Scallion Tops?

Even after I learned how to cook I never thought about using the green parts of scallions! Probably because I was still a "recipe reader" and most recipes tell you to only use the white part.  Scallions are green onions by the way.....a description that you may find inconsistent in recipes.



It wasn't until I invited myself to visit and stay with my BFF Fawn Friday, Sfg level 2 (former professional Chef), that I learned that not only can you, and should you, use the green parts of the scallions, but how to make a very simple and fast salad dressing.  The simplest of salad dressings is oil and vinegar! And this is just two more ingredients: scallion greens, and honey!  And even the honey is optional, but it balances out the acid of the vinegar (or lime, or lemon, or combination of any of the three)



Yesterday morning I had to make some chicken salad (which I chose to make from store bought raosted chickens, by the way!)  and a large Quinoa Salad with spinach, roasted corn, tomatoes, and grilled summer squash, and Queso Fresco cheese, (and the white/light green part of the scallion!)  It's a salad I've made many times before, after first watching Fawn make it way back in 2007!  And I've posted it a few times here on this blog over the last 5 years.  You could easily dress the salad with just oil and vinegar, and still you would blow the socks off of company or at a pot luck, but why not make a dressing with a mild onion "bite", since you had to buy a bunch of scallions anyway.


Since there are only 4 ingredients in this dressing I decided to use an expensive olive oil (because I had it in my pantry).  Lemon, the green scallion tops, and about 2-3 tsp honey.  Do I have to list salt at this point?  Salt is a seasoning and should be a given!  A "gps" (good pinch of salt).


In a blender:

The top half of one bunch of scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
juice of one good sized lemon, or 2 small (2-4 tbl)
1/2 c. olive oil
good squeeze or heavy drizzle of honey
"gps"


I just threw it all in the blender and let it go for about 1-2 minutes.  Taste it!  Is it balanced? Does it need more acid? (vinegar or lemon/lime)  Does it need to be a bit sweeter? (more honey)  Does it have enough salt?


It will separate, which is why I included a picture of the dressing I made after sitting on my kitchen counter for about 45 minutes.  Just give it a quick stir before you dress your salad.  The best two things about this dressing? You use a part of a vegetable you might otherwise throw away, and you add some lovely nutrition provided by the dark green onion tops!  Oh....and scallions are cheap...three things!

I found that I only needed one half of this amount for my salad, so I've got another 1/3 c. or so for another later in the week.


How do you use scallion tops?


Salad:
1 c. quinoa, cooked = 2 c.
1 bunch of spinach (or packaged baby spinach)
2-3 ears roasted corn
1 basket of baby tomatoes (or large diced Heirlooms)
1 bunch sliced scallions (white and light green parts)
1/2 pound Queso Fresco cheese, crumbled OR 1/2 lb Cojita cheese (can be found at WF)
1/3 c green scallion and honey dressing

Saturday Night Live: Sally O'Malley

I'm 50!  Fifty years old!

Saturday Night Live: Sally O'Malley

Maribel sent me this video clip of a Saturday Night Live skit this morning and it's freaking hilarious!  If you have a couple of minutes, and you like SNL humor, you got to watch it!

Birth Day, Fruit Day

Somehow, this year, I felt as if my birthday started on Friday!  A birthday weekend to kick off a birthday month! Interestingly enough I haven't once thought about a cake!  Birthday cake is probably my #1 favorite dessert in the world (as long as it's a corner piece with an extra flower....to start!) But this year it's been all about fruit!

It's really easy to be lulled into a false "calorie" sense of security when it comes to fruit.  A lot of time some of us may confuse the low calorie count of vegetables to also include fruit.  Don't I wish?  Man....if only that were true.  I had to come to grips with the reality of the calorie count of fruit long ago.  Now my rule of thumb is 1 pound, 16 oz., = 400 calories.

You could technically buy an Asian pear, or apple, that weighs an entire pound, and it may be slightly less calories, or you could buy a mango or banana weighing slightly less, and equal more calories!  But for me, if I keep this little rule in mind as I shop I'll weigh out my grapes, my cherries my figs, or what I decide I want to eat, and never purchase more than one pound at a time....unless it's my birthday!

Today has pretty much been an all fruit day with no guilt!  I ate numerous nectarines, a handful of apricots, the last of my green figs (I gave a lot away too), at least 1 pound of grapes....goodness I've denied myself grapes far too long!  Grapes!  Can you believe it?  I did buy a melon, but it sucked and I threw it away! What's up with the melons these last few years?  $6 down the drain (or should I say in the trash!).  I will not eat bad tasting fruit!

Tomorrow, my actual birthday, I plan of pressure cooking some apricots and nectarines to add to oatmeal, and freeze the rest for future oat and yogurt meals!  I'm sure I'll buy, and eat, cake at some point, but for now I will enjoy my fruit without any guilt!

