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dani california cooks

homegrown and homemade in CA

Archives for July 2016

10 Ways I’m Practicing Self Care This Summer

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Normally in the summer, I’m all about preparing for the few days that I do don a bathing suit. So many days of dieting in preparation for just a few hours in a bikini, and for the most point, no one is even noticing what you look like!

This year, I’m doing healthy summer differently. Since I’m currently working to repair my metabolism and regulate my hormones, that means more food, less exercise, less stress overall. I’ll be honest - it has not been easy. When you’re used to tracking and limiting the food that you eat and planning out your exercise days in advance, it’s a big change! And change can be hard! So when Old Navy Active asked me what my healthy summer challenge was, I immediately starting thinking about healthy eating or work outs. I really had to take a step back and think deep and hard and come to terms with what my challenge has been all along.

It’s never been to eat healthier or exercise more. It has always been to love my body - not despite of one “problem area” or any flab - just wholly appreciate all that this body does for me and in return, give it some long-due respect and rest and care. So in align with my ‘summer of carbs’ this has also been my summer of self-care!

So far, it’s overall been really liberating. I mean, we are so tough on ourselves all of the time. Although sometimes when my clothes feel tight or when I feel like I’m eating more/exercising less than my peers, I do feel a little stressed about it. But I’m trusting the system and the process, and really giving this a go. So what am I doing this summer to be a little easier on my heart, body, and soul?

  1. Doing exercise that feels good - sometimes it’s pilates, sometimes it’s really giving it my all when I teach Spinning, sometimes it’s nothing at all

    Old Navy Active // Capris

  2. Accepting when something is offered to me - if food was offered to me that wasn’t in my daily “plan”, I would knee-jerk reaction say no. At work the other day, someone had brought back fudge from their beach family vacation and was passing it around. I decided to have a bite! It was delicious, I enjoyed it, and I didn’t stress about what it meant that I ate it, and I didn’t balloon out 10 lbs
  3. Walking - I absolutely love to walk. Choosing to walk places instead of taking an Uber has really allowed me to discover new places all over San Francisco that I’ve been bookmarking and can’t wait to try!
  4. No food is off-limits - I’ve been eating what I want. Most of the time it’s healthy food. Sometimes it’s not.
  5. Cleaning out my closet and drawers - I did a total purge of my closet and took out anything that pinches me or is too tight or that I don’t feel 100% comfortable in. And of course, donating all of the clothes that I was keeping in the case that I lost 5 lbs
  6. Not measuring - I used to use measuring cups and spoons to measure out my oatmeal and chia seeds every morning to keep track of my calories in my head. I’m working with my nutritionist to move away from measuring and move towards just mindful portions. The first day it was difficult, and then after that I realized that if I went a little under or over - who cares!
  7. Trying new places - I feel like a whole new world of San Francisco opened up to me when I decided that no food was off limits. Boba on a Friday night? Yes please

    Old Navy Active // Shorts

  8. Resting - As I write this, I’m lounging in bed and its 2:30pm on a Saturday. I’ve got Chef’s Table on in the background, and I plan to paint my nails in preparation for a girl’s night out tonight. Perhaps a nap is in my future. Definitely some snacking will happen soon too
  9. Not planning out exercise or food - I still do a little meal planning when it comes to buying groceries for our meals and snacks, but I haven’t been planning out exactly what my week is going to look like and I’m flexible to spontaneous meals or snacks out
  10. Being more present - Instead on focusing on how little I can eat off my plate and therefore, not paying attention to conversation, I’m making an effort to be more present during mealtimes

Thank you for Old Navy Active for sponsoring this post, and for giving me a reason to take a step back and really document all of these things I’m working on this summer. Are there any ways that you practice self-care that I should add to the list?

What I Ate - Lots of Local Brands!

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I’m back on the “What I Ate Wednesday” train today with another sneak peak into how I’m eating more carbohydrates and healthy fats as I heal my metabolism. Joining up with the weekly link up to share the eats!

BREAKFAST

I grabbed a prune dipped in a bit of PB (I know - sounds weird, but great pre-workout fuel) before I taught spinning this morning. The class was really fun and challenging and everyone had GREAT energy. I’m telling ya - morning warriors! If you’re ever looking for great workout songs, my Spotify (username: dani nemzer) is public and while being slightly disorganized, I have lots of great 45 minute get-your-blood-pumping-playlists.

In the car on the way to my client site, I grabbed a couple bites of my prepared overnight oats (oats, chia seeds, soymilk) that had a little more PB and fresh blueberries. I talked about the soy milk brand in yesterday’s post - so, so delicious. Once I got to the office, I finished the oats and had coffee.

