February 9, 2015 - rice, potatoes and veggie meat

This week I found out my iron levels were really low which explains a lot of the symtomps I have been having such as shortness of breath, tiredness, etc. I just thought it was from the stress and bad diet. I also learned that shakeology really does work on the lowering cholestoral side as the last time I had taken a test which was pre drinking shakeology my cholestoral was high I was pretty amazed that it is normal now after eating terribly the last few months and putting on those 15 pounds. It has to be shakeology that is one thing I haven't given up I still drink it almost every day. I have also started thyroid medication this week. Its only been a few days but I do feel better already I feel like I have more energy my stomach doesn't hurt. Hopefully things will continue to get better I have to get mind set back into doing T25 I am still working on getting my body to agree to what my mind tells it should do. This week i bought a rice cooker it was $10 and my mom cooks everything in the rice cooker, boiled eggs, pasta, lentils so I thought it was worth a try. My parents grew up in africa and this is a traditional dish from there that has rice, meat, potatoes and spices. It is usually dry they call it uckney (not sure how to spell it) and I usually just call it uckney it was never one of my favorite dishes dry rice isn't for me but with my own spin on it, its very good.

Vegetarian uckney

1 tsbp olive oil
1 small onion diced
2 medium potatoes small diced (I used organic german butter potatoes)
a piece of ginger sliced
spices (I use bollywood spice) and pepper
1 cup rice
2 cups water
half a bag of veggie tips
some pasta sauce (optional) - I was using up an opened jar
it's not bacon (optional)

Heat the rice cooker to warm because it won't let you put it on cook and add the onion to it. Let that saute while you dice the potatoe and slice the ginger. When you are ready add to the pot and flip to cook. Stir occasionally until the veggies are 80% cooked. Add rice to the pot and 1.5 cups water, and pasta sauce if using. Stir and cover. Stir pot occassionally while cooking. If you notice it getting dry or sticking to the bottom add more water. I had to add more water until the potatoes were cooked. While its cooking cook veggie meat according to package direction mine just saute in a pan for a few minutes.
When potatoes and rice are cooked add the veggie tips and enjoy.

February 2, 2015 - Paneer Dishes

I weighed myself today ahhhh I have put on almost 15 pounds in the last few months. I knew my pants were getting tighter and my belly bigger its really all in the belly but I really didn't know it was that much. I have been cooking a little more but still not the greatest and I have done a 10 minute workout a few times during the week still nowhere near my goal of really getting right back into a program and doing a workout everyday. I really need to focus more on eating right, exercising, and getting more sleep. Sleep and stress are the biggest contributing factors to my weight gain right now I know getting more exercise and scheduling my sleep would really help.
Paneer (its a type of cheese it is used a lot in indian cooking because its high protein it is also as with all cheese high in fat for vegan versions use tofu. It was on sale so I bought a block.
The first dish I used half a block and got 3 servings out of it the left overs I will get into a story of that later
Paneer with mushrooms and onions
saute half an onion in a pan
add mushrooms
add some spices (I use bollywood spice mix)
add fresh ginger (1 tbsp sliced) and garlic (2 cloves sliced)
remove the vegetables from the pan
Mix 2 tbsps of chickpea flour  and spices (salt, pepper, chili) with water in a bowl
coat the paneer with the flour mixture
place in the hot pan and cook until coating is crispy
I had leftover flour mixture so I tried to make a pancake out of it it was okay but not that good

I kept seeing these cauliflower buffalo wings recipe for super bowl sunday they looked really good. I had bought a too large cauliflower a while ago and already had the cut up cauliflower in my freezer. I also went to an expo a few weeks ago and bought gluten free flour I don't really know why as I don't really make anything so thought I might as well try using it here. The recipe said to mix the flour and water together. Coat the cauliflower and bake for 20 minutes. (note it did say any flour will work even gluten free but the idea was to use fresh cauliflower and I think regular flour is better)

 I got to this point tried one and it was disgusting. I had already made the hot sauce mixture pour hot sauce in a bowl and a little bit of oil and mix I added a little honey. Then you are supposed to base it for  another 5 mins. At this point I wasn't going to be eating this. I will try this again one day with regular flour and fresh cauliflower I think it will be really good. Then I decided to use the same recipe with my remaining paneer and chickpea flour.

I didn't get a pic with the hot sauce on it but I liked the coated paneer. I actually have never tried buffalo wings in my life my friend who is the complete opposite of me loves them which likely means I wouldn't like them. The hot sauce on the paneer was okay but not the greatest. I will use this cooking method for pakoras in the future though maybe a little chutney on the side will work. 

january 25, 2015 vegetarian meat and potatoes

Well this week I did manage to do at least a ten minute workout up until friday I either did 10 minute trainor or rockin' body (a little longer more fun). The weekend my workout was more in day to day things cleaning my parents place which includes a lot of going up and down stairs and lifting boxes today was a walk for groceries but I may still do a workout. I really haven't time to make any real meals but I have been craving perogies for a awhile I made this for breakfast/lunch today (so heavy I only had dinner after) today be prepared there are a lot of processed ingredients in it its not my usual from scratch recipes Sometimes you need some help.

