This week I have tried even more to use what is in the cupboards and pantry for meals. Monday while cooking a simple dinner of veggies, chicken, and wild rice, I also took the time to make a pearl barley soup. Super simple, and made for the next day - a big workout day for the both of us. It was actually fairly delicious in its simplicity.
Take 6 cups of beef broth or one container, bring to a boil and add 3/4 cup of pearled barley. Bring this down to a simmer, cover, and let it go for about 45 minutes. Add in half of a diced onion, some carrot rounds, and a few spices. We are partial to cumin and paprika in all that we do, so that was gladly added to the pot. Boil for another fifteen minutes or so till everything is tender. Voila! done. Serve with a piece of toast.
There has also been a little bit of forward movement in my fitness. My weight seems to be somewhere around 165. Hard to tell, but at least it is not around 170. I am also enjoying the mini high I have after working out at the gym three times a week. It helps alleviate some of my stresses from work, and clear my thoughts. Work has been a source of stress and complication for sometime. It is painfully obvious that this place is detrimental to my overall well being and forward progression. I never planned on staying here, but have found myself stuck because there is little to nothing that pays on the same scale. It is not great pay, in fact it is hardly good pay, but this region has a profound lack of jobs that pay between 12-20 an hour. I have kept a weathered eye on the horizon, so to speak, for new job opportunities. In the last year and a half I have applied at nearly 100 different places. Nothing has come of it. Until recently.
I have applied for a position that would not only double my pay, but would give me full benefits and actually challenge me. Open applications ended last Friday, and of last night they have eliminated 6 of the 30 applicants. I am still in the running, and it is nerve wracking to say the least. I tried to speak about myself in a positive light. Touch on the good and wonderful, and unique parts of myself. Only time will tell if I can at least get the interview. Right now that is my goal, get an interview. Till then I am trying to believe in Karma, and only send out positive things into the universe, act positively towards others, and simply keep an upbeat attitude.
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Friday, January 31, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Caloric intake and couscous
So, by best guess using various BMR calculators I use between 1400-1700 calories a day just living. To get to my target weight of 154, that means I have to consume about 1500-1700 calories a day. There is a lot of actual research behind this, but for simplicity sake we will say that I need to eat a sustaining diet, but work out to deplete the reserves. Then my little muscles get bigger and eat the fat. Fairly simple right?
1500 calories as all the intake!? Good lord, has my world just ended? I am a person that is susceptible to that horrible disease that manifests itself as me being 'hangry'. Not familiar with this term? Well, it is what happens when someone is so hungry, they are angry. Symptoms can range from an inability to focus on tasks and be productive, to downright mean and ready to stab people for a bagel. (I am known for being horribly hangry when I tried to go gluten free for 2 weeks) Still don't know what I am talking about? Replace the word 'hangry' with PMS, and perhaps it will make more sense. WOO!
Wednesday I made couscous for dinner, then used some for lunch on Thursday. It left about 2-3 cups left over in the pot. Healthy? Yes. Good base? Yes. Too much? yes. Crap.
So recipes to use all of the left overs before the end of the week.
1/2 cup of Couscous - 1 cup of steamed vegetables - tab of butter - spices
1 cup of Couscous - 1 egg, and 1 egg yolk, spices, some parmesan, sprinkle with flour - mold and fry in cakes
1/2 cup of Couscous - scrambled eggs, sauteed onions/mushrooms, spices,
Today after work we leave on a road trip for the weekend, and that means that eating usually goes out the window. Frustrating, but, as always I am preparing and trying to do my best. I packed some road snacks, mindful that for simplicity sake they are carbohydrate heavy. The pack list for two:
Baggie of home made jerky, and spiced nuts
Baggie of tortilla chips
Baggie of carrots
some cheese and crackers
Blueberry juice for me, v8 fruit juices for him.
1500 calories as all the intake!? Good lord, has my world just ended? I am a person that is susceptible to that horrible disease that manifests itself as me being 'hangry'. Not familiar with this term? Well, it is what happens when someone is so hungry, they are angry. Symptoms can range from an inability to focus on tasks and be productive, to downright mean and ready to stab people for a bagel. (I am known for being horribly hangry when I tried to go gluten free for 2 weeks) Still don't know what I am talking about? Replace the word 'hangry' with PMS, and perhaps it will make more sense. WOO!
