meal

“Red Pesto” Roasted Chicken

August 26, 2013 by Ariel 3 Comments

For a long period of my life, the idea of roasting an entire chicken scared me. I felt intimidated by the task and was worried that if I was to miss my recipe, I would feel twice as bad because I’ll be wasting an entire bird. What I didn’t know, is that making a finger licking good roasted chicken is actually quit easy AND the possibilities are endless once you understand the basic rules. Today I felt like using the new “pesto” powder I had made a few days before with the fresh basil leaves growing in my garden. I’ve also been harvesting quit a lot of fresh tomatoes from my plants and this recipe was the perfect occasion to use them.

I called this recipe “red pesto” chicken because of the prominent taste of the pesto powder and the nice red color that comes from the juicy roasted tomatoes. I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe, make sure to keep all the juices and left over tomatoes from the pan because in my next post, I’ll be showing you how to make a delicious and filling soup with it.

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Grilled Maple Salmon Salad

March 19, 2013 by Ariel 2 Comments

I was reading one of my contracted model’s blog the other day and she was asking for diet tricks and recipes. I have to admit that the word “diet” scares me till no end and I much prefer to keep a healthy everyday lifestyle and work on my portion control then go on a diet because most of the time I don’t stick to it and I get either frustrated for not eating what I want or I loose too much energy by not eating enough or the right things. Plus, most of the time when the diet is done and you’re back at your normal eating habits, you gain everything you had lost and sometime a bit more.

As a model, worrying about my waist line is part of my everyday job you’ll say and that’s kind of true. But I don’t believe in dieting and I don’t believe in starving myself. Yes, I’m a model and what I look like is important but I will never starve myself because I simply love food way too much. Over the years I had to adjust my eating habits, learn to work out the right way everyday and stop myself from buying easy and fast processed food. I learned to make everything myself from scratch and to be honest, I’m glad I did! These days I much prefer to never eat pizza again because I’m too lazy to make my own dough, sauce and everything than buying one of those pre-made versions. If I haven’t made it from scratch, I simply don’t eat it. It’s that simple.

Agreed, it’s annoying at time because you’re really craving for something specific that you just don’t have on hand but it’s a great way to learn self control. If you really want to eat that specific thing, you just have to make it from scratch and try to make it healthier than the store bought version. Everything is possible and as long as you keep to this rule and work out everyday, you’ll be fine in my book. It has been working for me for the past 5 years now and I’ll never go back to my old eating habits.

Now to talk about about this salmon recipe… It’s easy, fast and very good for you. I don’t think I need to convinced anyone about the greatness of omega 3 and fatty acids. It’s good for you, good for your brain and so dam delicious. Like any other “fatty” fish like the salmon, we have to eat it in moderation but I think once a week is ok if you’re really a salmon addict or at least once every 2 weeks.

The contrast of the salty fish with the maple syrup (my obsession) and the sourness of the green apples drench in lime juice is amazing! This amazing salad will keep you feeling full for the rest of the night or pump you up full of energy to go do over 1 hour of cardio. Hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I do 🙂

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Grilled Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Parmesan

April 25, 2012 by Ariel 5 Comments

I know what most of you are going to say… “I don’t like Brussels Sprouts” but think again.. when was the last time you tried? You were probably very young and now that your taste have changed you didn’t think about trying them again? Give it a shot, it’s worth it!

I asked myself the same question, not too long ago, when I saw a bag of these little things at the grocery. I looked at them for a moment than I thought about all the food that I was not eating as a kid that I now enjoy… maybe it was going to be the same for the sprouts? I decided to give them a shot but I was very skeptical about the whole thing.. I remembered my mom making some when I was younger and I HATED my first experience with Brussels Sprouts, till I tried this very simple recipe…

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