Second wind for older flies - special food source can ward off memory problems

Why do spring cleaning when it's warm and you get all sweaty cleaning dirt and grime, when you can do winter cleaning right before the holidays?

Every year MOH and I prepare for our trip up North by turning our apartment inside out and doing a thorough clean. Sure we clean up every now and then, but a real good scrub down is few and far between. Things that we accumulated over the year are either removed or packed away, depending on if it's still useful. Sometimes we forget about how much dust, dirt, and junk piles up, but when the home is clean, a fog feels like it's been lifted. You can breathe a little easier, maneuver through the rooms faster, and find things easier.

Our bodies also do "winter cleaning" regularly. Through a process called autophagy, proteins or cell parts that are non-functional, defective, or not needed anymore, are removed with the help of our disposal center part of cells called the lysosome. This process is very important for regulating efficient cellular processing and often becomes defective with age and several aging disorders like Alzheimer's. Ineffective autophagy results in a massive accumulation of junk proteins hanging around the cell, gradually piling up and impeding cellular function.

Structure of spermidine, a polyamine. Polyamines contain two or more amine groups (NH2) 

Recently, scientists have discovered a food source that has the ability to slow aging memory deficits in flies by upregulating autophagy processes. In this study, scientists wanted to look at the role between a compound called polyamines and age, since polyamines have been found to be downregulated with age. Using an olfactory memory test, flies were taught to associate a particular odor as being predictive of an electric shock. When old aged flies were given a type of polyamine (spermidine), scientists found that their learning was enhanced. In addition, the extra polyamine source enhanced production of more polyamines and was able to improve memory through increasing autophagy processes in this aged group - these flies had less junk proteins lying around as a result of efficient clean up . Weirdly enough, this boost in memory was only seen in the aged flies, as the younger flies showed no improvement in memory.*

While the verdict is still out on how effective polyamines are for warding age-related cellular problems and memory loss in humans, it certainly gives some incentive to try to incorporate more foods into our diet that are high in polyamines.  Luckily, our options for sources of polyamines are quite varied and tasty! The polyamine used in this study can be found heavily in foods such as aged cheese, mushrooms, soy, legumes, and corn.

Brown criminis stuffed with goat cheese (photo courtesy of Stacy from wikimedia)

Just my luck too - this week at the Farmer's Market, MOH and I stumbled across a goat cheese stand called Soledad Goats that doubles as an animal sanctuary and cheese farm. The cute little stand had a mix up of different goat cheese spreads and an olive oil herb mix with fresh goat cheese tossed into a cute little mason jar.

Delicious mix of cheese and herbs - my new thing to put on salads

This mix goes great on a salad (especially topped with some balsamic and black pepper), but can also be a great cooking oil source.

Hope everyone's ready for the holidays - have a great time eating and spending time with family and loved ones!

Until next time, happy eating all!


References:
Gupta et al., 2013. Restoring polyamines protects from age-induced memory impairment in an autophagy-dependent manner. Nature Neuroscience.

* Age-related memory loss was tested using aversive olfactory memory test, where flies learned to associate a particular odor as predictive of an aversive stimulus. Aged flies that were given spermidine showed improved performance in the aversive olfactory task compared to their control counterparts. Scientists discovered that spermidine enhanced autophagy in aged flies by looking at an autophagy protein marker  Atg8a. Furthermore, the enhancement in learning was shown to be dependent on autophagy, as autophagy defective mutant flies showed no improvement in memory after spermidine administration.

Spread the cheer - eggplant tagine dip

One thing I love about the holidays is the food! Such good food within a short time span. It's great on our tummies, not so great on those pants, that dress, that suit.

I really like seeing all the variety of appetizers, entrees, and desserts that people bring. People come together for the holidays and you get to try new foods, experience wonderful flavors, and share different cultures. Oftentimes I leave an event usually asking at least recipe for me to try later at home.

Something new that I recently tried was a rendition of an eggplant tagine, a Moroccan stew. Tagine is a traditional stew named after the cooking equipment that the dish is normally prepared with.

Tagines lined up in a row (photo courtesy of K. Rogers)

Tagines can be made with a variety of different ingredients, such as different meats, vegetables, or even fruits, slow cooked and simmered with a combination of different spices like curry, cumin, and saffron. The final product culminates into this aromatic dish that can be eaten with rice, pasta, or even, as I experienced it, as a dip.

Vegetable tagine (photo courtesy of Turajski)

Festive vegetarian eggplant tagine!

My first experience having a tagine was at a potluck for an end-of-quarter celebration for a mentoring pilot program happening at my university. The flavor profile is a little bit of sweet, savory, and spicy. There's a great kick at the end that comes from a little bit of cayenne.

There's a great amount of versatility with a tagine. In essence, it's just a stew of your favorite things (whether it's really well-seasoned meat, in season produce, or just an assortment of blazing spices).

Here's my rendition of the eggplant tagine (recipe from M. Diaz, who was so kind as to share with me his wonderful recipe!). You'll find that the recipe is very flexible - you can add or omit anything you don't want. I think that next time, I might add some zucchini squash and celery. Also, the dish is super festive looking and not difficult to make!

Ingredients:
-  Olive oil for brushing
- 1 chinese eggplant (I think any eggplant would work), diced
- 1 24 oz can of stewed tomatoes (I chose the fire roasted and seasoned with garlic flavor)
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons of honey to start
- 1 lime
- Spices of your choice (cumin is a huge staple for most tagines, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used Trader Joes' 21 seasoning salute, cayenne, paprika, garlic salt, and onion powder)

Protocol:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degree F
2. Slightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil
3. Place eggplant and garlic cloves in baking sheet and bake until slightly cooked (should be roughly 15 minutes) - once garlic slightly roasted, cut into smaller pieces for stew
4. While waiting, make the stew - throw in stewed tomatoes (can be done from scratch, too), onions and let simmer slowly
5. After eggplant and garlic done, toss in and stir slowly
6. After simmering for about 5 minutes, slowly add in honey until it fully dissolves (if your honey is super thick, try to heat it up slowly in another bowl). Once honey dissolved, add in spices of your choice and taste every so often until you like the taste
7. Finish off with a squeeze of lime - it will enhance the flavors further
8. Once happy with the taste, let it cool and you can serve with either rice, chips, couscous, or even pasta (I used brown rice sesame crackers)
9. Tagine will taste good several days after - in fact, the flavors are deeper if you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours!