I found this Facebook page about Fruit Day!  More fruit lovers?
Count me in!

https://www.facebook.com/internationalfruitday

Coming Tomorrow! "The New 50"

Tomorrow is my 50th birthday!  Five-O!  I knew I was going to have to design a special swing workout using "50" as a theme, and not only did I come up with one, but I came up with two!  Two workouts that progressively increase in difficulty, but are both scalable in so many ways you can easily turn them into as many different workouts as you want...you'll see!

I decided to name the workout "The New 50" because being 50, turning 50, these days is just not the same as it used to be.  One might think that you could say that 50 is the new 40, or even the new 35......30 is just stretching it a bit too far, lol!  But I disagree with any of that! There is a New 50 in town, and I'm thrilled to be an example of the possibilities, experiences and chances to do some amazing things in the second half of my life.  I don't want to be anything other age than what I am, right now, and right now, this second, I'm 49 years old!  But tomorrow I hope some of you will join me swinging right into Tracyrif's New 50"!

I will post the first workout video along with the written routine at some point tomorrow!  The second workout you'll have to earn!  And you'll need to because it's harder!  I mean it's more fun! I'll post The New 50 #2 at the end of my birthday month!  Almost an entire month to celebrate!

Happy Accident

I really don't know why more athletes and trainers don't video tape their workouts.  But in their defense I would never have started if it were not for blogging!  Goodness!  Back in "the day" (2006-07) when I started my original blog and I wrote about my diet and workouts, it took maybe an entire year before I posted some video, taken with my Cannon camera (with a 3 minute video limit AND no sound) only to demonstrate some of what my workouts looked like, to then actually speaking my first words on camera!  LOL!  And I distinctly remember one of the first comments I got that  complimented me on having a nice voice!  It was then I became a real person!

During these years I was lucky enough to be able to assist at a few RKC weekends when Mark was teaching, and I routinely suggested to new Instructors to "become their own first clients" by video taping themselves and their skills in order to either make corrections, or to be able to demonstrate correct form and technique!  Become your own first client!  If, as a trainer and coach, you cannot correct your own form and technique, how on earth can you correct someone else?

Fast forward....

You are not a trainer....you are not even in the business of health and fitness, but you ARE an athlete of some practice wanting to improve.  Video tape your workouts!  I can't tell you how many times I see imbalances in my fellow yogis as I go through my own practice standing behind them (you will almost always find me in the back row!).  Having a regular yoga practice that depends on correct posture can greatly, greatly, benefit from taking some video of your practice, in front, from the side and even behind.  Quit being shy!  Don't you want to know what you really look like?

In this day and age you can set up your phone to take video!  Don't think you should be embarrassed, and ask your spouse, your kids, or your teacher, and set up a camera!  It's not a big deal!  You are not being egotistical, you are simply wanting to improve and be the best you can!  I only know this because of the happy accident of blogging!  Enjoy!

Enjoy becoming your own best coach!  Enjoy the process of seeing, identifying and changing your weaknesses into your strengths!

Making Rules to help Break Old Habits

At the beginning of this year I made one substantial resolution, if you want to call it a resolution, and that was to not allow myself to buy seasonal foods on sale, or sale foods in general.  "Sale" foods are 1/2 price deals (or even a bigger discount) often Holiday candy and cookies, but any food I would not normally buy, that is part of my regular nutritional diet, is a no-no rule!

This is a rule I felt was time to implement to help me break acting out the unconscious habit of buying, therefore eating, certain foods I don't really want in the first place.  I used to find myself buying, and eating, foods that triggered that darn reaction of fear, as if I'll be missing out, I don't have enough, or I'll never again be able to buy those foods at that price.  The fear of scarcity.

I can't tell you haw many times, out of habit, I see those carts or shelves piled high with 50% off foods and, out of habit, I make a beeline right for them!  And I confess I'll look through them, moving stuff around to see if there is anything I want at the bottom!  But then I always come back to the rule.  Even if it's something I can use, like instant oatmeal in those convenient cups (for $.50 a piece) I simply am not allowed.  This has made my life so much easier!

I don't like to use the word "trigger", but for lack of a better way of describing it, are you triggered by certain food situations, or certain foods in general?  Have you made any rules that have helped you break an old unconscious habit?  There is much more to write about this, but for now, I'm off to the gym!

Have a great day!



Photo above is what I walked into in the front of my grocery store the other day!  Did I look through the carts?  Yep!  Did I buy anything?  Nope!  

Jo Jo Crazy Cat

This is pretty much what my cat Jello does all the time!  She laid here like this while I warmed up for my snatch set for about 30 minutes!  The gym is, kind of, her place, we just get to visit and use the equipment!

More about my workout coming.