Time Management and Things I can't live without

There was something cool that I came upon during the weekend and I HAD to share it. It's basically a webinar about time management from the healthy living summit and is a much watch if you have time (it's 45ish minutes long). I found it really cool that one of the speakers was a pediatrician and hey if she managed to do her residency/ have a boyfriend/ run a blog/ run marathons, then why can't I? All it takes is setting priorities and going all out on them.

Also I found this one quote to be important and is something that I struggle with at times:
"Time is finite. Unlike money, our time is a non-renewable source." I know I sometimes avoid something because it costs too much, but hey if it ends up saving you time then you win :D

Here's the list of things that I can't live without/ are important to me:

Peanut butter and eggs?

Honestly, I'm so sick and tired of eggs being a savoury dish! That's why I made that Proteinalicious Strawberry Breakfast Wrap a while back. Like common egg whites pair lovely with fruits ^^ That's when I heard about the PB & Jeggs from Laura@ Sprint2TheTable I had to try! I had this coupon from my 10k race for free liquid egg whites and things went on from there. The recipe was delish... Minnie Mouse however managed to steal my food though... sigh :( I have too many plush toys (technically this one is my mom's)

Make-over Part 1

Before I get into the whole make-over, I wanted to establish a little tradition for myself called "Foodie Fridays". This would involve stopping by the Whole Foods on my way home after the lab and picking up something small to try. It'd be a nice way to try something new everyday and keep up with all the new cool foods in the market ^^ Then blog about it (no duh)...

Picture from: http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=6 

Life Update

Unfortunately, summer is coming to an end. I know! Well actually this summer felt very long for me because I've had a lot of time to relax and got to chill in Europe for a month. Now that I've been bombarded with work at the lab, I realized that I haven't taken much time to step back and evaluate my life. So here we go...

Windmills, windmills, and cool shoes!

While being in Amsterdam I signed up for an excursion of the country side. The tour was by bike of course as that's the main mode of transportation in Netherlands. The Dutch take their biking very seriously so never walk in the biking lanes, unless you want to be run over. Hey at least you don't need to worry about drinking and driving as there're so few cars in Amsterdam.

Breaking the stereotypes!

The cities that I've enjoyed most in Europe were the ones I've had little expectations about. No jokes! As I've mentioned before, I wasn't a big fan of Paris nor Venice... but the cities that I fell in love with were Amsterdam and Madrid. Seriously! Amsterdam!? My parents were shocked... My friends thought I was crazy... but I felt at home there! I will not mention how many people tried to speak Dutch to me while I was there. I guess it makes sense because I look European, I'm tall (5'8" is the average Dutch women's height), I'm kind of tan, brunette... kind of like the Dutch people.

Anyways! Presenting Amsterdam!

The well known city of legal weed, prostitution, and the famous red light district. Honestly, if that's what comes to your mind when someone says Amsterdam. SHAME ON YOU!

Out of all the cities, I felt the most safe in Amsterdam. The people were super friendly, the city damn right gorgeous and there's like no traffic. No really! The streets are dominated by bike lanes and most don't even have space for cars.

So yeah... Amsterdam is the city of bikes.

Very berry salad

I've always loved summer because there is soo much fresh fruit that I can barely keep up with the amount my parents buy. Well to help me out I've decided to sneak these babies into a salad. A triple berry salad I should say :P

The other thing is I generally don't cook much during those hot summer days because who wants to stand beside a hot stove when it's already boiling in the apartment??? So salads to the rescue!

Very Berry Salad

Life... Career... Decisions Decisions...

Oh the joy of last year of undergrad! To only realize that you're making one of the biggest decisions in your life career wise! AAAH!!! Here's somewhat of a summary of my career dreams in life:

As a child I used to love watching Jack Cousteau videos. I loved this man and I've dreamed about being a marine biologist just like him. Living on a ship like Calypso and exploring the ocean floor. Seemed like a dream for someone who grew up beside the sea. In fact, I still think about being a marine biologist even today :)

Then I wanted to be an astronomer when I was like 8. I know it's such a typical childhood dream but I was serious about it. Every Sunday I'd go for astronomy classes and was the youngest/ only female person there. Whatever, I loved it! I still remember seeing Saturn's or seeing the black spots on the Sun (there was some sort of a special lens that allowed you to look at the Sun without damaging your eyes). Oh and how I just loved nebulas! When I moved to Canada my career plans began to shift.

Who said simple ain't good?

This recipe was actually paired up with my trip to the palace of Versailles. The thing is, these kings and queens had all this luxury but common lives sucked! They had no privacy, had lonely childhoods and couldn't really leave their palaces much out of fear of assassination. That palace we believe to be so gorgeous was like a prison to them.

At first I wanted to make a cabbage pie as my recipe because it can be beautifully ornate but be filled with super cheap ingredients. Kind of like life, you can have a beautiful one without much money. However, the cabbage pie would involve shortcrust pastry and after the cornish pasties I wanted something lighter.

So la voila! Bean Sprouts with Noodles! I've actually made this recipe a couple of times now and my fam loves it. It's deceptively simple and amazingly thrifty (about 50 cents per serving). I know it looks kind of monotone, but that's the whole theme... finding beauty in simple, mundane, cheap things :D The large quantity of bean sprouts keeps this dish light and adds a heck a lot of crunch!

The city of the peeing boy!

Ok seriously! A peeing boy? What's up with that? I know it's weird!!! Not in Brussels! I mean I respect these people for their waffles and all but a peeing boy... Why would you make that your city's symbol???

There are a couple of legends behind it one of them involving a fire. Apparently some boy took off his pants and extinguished the fire by peeing on it. So now there's a fountain in Brussels with water sprouting out of his *you know what*. Oh oh! The funny thing is this boy has a gazillion different outfits and gets changed everyday. 

Source: http://www.brussels.info/peeing-boy/