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Eat Your Fats {Guest Post @ Kitchen Courage}

I’m taking a break from normal posting today because I wrote a guest post for Beth and because of my response last night! I’ve been reading Beth’s blog for ages and she is so insightful/inspirational/creative/fun/talented. She is at a hooping convention in San Francisco this weekend and she has lots of guests popping in at her blog; make sure to poke around. This post was inspired by Kim ages ago, who asked me about cooking oils in a comment.

My Guest Post: My Favorite Cooking Oils

If you didn’t see it already please read and comment on…

My 2 favorite responses so far are from Sophia and Caronae, who both put the responsibility back on the reader. We’re not stupid you know.

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Eden says: How to Be a Yoga Superstar

I have an awesome guest for you today: Eden! She is sarcastic and funny and I laugh every time I read her blog. She’s writing about one of my (many) passions – yoga. I haven’t been in a yoga mood lately, but with these tips I’m sure I’ll get back in the swing of things. Enjoy 🙂

Eden eating chocolate!

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Hi!

My name is Eden (pronounced “Eh-den”, not Eeee-den”). I’m a yoga instructor and a chef living in Los Angeles. I love that Maggie has embraced yoga so much, but I know a lot of people don’t know how to get on the bandwagon. So I thought I’d share my secrets to become an ultimate yoga superstar! Here are my easy steps: (Note: if you aren’t familiar with my blog, sarcasm and cynicism are my BFF’s so don’t take my advice too literally; I’m not responsible for any head, neck, or genital area injuries!)

Step 1 – Start by seeking out trendy yoga studios in gentrified areas in either LA or NYC (sorry, but you’ll need to move if you are anywhere else. It’s just not going to happen in Iowa or Kansas). This is where all the rich and beautiful yogis are who will become your yoga allies. They are the yogis you must befriend and socialize with as you start your ascent to yoga stardom. Of these, you’ll need to figure out who the power yogis are (look for the ones wearing high-end yoga clothes and sporting a black Manduka yoga mat) and who are new to the game (they are the ones wearing K-Mart crap and practice on pastel colored mats). It is also very important that you figure out who the yoga nut-jobs are (i.e. they’re the ones spouting crackpot yoga theories and think yoga is all spiritual and everything). Unfortunately there are vast amounts of them in the yoga world. Befriend the former, unless one of the latter can get you introduced to one of the former. Remember that the yoga whack-jobs will always lead you astray in your rise to yoga fame.

Step 2 – You will now need to actually learn something about yoga. Have no fear though, as all yoga studios will have books and magazines that you can spy while waiting for a class to begin. No need to invest money for this (in fact, your first few classes at most yoga studios will usually be free or nominal in their quest to ‘hook’ you on yoga). Concentrate on books and articles about Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga in particular. The reason for this will become clear in step 3!

Step 3 – With a bit of yoga knowledge under your belt it is now time to chat up the other yogis around you. Always mention Iyengar or Ashtanga in your conversations with them. Don’t ask me why, just do it! Use a tired tone when doing this to suggest you know all about these styles and have practiced them for much longer than you care to remember. Almost all yogis you encounter can relate to one of these as they are the bases of all the other styles out there. Look for their knowing nods of acceptance.

Important Note: Don’t try and add your own opinion of which style is better at this stage; you’ll only confuse things. The important thing to remember for now is that you are trying to win friends, not influence people.

Step 4 – What if you get bored? I hear this often from virgin yogis, but you know what’s even more boring? Pretending you’re skiing on some machine for an hour at a gym filled with meat-heads and botoxed women with the words “juicy” plastered on their sweats. Yoga classes can be boring, but it’s not the yoga – it’s usually the teacher. They give poor instructions and can be dull and unstimulating. Some people think sex is boring, but they are usually with the wrong partner!

