One of my favorite things is coconut sticky rice. It is a wonderful dish most of the time a dessert from Thailand. However, today I wanted it for lunch.
I am an adult I can do what I want. Hussshhh! So dessert for lunch is what it was today.
I made this in a quicker easier way, not the traditional way it is made in Thailand, or at your local Thai restaurant. This is a quicker, more loose dish, much more like a rice pudding.
This recipe is gluten free, nut free (coconuts are not nuts, technically its a drupe, or stone fruit), and vegan.
This is my simplified quicker version of this dish. There is a more authentic way to make this but this took me 20 to 30 minutes including rice cooking time.
Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango, Kiwi, and Pineapple
yield: 1 serving
time: 20 -30 minutes including cooking time for rice
Ingredients
240 g or about 8 oz Cooked sticky rice
80 g or 1/3 cup coconut milk canned
16 g or 1 tbs of honey
1 whole or 171 g mango
1 whole or 66 g kiwi
117 g or 1 cup of pineapple
pinch of salt to taste
Desiccated coconut for garnish
Directions
Cook rice to instructions
Dice the mango, kiwi, and pineapple.
Mix the rice with coconut milk and honey. Add diced fruit on top, top with desiccated coconut.
Stats for the recipe as written:
Calories 644, Fat 18.4 g, Fiber 8.7 g, Carbs 117.5 g, Sodium 30.7 mg, Protein 8.7 g
For the shrimp its really simple. No I mean really simple and really good.
Cayenne Shrimp
Yeild: 1 serving
Time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
6 Shrimp with tail on
1 tsp olive oil or butter
Sprinkle cayenne (to taste)
Salt to taste
Green onion
Directions
Heat up the pan and add fat for
Cook shrimp about 3 minutes total, 1 minute on one side and flip.
Sprinkle with cayenne, and salt
Serve sprinkle on green onion.
Stats for the recipe
Calories 111, Fat 5.5 g, Fiber 0 g, Carbs 1 g, Sodium 535 mg, protein 13 g
That is all… I hope you get a chance to try it. Perhaps be a little crazy like me and have dessert for lunch. Or just have it for dessert. =) Thank you for reading and have a great day!
I often meal prep just for our lunches. I make our breakfasts and Dinners a la minute. This is a fancy schmancy way of saying, prepared to order, or not made in advance. (Gotta use my fancy degree for something. =) ) I just meal prep our lunches. Lunches are the hardest meals to get in, and I will often just not eat if I am to busy. So here is a lunch I prepped for this week, for me and my husband.
This weeks lunch is gluten free, nut free, but has animal protein and dairy.
If you have never had spaghetti squash before you are in for a treat. The flesh is mild in flavor, but pulls apart in strings, much like spaghetti. I am guessing that is where the name comes from. (said tongue in cheek =) )
Everything in this recipe is roasted. Also people season your food! I get a lot of my friends saying oh I don’t like X, or I don’t like Y. Then I get a hold of them, cook for them, and their tune changes. Why you might ask?… 99% of the time people don’t know how to season their food, and don’t know how to prepare their food. Eat well, eat healthy, and make your pallet happy as well as your body.
Enough talking/writing on to the recipe.
Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Not Pasta (yeild – 6 portions, or 3 meals for two adults)
Ingredients:
10 lbs or two good sized Spaghetti Squash
3 large chicken breasts, cut in half width wise
1 jar of pasta sauce you like, or a can of tomato sauce works as well ( I used pre canned sauce to make my prep a little easier)
Parmesan shredded
3 large sweet potatoes pealed and cut in to coins for roasting
Olive oil for roasting
Salt and Pepper to taste
Seasoning you like for your chicken ( I used the Mrs. Dash original, salt free seasoning we have here in the states. I like salt free cause I can control the salt in my food better that way.)
