups too so I'm in no shortage. I didn't even have to pick up the LavAzza ones at Kroger but I couldn't resist, I also picked up some 3 packs of hot chocolate, caramel flavored coffee, and vanilla flavored coffee.

[EvangelineDamon]

[lylysa]

You have no idea how happy this makes me, thank you so much for the early morning laugh! 😄 Haha!

Now, this is a story all about how

My coffee is brewed because my beans are fresh ground
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the French Press of Bel-Air

In Target I'm bought and in your kitchen I stay
Though I'm unused on most occasions I'm pulled out on some days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all waiting for you to need some coffee brewing tool
When a regular coffee maker is just no good
Started brewing trouble in my neighborhood
I'm a single cup brewer so don't be scared
Just pour some more hot water, add some fresh grounds, and I'll be your French Press of Bel Air'

[EvangelineDamon]

I wish I could heart you 100 times for this song!!!

[lylysa]

Your picture sparked it all! Hahah!

[Anonymous]

Husband woke me up last night to ask permission to buy three pounds of Peets. Uh of course because I have been wanting to try peaberry beans for years. Won't get it for a week or so since the roast date isn't until mid-next week.

Three pounds. ((salivates))

[lylysa]

LOL! That's cute that he woke you just to ask!

I have a bag of LavAzza beans that I treasure. I'd hug it if I could.

[jozkid]

I'm a little late with this one, but this is the cookie tray I made up to bring into my office for the holidays. And yes, I did make all of them. From scratch. 😉