Vegetarian - Meat and Potatoes (frozen perogies and vegetarian meat balls are used in this dish)

Ingredients
half a vidalia onion
olive oil
4 perogies
4 small vegetarian meatballs (I used president's choice)
1 tsp it's not bacon (made from cocounut)
1 tsp dill cream cheese

heat pan while slicing onions
add 1 tsp olive oil to pan leave on med heat
Caramlize onions stir occassionaly until onions look brown
meanwhile place 4 perogies in microwave for 1 min and 30 sec the texture is better
when onions are cooked and the perogies until crispy
cook meatballs according to package directions (1 min in the micowave for mine)
Place onions, perogies, and meatballs on a plate
add cream cheese and I can't believe its not bacon

January 17, 2014 - Roasted Chickpea Humous

Today I rediscovered the 10 minute trainor program I totally forgot I had this program. I did 10 minute cardio and it was a great workout today. I think I can actually motivate myself to commit to doing one 10 minute workout a day. I didn't get any other workouts in this week and my eating was okay not great I did make a few more of my lunches and ate at home more than in the last month but still ate out quite a bit. Today the cooking was done by relatives so I haven't made anything. Here is last week's humous recipe.

Roasted Chickpea Humous

See last week's recipe for Roasted chickpeas
I only had half a cup remaining so they went in the magic bullet
1 tsbp of tahini (this is sitting in my fridge - its sesame paste)
a handful of cilantro
I wish i had a lemon but I didn't add a little bit of water to cut down on the amount of oil needed
no seasoning as the roasted chickpeas are already seasoned
olive oil enough to make it creamy - my boss gave me some really expensive greek olive oil for christmas so I used this. Try and use a high quality olive oil for raw dishes as it really changes the flavour of a dish use the cheap stuff for cooking I used a little less while i was blending and added some on the top after it was done.
In the end with the cilantro it looked like a dip to me I was thinking of adding some avacado and making it a dip but the avocado I had wasn't ripe.

January 11, 2015 - Yam and chickpea patties - great for meatless monday

I have to admit I didn't get a single workout in this week and although I have been eating slightly better this week than the past month there is major room for improvement but let me tackle one thing at a time. My commitment for this month is to get one blog post out a week that means I need to make something at least once a week I am still as busy as before so al the recipes will be fast and things i want to eat. My hope is to start cooking more to save both on budget and calories. Today I went grocery shopping and found a lot of things that I wanted were not available I think this is what happens when you go shopping on a sunday evening but this is the only time I had. I didn't end up with the ingredients i wanted so this is a what I can get recipe. I saw some organic yams (or sweet potato) they are really the same thing aren't they? I think these are yams and some really fresh organic cilantro and cilantro and chickpeas go well together. I knew I wanted to make something that would motivate me to eat my lunch tomorrow instead of eating out. I couldn't find tortillas I usually make wraps for lunch however I got some really good sourdough bread. So I decided to make a yam and chickpea patty that could go in the sandwich. I peeled and boiled the yams first. Then I just wanted to throw everything together in the magic bullet but I figured it was too small so did the yams first. Then the chickpea, spice and cilantro. I forgot the onion and I was thinking about adding some chickpea flour but didn't I knew I would be putting it in a sandwich so I didn't need a binder but if I was more likely to eat it as a patty then I would have added a binder maybe some chickpea flour or an egg. Here's the result and recipe

This makes 4 patties
Peel and Boil 2 small yams let cool
cut into pieces

Mash my preferred method is the magic bullet
Empty magic bullet into container
Add half a can of chickpeas, a handful of fresh cilantro and spices (I used bollywood spice, salt, and pepper) and olive oil (this can be omitted) to magic bullet
Empty on top of yams

At this point I was thinking of just baking this off and calling it vegan shepards pie but maybe next time
Mix ingredients together
Wet hands and shape into patties with hands its easy just roll into a ball shape and flatten

I wasn't worried about the size but for those that do you can place the right amount into a mug then flatten with the bottom of the mug that's too much work for me.
These will be pan fried place some oil in the pan and when the oil is hot
put the patties on the pan I find the flat pans work the best with patties it gets the heat to them quicker

I love how the yams caramelize wish I didn't forget the onions they

caramelize too flip after a few minutes when the first side is browned
This recipe if using preboiled yams takes about 10 minutes to make
And for a bonus I really want to make homous but I don't like using non heated canned chickpeas
so I roasted the chickpeas they make a good snack too
dry washed chickpeas place on baking sheet add spices to taste and some olive oil
bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes until crisp. I didn't bake mine all the way as I will be making roasted chickpea humous tomorrow maybe only 20 minutes this is before they go in the oven.