Directions:
Pre heat oven to 425 degrees F, or 218.33 degrees C
Cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle cut side with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and place them cut side down on a pan prepared with parchment paper. Be sure to oil the skin of the squash so it does not burn in the oven. No need to salt the skin of the squash.
Cut each breast in half, drizzle oil on breasts, add salt and pepper, sprinkle with other seasonings, and place in a oven proof pan.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into coins, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Place each of these in the oven, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
For the chicken I cut one open to see if it is cooked. For the squash I poke it with a fork and see if it is soft and done cooking. For the sweet potatoes I poke with a fork and see if they are soft to the touch.
Portion out and save for the week days and enjoy.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend. Let me know if you tried this and how you liked it.
Ever have one of those days were dinner time just sneaks up on you? Yeah, me too. Today was one of those days. I have had a great day so far, and bam woah its almost dinner time. So I decided to make a chicken salad. But I made it easy on myself.
I bought a rotisserie chicken. I bought pre-washed salad greens mix, and I chopped up some veggies. I made home made croutons, and the salad dressing. But other than that, I just assembled the salad and served. I am lucky… no I trained my kids to eat well early on… lucky is not the right word. From an early age, I asked my kids to try everything, and was ok if they did not like something the first time. I told them that its okay to not like it, but keep trying it, you may find you like it later. My kids will gladly eat a salad for dinner with no complaints what so ever. I find that kids are more willing to eat things that they see you eating. They are naturally curious about things and so will try things as well. This makes making dinner easier on me.
The croutons are easy to make. Just cut up some bread from a bakery that you like. This is a rosemary olive oil bread. I cut into cubes. I then placed on a baking tray drizzled with olive oil sprinkled salt and a little paprika. Then I placed them under the broiler and let them toast, turning them once.
The croutons are optional obviously. However, I thought it would give the salad a good crunch, and give us some carbs we would need.
Recipe: Easy Chicken Salad With a Balsamic Honey dressing
Ingredients:
Mixed greens
Rotisserie chicken
Cherry Tomatoes
Green onions
Cucumbers
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
Bread cut into cubes
Salt
pepper
paprika
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs honey
1 tbs olive oil
Directions:
Cut veggies as you would like to have them in your salad. (e.g. slice the cucumbers, quarter the tomatoes, slice onions, slice mushrooms) place a bed of lettuce on the plate, add the veggies, and then portion out the chicken.
Croutons: cube bread, turn oven on to broil, drizzle bread with olive oil, season with a pinch of salt, and some paprika. Toast on one side a few minutes, then flip bread cubes and toast on the other side.
Dressing: Mix together in a measuring jug, 1 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs of basalmic vinegar, 1 tbs of honey, pinch of salt and cracked pepper to taste. Mix together all ingredients, and drizzle about 1 tbs over salad. 1 tbs of dressing is about 42 oz. = 48 calories, and 3.5 g Fat
Calroies/Stats for this is for one serving of salad:
73 g spring mix greens
42 g sliced cucumbers
32 g cherry tomato
42 g mushrooms
130 g rotisserie chicken
42 oz or 1 tbs of dressing
33 g croutons
Calories 441, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 1.7 g, Carbs 35.2 g, Sodium 998 mg, Protein 37.2 g
Eating well can be easy. I find that people think that to eat well you have to make it complicated. That is just not the case. Sometimes a simple salad is the way to go. If you are a busy mom, and dinner time sneaks up on you. Try making this.
2.5 hours of Bo Staff Training and Muay Thai. I had a late night at work last night, so lets see if I can remember everything we did today. I made a diagram today! I write my blogs up after my training, sometimes right away and some times hours after. The time I write it up depends on what my schedule looks like. So inevitably I forget parts of training, but here is what I remember. The highlights if you will.
