Milla's Kitchen


Milla has been writing a food diary with stories, pictures, and recipes on her social media accounts (Facebook / Twitter / Instagram)



01.20.15

So the countdown to our new baby begins, we only have ten weeks to go! It's so exciting, but at the same time daunting! lol! I'm hoping our experience with our first, Ever Gabo, has us prepared.

I've gained all the baby weight I need to have a healthy pregnancy -30 lbs.- and as of last week, I've started having to be really careful about my lifestyle so I don't continue to gain unnecessarily; which is not healthy for me OR my newborn.

I'm really proud of myself for not gaining the same amount of weight that I did with our first child (75 lbs.) because I have to be ready to start filming "Resident Evil- The Final Chapter" in August of this year and I will also be nursing an infant simultaneously (get ready wardrobe department for Alice's new "easy mama access" costume;)) so I don't want to be on any extreme diets to get ready to go back to "action hero" mode!

Saying that, I've started taking long walks to keep my metabolism in high gear and working on a game plan with my trainer, Harley Pasternak https://www.facebook.com/5factor to come up with the ideal daily diet for me.

Just so you understand, when I say diet, I'm not talking about losing weight, I'm talking about what I'm eating on a daily basis. I don't want to lose ANY weight right now, because at 170 lbs. I'm at a perfect pregnancy weight for my height and build. I want to maintain where I'm at; my ideal being 175 all together (with a total of 35 lbs. gained over all through out my pregnancy).

I also want to be the healthiest I can to ensure the easiest delivery and no stress post birth when I have to establish a nursing routine, as well as, slowly getting myself and my family ready to move halfway across the world to make a big action movie with a lot of stunt work! Phew!

I thought I could share the last leg of this journey with you all because I think it's interesting and potentially inspiring for other moms-to-be!

I will start tomorrow by posting the number of steps I'm taking at the end of everyday, as well as, pics of the food I'm eating and the proportions I'm having! The main thing I'm adding to my diet is smoothies. I normally make fresh juice every morning out of fruits and veggies, but I realized that because all the fiber is taken away when you make juice, you end up drinking loads of sugar that your body doesn't need. My trainer, Harley, has an amazing book called "Reset Diet Cookbook" that has great recipes for smoothies in it which I'll be trying out as well! Other than that, I'm just going to really control the amount of "white" foods I eat i.e. bread, rice, cereal etc.. and replace it with whole grains. Obviously no junk, meaning nothing that comes out of an airtight bag, sealed box or drive-thru (until the weekend)! lol! But that's ok, cause I love to cook at home and that's the only way to control what you're consuming. Restaurants are for special occasions anyway, not for practicing great nutrition!

So here is the number of steps I took today on the beach! Because it's a holiday, I got to go an extra long time which was amazing, it's not everyday that you can walk for over two hours! lol! Till tomorrow everyone! -m

Good morning everyone! So to start my "countdown to delivery" food diary, here is a picture of my breakfast! (I will post proportions on my FB page at the end of the day). It's mainly a 3 berry smoothie, with spinach, kale and nonfat Greek yogurt. Also, a cup of steel cut oats w 2 teaspoons of agave syrup for sweetness. #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen #ladiary

What an awesome day with really gorgeous, healthy meals and an incredible walk in the mountains here in LA! So This morning I had the most wonderful breakfast, some steel cut oats cooked on low fat milk and a fruit and veggie smoothie. I actually ate the oats in the morning, but I had enough smoothie to last me most of the morning into the afternoon cause it's so full of seeds from the berries and because I put everything into the mixer rather than the juicer, it was packed full of fiber. That was wonderful because it filled me up so I could go about my day without wanting to snack on any junky food; every time I felt like snacking, I just took another big gulp of my smoothie! lol! For lunch I made a beautiful white bean and red pepper bruschetta. I fried onion and celery with the cannellini beans, toasted some 12 grain bread slices and drizzled them with olive oil and then chopped the marinated red peppers and sprinkled them over the whole dish. It was insanely good! While I was walking, I thought of what I wanted for dinner and decided on an asian style steak salad with cucumbers, red onions, radish, cilantro and basil. It was absolutely divine and very simple to make. I use a individual steak thermometers to make sure the meat is exactly how the temperature I want. Take a look at the pics below! #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen


