Day 4: Veggie burritos

  Day 4 was, without a doubt, the best so far for me. I'm not thinking about coffee quite so much, plus, I enjoyed some pretty good meals. Last night's dinner was veggie burritos. Even though we don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I decided to go with that theme anyway for dinner. In lieu of a margarita, I have my ice cold water with lime slices.

 

The burritos were pretty easy to make (whole wheat tortillas are allowed on the fast). I first made my salsa, which was really more like a pico de gallo. I chopped up a couple of tomatoes, added some diced white onion, cilantro, fresh jalapeno, kosher salt and squeezed the juice of one lime over the whole thing and let it sit while I chopped and cooked up the rest.



This photo shows only half of what was cooked.



For the burrito filling, I chopped up a peeled sweet potato and used a trick I learned from another recipe to cook it. I put the potatoes and a little water in a microwave-safe bowl, covered it in saran wrap and microwaved it for about 5 minutes. That makes it soft enough to sautee, but not mushy. While that was microwaving, I started the rest on the stove top.I put a little olive oil in a pan and let that heat up before adding chopped garlic, 2 chopped bell peppers (all I had was orange and yellow, which did nothing for the color but added to the "sweet" taste), and half of a large white onion. I seasoned it with salt, pepper and ancho chili powder (all I had on hand).

 

Once the potatoes finished cooking, I added them, plus the water, to the pan and added a bit more salt because I'd forgotten to salt the water. After about 2 minutes, I added a can of black beans, which I'd drained, and about two cups of chopped baby spinach. I added about a pinch of salt and some cumin; not sure how much, I'm pretty liberal with it. All in all,  a pretty satisfying meal. I was stuffed!

 

Ingredients:

Salsa:

1/2 chopped onion

2 tomatoes

cilantro

lime

1 jalapeno (I only used half, feel free to use the whole thing. Take out the seeds for less heat.)

Kosher salt

 

Burrito filling:

1 medium sweet potato

1/2 onion

2 bell peppers (any color)

2 cups of baby spinach, chopped

1 cup black beans, drained

Kosher salt (to taste)

Black pepper (to taste)

About a tbsp Ancho chili powder

Tbsp of cumin



The finished product



Day 3: bean curry and brown rice

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Siggghhh ..... that's the sound of a satisfying and filling meal at the end of a day pretty much marked by hunger. Don't get me wrong, my fruit and nut salad, was pretty good, and my stuffed peppers hit the spot at lunch, but despite all my planning, I've yet to feel full while on this fast. Until now.

This recipe came from the Daniel Fast site, and we had big bowls of it for dinner (my husband had some for lunch). One thing I would do differently is to spice it up a bit more. But it's full of beans -- lentils, garbanzo and kidney. I actually used cannellini beans (white kidney beans) because I was out of the regular kind. And I still have enough lentils leftover to throw into another curry or make soup with. This also turned out a bit "tomatoey" for me, so I'd probably add a bit of veggie stock. One tip though: All vegetable stocks aren't made only of vegetables! I had to look through all the brands before I found two that did not contain sugar! The one I got, Kitchen Basics, was $2.50 or so, and the other kind was an organic brand that cost nearly $5. It's amazing what has sugar in it. This fast is really opening my eyes to how many chemicals we put into our bodies without even knowing it.

Later on tonight, I'll cut up the rest of the veggies for tomorrow night's stir-fry and figure out what to cook for breakfast, which is so far, the most difficult part of this fast so far! But for now, I will relish not hearing my stomach growl; for a while, anyway.

Daniel fast Day 2: stuffed peppers

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As part of our church's fitness ministry, we are embarking on a weeklong Daniel Fast. I've been waiting in anticipation for the fast so I could test out some new vegetarian recipes that Jamil wouldn't ordinarily eat. For those unfamiliar with the Daniel Fast, it is a spiritual-based partial fast, which limits you to a vegan diet with a few more restrictions; the only beverage you can drink is water, no bread that contains yeast or other leavening agents and no sweeteners. So Sunday, I made my menus, my shopping lists and I filled my cart with fast-friendly stuff.

