Thai Chicken Soup

Have you been sitting in the passenger seat of you life lately? I know weird question but one that I found the answer to yesterday when we, took a little trip up to Mt. Hood to do some sledding as a family. You see we didn't go to a sledding hill that has one of those tow rope things, no you have to hike your bottom up to the top of the hill to sled down and then hike back up again. It was no small hill either, sure there were smaller ones but my family didn't want to sled down the small hill, no they wanted to do the "big" hill. My family hiked up and down the hill a few times and I sat and watched as they went up and down, when it occurred to me that this is a pattern in my life, I am always watching other people as they have fun and not participating. I thought to myself, why am I not sledding with my kids and husband? Well, there is that giant hill, there is one reason why I am not sledding. I wasn't sledding for fear that I couldn't get up that giant hill, I was using my weight to determine whether I could or should have fun. I was sitting in the passenger seat allowing this precious moment with my family pass me by. 

Me being a passenger

I made a choice then and there that I was no longer going to be a passenger, I have sat for to long and let life pass me by. I don't want to be the mom that can't be active with her kids any longer. I want my kids to remember a mom who took risks and had fun with them. I got up and started climbing that hill. Guess what, I climbed the hill to the top, the entire hill. I was only intending to climb about half way and sled down but I made it up the entire hill, yep I did. Not once, not twice but probably 5 or 6 times. I could have and would have done more but by the time I finally decided to stop being a passenger, the day was more than half over. Boy was it fun! Please stop being the passenger in your life, take control and don't let the negative thoughts determine what you can and can't do!

Me in the driver's seat!

On to today's recipe, Thai chicken soup! This is a great recipe with loads of flavor and one that you could add in any number of vegetables to make it your own. Yes, I believe it is reset friendly, (you make the choice regarding the curry paste) and one you could also leave out the chicken of and have it as a snack any time you get hungry. 

Thai Chicken Soup

4 ounce boneless skinless chicken breast

3 cups chopped vegetables (I used onion, carrot, broccoli, cabbage, mushrooms)

1 tbsp chopped basil

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tbsp Thai red curry paste

2 cups water

1 zucchini, cut into noodles (optional)

Method

Brown your chicken in a pot with a mist of olive oil or coconut oil

Remove your chicken from the pan and add in your aromatic vegetables. Those would be your onions, carrots, garlic, and ginger.

Add your chicken back into the pan

Add the remaining vegetables, the water and the Thai red curry paste to your pan and stir to combine. 

Simmer until the vegetables have softened.

When the soup is done add in a squirt of lime juice to the soup. Yes, I used a bottled lime juice and I know a real lime would be much better but I didn't have one.

Turn your zucchini into noodles if you so choose. I use the Saladacco to make my zucchini into noodles.

Spoon your soup over your zucchini noodles.

Enjoy!

Remember don't be a passenger today!

Chicken Yakisoba with Zucchini Noodles

I am a huge fan of Chinese/Japanese food. Come to think of it, I pretty much any type of ethnic food, even better, I just love food. Now you know how I got to where I am with my weight. I am learning however that I don't have to give up the foods I love, I just have to modify them to fit my new lifestyle. Yes, lifestyle. I am in it for the long haul.

I had a brilliant idea last night as I was making zucchini noodle spaghetti that I should try to make Yakisoba with these noodles also. My family loves Yakisoba which really is just another name for chow-mein but who cares.  It worked beautifully and I have figured out how I can yet again modify a meal for the whole family to fit my PINK method eating plan. I use the zucchini noodles, the rest of my family eats the Yakisoba noodles that are usually found in the produce section of the grocery store by the won-ton wrappers and tofu. Where do I get the zucchini noodles you ask? You make them with your Saladacco also known as a spiral slicer or cut them by hand either will work.

Chicken Yakisoba with Zucchini Noodles
4 ounces of chicken
3 cups chopped mixed vegetables (use what you like, I used onions, snap peas, carrots, red bell peppers, mushrooms, and a little purple cabbage)
1 medium size zucchini (you will use this to make your noodles so don't chop it up)
1 clove chopped garlic
1 tbsp Bragg's Amino's or Low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Method
Brown your chicken in a saute pan, or pull some cooked chicken out of the refrigerator, I always keep a couple portions ready to go in case of a hunger emergency.

Chop your vegetables into bite size pieces

Saute the vegetables and garlic with the chicken until they soften. I often add a little bit of water to the vegetables to help them cook and then let it evaporate, you don't want a lot of water in the pan.