You'll find that the flavors of this dish are slightly sweet and acidic - perfect for a dip... or even breakfast (I brought some to work today and ate it by 10AM....)

Quinoa "meatball" spaghetti pasta - postrun meal

Today, I rounded off my 600 miles for the year.

About a year and a half ago, I was hitting a rough patch in grad school. Experiments weren't working. Days didn't feel productive. The manuscript was nowhere near done. My overall mood and self-esteem was at an all time low. I needed an outlet, anything. Grad school can sometimes feel too abstract to feel like real accomplishments are done. There are also too few milestones to rejoice and celebrate.

So I decided to make concrete goals, just to feel more accomplished, and boost my overall mood. Goals that weren't so far away, like the idea of graduating, etc. I decided to run 300 miles less than half a year. When the new year rolled around, I met the goal and decided to up the challenge and do 600 miles in one year. Tonight, I ran the last stretch!

For 2015, I'm going to try for 700 and slowly make my way up - we'll see how far I get.

What better way to celebrate this little achievement? Gorge on pasta and yogurt.

Post-run eating should always include a good source of protein. Your body needs more protein to make up for all the hard effort your body has endured and helps boost recovery time for your body to heal itself and prep for the next activity.

One of my favorite protein loaded dishes is quinoa "meatballs." The meatballs are made with a combination of quinoa, mushrooms, garlic, onions, basil, and some parmesan. Simply bake these bad boys up in the oven and serve on top of your pasta of choice. They're a nice change from your usual meatballs, and in some ways, I prefer these "meatballs" to the original (bad episode of food poisoning, another story, another time).

The prep for these balls is super simple - you'll notice that my instructions are eye-balling, but that just means that it's open for your favorite substitutions!

I think the one thing to worry about is getting your quinoa to be just the right texture. I have found that if you give a little more water initially in the cooking, the quinoa ends up slightly mushier, which makes for a great binding agent for your meatball.

If you have just regular cooked quinoa, you can use an egg for a binding agent.

I personally like red sauce, but I like to make my sauce thick with lots of vegetables (I used eggplant, zucchini, onions, mushrooms and garlic). The end result reminds me of a red ratatouille-esque sauce that you can put on top of pasta or even a bed of greens for a low carb choice.

Perfect way to start my week off!

Have a great week everyone! Until next time, happy eating!

Ingredients:
For quinoa:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 6 mushrooms finely chopped (the onion and mushroom amount is equivalent here, but you can adjust)
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup basil chopped
- Parmesan cheese

For pasta sauce:
- Any pasta sauce of your choice (or even homemade if you're so inclined!)
- 1 onion coarsely chopped
- 1 zucchini chopped
- 1 eggplant chopped
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- Pack of mushrooms chopped (~10 mushrooms?)
*I also like to use celery, tomatoes, or broccoli sometimes too

Protocol:
1. Soak quinoa with water (I like to do overnight, but a couple hours is OK)
2. Boil quinoa with water over low heat once water initially boils - should take about 20 minutes
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
4. Once quinoa cooked, add in onions, mushrooms, garlic, basil and stir to evenly mix
5. Sprinkle parmesan amount of your choice and mix
6. Line baking pan and form little meatballs from your quinoa mix (I like to use a ice cream scooper or cookie scooper to just make it go faster)
7. Bake quinoa until browned, roughly 30-40 minutes - should appear crisp
8. While waiting for quinoa, make pasta sauce (or use sauce of your choice). If you're making the sauce that I have listed, it's simply adding in vegetables as soon as the stock red sauce is boiling!
9. Stir and cook vegetables and when done, lower heat until quinoa balls ready
10. Once quinoa balls cooked, either place into red sauce, or eat separately!

Thanksgiving day thanks - take a deep breath!

Thanksgiving isn't the same without indulging in some great food and good company. Whether you spend it with family, old friends, new friends, or even by yourself, it's a time to reflect on the year and think about all the great things that have come your way.

Laguna Beach (Photo courtesy of MOH)

And for me, what better way to reflect than against this wonderful backdrop? Seriously, it's as if Southern California didn't get the memo that we're getting near Winter.

It's been awhile since MOH and I have gone hiking and we wanted to go all out. We ended up hiking for 4 hours, trekked 6 miles, and woke up the next day with our legs massively burning.

Laguna Beach has this beautiful park called Top of the World, which is aptly named. The scenery is beautiful, there's scattered remnants of wildlife, and lots of trails to choose from - and the top view is insane. 

We started out our trek with the Car Wreck Trail. This trail was labeled as difficult but MOH and I decided to take our chances. We ended up starting uphill and had to go steadily down a steep path. I slid three times, once officially on my butt. Towards the end of the descend, I just gave up and squatted all the way down (like how you squat to look at an ant up close, and I just slid along the sandy path). If you reach the end of the trail in one piece, you'll see this old car wedged deep into the soil.

The steepness of this hill reminded me of a trail at a Science Camp I attended younger - it was called "hamburger hill" because if you ever fell down the hill, it was said that your face would look like hamburger meat. Not a pretty sight, but you get how steep and dangerous these types of hills can be if you're not careful. 

Hills everywhere!

We got quite a bit of a workout, especially by the way I was trekking down. Since there was a mixture of rocks and sand on the path, I made sure to avoid falling as much as possible by squatting and walking down sideways to balance myself (makes for a great rear/quad workout if anyone's interested!).

One of the really pretty sights was all the trees just sprawled around the park. Groves of trees provided shade to us amid the 80 degree weather (Fall season, right?) while we hiked the Mathis Canyon Trail.

MOH and I love to hike around this time of the year - just escaping away to be closer to nature puts things in perspective and just helps clear our heads. We hiked two main trails before we eventually ran into a separate wilderness park (Top of the World is part of the Aliso and Woods Canyon Park) and ended up taking an alternate route back to the car. It ended up being a super steep hike back up that was probably a little steeper than the hill we descended initially. Our thighs were burning, sweat showered down my face (sexy, right?), and we finished the hike feeling super winded, but accomplished.

