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Entries Tagged as 'Asian'

Intuitive eating, what?

June 9th, 2010 · 24 Comments · 40 minute meals, Asian, breakfast, fish

I stress ate today, I boredom ate, I ate and ate. And I took no pictures. For some reason I lost that “oomph,” that desire to be intoxicated by healthy living and balance and SANITY. I feel like I’m in a rut and I can’t get out of it. I keep telling myself to “just do it” and then don’t. It’s a problem. I keep going back and forth about doing a self-intervention and laying down some rules (which I kind of have in my head anyways and have been diligently ignoring) and just completely letting go in hopes that just easing up will take care of the issue. I actually feel pretty good about how I ate during the weekend, when I didn’t care about caloric intake, exercising and the like. And then I starting royally blowing it right after that. Any advice?

I did “force” myself to take pictures of my breakfast and dinner today. Lunch was yesterday’s dinner leftovers.

BREAKFAST

2 multi-grain waffles with Maranatha almond butter, fresh local organic strawberries (amazing!!) and strawberry rhubarb jam. Good stuff.

After writing my previous post, I actually did end up making a virgin bloody mary to-go. It was gone too soon. I was dreaming of having another one all day. And I did when I got home. Yes, I’m addicted.

Snacks throughout the day included an orange, a banana bread clif bar, some cookies, cheese, bread with baba ganoush and I feel like there was something else but I really can’t remember.

DINNER

Grilled lemon-soy mahi-mahi with noodles and snap pea-radish salad (based on this recipe from Cooking Light)

This dinner had so many components, I was pretty proud of pulling it together in roughly 40 minutes. It was pretty yummy but nothing extraordinary. I actually think the leftovers will taste better (I doubled the recipe) since the sauce will have time to absorb into the fish, noodles and veggies. The noodles were definitely my favorite part. The mahi-mahi is also a great meaty fish.

Local snow peas and radish

Mmm, noodles. I felt pretty fancy making the carrot ribbons.

No workout today but I do have a pilates session scheduled tomorrow morning (eek, I am NOT a morning person) that I have to attend, otherwise they’ll charge me for it. Hopefully starting the day with exercise will put me in the right healthy mindset. Plus it’s farmers market day. That always makes my day.

See you later, alligators. I’m hoping my next post will be a lot more upbeat.

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Two-day highlights (+a giveaway alert)

June 9th, 2010 · 40 Comments · Asian, Eating Well, beef, breakfast, product reviews, tofu, vegetarian meal

With my last post on dinner at Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn (have you checked it out yet?), I’m going to end NYC recaps. We did have a pretty delicious brunch at Egg before leaving, but I’m going to go out and say that it was not worth the hour+ wait. Maybe they never recovered in my mind after not offering bloody mary’s.

So we are back to semi-regular food journal blogging. After a weekend away, I jumped back on the cooking wagon right away. That’s the best way to ensure that I’m eating nutritious foods. Here are the highlights:

I dug deep into my freezer and found an old box of Holy Donuts, which made an appearance in Monday morning breakfast.

I don’t know what kind this was. It was a bit stale but still filled me up.

I added something new to my green smoothie – sprouts. They made the smoothie taste a bit “healthier” but the almond milk + banana + peanuts still added a good amount of sweetness. Not bad. Not bad.

Lunch was a grilled veggie + Samira’s Homemade jalapeno hummus + Foxboro Cheese fromage blanc wrap. Yummy. No picture.

Dinner was AMAZING! Adam mentioned he was craving Chinese food over the weekend. Before I even had a chance to say: “I’ll make some” he added: I want it to be authentic and greasy. No can do on the greasy part. Sorry. I still made a Chinese dish for our Meatless Monday dinner and it was authentic tasting.

Pineapple tofu stir-fry (recipe from Eating Well can be found here)

The sauce was sticky, sweet, sour and a little spicy (I added chile-garlic sauce). This was seriously perfection. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe.

TUESDAY…

started on the right foot. With brunch! Well actually breakfast since it was 8am but it tasted like brunch.

Grilled eggplant, tomato and bacon egg & cheese

+ a bloody mary (virgin don’t worry, I don’t drink before work )!!!

I picked this McClure’s bloody mary mix up in Brooklyn before we left and I’m so happy I did. This mix is spicy and super pickly (not a word, but you get it, right?) – just how I like ‘em! I actually had another glass after dinner. This time I used about 1/2 mix and 1/2 water and it was a little less “I’m drinking tomatoey pickle water”… even though honestly I totally could. Yes, I am obsessed with everything-pickle. I may just make a quick one right now to take to work.

Conclusion: if you see this mix, buy a case!

LUNCH

Leftover pineapple tofu stir-fry in a wrap + carrots. Yep, still amazing.

DINNER

I picked up some grass fed beef at the farmers market the other day and decided to make Lauren’s beef, potato and root vegetable stew for dinner last night (recipe can be found here).

Yes, I know it’s basically summer but I don’t care. This was made in my crockpot (I just threw everything in after browning the meat) and was delicious. I did add a whole bunch of hot sauce, extra salt and pepper and garlic powder to flavor the broth a bit more. After about 6 hours in the crockpot, the meat was tender and the broth thickened up around the veggies.

