I Bid You Adieu!

Hello my lovely friends!

Good day to you all.

I am currently surrounded by piles of boxes and bags of garbage.  Adrian and I are in the midst of moving out of our apartment. (I hate packing and moving)  We have done multiple trips to the post office already and maybe have one more trip to go.  It is crazy the amount of things you can accumulate over the course of 2 years.  Where does all this stuff come from?

Luckily shipping things home via boat is fairly inexpensive.

Funny Story:

Speaking of the post office; Adrian and I were there probably 4 times yesterday in total, each time bringing another two boxes.  Since we were such “loyal” customers to the post office, each time we went we were given a present for using the postal service   On our first trip we were given coffee, our next some pens, our third some shampoo and soap and our last some more shampoo, soap, toothpaste and three boxes of kleenex.  How random eh? Korea is a very big gift giving culture, which explains it.  We just thought it was extra funny as we are currently trying to rid our selves of everything we own and now we have a whole lot of toiletries to give out to our friends.

As we move out of our apartment today and  across the road to a little hotel, I am also moving away from my internet source.  So my posts may be infrequent or may not happen at all.  I’ll do what I can.

My parents are flying into Korea next week!!! Yippee! I am so excited.  It will be amazing to show them what we have been experiencing over the last two years. There is only so much you can describe over the phone, seeing it first hand is so so much better.  I think they are going to love it here, especially the food!

After traveling with my parents (one week in Korea and one week in Thailand) Adrian and I are going to do a little bit of this…

Exploring!

Find some more of these…

Beaches!!

And drink some more of these…

Fresh Mango shakes!

So if I am MIA from my blog for quite some time, just know that I will be having an adventure of a lifetime.  Maybe I will pop by to say hello, maybe I won’t, but I still love you all either way.

I love traveling so much.  I think you can learn so much about yourself, other people, other cultures etc.  Nothing else compares.  I feel that each traveling adventure enriches my life in some respect, and I love that!

So take good care and hopefully I will see your beautiful faces sooner than later.

Love C

What enriches your life?

A Healthy Food Obsession

Are we overly fixated on “righteous” eating?

Is being obsessed with healthy eating a virtuous act? or an unhealthy preoccupation?

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I am currently reading Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food, and it has really got me thinking about health, food and eating in general.

In a section of his book In Defense of Food Pollan describes a newly diagnosed eating disorder termed Orthorexia.  This disorder is characterized by an obsession with healthy eating.  While other eating disorders focus on quantity of food, orthorexia is focused more on the quality of food that one puts in their body; refining and restricting one’s diet according to their personal understanding of which foods are truly ‘pure’.

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Some examples cited are the restriction of sugar, salt, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, gluten, yeast, soya, corn and dairy; or any foods that have come into contact with pesticides, herbicides or contain artificial additives are also out.

Doctors who diagnose this disorder say that orthorexia is more about restriction than it is about “health,” but where does the distinction lie between obsession and a the real desire to eat what we deem to be healthy for our bodies?

I don’t have an answer for this, for me it’s an ongoing thought process.

Upon first reading about this disorder I thought, “how could this be a bad thing?” but then a thought more and questioned what could define “going too far.”  I guess, like other eating disorders, an obsession with healthy eating could go too far if one is anxious and insecure about eating situations that they can’t control or feeling guilty after eating foods that are not “pure.”

But I’m still unsure.

The majority of food blogs that I read are focused on healthy eating, eating clean, exercise etc. (a positive health obsession) and I see this as a good thing.

We are constantly bombarded with books, tv shows, and dvds that promote that next “best” diet, which only helps to encourage our anxieties about food and eating.   Since when did only drinking lemon juice and maple syrup or eating foods that are determined healthy because of my blood type become normal. Our culture’s perception on food and health can be so skewed sometimes, so I am thankful to be a part of a blogging community that strives for “real” health.

What are your thoughts?

How far is too far when it some to healthy eating? Do you think that this disorder is definable?

Is being obsessed with the quality of your food and health a bad thing?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Take Care,

C

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Eating my way through the weekend

I have been enjoying a super lazy weekend.

We finished our teaching contract this past Thursday and have been celebrating our newly found freedom.  It still feels quite unreal that we are finished and that we must move onto the next thing; it is definitely a bittersweet adjustment.

Adrian and I celebrated together on Friday night at a delicious restaurant that had a huge salad bar.  I was in heaven.  When a salad bar is in sight, I dominate it with all my might

I consumed an array of veggies, smoked salmon, (I probably ate a whole fish myself), tofu, fruit etc.  It was joyous!