Despite the heat and the sweat on my face and pits, this hike was really fun. I enjoy hikes with lots of challenges and this hike definitely fit the bill. It was a beautiful Thanksgiving.

Thanks to everyone who comes across this blog - I really appreciate your support and hope everyone is having a great start of the holidays!

Why sleep, when you can run?

To paraphrase Fatboy Slim: "eat, sleep, run, repeat."

(photo courtesy of ShokoPhoto)

I'm halfway through my half-marathon running schedule (so is that a quarter way through?), and it's getting to that time of year when it's cold outside (at least cold for Southern California). I like to do dawn runs to start my weekends, but this morning was particularly painful starting a run in 50 degree weather. Not to mention, doing it in shorts and a t-shirt.

I also have to play this compromise between getting enough sleep and getting in enough time to do a run before it gets too bright. And then there's the pre-run snack that helps provide fuel for a long run. People suggest eating a snack before running at least 30 minutes in advance, but if you're already waking up at 6 to do a run, you're looking at waking up at 5 in order to get something in the belly without running with the feeling of a brick in your stomach. I've found that a good snack for me is cold oatmeal. Simply mix equal amount of oatmeal, yogurt, and almond milk, and let sit in fridge overnight. Quick, easy, and good amount of protein and carbs to get you through the morning!

What if you have to make the choice between getting in a good run or getting in the full sleep? I was curious if there have been any research articles looking into this and there's quite a body of research known about this area. 

Sleep is a necessity for everyone, even cute koalas (photo courtesy of Alex P.)

It's well known that sleep deprivation isn't great. Your body needs a good amount of sleep to basically reset itself. Having a good night's sleep is especially important for maintaining good communication throughout your different brain regions. In both animals and humans, sleep deprivation often leads to memory impairments in working memory and the consolidation or strengthening of new information. But can exercise reverse these negative consequences? 

Exercise has been shown to be important for improving cognitive function and protecting new memory formation, but how effective would squeezing in some sweat do in a compromised situation like what happens during sleep deprivation? 

Turns out, providing consistent exercise to animals before sleep deprivation completely protects the animals from sleep deprivation-induced damage to the brain. In this study, rats were allowed a month of regular exercise on a treadmill before being sleep deprived for 24 hours. Sleep deprivation causes many detrimental consequences on the brain such as decrease in electrical activation of the brain and decreases in key proteins essential for memory formation*. Groups that had exercised before sleep deprivation overall had higher levels of electrical activity in the memory area of the brain and pro-memory proteins compared to the control groups. 

These findings point to how much exercise can benefit and even protect the body from injury. It also points to how sensitive our brains are. If we're super sleep deprived, several molecular changes are drastically being changed, having a detrimental impact on our cognitive function. However, fitting in some exercise (in this case leisure running or walking) can ameliorate the damage done to the body from continual stress. In a way, I think that's why so many of my mentors have stressed the importance of fitting in some time getting in physical activity. My undergraduate mentor's joke of what a Ph.D. stood for?

Permanent Health Disorder.

Maybe that's why she ran and hiked so much...

Happy November everyone! November is a great month for me. MOH's birthday just passed, and I'm getting one step closer to my dream job. More news to come at a later time.

Happy eating!

*Sleep deprivation has shown to cause a decrease in early long term potentiation and lead to decreases in CaMKII and BDNF protein levels within the dentate gyrus. 

References:

Zagaar, M, Dao, A, Alhaider, I, and Alkadhi, K. Regular treadmill exercise prevents sleep deprivation-induced disruption of synaptic plasticity and associated signaling cascade in the dentate gyrus. 2013. Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. 

Kabocha and Yams - roast fest!

The supermarket I normally go to has decided to embrace fall - squashes and yams are on SALE!

I love a good sale, but when that sale falls in with the season, you load up. So when I saw the sale sign up for Kabocha and Sweet Yams, I hauled home with a bunch of these little suckers.

As a child, Kabocha squash was a staple soup. Simmered in a light chicken broth with green onion garnish, this soup was the go-to for if you were ever feeling sick. And yams? My mom loved to just roast them or boil them and have us eat them as snacks. Yams are so sweet to begin with that there's no need for added sugar (although I do love caramelized yams with coconut).

While I did roast some whole yams (I like to bring one to work to snack on when I get the munchies), I tried to do some yam fries. Super simple, super flavorful. I never noticed it before, but sweet potato fries and yam fries have this extra bite to them. It's a little sweeter, but there's something about tasting a natural caramelization that you get from the sugars of the potato. What's even better? MOH is all for it. Both of us are from the camp that french fries should be just potatoes, but with the rise of sweet potato fries and now yam fries, there's room for everyone.

Easy fries - toss with olive oil, garlic salt and pepper (roast 15 minutes on each side at 400 degrees F)

And if the yam fries weren't enough - I decided to do roasted kabocha squash slices for breakfast. Kabocha is really creamy and decadent. The taste reminds me of acorn squash, but creamier. I've done an acorn squash roast with shredded coconut (I like to make it during Thanksgiving time), so this time, I decided to roast kabocha with some coconut oil and a little salt and pepper. Again, very simple, but really tasty! The outside of the squash is firm (slightly burnt is my preference), but the interior is really creamy. This heats well too! If I had planned better, I would have eaten this with a side of eggs.

Same prep as yam fries only use coconut oil for extra flavor! Keep rind on if you like, or peel off

I think that next on our list is to do a squash risotto. Another time!

Until next time, happy eating all!!!

Coconut milk Clam chowder - belated welcome to Fall

It's FINALLY starting to get cold in Irvine. MOH and I were so excited to to see rain last night - yes, the rain lasted five minutes, but the cold breeze and light rain just made it "Fall" for us. The days get darker faster, there's this nice chilly wind in the air when you go running in the evening, and clouds hang in the sky to shade the sun. It's like fall just arrived!

As the weather gets cooler, MOH and I shift our eating habits from salads/stir fries to more hearty soups. MOH has this fascination with creamy soups. He loves pot pie, potato leek soup, and clam chowder, especially San Francisco clam chowder.