01.21.15

Good morning everyone! I'm just making my afternoon smoothie and wanted to share the ingredients with you! So beautiful and delicious! I've already eaten my steel cut oats for breakfast and this will last me for the next few hours cause it's so full of fiber! I've also mixed some spinach and kale in there cause the fruits will hide the taste of the veggies.I'm adding some coconut milk as well for flavor (in the small pitcher) and Greek yogurt for protein! This is so exciting, I LOVE knowing that I'm doing such great things for myself and my unborn child! #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen #ladiary

Hey Everyone! That article about RE: The Final Chapter going in August below is so cool, right?! It's going to be such an amazing experience, especially for me because I'm going to have a tiny baby on set with me this time around!

That's why it's been so important for me to stay healthy during this pregnancy. I'm going to be pulled in many different directions once we start production, but motherhood is the most important thing in the world to me, so I want to be so strong, full of energy and stamina to be able to not just "get through it" but "rock my way through it"! With our first, I just ate whatever I wanted, but this time around I really thought about what my responsibilities are and have been making sure to not put any extra stress on my health. After all, my energy is already going to be drained by the new baby, our oldest and the movie, the last thing thing I need is a bunch of junk food draining me as well. I realized that I need my diet to nourish my body and give me strength, not just satisfy my cravings for donuts (though I allowed myself to have my fair share of those during my 1st and 2nd trimester, believe me! lolol!).

Saying that, now that we're really counting down the last 10 weeks before delivery, I decided to go that extra mile (literally) and step up the amount of good stuff I'm putting in my system and rev up my metabolism in preparation for all the excitement I'm about to experience! For the last 3 weeks, I've been keeping track of my steps and taking walks and hikes to get at least 10k steps in every day and am making fruit and vegetable smoothies to keep me full, so I won't be as tempted to have loads of snacks with sugar in them which just bring me down and do nothing for me except make me more tired.

This morning I had my usual bowl of steel cut oats for breakfast and then made a smoothie that would keep me going until lunch. I'm reading Harley Pasternak's book " The Reset Diet" to get inspiration for how I should eat everyday and found an awesome recipe called a "Blackberry Grape Smoothie" that I used as a guideline. I added spinach and kale as well, which did nothing for the color, but it gave me the extra veggies I need to get my days requirement, so who cares, plus all the fruit covered up their taste! lol!

For lunch we went to an amazing Japanese restaurant called "Boss" where I ate one of my favorite dishes ever: cold Soba noodles. They are made of buckwheat instead of regular wheat, so they are very low calorie, but super nutrient dense and great for the skin, cartilage and bones. I had to sneak in an eel and avocado roll as a special treat though!

I made a few servings of the smoothie this morning so I could keep it in the fridge and drink it as a snack between meals to keep me full so I wouldn't be tempted to snack on empty calories.

I used the leftover steak from the Thai steak salad I made last night to make a quick steak and vegetable strip-fry for dinner. I threw in some cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, red peppers and soy sauce for a wonderful and really healthy meal.

So there you go! Its really great, because once I've taken a few trips to the store to buy the fruits, nuts and veggies, some olive oil and simple sauces (like asian fish sauce and soy sauce) it becomes so easy to make nutritious and delicious meals on a daily basis. In the end, veggies can be eaten raw, so you don't need to cook them very long and then it's just a matter of what meat you want to add for the extra protein! If you take some time to plan ahead, things get that much easier. Everything tastes amazing and my energy level is really high, especially for someone who is two months aways from giving birth! lol!

Have a great night everyone and I'll keep you posted on my progress tomorrow evening! All the best! -m #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen #ladiary


01.22.15

Good morning everyone! Here are the ingredients for this mornings smoothie! I've added pumpkin seeds, almonds and one teaspoon of peanut butter along with the usual suspects. (That's my morning tea in the background, btw! Don't put it in your smoothie!) the final product is amazing! Check my FB page later this evening for a full account of what I'm eating today to prepare for the new baby! #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen #ladiary

How can you resist the chance to make a zucchini belly button?I know I can't! Check out my FB page to see how dinner turned out a bit later! #countdowntodelivery #fooddiary #millaskitchen #ladiary

Hey Everyone! So another awesome day implementing some amazing dietary changes! It's really getting easier and easier to cook well at home because now I've got a bunch of fruit and veggies in the fridge, some great oils (cold pressed olive for everyday and sesame for asian infused) and I just grab meat on the day I want it.

