Daily Food Plan

I did alright with my month's goals! Not too shabby - this entire month, Thomas and I decided we weren't going out to eat at all because we completely blew our budget last month... and the month before...and so forth. This has been the healthiest month I've ever had I think - we've eaten avocados practically every day, drank more water, had tons of salmon, and eaten at least 50% red/black rice. Even my sweet tooth is satisfied by NOT a cookie but homemade traditional tong-jook: red beans, black sticky rice, cane sugar, and coconut milk.

AAAANNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD ............. update 6/29/13 - I got preggars right around this month! Talk about eating fertile food.. oops!! Bahaha

Chinese Black Bean Noodles

I originally wanted to cook spaghetti since we had so much leftover ground beef that we either 1) needed to freeze or 2) eat right away. I technically had all the ingredients:

• tomato sauce
• mushrooms
• ground beef
• bell peppers
• garlic
• onion

Oh, but I didn't have actual American (or Italian - whatev) noodles. So what does THIS GIRL do instead? Try to recreate this delicious meat sauce that my mom and this little dumpling place called Prosperity Dumpling in New York's Chinatown made. So it didn't do exactly that, but pretty dang close. The result was still fabulous and TON of flavor. Here's my recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• Wheat lo mein noodles
• 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 4-7 black beans ("doh-si" as they're pronounced) - rinsed after soaking for at least 5 minutes
• 1/2 tsp. salted soy bean sauce (in jar) 
• 1 can tomato sauce
• mushroom
• ground beef
• bell peppers
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1/2 diced onion

Heat up pan, add olive oil, garlic, and cook ground beef. Drain and set aside. Boil and cook the wheat noodles per instructions and set aside as well. To make the delicious sauce, heat oil, add garlic, onion, and black bean - sautee until onions start browning. Add sliced mushrooms and bell peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until they are about halfway cooked. Toss in ground beef. Gradually add about a tablespoon of the oyster sauce and the salted soy bean to taste. Both can be incredibly salty to be aware. Add water as needed to loosen up the sauce. Toss in wheat noodles, cook for a few minutes more. Bon appetit! 

MasterChef Recipes

Stacey audition: New York Strip Steak medium rare, with green glaze on top. Next to brightly seasoned vegetables (possibly potatoes).

MasterChef Challenge: Audition 1

Ground Beef

I would lean towards Pan Asian meatballs with a sweet, savory sauce.
Ingredients:
Oil
Garlic
cumin
curry
peppercorn
onions
green
orange zest
wrapped in wonton skin

No I won't. I will make ground beef pancakes. No, first instinct is pasta dish?

Challenge 1: Use only ingredients listed. Duck breast, kale, rhubarb,

Ramsay says, pan roast the duck breast to get the fat off. Caramelize the rhubarb, sweet potatoes.

Oatmeal Post! Carrot Cake & Banana Bread flavors

Yes, I finally cooked oatmeal 75% of my goal. First time I cooked a banana nut bread flavored oatmeal - not bad, but needed more fresh bananas on top with toasted pecans.

Second weekend, I attempted the carrot cake oatmeal - UHMAZING! I found out that using freshly grated carrot broke up the weird, oat-mealy texture that I don't care for. It lightened it up, and was yum. Cinnamon, sugar, toasted pecans, milk. I also added some semi-sweet chocolate chips which made it a treat. The version I made today was disgusting since I added too much chips. Oh well, at least I had a somewhat healthy breakfast.

Cabbage & Fish Curry

"I'm hungry..."
"NO! I'm not cooking! We have nothing!!!"
"I'm hungry..."
"NO!! We're down to NOTHING and all we have is cabbage for vegetables, frozen deer sausage and tilapia as protein."
"....................."
"FINE. Let's see what I can make with cabbage and fish (which is a gross combination in my mind)"

Since I don't do anything without passion, I truly didn't want to cook. I had just eaten, was tired, and wanted to finish reading the 3rd Hunger Games book. I was also completely unappetized at the thought of the combination of fish and cabbage, so I wanted to mask the flavors as much as possible. Oh yeah, there's curry. And, it truly wasn't that bad, I'm just sick of tilapia. For someone who was so adamant about not cooking, I did a fairly bang up job.

