OH MY GOD I'M STUCK HERE

Today I have the pleasure of spending 15 hours at Herriman High School for a dance competition. I will be dancing a total of 7 minutes and 10 seconds, but I get to spend 15 HOURS in this terrible, windowless choir room. I'm bored out of my mind, to say the least, and am so tired that I am literally drifting off while I write this. The saddest thing is that I've passed the time by watching old Barbie movies. I think I need an intervention, because now I know all the words to all the songs.

The Terrible, Windowless Choir Room as seen at 5:37 pm.
Shoutout to Sami for posing for my picture.

The point of may rant is that I realized that lots of people probably have to go through these terrible days, and its hard to eat healthy, especially when you're in Herriman, Utah. If I walked down the hallway right now, I could buy pizza, a donut, and a soda for 5 dollars. Or, I could buy one small Jamba Juice for 5 dollars. Not the best options. So, I've decided to tell you what to do in these situations, when healthy food is impossible to find.

First, you need to PACK SNACKS. Snacks will save your life. One of my favorites for dance events are my Flax Seed Energy Ball Things, because they are delicious and nutritious. Another great snack is protein bars. They're super delicious, and not messy to eat, and you can hide them almost anywhere. Today, I have been relying on Quest Bars and Luna Bars, which are both completely amazing. Another great snack is fruit, because it gives you a quick burst of energy without the perils of artificial sugar.

 My bag of snacks. I already ate most of them.

Now, I will address the issue of boredom, which, I know, has absolutely nothing to do with food, but I think that I've learned a lot about boredom today, and I want to share my newfound wisdom.

Number One- Don't bring your homework, because you will never end up doing it. You will always find something more interesting to do, like play with string or *ahem* watch Barbie movies. So, it's just a waste of energy to bring homework, so don't do it.

Number Two- Bring movies, and a way to watch them. This came in very handy for me, and lots of other people, too. Apparently lots of people at my dance studio like watching Barbie movies, so we all watched them together, like a team bonding exercise. You could maybe even say it was productive. You can also bring other things to watch, like TV shows or whatever. I chose Keeping Up With the Kardashians as my TV show choice, which, looking back, I now regret.

Number Three- People watching is always an option. The people watching in Herriman at a dance competition was especially entertaining. That was definitely my favorite activity of the day. Besides dancing, of course.

There you go, my personal survival guide to a day destined to be mind-numbingly boring, and when bad food is unavoidable.

~Mia

Panko-Crusted Sesame Chicken is My New Life

In my mother's never ending battle to find fast, easy meals for her family, she has recently discovered a recipe for Panko-crusted Sesame Chicken. For possibly the first time ever, every single member of my family loved what she made for dinner. It's also super healthy, so I'm going to give you the recipe.

I want to eat it so badly. Courtesy of In Sock Monkey Slippers
P.S. I'm sorry I didn't take my own picture. 

Ingredients-

• 3 1/2 pounds chicken, cut in serving pieces - My mother used boneless, skinless chicken. She also advises to cut the chicken into "finger shapes," whatever that is.
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar - In my families never ending goal to be healthy (and skinny), my mom took the sugar completely out of the recipe. If that sounds like hell to you, just cut the sugar in half.
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions, including 3 inches of the green part
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup safflower oil - My mom also decided to take this completely out of the recipe, because she thought that it would make it to oily. She was probably right.
• 2 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs) - The chef of this recipe (a.k.a my mom) advised me to tell you that you will need way more panko than that. She said that you should add about an extra 1 1/4 cups.
• Peanut oil for frying - Because peanut oil is horrible for you (I think), my mom used coconut oil instead. P.S. coconut oil is magic sauce, and it makes the chicken taste like coconuts.

Directions- 

1. Wash the chicken and pat dry.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the corn starch, flour, sugar (or no sugar), and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, soy sauce, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, and safflower oil (remember, no safflower oil if you want to be awesome).Whisk in the corn starch mixture.
4. Place the chicken pieces in a sealable plastic bag.
5. Pour in the batter and turn to coat. - basically "turn to coat" means to get the chicken covered in gross eggy stuff.
6. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight, turning the bag to keep the marinate combined. Overnight marinating enhances the flavor of the chicken.
7. Season the panko with the remaining salt and spread on a work surface. Remove the pieces of chicken from the bag, allowing the excess marinade to drip back into the bag. Roll the chicken in the panko, making sure each piece is well coated. - It is impertinent that the panko doesn't get wet, or else it all stick together. So, use one hand to grab the chicken and drip off the marinade, then use the other hand to roll it around in the panko. 
8. In a 12-14 inch skillet, heat the peanut oil (coconut oil) to 350 degrees. Fry the chicken until golden brown, turning frequently. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a fork and the juices run clear. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature. - In order to fully cook the chicken and keep it warm well she was finishing frying the rest of the chicken, my mom would pop the pieces into the oven after she fried them, at about 300 degrees. 

Recipe courtesy of California Heritage Continues: A Cookbook

This chicken is literally the most amazing thing on the planet, and you should definitely make it. It makes amazing leftovers, and the day after my mom made it I had it for lunch, and was looking forward to coming home and eating more, but then it was all gone. I'm still kind of bummed that I didn't get more of it. So, the moral of the story is to make a double batch and eat as much of it as possible, before the rest of your family can get to it. 