(I also bought some gorgeous steaks for dinner the other night, but then our friends couldn't make it, so I used two for our dinner and froze the rest. Now if I want to have steak for dinner tomorrow night, I can just take it out of the freezer, pop it in the fridge and by the time I'm ready to cook it tomorrow evening it will be thawed! Super easy. Also, I invested in individual meat thermometers which has changed my life, my steaks are PERFECT EVERY TIME.)

The smoothies have been the real glue that holds all this together though. I make enough for two servings and refrigerate whatever I don't drink after breakfast and it's what I snack on through out the day. They are so filling that I don't even think about eating any junk, which is what has been the downfall of any healthy eating I've tried to do in the past. No matter what I did, I could't pass up a bag of potato chips at the gas station or a donut house without stopping. Until now. These smoothies are sweet because of the fruit, but packed with fiber and veggies! So I'm getting my daily intake without really noticing.

Another bit of great news, my weight is not fluctuating AT ALL! I'm so happy about that. I mean of course I weight more at the end of the day, but when I weigh myself in the morning, I've stayed at a solid 170lbs. which is what I wanted to do! I'm able to maintain a healthy pregnancy weight while eating delicious food ALL DAY LONG! And the best thing about it is I'm not following any crazy diets or fads, just eating food the way it's meant to be eaten. Fresh and whole. For lunch I had a bowl of 8 bean soup with ham and collard greens I made a few days ago that honestly just gets better the more it soaks in the flavor of the ham and the family adores it (It's fool proof with my 7 year old who actually asks me to make it).

For dinner I made a kind of zucchini and red pepper crostini as an appetizer. I scalloped some zucchini (I posted a silly pic on Instagram earlier that my friend took) and fried it very quickly on a medium high heat with some olive oil (to get a lovely brown color on the zucchini rounds), then I toasted some whole grain bread and drizzled it with some more oil and sliced up some marinated red pepper and a few heirloom cherry tomatoes. I then layered the zucchini and red pepper on the toast and to be a bit decadent, I topped the whole crostini off with one thin slice of truffle cheese! You could use parmesan as well though (or any other cheese you like).

For the main course I boiled up some quinoa pasta and as a sauce I quickly seared a handful of cherry tomatoes and some roast garlic in a pan (I bought the garlic pre roasted). I also made some chicken piccata, but since I had no white whine, i threw a tiny bit of beer in the pan to make a wonderful sauce for the chicken with some capers. The result was delicious. Check out the pics below!

I hope you've been enjoying my food diary posts! It's been a real blast challenging myself to eat well on a daily basis AND document it as well! lol! I have to say, I'm having so much fun doing this much cooking and I feel incredible because I'm not eating processed snacks and sugar all day long. My skin looks so much better too. Anyway, I'll keep you posted about tomorrow! All the best, m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary #ladiary


01.23.15

Hey everyone! So here are the ingredients for this afternoons smoothie! It's super amazing this morning because it's got "pumpkin spice" in it! I will post all the ingredients later on my FB page! #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary #ladiary

I'm guessing just posting food shots is getting boring, so I've decided to snap some selfies to get more creative with how I show my delicious results! Enjoy! #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary #ladiary


01.26.15

I'm going to get a little tripod cause balancing my phone AND getting some veggies into the frame is getting too challenging! I will post a detail shot of my daily smoothie ingredients on FB this evening! #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary #ladiary

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a Happy Monday! Today I'm officially 9 weeks away from delivering my baby! I'm kind of in shock, I can't believe how upside down our lives are going to be really soon!

So I pretty much took the weekend off and indulged in some not very healthy cravings! We had dinner at my favorite Russian restaurant on Friday night here in Los Angeles called "Mari Vanna". That's the pic of me in front of the Christmas Tree! (Don't ask me why they still have one.) It felt so great to chow down on some good ol unhealthy but extremely delicious fare! Dumplings with sour cream called "Vareniki", baked buns stuffed with meat or cabbage called "perogis", as well as, "salads" that are mostly made with mayonnaise! It was an awesome night, but to be honest, I felt so stuffed afterwards I got sick to my stomach! Lol! And l woke up in the middle of the night with heartburn. It's incredible how quickly my body felt the effects of a night eating super rich and heavy food after keeping it so clean and healthy all week long. It also made it very easy for me to keep it light for the remainder of the weekend!

