Fabulous Meal #1...DONE!

My mini-goal for last week was to make one fabulous meal at least every other week and I did just that last night. It was so delicious. I made Vietnamese Spring Rolls with shrimp and pulled pork. Dessert was an Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream. Oh yes! Quite an amazing meal. And yes, I did get so carried away eating it that I actually forgot to take pictures of the actual spring rolls! Oops!

I basically followed this recipe for spring rolls from  allrecipes.com. I didn't make the hoisin peanut sauce and instead I purchased the San J Thai Peanut Sauce. It was tasty. I did make the other dipping sauce though. I also added this Vietnamese BBQ Pulled Pork from closetcooking.com.

 Vietnamese Spring Rolls 

Rice vermicelli (I actually ended up with Mee Krob which is thinner than rice vermicelli), cooked

Spring Roll Wrappers (1 for each roll)

Cooked shrimp (2-3 per roll)

Butter leaf lettuce

Fresh mint

Fresh Thai basil (plain basil is fine if you can't find Thai)

Fresh cilantro

Cucumbers, julienned

Carrots, julienned

Avocado, thinly sliced

Large flat bowl of room temperature water (slightly larger than the spring roll wrappers)

Arrange all except the wrappers on a platter.

Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce

4 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced (I didn't add this and was glad I didn't)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

Mix all together in a small bowl for dipping.

Vietnamese BBQ Pulled Pork

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fish sauce (I used half fish sauce and half low-sodium soy sauce)
1 lime (juice)
2 birds eye chilies (sliced)
1 (3 pound) pork butt

1. Heat the sugar in a pan on medium-high heat until it melts, caramelizes and turns a light golden brown.
2. Carefully add the water and heat until the caramel dissolves. (Be careful! When you add the water, the caramel hardens immediately and splatters up a little.)
3. Add the fish sauce, lime juice and chilies and simmer to reduce by half, about 6-10 minutes.
4. Put the pork in the slow cooker, pour 1/2 of the 'bbq' sauce over it and cook on low heat for 8 hours.
5. Remove the pork from the slow cooker, let cool and then shred with a pair of forks.
6. Skim the fat from the juices and place them in a sauce pan along with the remaining 'bbq' sauce.

How to make the spring rolls:

1) Place spring roll wrapper in bowl of water until completely wet. Place on a large flat plate. Wrapper will still be hard. Don't worry. It softens as you "build" your spring roll.

2) Place a piece of lettuce on wrapper.

3) Arrange vegetables and herbs on lettuce leaving room on either end.

4) Add shrimp and/or pork

5) Fold in edges and then roll up tightly (like a burrito)

6) Dip in peanut sauce and sweet and spicy sauce. Alternatively you can spoon sauce into the already bitten spring roll. Enjoy! 

Apple Crisp

5 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced

2/3 cup sugar (I mixed 1/3 cup white, 1/3 cup brown)

2 T flour

1 t cinnamon

1 t vanilla

Combine all together. Pour into a buttered or sprayed 9x13 pan.

Topping:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

Mix with a fork or hands until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of apples. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Let cool slightly. Serve in shallow bowls topped with vanilla ice cream.

Crunchy Shrimp Salad

Crunchy Shrimp Salad

4 oz broiled shrimp (shrimp, cayenne, paprika, fresh pressed garlic)

1 scallion

1 shallot

1/2 yellow bell pepper

1 Persian cucumber

Juice of 1 lime

1 teaspoon honey

sea salt to taste

Small dice all veggies and chop shrimp. Mix all together in a bowl. DELICIOUS!

Peanut Shrimp with Cucumber Salad

OH MY! HOLY YUMMINESS abounds!  I was just craving something like this. I looked around online and combined some recipes till I came up with this. I would love to put the shrimp over rice or with noodles. But tonight I just mixed them together kind of, ate the cucumbers and shrimp and drank the "juice" that was left over (spicy sweet peanutty goodness)!

Cucumber Salad (Spicy as you want it)

3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced

1/3 cup water

1/3 cup vinegar

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 serrano, Thai, or jalapeno, finely chopped (seeds and membranes removed to lessen spiciness)

24-36 drops stevia (or 1/4 cup sugar if you prefer)

Mix all together. Chill and serve. So good and refreshing!

