Where's Wednesday?: In the Kitchen at Home--The Ultimate Veggie Wrap

Ingredients: 8" Whole Wheat/Sprouted Grains Tortilla Hass avocado Red leicester cheese with red chili and bell pepper (Trader Joe's) Tomatoes Alfalfa sprouts Iceberg lettuce Vidalia onion creamy dressing

1. Wash and rinse the veggies in water 2. Lightly warm up the tortillas for about 20-30 seconds 3. If the avocado is large, then use 1/4 of it. If it's small, then cut 1/2 of it.  Using a spoon or fork, spoon the avocado out of the skin and onto the area slightly below the center of the tortilla. Press and spread the avocado across (forks works best for this). 4. Dry the alfalfa sprouts with a paper towel and place the amount you desire on the avocado spread. 5. Cut tomatoes into thin slices and repeat Step 4. 6. By now, you should have cut the lettuce head in half and torn the leaves from the stem.  If not, do so. 7. Toss the lettuce leaves lightly in a tbsp or 2 tbsp of dressing (adjust it accordingly). 8. Place an appropriate amount of lettuce on tortilla 9. I like to slice an ounce of Trader Joe's red leicester cheese with red chili and bell pepper into pieces and add them to tortilla as well. 10. Fold opposite sides of tortilla inward and roll the final product for closure. Prep time: 10 -15 minutes

There you have it, folks.  Easy peasy, tasty, healthy wrap prepared right in your kitchen.  If you don't have time, grab a bowl of fruits to go with your meal. If you do have time, season some microwaved potatoes (5 minutes) with herbs and garlic salt and grill them in olive oil on a pan!

Staying fit in order to maintain both figure and health does not mean giving up fat or carbs. Just remember to consume complex carbs (whole wheat, non-refined, fruits, sweet potato, other veggies) and healthy fat (ex. omega-3 fatty acids) not simple carbs and saturated fat.

Until tomorrow...

Love, Pristine Christine

Where's Wednesday?: At Home in the Kitchen

It's so difficult to come across authentically healthy, natural nutrition bars.  Even the ones sold at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods aren't completely natural.  I wanted to make my own health bars at home as a result--bars that actually made me feel full and healthy--so I decided to bake some using oatmeal!  Yes, opt out of flour and opt in with oatmeal.  For vegans and those with gluten allergy, you will sing, "Hallelujah" on this note.  But what adds to the fun of baking in the kitchen is the cute apron you can wear.  My mom has always been a fan of Williams Sonoma goods, so I naturally gravitate towards Williams Sonoma products as well, and I find the coffee icons apron rather adorable. My mom, on the other hand, owns the classic apron, oven mit, and pot holder in pink.  This is such a Julia Childs moment!

Speaking in the best cheery Julia voice, "The recipe's quite simple, and I want to share it with you."  My recipe, which has no added sugar or butter, may lack that unnatural rich taste, but it's delicious in its own way.

1 1/2 cups rolled oats (Earnest Eats Mayan Blend--has pepitas, cashews, almonds) 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I prefer walnuts) 1/2 - 3/4 cup medjool dates/cranberry raisins 1/4 cup sesame seeds 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp kosher salt 1/2 cup half-and-half + 3/4 cup black sesame soymilk (you can use almond milk if you don't like the soy taste or if you're vegan) 1 egg (substitute unsweetened applesauce for egg if you're vegan) 1 tsp ginger (you can buy already grated ginger in bottles)

Mix the dry ingredients together first, and then mix the liquid ingredients together.  Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.  Using your hands, mix the two and continue doing so until the combination becomes clumping together.

Pre-heat for 5 minutes in 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes in 350 degrees. Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool for a bit, and if you decide you want it harder rather than moist, then place it back into the oven for another couple minutes.

Also, if you don't like the organic taste of the bar, you can lightly coat the bars with a thin layer of honey or almond butter while it's warm so that the coating hardens.

Hope you enjoy! :) Yum.

Love, Pristine Christine

Where's Wednesday?: At Gjelina

Where's Wednesday today?  In the boho land of Venice at Gjelina!

