lights, camera, action.

i’m in a quinoa coma. this isn’t a bad thing. more on that in a moment.

first, some meals & moves! i am going to show you basically everything i ate today for the purpose of my post. here we go!

breakfast was actually eaten at work today. i have been eating breakfast at home these days, but i was running late this morning so i ate breakfast at the office.

1c plain 0% greek yogurt + 1 sliced banana + ~1/3c nature’s path ancient grains granola.

lunch was leftover chicken + broccoli quinoa casserole, just as good (if not better!) the second time around.

my snack was around 4 PM and i was still at the office.

1 sliced braeburn apple + ~1 TB mighty maple peanut butter + muscle milk light.

when i got home from work i ended up having some toast + cottage cheese pre-workout.

after a little procrastination and iron chef watching..

i decided to do a bodyrock.tv workout. i started with this warmup followed by the survivor workout and i was literally dripping in sweat after the short 15 minute intense routine.

a brief rundown of the workout—there are three five minute parts.  the first part consisted of five exercises that you do for 50 seconds and try to achieve max reps followed by a 10 second rest to write down your scores. for the next part, you do 5 minutes of single leg squats + tuck jumps for max reps. the third part is the exact same as the first part. here are my scores for the survivor workout:

• left leg backward lunge and kick: part 1=22 , part 3=19
• right leg backward lunge and kick: part 1=20 , part 3=20
• single arm (alternating) press ups: part 1=12 , part 3=12
• double kick with breakdance pushup: part 1=7 , part 3=7
• pike jump + jump squat:  part 1=9 , part 3=9

i did 42 single leg squats + tuck jumps in the 5 minutes of part two.

i finished up with this cooldown. the entire process (warmup, workout and cooldown) took just over 30 minutes

the end.

i created a new, simple recipe for dinner tonight.

four can quinoa casserole!

i am on a quinoa kick lately. i love how quick and easy it is to make and i also love the texture.  the health benefits are an added bonus.

to make this casserole, i simply boiled 1 lb of chicken breasts in low sodium broth and shredded it with two forks.

i combined the chicken with 2 cups of cooked quinoa (i cooked it in low sodium chicken broth for extra flavor) and four cans:

okay, so the one on the far right is technically a jar.. but “four can quinoa casserole” had a nicer ring than “three cans and one jar quinoa casserole”… don’t you agree?  also, i am well aware that this recipe is a total sodium bomb due to the canned goods. if you make this, go ahead and drink an extra glass (or twelve) of water.

anyway, i combined the chicken, quinoa, 7 oz can of diced green chiles, 10 oz can of rotel, 14 oz can of corn and 1 cup of verde salsa (not the whole jar) and mixed it well. because the dish didn’t have enough sodium yet, i added cholula seasoning. love this stuff.

next, i poured it into a casserole dish and topped it with a bit of shredded cheese (the mexican blend).

i baked the casserole at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. can you guess which side is marshall’s?

this recipe makes six servings and here are the stats for one serving, assuming you use 2 oz of cheese in the recipe:

those stats are also pre-garnish. i garnished my mexican casserole with 1/3 of a perfectly ripe avocado. it would have been even better with a dollop of greek yogurt, but i am all out!

 

and that, my friends, explains why i am currently in a quinoa coma. boy, was it delicious.

randy dog is in a different kind of coma.. he got into a box of love crunch granola and ate the whole thing! poor guy has a belly ache and can’t even move.

hopefully he learned a lesson.. but chances are he already wants more granola.

and now—the reason behind my title: lights, camera, action. 

i am often curious about where bloggers shoot their photographs. some blogs that come to mind are ashley’s, allie’s and mama pea’s—their photos are always stellar! i am no professional, but i thought it would be fun to show you where i usually photograph my food.

i simply took photos of the bigger picture for all of my meals & moves today.

when i shoot at work, i try to take photos in the conference room because it is the only area that has natural light. that is where i shot my breakfast today.

i did notice that the lighting was different due to the time change, but the natural light was still abundant. i usually use this small table right by the window and get great side light.

i sometimes use the other corner table for front light.

the only problem is i have to be sure to use a placemat because the tables are all glass-top and there is a reflection in the glass if i don’t use a placemat.

if i am pressed for time, i will shoot my meals at my desk. this happens more often than not because i am usually really busy. i have ridiculously annoying florescent lighting in my office, but i adjust the white balance on my camera to make up for the harsh lighting.

glamorous, i know.

i have a dark colored desk, so i try to use white dishes when shooting at my desk. today’s lunch up above is a good example.

when i have a snack at my desk, i try to zoom in because my desk is usually a mess.

looking at my snack photos above, you wouldn’t know where i was when the photos were taken. looks are deceiving!

when i eat meals at home, i obviously shoot the recipe process in my kitchen. the lighting in the kitchen is standard and i use the tungsten white balance setting on my camera. you can see photo examples in the recipe how-to above.

when it is time for plating photos, however, i move over to my kitchen table. this is where i shoot all my meals eaten at home.

there is a sliding glass door to the left in this photo and when it is light out, i get great light coming in and can shoot from all angles.  additionally, i have installed daylight bulbs in my kitchen light fixture so it gives off a more natural looking light at night time. 

after seeing ashley’s post about what she uses to shoot her photos, i think i want to buy a little table like the one she has so i can move to various rooms in the house to get optimal lighting depending on the time of day. i also really want to make a light box, but i am lazy. there, i said it.

i also thought it would be fun to show you guys where i do my bodyrock.tv workouts. we have a spare bedroom that really is just another place for me to put all my clothes. because there isn’t much in the room, i have converted it into a home workout station!

i have my stuff set up on the dresser.

laptop with the workouts, interval timer, notebook & pen to write down scores, water bottle.

i don’t have much equipment.. an exercise ball for abs and stretching, a foam roller, a jumprope, an exercise mat and some dumbbells.

that’s it!  and i am able to get killer at home workouts in whenever i want.

well, that’s that! a little peek behind the scenes. hope you enjoyed it.

i am going to go join randy on the couch. check you guys later!

Qs~

1. question bloggers: where do you typically shoot your food photos? when i first started blogging, i always shot my photos on the floor of the house where i lived because it was the only spot to get nice lighting. this was fine, but it was hard to keep the dogs away from my food! the things we do…

2. question for everyone: how important are photos to you when deciding what blogs you read? to be honest, content always comes first.. but if photos are incredibly horrible, it makes a blog harder to read. when blog posts are entirely absent of photos, i still read if it is someone who’s blog i love.. but if i am initially checking a blog out and there are zero photos, i typically don’t stay long.

xo. janetha g.