Green tea and vanilla yogurt swirl for dessert. Yes, self serve fro-yo was part of the buffet! How dangerous is that?!

 

Other eats that I consumed over the course of the weekend:

Veggie stuffed omelette with a side of sweet potatoes.

Leftover chili from the freezer (re-heated) and put on top of some salad greens.

Cinnamon barley oats topped with coconut jam.

Sweet potato and squash salad topped with a poached egg.  Dressed with a couple of spices and fresh lemon.

Mmmm…

I love weekends and the freedom I have with my cooking and eating.

I have only 3 more days in my apartment and then it’s no more cooking for me for about 2 months; how crazy is that?  We will be living our of cheap hotels and hostels till we get home, so I will most likely be eating a lot of cereal, fruit and salads till we leave Korea, and then lots of yummy South East Asian cuisine, which I can’t complain about.

Another eating adventure awaits.

Enjoy the finale of your weekend.

C.

Lovin’ Leftovers

Happy Weekend!

And a  happy weekend it is.

I only have one more week of teaching here in Korea, so there are lots of festivities going on. A big group of foreign English teachers will be out on the town  tonight celebrating together.  Should be a grand ol’ time.

Ya know what I love about weekends?

I adore waking up on Saturday mornings not having to rush around and get ready for work. Being lazy sometimes is a great feeling.  I started my day off with a strawberry banana green monster.

Though it’s still quite chilly in the mornings, I can no longer resist; green monsters are back in my breakfast rotation. Mmmm!

For lunch I was able to use up my leftover colcannon and turned it into colcannon pancakes with fried eggs on top. I love leftovers.

Dinner was some leftover spicy chickpea curry on top of salad.

We have sold the majority of our kitchenware to other foreigners, so  I worked very hard to stuff this  salad and curry into this little bowl (the only dish I have left).  It worked.

The best thing about leftovers is that, most of the time, they taste a lot better than when you first served them.  A day or two in the fridge gives the flavors in your leftovers lots of times to mingle around. Love it!

What’s your favorite leftover dish?

On another random note; I went to the coolest bar last night that I have ever been to.  It had the coolest atmosphere;  so chill.  I can’t believe that I have lived here for a year and have never been before.  Man I have been missing out.  I will have to go again before we leave.

It felt like a little dream-like world. A sort of “Midsummer Nights” vibe.

We went with a couple of our good friends and were seated in a raised cozy nook.  Seated on tons of fluffy pillows, it’s  the perfect place to relax and have a drink. I love finding unique places like this.

I am going to get ready for my night out.

Have a fabulous Saturday and take time to truly enjoy the day.

xo

C.

Luck O’ the Irish Meal

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Are you celebrating?

I have no green beer chugging plans, just a quite night at home with some yummy Irish inspired food.

I love holidays like this as they make me think out of my menu box and come up with something I would not normally think of.

Tonight’s menu consisted of a fortified colcannon and a Guinness stew.

I decided to let Adrian indulge in his meaty tendencies and made one portion with meat and the other portion sans meat for me.

For the colcannon I used a couple white and sweet potatoes, garlic, onions, cabbage and spinach. An excellent flavour combination and it fun to look at!

Sweet Potato Colcannon:

• 2 white potatoes
• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small head of white cabbage
• 1 bunch of spinach
• salt and pepper to taste.
• Milk of your choice

Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling water as you normally would to make mashed potatoes.

Heat a tad of oil or butter in a pan and cook onions and garlic.  Add the cabbage and spinach. (you could blanch the cabbage and spinach in the potato pot, but I wanted mine to be garlicy)

Drain potatoes and mash. Add milk of your choice along with the cabbage mixture and salt and pepper.  Mix until smooth and serve. Mmmm!  I could not keep my spoon out of the pot.  I kept testing it and testing it and testing it some more

Guinness Stew: (inspiration)

• 3 celery sticks
• 3 small onions
• mushrooms

Cook these in a pot until softened.

• potatoes
• 3 carrots
• turnip

Chop these into large chunks.

• 1 tbsp. of flour

Add the flour to the pot and coat the onion mixture. Cook for 2 mins. and then pour in the Guinness.

• 1 bottle Guinness

Add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 40 mins or so.

• 1 tsp. mustard
• 2 cups veggie stock
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 3-4 cups water
• 1 tsp. sugar

Serve with a good Irish soda bread, on top of mashed potatoes or on the side with a big green salad.

Enjoy!

Did you know…

The shamrock was used to represent the Trinity by St. Patrick.  St. Patrick used this to symbolize how The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit can be separate but also part of the same entity.

Who knew?  I didn’t…I love learning new random facts.

Happy Irish Day