So when he asked me to try to make clam chowder, but a dairy free version, I was super hesitant. It's always hard to try to recreate a recipe of something that's really beloved. Most chowder recipes call for heavy cream or half-and-half, and lots of butter and all purpose flour, but none of these options were good. But after looking around at some great sites, there are some tricks - people have tried different milk alternatives like coconut milk. The results? Creamy decadence without the heavy caloric burden. Win win.

Chowder is super simple to make - you just need to make sure the bottom of your soup pot isn't burning. I like to make my chowder reminiscent of "new england" style, which has a thickened broth thanks to potatoes other starch components (other variants of clam chowder include tomatoes, red broth, asparagus, etc.).

All in all, the chowder took less than 40 minutes to make including prep time. To get it gluten free, I relied on the starch from the potatoes (I like russet, but I've heard that red potatoes might be more soft) and a little bit of cornstarch to thicken the soup (what I use for sup mang cua, a crab asparagus soup).

I was a bit hesitant to have MOH try it - he's been spoiled by clam chowder by SF and Monterey, but he liked the funky chowder and ate it happily with two slices of bread. I say "funky" only because I added in some unlikely chowder ingredients like carrots, corn, and green onions. The chowder turned out to be a cute mash-up of clam and corn chowder components and tasted super creamy and delicious!

If you like creamy, chunky soups, definitely give this recipe a shot!

Until next time, happy eating!

Ingredients (enough to serve 2): 

2 tbsp butter

1/2 onion chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1/2 cup carrots chopped

1 cup of water 

2 cups of potatoes (or 1-2 potatoes, depending on size) cubed

1 1/2 cups of coconut milk (more or less half a can)

1 6.5oz can of clams

1/2 can corn

Garlic salt to taste

Green onions as garnish

Protocol:

1. In a soup pot, add butter and turn up heat to medium

2. Throw in onions, celery and carrots and sautee until browned

3. Once browned, add water and potatoes and simmer with lid partially closed for about 10-15 minutes (I check on them every so often - the water will get absorbed by potatoes and the potatoes will become very soft)

4. Once potatoes softened, add in milk and canned clams (include the juice!)

5. Finish off soup with adding corn and do last minute seasoning with garlic salt and pepper (dill and a dash of tabasco can be added for extra flavor)

6. Garnish with green onions and enjoy!

Riding on the runner's high

Ever get "runner's high?"

That feeling where you feel like your body is numb to any soreness or pain you may be feeling on those last miles? Or that euphoric feeling that all is well in the world (I mean, who cares if there's that looming deadline?).

Alone to your thoughts (photo courtesy of Alias0591)

Whether you just ran a massively long distance, hiked up a tall hill, or have been biking a long stretch, long endurance exercise has a way of producing this great boost of energy that many categorize as "runner's high." It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, you feel on top of the world. I call it "second wind" or "autopilot," because my runner's high entails either feeling a speed of energy or just going through the motions.

It turns out there's an actual scientific reason why you're feeling so good during your runner's high - your body is releasing lots of feel-good hormones that are triggering pleasure centers in your brain. Specifically, chemical compounds called endocannibinoids (eCBs) are released in your brain, which act to relieve inhibition of the hormone dopamine. In doing so, more dopamine can be released to have an effect on different brain regions, giving you that fuzzy, happy-go-lucky, not-a-care-in-the-world feeling!

Endurance exercise stimulates release of eCBs that eventually lead to release of happy-go-lucky dopamine

But human aren't the only ones who run for leisure - some other animals do long distance running as well (known as cursorial animals). In a study conducted in 2011, researchers found that other animals that do endurance activities (dogs, horses, etc.), also have the same physiological after-effects. In this study, blood levels compared eCB from treadmill runners versus treadmill walkers within three groups (people, dogs, and ferrets). Researchers found that while dogs and humans both had increased levels of eCB in their blood, the non cursorial ferret (animals that do not do long distance running) did not have eCB release.

This study shows the physiological rewards that humans and other animals have when they engage in endurance exercise and points to why certain animals are willing to do more high risk, injury-prone exercise (running) over the safer, less injury-prone exercise (walking). There's just something so addicting about getting out there and going on a run. The day may have been long, your legs might be too tired to hold your body up, and the sun might just be a little too bright for your liking, but nothing can beat the chance to hit that rush. You just hit the pavement running, leaving everything behind.


References:

Raichlen DA, Foster AD, Gerdeman GL, Seillier A and Giuffrida A. Wired to run: exercise-induces endocannabinoid signaling in humans and cursorial mammals with implications for the 'runner's high'. 2011. Journal of Experimental Biology.

Vegan gluten free energy bars for half-marathon training

It's October, meaning it's pumpkin season AND my half marathon training commences! It's something I've had on my to-do list so I finally signed up for Surf City in February! I've been mulling over signing up for a race, but finally bit the bullet and signed up. Most people train for 2-3 months, but being the slow-bro runner I am, I'm going to ease it into it. Needless to say, there may be a few more posts related to food/health/running/half-marathon training from now until February. But I promise that February will be dedicated to indulgence!

What's also great about October? Enjoying beautiful runs at dawn.

Beautiful view of my mornings - if it gets any darker, I'm going to have to wear a headlight

Nothing beats having the chance to start a run in the dark and end with the sun just peeking out. I like to run either in the dark or early day just because there's so little people around. It's like you have the whole world to yourself, get to have your thoughts to yourself, and just reflect. Much of my reflecting is thinking about what I'm going to eat after the run, but it's still deep thoughts!

My morning runs have been great, but I keep forgetting to prep my tummy and then halfway through I'm low on energy. While there are many options to choose from (gels, dried fruit, nuts, or bars), I've found eating a little peanut butter ball to be helpful prior to a run. But for those days where I'm aiming for long runs, or for packing something along the run, little energy bars go a long way.

Enter these little lovelies...

These energy bars are inspired from some energy bars I saw on Runner's World and are super easy to prepare. They combine my love for almonds, coconuts, dates, and most of all, simplicity. You don't need to bake these guys - just throw everything into a blender, spread out onto a baking sheet, and freeze. Simple, right?