Bo Staff Class – Swing from the hip
(note:The numbering system for these strikes sometimes differ depending on your Goru. Each gym may follow a different Goru, but the targets are the same regardless of the numbers. )
For this class we worked on 17 count again. With staves we have to slide our hands along the staff when we change which side we are holding from. But we do not have to change all the time. Just when we are swinging from the hip. When we are striking with a 1 or 2 blow, we just keep our hands where we had them. When we work on 3 or 4 strike you have to slide your hand down the staff and use your hip and foot work to push through your opponent. So I have a lot to work on. I made a diagram of the 17 count strikes, because its helpful to me, and easier to explain with a picture I think.
We worked on controlling the center line with staves. Where we meet the force of a #6 thrusting strike, and move it off center line. Then follow the staff up with ours to complete thrusting strike ourselves, either to abdomen or face. Our instructor wanted us to work on controlling the center line because a person may swing wildly but if you can get in close and control the center line. It is hard to deflect. So learning how to deflect thrusting blows, and also how to give them is a huge tool in our tool box.
Muay Thai striking class – Speed vs Power
So lately I have been working on power in my kicks and knees. But there are different reasons to work on speed. We are told often that when we relax and let the kick happen instead of forcing it. We will kick far harder.
It is hard and counter intuitive to think this way. If you are asked to hit harder, or kick harder, you instinctively try to muscle your way through it. However, in Muay Thai that is just what you have to do. Kicking is not about muscling your way through its about doing the form as perfectly as you can, using physics and momentum with the torque of your full body to lay the kick in.
Today we worked on same side teeps, kicks, punch/elbows, to knees. If you have read some of my other blog posts. I mention the 4 counts. Where you go left to right. Left kick, cross, hook, right kick is just one example. Today we were teeping with right leg, to right kick, to right punch or elbow, to clenching up, then getting the knees in.
We also worked on knees to push the opponent away, to kicks, to punches.
Our object is to get speed and timing in. Less worry about the power, but get the feel and timing in.
It is my understanding and hope, that sometime in the future the speed and power will meet and I will have both. But for now I have to just work on both and hope to keep improving.
Food -choices/lifestyle
We went to late lunch, early dinner after, and I wanted to share something with you that I do often. I know a lot of my friends and family say they cannot eat out, or eat anything fun while dieting. I say dieting is not the way to go. Changing your lifestyle is the way to go. You can eat out if you choose healthy options. Making small good for your health decisions is easier than, saying, I can’t go out and enjoy food and company of friends and family. Soon you will resent your “diet” and may even fall off the wagon.
This picture is the food I ordered at The Cheesecake Factory. This is the dish I got.
CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAP TACOS
Butter Lettuce Leaves Filled with Grilled Chicken and your Choice of:
ASIAN Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Cucumber, Cilantro and Rice Noodles with Spicy Cashew Sauce
450 calories, 140 fat cals, 15 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 1040 mg sodium, 49 g fiber, 3 g total carbs, 32 g sugar, 29 g proteins
This was from the appetizer part of their Skinnylicous menu. This is huge for an appetizer, and perfect for a meal. Most of their regular menu items are 1500 to 2000 calories, and loads of fat and cholesterol. If you are in the U.S.A. just keep an eye out for healthy options, and you will be successful with your goals.
Well that is all, this blog post is long enough. Thank you for reading. Have a great rest of your day.
Looking for a healthy snack or dessert, or if you are me you will eat it for lunch, instead of lunch, cause it is easy and you can just grab it and go. Looking for that chocolate fix. That time when you just want something a little chocolaty, but full of vitamins, fiber and protein. Try this out. Also this is vegetarian, gluten free, and can be vegan if you leave the honey out and replace it with another sweetener.
Chia seeds are amazing…
If you have never had chia seeds before they are an ancient seed, used by the Aztecs and the Mayans. They a jam packed with nutrients, and are simply amazing despite their diminutive size.
“A one-ounce (28 grams) serving of chia seeds contains :
Fiber: 11 grams.
Protein: 4 grams.
Fat: 9 grams (5 of which are omega-3s).