Peanut Shrimp

24 large shrimp (31/40 count)

4 T PB2 (or 2-3 T peanut butter)

1 1/2 T rice wine vinegar

2 t garlic chili sauce

1 t dark sesame oil

4 drops stevia

1/4 - 1/2 t ginger powder

1/4 - 1/2 t garlic powder

1-3 T water

Combine all ingredients except shrimp and water. Add water to desired consistency. Should be like a thin paste. Add shrimp and stir to coat. Broil or fry in pan. I pan fried it so it would keep more of the sauce. ;-)Eat with noodles, rice, or cucumber salad!

Quick Cilantro Shrimp

Cilantro Shrimp

1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined, tail removed

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 t olive oil

1 jalapeno, finely chopped

3 green onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, pressed

Mix all ingredients except shrimp together. Add shrimp and mix well. Heat saute pan sprayed with cooking spray on medium high heat. Add shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes or just until pink.

* I had this for lunch today on a spelt tortilla with avocado spread on it and this shrimp inside. It was fantastic!!

Thai Shrimp Burgers

Thai Shrimp Burgers

For bugers:

1 lb large shrimp, peeled

3 large garlic cloves, minced

2 T minced fresh ginger

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

6 T minced cilantro

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Thai peanut sauce (store bought or my version below*)

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs** (crumbs from 1 slice Ezekiel)

For slaw:

1-2 t fresh lime juice

1 T rice wine vinegar

1 T water

3-4 drops stevia

1 16 oz bag cole slaw mix (most carrots removed)

In a food processor, blend 1/3 of the shrimp into a paste. Add remaining shrimp, pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add garlic, ginger, jalapeno, 4 tablespoons cilantro, 2 green onions, 1/4 cup peanut sauce, and bread crumbs. Combine with a fork. Divide into 4 portions. Pat with fingertips to flatten to about 4 inches wide.

Whisk remaining peanut sauce with lime juice, rice wine vinegar,stevia and water. Mix slaw with remaining onion and cilantro; toss with dressing. Refrigerate. Toss every once in a while as slaw will “wilt” a little as the sauce gets absorbed.

Heat pan on medium and spray with nonstick spray. Add patties to pan and cook about 4 minutes per side. If making shrimpballs, place in pan and turn to brown all sides about every 30-60 seconds. They need to cook longer than the burgers, about 10-12 minutes total.

For you lucky grill people: Put burgers on hot grill. Cover and cook, turning only once, until opaque throughout, about 3 1/2 to 4 minutes per side.

Put 1/4 of the slaw on/in dish and then place burger on top. Or you could serve the burger in a pita with slaw as condiment. Eat it up! Yummy!

I made half of this recipe into 2 burgers and the other half into about 12 shrimpballs. I plan on having them with maybe some shirtaki or kelp noodles. Not sure yet. But they sure are cute!

*Thai Peanut Sauce

3 T peanut butter

1 1/2 T rice wine vinegar

1 t garlic chile sauce

1 T sesame oil

4 drops stevia

1-3 T hot water

Mix all together but hot water. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time to incorporate. Using all 3 tablespoons makes exactly the right amount for the Thai shrimp burger recipe.

**For bread crumbs, leave a slice of bread out overnight or you can just leave it for a couple of hours or so in an unheated gas oven till dry. Grind in food processor or blender.

Spicy Couscous Summer Salad

I made this last night and took it to the show with me to eat. It was really delicious. Nikee can vouch for me. I even let her taste some. Yes, I know, mighty kind of me!! ;-)

Spicy Couscous Summer Salad

 

1 cucumber, diced

1 shallot, finely minced

1 tomato, finely diced

1 jalapeño or serrano peppers (to taste), seeded if desired and finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 

3/4 cup cooked brown rice couscous OR quinoa

Mix all together but the couscous. Season with sea salt if desired. Add couscous (or quinoa) and stir. Let it sit for at least an hour. Mine sat for a good 13 hours or so. I added broiled shrimp cut in small pieces. I didn't take a picture of that but I should have. DELISH!!!!!

Spicy Broiled Shrimp

1 pound raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

1-2 teaspoons paprika

1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

2 cloves garlic, pressed

olive oil, optional

Mix paprika, cayenne and garlic together. If using olive oil add that and make a paste. Add shrimp and mix well. Broil for about 2 minutes per side. 

