PIG

My friend asked me to document what I consume on a typical day. She thinks eating healthy means only eating green salads. We have salad like, once a month.

I realized how much I graze. I eat breakfast and dinner, but no lunch because I spend the entire time between morning and night eating a bite here and a bite there.

Hey, I don't want to sound all mighty about what we eat. I've totally inhaled a bag of chips before. And I drink tons of artificial sweeteners. I love those Crystal Light packets that dissolve in water and I drink them all damn day.

Breakfast was one slice of this bread and two egg whites with a half a yolk...
A couple hours later I had a couple bites of this amazing Alpha Omega salad...
Maybe like, 8 of these (roasted edamame)...
A bite of Maximus' applesauce...A small handful of these...
A few of these leftover Schezwan beans...
Maximus and I shared a vegan spring roll that has become my new obsession...
I heated up some butternut squash for Maximus and had a couple pieces...
Now, I know dinner looks sort of gross but it was TASTY! It's brown rice, leeks, a bunch of beans, bell peppers, a bit of a rotisserie chicken (I'm totally not above buying those things) and it's all cooked in salsa.
Every night an hour after dinner or so, I eat about an ounce of dark chocolate because I can't live without it.
And a night cap.

Black Bean Paradise

I like black beans, but I'm not in love with them. I'll eat them because I know they're good for me, but I'm never experimenting with them. I usually just open a can and add cumin and salsa and there's an okay side dish.

A couple posts ago I mentioned black bean spaghetti. No, not spaghetti with black beans- actual noodles made from black beans and water. The 20 grams of protein caught my eye. And as I've mentioned, I'm on this kick of "fake" pasta. (Tofu pasta is Jesse's favorite thing on the planet.)

All I did was make the recipe suggestion from the back of the package. Easy peasy. It was served cold and the pasta is off the hook! It doesn't taste like black beans and it's chewy. It could easily stand a bolognese sauce with heavy veggies. Since I threw the packaging out, I, of course, didn't write down the recipe. I think it's tri-colored bells, green onions and the pasta mixed with this dressing...umm...I'm guessing 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp balsamic, salt and pepper and oh! I added wasabi paste to it and it was good. And to a few of the readers I know that are saying, "eww" just quit being dumb try something new. Those frozen Totino's pizzas are as good for you as smoking.
MAXIMUS APPROVED!

Brown Rice Pasta Casserole Thing

Cold days deserve a warm, filling pasta dish. Especially for Jesse because he's out working in the snow!
I had a bunch of vegetables I needed to use up, so I threw them into a casserole. Jesse loved this and so did I. This is something that would be awesome with fake meat. The sauce is awesome! I buy like, 20 jars of it at a time.
Now, brown rice pasta. We love it! It's soft but not mushy and it tastes just like that crap white pasta, but it's good for you!

Once again, I didn't write down what I did, sorry. I know I quartered fresh brussel sprouts, used carrots, a half bag of fresh spinach, yellow onion, garlic and umm...I think that's it. No, I added paprika because I add paprika to everything.
After I cooked everything, I combined it all with the cooked brown rice pasta and the sauce. I spread it into a huge casserole dish and sprinkled a little organic Parmesan to give it a crust. I baked it at 350 until it was warmed and then put it beneath the broiler for a few minutes for the crust effect.
I served it with a green salad and the "Alpha Omega" salad I found at Open Harvest- kamut, cranberries, bell peppers, carrots, red onion, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar.

It was one of those pasta dishes you almost feel guilty for eating because it's so good. It was so tasty.

Look What I Found!

I saw this at Open Harvest today. I was totally intrigued. I picked it up and actually said, "doooode, no way!" My new love- pastas that aren't really pastas. Tonight we're eating gluten free brown rice pasta with dairy free brussel sprout gratin. The ingredients in this black bean pasta are black beans and water. I was like, whaaat? With 187 calories, 16 carbs and a whopping 20.5 grams of protein per serving...what's not to like about it?!

I think I'll make it with chicken, bell peppers and capers. Maybe tuna instead of chicken...yeah, that'll work.

Chocolate Banana Bran Bread

This is the easiest recipe I'll ever post. It's not even a recipe- it's using stuff in a box.

I love chocolate, especially dark. I eat it almost every day. I can eat my weight in chocolate banana bread and I felt like it yesterday, so I quickly whipped this up...
It's just a box of this stuff...
with a couple heaping tablespoons of dark cocoa powder and a handful of dark chocolate chips. I added a smashed banana and instead of using butter or oil (like the box calls for), I used maybe 1/4 cup of applesauce and nonfat organic milk. Jesse ate a piece and said, "that bread is AWESOME." So, there ya go.

Tofu Shirataki Miso Soup

I am now completely obsessed with tofu shirataki noodles. I'll post more recipes as I create them...for like, the 3 people who actually read this blog. I'm thinking I should order some non tofu style from www.miraclenoodle.com

So, here's my recipe for Tofu Shirataki Miso Soup:

1/2 box of stock (chicken or mushroom)
Maybe a cup and a half of water
5 tablespoons of miso paste
About 10 spinach leaves made into chiffonade
About 8 chopped baby carrots
1 package of House Foods Tofu Shirataki Noodles
Handful chopped baby bella mushrooms (or whatever you have- I think oyster would be best)

Put carrots, and mushrooms in pot of water/stock and simmer for 15 minutes. While simmering, drain and rinse the noodles and then microwave for one minute (eliminates the weird smell) and pat dry. I let mine air dry for an additional 10 minutes. I just wanted to show off my pink pop corn maker but then I noticed how disgustingly dirty our toaster is in this picture...

Add the noodles to the simmering veggies and simmer for another 10 minutes (or until veggies are tender). Take some of the cooking water from the pot and dissolve the miso paste (don't boil it! Yuck!). Remove the veggies from the heat and stir in the diluted miso paste.

Warning: don't pig out on the the entire pot like Maximus and I did. I think the noodles expand in your stomach because within 10 minutes, I was feeling like I ate a Thanksgiving dinner. The good thing is that I was stuffed until the next morning.

This is what was in the Crock Pot for dinner- pot roast with brussel sprouts and Klondike potatoes. I'm a carnivore- I love red meat, but we rarely eat it because it's not very good for us. I loved the soup so much I considered throwing the roast out and making another pot of tofu soup. It was that good, dude.