Step 5 – You are now in low yoga star orbit and need to cultivate one additional trait to solidify your yoga image to those around you. Your goal now is to learn to act ‘yogic’ (that dreamy far away look that will give you an air of authenticity as it will show that you have transcended your ties to ordinary daily living). Ideally, you will act this way around yoga students, yoga magazine publishers, and sport clothing manufacturers who you will be vying to get endorsements from (you are trying to get endorsements at this point, aren’t you?). Eat vegan publicly (because devout yogis believe in “Ahimsa”, meaning no harm to humans as well as animals, and I’m guessing especially cows too). Gorge on all the steak and processed twinkies in secret. Be assured that after a while you’ll become so yogic that you’ll forget where or who you are most of the time.

Step 6 – Create your own special “thing”. Be assured that there is always a new yoga style to be invented. As much as yoga people like to think they are practicing ancient yoga methods tied to past yoga gurus, a cult of yoga newness flourishes among them (they are all suckers for the latest yoga trend). Be inventive. Hey, if Jillian Michaels (who I call a drill Sargent with a vagina) can have a yoga dvd and make it trendy, anyone can. (But the last thing we need is Jillian yelling out instructions for “happy baby”.)

Step 7 – That’s it! You did it!! Good work!!! You are a yoga star. You can now om comfortably in your Malibu beach home or Park Avenue apartment. Forget about you pilgrimage to India. Any true yogi knows only 1% of the population does yoga there; your better bet is to move to Santa Monica, CA: the certified yoga Mecca.

Hope that helped you! Now get on your mat already, and get down, dawg!

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I am so ready to be a yoga superstar. Anyone care to join me?

I’m kicking off 30 days of yoga – 20 minutes of yoga, every day. I started last night. Update me if you want to do it too! You can post your yogic activities on the 30 Days of Yoga Page. (You definitely don’t have to do yoga every single day, but it would be awesome if you left comments on that page with whatever yoga you did that day when you do do yoga– maybe it’ll be a great way to get lots of new recommendations!) We can chat about what we’ve learned with the 30 days as well. Now go join me! (Eden’s on the bandwagon already – she’s going to write a yoga routine for y’all to do.)

Also, I finally made my email more blog-friendly: maggie@thesaladgirl.com. Email me for fun 😀

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Katie says: Chopstick Covered Katie

Hi everyone! I am still doing blog maintenance and stuff, so you get to hear from one of the sweetest ladies in blogland. And she totally understands my chopstick obsession. Take it away, Katie!

(And HI to reader Lauren who I met last night!! Thanks for saying hi.)

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Hi chocolate chips!

My name is Katie, and I write a blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie.

The recipes on my blog are for “healthy” (yet still delicious) versions of traditionally “bad-for-you” foods.

Such as the above healthy choco-Banana sundae

Basically, I eat in accordance with the Chocolate-Covered Diet philosophy, and I’ve never been happier :) .

But today, I’m not going to talk about chocolate. (*Gasp*) Nope, the lovely Maggie (Isn’t she gorgeous?!) has asked me to talk about something else: chopsticks! She and I share an interest in eating with chopsticks, because we both have a connection to Japan (mine being that I lived there for four years, and hers being that Bobby is half Japanese). I actually learned to eat with chopsticks before a fork. So even though I now can use a fork, I still prefer chopsticks, not only for conventional Asian dishes, but also for…

Decadent high-protein chocolate cake

Slurpy mushroom spaghetti

Bluebberry Breakfast Pizzert in a bowl

And even…

The breakfast feast: Chocolate chip cookie dough oatmeal

Ok, scratch that last one.

Some things are better eaten with a spoon!

In honor of Maggie and Bobby, I challenge you—this week—to try eating something unconventional with chopsticks!

Be creative and have fun! Are you up  for it?? I know these guys are. :)

And remember:

Life is better when it’s chocolate-covered!

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Thanks again Katie 🙂 And happy early birthday! September is the best birthday month (mine is September too – maybe we are the same age!). I hope you enjoy some cake with chopsticks (healthy cake of course). I definitely will.

Do you know how to eat with chopsticks? What is your favorite thing to eat with them?

I think my favorite thing is… a stir-fry. Predictable, but delicious. (Here’s another.)