I continued with my daily hikes Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday I took a break to sit in bed writing and drawing with my daughter. It was well deserved and FABULOUS! I've posted pics of my steps for the weekend and as you can see, the farthest I walked on Sunday was to the kitchen and back again! And not very often at that.

I started this morning with my steel cut oats for breakfast and then made a super green smoothie. I've been experimenting with what you can actually add before they start tasting bad, but so far so good and everything has been amazing! I really pushed the border today though by adding two huge pieces of swiss chard, two big collard green leaves, half a zucchini and some cherry tomatoes! I was a little nervous to try it to be honest, but amazingly, it was really good! Take a look at the pic below to see all my ingredients, but I tell you what, though It tasted a little bit "leafy", I was shocked at how sweet and yummy it ended up being. Definitely all that fruit was doing its job! For dinner I went "off the cuff" and threw together a bunch of stuff I had in the fridge that needed to be used. I always make a chicken soup on Mondays, so me and my family can reach for a bowl whenever we need to. It's so good for you and super easy to make. I used a few ladlefuls as a base for a delicious soup I made using mainly my Vitamix! I pretty much acted like I was making a smoothie, but with no fruit. Take a look at the pic below, I put carrots, a few tomatoes, yellow peppers, a chunk of ginger and a piece of what looks like a white beet or a turnip or something (I'm not totally sure! lol!) into the vitamix, put in a few ladles of chicken soup, pureed the whole thing, then put it in a pot on the stove and simmered it for about 10 minutes! If I had some curry powder it would have been even better, but it was so good. I had sautéed some chopped yellow onions until they turned a bit carmelized for another dish and put some aside for the soup and when I plated it, I put some of the onions in the center of each bowl, with some green onion on top of that. So it ended up being a vegetable carrot soup with carmelized onions. It was really yummy.

For the main course, I sautéed the rest of my collard greens (from my 8 bean soup) and radicchio with kale until they wilted and then in another pan the onions that I used part of in the soup. The other half I added white cannelini beans to and sautéed those together until the beans turned a little golden in the pan. When they were done, I put the onion and bean mixture on top of the wilted greens to serve, on top of it all I placed some tuna fish.

In another bowl, I put romaine lettuce and white onions with apples and walnuts as a salad, but to be honest I really like to put the wilted green with white beans and tuna on top of the salad! All the different consistencies and flavors are so wonderful together! The bitterness of the radicchio blends beautifully with apples from the salad and the walnuts make such a great contrast to the fish.

Well, dinner was a huge hit and my husband and I finished pretty much everything! lol! Thanks so much for reading this and I'll keep you posted tomorrow! all the best, m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #offthecuff #fooddiary


01.28.15

Hey Everyone! I'm going to make this post a quick one as I'm exhausted after a very full day. I have to rethink our weekly schedule, because Tae Kwon Do days with my daughter get a bit hectic now that I'm hiking everyday AND trying to keep up with cooking healthy food. I'm also rearranging my closets because if I don't do it now, it might be another 7 years before I take the initiative as the last time I really reorganized things was literally the last time I was pregnant! lol! Anyway, once our daughter is born, it will be just a matter of a couple of months before we go to shoot the next film in the "Resident Evil" franchise and before you know it, another year will have gone by...

Ok, to get to the important stuff. I have posted pics of the number of steps I took yesterday and today below. Today I did a lot less steps, but they were mainly uphill which has to count for more! lol! The hikes have been really challenging, but so much fun at the same time! I feel totally addicted to the outdoors lately!

Yesterday I did my usual steel cut oats for breakfast (to save time, I make a big batch on Sunday night and it lasts about 3 days) and the lunchtime smoothie (I take the remainder that I don't drink at lunchtime and have it to snack on through out the day). For dinner I reheated the soup from Monday night, but added sautéed white beans and onions to it to fill it out. It was dynamite! For the main course I bought some fresh, organic spinach tortellini and made a 10 minute pasta sauce out of sautéed onion, garlic and tomatoes. The trick to this sauce is to not over cook the garlic, but add it after the onions have softened, while keeping the heat low so it does't burn. I added one tomato, but only at the very end so it softened but still remained fresh and didn't overcook. It's so fast and easy and tastes AMAZING!

