Family issues!

Just after I posted a question related to family yesterday, I got a very bad news from China about my Dad's family. I don't want to go into detail about it...but it's serious and my Dad is in hospital now. (but he'll be fine).
I called my mom when I was waiting for the 9.30am yoga class just to kill time and talk to her. She said she didn't want to tell me about the situation to not worry me, but when she told me my tears just broke out from my eyes. I was angry, upset, concerned, worried and the worst thing was I could do nothing!!! I'm thousands miles away from them and when they needed me most, I could do nothing!!! I felt impotent! My mom was optimistic as always, she always sees the bright side of the situation. I love and admire her so much! She's such a strong and wise women, the role model for me.
The emotional part of me stayed for as long as the yoga class lasted (yes, I did go to the yoga class because my mom and Star told me to do so, they knew it was going to do good for me). When I walked out from the studio, my emotional part shut down and my rational part came out. What is done is done, I cannot change it. I can't help them from where I am and I know they will be happier if I just continue doing what I was doing and do it better, that's the best reward to parents. (be happy and do what I love most). But I will do something more for them (or for me), call them and talk to them more often, share what I do everyday with them, even it's as little things as what I made for dinner. Because they love hearing from me and knowing what I do and think. I always knew I should call them more than once/twice a week. But my selfish part made me not to because the more I talk to them, more I miss them and sometimes it hurts. However, I changed my mind on this, I will enjoy more time with them as long as they're alive, even it's through voice.

Okay. Recap of food (despite of the news, I did manage to eat good food. Although I didn't have much appetite, I knew I needed to eat well to be strong. Strong for me, strong for my parents, strong to be able to take care of them).
Breakfast: pumpkin flax porridge

• 1/3 c. flax porridge
• 1/3 c. almond breeze
• 1/3 c. pumpkin (stir at the end)
• 1/2 banana
• 2 tbsp egg white
• vanilla/cinnamon
• topped with 1/4 c. mixgranola and Cinnamon Swirl PB

Lunch: using the pantry. Packed udon noodles to which I add the leftover mushroom medley and baby spinachDessert: tea and chocolatesLook what I got later: four boxes of holey donuts!!! I won a contest from An Apple A Day, who always hold amazing giveaways!
Needless to say that PM snack was a donutI haven't had donuts for a long long time.. and almost forgot how a donut tastes like. But this one is really good!!!
To balance out I had some gigantic strawberries
Then I did some baking. Another cheesecake. This time I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta cheese, silken tofu instead of firm tofu and add some frozen blueberries. And I cut myself when I was cutting it
Dinner was a sauteed cucumber with mushroom and smoked salmon; seaweed salad and millet porridge.Dessert: dairy free chocolate pudding. (cheesecake was still warm)I know that every family has its own problems and it's not easy to get rid of it.
Question: How do you deal with family problems (not only you and your parents, but also all the relatives)? Are you the one that prefers to stay away from it or you are the active person that try to solve the problem?

cooking & baking!! ^_^ (be prepared for pic attack!)

Sunday was GREAT!!!! I can't remember the last time I did this, spending the whole afternoon/evening cooking/baking/grounding goodies. It was sooooooo enjoyable, perfect "date" for a rainy Sunday. Besides of this, I went to yoga in the morning and did groceries, WF, Tj's and local supermarket. ($80 in total). I had all the intention to buy less and use what I have in the pantry, but then when I see fresh veggies/fruits, I just can't help myself! Gr......... will power = ZERO. But I didn't care too much, since I know I'd be eating them all!!! As long as I don't waste food, I am ok, right?

Okay. let's move to my food adventure.
Breakfast was boring but yummy: Tj's english muffin (double toasted), poached egg white, LC, Cinnamon Swirl PB, apple and blackberries.AM snack (on the road): Quaker True Delight (recycled pic)A very BROCCOLI Lunch (all leftovers): last portion of vegetarian lasagna, cheeseless cheesy broccoli puree, steamed broccoli and broccoli slaw with bbq sauce.Dessert: white fungus porridge and dark chocolate.I chilled out a little bit catching up some blogs and then immersed myself into the kitchen accompanied by some Easy Listening music. HEAVEN!!!

#1: Dill cornbread. Original recipe provided by Krista, here's my version

• 1 cup corn meal (polenta)
• 3/4 cup almond breeze
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbp Tj's 10 seasoning
• 2-3 tbps chopped fresh dill

Mix everything and bake for 30 min at 425F. End result
It was amazingly delicious! Just the kind the I like. I had square 10 min after coming out from the oven.
#2: my first homemade Almond Butter. I've always wondering how to make it so I asked Ashley and she was so nice to provide me with detailed instructions. So, I made Roasted almond butter. It was soooooo fun making it, especially when the ball became butter, it was magic! End result
perfectly smooth, amazing roasted almond flavor! Perfection! I am already thinking what to make for the next batch. Because this 1/2 jar won't last for long.