For the foodies out there, you may have heard food critics mention Gjelina (Bon Apetit, Food and Wine) before.  Although California, especially southern California, boasts of "good food" places, it unfortunately cannot offer the same "stellar" dining experiences as Chicago or New York.  However, Gjelina is one of the few restaurants in SoCal that rightfully does so.

Chef Travis Lett strikes all the right cords with the proper balance of sweet and salty, soft and crunchy, light and heavy.  I wasn't able to snap a photo of every dish we ordered, and the photos taken with my Galaxy S3 don't do much justice to the food, so I can only hope you feel the urge to visit Gjelina.

After much research (as always), my family ordered the anchovy burrata toast, wood-grilled cauliflower, squid ink chitarra, squash blossoms pizza, and rhubarb crisp with almond gelato.  Even now, I groan. Ugh! The entire meal was perfect. Had we not planned part 2 of my brother's birthday--lavish birthday dinner at home--then we would have mercilessly tried a few other dishes as well.  At the same time, too much food at once wouldn't have allowed us to savor and remember each bite with the same clarity.

If you're curious to read my detailed scoop on our birthday lunch at Gjelina, visit christineeoh.yelp.com. Oh, trust me.  It truly is an exhaustive review.  I would most definitely consider Gjelina to be one of my favorite restaurants, and if the parking wasn't such a nightmare in Venice, I would frequent it more often as well.

For my readers in the mid-wests and east, I hope your stomachs aren't growling because I would just feel guilty if they did!  Get ready for some throwbacks tomorrow!

Love, Pristine Christine

P.S. Check out the new Facebook page for My Petite Bites: https://www.facebook.com/mypetitebites?ref=hl

Monday Musings: Current Food Faves

And here is a toast to the first of the Monday Musings series! Monday Musings, Tough Tuesdays, Wednesday's Where, Throwback Thursdays, Friday Fashion.  Sounds good to me! Today's Monday Musings: my current top five favorite food.

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1. Dark chocolate covered edamame: While I do loathe most forms of chocolate, I cannot resist dark chocolate (yes, I even savor 90% dark).  Dark chocolate covered almonds and cashews are a particular favorite treat of mine, but I decided to giveTrader Joe's new dark chocolate covered roasted edamame.  I must give a fair warning that this particular sweet requires an acquired taste.  You won't be hit with any extra sweetness or saltiness. Instead, you'll experience a sort of nuttiness.  Some may dislike the lack of flavor, but I actually prefer the strong decadence of dark chocolate that's accentuated by the edamame.  There's a slight hint of charcoal/fire from the roasting and that crunch from the drying, which I absolutely love!

2. Honeydew: Honeydew is definitely in this season!  Figs may be out, but this green melon rakes in the raves.  Succulent and sweet, cubed honeydew gushes in your mouth.  Refrigerating them in plastic containers is a brilliant way to prepare healthy snacks ahead of time.  Splash these remaining summer days with some of this juicy fruit because Fall is just around the corner!

3. Biscotti: What I would do for the perfect biscotti... I don't even need coffee to relish my biscotti.  I personally love ones with pistachios or almonds.  It's rare for Asians to like biscotti, but my mom and I aren't your conventional Asians (as kids, we both loved grabbing a bite of good pastries over rice... we'll say yes to baguettes over rice any day!), meaning we treat ourselves to biscotti and Americano every day... (that is, if we're not eating anything sweet that day)

4. Fig jam: Some places like Trader Joe's call it fig butter.  Let me tell you a secret--fig jam with brie cheese equals magic.  Spread a slice of brie cheese from France onto a brioche toast cracker and add a dollop of fig jam on top.  I'm dying inside already.  It's a shame that all good things must be enjoyed in modicum.  Otherwise, these hips would expand too much (ladies, do you feel me?).  A glass of red wine for those wrestling with high cholesterol levels will conclude the best night!

