Breakfast noodles

Breakfast noodles.

One of my favorite things to have for breakfast is noodles topped with tons of vegetables. 

This morning the bowl contained: one serving of egg noodles cooked al dente, green beans, mushrooms and baby bok choy.

My usual method: I cook the noodles in water till 3/4 done. Then vegetables go into the pot and simmer for about 3 minutes. I drain the noodles and vegetables and put everything back in the pot with a 1/2 cup of chicken broth. 

Then the seasonings come into play. Today I wanted a nice balance between salty and sweet so I added in 1 tsp of Hoisin sauce, 2 tsp of soy sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil.

A sprinkle of scallions and red pepper went on top.

The oil is key to making the noodles glossy and giving them a nice slide so you don't come up with a huge clump when you go to slurp them down.

Today I am going to tackle cleaning out my car which is a scary prospect.

Hopefully it will all be stuff that is easy to toss. The worst part about the de-cluttering is finding a place for the stuff that I want to keep. 

It is always much easier if I can just pitch it.

Happy Friday all!

Basil cashew pesto

Basil cashew pesto over mashed potatoes.

 

I had a craving for pesto the other day. I picked up a big bunch of basil at the store and completely forgot to pick up some pine nuts.

Doh!!

I did find a container of cashews in my cupboard. 

And so basil cashew pesto was born.

It turned out creamy and packed a great basil punch and the cashews added just a hint of sweetness that I loved.

The pesto made another appearance at lunch.

Steamed green beans and sauteed mushrooms.

The mushrooms came out perfectly browned.

And then I smothered everything with pesto!

Basil cashew pesto

Ingredients:

2 large bunches of basil
1 Tbsp of olive oil
1/4 cup of cashews
2 Tbsp of water
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients into a blender, food processor or use an immersion blender and blend until you have a thick paste.

Enjoy!

Fiesta breakfast

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my bold resolution to try and attend most of the flow yoga classes at my YMCA has been a total bust.

I just couldn't get myself to go. Usually this lack of follow through would really bother me. I would be awash in guilt and self-criticism.


But I decided to try a different tact. I sat down and thought about what I really wanted. If you are anything like me, this is a fairly novel concept.


I decided what I really wanted was to NOT go to the yoga classes at the Y. Yes, most of them are just fine and a couple of the teachers are OK. But when I walk into a class I always feel like I am practicing yoga in my high school gym.

Anyone else hate their high school gym? [source]

All in all, it is not the yoga experience I have been craving.


I want to walk into the room and get a feeling like this:

Ahhh, nice and calm. [source]

After all that draining brain work I needed sustenance.

I grilled up one chicken and apple sausage and put a bunch of broccoli and green beans into the steamer.


When the sausage and veggies were done, I tossed them into a skillet with 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, 2 chopped scallions, 2 Tbsp of salsa and 1/2 tsp of taco seasoning.

A great breakfast bowl that was heavy on the veggies, light on the rice and medium on the protein.

I am off to gather up all my yoga clothes and hit the laundry!


Happy Wednesday!

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!

All in a day

Mustard rubbed salmon with brown rice and green beans.

I scrapped the idea of doing the recipe I had planned because the idea of something simmering on the stove for 2 hours was just too much to bear.

Instead I made some salmon. I rubbed the salmon filet with yellow mustard (use dijon if you like that wasabi bite) and then sprinkled it with bread crumbs, paprika and a pinch of salt.

Then it went into a hot skillet, skin side down, for 4 minutes and then I flipped it and cooked it for another 4 minutes.

On the side I added some leftover brown rice and some green beans that steamed while the salmon cooked.

A great lunch that was ready in under 10 minutes. 


Yup, it's all in a day - fast, simple food that doesn't come out of a can or a box.

 

Into the lion's den

OK, I haven't left yet.

I got distracted with emails, a very long walk with the dogs and knocking out some pages.

As usual, I end up being productive in everything and anything BUT the job I had planned to tackle. Sigh.

Since it was already lunch time I decided to eat before heading out.

Veggie pocket with portabello mushrooms and pickled carrot.

I started with mixing chopped carrot with vinegar, sugar, a pinch of salt and some black pepper.

I sliced the portabello mushroom caps into thick slices.