Calcium: 18% of the RDI.
Manganese: 30% of the RDI.
Magnesium: 30% of the RDI.
Phosphorus: 27% of the RDI.
They also contain a decent amount of zinc, vitamin B3 (niacin), potassium, vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B2.”
If you want to read up more about them see the link above. There is a lot to love about these tiny power packed seeds. They are high in fiber, contain omega 3 fatty acids (so if you don’t or won’t eat fish, they are a great alternative source), and plant based protein. I will leave you to read about them if you want. On to the recipe.
Chocolate Chia Pudding yield: two servings
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cup or 6 oz of Almond milk (you can use, soy, coconut, or even dairy if you want)
2 tbs or 1.4 oz of Honey (or to taste, also if vegan, you can use stevia to taste)
2 tsp or 2 cap full of vanilla ( you can use any extract you like, I often change it up, sometimes adding Kirsh just for a cherry flavor, or Calvados)
4 tbs or 2 oz of chia seeds
2 tbs or 0.66 oz of unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder (note: I use a heaping tbs, cause I like chocolate)
Pinch of salt to taste
Fruit that you like. (e.g. Berries, apples, oranges, etc.)
Mini dark chocolate chips for garnish
Recipe:
Mix all the wet ingredients first
Add the dry and stir till all of cocoa powder is incorporated.
Let set for 15 minutes, then stir again.
Cover with lid and let refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This is great to do overnight.
After set, serve with garnish and fruit.
Calories/Stats
Calories 274, Fat 13.1 g, Fiber 14.5 g, Carbs 40.3 g, Sodium 141.9 mg, Protein 6.8 g
I also make a version that is a Chai Chia pudding. Try saying that five times.
You have to add the Chai spices to the mix.
1/2 tsp of cinnamon 1/2 tsp of ground ginger 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom 1/8 tsp of ground cloves
Let me know if you are interested in any of my other versions. Thanks for reading.
Today for lunch, I wanted something light. I had a big breakfast and was not super hungry. So I made Garlic Lemon and Cayenne Blanched Asparagus, with two fried eggs. Spring cannot come soon enough. Asparagus is going to start popping up in the stores. So try this light, vibrant dish out.
This was so satisfying and delicious. It was light, but had enough fat and protein to be fulfilling. If you like the idea of Hollandaise sauce this will be right up your alley. This is a less caloric, and has less fat than Hollandaise sauce. The main reason is that lack of butter. This is so very satisfying in the same way. Taking out the Hollandaise sauce you remove for about 4 ounces or 1/2 cup you take out 140 calories, and 14 grams of fat. The sauce is made by adding pats of butter to wisking/cooking egg yolk and lemon juice. Those majority of those calories and fat come from the butter and the extra yolks for the sauce.
My digression and some background:
I also added finishing salt to the meal with Maldon salt.
” The brand was Maldon—Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. It came from a 135-year-old family-owned salt works on the southeast coast of England. My wife had been buying it for years. “
Maldon salt is a flaky sea salt that is used for finishing your food. When I feel like being super special I will pull out the Maldon. Let me put this into perspective. For the boiling water to blanch the asparagus, I just used regular granulated salt. It will be dissolving in water and does not need to be super special. This salt you put on your food cause you want to taste it. You want to taste the different minerals in it. The minerals in the “fancy” salts are what gives it different flavors.
” Once upon a time, salt was just salt. It was the stuff in shakers and canisters, the gustatory equivalent of the treble dial. You used more, or you used less. Whether it was a little girl with an umbrella, a toss over the left shoulder to ward off bad luck, or a nontaster’s affront to the chef, it was all just salt. “
Make your food interesting and fun, and delicious and it will be such a satisfying part of your life. I digress though back to the recipe.