Today, I had eggs for breakfast with a slice of whole wheat toast and another piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter on it. A smoothie for lunch (and the remainder for snacking on through out the day) and for dinner baked a gorgeous piece of salmon with olive oil and parsley. On the side, I quickly seared some asparagus and roasted brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower with a bit of Pancetta bacon for flavor. It was so yummy!

So there you go! Have an awesome night everyone! -m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #offthecuff #fooddiary #ladiary


01.31.15

Hey Everyone! So I've got almost 8 weeks to go till I give birth to our second child and as some of you know, I've changed some of my habits lately to try and get in shape for the delivery and subsequent preparation for the new "Resident Evil" movie I'm shooting at the end of this summer! Because I've reached the healthy limit of how much I should weigh while pregnant (I'm currently 175lbs), I knew something had to give or I would just continue to eat junk and keep getting bigger, which isn't good for me and -more importantly- for my unborn child.

Saying that, the last few days have been more about watching my diet than exercising. I told you about how I've been re organizing the closets at our house in a post from the other night, so it's been a huge mess around here. We also got our daughter a "big girl" bed to motivate her to sleep more on her own (we're definitely a co-sleeping family!) because of the baby coming and it was set up the day before yesterday which made the house even more chaotic! lol! It goes without saying that I didn't go on my hike that day! Yesterday we did part of the hike, but got chased away by a rainstorm when we were 6500k steps into it. It's ok though, I ended up skipping dessert on those days to make sure I made up for it. This lifestyle change has been really amazing because I am still managing to maintain my current pregnancy weight of 175 lbs. which is perfect for my height. I mean I fluctuate to 176 and a half pounds some mornings, but so far I've managed to keep it steady!

So what have I eaten the last few days? Well, I've been going between 2 eggs fried in olive oil and whole wheat toast and steel cut oats for breakfast. Sometimes I put organic peanut butter on my second slice of toast! Then my lunchtime smoothies which are packed with loads of fruits and vegetables. They last me most of the day as I make a few servings which I put back in the fridge and use as a snack whenever I'm feeling peckish (If you're new to my #fooddiary posts, take a look at some of the earlier posts to see some of the gorgeous things I put into my smoothies).

For dinner, I've been making #offthecuff soups with my Vitamix with whatever veggies I have in the fridge (I make a pot of fresh chicken soup every Monday that lasts the entire week which I use as a base for my soups). My latest soup is an amazing, vibrant green color. I sautéed all the vegetables first this time, so the taste was much richer than my last vegetable soup. I used carrots, onions, bell peppers, kale, spinach, zucchini and asparagus. After sautéing the vegetables till they lightly softened I put them into my blender and pureed everything with a few ladles of chicken broth and little bit of cumin. Then I heated the whole mixture in a pot for ten minutes to make it hot. I served it on Thursday with chopped, sautéed onions inside and a small spoonful of low fat sour cream and chopped tomatoes as a garnish (obviously salt and pepper to taste). Then last night I reheated it on the stove with some white beans to give it some body and make it more filling. I have to say, I LOVE cannellini beans! They are the perfect food to add to almost anything you make. I really like them in soups and salads. Plus, they come in a can, so all you really need to do is heat them up and they're ready to eat!

Tonight I had an inspiration to make something I've never had before! I make fresh Bolognaise sauce -out of antibiotic free, grass fed beef- which I then freeze so it's always on hand. This evening I felt like having pasta, but didn't want extra empty calories (I'm planning on having a chili cheeseburger for lunch tomorrow, so I'm saving myself! lol!) so I boiled some Japanese soba noodles in chicken broth and tossed them in with the meat sauce! It was SO good! Being Russian, I love buckwheat in all forms, so soba is a personal favorite. I have to say, I would recommend interchanging normal pasta with soba any day, especially cause the texture of soba is so chewy and wonderful (a lot better than quinoa pasta actually).

