Valentine’s Day is almost here! A celebration of love, flowers, chocolates, and everything decorated in pink and red. And all of that celebration costs money.

I don’t know about y’all, but the recession is still taking place at my house. And tax season is here…woo, Lord put a hand.

Valentine’s Day can still be romantic and beautiful and celebratory without dropping major coin. This year my husband and I agreed to celebrate with a delicious dinner, instead of exchanging presents. So this weekend I’m going to make us something special, that’s close to my heart.

Trinidadian stewed chicken from the Sylvia Hunt cookbook.

Who is Sylvia Hunt, you ask? She was Trinidad’s Julia Child. She put our cuisine on the map and for many, remains the gold standard of Trinidadian cooking. Sylvia Hunt wrote several cookbooks, hosted a television cooking show, and back in the day, owned her own restaurant. She passed away in the Eighties, I believe. And regrettably, dissent and conflict in her family has prevented her cookbooks from being reprinted and cherished as I am sure she herself would have wanted. You can find loving homages on Can Cook Must Cook and Trini Gourmet.

I managed to get a copy of one of her books, photocopied and bound with love by my parents. So allow me to share this DELICIOUS recipe with you! I added some info to clarify, for those of you who don’t “speak Trini” =)

Read the rest of this entry »

If your workout has become stagnant and uninspiring, if you feel like a hamster stuck inside a wheel, if you are just plain bored with your regular routine — switch it up! You’re as limited as your mind allows. It’s up to you to find something you like to do.

In continuing the 50 Million Pound Challenge, I’ve had my moments of struggle, reluctance, and frustration. The hardest thing to do is get back on that saddle. But I realized that switching up my workout routine, finding new motivation and inspiration is of paramount importance.

So I’m gonna start reviewing new exercise experiences and workout options here, to let you know what’s worked and hasn’t worked for me!

First up, Hoopnotica!

The hula hooping workout has gotten press EVERYWHERE. Vogue, Time, E!, MSNBC, US Weekly, People, In Style… you name it. It’s trendy, sexy and unique, so all the hottest celebrities have been jumping into the hoop craze.

That’s not why I wanted to try it.

From what I’ve read, you can actually lose weight while hooping. And also, more superficially, I love the hippie hoop girls that you see at big music festivals. These chicks are amazing. They hoop in time to the music and do all sorts of amazing tricks, and by nightfall, they use glow in the dark hoops. So. Cool.

They inspired me to learn how to hoop.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m getting closer to my dream. You see, when I moved to Chicago I started having pretty vivid dreams of what I wanted from the city. For the most part, they are snapshots. One of them that has lingered with me, and remained foremost in my mind as we looked for an apartment.

I see myself, on a retro bicycle with a basket on the front, riding around Lake Michigan.

There’s something really freeing and magical about riding a bike. And seeing the world from that eye-view is thrilling.

Besides the fun of the wind blowing through your hair and whizzing past slow-moving cars and people, there’s the exercise factor — a huge part of the 50 Million Pound Challenge involves just motivating yourself to get up, get out, and do something to get yourself moving. It helps to do something you like, and to make it a regular part of your daily routine.

So the action plan is, when I am established in the heart of the city, get a bike. It’s free, fun, easy transportation from point A to B, I can run errands when the weather isn’t too bad, and the whole time I’ll be getting in that precious exercise time I so often convince myself isn’t completely available.

But ay, here’s the rub. Nice bikes can be crazy expensive!

Read the rest of this entry »

What does the 4th of July mean to you? Fireworks? Freedom? Fried food? All of the above? Most definitely! Moderation isn’t exactly a word that comes to mind during the 4th, or most holiday weekends. But I’m here to tell you, friends of the 50 Million Pound Challenge, you can enjoy the 4th to the max and still maintain your fitness momentum.

If you’re hosting a 4th of July jamboree, that puts you in the driver’s seat to provide a delicious, healthy spread. Nobody’s going to miss played out potato chips and greasy pre-packaged snacks if you provide a lush raw veggie tray for starters. Slice up red, yellow, and orange peppers, add some baby carrots, cucumber spears, and sugar snap peas — serve with low fat ranch, black bean dip, and hummus et voila! Easy, fresh, bright, delicious. And you can do the same with a fruit platter — apple slices drizzled with lemon and honey, fresh canteloupe, honeydew and watermelon, and lots and lots of berries. Skip the caramel dip, save the calories for more fun fare.

One of my favorite crowd pleasing recipes is a version of this vegetable pizza, made with Pillsbury crust, cream cheese, powdered ranch dressing, and lots and lots of fresh chopped veggies. I swear to you, people who don’t like veggies LOVE this pizza. And I don’t usually include the olives because I married someone who thinks they are gross.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been reading Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food. The first sentence grabbed me right away.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

He makes it sound easy, right? But when you’re living in a city, or on a budget, if you work long hours or if you have kids who are picky eaters, eating according to Pollan’s plan can seem almost impossible. Unhealthy food is cheap and it’s EVERYWHERE. Eating healthy takes a bit more effort. But believe me, bellas — it’s worth it!

I have big, big admiration for First Lady Michelle Obama for getting her hands in the dirt and encouraging kids to plant a vegetable garden at the White House. 36 students from Washington DC’s Bancroft Elementary helped her, and just this week they harvested their veggies. 73 pounds of lettuce, to be exact. Then, together with White House chefs, the FLOTUS and her elementary school assistants dined on baked chicken with brown rice and peas, salad with carrots and honey dressing, and garden cupcakes with fruit topping.

Delicious! Michelle Obama explained her motivation in a speech following the harvest.
Read the rest of this entry »

There are some killer bargains to be found in the world of spas these days, bellas. Trust me – look in the ads at the back of your local paper, or take a gander online. Spas are hurting bad (just like so many other service industries are), and the consumer reaps the rewards. There are spa specials galore, if you get to looking. But if you’re in my unemployed condition, sometimes even a spa special isn’t enough to make the experience affordable. Times like these call for at-home spa treatments! Investing a little in a new product can pay off alot. A trip to the spa may leave you glowing and overjoyed, but being able to recreate that effect at home? Priceless.

Here’s a tip I got at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. The treatment I enjoyed at the Eau Spa was among the most fantastic spa treatments I have EVER had (and I’ve had some good ones!) It’s called the Elemis Exotic Frangipani Body Nourish Wrap, and involves being anointed with a heavenly scented oil blended from coconut and frangipani flowers and then basically wrapped up in what feels like a giant waterbed that’s inflated while you’re in it. It is the closest thing I can imagine to being in the womb. OK, so that part would be impossible to do at home. But the treatment begins with a dry body scrub using a cactus body brush and let me tell you — this will change your life. Never before could I have imagined skin this soft.

A little research reveals that dry body brushing has a ton of great health benefits — from helping to reduce cellulite to improving immunity. It’s extremely popular in the world of detox, and rumor has it (according to the lady who scrubbed me down), this has been done since the era of the Greeks and Romans.

There are some insanely pricey dry body brushes on the market, but I skipped past all of them and got the $15 cactus body brush from The Body Shop. It’s made from all natural materials and yes – cactus bristles are spiky! Ouch! But brush gently, and it isn’t so bad. Really it isn’t. And the softness of your skin afterwards is sooooooo worth it!
Read the rest of this entry »