Walking on air

I was out walking the dogs this morning and my friend drove up and exclaimed, "Hey skinny!"

My response, "Huh?"

My friend said, "You really are looking much thinner!"

Now I am walking on air. Yes, I have been working on the healthy lifestyle thing since January but this is the first time someone has noticed a big difference.

Normally, I would run home and weigh myself to see what the scale says. Today, I resisted doing that since that usually gets me overly focused on eating.

But I just had to share!!


My lunch was very colorful:

My version of Bibimbap - without the rice.

Instead of a bed of rice, I used a bed of shredded cabbage.

Then I chopped up the rest of the ingredients and arranged them in the bowl.

Broccoli, cucumber, red cabbage and carrot.

Then I mixed up some homemade dressing:

Mirin
Rice vinegar
Udo's oil
Nutritional yeast
Garlic powder
Black pepper

I cooked a 1/2 cup of ground turkey in a skillet with some:

Soy sauce
Mirin
Honey
Hoisin sauce

This gave the turkey a nice barbeque-like flavor.

Even though it looked so pretty as it was - I mixed everything together:

This was the best lunch I have had in a long time - I encourage you to make it - soon! And you can easily make it vegetarian by using tofu instead of ground turkey.

The soy wrappers will be making an appearance at dinner - no worries:-)
 
I am off to hit the gym and celebrate being thinner!

Bibimbap

At a company I used for work years ago, there was a tiny deli across the street that was family run.

They always had Bibimbap on the menu. It became one of my favorite lunches.


What I like most about Bibimbap? Everyone seems to have a slightly different recipe.


Today, I decided to create my version of Bibimbap.

I stopped by the local Japanese grocery store Nijiya and picked up some thinly sliced beef.

I mixed up a marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, green onion, rice wine, sugar and finely chopped ginger.

Marinate the meat for 2 -3 hours.

I put 1/2 cup of brown rice on to simmer with 1 1/4 cups of water and cooked until tender.

Next, I started chopping up the rest of the ingredients.

Red leaf lettuce, zucchini, green cabbage and carrot.

I stir fried the carrot and zucchini in a tiny bit of oil in a hot pan. This only took about 3 minutes as I wanted them as crunchy as possible.

I quickly stir fried the meat in a hot pan. This step is also very quick. Be careful to keep turning the meat and take it off immediately when it finishes cooking.

Then the assembly begins:

A layer of rice -

Then the vegetables are placed around the perimeter. Then pile the meat in the middle.

A generous drizzle of Sriracha sauce on top.

But, of course, I can't leave the dish looking so pretty and pristine.

All mixed up!

I am going to spend the afternoon apartment hunting online - See y'all later!