Then green beans and corn went into the steamer for a few minutes.

All the ingredients waiting for assembly:

The dish in the upper left is a mix of 1 tsp. of hoisin sauce and 1 tsp. of chicken broth.

I lined the bottom of the pocket with some baby lettuce and then added in some of the carrot.

Then some of the green beans and corn and the first drizzle of sauce.

Then the mushrooms - 

Finally, a little more carrot and the rest of the sauce.

This sandwich pocket was incredibly messy to eat but it tasted great!

And the best part? I got to munch on all the extra veggies that didn't fit into the pocket.

Now I am really, truly, I am so serious about this, going to head to the store and get my new hard drive :-)

Spice take 2

I was pretty hungry by the time dinner rolled around.

Tomorrow I should throw in a snack in the afternoon if I end up having a light lunch.

First up? Peanut glazed tofu:

Peanut glazed tofu

3 Tbsp. of soy sauce

1 Tbsp. of sesame oil

2 tsp. of peanut butter

1/2 tsp. of chili paste

2 tsp. of grape seed oil

Directions:

Drain tofu and pat dry. Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes.

Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil, peanut butter and chili paste in a  microwave safe bowl. If you have trouble mixing in the peanut butter - place the bowl in the microwave for 15 seconds or so. Roll the cubes in the marinade and place the bowl in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

In a saute pan on medium heat add in the grape seed oil then carefully add in the marinated tofu.
Let cook for 5 - 7 minutes depending on how crispy/browned you like your tofu, then flip and cook another 5 minutes.


Then I brought out the second spice pack.

The recipe on the packet includes chopped onion - but since I was out of onions - I just left it out.

Green beans went into the saute pan and I added in 1/4 of the spice packet.

This spice packet was much better but nothing to cheer about.

The tofu turned out great! The marinade was easy to make and it had a nice amount of heat along with a salty/sweet flavor - one of my favorite combos.


Does anyone have a curry spice blend they really love? - one that doesn't contain cloves?

Chicken cacciatore with eggplant

This is one dish my Mom used to make when I was a kid. I took some liberties and replaced the pasta with eggplant.

Chicken cacciatore with eggplant and green beans.

I started with this beauty:

Then I salted the eggplant slices and let them sit for 30 minutes in a colander in the sink.

After I rinsed the salt off the slices and patted them dry - they went onto a cookie sheet and got a brushed with olive oil.

They cooked under the broiler on Hi until they started to brown - then they got flipped.

Then I rinsed one Rocky's chicken breast.

I cut the chicken into large chunks and browned them in a saute pan.

Usually cacciatore contains tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. I decided to take a shortcut and used this:

I chopped up the eggplant into large chunks and it went into a pan with 1 cup of the pasta sauce (use enough to almost over the chicken). The chicken went into the pan and I cooked everything on medium until the chicken was cooked through.

I wanted some greens so I steamed a handful of green beans.

This was filling and comforting and I didn't miss the pasta a bit.

Night everyone!!

Hiccups and weight loss

So my posts have been intermittent the lately. Why? 

One word. 

Migraines.

Not a bad headache. Not an intense headache. 

A migraine.

Those of you that have them know what I am talking about.


And, for me, the only thing to do is take medicine and essentially be asleep for hours until it goes away.

The food related aspect? I have been craving potassium.

French green beans, potatoes with chives and greek yogurt and turkey.

Why potassium? I have no idea. 


I do have a guess about why I have been having migraines. I have been trying to cut down on caffeine and I have probably been doing it too abruptly.


I had very little caffeine the last few days and then I had a big 'ol cup of joe from the convenience store yesterday which apparently was too much for my delicate blood vessels and BOOM - migraine.


Which is why I am awake at 1:30 am posting - I did one errand today (technically yesterday) and got home and the migraine hit. Then enter medicine - cue sleep - and yeah, I just woke up - at 1:30 am.


But I did get lovely pictures of my lunch even though I was not awake long enough to post them yesterday.

So, sorry for the hiccups in posting - I am off to defrost a croissant for tomorrow's breakfast.


Oh, and another update - my eating approach has resulted in weight loss - 10 pounds to be exact (since January). 


The non diet approach seems to be working :-)