Jen in Bermuda

Sh*t New Yorkers Say...

 

I am guilty of many of the phrases in this clip.  Especially my hatred of tourists!  Ha.  

Almond Milk

No this is not a health food site.  But these are a few things that I have been experimenting with and figured I would report back.

So, no dairy in my food regime has been a recent goal of mine.  And when I say no, I mean significantly reduced.  Because I have no intention of eliminating everything that has any trace of milk in it.  It would make my life difficult.  Not just because it knocks out so many things I like, but in Bermuda food choice is limited.  Crazy limited.  Imagine having to grocery shop at convenience stores.  That is the selection here.  And there are no specialty food stores or Whole Foods or anything like that.  

I've tried both of the almond milks above.  The unsweetened is really unsweetened so if you have cereal with a some sugar, it is fine.  The Silk brand it a bit thicker.  I am used to the consistency of skim milk.  

I grew up drinking milk.  I like milk.  But, now I don't really miss it.  The almond milk isn't too bad.  I think it is a good substitute.  Bad side is the price.  Good side is the long expiration date.  It doesn't look too tough to make yourself but in Bermuda almonds are pricey so it is cheaper to buy it pre-made.

Oh, that is right.  I still haven't had any cheese in 2012.  Quite an accomplishment.  I am saving my cheese exploits for some NYC pizza in the beginning of February.  I decided the pizza here isn't that great that I could give it up fairly easily.  

Recipes

Is it any surprise that Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes?  

I love the idea of southern cooking but with as many sticks of butter Paula uses, her recipes are crazy unhealthy.  I have one of her cookbooks.  It just takes some adapting of recipes to make them a little better on the ol' cholesterol level.

Fire!

We've had a couple of chilly nights in Bermuda.  So, I figured it was a good time to burn the cobwebs out of the chimney.

Yes, that is a poinsettia next to the fireplace.  It still looks pretty darn good, so it is going to live there until I think otherwise.  

Someone in the house is obsessed with the fireplace.  Unfortunately, the bricks aren't the cleanest so little black paw prints get tracked around.

She loves sitting right next to the fire and warming up one side of her fur until it gets hot.  I guess they do originate in Egypt and the desert, right?!

Wishy Washy Weather Weekend

We'd have some sun and then we'd have a downpour.  The weather this weekend was not ideal.  I felt terrible for the runners who participated in the Front Street Mile on Friday night.  There was a good bit of lightning and constant rain.  Gross.  

I felt a little lazy not signing up for the races last weekend and getting  myself in shape in time.  But, as I spent Friday evening have a cocktail and sushi at Port O Call I felt less guilty.  Especially when I looked outside at the soaking wet runners trudging down Front Street in a downpour.  I got 2 runs in Saturday and Sunday in between rain drops so that made me happy.  

After I went out to dinner on Saturday with running friends, I had enough time to squeeze in the DVD 50/50.  If you haven't seen it, it is worth a rent.  I recommend it highly.

Roasted Broccoli

Sorry, still sorting out the camera issues with the computer and I left my blackberry at work last night.

I had some broccoli inthe refridgerator that needed to be eaten.  After looking around on the internet, I decided to roast it and mix it in with some quinoa.  I preheated the oven to 425 degrees.  I put some foil on a cookie sheet and sprayed it with Pam.  I grabbed the broccoli and cut off the florets.  I put a single layer of broccoli on the foil.  I then thinly sliced up a couple of cloves of garlic and tossed them on top.  I finished it all with sprinkling a dash of pepper and salt over both and stuck them in the oven for 25 minutes.  Yum.  Very good.  Loved the crunch and the roast garlic was a nice touch.

Healthier Eating

I am pretty sure I have written about this before.  But with the new year's resolutions, I am eating healthier and eating a lot more quinoa.  It is a seed that is grown in Peru.  And the cool thing is that I saw many mountain sides blanketed with quinoa growing in red, yellow and black.  It was really pretty.  

You can substitute it for rice or couscous.  It has a nutty taste that is really good.  Last night I made some and threw in part of a vegetable bouillon cube.  I also roasted some broccoli that I had toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic.  I combined both and had a lovely dinner.  It is packed with protein like 12-18% .  It has a balanced set of essential amino acids making it a complete protein.  It is also packed with dietary fiber, iron, magnesium and phosphorus.  

They sell it in grocery stores and I've even seen it in Target.  It is worth a try!

Back in the Yoga Saddle

The latest "semester" of yoga started last night in the BHS gym and I was there with my dirty mat ready to go.  I had left the mat in the garage for some time and it ended up with a lot of spider webs and dust on it.  And it had been wound up for so long that the tightly rolled end wouldn't lay flat without my shoe keeping it down.  

But I did it.  I went.  And I am planning on going again on Wednesday.  I know once I get into the routine, it will be hard for me to make excuses to myself.  Plus I paid for a flexi-pass.  $180 for 10 classes.  So, I have any extra incentive to make it to at least 10 classes through the end of March.  And I know I can do it.  

I kind of like yoga at this time of year because the room is dark.  I am less distracted with looking around at other people and spend more time on concentrating on myself.  And whereas in running, where I spend the entire time thinking about myself, work issues, personal issues and everything else under the sun - I spend my hour in yoga thinking about poses.  My limb placement.   Where I am getting a good stretch.  So, it is an hour where my mind can't think about what it wants too.  

Free Movie Channels

Craptastic Bermuda cable, CableVision, offers all the movie channels for free over the holidays.  And the only thing I come away with each year is that they are NOT worth the cost.  I could see maybe getting HBO.  But the costs of all the movie channels is crazy expensive here and they suck.  And keep in mind- we have old fashioned cable so there isn't any HBO in demand.  You can only watch the regular channels with no pausing or choosing or rewinding.  RIP OFF.  Even with the tropical storm that slammed us the past couple of days, I didn't find much to watch.  

But I did like this film - Mostly Martha.

German film that was really good.  It was remade with Catherine Zeta Jones and called No Reservations which was not very good.  But I don't mind subtitles so I found it entertaining.  I would recommend.  

Daily Mile

So, you may have noticed that my daily mile ticker is once again active.  Kicking 2012 off with a resolution to exercise more.  Specifically, run 1000 miles in 2012.  I think it is doable but with traveling for work and pleasure, it will be a challenge.  I can run for the sake of running.  But, I find it easier if you give yourself some goals along the way.

The first is the NYC Half Marathon on March 18th.  I have over 2 months to train for this, so hopefully it will go okay.  The Broad Street 10 Mile is in the beginning of May in Philly.  I ran this 2 years ago and wouldn't mind running it again.  There is a 10 mile in Bermuda at the end of March that I have run a few times and a load of other shorter races in Bermuda over the next several months.   Those should help towards the goal.  

I have some other resolutions too but don't want to bore you with the list.  And currently, I can't get my pictures off my camera.  The card reader isn't be recognized and it is driving me crazy.