Day 1 of Hell- I mean, Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge

This is a remnant of my 2 week goal of writing about the challenge, as around Day 3 I realized that with my schedule it was impossible to achieve as written. Having to cook something new nearly every day for every meal other than the salads really sucked up too much time, and while I have not given up trying to follow it in spirit, I feel like I wouldn't be doing it justice just writing about "this cobbled-together stir-fry that's kind of like what was in the plan" and "I couldn't make a salad so I had 3 KIND bars". So here you go: a strong beginning to what could have been.

Like others, I decided to get on the Clean Eating Challenge bandwagon and try it out for yourself. I'm starting from the 2014 one so that I can totally have free meal planning for a month. I'd be lying if I said it was for any other reason.

I wanted to do a cost analysis of this challenge, but I didn't end up following the shopping lists to the letter as there are some things I simply dislike (see: flaxseeds, fennel, floozies) and some things I already had in the freezer (old salmon, old chicken, broken dreams). That being said, the two trips that I took to the store resulted in about $140 worth of groceries for the first week for JUST ME. So yeah, it's not cheap. I'm sure some tweaking and buying certain things in bulk would cut down the cost by a lot, but the sheer amount of fresh vegetables and fruit makes that hard. Plus, a lot of the time the shopping list wants you to buy "one zucchini" or "one pear". I ended up just buying a lot more oranges to make up for the other fruits I didn't buy.

So, without further ado, Day 1:

I was not smart about this smoothie and tried blending it with a hand blender. It ended up drinkable, but I could still chew and feel all the kale bits. It also tasted horrible, since I used Nut-so butter (includes flaxseed) and the bananas were not ripe as I had gone shopping the day before and stupidly bought green bananas. So, word to the wise, buy your bananas ripe or ahead of time for this challenge. Also, the prep work says to just freeze the banana, but the actual recipe calls for 1-inch chunks. Pre-cut the bananas the day before. Your blender will thank you.

The Asparagus salad ended up being HUGE, and I had to eat it directly from the mixing bowl. The asparagus was also a pain to ribbon-ize so I ended up just chopping them and saute-ing them that way. Still tasted good. I used spinach instead of arugula because arugula makes my tongue want to die. The feta really made the salad - it combined perfectly with the shallots, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Dog break!

The kale/quinoa/chicken was actually pretty good! It took a lot more cooking than I'm used to, as most of my meals end up being one pot, no bowl, eat directly from pot in front of laptop meals, but it made a few leftovers that are supposed to carry into Monday. I would definitely make this again but probably double or triple the recipe and have leftovers for a couple days.

No pics of the snacks - I ended up having some Mamma Chia and the rest of the orange instead of the carrot sticks/hummus and pear/nut butter. The macros and calories should be about the same, and they're all healthy foods, so I'm not worried. I'm pretty excited about the caprese (sort of) salad tomorrow.

Day 1 complete! Have any of you done the Buzzfeed or any other eating challenge before?

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Review: Satura Cakes in Downtown Los Altos

Hi my lovelies!

Sorry for being away for so long! I know I fell off the face of the earth after my first pumpkin review... For the record, all of the rest of the food was delicious, and I still have the mixes left to review, so stay tuned for me to get around to that ;)

I do have a new review though! I happened to be in Downtown Los Altos for an appointment and decided to stop by Satura Cakes. They're a quaint little Japanese/French-style bakery on Main St. and have the most amazing little Japanese-style cakes. Mitsuwa San Jose used to carry their cakes, but for one reason or another they were replaced by Mochicream (which are delicious in their own right, but fall into the dismal category of not-cake). So, I had to take advantage of my little jaunt and pick up some cakes for taste-testing.

I ended up getting (from left to right):

Berry Rouge
Red Velvet
Earl Grey
Cafe Noix
Green Tea Hua Hua (fuwafuwa?)

I had the Berry Rouge first, since it's made with macaron which tends to get soggy and chewy the longer it sits. It's a raspberry shell with cream cheese filling, fresh berries, and raspberry jam. The fresh berry and dairy flavors melded together perfectly, and it was neither too sweet nor too tart. I was also worried that it would be hard to eat since it had a top shell, but the macaron was just soft enough and the filling just substantial enough that I was able to get all the layers in one forkful. Definitely recommended for berry lovers! And, now that the Bay Area is FINALLY hot, this is a great, light pastry for those hot summer days.

Next, I tried the Red Velvet paired with the Organic Fancy Darjeeling from Peets. The red velvet flavor is VERY subtle in this cake, and the tart sour cream/cream cheese frosting contains bits of fresh raspberry. As with the Berry Rouge and pretty much all of the Satura cakes, this red velvet was not very sweet, rich, or cloying. The crumb was dense but fine, which lent itself to a light and smooth mouthfeel. The flavor was so subtle, in fact, that the darjeeling was a little overpowering. I would recommend pairing this with a green or herbal or perhaps even rooibos. Red velvet fans may be disappointed with Satura's version, but people looking for a lighter chocolate or a richer Japanese-style short cake should be very happy with this one.

Cafe Noix

If this cake were any nuttier, it'd be a bowl of nuts. Wow, is this cake nutty. Praline on the top, nuts in the cake, and coffee everywhere in between. I paired this with the Royal English Breakfast from Teavana (shh... it was a gift) and was not disappointed. The walnuts and coffee cream held up really well to the black tea, which brought out more nut flavor from the cake. This one is a little sweeter and richer than the other two due to the praline and dacquoise nature of the cake, but not overpoweringly so, and would taste even better with an iced black tea or iced coffee on a hot day.

No Japanese bakery would be complete without a green tea confection. This green tea roll cake is about what you'd expect: fluffy, light, with a subtle tea flavor and some fresh strawberries in the middle. Pretty standard in those respects and not much less or more.

Lastly, my favorite cake ever from Satura: the Earl Grey. It has a very airy and creamy layer with a denser tea-flavored layer, and it also looks super pretty with the sparkly glaze. The taste is heavenly: smooth bergamot tea with a hint of milk and sugar with a bit of a crunch. It's a unique cake flavor, too, despite the popularity of Earl Grey in recent years. Highly recommended for both cake and tea aficionados and a safe choice. Now I have to get over my sugar and caffeine rush and go to bed...

Hope you enjoyed my Satura review! For those of you who have been there, which one's your favorite? Do you usually get the pastries or the cakes? Has anyone tried their coffee? Comment below!

Satura Cakes
200 Main St.
Los Altos, CA 94022

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