Ingredients:
- tilapia
- garlic
- chopped cabbage (1")
- onions
- carrots
- curry powder, salt, pepper, bay leaf, brown sugar, coconut milk, water, organic 2% milk

Again, I ALWAYS heat up the oil, throw some garlic, and toss in the fish rubbed in spices. Once 90% cooked, set aside and begin cooking vegetables. Garlic first, then onions - brown. Carrots - cook until 60%, then add chopped cabbage. Add water, milk, coconut milk, sugar, and spices. Let it boil, then turn it to medium heat to let the sauce simmer as much as possible. Chop up the fish and throw it into the curry pot. YUM(ish)

Mashed Cauliflower and Pollo Rancheros!

Mashed Cauliflower Recipe - I omitted the cheese and milk since it seemed kind of watery, but added butter instead. I love cauliflower, but this was slightly odd. Much healthier than the potato counterpart

Donde estas le tortillas? Huevo Rancheros Recipe

YUM! I decided to try cooking Huevo Rancheros - ever since my friend Jessica had us try Cactus Flower, a fresh California-Mexican restaurant, I've been obsessed with their dish. FYI, I absolutely despise eating at Mexican restaurants due to insurmountable cheese, grease, and processed-ness. Cactus has been the only tolerable Mex restaurant and by tolerable, it's friggin' delicious but somewhere in my mind, Mex has been tainted by my previous experiences so I logically can say it's great but emotionally I'm conflicted. lol. 

Here is my fairly healthy recipe:

- 1 tortilla

- can of refried beans

- shredded cheddar cheese

- fresh green onions

- chopped tomatoes

- chopped white onions

- fresh rosemary(just a hint), salt, pepper, butter

Spread the refried beans on the soft tortilla - cook on medium heat, flipping onto both sides, until warm. Set aside. Cook eggs your style - mine was over easy so when you cut into the dish, the yolk is running out like yum. Set eggs on top of the tortilla and refried beans, add the vegetables, and voila, finished!

From the Cactus recipe, I cut out the hashbrowns (delicious, but heart stopping) and enchilada sauce. It pretty much tastes the same since everything I used was fresh and if that's one thing Cactus is known for, it's the freshness of their quality.

Curry Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

• chicken breast, sliced (or cubed)
• garlic
• white onions (chopped)
• green onions (cut lengthwise)
• carrots
• canned corn

Sauce:

• yellow curry powder
• water
• organic soy milk
• Turkish bay leaf
• Kosher salt
• pepper
• ground ginger
• soy sauce
• brown sugar
• Siracha hot sauce
• Sweet cooking wine

Heat oil in a nonstick pan - add garlic. In my case, I ran out (I generally freak my lid on this) so I used a tiny bit of minced white onion to ease my mind. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper and a dash of curry (it's probably not necessary). Once cooked, set aside and heat oil in the pan again. Toss white onions and sautee; add carrots and drizzle in sweet cooking wine. Once mostly done, add corn, about 1-2 tablespoons of soy milk, brown sugar, bay leaf, ground ginger in the middle. Stir the sauce to melt evenly; add water, Siracha sauce, and curry powder. Add salt and pepper to taste and let the sauce thicken on its own. Turn off heat, toss in green onions, cover, and let the remaining heat finish cooking the dish for another 1 minute. 

Serve over a bed of steamed, jasmine rice and enjoy! Thomas hates cooked chili peppers so for spice, I used Siracha instead. YUM!!!! Here's the link that I used as a general reference.

Clean Eating for a Happy Heart

I've always tried to be conscience of what I eat and do, but I know I can do better! Thomas and I LOVE fruits, vegetables, beans, and seafood and believe we can incorporate more of these wonderful superfoods into our diet.

Goal 1 - Eat at least 2 servings of seafood/fish a week. Go to Joe Patti's (or other small local seafood market) once every 2 weeks coming home from work.