I hope everyone has had an amazing week and as tomorrow is my "cheat" day (its cheeseburger time!) I will post again on Monday! All the best! -m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #offthecuff #fooddiary #ladiary


02.13.15

Hey Everyone! I hope you've all had an awesome week so far! So I am now officially half way through my 33rd week of pregnancy, which means I'm only 7 weeks away from delivering our new baby! I have to say though, I've been getting pretty exhausted again what with being a full time mom with our 7 year old, re organizing my home and hiking everyday to start getting my body ready for my post baby responsibilities (I start shooting two films this summer, one of them being "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter"), but over all I'm having a great time and super excited about all the changes me and my family will be experiencing soon!

For those of you who don't know, I've kept a #fooddiary during my #countdowntodelivery to see if I could really step up the quality of food I'm eating and lifestyle I'm leading to prepare for all the stress I will inevitably go through after the baby is born and I have to start preparing to go back to work. I wanted the transition to be as seamless as possible (yea, right!) and I knew that if I continued eating whatever struck my fancy and not exercising, I would be heading for trouble soon because I had reached my optimal pregnancy weight of 175lbs. and I needed to stay there. Plus, I want to be able to nurse this baby as long as I can and knew that any extreme weight loss would be detrimental to my bodies ability to produce milk, so the more control I have now maintaining myself, the better it will be for baby 6-8 months down the road.

Saying that, this week has been all about conserving energy! As many women who read this will unquestionably understand, re-organizing closets is a task of Herculean proportions and because of my background in film and fashion, I have accumulated a veritable Augean Stable of clothes! So now I am acting like a great flood and mercilessly editing what I'm keeping, what I'm donating and what I'm saving for charity auctions (and for my daughters when they grow up a bit)!

What started as cleaning out a few extra shelves here and there to have space when I bring all of my eldest's baby clothes back from their exile in the garage, has turned into a great excavation, worthy of the discovery of the pyramids of Egypt (as you can see, I'm a sucker for hyperbole) and here I am 2 weeks later, together with my peerless housekeeper -in classic Holmes and Watson style- still dredging up gowns, sequins, feather boas and old t-shirts from yester-year, taking pictures of each item and folding them into an endless line of empty crates, waiting to be filled and filed away in their home above the garage till further notice! Plus, I never realized that storing clothing is such an art form! I have to get special tissue and gel desiccant pouches to keep things dry and stuff to keep the bugs out! Let's just say that it's a ‘thing"!

Anyway, after a long morning of organizing, I am lucky to get a nap in before our afternoon hike and on days where my daughter has after school activities, even that is just a passing fancy! lol! It goes with out saying that I am trying to cut corners and the easiest corners to cut normally are with meals, right? Wrong! That is exactly the trap I cannot allow myself to fall into, so after a little bit of thought, I realized that I have to start cooking in bulk to save time during the week!

So what I've done is this, I have my Monday chicken soup which lasts the week, on Tuesday I sliced and pounded 8 chicken breasts into small fillets, threw a bit of salt and pepper on them and fried them up on a medium high heat with some refined coconut oil (REFINED coconut oil has no taste and is the best oil to cook with!) then squeezed a lemon over them. They are THE BEST! So fast and easy and they last for days in the fridge, so I can snack on them whenever I need to (like dipping them cold into hummus in the afternoon) and also reheating them and having them with some stir fried veggies for dinner.

Last week, I saw a special for shrimp at the market, so I bought a bunch and threw them in the freezer. Wednesday night I took some out and stir fried them for dinner with red and yellow peppers, red onions and asparagus. So yummy and really fast as well. (You don't even need to totally de frost them, I just stuck them in cold water for about 20 minutes while I cut up the veggies and made my sauce and they were ready to fry by the time I was done! You know they're finished cooking when they are all pink.) I make a Thai style sauce for my stir fry by chucking a big thumb size chunk of ginger, some cilantro, a quarter piece of red onion, two teaspoons of asian fish sauce (you pick it up in the "world foods" section of your grocery store), about the same amount of low sodium, organic soy sauce and one big lime's worth of juice in my Cuisineart.

Another great lunchtime/snack option that I made this week and is my absolute favorite is Veggie Pita Sandwiches with Edamame Dip! They are super easy to make and you will be addicted to them, I promise! The edamame dip you make by buying a box of shelled edamame beans and putting them in your blender with a few tablespoons of greek yogurt (you can use low fat or non fat if you're watching your weight). I blend them together and then see the consistency, it should be creamy, like hummus, so I just add a bit more yogurt if its too grainy. I also throw about 3 or 4 cloves of fresh garlic into the blender, one or two teaspoons of cold pressed Olive Oil, sea salt and a tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese. I also squeeze half a lemon into it. You blend all that together and its the most amazing dip, full of protein and super tasty for chips, crackers or sandwiches!

