Graduation Gifts

It is crazy that after four years of intense studies – it is all over. Graduates are expected to assimilate to the working world, get a job and start their adult lives. Is it really that easy? New professional attire will need to be purchased, an apartment will have to be rented and a refrigerator will need to be stalked with all the proper essentials. No one ever really tallies the cost of basic condiments or spices into their moves. High quality oils can range from $10-20 each and gathering the perfect collection of spices takes time and creativity. Why not give a graduate a gift certificate to spectrum or a spice rack?

Foodie’s Top Graduation Gift Ideas:
1) Oils: coconut oil, flax oil, extra virgin olive oil, toasted sesame oil
2) Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, brown rice vinegar, red wine vinegar, tamari
3) Spice: Oregano, chili peppers, chipotle peppers, garlic, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coriander, curry powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, mustard seeds, sffron, fennel, nutmeg, thyme,
4) Plants: tomatoes, mint, cilantro, basil, kale, swiss chard, and lettuce.
5) Misc: miso paste, mustard, mayonnaise, sea salt, pepper, etc.

Foodie's check-off List:

Program Plan for Community Nutrition
Power Point for Community Nutrition
Program Brochure for Community Nutrition
Community Nutrition Take home Final
Magazine Article for writing class
Pitch letter for writing class
Rewrite 800-1000 word essay for writing class
Book proposal for writing class
Final for Therapeutic Whole Foods
Nutrition, Physical Activity and Disease Final Exam

Graduation is only 2 weeks away and Foodie's check-off list is beginning to feel incredibly tedious. It seems almost hypocritical and extremely frustrating that while studying Nutrition, Foodie barely has time to workout or cook for herself.


This ridiculous task list, has forced Foodie to live off prepared food. On the way to her internship, she stopped for breakfast at Starbucks and ordered coffee and one of those new spinach-egg wraps. A few hours later she sat down at a deli/coffee shop to finish the Program plan and felt a grumble in her stomach, so she purchased a curry chicken sandwich. She can’t help but feel cheated developing a plan for low-income citizens to increase their fresh fruit and veggie intakes, when she can’t even do it herself!

Foodies Weddingmoon Diet strategy

Use healthy techniques to trick your body into consuming fewer calories without noticing. For example, eating on a smaller plate makes meals look larger in comparison, and using serving dishes sends a message that lunch is done and your meal is over. Most people can lose up to ½ pound per week without triggering their metabolism to slow down and this can be done by cutting only 100-200 calories each day. It is estimated that every pound of fat equals approximately 3,500 calories, so depending on the wedding date; brides everywhere can do the math and lose weight. For example, if Foodie’s wedding is a year away, and she switches from a latte to black coffee, that is 150 calories saved each day. In 12 months, that’s 50,400 calories, or 14 1/2 pounds gone without feeling deprived! Plus, the extra $3 saved each day just paid for her plane tickets to Turks and Caicos!

SAVE THE DATE

It has been nine months since Foodie and Mr. Fiancé visited her cabin in the woods, and Saturday she made a special day trip with her mom and bff to check it out. The weather was 80 degrees in the shade with a slight breeze over the bursting river and lying in the hammock, she felt like she had just recieved a 2 hour massage.

During the trip, Foodie made one final inspection of the facilities to see if a wedding was really possible in this remote location. While slightly uneven, there was space for a reception in the old bad mitten court and the ceremony could be held in front of the fire pit. However, food would be difficult. Without stable electricity, the BBQ would be the only real option for hot food and the small refrigerator would not be sufficient to cool everything. However, a meal with BBQ salmon, roles, salads and a pie instead of a cake would still work and even though it might be difficult, it was possible. But is this what she really wanted?

In the last few weeks, Mr. Fiancé and Foodie had been talking about hassle-free destination wedding. It would be cheaper than a large wedding and probably cheaper than a cabin wedding after hiring cooks, and rentals. Not to mention, Mr. Fiance new obsession with coconut water that is local on most tropical islands – so at least the carbon footprint on the food they would eat would go down.

Overall, standing on a beautiful beach after a day of scuba diving and mango mojitos sounded better than a wedding in the woods and no honeymoon. So after an internal debate, an obscene amount of phone calls with her sister, 5 phone calls with customer service, and re-reading every bit of information on the web twice, Foodie reserved a weddingmoon package at Turks and Caicos for May 28, 2010!!!!!

However, now that she has a date and will spend most of trip in her a bikini - those love handles have to go!