SNACK

During a meeting, I snacked on one of Trader Joe’s Omega-3 Trail Mix Snack packs - mix of walnuts, sunflower seeds, pepitas, cranberries, and pistachios.

LUNCH

Lunch was eaten out of my dorky bento box, and it had homemade tuna salad (based off this recipe) using new avocado oil mayo that I bought from Thrive Market (post on this soon). I also had fresh spinach, some cut-up green bell pepper and a little Wholly Guacamole (best Costco buy!!) on the side. Plus a sprouted grain tortilla from Trader Joe’s, and a little bit of sauerkraut. Lots of veg, a little protein, healthy fats and healthy carbohydrates. Yum.

SNACK

I had some green tea and a Evo bar. These are some of my favorite on-the-go bars - they have a super small ingredient list and are always less than 10g in sugar, and the same amount of protein as 2 tbsp of nut butter. No photo!

DINNER

On Monday, I had made Oh She Glows’s Glowing Lentil Soup with some substitutions - fresh chickpeas instead of lentils, added zucchini and grated ginger, and used red wine vinegar instead of lime juice. It was SO delicious. Nate always grumbles about “meatless monday” but I really like doing completely vegetarian/vegan meals for one or two nights a week because a) health and b) cost! It’s so much cheaper to buy a bag of organic chickpeas than pasture-raised chicken or wild caught fish. We had the soup again on Tuesday with some of Bread Srsly’s gluten-free sourdough rolls, plus with some very not tasty snap peas that are on their last leg.

Bread Srsly is a local gluten-free, sourdough bakery but they ship around the country. I first discovered them when I wanted to get in on the San Francisco sourdough craze but I was avoiding wheat at the time due to my arthritis. These rolls are made of millet and sorghum, and are fermented just like any other typical sourdough so you get the benefit of the grains being partially broken down already and easier to digest. They are so good!

DESSERT

I noshed on half of a gorgeous nectarine and two of Arman’s 3 Ingredient Brownies which I pretty much make every week as my evening dessert. Just almond butter, cacao powder, and bananas. They are insanely fudgy and I don’t know how this recipe works but it does!

 

Recent Fancies

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First of all - I’m so sorry for the unplanned MIA from the blog. There’s been a lot going on recently - personally and professionally - and sometimes the blog (unfortunately) takes the back seat. Hopefully you’ve been too busy with everything summer to even notice :).

On to the good stuff - I’ve been accumulating a lot of things/links/products that I’ve been loving as of late, so I plan to share these in a weekly series called “Recent Fancies”. Hope you enjoy!

  1. Hodo Soy soy milk - I had been looking for a non-dairy milk that didn’t have a bunch of add-ins. This one is just organic soy beans and water - doesn’t get much more simple and real than that. It’s high in protein and low in sugar too. I wish they sold it at more places - I’ve only seen it in Bi-Rite in the city
  2. This soup from Oh She Glows - I subbed chickpeas for lentils and added fresh ginger and zucchini and I’m already excited about the leftovers
  3. The Nordstrom’s half yearly sale - I just bought these boots in gray and I can’t wait for them to arrive!
  4. Summer farmer’s markets - I have been buying the most beautiful bouquets and sampling fruit that looks like the color of sunsets
  5. Pilates at Core40 - I go through phases but I always seem to come back to this Lagree workout and I just adore it. It’s intense and therapeutic at the same time. I’m lucky I get free classes since I teach cycle at Core40, but I would pay for them even if I didn’t!

Pants from Old Navy Active

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

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Let me just say that these muffins are one of my best recipes yet and I can’t wait to make another batch this week - they were gone so fast. These are a twist on the classic blueberry muffin, being gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, with the bonus of vegetables and healthy fats!

Blueberry2 What to do when you’re gifted three quarts of hand-picked blueberries, carefully brought as carry-on luggage all the way from Virginia? Well…bake a pie first of all. But secondly, bake muffins of course! Blueberry Zucchini Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com Since I’ve been incorporating more carbohydrates and healthy fats into my diet, I feel like I’ve had a whole new world of recipes open up to me. I used to only have one snack in the afternoon - usually a protein bar or an apple with nut butter - but now that I’m eating snacks throughout the day I’ve been excited about all of the opportunities to try and make and EAT new snack recipes. Blueberry Zucchini Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com Where have I been these last several years, just eating sad protein bars as a snack? My previous eating habits baffle me sometimes. It’s like the same feeling as reading my diaries from middle school - “I hope Jeremy invites me to his bar mitzvah and we slow dance!” *palm in face* Blueberry Zucchini Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com I’m really glad to be moving in a more normal direction with my relationship with food. As for still being like my 13-year-old self…well let’s just say that no one is seeing those journals except for me Blueberry Zucchini Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com You should really see my Pinterest boards - the only thing I’ve been pinning recently have been muffins and bars and snack balls and healthy brownies and cookies and all of this stuff that I used to think was “off limits” but now I can happily incorporate into my day-to-day. You can probably expect to see lots of recipes like that around here in the future, starting with this gem of a muffin recipe! Blueberry Zucchini Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com