Wednesday I made couscous for dinner, then used some for lunch on Thursday. It left about 2-3 cups left over in the pot. Healthy? Yes. Good base? Yes. Too much? yes. Crap.
So recipes to use all of the left overs before the end of the week.
1/2 cup of Couscous - 1 cup of steamed vegetables - tab of butter - spices
1 cup of Couscous - 1 egg, and 1 egg yolk, spices, some parmesan, sprinkle with flour - mold and fry in cakes
1/2 cup of Couscous - scrambled eggs, sauteed onions/mushrooms, spices,
Today after work we leave on a road trip for the weekend, and that means that eating usually goes out the window. Frustrating, but, as always I am preparing and trying to do my best. I packed some road snacks, mindful that for simplicity sake they are carbohydrate heavy. The pack list for two:
Baggie of home made jerky, and spiced nuts
Baggie of tortilla chips
Baggie of carrots
some cheese and crackers
Blueberry juice for me, v8 fruit juices for him.
Thursday, January 09, 2014
Dump dump sprinkle cooking
So, if you saw the previous post you know that food is a big driver for most of our decisions. Last night I tried something new, and reinforced something else that we have been trying. The boy is a good meat and potatoes kind of man. Don't get me wrong, he loves other food, strange foods even, and is willing to try anything once. (including fermented shark when we were in Iceland) The key thing that makes a meal for him tho, is a bit of meat. So guess how that was for me when we first started dating and living together and I am coming from a nearly vegetarian lifestyle. (meaning I had red meat twice a month, and maybe a bit of chicken once a month) There was a part of him that was hoping that I would help expand the more vegetarian side of his palate, and I was.... well... I was in meat heaven.
In no way am I faulting my previous life -or speaking badly about it- it just was what it was. Out of respect for my partner, and simply because it was easier, I generally did not have meat products in the house. So when I moved into the new place, it was a cornucopia of meat; stuff that I had not been eating on a regular basis for a long time. GRRRRR that little ravenous predator inside of me took over and I slapped bacon on everything. :)
It has taken some adjusting, and in the interim I found out that some of my favorite foods to make that are super simple happen to also be of pleasure to my guy. Potato hash for breakfast, one pot noodles with veggies and meat, egg salad sandwiches etc... Generally it isn't a problem; it is food that makes us happy, and is easy to make. Like so many of my generation, I am not a fussy cooker. The thought of spending an hour in the kitchen for a meal that will be devoured in ten minutes bothers me, but I love when other people do it. Ok, I lie, I will gladly spend an hour in the kitchen if we are spending it together, cause lets be honest ladies and gentleman, the quickest way into my pants, is via food. Making it together is sensual and fun, and some of the greatest foreplay out there.
But, I digress. So, over the last few months we have been thinking about not the act of cooking food, but what ingredients we are using. From that it all returned to the 'vegetarian meals' are lacking in our diet. Now, it is easy to cook a vegetarian meal for a vegetarian, it is difficult to do so for someone that expects meat to be in the meal. There are two approaches; 1.trick them into thinking there is meat, 2. make it so tasty and flavorful that they don't realize it is lacking meat. Last nights meal was veggie lasagna and a new recipe for roasted carrots. The lasagna had been made in batches a few weeks ago and frozen. Lasagna has always been one of those things that has hardly worked for me, usually ends up either dry or is swimming in sauce, yuck! This time it worked. I made my own sauce (can of diced tomatoes, maybe two, a can of tomato paste, and seasonings galore. No measurements just dump dump sprinkle. That is honestly the way I cook)
I didn't think that would be enough for our meal, so I wanted to do some roasted carrots. Small problem, all of the recipes I found either had parsnips in them for extra punch, or were sweet. That just wouldn't do with hearty lasagna. So... I made it up on the spot. Here is roughly the recipe that formed on the go.
