Raspberry Hibiscus Popsicles

When my mum first bought a popsicle mold, I was about 8 years old.
I got super excited and filled it with gummy bears and Sprite.
The coolest popsicles of all time, if you ask me.
Next, I ventured into making milk and Nesquik popsicles.
I honestly thought I had cracked the recipe for making chocolate. After all, chocolate is cocoa in solid form, right?
Sadly, my dreams were crushed the following day, when I discovered I had just made frozen chocolate flavored milk. Bummer.
Growing up, I stuck to making popsicles by pouring pink lemonade (created with or without powder) in the molds, letting them freeze and eating them outside so we didn’t sticky up the kitchen floor.

Beet, Carrot, Ginger and Apple Juice (The Pre-Workout Boost)

This is the story of how I started loving beet juice.
A crazy and dimwitted love story.
It begins with my extreme hatred for beets.
Even as a kid, I always LOVED my veggies, but beets were something I have never acquired a taste for.
Seriously, how can you acquire a taste for something that tastes like…ehm, dirt?
I lived a happy, healthy and beet-less life, until a bunch of British lads from the University of Exeter discovered that beetroot juice - being a natural source of nitrate - gives athletes some extra oomph.
Nitrate has basically two physiological effects.
Firstly, it widens blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and allowing more blood flow. Secondly, it affects muscle tissue, reducing the amount of oxygen needed by muscles during activity.
The combined effects have a significant impact on performing physical tasks, whether it involves low-intensity or high-intensity effort.
In other words, beets have a similar effects of those disgusting nitric oxide supplements.
Drinking something natural and healthy instead of synthetic stuff? Too good to be true.
That was it for me. I needed to start liking beets, NOW!

SoCal Guacamole Burgers on Portobello Mushroom Buns

Yesterday I saw the movie Boyhood.
This is going to really date this post for future readers, but worth it. Because I have to talk about how once-in-a-lifetime and one-of-a-kind movie it was.
If you’re not familiar, Boyhood is a movie filmed over 12 years (from 2002 to 2014) with the same cast.
It’s a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason - with divorced parents and an older sister named Samantha - who literally grows up on screen before our eyes.
Boyhood depicts the rough terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and dating to birthdays and graduations. It’s all there.
The nearly three hours seemed like no time at all and I did not want the film to end.
Whether one is old or young, with or without children, and at whatever stage, the film grabs one deeply by being so quintessentially human.
Boyhood is profound and rich without trying to be. That’s why I loved every minute of it.
The intimacy, the emotion, it never once feels forced or heavy-handed.
I saw it last night and let it wash over me. It is still filling my mind and thoughts today.
It’s so beautiful, I can’t recommend it enough.

Huevos Al Plato

When I was a kid I loved to make my mom breakfast in bed on weekends. I would sit with her while she ate it.
I was inspired after reading Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, in which Calvin considers doing it for his mom. I thought, perhaps, I should do the same.
Breakfast in bed is one of the ultimate ways to pamper someone, and you don't need to be a master chef to make something delicious meal.
Dudes, if you don’t know this yet, girls love breakfast in bed.
Like they REALLY love it.

Zucchini Spaghetti (Zoodles) with Marinara Sauce

Every time I use the spiralizer I feel like a hero.
Same happens when I use the flashlight function on my smartphone, when I do handstand push-ups against the wall, or when I run into the subway as the doors are about to close.
But the spiralizer...the spiralizer is like the Superman’s cape in kitchen gadget form.
The first time I’ve tried it, I was blown away by how easy it is to use. I became hypnotized by the curly noodles spirals of veggies that came out.
I ransacked the fridge and spiralized just about everything that was large enough to fit onto the mechanism - big carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips, and of course my fingers (friendly reminder: it’s important to use a spiralizer safely...these things are SHARP!)
Creating noodles with raw vegetables has to be one of the coolest thing ever and yet, I haven’t posted a single recipe that calls for the use of a spiralizer on TIY.
Frankly because I thought that the spiralizer was a fairly uncommon kitchen gadget. Like the jalapeno corer, the corn kerneler or the bear paw meat handler forks (seriously, who owns those things?)