These muffins were gone in a flash. I think I’m going to make them again this weekend. There’s something magical about the mix of almond and oat flours. The flavors are nutty and complex, but the texture is not too dense or anything. And there’s nothing better than fresh blueberries in every bite.

I hope you have a great weekend, and enjoy the food you love with the people who you love to be with!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
 
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Your classic blueberry muffin - but with a gluten free, vegetable twist! Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.
Author:
Serves: 9
Ingredients
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 1 cup almond meal/flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • ⅓ cup maple syrup
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil, softened
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1 zucchini, grated
  • Sprinkling of rolled oats, optional
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
  2. In a large bowl, mix the flours, salt, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract
  4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and add the zucchini
  5. Fold in the walnuts and the blueberries
  6. In lined muffin tin (or unlined but sprayed with oil) spoon til about ¾ of the way to the top
  7. Sprinkle rolled oats and lightly press into the muffins to stick to the top (optional)
  8. Bake for 20-25 minutes
  9. Remove, and enjoy!
  10. Store in the fridge
If you like this, you’ll love: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com

WIAW - More carbs!

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If you read Monday’s post, you’ll know why you’re seeing more carbohydrates in my day’s worth of eats today! I’m happy to be linking back up with the WIAW team after a few weeks off in between vacations to Mexico City and Virginia.

BREAKFAST

I grabbed a prune dipped in a little almond butter before heading out the door to teach spinning. The class ROCKED and the energy level was great. I then stopped at Whole Foods on my walk to work to pick up some kombucha and eat the overnight oats I had prepped the night before.This was oats with chia seeds, almond milk, cinnamon and almond butter. Strawberries and coffee once I got into the office.

SNACK

I noshed on a gluten free blueberry zucchini muffin that I had made over the weekend - will share the recipe soon! I forgot to snap a picture so here’s one post-recipe testing on Saturday. I have to say, I LOVE baking with almond flour. You’d think it would be super dense, but I find that my baking goods will still rise and and have a good texture to them, and they have this delicious nutty flavor too.

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Saturday afternoon recipe testing!

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

LUNCH

I grabbed lunch with a previous colleague who just moved to the Bay Area at Eatsa! Have you heard of Eatsa? It’s a quinoa bowl restaurant that you order on these iPads, and then it’s prepared and your name pops up on these interactive robot cabinets and you grab your lunch. Their tagline is “if you don’t like meat or people, we’re your lunch spot”. Well I like meat and people, but I still enjoy their food too! And it was SO great to catch up with my girlfriend - what a nice thing to do in the middle of the day. I love not traveling for work anymore :)!

I had the “hurry curry” quinoa bowl that had sort of a stir-fried quinoa with egg, apple vinegar coleslaw, pickled onions, spaghetti squash, arugula, and curry. It was delicious! I wish the portion was bigger…maybe the quinoa robots in the background were feeling stingy.

SNACK

After running around all afternoon and working from all sorts of bizarre places (hello client lobby bench) I was pretty hungry when I returned back to the office. I made a yogurt bowl with Chobani black cherry, a small banana and a small handful of chopped cashews. My office kitchen is pretty well stocked, although I wish they did have just plain yogurt! I also had some of the kombucha and some hot green tea.

DINNER

I snacked on some cut up veggies from my CSA while I prepped dinner. Dinner was homemade stuffed peppers - I used quinoa (yeah, more quinoa. Sunday food prep…) and black beans and chopped swiss chard and onions. I gave them a Mexican-twist by spicing them up with chili powder and cumin and tomato paste. We topped them with avocado, and then had corn on the cob on the side. Nate unfortunately had to work late so while I had set up the table all nice I ended up eating in front of the TV. Definitely a guilty pleasure of mine!