Summer or not, I still enjoyed this inside our air-conditioned condo.

In other news: I tried a pecan pie larabar yesterday and thought it was incredible. Have you tried it yet? You should.

Oh and of course I promised a giveaway. This one is mostly to Boston readers. Remember the Healthworks event I attended at Alibi? Remember that crazy awesome swag-bag? One of the things included was a free cut + color from a new hair salon on Newbury Street – Rock Paper Scissors. I’ve tried enough salons to know that I can’t cheat at my girl Amanda at Jerel 119 but maybe you’re up for a free hair-do? Sues and Colleen really loved the experience there and have some pretty awesome cuts to show off.

So here are the giveaway rules:

1) Leave a comment if you are interested in entering the giveaway.

2) For an extra entry, blog or tweet about this giveaway (and come back here and let me know you’ve done so). If you don’t have a blog or a twitter account, tell a friend about this giveaway and after they enter, come back and tell me you’ve referred them here.

I’m going to have this open for a few days. If you win, please take some before and after pics and share them with us. Cool?

The rest of you are welcome to comment on anything else in this post. I think there is some good material here, no?

All right, it’s time for me to make my bloody mary and run to work. Happy hump day!

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Meatless Mondays – I’m on board!

April 27th, 2010 · 39 Comments · Asian, Cooking Light, Ellie Krieger, Meatless Mondays, Uncategorized, breakfast, sandwich, snacks, tofu, vegetarian meal

I finally joined the Meatless Monday movement. I know a lot of you are already on board, but I was hesitant. You see, over the past year I’ve significantly increased the number of vegetarian meals in my diet (and by default – my husband’s). It was driven by a conscious decision to purchase mostly organic poultry and meats as well as grass-fed beef, which of course we can’t afford for every meal. Instead of filling in the rest of the meals with antibiotics filled, inhumanely raised meat, we decided to go meatless more often!

Everyone has their own reasons to “go meatless.” I believe that one can maintain a healthy body on a carnivore diet (with lean meats, omega 3 rich fish and of course portion control and a balance with veggies, fruit and whole grains) but I strongly believe in incorporating more meatless dishes into our weekly repertoire because of the impact this has on the environment.

From the Meatless Monday site… Why Meatless?

REDUCE YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide . . . far more than transportation.[3] And annual worldwide demand for meat continues to grow. Reining in meat consumption once a week can help slow this trend.
MINIMIZE WATER USAGE. The water needs of livestock are tremendous, far above those of vegetables or grains. An estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef.[4] Soy tofu produced in California requires 220 gallons of water per pound.[5]
HELP REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL DEPENDENCE. On average, about 40 calories of fossil fuel energy go into every calorie of feed lot beef in the U.S.[6] Compare this to the 2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy needed to produce one calorie of plant-based protein.[7] Moderating meat consumption is a great way to cut fossil fuel demand.

Every single person can help reduce the demand for meat (especially inhumanely raised meat) by going meatless more often. I knew I was already doing my part (I know I could always do more by becoming a vegetarian but it’s just not realistic for my lifestyle – we can only do our personal best) but committing myself to a Monday seemed limiting. Well, I’m taking on the challenge!! I like that I can plan a whole day of meatless eats (not just a random meal here and there). I think it happens by mistake once in a while but being more conscious about it made it fun. And you know what? I had some kick-ass eats today. Let’s review them!

BREAKFAST

Breakfast pizza + coffee

Ww tortilla, Barney Butter, nonfat yogurt, mango, Kashi golean cereal, shredded coconut + choc chips

So yummy!

MID-MORNING SNACK

LUNCH

Star ingredient #1: Ellie Krieger edamame “hummus” (recipe can be found here)

It was super galicky and very delicious. I used my vitamix so it was super creamy too. Love it!!

Star #2: grill… well a grill pan for now

Whole wheat Tuscan pane with edamame hummus, heirloom grape tomatoes, grilled zucchini and goat cheese – all pressed together

OMG – seriously I couldn’t get over this deliciousness. Goat cheese + grilled veggies is seriously the best combo on earth. Love <3

MID-AFTERNOON/PRE-WORKOUT SNACK

Clif mojo mountain trek mix bar

WORKOUT

I’m still getting over (or into?) a mild cold so an intense cardio workout was just not in the books. I attended a Body Pump-type class and it was tough. I sweated like crazy and loved every minute of it. What else is new?

DINNER

A little snack while prepping dinner: Doctor Kracker “flatbread” with edamame “hummus”

+ a meatless dinner – ma po tofu with steamed broccolini (recipe can be found here)

I used light tofu, omitted the beef and rice and added broccoli to the broccolini to bulk it up. This made 3 good servings with these lighter substitutions.

I LOVED this meal. It was quite spicy (I used 1T of sriracha) and tasted super authentic. I could see myself ordering it at a Chinese restaurant and being a very happy camper. Some brown rice would have been great to soak up some of the sauce but I thought we’ve been eating too much rice lately so that’s why I omitted it this time. I wouldn’t hesitate to make it again… and you shouldn’t either!

A lovely super charge me cookie to end a lovely day of meatless eats