P.S. If you are ever interested in doing a guest post for Say Yes to Salad, please contact me and let me know your idea! I am always accepting submissions 🙂

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How To Eat Like A Child (aka Intuitively)

Today’s post is a guest post from my mom. She did not know her email to me (in response to this story) was going to be a guest post until after she wrote it though. I hope she writes more. Or starts her own blog. She has lots of good stuff to say.

Kids always amaze me. They are sometimes shockingly wise, like when it comes to food. Kids eat intuitively – they just eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full. At some point I did lose my food intuition, but I found it again after some time. Without further ado… My very wise mom.

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So…what was your eating like when you were young? I will start at day one and go forward.

Maggie, Mom, Dad

You were exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months. Then I tried to get you to start on solid foods but you had no interest whatsoever. I cooked organic oat bran and sweetened it with ground raisins (no refined sugar for my perfect child!). You had little bits but just really weren’t too interested. In fact, you pretty much lived on just breastmilk for about your whole first year of life (and I think it was because you may have had underlying issues with non-human dairy products).

I always tried new things with you but you mostly just wanted to nurse (I mean, it is the perfect food after all!).  At the time I think I would tell people you ate more than you did just because people were so… um… annoyingly judgmental about how I was ruining your health! (There! I said it!) The thing about breastfeeding is that it is supply and demand… babies eat until they are done and learn how to self-regulate. With a bottle, there is always that temptation to make the baby finish the whole thing… or drink a specified number of ounces.

Once you became a toddler you really liked just about anything I would give to you. A favorite was tofu that you would snitch as you sat on the counter “helping” me cook. You liked fruit and veggies. The only flesh you really ever had was probably tuna fish — tuna and peas in a white sauce over toast was a favorite. I did ants on a log (celery) and ants on a bench (apple) a lot. I let you eat as much or as little as you wanted – there was no clean plate club. When we had play dates there were usually PB and J sandwiches or bagels with cheese melted on them. I made a lot of meals from the La Leche League (Maggie’s comment: this is an organization for breastfeeding mothers) cookbook — these tended to have whole grains. I made chicken fingers or tofu sticks and oven fries a lot.

Dad, Maggie

When we went to dad’s softball games a few times a week, you usually snacked on raw green beans, apples, raisins or trail mix. I was a firm believer in water for drinking and never even suggested that you drink milk with your dinner. Probably in middle school is when I started making a lot of things from Cooking Light.

Maggie @ the zoo (Washington DC?)

You were not a picky eater. I don’t remember if you ate sweets…I sort of doubt it since I don’t like to bake… although I do remember these really yummy cookies I used to make from the LLL cookbook — they were oat, whole wheat and raisin, sweetened with ground up dates, had willow ridge soy margarine and sunflower seeds and just enough chocolate chips to make them yummy. You loved them and I never felt guilty about letting you eat them — sometimes even instead of a regular meal (they just had so many good things in them).

Well I think that might be all I can think of for now.

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That was perfect, Mom. You got anything for me Dad? Hint hint.

How did you eat as a kid?

Apparently I was this awesome intuitive eater. Maybe I will start making tuna and peas in a white sauce again. I remember absolutely loving that dish.

Don’t forget to stop by tomorrow for more of this. And if you missed it, honesty was a hot topic earlier this week.

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Anne: Flavors from Finland

Today’s guest post on ethnic food ties into my new theme. Anne blogs over at Food Loving Polar Bear. She likes yoga and walking just as much as I do and she’s going to share some of her favorite foods from Finland (that’s where she lives!). A quick side note…

How does ethnic food tie into intuitive eating?

Ethnic food is usually not particularly low-calorie or in line with clean-eating principles. But it’s usually delicious; if you can eat a diet filled with wonderful ethnic foods and not gain weight (or maintain a healthy weight) you are probably eating intuitively. Here’s an example – the traditional European diet (French, Finnish, etc…) is filled with things like heavy cream, cheese, and decadent desserts and pastries like croissants (oh, croissants!). Yet Europeans are generally much thinner than Americans. Why?