When the vegetables are soft, turn off the heat and add your  zucchini noodles, your Bragg's or soy sauce and your sesame oil and stir until combined.

If you are making for your family, obviously you would use more chicken and vegetables and then take out your portion, add the zucchini noodles to your portion and the Yakisoba noodles to your family's portion. My family then prefers teriyaki sauce mixed into the whole thing but use what your family likes.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Reset Style

I am back on reset before starting phase 2. I bought myself a little treat after meeting my first mini goal and it has been a life saver on this round of reset. I have used it for lunch and dinner the last two days, I love it that much. Yesterday, I used it to make some spaghetti with meat sauce. Yep, on reset where most carbs are a no no. How you ask? Well let me introduce you to the Saladacco. It is a little slicer that takes your harder vegetables and slices them into thin spaghetti like noodles. Gosh, let me just show you the zucchini noodles I made for dinner last night

Aren't those cute? They are so easy and fun to make. To eat them, I left them raw and topped them with a little of the marinara sauce I posted here. In a nut shell, it is a can of stewed tomatoes, onions, Italian seasoning and garlic. I didn't make the meatballs because I was in a hurry, instead I simply browned some ground turkey and added the marinara sauce to cook for a bit.

Throw your sauce on top of your "noodles" and you are ready to eat, a quick 15 minute dinner for a busy night. I also put a little nutritional yeast on top of the sauce because it has a slightly cheesy taste, kind of like Parmesan. You could saute your "noodles" a bit to soften but I found that the heat from the sauce softened the noodles enough.

I hope you don't feel like I am being a product pusher, I just have really been enjoying the Saladacco and I wanted to share it with you all. I can see it being something I use often and I am excited to try and make some Yakisoba noodles for dinner tomorrow. You could make the noodles using a grater or a knife if you had the patience.

3 Course Valentine's Day Dinner Pt. 2 Soy Ginger Marinated Halibut on a bed of Oriental Slaw

Part 2, the main course. Of course if you are not a fish fan, use chicken breasts instead. You also could use any other fish you like, this is great with salmon or tilapia. On a side note, if you add a little shredded chicken to the slaw instead of the fish, this makes for a great PINK lunch that is reset friendly, if you omit the orange. A little shout out, thank you to my Mother and Father-in-law for sharing their spoils of their fishing trip, the halibut was wonderful and that is a big compliment from me as I am not a huge fish fan.

Soy Ginger Marinated Halibut
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or Bragg's amino acid
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 clove garlic minced
6 tbsp vinegar (rice, white or red, I used white)
2 tsp sesame oil
stevia to taste
1 tsp sesame seeds (totally optional, I should have left out and only put into the dressing)
2 servings of Halibut (mine we about 7 ounces each, of course if you are following PINK only eat 4 ounces)

Method
Put everything except the halibut into a small bowl and mix to combine. Divide the marinade in half, half will be your marinade, half will be your dressing for the slaw.

With the half that is reserved for the marinade, pour it over your halibut, making sure that your fish is coated in the marinade. Cover and put into the refrigerator to marinate for 2 or 3 hours.

Grill either on the BBQ or on your grill pan. If they are thick fillets you may have to finish off the cooking in a 350 degree oven so that your fish doesn't burn. This is what I had to do.

Oriental Slaw
1 small head Napa Cabbage shredded
1/4 head of a small purple cabbage shredded
1 orange peeled and separated
2 carrots shredded
1/4 of small red onion sliced
2 tbsp slivered almonds
reserved marinade/dressing from halibut

Method

Mix all the vegetables and the dressing in a large bowl just before the fish is finished cooking. If you dress the slaw to early the cabbage may begin to wilt, though it is much more hardy than lettuce.

Put about 2 cups of the slaw onto the plate and top with your fish.

Note: I also drizzled about a tsp or so of some prepared bottled oriental dressing over my fish and slaw just for presentation purposes. I used the Trader Joe's brand which has 35 calories for 2 tbsp. I just don't like to use to much because the second ingredient listed is sugar.

Enjoy!

Be sure to check out part 1 Vegetable Stuffed Mushrooms and part 3 Chocolate Panna Cotta

3 Course Valentine's Day Dinner Pt. 1 Stuffed Mushrooms

Valentine's Day is rapidly approaching, are you ready? My kids were invited to have pizza and watch a movie at  a friend's house on Saturday night so I decided my husband and I would celebrate early. I however didn't really want to go out to eat and worry about eating PINK friendly so I made a romantic dinner at home. Plus I think cooking a meal for someone is one of the best gifts you can give, anyone can take you out to dinner or buy a gift but it is something special when you take the time to cook someone a meal, especially one as good as this.