DESSERT

Dessert was a small slice of homemade blueberry pie from the weekend. I had made a blueberry pie over the weekend thanks to the 3 quarts of blueberries Nate had brought home from his family farm! Continuing the ramble on from my love of almond flour - we were both kind of “meh” on the white flour/butter crust. Definitely prefer the complex flavors of grains and seeds and nuts flours. My mom had sent me the pie recipe from the NY Times this weekend and I have to say, it was really fun to make a pie! No pictures of last night’s slice, but here’s one from Sunday!

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Just call me martha! Who wants to come over for blueberry pie? Or maybe @natewapner wont want to share 😊

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

And that was all! Early wake up tomorrow to drive out to San Ramon for my client. I’ll be doing more driving than I’m used to for this client, and could use lots of podcast recommendations!

Summer of CARBS!

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Since I was about 21, I’ve had a fear of grain, flour, and starch carbohydrates. Not just white bread carbs, but also things like beans and sweet potatoes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever outwardly stated that on my blog before, but there ya have it.

That’s not to say that I didn’t eat them, it just always was kind of a “treat” in my mind. I know I’ve written time and time again about how I’m working to repair my relationship with food, but you can probably tell from most of the recipes I’ve shared are not carb-heavy at all. Or my “What I Ate Wednesday” posts – here is one and another where I ate very little of those forbidden carbs all day, and I would say that that was a very normal weekday for me. It wasn’t until this winter when I tried to integrate more carbs into my day to day that I found myself gaining weight, and that freaked me out more – was I destined to a life without carbs? Every time I would try and healthfully incorporate more sweet potatoes or brown rice it was like my body would harbor all of those carbs as pounds. So I removed starches and grains from my “routine” diet again this past spring.

But…it just didn’t feel right. I had met with a nutritionist last year who I loved, and she incorporated a lot of really healthy habits into my day-to-day that I’m really appreciative of. Honestly though, I never felt like I was moving towards a more healthful relationship with food overall, and I also was gaining weight while eating what I considered really healthfully – low carb during the week, enjoying carbs on the weekend. The thing was, is that I didn’t feel “unsatisfied” or undernourished, and I ate a ton of vegetables and healthy proteins and healthy fats. To me, this seemed like I should be at my optimal weight and energy levels, and instead I was gaining.

I reached out to Robyn, a dietitian and nurse who shares a lot on her blog about helping women eat more to balance their hormones and return to a happy state with food. Her posts really resonate with me, and I remember reading for years thinking “man, if only I could eat like Robyn!” So I reached out, and set up some time with her partner Cody at Nutshell Nutrition to discuss my story and a path forward.

I totally bonded with Cody from our first chat, and to summarize what we discussed – likely the years of restricting carbs and internal stress behind that and all of my other food control issues has caused all sorts of hormonal imbalances within my system that hey – big surprise – has kind of caused me to go into metabolic hibernation of sorts. Since I wasn’t giving my body enough carbohydrates and nutrition some days, the other days when I did it went into storage mode. Great news – it’s reparable!

So now, I’m working on a plan that has me eating a significant more amount of carbohydrates and healthy fats than I’m used to. And just eating straight up more than I’m used to. I’m both excited – because I love sweet potatoes and nut butter and food – but I’m also nervous because there is probably inevitable weight gain at the beginning of this while everything heals. The opposite of everything I’ve tried to work against these past 5 years, right? Well, I trust Cody and Robyn, and I’m going to give it a try.

Hello to the summer of carbs, 2016!

Long Weekend in Mexico City

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Lucky for me and my fam, my little brother had an internship last year in New York City and this year – Mexico City! What a great excuse to do some long weekends away.

To summarize – Mexico City is…awesome. There’s delicious and interesting food, it’s so colorful and vibrant, there’s a ton to do and walk around and see, and there are very few tourists. To summarize again – we’re all jealous that Isaac gets to spend a whole summer working and living there! Warning…long post ahead.

Friday

I met my parents after taking a brutal red eye situation from SF to Mexico City at our wonderful boutique hotel in Condesa – a really cool neighborhood. They served me some breakfast and we went straight to the pyramids at Teotihuacan while Isaac was working.

The pyramids were astounding. Seriously. We had been to the ruins at Chichentiza and Tulum in our past trips to Mexico, but these were just enormous! We climbed to the top – completely out of breath – at took in the views. My legs were sore the entire trip.

We met up with Isaac for dinner in Condesa here, and sat outside and got tacos al pastor – a Mexico City tradition. It’s pork that’s rubbed in red adobado spices, and then cooked on a kebab-like spit. Served in homemade tortillas with pineapple, cilantro and onion. Perfecto.

