Natto- Smells Bad, Good For You!

Hello everyone!

As someone who likes and has an interest in Asian foods, there is one food I know of that gets really mixed up reactions.  Either you love it or you hate it.

What is it? Natto.


Natto is fermented soybean, same bean as soy sauce and miso come from, but it's different.  It's still in whole bean form and it's very very sticky and smells. 

It looks like this when it's all mixed up: 

It's an acquired taste but has a lot of health benefits, the bacteria it is fermented with is similar to that of yogurt or kimchi in a way, and helps with the digestion for example.


Also it's usually not eaten by itself.  Usually it's mixed with soy sauce or a little mustard (a tiny mustard packet usually comes with it) and on top of something or with something like rice (I've seen people put it on toast too).


Do I like it? I don't know! I recently bought some but have not tried it yet.  When I do, I will post how I reacted to it, hahaha.

Have any of you ever tried natto?  Would you?

Want to Dress Up Your Food? Try Furikake!

Hello everyone!


There may be a day when you are eating plain rice, plain vegetables, or plain anything, and you may wonder "How can I dress this up?"

The answer: Furikake!


What is Furikake? It sounds weird.

Furikake is a Japanese word, and it refers to a variety of things you can sprinkle on top of your food.  They add flavor and make the food look pretty.  To my knowledge you can kinda use anything (I have even seen bacon furikake) but I decided to try a traditional one- Gomashio.

Goma (sesame seed) shio (salt) is basically sesame seeds covered in salt.  They do sell the stuff at Asian markets but I decided to take the plunge and *shock* make my own.

I already had the ingredients needed- black sesame seeds (the tan kind are fine too but the black ones are pretty) and sea salt.  Here's how you make your own on the stove.  


What you need:

100 grams of sesame seeds (toasted or untoasted, mine came pre-toasted)
10-12 grams of sea salt (depending on how salty you want it)
1/2 cup or so of water

If you have raw seeds:

Pour a layer of seeds into a skillet, no oil needed.  Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly.  You will hear popping noises and you'll start to smell the yummy aroma.  For a sparse layer, 5 minutes should do it, a thin layer would take about 10 minutes, if it's a thicker layer then it would take even longer.  You can do  your 100 grams of seeds in batches if need be, but once toasted they can all be salted at once.  If your seeds are pretoasted like mine, skip this step.

Dissolve the salt in the water until there are no grains of salt left. It's okay to add more water to properly dissolve it.

Put the seeds in the pan and then pour in the water.  The seeds will clump when wet.  Heat on medium heat, stirring.  As the water evaporates, there will be salt on the edges of the pan. Scrape this off.

How long it takes to finish depends on how much water and seeds you use. You are done when the seeds are dry, and no longer clump.  If you use black ones like I did, they will have a slightly grayish tint to them.  Evaporating the salt water directly on the seeds will evenly coat them all.

Let cool off on the pan, after you remove it from the heat.  Then, store in an airtight container.

Here's some pics of mine- in progress and the finished product!

Seeds with water

As they cook, you can see the water evaporated some and there's salt on the edges.

All finished and in the container!

Gomashio is very versatile, you can use it on anything that salt will taste good on and give a little nutty flavor. It's also very nutritious, as sesame seeds are a source of protein also. 

Have you guys ever tried any furikake or made your own? 

A warning about brown rice syrup

Hello everyone-


I came across an article on Yahoo this morning that is not necessarily about weight loss, but it IS relevant if you eat brown rice/brown rice syrup.

Click here for article


Recently, studies have shown that organic brown rice syrup COULD be a high source of arsenic, and the article also mentions rice itself having arsenic in it.  This just makes being gluten free even harder, if you don't want poison in your food.  And going organic won't change it much- the arsenic was found in organic brown rice syrup-containing foods. 


I actually have a jar of organic brown rice syrup that I think I might have to toss in the can after reading this. 


As far as I know, stevia is still safe to use for sweetening, so I think I will keep doing that. 


I really think the best way (at least for me) is to just avoid grains altogether, since everything seems so wrong with all of them these days.  I usually feel better when I do.




Have any of you tried to be grainless? How do you like it?

Grain-Free Comfort Food?

Hello everyone!




I am always trying to read up on things grain-free, and while chatting with a friend of mine about a book she had seen for vegan comfort food, the lightbulb went off in my head- Are there Paleo (dairy/legume/grain/gluten-free) comfort food books as well?


So, I went to my good old friend Amazon.com and typed in the search line "Paleo Comfort Food".


And then I got directed to this title:

Paleo Comfort Foods- Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen by Julie & Charles Mayfield

The good thing about this is that the recipes are free of anything I don't want to eat- grain/beans/dairy.  I downloaded the ebook to my Kindle Fire and I will be going over it during the weekend and let you guys know how it is.

My gluten/grain free ladies (and anyone else) any good websites, books, etc for gluten free recipes? Post below!

Have a great night!

Tracy Anderson Calls Juice Cleanses "Horrific"

Hello everyone!

Today, I read an article about Tracy Anderson and her stance on the juice cleanses that are so popular these days.  (I actually know people also who are doing juice cleanses and I hear about it all the time online)

Tracy recently said that juice cleanses are "the worst thing ever to be commericalized" and "you might as well eat a Twinkie. There's like 80 calories in it, there's a bunch of chemicals in it, what's the point? The only benefit [to juice] is that it's pre-digested and the Twinkie's not."

Her main issue with the cleanses is  "They crash people's metabolic rate. Now, the F.D.A. says they have to be pasteurized. So, you're drinking, basically, water that's going to give you Type 2 diabetes, potentially."

She also does not advocate a raw vegan diet, she went on it in the past and lost her period for seven months. 

What Tracy DOES advocate is a clean organic diet and daily exercise.

For the article, click here. 

What are your thoughts?  Have you tried to juice cleanse? How about raw vegan?

Another Asian Workout I Found!

Hello everyone!


A long while back, I wrote about a workout from Korea called Figurerobics (You can check out the blog post here: My Blog on Figurerobics!)

I have friends all over the world (or so it seems!) and a friend of mine in Japan (who is also trying to lose some weight- I will tell you not ALL Japanese women are slim. Nope. ) told me about a popular workout program that women are doing called Curvy Dance!


Curvy Dance was invented by a woman named Hiromi Kashiki and the goal is to get a slim, curvy, feminine figure.  The reviews of her products from users said things like how the workouts are easy to follow, yet really get you sweating. 

Hiromi wrote several books about her program, which come with DVDs and are sadly, in Japanese and can't be played on other region DVD players.  Still want to see what it looks like and perhaps, try it?


This has everything, a warm up, 2 dance combinations, a cool down and even breakdown for the combinations.

I think this could  be good for those who need a low impact workout but still want to move.  Like me. My ankle is a bit better but I still cannot be on my hands and knees. (I tried again today and it wasn't working) I still don't feel confident to jump around either, so I will try this. It can't hurt, right?


Have you ever heard of Curvy Dance? Would you try it?

Tracy Anderson on the Dr. Oz Show

Hello everyone!


For those of you that don't normally watch TV (like myself) Tracy Anderson was on one of the latest episodes of the Dr. Oz Show.


Here is the part with Tracy in it! (About 15-20 minutes total)










I thought it was pretty interesting what she had to say.  I also like the 8 minute workout she did on the show.  


You can see the workout here: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/tracy-anderson-workout

It doesn't take much space but you need 3 pound weights.  It looks like a good warm up at the very least, or even an add on to your current TAM routine.