Why French Women Don’t Get Fat

French women don’t obsess about food, they eat what they crave, and they eat real food. They’re in tune with the body’s hunger and fullness signals. They don’t eat emotionally (meaning they’re not the type to turn to Mr. Ben or Mr. Jerry when they’re sad) and they’re not emotional about eating. These are generalizations of course, but these are the general principles of intuitive eating.

Enough of my rambling. Without further ado… the lovely Anne!

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Hi!

I’m a new blogger from Finland and I am proud to introduce you some flavors from my home country. Thanks Maggie for the chance to promote my tiny country and its delicious foods!

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A little background information about Finland:

  • Finland is situated between Sweden and Russia, in northern Europe
  • Finland has 5.4 million inhabitants
  • The capital of Finland is Helsinki
  • There are more than 2 million saunas in Finland
  • We do not have polar bears in Finland 😉

Now you know a bit about my home country! In this post I’m going to concentrate on my favorite topic: FOOD.

Traditional Finnish cuisine is similar to Swedish, German and Russian cuisines. Finnish dishes tend to be less sweet than Swedish ones, and Finns use little or no sour cream in preparation compared to their Russian neighbors.

Traditional dishes (perinneruoka) are rarely eaten on a daily basis and saved for the real holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. The traditional dishes are often regional and more valued by the older generations or only eaten during a specific holiday; for example Mämmi during Easter. This following dish is only eaten during Easter, (almost) never on other occasions. For the recipe of Mämmi click here.

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Mämmi does not look very appealing 😀

Home-made food (kotiruoka) can be also found in restaurants and we have many restaurants in Helsinki specializing in traditional Finnish food.

The most common traditional foods in Finland (which are eaten on daily basis in Finnish homes):

Leipäjuusto (the direct translation is bread cheese):

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It’s usually eaten with jam, but I usually eat without. It doesn’t have much flavor and it feels a bit rubbery in your mouth but once you get used to it, you will love it!

Reindeer (poronkäristys)

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Reindeer is usually eaten with mashed potatoes, jam and pickles. It’s one of the most popular dishes among those foreigners whom I have introduced this dish to.

Cabbage rolls (kaalikääryleet)

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They look like spring rolls, but are not. It’s minced meat (ground beef) rolled into a cabbage leaf. They’re also served with jam, usually with cranberry. These took me almost 20 years to like them, but now I actually like eating the rolls, I also should try making them at home. As a child this used to be my most-hated-dish-ever 😀

Pea Soup (hernekeitto)

Pea soup is one of the most popular dishes among poor students. It’s cheap, filling and even though you have tons of gas in your stomach after eating a can, sometimes you just don’t mind. Pea soup is usually eaten here every Thursday. Even my office has pea soup Thursdays! It’s eaten with mustard or, like in the picture, with ham 😉

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Finnish meatballs (lihapullat)

These are a familiar dish in my kitchen. My boyfriend loves my home made meatballs and I have also made them in Germany for a bunch of Germans who had no idea how to make them at home, they were a success!

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They are also usually eaten with mashed potatoes.

Pickled herring (silli)

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There are tons of different kinds of pickled herrings in Finnish grocery stores. I personally love the middle one, herring with mustard. They are a traditional summer dish and are eaten with new (small) potatoes and dill.

Viili

This is a product I tried to explain in my blog some time ago. It was difficult! I found an article in Foodista about viili!

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Smoked fish (savustettu liha)

We Finns love fish, especially smoked fish! We have so many different kinds of fish and I really want to make you drool in the end of my guest post, so here are some pictures of my favorite delicacy 😉

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Mmmmh!

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I hope you all enjoyed this little journey to Finnish cuisine. Feel free to ask me more anytime!

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Thanks again, Anne! Finnish food sounds awesome. I have actually had a lot of these dishes because I’m part German (Cabbage Rolls, Pickled Herring, Meatballs, Pea Soup). I’ve never had reindeer but it sounds really cool. And anything that is translated as “bread-cheese” is okay in my book.

What’s your favorite ethnic food? What do you think about ethnic food and intuitive eating?

P.S. I have been playing around and updating my blog; poke about and check out my new tabs and some updated pages if you want. I’m not quite done yet so I’ll do another announcement when I finish.