Chinese Choices

While Chinese food may not seem like the optimal choice when leaning towards a healthy lunch, there are ways to make sure you don't break your health kick when craving some oriental food. Take my lunch the other day, for example. What was I craving? Chinese. Was I going to get some? Absolutely.

My friend, Amy, ordered the Kung Pao chicken with fried rice, something that was delicious, but obviously laden with sodium and high in fat. I opted for a more "clean" dish: Steamed chicken, brown rice, and veggies. The extra indulgence in my dish came from the bowl of soup and eggroll that came with my meal--things I felt I could nibble a bit of each because my meal was so low in sodium (keep in mind I didn't eat the full bowl of soup or the entire eggroll, just little bites of each to satisfy my savory-tooth).

Just a few spoonfuls of egg-drop soup!

I definitely didn't end up eating all the rice, but it helped fill me up without eating empty calories

After my lunch I felt satisfied, yet not bloated or guilty--the perfect excuse for chinese anytime. Best part? They do takeout too...

-KIM

Sushi Break

While it may not be the healthiest meal at times, sushi can be nutritious when consumed properly (think brown rice, plain fish, cucumber, avocado, and absolutely no soy sauce or teriyaki sauce). Too bad for my nutritious side, however, because Amanda and I were feeling adventurous the other day and decided to indulge. Rainbow roll, Tootsie Roll (the middle one), and spicy tuna--we were in heaven :)

It was pheNOMenal

-KIM

Berry Banana Smoothie

Syracuse is FINALLY warm!! Geez, only took until May to get there...but nevertheless, I'm not complaining about it! Anyways, I tanned outside with friends for a while (obviously just taking a brief study break from finals) and when I came inside I was parched. There was only one thing I wanted: a smoothie.

Since I've taken a leave of absence from most dairy because of digestion-al complications, I couldn't very well make a milk-infused smoothie. Therefore, I came up with a recipe of my own:

1 very ripe mashed banana

1 large handful of frozen blueberries

1/2 a cup of water

1 teaspoon almond butter (I prefer crunchy)

Squeeze of honey

YUM!!!! The picture didn't come out very well so I didn't want to post it, but DEFINITELY try this smoothie recipe! It literally blew my mind, and I am so satisfied right now.

--Lara

Soup Time

I've been feeling pretty under the weather lately; an unfortunate state I attribute to long nights at the library and early mornings because, for whatever reason, I'm just not good at sleeping. It all started Sunday night: my throat began to feel a little scratchy, and I quickly filled up my water bottle to begin chugging. I knew at that point it was going to be a long week.

Since then, my horrendously sore throat has broken into an equally sufferable cold accompanied by congestion, a runny nose, and drowsiness (I blame Nyquil for most of the drowsiness, apparently it has an adverse effect on me and actually keeps me awake?). I've been doing my best to combat this ill-timed sickness, keeping airborne, emergenC, soup, and vanilla tea with honey on a round-the-clock rotation. Last night I was feeling particularly sickly, and so I knew it was about that time--Progresso Time.

My hero

Filled with savory chicken, warm broth, and soft vegetables, this delectable soup satisfied both my salty-tooth and my need for something to aid in my recovery. I decided to pair it with some fresh, crunchy bell peppers as well, because I read somewhere that red bell peppers are good for helping colds.

Sickness: begone!

-KIM