New Year, Same Me

Alrighty…it’s now 2017. Time for “new year, new me” right? Well, with my track record that’ll only last a short time. I’m on a never-ending cycle of motivated action, not seeing the results I want, feeling defeated and giving up, and repeat. Somehow there must be a way to break this cycle.

Taking it one day, one week, one month at a time is probably the best. Evaluate and modify. Try again.

So again for this year my goals include getting healthy and losing weight. This year that means having my knee surgery (it’s just two days away!! *freak out*) and taking the time to recover. As soon as I am able, I will start on a workout routine that I can stick to. What that will be is still to be determined. This month I’m also focusing on increasing my water intake.

Other resolutions for this year include date night once a month, reading at least six books, making a cookbook recipe at least twice a month, learning a new language (check out the Duolingo app), and paying off our car loan ahead of time.

Today I’m feeling unusually motivated and positive. Perhaps it’s the fact that I slept over 8 hours last night (according to my Fitbit…I’m suspicious of that number though). Or perhaps, it’s because the weather is nice out. Who knows? The fact is, if I can hold on to this feeling for a while I can probably be more productive and make some real changes.

Here’s to a new year, same me, but different… 🙂

Put The Lime In The Coconut

Last week I bought a bottle of turmeric. Apparently this spice is magical. It’s anti-inflammatory and supposed to be good for PCOS. I didn’t really read much about it but I have wanted to try something new so I got some. I walked into my kitchen a few days later and didn’t know what to make. All of a sudden I had a craving for coconut and lime and rice. The food of my people? I decided to experiment and made coconut lime chicken and rice. As usual I didn’t really measure but it turned out great. I probably should use half the amount of rice too but I love the stuff. 😊

Ingredients:
2 thinly sliced chicken breast cutlets
Coconut oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Turmeric, tarragon, black pepper, and salt, to taste
1 cup jasmine rice
1-2 cups coconut milk, unsweetened + water
Lime(s)
Cilantro

Coconut lime chicken and rice in the process

1. Season chicken with the turmeric, tarragon, salt and pepper to your liking.
2. Heat some coconut oil in a pan and sautee the onion and garlic. Add the chicken and brown on both sides.
3. I added my rice in as soon as I flipped the chicken. Stir it a few seconds to get it coated in the flavored oil. Add the coconut milk and water for a total of 2 cups of liquid.
4. Add lime zest and lime juice to taste. I also added a bit more turmeric and coconut oil for extra coconut flavor.
5. Bring it all to a boil, cover, then simmer for 15 minutes.
6. When it’s all done, add fresh lime juice if you like, and some cilantro.
7. Scarf down delicious meal before significant other or pets realize what’s happening and attempt to steal it from you. 😆

Photo after the rice was cooked. So much yellow.

Let me know if you try this and how you like it. I’ll be making this again sometime this week. It’s just too good.

Mmmm, Soup!

It’s finally Wednesday! It really feels like this week is going by slowly.

I’ve managed to do at least an hour of walking the past two days and kept moving by doing chores around the house. I managed to lose 1.1 lbs since Sunday!! It’s so exciting. Planning my meals ahead of time, making sure I have healthy snacks with me at work, and that I’m drinking lots of water helps. I forgot to defrost beef for my soup yesterday (ok, maybe I just didn’t feel like it) so I decided to make lentil soup instead. I didn’t take measurements of the spices because I just go by taste but it turned out delicious! I paired it with some avocado, some lime juice, and a little bit of cheese (quitting cheese cold turkey is hard…).

This is probably not the most appetizing photo, but believe me when I say it’s darn good soup!

“I forgot to defrost meat” Lentil Soup:

1-2 Tbsp oil
1/2 onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
5 carrots, sliced
2 zucchinis, sliced
1 lb lentils (I used red and green because that’s what I had)
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
6 c of chicken broth
ground cumin
salt and pepper
ground coriander
cayenne
parsley

Heat your cooking oil of choice and sautée the onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Add the carrots and cook about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and spices and let them all mingle for another few minutes. Add the tomatoes (with the juice) and the chicken broth. Let it come to a boil then add the lentils. Lower the temperature, cover, and cook until your lentils are cooked (depending on the type it can take about 20-35 mins). Enjoy!! 😀

This made about 14 cups of soup. It’s yummy and very filling. Let me know if you try it out and how you like it.

Letter to the Bay Leaf

A leaf of the Bay Laurel Laurus nobilis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few days ago, I cooked a delicious pork shoulder roast in my crock pot. I was making carnitas so my fiance and I could make what I call Fake-potle. It’s our homemade Chipotle burrito bowl. As I was taking the roast out of the slow cooker and preparing the food I was talking to myself and the food! The poor little bay leaves kept getting stuck to the meat so I apologized to it. The fiance ended up thinking it was quite amusing and suggested I post it on the blog for fun. So there you have it. Please enjoy my letter to the bay leaf.

Dear bay leaf,

thank you for your sacrifice. Nobody wants to eat you but we all use you. You give selflessly of your deliciousness and don’t ask for anything in return. You flavor my soups, stews, and roasts and co-mingle with the other spices. I’m sorry I must throw you away after you’ve been used. It’s not you, it’s me. Scratch that. It is you. You’re a leaf and I cannot eat you. Sorry.

With lots of love,
Rosy