We watched the Oscars last night in fast forward so I could see all the dresses and some of the awards. I lingered too long on the dresses and made everyone go to bed at 10pm so we could get up for school today. So we missed most of the show and heard who won on the radio. Gwyneth Paltrow and Sandra Bullock tie for best dressed. (Sandra could have worn anything and I would have given her first place out of respect for what she has been through.) And in solidarity with women everywhere who don’t fit into anything hanging in their closets, I had an extremely low-calorie lunch:
Cauliflower and Bean Soup with Tabouleh
Dress wearers who don’t count for my best dressed award:
Jennifer Lawrence because she was just a newborn baby when I was 2 or 3 years into my marriage and I don’t count babies.
Mila Kunis because she had too much hoohaw showing and it wasn’t sagging and that’s not fair.
Reese Witherspoon because Barbie Dolls are copyrighted and that’s not fair.
Hoppin’ John is black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and whatever else you want to put in. You can eat it after your morning grits. I just opened a can and heated it up. Parsnip Scone is the same as the parsnip muffin from yesterday, in a different form.
2 cups Quaker Oat Bran Cereal, uncooked
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2-4 parsnips, grated
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup cranberries, dried
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
Notes / Directions
Preheat oven to 425F. Line muffin cups with paper
cups. Combine dry ingredients, add and combine the rest. Add whole wheat flour
until batter looks scoopable (about 1/4 cup or more). Fill cups 3/4 full and
bake for 15 minutes.
1 tsp lemon zest
1 unit lemon juice
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 lbs chicken breast
1/4 cup kalamata olives, halved
olive oil spray
Notes / Directions
Make dressing by combining everything but chicken and olives. Pound chicken on cutting board to make all same thickness. Pour 1/2 of dressing on chicken in dish to marinate 2 to 8 hours. Grill on grill or stove 6 minutes a side on highish. Cut into 6 portions and throw the reserved sauce on top with the olives now mixed in.
JM p122 227 calories, click on picture for reference.
6 servings: 2 tsp olive oil, small onion chopped, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, 3/4 lbs 90% lean ground beef, 1 can (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes in puree or juice reduced sodium, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/4 cup chopped pimiento-stuffed olives, parsley. Saute everything in order giving onions about 5 minutes to start and same when you get to the beef. When it fills the house with that cinnamon onion smell it is done.
Simple lunch on a complicated day and on an Egyptian scarf.
Combine the following and then put beside 1 slice of multigrain bread: 3 oz chunk light tuna, chopped celery stalk, 1 tsp lemon juice, fresh ground pepper, 1 tbsp light mayo, 1 tbsp plain yogurt, 1 tbsp or more of chopped pickled jalapeno chili.
I used Thai red paste curry to make this “Mediterranean” dish. Saute 1 onion, 3 tsp. garlic, and 1 carrot in olive oil. Add 3/4 lbs cubed chicken, 2 tbsp. curry paste, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, black pepper, 1/2 cup chicken stock. Simmer covered. Make lavash by mixing 1 cup whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup water or more, pinch of salt. Fry in olive oil. Smoosh down after flipping. I’m sure there is a better way of making lavash. I’m not really sure what it is supposed to be. Just use any flatbread instead. The curry is great though. Yum.
Recipe serves 6. Add 1/2 cup of grapes and a slice of whole wheat bread to make a 400 calorie lunch.
Ingredients
The extra chicken was made into the filling for chicken pot pie for the boys’ dinner.
I had forgotten what real mayonnaise tasted like until I bought this at a grocery store. I couldn’t even eat the whole thing. Mayo is just too too much. My brain must have been switched off since I was in a “health food” store. There’s nothing healthy about mayonnaise. Next time I’ll make my own.
Bad photo, bad day, good lunch. Sometimes you just don’t need vegetables. I opened this can right when the school bus came home. Drove the boys away for sure.
Back to basics. I’m still going for the “66 days makes a habit” challenge. I will have enough new neuron pathways that say “eat a healthy lunch” by March 14th, 2011. Then if I fall off the wagon and then get back on again, it will be easy to stay on the wagon. Read about the research here. And here too.
I skipped lunch to make these candy melt cars on sticks for wee son #2. I’m really not going to eat any. Not interested. He’s going to have them when his sleepover buddy comes round. Got the supplies at Michael’s Crafts. We were in the arts and crafts store so he could buy himself a hotter glue gun. He’s an inventor. Recently he stumbled upon a YouTube video of University of Sheffield students testing their contraptions and he made a better one. Thinking about sending it over there for the professor to judge it.
It doesn’t have to take 80 days to go around the world. 80 minutes in the kitchen spread out over a few days should do it.
Pretty and pretty healthy. Overachieving in the kitchen this week. I’ve got so many leftovers. Happy to find out that meals without meat last a long time! The freezer is packed too. And this way of cooking costs a small fraction of typical Western cooking. Give me a garden and a “Clean Cookstove” and we will be self sufficient if war breaks out and oil prices go up.
Clockwise from the top: Israeli Couscous – Italian Chickpea Frittata – Egyptian Ful – Mediterranean Broccoli Rabe – Northern Bean Paste – Chicken Couscous with Raisins – Indian Eggplant Dip dotted around with Cucumber Raita in center.
Sadly, I cannot get our boys to eat this food. Son #1 was just in Cairo and Alexandria before the demonstrations and he loved the food. Apparently I am not as good a cook as they have in Cairo restaurants. And there is no point trying to recreate his “best meal ever” fish that he had in Alexandria. Son #2 eats only mac and cheese with peas and grilled cheese sandwiches. So this is what mommy made for the boys today for lunch:
Croque Monsieur
Make a ham and cheese sandwich and dip the halves in one egg and 1/4 cup milk mixture. Fry with butter. Son #2 picked out the ham and then didn’t like the cheese so he ate a bowl of rice krispies.
I made this for dinner but decided to eat it while it was hot. Very little chicken makes this Mediterranean meal low in calories.
To make for a large crowd: Cook 2 boxes plain couscous with 1 tsp cinnamon, saute 2 chicken breasts cubed, add together with 1/2 cup raisins, 15 oz garbanzo beans. Boil broccoli rabe for about 4 minutes, plunge into ice bath, squeeze out water and place in oiled 9 x 13 inch pan, sprinkle with panko bread crumbs mixed with a little olive oil and parmesan cheese.
Wow. Lots of clicks yesterday. Thanks. Sorry to have a less political lunch to show you today. This is South Florida key lime salad with mango salsa and navy beans. I saw a bag of key limes in the store and bought them without a plan. It really changed the whole character of this fresh veg salad. Delicious. The mango salsa mixed with the beans complemented the salad.
Free Cuba! Key Lime Salad: Dice 1/2 a plum tomato and add to 1/2 cup chopped cucumber, some celery, 1/4 Florida avocado, 2 chopped spring onions and mix together with 1 Tbsp of no fat ranch dressing and juice of one key lime.