Workout, Dinner, Bed!

Let me just say thank you to Iris for inspiring me to make some peanut noodles. This dish is really fantastic! Not to pat myself on the back or anything but I'm surprised how tasty this is since I kind of made it up and hopefully some of you will try it.

I made this with the kelp noodles I mentioned the other day but you can use whatever kind of noodle you want, as well as whatever kind of protein you want. Delish!!!!!

Carb Free Peanut Noodles with Shrimp - OMG!!!

For the noodles:

1 package kelp noodles

3 T peanut butter

1 1/2 T rice wine vinegar

1 t garlic chile sauce

1 T sesame oil

4 drops stevia or 1-2 t sugar

1-3 T hot water

2-3 scallions, chopped

cilantro, chopped

Drain and rinse the noodles. Soak and drain in hot water several times to soften them up a little. They will still be a little crunchy but a better texture. In the meantime, mix next 5 ingredients together. Add the water a tablespoon at a time till it's a good consistency. I used all 3 tablespoons. Pour over noodles. Top with shrimp (recipe below) or protein of your choice. Add scallions and cilantro to taste. 

 For the shrimp:

1 lb uncooked shelled shrimp

1-2 t garlic chile sauce

1 t garlic

2 drops stevia or 1 t sugar

1 T soy sauce or tamari, low sodium

Mix all ingredients together and then add shrimp. Broil shrimp about 2 minutes per side.

Workout - Drop Sets
Shoulder press:  15 reps - 15, 12, 10
Side leaning lat raise: 12 reps - 15, 12, 10
Front raise: 12 reps, 12,10,8
Overhead triceps extension: 12 reps - 25, 20, 15
Triceps kickback: 12 reps - 10,8,5
Triceps pressdown on cable: 15 reps - 30, 25 then 12 reps - 35, 30, 25
Abs on decline bench w/ plate: 3x15
Ab crunch on ball: 3x20

That pretty much sums it up for me! Today was a good day. I feel like I got a lot done and I really enjoyed my dinner. I can't wait for my 7th meal. I think you all know what that will be...yep! The chocolate mint protein tea. Tasty!

I'm signing off for now. More to come tomorrow. Yeah! It's going to be sunny so I can actually do my track workout outside! Can't wait!


Always strive to excel, but only on weekends.  ~Richard Rorty

Remember to sleep

I must remember to sleep enough. Last night, for example, I didn't sleep enough. Tonight will be a different story! In bed at 10pm at the latest! Speaking of sleep, I need to figure out my ideal necessary sleep time so next week I have a project for myself. I will be going to bed at 9:30 each night and seeing what time I wake up naturally and that will be my new sleep budget! LOL! Budget...that's funny!

Food today:
Meal 1: 1 cup Cheerios w/ 1/2 c milk and 1/2 scoop protein powder
Meal 2: 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 an apple, 1/4 scoop protein powder
Meal 3: 1 pork loin chop, 2 cups salad, 1 T balsamic vinaigrette, 1/2 cup mashed potatoes
Meal 4: Think Thin creamy peanut butter bar
Meal 5: 1 cup Cheerios
Meal 6: Caesars Salad w/ 8 shrimp (recipe below)
Meal 7: TBD

My workout was Gina's 2nd Circuit Workout! It was funny and quick to do.

I'm going to make some zucchini loaf tonight and also maybe some apple fritter muffins too. We'll see. I'm also going to relax with a little crochet to just pass some time while my goodies are baking.

Today was a good day and I'm grateful for all the good that exists in this world and particularly in my life. Thank you, thank you!


"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." by Scott Adams in The Dilbert Principle (Collins)

Caesar Salad Dressing

1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 T white vinegar
1 T grated Parmesan
2 anchovy fillets
1-2 garlic cloves
1 T lemon juice
1/2 T Worcestershire
1/2 T olive oil
water

Blend all in blender until creamy. With the blender on, pour water in top hole and continue to blend. Add water to desired consistency. Pour over romaine. This is pretty tangy so if you like things sweeter, you may want to add some stevia. Enjoy!

Broiled Shrimp

pressed garlic
paprika
cayenne
olive oil
(salt if desired)

Mix ingredients together to make a paste. Marinate shrimp for about 5-10 minutes. Broil 2 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other.


Yummy! Enjoy!