Ingredients:
- 1 medium ripe banana
- 3/4 cup of chopped toasted almonds
- 1 cup of dates soaked
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup of oats
- 6 tbsp of coconut oil

Protocol:
1. Soak dates to get them softened
2. Throw all ingredients (except coconut oil) and blend using a food processor - you want everything to be chopped into very small pieces
3. Top off with coconut oil that will bind all the ingredients together
4. Spread mixture across baking sheet lined with parchment paper
5. Place in freezer for a couple of hours until firm
6. Cut into designated sizes (squares for energy bar size, small balls for popping into your mouth, whatever you like) and place in fridge until ready to eat

I was a bit skeptical about experimenting with the banana, but these dates are soft, not-to-sweet, and pretty healthy. Needless to say, I'm not too worried about having much left by the end of the week - MOH has been "testing" these babies out throughout the day as well.

Hope everyone is having a great Fall season - for people who live where there are seasons, I'm incredibly jealous. Weather here in Southern California is incredibly beautiful, but I miss the leaves changing colors.

Until next time, happy eating all!

Muffin madness - B.A.B. gluten free muffins

I had a super bad craving for muffins. Maybe it's the weather cooling down. Or maybe it was seeing MOH eat a donut the other day - something triggered in my head that I wanted a muffin. A sweet, moist, pseudo-healthy muffin (if that even exists).

My compromise? Banana-almond-blueberry (BAB) muffins. The muffins are loaded with nutrients, such as protein and antioxidants - what more could you ask for?

These muffins are everything you can ask for in a muffin. Deliciously easy so anyone can make it. Simple and quick enough for anyone to eat it within 30 minutes of prep. 

This recipe contains the backbone of a regular muffin recipe, but relies on the brown rice flour/millet flour for an extra bite to the muffin. These muffins have some extra oomph to them.Sometimes muffins are way too soft that it's similar to eating white bread - you get the soft bread mixture stuck on the roof of your mouth and have to spend a couple minutes using your tongue to pry it off. 

Feel free to modify what you want. At the last minute, I decided to add blueberries and just sprinkled them on top. This method allows for each muffin to get a good amount of blueberries, and gave me the added bonus for seeing blue streaks inside my muffins from the exploded blueberries. 

Ingredients (makes 9 muffins in a 12-tin tray) inspired by this awesome blog:

- 1/2 cup brown rice flour

- 1/2 cup millet flour

- 1 egg

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 cup of spreadable butter

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 ripened banana

- 1/4 cup of almond milk 

- 1/4 cup of almonds, chopped

- blueberries (enough for putting 3-4 blueberries on each muffin)

Protocol:

1. Preheat oven to 325 deg F

2. Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and butter

3. Add in eggs, mashed banana and vanilla. Then add in almond milk and mix thoroughly

4. Add in almonds and if desired, any berries or dried fruit

5. Grease muffin pans and evenly distribute batter across muffins (for this amount, I had enough for 9 muffins). 

6. Top off with fruit if haven't done so already

7. Bake for 18 minutes or until done

8. Take off muffin tray and enjoy!

Until next time, happy eating everyone! 

Just keep it cumin!

I think there's a love hate relationship for cumin. It's this under appreciated spice that either people love to use or absolutely HATE. I think that it's the potential "feet" smell that sometimes comes about when you use too much of it. It's like perfume - just the slightest concentration brings this really nice smell. But try walking past someone in the perfume counter with three sprays of perfume, and it's overkill.

I love cumin. It's got this very earthy smell and has great sharp flavor. Put it on fajitas, falafel, curry, or burgers and you've got a hit.

One way I like to highlight cumin is with lentils.

I like to use lentils for a hearty soup or for wraps. I first tried a lentil wrap from Trader Joe's and it was so delicious. It was my first time having lentils and I couldn't figure out if it was a bean, grain, or weird soft fungus thing. Turns out, it's in the bean family. Lentils are super versatile and can be used as a staple ingredient in any dish. This time, I decided to try it as a filling for either a wrap or tacos (I used corn tortillas this time, so it's in the taco form).

After looking at different recipes online, I found that making the filling isn't that bad. Counting for one hour of solid prep, assembling the wraps or tacos themselves is less than 5 minutes. Many sites called for use of bulgur as a stiffening ingredient, but I didn't have any on hand to use (nor am I familiar with using it). Instead, I slightly modified a recipe from another website that had a really simple prep with mixing lentils with quinoa - a great idea!

You can make this over the weekend and have it ready to go throughout the week for a lunch. I found myself playing with the spices a little - I tried to up the ante with the cumin. Luckily, I didn't go too far because I think I was dancing the fine line between great spicy aroma and post-run feet aroma... No worries - this recipe is particularly easy to do, with little prep (I left my lentil/quinoa mix just simmering on the pot for past the cook time because I got caught up on some reading).

First, be sure to soak your quinoa and lentils (this cleans it up before cooking, makes the cooking time quicker, and improves gas, or so I've read). Once soaked, throw it into a pot and once you get a boil, simmer it for 20 minutes along with your spices of choice. The end result should be this creamy pseudo-mash potato looking brown mixture that's your filling!

The filling is honestly the hardest part, if you were to try to identify a part that may give you problems. And if you're not a fan of wraps or tacos, you can eat this filling with a side salad or with a tahini dipping sauce as well!

Now you can do the fun part. Most lentil wraps are eaten with a cabbage slaw mixture. I don't really like cabbage, so I had shredded romaine lettuce (MOH's favorite salad type) and mixed greens (my favorite). Depending on preference you can go for whatever taste you like, although if you consider crunch factor, romaine or cabbage is probably the better bet.

You can dress your wrap any way you want, but be sure to have a type of dipping sauce. It can be tahini (simple tahini paste with some water, lemon, and chopped cilantro), or a chili sauce (I used sriracha).

Either way, you can't go wrong with lentil wraps!

Until next time, happy eating everyone.

Ingredients:
For lentil mix:
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 3/4 cup of water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp of cumin
- 1 tbsp of garlic salt
- 1 1/2 tsp of onion powder
- 1 tsp of cayenne

For tahini sauce:
- equal ratio of tahini paste to water (try 1/2 cup first)
- 1/2 lime
- salt to taste
- 3 tsp of chopped cilantro

For greens:
- shredded lettuce of your choice

Protocol:
1. Boil soaked lentils and quinoa, simmering for 20 minutes after initial boil. Include spices when simmering.
2. Let mixture cool.
3. Prepare tahini sauce (be careful - tahini paste is extremely liquidy with the oily layer on top. When first opening your container, use a spoon to mix the tahini paste into a homogenous mixture)
4. Create your wrap or tacos and enjoy.