Memorial Memories

Memorial weekend was a weekend of memories. Flying south to Monterey, the spring season was in full bloom. The fields in Salinas, near Mr. Fiancés work were full of artichoke, cabbage and fresh strawberries that grounded Foodie after a stressful week. Busy with school, wedding planning, and frustrating disagreements, she had been feeling disconnected from the world. Watching the produce spring from Mother Earth reminded her that she was not alone and like the strawberries, she too had an origin that created who she is.

The soil content a plant grows in has been shown to add nutrient value and even affect taste and while at odds with her soil, the strawberries, reminded Foodie that her upbringing is partially responsible for the life she has created.

As a child, her mother used to make a big deal out of celebrations. For birthdays, her parents always made her feel special by letting her sit shotgun, the privilege of choosing the dinner menu and even picking out a box of “sugary” cereal at the supermarket. While these seem funny to recall now, at the time she felt it was her day to shine.

That said, Sunday was Mr. Fiancés birthday and Foodie wanted to recreate this feeling for him. Memorial weekend was dedicated to Mr Fiancé, with hikes, meals at the Persian restaurant (his favorite), movie nights, and Sunday morning presents. Even though he had to work the rest of the day, Foodie had arranged for a surprise after work.


They arrived to the Big Sur Campgrounds around 1am and found a rustic cabin nestled between giant redwood trees in the middle of the forest. The cabin was better than the website had described it, with its own toilet, shower, sink, coffee maker and gas fireplace. Mr. Fiancé was thrilled and they spent the night watching Harold and Kumar on the laptop. Monday morning they awoke, after a deep relaxing sleep to their charming cabin and a real fire in the outdoor fireplace. For breakfast, Mr. Fiancé roasted hot dogs on the open flame (his choice) and Foodie sipped on coffee.

After checking out, they attempted to go hiking, but the trails were closed from the wild fires the previous year. Instead, they returned home, showered and packed up the car to drive Foodie to the airport. With the extra time, they stopped for lunch and people watching on Santana Row in San Jose. Mr. Finance enjoyed an orange-ginger mojito and Foodie had a Pomegranate mojito with fried calamari prepared with jalapeños and aioli dipping sauce, a spring salad and flatbread that actually seemed more like a small pizza. Something about the sunshine, posh environment and the birthday weekend made their last meal feel like a distant childhood memory. And before they new it, time was up and Foodie flew home to Seattle.

Clarification

Foodie would like to clarify for those who may have misinterpreted her last entry. While Foodie does dream of her fantasy wedding, she does NOT think that her parents should have to pay for it. That said, she does believe they should not be the ones to make important wedding decisions.

Why does it have to be so complicated?

Christmas day 1989, Foodie ripped open a red and green papered package exposing Wedding Day Barbie. As a little girl she would collect wedding magazine clippings and hide them a secrete box of future dreams. Growing up she envisioned a day when she too would be like Barbie in a white dress. A day that would be about her, where she would feel beautiful and all her family and friends would dance, laugh and Champaign toast in her honor.

Fast forward 20 years….

Foodie is engaged; about to graduate college, her once stable family has been split down the middle by a messy divorce and the fact that she will probably not have that dream wedding is becoming a heartbreaking reality. Last week was packed with a roller coaster of events. Monday she found a location, Mr. Fiancés surprise visit, Tuesday the location was out, Wednesday she found a new location that even Mr. Fiancé loved and by Friday she realized that even a Sunday day wedding would financially be out of her league.

Is it worth to still have a half-assed wedding or better to not have a wedding at all? Foodie’s father recently suggested that she should have a courthouse wedding instead of making a big deal out of it. Hello!!! This is her wedding, and unlike him she plans to only have one wedding!!!!!!!

As she held back the tears while thinking of this terrible thought, she remembered that initially Mr. Fiancé and her had wanted to have a small forest wedding at her mother’s cabin near Salmon La Sac. When previously suggested, Foodie’s father had nixed the idea because his current wife didn’t feel comfortable in the cabin that Foodie and her parents had once enjoyed together as a family. However, Foodies Father is not paying for her dream wedding on the greens at Inglewood Golf Course with a fountain, pretty flowers, a white dress, and layered cake, so why should she let his wife decide on one of the most memorable moments of her life? If she can’t have her ideal wedding, at least she can have a small wedding at a place with sentimental value that reminds her of a time when life was less complicated.