Happy {and Healthy} 2013

12/31/2012

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In my {big, fat, Venezuelan} family, we ring in the new year wearing yellow undies for good luck and hold money in our hands for wealth, we eat 12 grapes right before midnight, then eat a cup of lentil soup first thing after midnight for prosperity, and in our grand finale, we run around the block with luggage hoping it brings travel... it's all totally normal.

Wishing all of you a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! And thank you for helping to make 2012 a memorable year - I am very grateful for your support!
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Why I Don't Post Calories

04/09/2012

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Why I Don't Post (or Count) Calories in my Recipes

Alright, kids, pay attention! If I had a section devoted to FAQs, there would only be one question on that list: "Why don't you post calories in your posts?" Sigh.

Mainly, I just don't have the time. "But calories are so important," you may say. And you're absolutely right, they are. Keeping a healthy weight depends a lot on the amount of calories you consume in a day. (And the amount you burn by being active!) My concern, however, is in the quality of my food, not the quantity. Staying within your goal of 1500 calories per day (just throwing a number out there), isn't considered winning if all you ate in the day was 15 100-calorie packs of mini Chips Ahoy cookies.

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Sweet Victory!

02/03/2012

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Today I was declared the winner of Chispa Marketing's "Sweet Chispa Challenge!"

The Challenge - post a dessert recipe on Chispa Marketing's Facebook page; the three contestants to gather the most likes over the course of a week would prepare their dessert for the Chispa Marketing team; he or she with the best dessert (the criteria being creativity, presentation and taste) would take home tickets to the South Beach Food and Wine Fest Grand Tasting Village. (You may recall the 2011 event was one of the best days of my life - click here to read about it.) 

Well, this girl WON, and is on her way to mingle with her Food Network faves again on February 25th - an obscene amount of pictures will follow.

Back to the challenge. Want to know a secret? I knew I would win all along. Why? Because I really wanted this. Not to suggest that my fellow chispa-testants didn't, but I put my heart and soul into promoting my recipe, and because I was so passionate (and annoyingly persistent), I gained the support of family, friends, and friends of friends, who helped me end in the top three (and in first place with the most "likes," if you want me to be specific). 
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How I Found My Happy

05/17/2011

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Luisana Suegart and Claire Robinson
How I 
Found 
My Happy

I've been meaning to turn this idea into an essay. In theory, it would tell the story of how making the decision to lose weight and change my life ultimately led me to discover my passion for cooking, and consequently to two of the happiest days of my life. It would be the kind of article readers would find in any given issue of SELF or Women's Health, the ones that tell the story of the girl who had the courage to face the music and defend herself from the villain that was standing in the way of her Happy, be it junk food or a jerk boyfriend. 

If you've read my story, you know my villain was the junk food, particularly fast food. You know I decided that enough was enough, that it was time to take control of my body, and in the process, my life. You know I joined a gym and changed my eating habits, even if I didn’t completely know what I was doing at first. You also know I didn’t give up. You know that I took up cooking, and that through this duty-turned-activity-turned-passion, I’ve fallen in love over and over again. (Yes, I possess the ability to fall in love with purple bell peppers, yellow and orange tomatoes, and basil leaves the size of my hand, among other intriguing ingredients.) If you hadn’t read my story, now you know. (But you can still read it by clicking the “About” tab above.)

Whether I enroll in culinary school or go out on a limb and send an audition video to The Next Food Network Star, this blog, and the possibilities that I dream it will bring for me and for you, is my Happy. Don't be afraid to find yours, no matter what it is. 

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