Here is what is on the menu:
Vegetable Stuffed Mushrooms
Soy and Ginger Marinated Halibut on a bed Oriental Slaw
Chocolate Strawberry Panna Cotta

I am going to break up the meal into 3 different posts simply because it would be to long to do it all in one. First up the vegetable stuffed mushrooms, which not only make a great reset friendly appetizer, they would make a great snack or part of a lunch along side a salad.

Vegetable Stuffed Mushrooms
1 lb. of button mushrooms
1 small zucchini
1/2 small red onion
1 or 2 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp original flavor Mrs. Dash

Method

Wash your mushrooms and remove the stems, make sure to hold onto them because we will use them in the stuffing mixture.

I didn't use my mushroom stems, I had several mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used before they went bad so I used those instead, if you don't have those use your stems.

Throw your mushroom stems into a blender or food processor along with your zucchini and red onion.

Using your blender or food processor, chop the vegetables up into small bits, make sure not to go to far and make it a paste but you want pretty small bits.

Add your chopped vegetables into a saute pan which has been misted with olive oil. Add in your minced garlic and balsamic vinegar and cook until the vegetables have softened and most of the vinegar has disappeared.

Take the sauteed vegetable mixture and stuff your mushrooms

Bake the mushrooms at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the mushroom cap has softened, they will probably give off a little liquid.

Enjoy!

Be sure to check out part 2 of your Valentine's Day menu Soy Ginger Marinated Halibut on a bed of Oriental Slaw and part 3 Chocolate Panna Cotta

Shepard's Pie

Let me ask you a question, "Would you like some Shepard's pie?" If you are following the P.I.N.K method your answer should be, "Oh gosh, I would love some but I am trying to change my eating habits and I don't think all the mashed potatoes would fit into my eating plan." To which I would reply, "Oh you can have this Shepard's pie, it is 100% P.I.N.K friendly" Then you would come over and give me big hug because I gave you yet another meal that will become a favorite.

Seriously, you can have Shepard's pie both on reset and while in the primary phases. So how will we make this P.I.N.K friendly? First we will replace the potatoes on the top with mashed cauliflower (have you tried mashed cauliflower? It really is good.) Second, instead of making a gravy out using flour, we are just going to leave it out and let the sauce reduce and thicken slightly on it's own. So you do want to know how to make it? Well continue reading and I'll tell you how.

PINK friendly Shepard's Pie
1 1/2 lb. of meat (use what you like, traditionally it is made with ground beef, I used cubed pork tenderloin)
3 cups mixed vegetables (use what you like, I used onions, carrots, zucchini, red bell pepper)
1 small sweet potato (only use this if you are in one of the primary phases, if you1 are on reset leave it out.)
1 1/2 cup low organic low sodium beef broth (really you should make your own but I didn't have the time)
1 1/2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. of Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning

Mashed Cauliflower
2 cups mashed cauliflower
2 tsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. of Mrs. Dash original blend seasoning

Optional (if you are making an original version for your family)
3 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese


How to make

Start by chopping up all your meat and vegetables including the cauliflower.

Then steam your cauliflower, I used about 1/2 head of cauliflower.
While the cauliflower is steaming, brown your meat.
When the meat is brown add the remaining vegetables to the pot and allow to soften.

Add the low sodium beef stock and the tomato paste to the vegetables and meat, let simmer until the liquid is reduced and thickened slightly.

While the sauce is thickening, puree your cooked cauliflower in a blender with the nutritional yeast and Mrs. Dash. If your cauliflower doesn't blend up completely to a mashed potato consistency, add a little bit of the liquid it steamed in but be careful not to add to much, you aren't making soup.

Take out your portion of meat and vegetables from the main pot, at this point since I am on phase 1 I also added some sweet potato to my mixture as my slow carb. If you are on reset, just leave it out. I removed 2 portions so I could have a serving for tomorrow since Friday in our house is pizza night, my dinner will be made and I will be less likely to cheat if I can just pull it out to eat.

Top them with your cauliflower puree, I also sprinkled a little more nutritional yeast on top of my puree before it went into the oven to bake.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Note: You will have a lot of meat and vegetables left once you remove your portion, this will be what your family will eat. Put what is left in a separate pan and top it with mashed potatoes and shredded cheddar cheese, then bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. This is the more traditional way to make a Shepard's pie and I am sure your family will love it. You also could do half mashed cauliflower and half mashed potato, your family will never know that you have hidden more vegetables in their meal plus it will cut the calories way down. .