Things I can't get enough of...

MOH and I are engaged!

It was a beautiful evening and MOH and I went to Corona del Mar and watched the sunset. In a perfect moment, MOH popped the question and we enjoyed the sunset as a newly engaged couple.

We've come a long way. We met fresh out of high school, in a dorm hall. I was an obnoxious asian girl running my mouth about, he was into gaming (still is) and tried to brag about being a black belt and playing Thai music for the King. I thought he was full of poop (turns out he was not lying), but loved his candid personality and charm. I think what made our relationship work so well was how carefree and lighthearted we could be with each other. He's so goofy, but I can't stay away from him. Even in the most annoying hour, he still makes me smile.

Over eight years later, we're still together. Love ya, MOH.

Some things you just cannot say no to. Some foods I can't live without?

- Yogurt (I can eat this everyday. Really. I can eat it sweet (with honey, granola, fruit) or savory (on top of a baked potato with all the fixings!)

Plain yogurt with honey = DELICIOUS (photo courtesy of ProjectManhattan)

- Fish sauce. It's probably a cultural thing, but fish sauce is one of those essential pantry ingredients that can make or break a dish.

Sweet and salty nuoc mam (photo courtesy of John)

- Eggs. I think I go through egg withdrawal if a couple days go by and I haven't eaten eggs. Lately it's been egg whites - they're healthier, and they don't attribute to gas!

- Rice. More as a staple, but a big part of my diet. Some people can live off salads or bread - I need rice. Sometimes I do a triple-whammy delight by eating eggs and rice with fish sauce. I'm still working on how to incorporate all four. It's a work in progress.

Photo courtesy of Zane80

Until next time, happy eating all! The weather is ridiculously hot and humid, so hopefully by next week I'll try up new recipes for the blog.

More bacteria please!

I think everyone is a germophobe on some scale. We're taught at a young age that bacteria is bad, deadly, blah blah. While this concern is certainly valid (like washing your hands after using the restroom, especially if you're finishing your last shift at the restaurant), bacteria can be extremely helpful, such as in potentially combating food allergies.

According to Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), more than 15 million people are affected by food allergies of some sort, with a fifty percent increase in occurrence since the late 90s.

Peanut allergies affect more than 3 million people (according to AAAI, photo courtesy of Atoz) 

A recent article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has offered some insight into the rise of allergy ocurrences, and has shown that a gut bacteria (Clostridia-type) found in both rodents and humans is important for providing allergen protection*. Researchers induced a "peanut-like" allergic reaction in mice and found a higher immune response in bacteria-free or antibiotic-treated mice, compared to control mice. The authors show that the bacteria help prevent the uptake of allergen into the bloodstream through switching immune responses within the gut. In addition, treating mice with antibiotics caused a change in the bacterial gut environment, increasing the response to a food allergen. This finding suggests a new role for bacteria in curbing allergens and also serves to potentially explain the increase in food allergy incidences - with the advent of better medical advances such as the use of antibiotics early in development, our gut micro-environment (our whole body, actually) has drastically changed from what it used to be way, WAY back in the day.

Nonetheless, this interesting finding provides a link between bacteria and food allergens, and provides a promising way to potentially eliminate food allergies. Think of a magical pill that could alleviate your allergies. In an ideal world, you'd treat allergies like how people with lactose intolerance safely venture eating cheesy pizzas. Want to eat peanut brittle? Easy - just pop in your magic pill of bacteria, and voila, crunch down on that candy like no tomorrow.

Hopefully everyone's enjoying this beautiful Sunday, whether it's watching football on the TV, sun bathing at the beach, or lazily hanging at home. Whatever way you spend your day, have a great one.

Until next time, happy eating.

*
Clostridia helps to induce the innate immune response system in the gut, triggering IL-22 production, a cytokine important for reducing uptake of food antigen into the bloodstream.

References:

Stefka AT et al., 2014. Commensal bacteria protect against food allergen sensitization. PNAS.

Laughing in the face of danger: Parasitic infection causes hard-wired fear to disappear in mice

I've been watching The Strain on FX, a vampire/virus show that is directed by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan (based off their novel series) and the show is starting to pick up. Set in New York, an ancient vampiric disease spreads throughout New York, while an unlikely team set off to try to find the cure and save the people from becoming infected. Infected individuals have little parasitic worms that travel through their body, latch onto the brainstem and slowly take over the host. Eventually, the infected humans shed all their humanistic qualities, only to becoming vampiric monsters whose main mission is to infect those they care for most. 

What sets this show apart from the other vampiric shows out there is the parallel references with likening a viral outbreak with vampires (one of the main characters in the show is an epidemiologist who is trying to find a cure for the vampire outbreak). It's entertaining to watch, the suspense builds up well, and it's starting to pick up, thankfully (previous episodes drew too much on unnecessary drama).

Watching this show, seeing how resilient this "virus" is to infecting as much individuals as possible, as well as the smart way the virus continues to infect hosts, reminds me of the amazing strategies nature uses to survive... such as how the parasite toxoplasma gondii, or T. gondii, infects its host. T. gondii's host is the cat and disease is often transmitted through contact with feline feces, or contaminated by-products. Recent work has identified a unique way the parasite ensures a sure-fire way to get into its host - by creating fearless mice.

T. gondii fluorescent image (photo courtesy of AJ Cann)

In a paper published back in 2013, researchers studying T. gondii found that mice infected with different types of the parasite exhibited decreased fear levels compared to their control counterparts, even showing a slight attraction to the cat scent (think Tom and Jerry, only this time Jerry running circles around Tom, baiting Tom to eat him!). These experiments placed mice in an enclosed chamber with a petri dish of either rabbit urine (non-predatory) or cat urine (predatory), and measured the level of exploration of the mice. Infected mice lost all their fears, often found exploring the cat scented urine, laughing in the face of danger! When the infection was cleared, mice STILL showed a lack of fear when presented with predatory smells. The parasite has identified a smart strategy to infect mice and make them lose their natural fear of predators like cats. This allows cats to more readily eat the mice, making it easy as can be for the parasite to infect its host. One thing that would be interesting is to see if the parasitic infection causes mice to all around be fearless of any predator, or just felines (their host).