#3: dates meal! I had some dry chinese dates that I didn't know how to have it. So, I grounded them and will use it for toppings. Like this: 1/4 cup Fage + strawberries + dates meal. Yek!! people, I officially ended my dairy free mode! I just miss it and felt my body craved it, so I will have them back, but in small portions! ^_^

#4: low fat/ low cal ricotta cheesecake. Original recipe provided by Ashley too, but I made some modifications. So, here's my version of it

• 1 cup part skim ricotta
• 1 cup firm tofu (I wanted to see how tofu works for baking and cut back on dairy)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 packet vanilla whey protein powder
• 1/4 cup stevia
• 1 tsp vanilla
• juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1/4 cup flax meal
  

Mix everything and bake for 40 min at 375F in the top rack and put a pan with water in the lower rack.
End result

#5: roasted rainbow carrots with dill
I've been wanting to make these for so long and finally got some fresh herbs and time to make it.

• 3 carrots (1 orange, 1 white, 1 pinky orange)
• 1 tbsp olive
• 2 tbsp balsamic
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp fresh dill

Coarse the carrots with the mix of the remaining ingredients and bake at 375 for an hour.I ended up everything around 8pm and had a delicious dinner: sauteed mustard greens with garlic, roasted carrots, barley risotto and smoked salmon (Tj's).Dessert: ricotta cheesecake with a blueberries sauce (just blend some frozen blueberries and some lemon juice).it was soooooo good, so smooth, perfectly sweetened. I went for another piece right after these
Such a fantastic dinner~~~ I enjoyed soooo much!

Question: Can you stick to a recipe? or you're like me who just to put some personal touch on every recipe?

oh... FAQ part 2 will come soon, if you missed FAQ part 1, check here!

A hot Sunday! ~~ ^_^

Yesterday we hit like 90F here in MD....sooooooooo hot!!!! And the worst part is that the air-conditioning was not on in my apartment!!! I couldn't sleep at night even I opened all the windows. grrrrrrr.......... not having own air-conditioning system sucks!!!
Anyway, my day went very well... A challenge 90 min vinyasa power yoga class in the morning doing new posesI finished around 1pm and had to meet Carmen at 2pm so I was planning to go to WF for a quick lunch. But the GPS was driving me crazy, and DC area isn't so driving friendly so I ended up in a sandwich place near her home (Georgetown) around 1.40pm and had to put into my mouse a turkey sandwich (pic from google pic, I didn't shy to take pic with all people around wondering me eating alone)Meeting with Carmen was good and she was nice to offer me some coffee and biscotti (my fav. tea cookie and hers too). From google pic again, Then I went to WF and TJ's for some groceries. When I was driving back, there was an accident in the highway so I was stuck there for about 30 min... not fun! But I got some good company with me. ^_^ I enjoyed the 30 min having these amazing crackers from Tj's.After almost 1/2 package of crackers I was so thirsty and craved something fresh and sweet. So I had a big gala apple once home.Then Qiao called me for a walk... I love walking around the neighbor with her. I used to walk a lot when I was in Argentina with Star, it's a really a good moment to talk and to connect to the other person.
Once home I assembled dinner in <15. style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">craving salad... yes, after 14 days having salad, I couldn't break the habit suddenly. So I made a smoked salmon salad with 3 oz. package of Tj's smoked salmon, spinach, broccoli sprouts, cucumber, red peppers and white fungus (Maggie, I'm following you), and some olive and lemon juice. It was delicious!!! I love love love smoked salmon!! Although they're pricey, but totally worth it. And the addition of white fungus was so interesting! I've never had it this way, I'll definitely make this again. oh.... I almost forget to mention that I also had oatmeal bagel that Krista sent me. I remembered to take pic of it after munching 2/3 of it, so I took it together when my dessert.... my latest favorite: dairy free chocolate pudding!!! Heaven!!! You'll see more of this, I bought 3 package of silken tofu this week!!! ^__^
And then I had what I missed these last two weeks... chocolates!!! I had to have this (from Krista)it's just the kind of dark chocolate that I love, bitter and not so sweet! It melted perfectly in my mouse. oh.. heaven!!!
oh... I've never show you the amazing breakfast that I had... This beauty

• 1/3 c. oat bran
• 2 tbsp wheat cream (thanks to Krista)
• 1/2 c. almond breeze chocolate
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 3 tbsp egg white
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon Swirl PB

It was a big bowl of yummy fuel! Love it!~~~okay. this disorganized post has reached its end. It's still going to be very hot today.. but I'd better get moving, I have a presentation at 12.30pm and haven't studied yet!!! Not my style at all, but as this is just for a reading group that I'm in (financial crisis related), I'm just giving the attention that it deserves! (I'm sure the professor will be mad if he reads this).

Question: Do you take pics when you eat out alone? How do you deal with wondering faces?