Humous recipe will come. 

Its 2015! January 4 to be exact the week of chickpea flour recipes

I have missed you guys. Here's what happened my dad was diagnosed with a critical illness in mid November within a week of diagnoses he was in the hospital and stayed there for 3 weeks with the swings being completely up and down. I cancelled the vacation that I was preparing to get fat on  but coming back to work it off. With all the running around, the stress, the emotions, never being home as most of my time outside of work was spent helping my mom I managed to stop working out and cooking. I put on around 15+ pounds in the one month. I actually did not eat that poorly well okay there was a lot of sugar in my diet I didn't exercise except walking because I can't go without doing that and the main thing was I didn't get enough sleep my job this year prepared me to function with little sleep but its very harsh on the body . Things are still pretty much the same my stomach was really hurting except that things haven't been swinging as much with my dad and I did get a two days of relaxation in during the holidays. My hope is that instead of not sleeping I will be able to bring myself back into a T25 routine for now that is too much for me and all I can bring myself to do is 10 minute abs from rockin' body I love Shaun T (have you seen the cover of men's health this month?). I know if I can just get into putting the dvd's in I will be able to do them the problem is you have to be home with energy this has been a problem.  I am starting to eat healthier and hopefully I will work myself up to being able to do those workouts again. I really think 2015 is going to be a better year. My spending has been a bit high lately and I want to reduce the amount of eating out. So here is my lunch for tomorrow. I will be putting this in a whole wheat tortilla and adding some salad. I am now finding that the salads that are in the deli at the grocery stores are the best ones for me as they already have the vegetables cut up so my veggies don't go bad. The one I currently have has lettuce, cucumber, grape tomato, and red and yellow peppers.
A big bag of chickpea flour was on sale for $3.99 so a lot of my recipes now will include it i find its so easy to use.

Yesterday I spent the day at my parents house and for dinner just wanted to eat something with my tea. Pakoras and chai is one of my favorite snacks at restaurants but I don't deep fry so pan fried fritters it is. Europe's best frozen spinach was on sale. I took two cubes out of the bag and put them in a bowl in the microwave for 1 and half minutes to defrost while I diced half an onion. It went in the spinach bowl with a cup of chickpea flour, a tablespoon of greek yogurt, a little bit of a red pepper pasta sauce (the jar is open and needs to be used up), added some water and mixed it up.
I put some olive oil probably 3 tablespoons in a pan and spooned out the mixture made about 5 fritters. I totally forgot the spices but it tasted really good without. I was very happy with the finished product I could only eat 3 of them but had two today and was still really good.

And for Tomorrow's lunch really the same idea but more of a chickpea flour omelette

Recipe

Put two cubes of frozen spinach in a bowl and microwave to defrost

Add half a chopped onion, a quarter diced bell pepper, and 1 TBSP plain greek yogurt

Add 3/4 cup chickpea flour

Add seasonings - I used bollywood spice, salt, pepper, and a few cilantro leaves

Mix the ingredients in the bowl while adding water until you get a consistency that is the consitancy of brownie batter

Spread batter on pan that is hot and well oiled

You can cook this like a pancake or an omellette

Either go around the edges and move all the liquid to the center or just let the batter cook and flip once there are airbublles forming. It does not take long to cook a few minutes on each side

Mine has been folded in half just like an omelette (looks like one doesn't it)

I can't wait until lunch tomorrow. 

Vegans: replace the yogurt with a tbsp of lemon juice and you will have a really awesome vegan lunch

October 13, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving. I know I have a lot of catching up to do and there are many soup recipes that needst o be shared with you but since its Thanksgiving today I attempted to make a thanksgiving soup. It looks good but the taste not so good I am going to try adding some cream to it later and see what kind of difference that makes. Otherwise sometimes experiments don't work but in the spirit of sharing here is the recipe. I actually think it might be the stock that I don't like the taste off mixing with the cranberries. I would try this again using orange juice instead of stock. Update was very good with some whipped cream added to it.

Thanksgiving vegan soup.

1 onion roughly chopped
1 apple roughly chopped
1 cup cranberries
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 bag of butternut squash
spices of your choice I used curry powder, and herbs.

put everything in the soup maker and wait 26 minutes and you end up with.

Now for a recipe that isn't all that healthy but will give you an idea of a good portion size if you decide to take a day off and treat yourself like I do.
Breakfast Pizza

half a mini pizza crust
olive oil
1 egg
1 tsp cream cheese
1/2 avocado
1 ounce cheese in this case I used Daiya jack

Please pizza crust in oven until warmed. Place olive oil in pan and fry /scramble egg add turn of heat and add cheese mix until melted. Spread cream cheese over the pizza crust. Top with egg mixture. Slice avocado and fan over egg. Enjoy
Happy Thanksgiving I am grateful for my readers.