Recipe: Garlic Lemon and Cayenne Blanched Asparagus (yields 2servings)
Ingredients:
2 bunches of asparagus
1 lemon zested
1/2 lemon juiced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 tsp of olive oil
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper plus a little more for sprinkling on top of eggs
Maldon salt for finishing
Pepper to taste
Granulated salt for blanching water
Directions:
Take a spear of asparagus and holding both ends bend till it breaks. Where it breaks cut the rest around that area. Because that is where the woody part of it basically ends. Blanch the asparagus in salinated/salted boiling water, for about 2 minutes or till just tender but still has a crunch. Remove from water and dunk in ice bath or bowl with cold water to stop the cooking.
In a pan add oil, cayenne, and garlic, heat till garlic starts to brown around edge. Drain and add asparagus to the pan, toss the asparagus in the oil in pan just to coat. Portion out Asparagus onto two plates. Squeeze a little bit of lemon on them. Add lemon zest to asaparagus.
Fry 4 eggs, in the same pan. Take plats and add egg to the asparagus. Garnish with pepper, Maldon salt, lemon zest, and sprinkle of cayenne.
Serve and enjoy immediately
Calories/stats for 1 serving
Calories 350, Fat 29.2 g, Fiber 4.6 g, Carbs 10.5 g, Sodium 802 mg, Protein 18.5 g
This was kid and husband approved. Thanks for reading this far. Have a fantastic week.
I tend to eat more on the vegetarian side of things then the omnivore side. So my go to food will be a plate full of veggies. This could easily be vegan if you take the mozzarella out. This is gluten free if that is something you are trying to keep an eye on.
Today I wanted zucchini and yellow squash noodles, with portabella veggie “meat” balls, some basil and mozzarella balls. So that is what I made. This was so delicious and satisfying. NOM NOM NOM
I do not try to eat gluten free, but I notice my body tends to react better when I don’t eat to much gluten.
Recipe: Veggie Noodles with Portabella Meat Balls
Ingredients:
3 portabella veggie balls
250 g or 1 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash spiral cut
4 oz or 1/2 cup tomato sauce
5 mozzarella balls
1/2 cup or 8 sliced tomatoes
1/4 cup Sliced onions
2 tsp garlic olive oil
Directions:
Spiral cut the zucchini, and yellow squash. Cut the onions and saute them in the pan with 2 tsp of garlic olive oil. Add spiral squash noodles. Cook them just till they start to wilt. Remove the veggie noodles to plate. Add veggie balls to the pan and add sauce. Cook till cooked through. Add tomatoes to the sauce and balls. Place them on the noodles. Add the mozzarella balls, and fresh basil.
I did not add any extra salt cause there is plenty in the sauce and in the mozzarella balls.
As I have said before eat the rainbow. It is a great way to get your vitamins and nutrients in.
I thought about whether to show this, as it is not exactly “instagram pretty”. Its a cross between a hummus and a guacamole. You can add any spices you want to it to season to taste. Some of the things I have done with this is, lemon juice, onions, cayenne, garlic, and jalapenos.
Today what I made was canned garbanzo beans, avocado, tomato, pickle juice in absence of lemon, and chopped dill pickles. I stuffed that into a pita and added fresh veggies, and it was oh so good.
Tastey Guammus Recipe
Ingredients:
1 whole pita
1/2 avocado smashed
1/2 or euro 4 oz cup of garbanzo beans canned smashed
6 cherry tomatoes sliced
1 1/2 tbs or euro 30 mls of pickle juice or more to taste
8 slices of dill pickles chopped up or sweet and spicy pickles would be good too
Veggies of your choice sliced up to stuff in pita ( I did cucumber, and bell pepper, cause that is what I had)
seasoning to taste
Directions:
cut the pita in half
prepare the guammus, in a bowl smash the garbanzo beans and avocado together. I did not have lemon juice so I substituted pickle juice for the acid component.
Chop up the pickles, and tomatoes adding them to the guammus mixture.
stuff guammus into the pita, and add veggies
sit in a sunny area and enjoy your tasty guammus sandwich.