For the sandwich bit I chop up cucumbers and tomatoes and sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt. I also chop up some avocado. I take half a whole wheat pocket and coat the inside with edamame dip, then put avocado on top, add the cucumber and tomatoes after and sprinkle the whole thing with lemon juice at the end. SO. DAMN. GOOD. And once you've made the dip, it takes a much time to make it as it takes to chop the veggies!

Yesterday evening I fried up a few steaks and stir fried some broccoli, cauliflower, green beans and zucchini with lemon juice squeezed on top. I use an individual meat thermometer with the steaks so I can keep track of their temperature while they cook. It takes the guess work out of it, which is great! I also flash fry my veggies at a high heat very fast and serve them quite crunchy. I believe that anything that you would eat raw should be cooked minimally. As soon as their color brightens and they soften a tiny bit, I take them off the heat! I try to never over cook my vegetables, or anything but poultry for that matter!

Oh! Before I forget. I have either fried eggs or steel cut oats for breakfast and I make the oatmeal in bulk on Sunday night, so I have enough to last for most of the week. For lunch I'm still doing the smoothies, I have added some Source Organic brand Whey and/or Peanut protein powder to the mix, just to make sure I get as much of a protein kick as possible in one go.

And that's how it's done! I haven't been eating past 6:30pm to make sure my body still has time to metabolize the food before it shuts down for the night which is a big deal. Getting all your eating done early is so important to maintaining a healthy weight. It's also an easy tip to remember even if you're not watching what you eat. You won't gain as much weight from the food you're eating if you finish eating by 7pm at the latest. Then I make myself a big pot of herbal tea and drink that for the rest of the evening to keep myself hydrated and it stops me from getting the urge to randomly snack on junk.

I've also managed to have my two "cheat" meals on the weekend which is always fun, so I don't feel like I'm denying myself anything and I've even allowed myself an extra special treat by having a "Coolhaus" ice cream sandwich after dinner every once in a while! (I LOVE "Coolhaus" because they use organic ingredients and real cookies, so their sandwiches have that great "homemade" quality!) Double chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter ice cream!!!! I just had one last night and its BEYOND!

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Valetine's Weekend! Btw, the pic of me on the mountain is my victory pose after having a hard time getting to the top because it was so hot that day! If you like my pics, follow me on Instagram: http://instagram.com/MillaJovovich

All the best, m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary #ladiary


02.20.15

Hey Everyone! I hope you've all been having a great week so far! Well, I am less than 6 weeks away from having a baby!!! Our doc said this little one is growing so fast that our due date could be moving up by as much as a week! We are so excited, especially me because this little girl is getting to be so big, it's becoming more and more difficult to function normally! lol!

I have to go back to work in June on one film and then in August we start filming "Resident Evil-The Final Chapter" so I've been trying to really lead the healthiest lifestyle possible (with out torturing myself!) to make sure I stay in the best (pregnancy) shape I can. The part that makes this so much easier to achieve is that the healthier my body is, the healthier my baby will be, so it's win/win for everyone!

Now let's get to #fooddiary! What have I eaten this week? Well, one of my good friends from the fashion industry, fellow model Brighdie Noriega (@sironabrighdie) and founder of the Sirona Cleanse (http://sironacleanse.com) has been kind enough to allow me the absolute treat of sampling her food all week long! "Sirona Cleanse" is a small, boutique company and Brighdie makes everything herself for her clients which she has delivered every morning fresh to their home.

Well, I don't need to "cleanse" or lose weight at the moment, so I just added her gorgeous, vegan dishes to my normal meals and I couldn't be more impressed with the high quality of the produce, as well as, the amazing taste of literally every dish I've tried so far. I'm actually so sad that she can only manage to send food one week a month at this point! The food is so delicious, nutrient dense and totally balanced, so you know your body is getting everything it needs every single day you eat it. It's been so great to have her wonderful soups and salads to munch on in my fridge, I can't even tell you! And of course it's allowed me to get so much more done around the house because she's cut my cooking time down by more than half! lol! Yay Brighdie! You're so incredible and I really can't wait for when my next session comes in a month! Also, It's exciting to know that my newborn will be getting all the benefits of Brighdie's cooking via breastmilk after she's born! We're both going to be glowing because we're eating so well!

