A hearty portion

Today I knew one thing - I wanted to have a meal that would fill me up. 

I have been eating pretty light lately and I really was wanting that feeling of fullness that a hearty meal brings.

This bowl is a bit like chili but also kinda not.

I wanted this chili to pack a punch flavor-wise so I started with some roasted eggplant and sliced, browned mushrooms.

Then I added in a bunch of ingredients into a soup pot (see recipe below) and let it simmer for a couple of hours.

And it turned out incredibly delicious! Check out these beauty shots of my bowl.

Topped with a sprinkle of shredded Gruyere cheese.

This bowl packed a lot of flavor and I did have one big hearty portion which I enjoyed thoroughly:-)

Almost chili stew

Serves 2 hearty portions

Ingredients:

1 14.5 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
1 eggplant, roasted
3 button mushrooms, sliced and browned
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 3/4 cup of vegetable broth
2 Tbsp. of apple juice
1/2 cup of ground turkey (you can easily omit this if you want a vegetarian version)
1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp. of cumin
1/4 tsp. of chili powder
1 Tbsp. of pizza sauce
1/2 can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp. of butter
1/4 tsp. of olive oil

Instructions:
 Slice and roast the eggplant (this is pretty straight forward and there are tons of instructions to be found on the web so I am leaving that part out). Slice and put the mushrooms in a pan on low heat with a little bit of butter (for flavor). Let them cook until they are nicely browned.

Put a soup pot on med-low heat and add in the onions and let them cook till translucent. Add in the garlic and the cumin and chili powder and cook until fragrant.

Then add in the rest of the ingredients and let simmer for 2 hours.

Ladle a hearty portion into a bowl and enjoy!

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!