Blueberry Muffins (Vegan and Paleo)

There are things I find myself doing over and over again when I travel.
One is to pretend to pass off as a local.
So no maps, I only use Google maps on my phone. I walk with confidence, somehow implying I know where I’m heading to — even when I’m completely lost.
Yes, I might have a back-pack on my shoulders, but that’s because I carry a laptop and a couple of books. I have stuff to do in this city, you know?
The Yankees baseball cap I’m wearing? It’s a fashion thing.
And I’m aiming a camera and taking a gazillion pictures of things that a gazillion other people have taken a gazillion photos of, because I’m a postcard photographer, alright?
I.Am.Not.A.Tourist. Don’t you dare call me that!

Chipotle Honey-Glazed Chicken with Avocado Cream Sauce

"My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like
and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly,
the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them."
Terry Prachett

For those who have visited Amsterdam, one thing probably struck you, like it did me (though I had heard all this before, seeing it is a whole other thing). The Dutch love riding bicycles — called ‘fietsen’, pronounced FEETS-un.
They ride them everywhere and often, whether rain or shine.
The city is filled with bike lanes too, so cars, trams, buses AND bikes can all share the road together.
Except that cars and traffic are the ones who yield and show care to bikes.
It’s amazing to come to an intersection on your bike and have the cars let you go even if they have the traffic light.
A shrill ‘brrriiingg’ of the bell, and you will have people leaping out of your way as you buzz past.

Mini Gouda-Stuffed Meatballs in Marinara Sauce + Friesland

Friesland! What a place.
I spent three days exploring the splendor of this Northern region of The Netherlands and it has been a fantastic experience.
As you may remember, I stayed at my sister’s mother-in-law’s house.
I have to figure out how to explain that Gerbrich (i.e., my sister's mother-in-law) is just a part of my extended family at this point. I know it may sounds awkward because most people don't know their siblings' in-laws; but to me, Gerbrich feels like family.
Can I just say? What a doll.

Frittata with Grated Zucchini, Goat Cheese and Dill

Hey guys, I'm in Holland!
YAY!
How cool is that?
I haven’t took any photos yet because, well, I got in last night.
But don’t worry, I'll show you so many pictures, you'll ask me to stop.
Today we’ll drive north, to Frisland, where we’ll visit my sister’s in-laws for a couple of days.
She said it’s worth going because it’s a beautiful place rich with natural beauty.
Old windmills, typical farmhouses, a vast system of canals and waterways, woods, dunes, marshes, and acres and acres and acres of crop fields and pastures.
Frisland is also home to the frisland cattle, a black and white sturdy and stocky cattle.
The cattles graze on fresh green pastures daily during the growing season and are given hay in the winter months. That’s it, no junk.
It doesn’t get more grass-fed, pastured, organic, GMO-free, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, than that.
Amazing dairy products, juicy meat. Yum!

Cauliflower Crust Mortadella and Cheese Panini

My man Chris over at Shared Appetite, erupts with ideas like Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Pinatubo or the ever famous Mt. Eyjafjallajökull, erupt with lava and ash.
[Especially the latter to be honest. When I think of Chris bursting with ideas for some reason my mind travels to Mt. Eyjafjallajökull. Just like that.]
No but for real, Chris does a million things. He’s a teacher, a blogger, a cook and recently he even opened his very own photography studio (Ashe Photography Studio). He’s cool, that’s why he’s in my wolf pack.
About a month ago, he ran the idea of doing a Chopped Cooking Challenge (bloggers edition) by David at Spiced Blog, Sean at Snack Fixation and myself.
He even created a super cheesy cool graphic to convince us to participate.