5. Almond butter: Seriously, almond butter outperforms peanut butter.  Again, just because almond butter offers greater health incentives than peanut butter does not mean you can binge on spoonfuls of it!  A tablespoon of almond butter on toasted bread or English muffin (better yet, bananas!) creates a balanced combination of sweet and salty, creamy and crunchy.  There's a certain, unexplainable richness to almond butter that lacks in peanut butter.  The aftertaste is palatable and sophisticated as well.  Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods sell a gamut of almond butter, and if you're like me, you will certainly have fun browsing through all the different brands.  Remember, check the ingredients and nutrition label! It's better to opt for organic and one that hasn't been dry roasted (or has been to a lesser degree) because the almond butter then retains its nutritional value to the maximum.

Hope you enjoyed your Mondays! Toasts to a new beginning!

Yours Truly, Pristine Christine

So long, November

Winter came early this year.  Never have I had to experience the first snowfall in early November during my last 3.5 years in Chicago.  Bizarre, I must say.  The global climate change frightens me a bit, but perhaps, I'm jumping to my gun. Well, we saw snow two weeks ago, and the grass and rooftops were actually covered in the fluffy whiteness. Of course, this also means that the wind chill has exacerbated and will only give us greater chills.  See, Chicago and I have a dynamic relationship.  While I do love the city and seasons--quite different from southern California--the bitter cold irks me at times.  Sure, I enjoy the refreshing, sharp wind... sometimes. As a person who dislikes wearing gloves unless desperate situations beseech me to do so, I keep my hands warm with a cup of coffee from Pret A Manger.  Anything warm and cozy will gain immediate favor from me.  Hence, my awesome heating blanket becomes my new best friend in the late fall... at least while I'm at school here.

Every morning, I treat myself to a nice cup of tea or coffee in my Peter Rabbit mug.  Does anyone remember the story of Peter Rabbit?  My mom, a highly cultured woman, would always buy beautifully written books for me while growing up, and two of them happened to be Beatrix Potter's books.  Until this day, Peter Rabbit still holds a dear place in my heart.  Hence, when my good friend Meesoh returned from Denmark, she brought back a Peter Rabbit themed tea set.  If you have a child or will have one, I encourage you to read Beatrix Potter's stories to him/her.  Oh, and by the way, did I tell you how I snagged this awesome mug at Barnes and Noble? Not as expensive or classy as the pieces back at home, but I personally love it!

Other than enriching my early day with a hot cup of caffeine, I absolutely love creating new salad recipes.  Last week, I pulled apart some of the herb-spiced rotisserie chicken I bought from Whole Foods for this wintery salad.  Easy peasy and quick!

1 cup of cut rotisserie chicken 1/2 cup cherry/sugar pum tomatoes a bowl of herbal salad mix 1/2 cup dried or softened apple thins or 1 apple chopped into pieces 1/2 cup edamame If you're the type who can't live without dressing even if the apples and cherry tomatoes add the natural sweetness to the salad, then use 1 tbsp of pear vinaigrette!  Low in calories, fat, and sugar.  Despite these facts, 1 tbsp will be plenty sweet.

So, we have the drinks, food... what's next? Shoes, obviously.  How else will you travel these roads in the winter without the proper pair of shoes?  While back home for Thanksgiving, my mom and I came across a pair of Tory Burch booties.  Mind you, I promised to never buy Tory Burch footwear, again, after my painful experience 2 years ago.  However, the booties are a different story from the line's flats.  EXACTLY ONE IN MY SIZE REMAINED. Hello, booties!  My mother, without hesitation, said, "We'll take these." Ladies, gentlemen, your gender does not matter. Everyone could always use a nice pair of booties.  Guys, wear those desert booties with straight leg pants, and you will have the heads turning.  Ladies, booties go well with denim, skirt, dresses, and shorts.  Just don't forget to wear those tights underneath in the winter!

Please send me some recipes if you have any favorites! I'll be baking some gingerbread cookies and scones this weekend... when I have finals the next week.

Until next time, Pristine Christine

Gluten-free Frittata, you have won me over!

I had the chance to finally visit Rose's Wheat-Free Bakery, which is a little north from my school campus. My beautiful friend Paula and I entered this small cafe, known for its gluten-free goods. We were hungry, cold victims of the Chicagoan wind! Hence, I am staring quite joyously at my food as you can see from this photo.

