Salmon fried rice and one for the dogs

This morning I groaned when I realized that the kibble bin was empty.

Then I remembered I had leftover rice in the fridge. 

This can only mean one thing - breakfast fried rice for all!

Salmon fried rice.

I chopped up a carrot and some kale and sauteed them till tender in a little olive oil. I set the veggies aside (these veggies went into my dish and the dogs' meal).

I initially took out three salmon patties from the freezer and defrosted them before remembering they had onion in them and the dogs couldn't eat them.

Well, I could give it to the dogs if I wanted them to get a horrible case of anemia but that usually isn't fun for anyone...

I went a little overboard on crisping up the salmon patty.

I set the salmon patty aside and apologized profusely to Abby who was drooling in anticipation of a fish breakfast.

For the dogs' meal I scrambled on whole egg in a little olive oil. The dogs have been obsessing over the local tofu I brought home the other day so I cubed up a handful and tossed that in with the egg.

Then 2/3 of the carrot and kale mixture went into the pan along with some canned peas (drained), 1 cup of cooked brown rice, soy sauce, oyster sauce and a little chicken broth.

This is a large stainless steel dog bowl.

I wanted to give you an idea of the portion sizes I feed if I am cooking a whole meal for the dogs. Abby weighs about 37lbs so she got about 1 cup of food. Connor weighs around 42lbs so he got 1 1/4 cup of food.

A drizzle of golden Udo's oil on top.

For my meal I put some chopped yellow onion and minced garlic in a pan with some olive oil.

I realized I had tomatoes I needed to use up so I gave one a rough chop and tossed that into the pan. 

Then I added 1/4 cup of cooked brown rice, the carrot and kale mixture, chicken broth, soy sauce, peas and the salmon patty chopped into pieces.

It was pretty tasty. What I liked most about it was that I got a hearty amount of protein and healthy fats with this breakfast.

Now I have to figure out what to do with the other salmon patties. I've got a feeling it is going to be a salmon-centric day.

Teriyaki stir fry

Teriyaki stir fry.

For lunch I pulled out my last package of soy noodles.

And again, one of my favorite things about these noodles is that I can eat the entire package and it is only 40 calories.

 

While the noodles were parboiling, I chopped up some kale, a carrot, red bell pepper and some mushrooms.

Then I mixed up some homemade Teriyaki sauce (I modified a recipe I found here).

This dish was amazing! Definitely a recipe to make over and over again.

Note to self: Wait for the bowl to stop steaming before taking a picture.

 

 

 

Right before lunch I did the Stronger & Hotter workout at Bodyrock.tv.

The workout was intense! And I did all the modified versions :-((

The site does a great job of providing thoroughly explained options for beginners.

Since I was unfamiliar with all the moves I made myself a cheat sheet.

And no, I do not have feet that are large blobs and that are the same size as my head. Why do ask??



Teriyaki stir fry with soy noodles

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 package of Tofu Shirataki noodles
1 carrot, sliced thin
4 kale leaves, chopped
3 button mushroom, sliced
1/4 of a red bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp of grape seed oil

Teriyaki sauce:

1 Tbsp of mirin
2 1/2 Tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tsp of rice vinegar
1/8 tsp of sesame oil
2 tsp raw honey (you can substitute sugar)
1 clove of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of of minced ginger
1/8 tsp of chili paste

Instructions:

Chop up the carrot, kale, mushrooms and red bell pepper and set aside.

Cook the soy noodles according to package directions. When cooked, drain the noodles and set aside.

Combine the sauce ingredients (use a microwave safe bowl) and heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds that the honey melts.  Stir the sauce and set it aside.

Put a skillet over medium-high heat and add in the oil. When the oil is hot, add in all of the vegetables and stir continuously until the vegetables are tender but still a bit crisp. Turn the heat down to medium and add in the soy noodles and pour the sauce on top. Stir till everything is well coated in the sauce and let cook another few minutes till everything is heated through.

Plate your delicious teriyaki noodles and top with some sliced green onions.

Enjoy!

Tofu noodle soup

Tofu noodle soup.

Today I was craving a big bowl of noodle soup. But I didn't want a ton of carbohydrates because all I really wanted was protein and vegetables.

Cue the tofu noodles:

I parboiled the noodles (according to package directions) and set them aside.

Next I put 2 cups of vegetable broth in a soup pot to boil and added in one small head of bok choy, one carrot and one green onion (all chopped). 


After everything had boiled for 10 minutes I tossed in the tofu noodles.

Did the tofu noodles taste like noodles? Meh, not so much. They are pretty flavorless. 


But did they make a nice chewy substitute for regular noodles? Most definitely.


And I ate the entire package of tofu noodles which equaled 40 calories, 1g of fat and 2g of protein. Not a bad way to satisfy a craving.

Everyone in the pool dumpling soup

This was one of those thrown together soups that came out incredibly tasty!
I put six cups of water in a sauce pan and set it to boil. Then I added in the following ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
a handful of spinach
broccoli florets
2 Tbsp. of miso paste
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
2 Tbsp. of packaged coleslaw mix
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. of cumin
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast
a pinch of salt
ground black pepper to taste
I let the soup simmer until it was reduced by half then I broke out my favorite dumplings.