I think we can call Monday a success. I made this delicious sweet potato chili with tortilla chips on the side. The chips weren't so good, but the chili was great, which is why I have no photo -- it was all gone before I could take one! The hubby took it to the church to share, and although he said they were a bit apprehensive at first, they enjoyed it.

For the peppers, pictured above, I loosely followed this recipe, swapping veggie broth for chicken, leaving out the cheese and forgoing the basil sauce because of the creme fraich it calls for, though I think with some practice, I can do it with tofu. I failed at my attempt to make a flat bread; I ate it, but DH called it "horrible." I will try again tonight though.

Yesterday was a bit tough; I think that having a pretty filling breakfast is going to be key on this thing. The first day, we had oatmeal, which held me pretty well, along with my snacks. But yesterday's smoothie was nothing. I was starving by the time I hit my chair at work. This morning, I had some of the huge fruit salad I made Sunday (kiwi, strawberries, bananas, pineapple) and added some pecans.

One thing I have learned so far is that preparation is key; as easy as it is so say I will "pray about it" when hunger pangs hit, I think that God gave us the good sense to plan ahead. When I knew I would be out to eat Monday, i visited the restaurant's website to pick out some suitable choices before I even got there. And I took some juicy grapes and my bottle of water to last night's sorority meeting to stave off the temptation of meatballs and chicken nuggets.

Anyway, I will definitely make sure I "get in the scripture" before this weekend; I'm not sure how the Daniel Fast will mix with our family trip to Myrtle Beach this weekend!

Weeknight cooking: Barramundi!

Yes, it's on a paper plate. Sue me. I don't want to wash dishes!

I have a confession to make. I haven't really cooked all week. With my and the hubby's schedules, it's been tough to get into the kitchen. Wednesday, I threw some burgers on the grill, but I hate to even claim that much, since in my haste, I accidentally seasoned them with a rosemary garlic blend instead of pepper (not a bad mix, but not great either). 

So tonight, after buying cart full of meat and fish yesterday in preparation for a possible government shutdown, I (and my pocketbook) decided I'd better cook tonight. But I also knew that I had a limited amount of time to get a meal on the table before the hubbs had to head off yet again for a church lock-in. 

So I figured that my motto for the evening would be KISS -- keep it simple stupid. I decided to cook Barramundi, a fish I just heard about last week and for which a commissary coupon was offered, and the fresh green beans I'd bought last week before they went bad.

When I say I went simple, I mean simple! I chopped some fresh garlic and threw it in a hot pan with some melted butter. In went the fish, which I'd only seasoned with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Once cooked (took about 5 -7 minutes), I took it off, squeezed a lemon over it, then wiped down the pan and put in a little olive oil. More garlic, then I added the green beans, which I'd blanched (boiled for a short while, then immersed in an ice water bath). I'd boiled the beans in salted water, so I only added a bit of pepper and a splash of soy sauce.

I had two problems with this dish. 1) s I used a too-small pan, which meant that all my fish didn't get cooked evenly and I ended up with an undercooked piece that had to be fixed later.  2) I was also Facebooking, so I let the green beans boil longer than I would have liked, so I didn't get that bright green color and slight crunch I wanted. But DH said they were good. In the future, I'd also toast some pine nuts to toss the green beans with.

All in all, I think it was  a pretty good meal, and it took about 20-30 minutes, including chopping the garlic and thawing the fish. If I'd cooked sauteed the beans in a different pan while I cooked the fish, it could have been done even quicker. But I didn't want to dirty another dish. 

So if you have some fish and veggies you need to get rid of, this is a quick and easy recipe that took fewer than 10 ingredients (fish, green beans, garlic, salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, lemon), most of which are probably already in the pantry.

Hello Spring!

I'm not really an "outside" person. I prefer to sit in the house, pretending as though today is the day I will clean the house, write something, teach Cam how to speak Mandarin Chinese. Usually, I end up doing something like watching back-to-back episodes of Mad Men, taking a nap and watching some of my fav cooking shows (although yesterday, I did  teach Cam where he nose is).

But yesterday, in the spirit of the warm weather, I decided to turn on the grill and cook up a barbecue-style meal.