~Mia

Flax Seed Energy Ball Things

So I'm back with an all new recipe, and this one is actually healthy, unlike my last one. If you have already read my most recent post about what to eat while you're exercising, you've heard about these magical delicious-I-don't-know-what-they're-called ball things. When the nutritionist was at my dance studio (again, refer to my last post for more information), she showed us a recipe that is super easy and fast for these energy balls to eat before you exercise , that give you the right kind of energy. At first, I was suspicious because she put coconut in them, and I'm a strong opposer to coconut. But, I decided to give it a try, and it changed my life. Now, these mysterious spheres of excellence are all I eat- it's probably not safe. Now I am here to share this excellence with you- here we go!

Look it's them! Courtesy of Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

• I cup uncooked quick oats -Make sure you use the right kind of oats- one time I used steel cut oats and they were the weirdest flax seed ball things I've ever tasted. You can also use gluten free oats. 

• 1/2 cup peanut, almond, or cashew butter -I always use almond butter. Whole foods has a lot of really good brands. You can also use any other kind of "butter," except regular butter. 

• 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup -I usually use honey because it's healthier and less sugary-tasting. Also, if you don't have honey or maple syrup, you can use agave. I tried it once, and it tastes pretty good-it's just sweeter.

• 1/2 cup wheat germ, flaxseed, or flax meal -I've always use flaxseed, and I think it tastes really good. But, my dad has mentioned that you could also try chia seeds. My only concern with using chia seeds is that when they touch liquid, they get really goey and weird.

• 1 tsp vanilla extract -You could always use almond extract instead.

• 1/2 cup Craisins, dried blueberries or sour cherries, shredded coconut (unsweetened), or chocolate chips -You can pretty much put anything you want here, but make sure not to add to many things- this can amp up the calories. My favorite is the shredded coconut. 

All you have to do after mixing all of the ingredients in a bowl is put it in the fridge for half an hour. Then, you can either roll them into balls, or just smush it all into a tubberware container and eat it with a fork, which I may or may not do.

Since this recipe is designed to be eaten to boost your energy while you're working out, it's kinda higher in calories than some other foods (like celery). Not so much that you'll have to go to fat camp, but enough that you can't just eat it whenever. The best time to eat this is right before a workout, or during one when your energy is low. You also don't want to eat a huge quantity at once, because if you do some math that means you eat even more calories. 

Eating for Maximum Energy Utilization

Over the summer my dance studio brought in a real-life-its-her-actual-job-nutritionist. They had her come so that she could teach us about how you're supposed to eat when you're constantly exercising.  She showed us a delicious recipe for these energy balls that have flax seed and honey and coconut and a bunch of other stuff - maybe I'll show you it sometime. She also gave us three pages of information - eating before exercise, during exercise, and after. Those three pieces of paper have been so helpful to me and are my lifeblood when I'm dancing for five hours straight.

Like honestly though? Courtesy of Apples and Arteries

Eating Before Exercise

• Eat a carbohydrate-rich snack or meal before exercise - but avoid simple sugars cuz those usually just make you fat.
• A little bit of protein before you exercise, because this can help reduce muscle soreness after your workout.
• Choose a meal that is low in fat and fiber so that you can digest it, and hopefully not throw up when you are doing jumping jacks. 

Some good foods that you can eat a few hours before you exercise are:

• Peanut butter & honey on whole-grain toast 
• Fruit & yogurt smoothie + low fat granola
• Turkey & cheese sandwich and some fruit               

About an hour before you workout, you would want to eat something small like some fruit or a sports bar. Another thing that I find helpful before I exercise is not eating a lot of food. If I just have a small snack and make sure I'm not super full when I go to dance, then I feel like I can actually dance.

Eating During Exercise

• Drink the right amount of fluids. You need a good mix of water and a drink with electrolytes. A good general rule is for the first hour of exercising, drink water. After that, you want to start ingesting something that has electrolytes but not too much sugar. 

• Make sure you drink enough water to make up for the sweat that you're losing. Dehydration is not fun when you are exercising.  

• Experiment with different foods and drinks to see what keeps your energy up the longest. Everyone is different and unique, like a snowflake.

While you're exercising, here are some foods and fluids that you should try:

• Coconut water - this is the best thing you can drink because it has a ton of electrolytes and other amazing things, but not as much sugar as something like gatorade. Gatorade is the worst thing you could drink while exercising. 

• A banana, bread with jam or honey, low-fat sports or granola bars

When you are eating during a workout, the goal is to boost your energy up for a short period of time. So it's also good to eat some fruit, or even something like fruit snacks to boost your blood sugar levels for a little bit. 

Eating for Recovery

• Restore fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat(a.k.a drink water and coconut water).
• Replace muscle fuel utilized during practice(a.k.a eat complex carbohydrates)
• Eat protein to repair damaged muscle tissue
• Eat a snack or meal within 15-60 minutes after your workout

Fun Fact - Did you know that when you do a hard workout your muscle tissue actually tears apart a little bit? Amino acids rush there to fix the broken muscle, and thats why you get sore muscles. When the muscle knits back together, it gets stronger. If you are strength training, you should pay attention to how long you're sore. If your muscles hurt for more than two or three days from the same workout, chances are you're going too hard on yourself and could injure yourself. Take it down a notch!

Some good recovery foods are:

• Chocolate milk- this is perfect 15 minutes after your workout because chocolate milk is one of the few drinks with a perfect protein to carb ratio to mend your ripped-up muscles.
• A home made smoothie- try to put in extra blueberries, because those are the best fruit for recovery. you can also add some peanut butter or almond butter to your smoothie. 
• Banana and peanut butter

Now that you know all of the ins and outs of eating food when you're working out, you can be the buffest person around. 

~Mia