Chicken dumplings.



The dumplings made the soup.



Night all!

Sweet and sour pork stir fry for one

Sweet and sour stir fry.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any length of time will not be surprised that this was my breakfast this morning.

I had a moment last night when I was staring at contents of my freezer (which by the way is STILL 3/4 full) it occurred to me that a pork chop would be awesome for breakfast as long as it included sweet and sour sauce.

The pork chop went into a hot skillet, browned on both sides and then 1/2 cup of veggie broth and 1 Tbsp. of soy sauce went into the pan and I cooked it (covered) for another 7 minutes.

I really can't stand any tendon or fat texture in meat (I've been that way since I was a little kid) so I cut off the fatty bits.  I wonder if anyone else does this??

The dogs got to enjoy the parts I cut out :-)

Veggies and meat ready for stir frying.

This dish turned out stunning, incredible, delicious and possibly a life changing meal. I kid you not.

 
When I order sweet and sour dishes in restaurants the sauce is always way to sweet for my tastes. This sauce turned out more tangy than sweet which I loved!

I enjoyed this blissful meal with a big mug of green tea.

Make this meal as soon as possible. You will love it!
  
Sweet and sour pork stir fry

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 pork chop, 1 1/2" thick
1/2 cup of broccoli florets
1 cup of packaged coleslaw mix
2 button mushrooms, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. of soy sauce
1/2 tsp. of grape seed oil

Sweet and sour sauce:
1/2 cup of pineapple chunks with juice
2 Tbsp. of rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. of vegetable broth
1 1/2 Tbsp. of raw honey
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. of ketchup
1 tsp. of corn starch

Instructions:

Put a skillet on medium-high heat and add in the grape seed oil. When the pan is hot, add in the pork chop and cook on each side until nicely browned. Then add in the broth and soy sauce, cover the pan and let cook another 7 minutes or until cooked through.

Let the meat rest for 10 minutes and then cut into medium sized cubes.

While the meat rests, toss all but the cornstarch into a sauce pan over low heat. When the sauce begins to simmer, mix the corn starch with a little bit of water and add this mixture to the sauce. Stir occasionally until the sauce become thick and glossy. Take it off the heat and set it aside.

Wipe out the skillet and put it back on medium-high heat. Add in the oil and when the pan it hot, add in the veggies. Stir constantly until the cabbage has wilted but the broccoli is still bright green. Add back in the pork and add 3/4 of the sauce and stir to combine.

Serve the sweet and sour pork over a bed of rice. Drizzle the rest of the sauce over the top.

Enjoy!

Happiness in a bowl

Mashed yukon gold potatoes with broccoli, carrot, avocado and cooked chicken.

I woke up hungry this morning and knew I wanted a big bowl of something.

Since my cravings for oatmeal are few and far between these days, I decided on a mashed potato bowl.

One yukon gold potato went into the steamer (cut into medium chunks) and when it was tender I took the potatoes out and mashed them with a splash of soymilk and 1 Tbsp. of Tofutti cream cheese. I also added a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then the carrots and broccoli went into the steamer. When they were tender, they joined the potatoes.

 
And because I wanted to add some protein and healthy fat, I tossed in some cooked chicken and avocado.

 
I ate it all mixed up with a extra bit of pepper.

I would definitely call this happiness in a bowl :-)

Happy Saturday everyone!

Kinda Cobb - kinda not

Today I wanted a Cobb salad but I didn't want all of the fat that comes with it so I made my own version.

I chopped up some iceberg lettuce along with some romaine.

Here is a handy tip if you love the thin strips of carrot but you don't have a food processor. After you clean and peel the carrot, just keep peeling. You will have very thin flat strips of carrot that are easy to slice into thin strips.

It wouldn't be Cobb-like if there wasn't some bacon - turkey bacon that is.

The lettuce went into my big salad bowl and then the following was tossed in:

1 cup of cooked chicken
1/2 cup of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp. of chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 Tbsp. of Newman's Own Balsamic vinaigrette
1/4 cup of diced avocado

Happy Friday everyone!

Crunchy and cool stir fry

Crunchy and cool stir fry.

I have a basic stir fry sauce that I always use. The sauce includes:

Miso paste
Mirin
Honey
Sesame seeds
Sesame oil
Garlic powder
Powdered ginger
Soy sauce
Chili paste

Today, I let tofu cubes hang out in some of the marinade for 30 minutes. 

Then I chopped up a carrot and some green beans. This went into a hot pan with a little coconut oil and they seared for a few minutes.

When the veggies are still a bit crunchy, I added in the marinated tofu and let it continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

I plated the stir fry and added some chopped cucumber on top.

It was a great combination of salty and slightly sweet but the cool crunch of the cucumber really put this dish over the top.


This is definitely a repeat dish!

Now I am off to spend some time in the sun!

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!