Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Skydreamer Eats: A Healthier Lifestyle with Salads

Just recently, I've had several health issues like minor back pains and occasional headaches. I've also been diagnosed as pre-hypertensive because of my sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits. I'm really scared about being sick and unhealthy so I took it upon myself to be more active and eat healthier.

The first thing I did was walk more often. Currently, I make it a point to walk at least 20 minutes total in a day. If I need to go up/down a floor in a building, I use the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Instead of riding a cab from the front of our apartment's gate, I walk to the corner of the block where I live (and it's a fairly big block) and wait for a cab there. I try to stretch every now and then, and I also make it a point to play outdoors on weekends with my son and husband.

Aside from being more active, I've also started to incorporate eating more healthy food in my diet. That means less white rice (which is full of carbohydrates with little to no amount of nutrients) and more fruits and vegetables (and desserts too, I admit - lots of sweets!). I always try to do the 80/20 rule which means that I eat healthy food 80% of the time, and all the naughty food 20% of the time. To know more about it, check Rose's blog (click HERE) for inspiration and ideas.She calls it the Anti-Diet, and I usually follow her tips about maintaining an 80/20 balance on food and activities to be healthy. I don't actually follow everything to a T, but I do my best in keeping up.

With that said, I'm going to share a couple of salads that I have created over the weekend (again, this is to make sure I'm eating more greens and less grains).

First:
Mediterranean Salad
I call my first one, the Mediterranean salad mainly because a lot of European Instagrammers inspired me to come up with the mix.
For my greens, I used kale, baby arugula, lettuce and alugbati (a type of vine spinach).
I added a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a dash of salt and pepper.
I tossed it with homegrown tomatoes.
I added a few slices of prosciutto di parma and gruyere.


mediterranean salad at www.diningincebu.blogspot.com
Skydreamer's Mediterranean Salad

Greens - Pre-packed, purchased from Rustan's Fresh, Ayala Center Cebu
Prosciutto Di Parma (Parma Ham) - Purchased from the Deli Section of Rustan's Fresh (I only bought 100g and this is just 1/3 of the ham I purchased)
Gruyere - Purchased from Rustan's Fresh, 100g for about P100 - I only used 1/6 of the cheese I purchased


What I Think: I loved this salad! It's savory, and the parma ham complemented the earthy taste of the greens and the nutty taste of the cheese. This one's a keeper, and I'll probably make more in the coming weeks.



Second:
Tropical Salad
This second salad's dressing was inspired by Patty Laurel's Instagram picture. I can't link it here, but you can look for her in IG @pattylaurel.
For my greens, I used the remaining ones from the pack I bought in Rustan's.
I topped it with homegrown tomatoes and seedless grapes.
For my dressing, I used a teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, half a teaspoon of brown sugar, and a drizzle of honey (Patty used balsamic vinegar and I substituted mine with apple cider and brown sugar as it was readily available from our pantry).


tropical salad at www.diningincebu.blogspot.com
Skydreamer's Tropical Salad

What I Think: I didn't really like the sour/vinegary flavor. I mean, what did I expect, right? I added vinegar after all. It's ok, I guess. I was fine with the honey, but not so much on the vinegar.

I think I'll stick with the Mediterranean salad.
But you take your pick.
Try both of my creations or create your own salad with your preferred toppings/meat/fruits and your favorite dressing! Either way, let me know how it goes! xx

17 comments:

  1. This is so healthy. I just can't take all the greens and olive oil. I want something that has a dressing like ceasar's salad or thousand island dressing. Keep posting!


    www.themoxieme.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi Fred, you can always use your preferred dressing and maybe add some croutons and bacon bits to your greens :D

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  2. These salads look great! I agree with that 80/20 rule, I try to follow that sometimes but then I get lazy and fall back to my old unhealthy habits hehe. It's always the bad things that taste the best! Shee, have you tried Quinoa? There's a lot of buzz on this healthy supergrain - a lot of people have been saying its a great substitute for rice. It's closer in texture to couscous with more "pop".

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    1. I have heard of quinoa through Pinterest, but I doubt if it's affordable. At some point, I also started eating muesli but stopped because I always emd up chucking them to the bin. I find some flavors to be too strong kasi...

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  3. looks yummy shee! i would want to try that but i'm not sure if i can incorporate it with my diet. haha. try try lang! :)

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    1. Ahaha, ikaw rei d nka kinanglan ug diet. Pwede ra jud ka mag buffet everyday, slim lang japun. Hehe! *bitter mode?* lol

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  4. I'm on the road to a healthy eating lifestyle as well. I was recently diagnosed with Overt Diabetes, and was on insulin for about 3 weeks. Which means, I have to go low on the sugars, to prevent me from being a full blown diabetic. huhuhu

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    1. Oh no, that sounds tough. Do check out the 80/20 rule, maybe you can find additional pointers aside from what you've already researched on. Best of luck! :D

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  5. Shee, thanks for tonight. It was really great to meet you guys. :D

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    1. We had a great time too! :D
      We should do it again, Joann. Someplace else.
      Somewhere more affordable? Hahaha.

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  6. hi shee i hope you're feeling better. i started having lower back pains recently and ive been on medication for 3 weeks now and theres no improvement, its starting to worry me and like you, i wanna change my lifestlye. i like Mediterranean salad but the tropical salad might not me for me :)

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  7. Sure sure! nalingaw ko ninyo ni Fred hehe tabian kau. Ok ra ko maski asa, kamo lang choose sa restaurant. :)

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  8. grapes in a salad, plan! my favourite salad is pear and prosciutto. soft salad leaves, spring onion, avocado,a pear, prosciutto slices and top with roasted pine nuts...amazing. I use olive oil, balsamic vinegar and mustard dressing mixed together but it has a very acidic taste so you might want to try something different!

    nicholawithanh.blogspot.com

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    1. That mix sounds amazing and you're right I might use a different type of dressing. xx

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  9. I think the tropical salad will go well with my salad dressing (made out of olive oil, sesame oil, honey and light soy sauce). wooohoo! excited to make some! thanks for this :)

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    1. That dressing sounds delicious and (YAY) no vinegar! I'll try that out, thanks for the suggestion. :D

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Your thoughts? :)