Either way, T. gondii has adapted such a fail-proof way to infect its host. The infected mice seem to have permanently altered brain function (not quite zombie-like, but fearless risk-takers!), despite treatment against the parasite. Scrappy and resilent!

Eye of the tiger, right? (photo courtesy of Rama)

Until next time! I don't want to say happy eating because this post isn't meant to entice anyone to eat... hopefully.



References:

Ingram WM, Goodrich LM, Robey EA, Eisen MB. Mice infected with low-virulence strains of Toxoplasma gondii lose their innate aversion to cat urine, even after extensive parasite clearace. 2013. PLoS One.

Last summer kick-off - papaya salad

Bon Apetit recently released their new "it" restaurants for 2014, ranging from southern comfort food in DC to a buzzing food court in California.

It made me think of what my "favorites" to eat are. Or what would be my last meal on earth? Probably a hard boiled egg and rice - simple, but satisfying.

A "favorite" I can never turn down, however, is a good sweet, salty, papaya salad, Thai or Laos style (both of which are equally delicious in their own way). And what better thing to make in the wake of the waning summer days?

Thai style papaya salad (photo courtesy of Dragfyre)

Papaya salad is a perfect complement of tangy, salty goodness. Young papaya is shredded and tossed in a bed with chopped green beans, shredded carrots, and tomatoes in a lime-fish sauce mixture. While the Thai style spotlights crisp green beans and sometimes features fermented blue crab paste, the Laotian version kicks up the flavor by adding shrimp paste as the salt component. Both versions taste great and have a simple backbone recipe that's free to adjust (as you'll see below).

Laos papaya salad (photo courtesy of Takeaway)

My first experience of a papaya salad was when I was still living in Stockton. There was a park where women would sell a Laos/Cambodian style papaya salad that was served with beansprouts and white rice noodles. The noodles were a great starch substance to an otherwise light salad. To this day, papaya salad is a menu item that I constantly look for in restaurants (not nearly as frequently appearing like pad thai, but papaya salad, if done right, is a major treat!). I think my favorite places to get papaya salad is still at a Thai temple in Fremont, CA (which no longer has a food court, boo).

Papaya salad is very simple to construct. I don't even have a strict recipe I use - everything about this recipe screams laziness and ease of execution. Considering that people like varying degrees of salty and sour, papaya salad can be done the way you like it as well! While easy to make, this salad is extremely versatile and plays well with different textures and tastes.

Ingredients:
- 1 whole papaya young shredded (must be green)
- 2 carrots shredded (optional, not a deal breaker if you don't have it)
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- Handful of green beans, chopped longways (also optional)
- Lime or lemon, 1/2 lime/lemon at a time
- Fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp at a time
- Dried shrimp (optional)
- Fermented shrimp paste (if you want to do it more Lao style), 1/2 tbsp
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved or 2 roma tomatoes sliced
- Peanuts for salad topping

Protocol:
1. Add in shredded vegetables, garlic, green beans, and tomatoes - mash lightly with a mortal and pestle
2. When softly mashed (don't pummel to a pulp), add in fish sauce, lime, and paste - I have them in increments because you shouldn't add a ton on your first try. Instead, get a feel for how you want it to taste, slowly adjusting.
3. Adjust levels of salty (fish sauce, or shrimp paste) or sour (lime/lemon) until happy - I like my ratio to be slightly more salty than sour
4. Eat papaya salad alone, with rice noodles, or on top of a bed of mixed greens/herbs/beansprouts! Top with peanuts for an extra crunch!

Until next time, happy eating all!

Costa Mesa restaurant week - olive oils, spreads, and gooey cheese

This week marked the annual Costa Mesa Restaurant Week. MOH and I decided to go crazy on cheese, spreads, and oils. This feels like a deja vu from last week - we walked around the shopping mall, glossing over all the designer stores like Gucci and Prada, only to leave the mall with chocolate truffles and chocolate-dipped strawberries (strawberries were gone by the ride home). We just love food.

But the stuff we got today was REALLY tasty.

Basil olive oil and tapenade - YUMMY

We ventured into two main stores, one a little shop that specializes in olive oil called We Olive. We Olive sells various types of olive oils, balsamics, and spreads that all taste amazing. You have oils that are zesty (Jalapeno Olive Oil), sour (Meyer Lemon Olive Oil), and herb-infused (basil olive oil). These kinds of oils would go great as finishes to salads, pasta, or for bread. They also have a well received black olive tapenade (mixture usually of olives, capers, anchovies) that you can dip with bread or top with cheese. The tapenade has this great salty kick to it that I think can even taste great with salads or as a sandwich spread.

The second shop we explored was a cute little cheese shop (called The Cheese Shop at The Mix) that had a restaurant week special: get a baguette, wildflower honey, and fromager d'affino cheese for $7. MOH and I love cheese.

Cheese galore (photo courtesy of Tomas Regner)

Cheese that's soft, hard, creamy, rich, harsh, savory and sweet. We love it all. One of our favorite food memories was sitting in a dinky hotel room after going to a wedding, cramming our faces with beef jerky and truffle cheese - classy I know. Since that memory so many years ago, one of our favorite things to do while grocery shopping is to browse through the cheese gallery.

Cheese goodies with basil olive oil and tapenade on the side

This cheese was PHENOMENAL. If you're at all partial to soft cheeses, you'll love this (though I still attest that my favorite cheese is sharp cheddar, call me a simpleton). Very similar in taste to Brie, fromager d'affino is a double cream, soft cheese that is particularly soft and tastes like butter. If you drizzle some honey atop, the sweet and creamy taste goes together so well. This cheese would taste great with bread or a hearty cracker. And the honey? So rich and delicious - the honey is so concentrated that it's like eating honey in applesauce consistency. Yummy.

If you have a restaurant week in your hometown, definitely check it out. You get the chance to sample different foods for slashed prices that you probably wouldn't think about trying in the first place.

Until next time, happy eating all!