1. Handful of carrots, peeled and cut to bite size. I cut the carrot into inch or two inch rounds, then quartered them.
2. 3 or 4 onion wedges - take an onion, slice a wedge out of it, shove it in pan
3. head of garlic - well, maybe half a head after all of the trimming away of the bad parts. Whole cloves and half cloves, just shoved amongst the carrots
Take all the ingredients, place in a pyrex dish, coat with spices. I was partial to paprika, a cocoa/citrus mix that I have for roasts, and a touch of garlic salt. Then drizzle like mad with olive oil. Bake that shit till the veggies are tender.
I did it alongside the lasagna, so I guess it takes 30 minutes in a 380 deg oven... maybe it takes less in hotter? I don't know.
The real test came as I plated it up and placed it in front of the dutch boy. As I bit into the first carrot, I literally jumped up, so happy that they worked out. (I already knew the lasagna had as it was the last of the frozen batch) After a bit of joking around and teasing me, even the carnivore agreed and thought they were rather tasty! So hows that for a haphazard vegetarian meal! YAY!
now back to my egg salad sandwich for lunch today.
In no way am I faulting my previous life -or speaking badly about it- it just was what it was. Out of respect for my partner, and simply because it was easier, I generally did not have meat products in the house. So when I moved into the new place, it was a cornucopia of meat; stuff that I had not been eating on a regular basis for a long time. GRRRRR that little ravenous predator inside of me took over and I slapped bacon on everything. :)
It has taken some adjusting, and in the interim I found out that some of my favorite foods to make that are super simple happen to also be of pleasure to my guy. Potato hash for breakfast, one pot noodles with veggies and meat, egg salad sandwiches etc... Generally it isn't a problem; it is food that makes us happy, and is easy to make. Like so many of my generation, I am not a fussy cooker. The thought of spending an hour in the kitchen for a meal that will be devoured in ten minutes bothers me, but I love when other people do it. Ok, I lie, I will gladly spend an hour in the kitchen if we are spending it together, cause lets be honest ladies and gentleman, the quickest way into my pants, is via food. Making it together is sensual and fun, and some of the greatest foreplay out there.
But, I digress. So, over the last few months we have been thinking about not the act of cooking food, but what ingredients we are using. From that it all returned to the 'vegetarian meals' are lacking in our diet. Now, it is easy to cook a vegetarian meal for a vegetarian, it is difficult to do so for someone that expects meat to be in the meal. There are two approaches; 1.trick them into thinking there is meat, 2. make it so tasty and flavorful that they don't realize it is lacking meat. Last nights meal was veggie lasagna and a new recipe for roasted carrots. The lasagna had been made in batches a few weeks ago and frozen. Lasagna has always been one of those things that has hardly worked for me, usually ends up either dry or is swimming in sauce, yuck! This time it worked. I made my own sauce (can of diced tomatoes, maybe two, a can of tomato paste, and seasonings galore. No measurements just dump dump sprinkle. That is honestly the way I cook)
I didn't think that would be enough for our meal, so I wanted to do some roasted carrots. Small problem, all of the recipes I found either had parsnips in them for extra punch, or were sweet. That just wouldn't do with hearty lasagna. So... I made it up on the spot. Here is roughly the recipe that formed on the go.
1. Handful of carrots, peeled and cut to bite size. I cut the carrot into inch or two inch rounds, then quartered them.
2. 3 or 4 onion wedges - take an onion, slice a wedge out of it, shove it in pan
3. head of garlic - well, maybe half a head after all of the trimming away of the bad parts. Whole cloves and half cloves, just shoved amongst the carrots
Take all the ingredients, place in a pyrex dish, coat with spices. I was partial to paprika, a cocoa/citrus mix that I have for roasts, and a touch of garlic salt. Then drizzle like mad with olive oil. Bake that shit till the veggies are tender.
I did it alongside the lasagna, so I guess it takes 30 minutes in a 380 deg oven... maybe it takes less in hotter? I don't know.
The real test came as I plated it up and placed it in front of the dutch boy. As I bit into the first carrot, I literally jumped up, so happy that they worked out. (I already knew the lasagna had as it was the last of the frozen batch) After a bit of joking around and teasing me, even the carnivore agreed and thought they were rather tasty! So hows that for a haphazard vegetarian meal! YAY!
now back to my egg salad sandwich for lunch today.
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