On top of my friend's amazing meals, Monday I pounded 6 chicken breasts super thin and quickly fried them in refined coconut oil with some salt and pepper. After they were cooked, I squeezed some lemon juice on them and I have yummy, healthy protein to eat for most of the week! I also made another batch of edamame dip and a white bean puree dip so I have as much healthy, easy food in the fridge as possible to snack on. I am also absolutely loving buckwheat, so I boiled some up and added some fried onion and carrot to it and it's so yummy. It's a super great alternative to rice, because its gluten free and has so many health benefits! Of course it goes with out saying that I make smoothies for lunch. I will actually be adding a #millaskitchen section to my website www.milla.com and permanently add my #fooddiary pics to it, so anyone interested can just go there and see what my smoothie ingredients are.

I have taken some pics of a few Sirona Cleanse dishes below, they are all the gorgeous, veggie dishes in glass. I also took a photo of my latest smoothie ingredients and my super fast and simple chicken breast recipe after its finished.

Ok, well I think that's it! Oh and follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/MillaJovovich/ if you like my pics! Have a great weekend! All the best! -m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #lafooddiary


03.06.15

Hey everyone! Long time no post! Well the last two weeks have been exciting! First, FB wouldn't let me on my account because they changed their settings, so it took me ages to figure out how to use it again, then this week was my husband's b-day and all my healthy eating went out the window! It's been all restaurants, cheese plates and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches... AAAAAAHHHHH! Yesterday was the clincher, I had a 3 course breakfast that included french toast and I managed to pretty much eat my way through it all! So now I'm back with new resolution and I won't be cheating this weekend.

I have to say, if I wasn't hiking 5 1/2 to 6 miles every day, I think I would be 20 lbs. heavier than I am right now (185 lbs.) which is still reasonable for pregnancy gain. So after "breakfast" yesterday, Paul drove us home -and I was already falling asleep in the car- where I crashed out immediately for 2 hours on the couch! When I woke up, I could hardly drag myself up, but I knew that a good walk was just what my lethargic body could use to work off some of that horrifically amazing food. I've also gained quite a lot of water weight, so my feet felt like they were 10 lbs. a piece and I could hardly put my running shoes on! It all felt like one of those dreams where you're running, but it feels like no matter how hard you try, you're running through sand.

Well, we finally got out of the house and the first part of the hike was tough, I admit, but halfway up the mountain, it was like my body just started working or something. It was this great re boot and the cogs started turning. I got more energy and really woke up. Because we went a bit late (after our naps) we took the shorter, but more intense hike, so though I only got 10,500 steps, half of them were vertical which is a much tougher work out.

It goes with out saying that with only 3 1/2 weeks to go before delivery, I'm getting kind of exhausted carrying all this extra weight around. Plus ask any pregnant lady and she'll tell you that getting any sleep at this point is challenging to say the least! My dad and my husband have been taking over in the kitchen, my dad is an amazing chef and my husband does very well under my supervision wink emoticon!

I still make the smoothies in the morning, a super fruity one with just a few pieces of veg for my daughter and then I add a bunch more greens for our "adult" smoothies. After getting my friend's super healthy food delivered to my house a few weeks ago (https://instagram.com/sironacleanse/) I got inspired to copy her millet breakfast dish, I make a big batch of millet in a huge frying pan (I toast it over a low flame with some refined coconut oil and then pour some hot water in there and boil it for 25-30 minutes till its nice and fluffy) which keeps for like 3 days in the fridge. I then heat it up when I want a healthy snack and put different berries in it, some almonds, coconut flakes and a little honey. I also grind some dark chocolate on top for an extra treat! I took a picture below. It's really such an easy and yummy dish, really filling and not calorie heavy.

Anyway, I hope you all have an amazing weekend and if you have a moment, follow me on my Instagram page: https://instagram.com/MillaJovovich/ All the best! -m #countdowntodelivery #millaskitchen #fooddiary