Instead of making something up, I took out my Get 'em Girls Cookbook (guide to the perfect get-together, their second book) and got to flippin.'  I have to point out first, that in my eyes, the Get 'em girls can do no wrong. You know how sometimes, you follow a recipe to the "t" and it comes out totally unseasoned or undercooked? NEVER happens with this book. Or at least it hasn't happened so far.

Anyway, I decided to make the pulled chicken sandwiches w/ easy creamy coleslaw. I also made something they called gold rush, a delicious cocktail made with lemonade, sweet tea, peach schnapps and coconut rum. Think peach Firefly w/ a hint of coconut. For non-drinkers, just try mixing the lemonade and sweet tea. Delicious!

Anyway, here's the recipe for the sandwiches. I threw the buns on the grill and topped my chicken with the slaw and a slice of pickle. I also had a HUGE bottle of BBQ, so I didn't make my own. Seriously, the work put into this is minimal. This is the type of meal you can cook for a group while you're outside playing cards or dominoes because you're not trapped in the kitchen. If you want the other recipes buy the cookbook -- or both. It's worth it!

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp Get'em girl essential BBQ rub (too much to print here, but use your fav rub)
1 c. BBQ sauce (there's an easy sauce recipe in the book, too.)
cole slaw
sandwich rolls (lightly toasted)
dill pickle chips

I started up the grill (you can also do this with a grill pan) and while it was heating, rinsed the chicken under cold running water. Put it in a large bowl and pour the lemon juice over the chicken. Let sit for one minute. Rinse under cold water and pat dry. Rub the chicken with BBQ rub and grill for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes before shredding with two forks. Stir the chicken into the BBQ sauce in a large skillet. Cook until heated through. Serve and enjoy!

Spice up your life!

I don't have the time, nor the inclination, to write a long, drawn out post about what my blog is/will be about, etc. etc. So for now, here is one of my recipe trials.

I found this one in my new favorite magazine besides Essence. And Glamour. And um, yeah, this one comes in after that. Anyway, it's Food Network Magazine. There are like 100 recipes in each issue and there is no way to try to them all, so I feel like I'm wasting my money. But when I get a recipe like this one -- which is really more than 11,000 recipes when you mix and match -- it seems worth it. This month's issue cover photo is a shrimp stir-fry. Last week, I made beef and broccoli, which turned out so-so. Today, I made spicy pork w/ celery, spinach and grape tomatoes served over spaghetti (all I had. I've banned myself from spending money on groceries until next week).

One caveat: I was rushing to do it all this morning (chop up meat, veggies, whisk sauce together and marinate meat) and skipped a step. Namely, instead of marinating the meat in the marinade, I marinated it in the sauce. I actually think this made for more flavorful meat, which was the downfall in my first try at the magazine's stir-fry recipe. Plus, I wasn't too sure how my baby arugula would play out, so I opted for frozen spinach instead. And there was no method as to why I didn't use the whole pack of spinach -- I just needed to save something non-spicy for baby boy's dinner.

Anyway, here it is. And yes -- it really is as delicious as it looks!

1 pound boneless pork chop, sliced into strips
1/2 package frozen spinach, thawed (chopped)
1/2 pack of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 scallions, chopped

For the sauce/marinade: Mix 3/4 c. chicken broth, 1 tbsp each soy sauce, dry sherry, 1/2 tsp. sesame oil, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tsp. asian chili sauce (I used garlic chili sauce) . Make two separate bowls of this. Marinate the meat in one, put the other in the fridge until you're ready to cook everything.

Marinate the meat for at least 1 hour. Drain before cooking.

Heat 1/4 inch oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the pork, cook until almost done. Transfer to a bowl; wipe out the pan.
Heat the pan, then add 2 tbsp oil, 4 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp minced ginger, the scallions and the celery. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, then add the spinach. Cook through, then add the tomatoes. Cook another 2-3 minutes or so. Add the sauce and the pork. Cook until the sauce is thick and everything is cooked, about 3 minutes or so.

Serve alongside rice, noodles or alone. Pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine and enjoy!

Fab femme's tip: Chop all your veggies and meat and marinate the night before cooking for a quick (yet freshly cooked) meal the next day. If you like it extra spicy, add a few sliced jalapenos right before serving.