Calories 417, Fat 15.9 g, Fiber 17.9 g, Carbs 60.1 g, Sodium 742 mg, Protein 14.3 g
Just think the colors in your veggies are the sun trapped and transformed to make a nutrient dense lunch for you. =)
Thank you for reading again. I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
Having a hard time finding something healthy and filling to eat? Try this quick lunch sandwich. One of my favorite, I got my husband hooked on them. He even craves them. My kiddos love to eat them as well.
It is as simple as filling the pita bread with a layer of hummus, and any sliced veggies you fancy eating. You can change out the veggies to keep it interesting. I have added calories and nutritional information for this particular sandwich I made. What ever you change will change these numbers of course.
The more color the better. The color indicates different vitamins and minerals that your body needs to run like the well oiled machine it can be. Red and orange fruits and veggies, like bell peppers, oranges, and carrots usually contain vitamin C, vitamin A, retinol, and lycopene. Green and yellow fruits and veggies, like avocado and pistachio, have luteins that help prevent degeneration as you get older, and they are high in vitamin C. Dark greens give you Iron. Green cruciferous veggies such as broccoli contain, iron, vitamin K, folic acid, as well as potassium. Blue and purple fruits and veggies tend to have anthocyanins or antioxidants. Eat the rainbow for your health.
Here are great articles on the colors of fruits and veggies if you want to read more about it.
Who needs take away when you can make beautiful tacos at home? Remember fitness is a way of life, a journey. So learning how to cook well for yourself is very helpful, and you don’t have to rely on take away.
I am a professional chef, and have a Culinary degree, with a specialization in Baking and Pastry.
This is what I make for my family at home. We love taco night and my kiddos love to eat my tacos. Currently my son and daughter are asking for another taco. He ate three already. I would say that is a good sign. These are all whole foods, and things I know where they came from.
The recipe includes the Pico De Gallo, and ground beef mixture. I have noticed that I have readers from all over the world so I will try to add appropriate measurements where I can to help you out. Some may wonder what a Pico De Gallo is, it is similar to a salsa, however, it is not as liquid and sauce like as a salsa. Pico De Gallo is also very fresh and you can add what you like to it.
I set up a taco bar, and let the kiddos decide what they want on their tacos. They both request all of the toppings. I love that my kiddos will eat lots of veg. Starting good habits early will carry them through life. That is the hope at least.
Pico De Gallo Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 onion small dice
2 small tomatoes diced or about 25 heirloom cherry tomatoes
1/2 seeded jalapeno
1/2 lemon juiced or a lime
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs or Euro 1/2 oz of cilantro chopped – (if you don’t like cilantro leave it out)
Directions:
Dice onions, dice tomatoes, small dice the jalapeno, add all ingredients to bowl. Squeeze lemon over your clean fingers to catch the lemon pips. You want to make sure to add lemon or lime as the acid really will brighten the flavors of your Pico.
Ground Meat Recipe
Ingredients:
1 lb or Euro 454 g of ground beef or I also like ground turkey
1/2 onion diced
1 tbs or Euro 1/4 oz ground cumin
1 clove garlic
1 tsp or Euro 1/4 oz paprika
1/2 tsp or Euro 1/8 oz of cayenne pepper or ground chipotle pepper (add more if you like spicier)
1/2 cup or Euro 4 oz Beef stock or Turkey stock or Vegetable stock to taste
1/2 seeded small diced jalapeno
oil enough to coat bottom of pan
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Dice the onion and saute on med/high till soft and caramelized, add meat, while it is cooking add spices on top. Brown the meat and cook till thoroughly done. Drain extra fat from pan, and add stock. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
Tips:
I take corn tortillas and toast them over the open gas flame on my stove.
You can add more ingredients to the meat mixture. Granulated/Ground garlic, Cilantro, and ground coriander.
Thinks with Spinks 