• Salmon (wild)
• Shrimp
• Crawfish
• Scallops
• Mussels
• Tilapia
• Rainbow Trout (farmed)

Goal 2 - Substitute one meat dish for a vegetarian one (meat takes sooo much longer to cook, more expensive, and messier since you have to account for cross contamination issues)

• Beans for protein
• Tofu
• Portabello mushroom bagels

Goal 3 - freeze more foods. 

http://www.thekitchn.com/from-the-files-recipes-that-fr-67269

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/easy/make-ahead-meal-recipes

Notes on Super Yummy Foods:

• Broccoli
• Yogurt
• Nuts
• Rice - Millet (I already use half black/red and half white jasmine rice so I'm on the right track hopefully)
• Oatmeal - try eating this at least 1x week, maybe a Saturday when there's time

More on stock: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/stocking-a-clean-eating-pantry/

• bananas
• whole wheat - flour, pasta
• beans - kidney, pinto, black eyes peas
• grains - red, black rice, millet
• nuts - almonds(untoasted), pecans (have already)
• sweet tooth - maple syrup (not pancake), honey(has)

Heart healthy:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-healthy-diet/NU00196

Grape juice has been proven to be extremely good for the heart. It contains chemicals known as polyphenols which feature antioxidant properties. Juices good for heart health and cardiac functioning include tomato, prune, and apple juices and so you can include these in your daily diet.

Salmon & Avocado salsa recipe

I woke up this morning with clear, moisturized skin and healthy, shiny hair and couldn't figure out what was going on. Then I realized I ate 4 oz. of salmon and avocado last night - the health benefits of these two superfoods combined were crazy and I didn't expect it. All I wanted to do was eat salmon and go to bed. Here's the meal I prepared last night: mixed red and jasmine rice, garlic green bean and onion dish, seared salmon with orange avocado guacamole.

Salmon Dish:

• fresh salmon
• pressed garlic
• olive oil
• soy sauce
• sugar
• lemon
• orange zest
• avocado
• tomatoes
• onion
• cilantro
• peeled naval orange

This is sort of a mixed recipe based on ingredients I already had. In a seperate dish, combine soy sauce, squeeze lemon juice, and sugar; let the skinned salmon fillet marinate. Turn your skillet on medium to high heat, drizzle in olive oil and let the garlic and orange zest cook in the oil. Once hot enough, sear the salmon on both sides - do not add the soy sauce marinade in the pan yet. Once it's cooked to the temperature you like, set the salmon fillets to the side and make the guacamole! I like my salmon medium rare.

Orange Guacamole: combine naval oranges, smashed avocado, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper for taste. Add guacamole to cooked salmon, and voila - muy perfection!

Side dishes:

• steamed jasmine and red rice
• grilled garlic green beans and onions

Avocado contains unsaturated fat that is why it ranks among the healthiest and nutritious vegetables. Salmon contains vitamins A, B6, B12, C and D and also thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, retinol, and folic acid. It is a real treasure of minerals, namely calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Salmon is low in fats, including healthy salmon omega-3 fatty acids. More about on Salmon Nutrition.

Getting and Staying Inspired

Maybe it isn't specifically graphic design knowledge, but continually keeping up with the trends and forecasting the future is my main goal. I sought out inspiration the past year by attending technology and food trade shows in NY and FL, taking free leadership classes from work, collaborating with talent to produce fashion photoshoots, participating in art shows, and treating each experience as an opportunity to learn. Pulling my inspiration from places that are not graphic design or banking-related helps in building a solid bank of creative knowledge without having to worry if I'm copying other companies. Also, I asked if I could attend a credit union marketing tradeshow and was denied because they were only open for managers. Instead of getting discouraged, I sought ideas elsewhere and read CU-related articles voraciously. Of course, I'll research companies that have done a concept just to make sure mine is different.

Music at Deluna Fest 2011

Bridal shower invitations

Art Party 9 flyer for {entwined} - alternative art scene and party

Restaurant POS company branding

Art Party 9 {entwined} - alternative art scene and party

interior design for our house remodeling project 

Sushi deli branding for Kakasan Sushi bar in Mobile, AL

Restaurant POS company branding

Restaurant POS company website redesign

Here's a taste of the diversity of my work from just the past 2 years.

Post #___ Trip #4 to the Big Apple!

I love NY. Clearly as this will be my 4th trip up there within 6 years! (3 years in a row) For real, this is what I want to do - live like the locals, visit Chinatown, Greenwich Village/SoHo, experience the awesome styles made available to me.

We fly out Saturday morning of the 14th and fly back Friday night via Jet Blue.