In terms of my dish, the frittata was surprisingly light and tasty although for those salt-lovers, the food here may be too bland.  I personally use salt to a minimum, so this definitely pleased me. Moreover, the great array of tea just makes the experience at Rose's more enjoyable. The one thing that did bother me was the fact that they microwaved this frittata, which was made earlier in the day. Disappointing to say the least, but I'm glad my friend enjoyed her Pesto Pita and apple cider.

The dim lighting, wooden tables, self-service, and floor boards remind me of those quaint cottages in the woods, which isn't necessarily a terrible thing. In the winter though, brightening up the place might be a suggestion. While I'm not sure if anyone actually studies at Rose's, if permitted, I do want to bring my books and stay for a few hours here. The quietude and stillness create a perfect environment for finishing an essay or squeezing in some studying.

Would I ever return? Definitely. Having a tea/cider date with some gluten-free baked goods would be quite lovely. Even the gluten-free baked pizza sounds interesting. However, transportation would be a dilemma, unless Paula, who has a car, wants to try the bakery next time.

Yelping and frequenting cafes is one of my hobbies, and I'm glad to be able to finally cross off Rose's from my list.  What about my readers out there?  Do you have a go-to coffee shop or cafe?  If so, please share!  Granted that I'll travel at some point in my life, I will take note of your recommendations in my journal!

Pristine Christine Says: (for Rose's) 3.5/5 stars

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Bakin' and Cakin'

My baking adventures yielded successful outcomes this past weekend!  The mother of a good friend of mine flew in from Virginia, so I decided to bake some apple crumb cake. While I was at it, I went ahead and baked another pan of it for friends.  With no cinnamon and real vanilla extract left, I had to improvise a bit.  Moreover, since I don't believe in indulging in butter, I used half the recommended amount and elevated the flavors with sweet, sweet Jonagold and Fuji apples and with some melted brown sugar.

Before sliding my pan of goodness into the oven, I topped the mixture with another layer of thinly sliced apples and imitation vanilla extract (sorry, roommate didn't buy the real thing).  After about 30-35 minutes, I sat the final product on the countertop for a bit and coated it with some melted brown sugar later.

Oh, boy, was this cake a hit with the scoop of vanilla ice cream!  (Or at least, I hope the excitement and good reviews were sincere and true.) While the outer layer crunched with the "crumbs"--hence the name of the cake (no, I didn't use real crumbs)--the moist bread inside teased tastebuds with nutmeg, a hint of cinnamon, and juice of organic apples.

Regardless of the authenticity of those compliments, try the recipe at home!  At school, I don't have a mixer, so I stirred everything with a spoon.  Luckily, in the end, my own version--a pleasantly delicious one, too--of the cake came to be!  Do try both mixing the ingredients in a bowl by hand as well as using an actual mixer though, because the texture and taste of the cakes will probably differ.

 Much thanks to Sarah Cucina for the inspiration!

Making pumpkin pie cheesecake bars is my next challenge! Hope for the best!

Love, Pristine Christine

Oh, them apples!

 

Ever since I was a little girl, I have had an affinity for apples. From their sweet aroma to succulent juice to their crispiness.  Fall, winter, spring, summer, all-year long, you will see me munching on apple slices.  I love them to the point that I will place my nose near the skin and sniff for that organic, sweet scent.

Now, can we all agree that salty and sweet together is just a wonderful harmony?  Well, that fresh piece of mozzarella on freshly toasted whole wheat bread, topped with slices of apple, will create a symphony in your mouth.  I dare you to try it!  Apparently, in Italy, instead of tomatoes, they pair mozzarella with melon.

Tomorrow, I'm baking apple cake!  Hopefully, all turns out well.  Cameraless at school, I will do my best to showcase the beautiful masterpiece with my Blackberry camera.  Until then, stay warm in this chilly fall weather! ...Californians don't have to worry about the cold... so, for you Californians, hydrate yourselves in the blistering heat!

Ciao!