Blogosphere

Hello Mia's Blog! I'm Juliette and I own Verde Sauce! You guys should definitely check it out! I don't write about healthy foods but I am actually a comedic genius . . . So if you get the chance, hop on over to Verde Sauce!

Protein Bars - Everything You Need to Know

Today I would like to discuss the issues I have with protein bars. Protein bars are not something that you should be eating constantly. There is a specific time and place (not really a specific place, but. . . ) for protein bars, and it is not 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I'm in third period and I see someone drinking a protein shake, or eating a protein bar. I don't like this because you are only supposed to eat protein bars (or protein drinks) after you exercise a lot. If you have the right kind of protein, you can drink it first thing in the morning, and thats okay. But, you should not eat protein bars as if it's kale. 

First of all, protein bars need some extra stuff to get all of that protein in there. Most protein bars have an insane amount of calories, sugar, and fat, which is okay to eat if you just burned a lot of calories and need the amino acids (those come in proteins) to build up your muscle. Protein bars/drinks are not something you should eat all the time if you want to gain muscle without doing anything, because it'll have absolutely no affect, and probably make you fatter. 

These are literally so delicious. Courtesy of Penny Pinching Mom

But, protein bars are a good thing to have when you're on the go, and you're starving and you have to have a snack. You just have to pick the right kind of bar. A bad protein bar to eat in this situation would be something like a PowerBar, which has a crazy amount of protein only fit for a bodybuilder. A good bar to eat, that I have found, is something like Nature Valley's Protein bars. They have enough protein to fill you up for a little bit, but not a bunch of extra sugar and stuff. But, be warned, even though these are better protein bars doesn't mean than you can eat 20 of them at a time- you still have to be careful, and mostly eat them after some kind of physical activity. So, don't be that kid stuffing 50 grams of protein in their mouth before 10 in the morning. At least wait until lunch.

~Mia

DON'T SKIP MEALS

Well friends, recently while I sit in the school cafeteria from 12:22 to 12:51, I've encountered a problem. I'm constantly hearing people (mostly girls, because they all want to be skinny) talk about how they skipped breakfast, or how they don't eat lunch or whatever. If you had read my previous post, you would know that BREAKFAST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY, so you really should eat it, even if it makes you sick. Also, every meal is the most important meal of the day. I cannot stress enough how horribly horrible it is for you to skip meals. This isn't just my inner old person saying "oh, dear, you're much to skinny. Here, have a snickerdoodle," it's my actual self with actual scientific evidence saying that you're wrong.

Don't skip meals. Courtesy of My Food Diary

Now, logical reasoning would lead you to believe that skipping meals makes you loose weight. Yes, at some point it does, but then it's called anorexia, which is a serious disease and not how you should live your life. Right now, if you're thinking that just skipping one meal once and a while isn't bad, and hey, it can't hurt your weight loss goals, then you're dead wrong. I can't even tell you how wrong you are. Because, when you skip a meal, you're body immediately goes into starvation mode, and stores all the fat it can. Fat storage is exactly what you don't want when you're losing weight. Part two is that when you skip breakfast, specifically, you're metabolism doesn't get started, and that throws off you're whole life. You're body realizes that it's awake when you eat breakfast, then it starts all the stuff it needs to do in the daytime. Skipping meals is just really, really bad. And, it becomes even worse if you do any kind of exercise, because then you're muscles don't have enough energy to rebuild. And, it's also really bad if you're young and you're cells are still dividing, because then your cells don't have the energy to divide. So, don't skip meals. Period.

I know that some days it's really, really hard, and you're running late, and you just stabbed your eye with the mascara wand, and you just don't have time to eat anything. I definitely know this feeling. Just this morning I forgot to eat breakfast (oops, guess I should practice what I preach) and I didn't have any food until 12:22. But, I now regret my decisions, and will not go down that dark path again. Literally, all you need to do is grab a banana, or a protein bar, or even a raspberry, and that will be enough to tell you're body to wake up. And at lunch, even if the option is unhealthy, you should still eat something.

The moral of the story is to never skip meals.

~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

A Complete Guide to Not Eating

My favorite thing to do always is eat. Especially when I get home after school. I walk into my kitchen at eat everything in sight, except for my dogs and anything healthy. I've noticed that this is a problem outside of my particular home, and it probably happens in your home. Eating because you're bored is a very bad thing, and so is overeating. So, I have a few tricks for you so that you don't eat half the world when you get home.

This is my favorite food, minus the twinkles.
Courtesy of Shopbuy

My very first trick is to chew gum. If there is something already in your mouth, then you can't eat anything. Also, after you spit the gum out, your mouth will be all minty, and who wants to eat when your mouth is minty? A variation of this trick is to brush your teeth when you get home. Then, your mouth will be really minty, and you really won't want to eat anything. Also, your breath will smell amazing.

My second trick is to drink green tea. First, since it's mostly water, it will fill you up with water. Second, green tea curbs your hunger, so you won't be as hungry. And, an extra plus, green tea has a bunch of antioxidants, which are very good for you. My favorite kind of green tea is Bigelow, and Numi Jasmine Green Tea.

Do people really put lime in their green tea?
Courtesy of Higher Perspective

My third trick is prepare stuff to eat the day before. If you always have healthy leftovers in your fridge when you get home, you can just microwave them and eat them right then and there. But, you shouldn't wait to make an actual meal right when you get home, because chances are you wont want to make it, then you'll eat chips instead. So, the night before make a really big dinner, then put all the leftovers in the fridge. The next day, you can eat that instead of a bag of corn starch.

My very last trick isn't as good as my first three. If you are 100% determined to eat snack foods when you get home, this trick is for you. Don't just grab the bag and sit in front of the TV. Grab the bag, then grab a bowl. Put some chips or whatever in the bowl, then eat out of the bowl, and not the bag. If you eat out of the bag, you are more likely to eat way more than if you were to eat out of a bowl.

I hope with these amazing tricks you will begin to eat less.

~Mia