When life gives you bad dough consistency, you make dumplings

I had this grand goal for the weekend - I was going to make steamed buns... and it was going to taste amazing. You know when you're eating dimsum and see the cart roll by with BBQ pork buns? Or when you walk into an Asian grocery store and see the fresh hot buns ready to be taken home and eaten?

My little dream for the weekend ended up a flop. I used a recipe I found on another site but couldn't get the dough consistency right. The dough kept on sticking to my fingers and the steamed product was a rock-hard bun. I spent the latter half of my Saturday evening sulking around and giving the leftover dough mixture the stink-eye.

So what happens when you can't make steamed buns, but went through the trouble to make a really yummy veggie filling? You forget about your initial plan and convince yourself that you intended to make wonton dumplings from the get-go!

Dumplings are really easy to make, and are so versatile. I like to eat dumplings just steamed, boiled, or placed in a rich broth with noodles. Whenever I eat dumplings, I think back to my mom's dumpling soup that my family would eat with egg noodles and vegetables.

This time, I made a filling of oyster mushrooms, onions, black fungus*, cabbage, and tofu. Dumplings however, come in a variety of different flavors.

Probably the best part of making dumplings is folding them into cute little shapes. It doesn't matter how you fold your dumplings, just make sure you eliminate as much air as possible - if you leave little air bubbles, the cooked dumplings look like little Pillsbury dough boys!

I like to lay out my dough and use water as a gluing agent (some people use egg wash, which is perfectly fine). Simply outline the dough with water and place your ingredients in the center. You want to make sure your filling isn't too much that you can't close the dumpling, so it's a matter of adjusting how much filling you have to the size of your dough piece. Then you can close the dumpling either by creating a triangle shape (connect all the corners together in a 90 degree fashion), or money bag shape (haphazardly bundling up the dough) - any way you choose is perfectly fine and a total matter of preference. I like to do a hybrid of the two types.

Then, once you have a few, you can boil them in either a broth or boiling water. I like to boil my dumplings until they are floating to the surface (2 minutes), but depending on your filling (if you have raw meat), you may want to adjust your cooking times. I love this veggie filling because you get a hefty portion of tofu and mushrooms and crunchy fungus. Fungus has this incredible texture and tastes great in soups and stir fries (you may have had it in ramen unknowingly).

Then, take out and enjoy with some sauce or alone! MOH and I spent our evening alternating in the kitchen between cooking dumplings, cooling dumplings, dipping dumplings, and folding dumplings. It was a vicious cycle, but our tummies were satisfied, and MOH was ever the gentleman with not once mentioning the words "steam bun."

Until next time, happy eating all!



Veggie filling (extremely simple, but delicious!):

- 2 cups of green cabbage shredded
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 cup of oyster mushrooms chopped
- 1/2 pack of firm tofu, chopped
- 3 tbsp of oyster sauce
- dash of salt

1. Chop up ingredients and throw into mixing bowl, tossing until fully mixed.
2. Use as filling for wonton wrappers.
3. Fold, avoiding as much empty space in filling as possible
4. Boil 2 minutes
5. Scoop out and cool prior to serving

New favorite read and detox breakfast recipe

A week after Comic-con and MOH and I are finally back to our familiar routine.

Comic-con this year was fantastic. It's a chance in the year for people to celebrate all types of art, whether it's great literature reads, stunning art pieces of your favorite book characters, or film and TV series that you watch all year round. This year, MOH and I really made the most of our time:

We were able to sit in on some of our favorite TV show and art panels.

Jim Lee - artist, writer, editor and publisher. 

 We managed to grab art pieces from our favorite artists - Comic-con has a huge Artists' Alley where many artists come together to show off their works of art (art ranges from watercolor, stencil, ink, pastel, and digital).

Oil pastel rendition of Vertigo's Sandman by Stuart Sayger

And lastly, we got to meet the writers and artists behind some of the comic series that we've been reading.

Rob Guillory and John Layman - creators behind Image's Eisner Award winning Chew

A new series that we're starting is Chew. Chew is probably the strangest comic I've read so far... and I've read some weird stuff (good, just weird). The series is currently on issue 42 out of 60, and has been awarded an Eisner Award  for Best Series as well as a New York Times Bestseller.

As the photo suggests, Chew is zany, out-there, adventurous, and entertaining. It's a contemporary take on sci-fi and crime. The main premise of the comic is how an FDA detective named Tony Chu solves crimes using his abilities as a cibopath. 

What is a cibopath? A cibopath is someone who can experience memories and sensations of anything they consume... except beets. Take for example eating grilled mushrooms - after eating the mushrooms, Tony can feel everything the mushroom felt prior to dying, such as what soil it grew in, where it as harvested, etc. But the fun isn't about Tony eating random things - instead, he focuses using his abilities to identify key suspects involved in homicidal investigations, or using bagged evidence to figure out the next step in solving the case. And if it involves eating decomposed stuff for the sake of solving the case... well, Tony is just that dedicated of a cop. 

It's been a great read so far and MOH has even gotten into it - on a daily basis MOH's go-to comment about that series is "it is sooooo weird." Yet he still reads it, so it must be good, right?

Other than the joys of Comic-con, we have been detoxing from the event as well. There are over 130 thousand people that attend this convention, so germs are amok like nobody's business. 

Slew of people at Comic-con (photo courtesy of Pat Loika)

So this week has been eating as clean and healthy as possible. On our menu was soups, oatmeal, and lots of fruits and vegetables. Happy colon is happy human!

Hot quinoa/oatmeal cereal - great breakfast or anytime meal

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying their weekend!

Until next time - happy eating all!

Hot oatmeal/quinoa recipe (inspired by Bon Apetit)

1. Soak quinoa in water for at least 2 hours

2. Boil 1/2 cup of quinoa and 1/2 cup of oatmeal in a little pot with 3 cups of water (stir over medium heat until cooked) with raisins - takes about 15 minutes

3. Place hot cereal into bowl and top with your favorite fruits and nuts (my favorite mix is almonds with blueberries, apples, and blackberries)

4. Pour almond milk on top and drizzle maple syrup over for a little sweet

5. Enjoy! 

*Cereal can be placed in a tupperware in fridge for later