Walking around la Condesa before dinner

Saturday

Saturday morning my parents and I walked to the Zocalo, which is the main square. We covered about 3 miles on our way there, stopping for random cardio dance sessions that were being taught in the parks and taking in all of the local food stands. Seriously – so much eating happening in Mexico City! Reminds me of Hong Kong.

The Zocalo was super impressive. I haven’t been as in awe of a building since I saw the Duomo in person in Florence. We had lunch at a traditional restaurant that had been recommended to us over and over, and the mole was rich and decadent. Isaac also got some house speciality hot chocolate. We toured the Palacio Nacional and saw some of Diego Rivera’s paintings, and went inside the cathedral (just COVERED in gold on the inside). Saturday night we got more tacos and then Isaac took us to this local mezcal bar, where we sipped on tequila with orange slice chasers covered in chili pepper. I want to open up one of these bars in San Francisco!

Sunday

Sunday morning we took bikes from our hotel and went for a long bike ride along la Reforma, which is a major thoroughfare that they shut down on Sundays just for biking and walking. It was so fun! Dogs and music and bikes and runners galore.

We also visited the anthropology museum, which is in a pretty stunning building, but my museum tolerance is like that of a child. We grabbed tortas (essentially paninis, but better) at one of Isaac’s local joints and that might have been one of the most delicious things I ate all trip. There’s just an abundance of avocado here, and the fresh cheese is amazing!
 Sunday afternoon was special – we visited my grandfather’s cousin who has lived in Mexico City ever since escaping from Germany during the Holocaust. We had heard a lot about him from my grandfather, but I never thought I’d actually meet him! We learned a ton about my grandfather and their village in Germany, and it was just really special meeting more family and learning more about our history, and also the Jewish history of Mexico! Sunday evening we walked to the Zona Rosa for dinner here, and enjoyed margaritas and some of the best enchiladas I’ve had – this verde sauce was super tangy. We all kind of stumbled home and went to bed – those were some strong margaritas!

Monday

Monday morning we walked around a local market and did some shopping. I finally got to try one of these homemade blue corn quesadillas that I had been eyeing all weekend!

My parents left for the airport, and I met up with Isaac and he took me to one of the local lunch spots that he goes to. It was tucked away in this house - I never would have found it unless one of Isaac’s coworkers hadn’t taken him there. We had a traditional large lunch. The biggest meal of the day usually happens around 2pm, and usually includes soup, rice, and some kind of entree. It was delicious and SO CHEAP!!

Don’t mind my napkin bib!

Isaac showed me his awesomely cool startup office, and then I headed off to the airport.

Well, they overbooked my flight and I got bumped to a flight the following day. Not a great way to end the trip, but nothing you can do about it! I was greeted by this pretty sunrise on the way to the airport the next morning.

A few tips for Mexico City:

  • The elevation is slightly higher than Denver, so be prepared for a little adjustment to climbing up stairs and headaches
  • The weather is not like Cancun - it probably ranged from the 50s-70s. Jeans and tees during day, rain jackets for the evening. Great temperature this time of year for touring and walking around!
  • Explore all of the ways to eat in Mexico City - off the street, in old school lunch fondas, modern taco places, fancy and innovative restaurants
  • The unsafe areas are nowhere near you are going to be, so walk everywhere. A lot of the neighborhoods reminded me of Paris or Charleston
  • Most of your cell phone carriers will work here without an extra charge – I have tmobile and my parents use at&t

Classic Summer Weekend in Chincoteague

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I kicked off my “out of office” with a weekend with Nate’s family in Chincoteague, VA! The weekend was full of family time, sunny weather, and lots of vacation food.

For those who are unsure of where I’m talking about….here ya go.

We did lots of fun activities including renting a moped…

….going on a boat tour on the hunt for wild ponies and other wildlife….

…go kart riding (not my forte, let me tell you)….

…playing games at the local fair, and also realizing that some of those rides were not for the faint of heart….

Can you see Nate in that blur? He’s trying to win me some prizes 🙂

There was also beach time, pool time, and bike riding. We also surprised Nate’s aunt with a “happy retirement” party!

Our meals rotated between seafood and ice cream and fried foods. What can I say….I really like hush puppies! There were a few picnic lunches and healthy breakfasts in between. Pretty much just appetizers to donuts.

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Homemade bibs ready for some non stop shrimp and crab!

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

It was a really lovely weekend, and I definitely had the Sunday blues returning back to San Francisco. But, it was a super short week before I was off to Mexico City - check back later this week for the recap of our awesome trip!