Here is what I've encountered and/or learned:
- That Greenwich village is actually pronounced with a soft "e"
- That the 3 speakers I listened to were not very motivating. What a bummer because this is supposed to be the biggest retail technology show in the US. Sephora and Aeropostle's VP of Visual Merchandising didn't seem too passionate about their field. The president of CAB Marketing (who worked on clients such as Circuit City) gave a marketing 101 speech to mom-and-pop retailers. Sigh. I tried so hard to sneak into Bill Clinton's speech but to no avail. I needed a powerful speaker to help me out! At least the speaker for "Fashion and the Future" was interesting because he talked not only about fashion but the science behind it and how it's actually lagging behind other industries such as architecture, interiors, science, gadgets, etc.

And then some! Overall it was a good trip!

New Bridal Shower Invite - Heart Flags

Yay a new invite design!

*Names have been changed.

PA Univerisity/ Leadership Fundamentals

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE- PA Univerisity/ Leadership Fundamentals


Journal Entry #1
Goals, fears, response

I received my survey report a little bit later than everyone else’s. Before I received them, I was waiting anxiously for the results as I thought I would get mediocre (which to me, is horrible) scores.
I expected my interactions with team members and contribution to be on the excellent side. I was mostly worried about how I would rate with public speaking (which I expect to be a 5 or 6), time management, and my overall assessment as a leader.

Perhaps you are your harshest critic, because the results came back quite the contrary to my negative assumptions. Although only 4 out of 10 people responded, I received positive responses. I rated a 9/10 for listening, contribution, and interaction. I scored about an 8 on public speaking, a 7.5 on handling difficult members, and an 8.5 for overall leadership skills. Someone had marked “6” on my ability to handle difficult members and I would say I agree. I don’t enjoy confrontation and am eager to please. When I used to be a server in a restaurant, how much I made was contingent upon my ability to satisfy and my efficiency. So, in order to avoid conflict, I would do everything in my power to please. I maintain my calm and treated everybody equally for the most part. You never know, the ones who are hard to please and that everyone else has given up on, may turn out to be your biggest fan and tippers.

Leadership Development Goals
After reflecting upon my results, I found that I should work on my public speaking skills and handling difficult members. What I came into the Leadership Fundamentals class was to learn how to be more assertive and confident in my proposals, whether verbal or not. I also wanted to learn how to effectively manage my time so that it would lead to less stress.

It seems what I need to work most on is organizing my thoughts. With organization comes better communication; with better communication leads to more confidence. This in turn leads to better public speaking skills which, if/when confronted with a difficult person, can help solve the situation if you've done your research and can back up your proposal. While this may seem like a slippery slope fallacy, I feel that organization is the central component that could help me tremendously.

One of my positive traits is that my mind is on a constant, idea-generating motion. If I don't jot it down in a notepad or blurt it out immediately, the idea flees and I feel that it was all for naught. While I have tons of ideas, I find myself constantly frustrated that I can not seem to implement them. Part of it is my organizational pace is much slower than my call-to-action ideas.

With time management on my side, I believe I can effectively achieve my goals.

Chinese Wedding Homage Photoshoot

I finally got in contact with the awesome Jessi Field from Jessi Field Photography and she agreed to do a couple's shoot! She specializes in natural light, outdoor photography. After an amazing shootout last night with 15 other talented photographers, models, and designers, I got inspired to pick a theme that means a lot to me. I started thinking that I don't really acknowledge my heritage as much as I should. Of course, I make Asian jokes about myself, but that doesn't really go far.

I told Jessi that I regretted not having a professional photographer at my Chinese wedding when there was so much awesome food and colors there. Well, we did, but he didn't know my family very well and the pictures showed. I love my parents' wedding pictures so friggin much!

The next photoshoot will be a homage to my Chinese wedding, modernized and outdoors. Think Anthropologie in China.

Props to consider bringing:
- Chinese dragon wooden circle decoration from China Doll
- Red lanterns
- Fans
- red wedding ribbons
- red balloons? Is that too trendy? Screw it. why not!
- (2) wooden red chairs from home
- satin red flower bouquet
- stylized umbrella

Style:
- Red heels

- huge, custom red satin peony hair piece with veil

- 1920s glamour, or at least 1980s traditional: use parents' wedding photos as inspiration

- short, big wave curls
- red lipstick

- french manicure

- mom's hand-painted silk scarf

- tea set

Poses:
- chair, bride sit, groom stand
- grass pose, aerial shot
- lake, dock
- pouring tea
- both drinking tea, looking straight