Not too many people enjoy eating the same dishes over and over and over again-especially me. So what is a girl to do? I sought out some recipes to help expand my cooking skills and meal variety. Eating out gets expensive quickly and adds to my waste line far too fast (I swim for overall benefits but also to help trim down and be more curvy!)
I purchased a jar of Thai sauce, claiming to be good for dipping and cooking and found a recipe that could use it.
Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts, chopped and cooked in olive oil
1 medium sized onion, chunky chopped
2 dried red spicy peppers crushed up
1 small bag of frozen brocoli florets
2 Tablespoons of Thai Peanut sauace
1/4 cup slided almonds
salt and peppper
Cook the chicken in the oil, add all the other ingredients and let simmer for 20 minutes on medium low heat. Serve! Serves 3-4 people. So Yummy!
The packing and moving of Papa from his old house to his new house is complete! The Guys with their pickups came, donning muscle and patience, got all the furniture moved from the old house to the new house;
I spent the night at my sister and brother-in-laws house; of course,I played with my godson (they asked I don’t share photos of them or my godson online and I totally respect their wishes!)It was so nice to not have to drive back and forth for the 2 days I helped Papa move houses.
When I arrived at their house, they had a super fancy meal made for me, one fit for Kings! They know I absolutely love fresh seafood, especailly Fresh Caught Atlantic Salmon! I am not sure what spice blend that my BIL used on the fish, but it was zesty with citrus and and the whole meals was outstanding!
With a full belly of great food, I played with my godson before my sister and I gave him a bath and put him to bed (he’s only a 5 months old). The meal, conversation, playing with my godson, and the whole event was just lovely!
Okay, there are some days that life just needs to be made easy; yes, there are times even when i don’t want to cook for myself because I am just not feeling groovy or adventerous in making different food. When one lives alone, one gets to do all the cooking and cleaning and sometimes, a little easyness is needed!
My meal today for lunch was made easy by using sliced strawberries, bananas, chopped walnuts and a bit of feta to create a quick and easy meal for myself. Who else needs quick meals sometimes?
My Neighbor is from Alexandria, Egypt-and her friendship has been a really nice gift to me. It’s so nice to have someone to chat with that lives so close; a lady friend to share odds and end with and today, she shared a Egyptian dessert with me. She had atteneded an event that served international cuisine through her college, hosted by a professor and she brought me a dessert commonly served in Egypt.
I love that she shared a bit of her home food with me! It’s honey and has maybe a bit of cinnamon in it? It’s an adventure with food and having someone bring me something so special melts my heart.
In truth? If Egyptian food is all similiar to this and the other food Nour (my neighbor) has made and shared, I am more than happy to try new things. God’s goodness can be seen in many forms, through the kindness of a neighbor, the delight in sharing a meal together and more.
Taking a moment to slow day and enjoy the day, with the cold, chilly weather outside. Being thankful, especially today, that I don’t have to work outside and have something lovely to enjoy; prayer time, and being thankful, in my opinion, can happen anywhere, any time.
Devoting time, each day, to prayer and quiet time has proven to be very good for me; it helps to strengthen my time with God and during Lent, I am striving to do more of this.
During this Lenton season, reducing my stress and doing better at living life, a good cup of joe is called for, the local Starbucks is just around the corner from my house and the baristas are so nice! I am enjoying a Cinnamon Dulce breve latte, paid for with bonus stars! Prayers and coffee are an essential.
This morning, about 90 minutes ago, I struggled big time. My co-worker, in efforts to be super sweet and nice, offered me a McDonald’s breakfast sandwhich when she came into work. The sandwhich smelled wonderful; I really wanted to say yes and gobble it down with delight.
I politely declined, despite my tummy rumbling, my mouthing salvating with the warm aromas wafting from the paper wrapped food.. She asked if I didn’t care for McDonalds, I told her, no, I absolutely love McDonald’s breakfast sandwhichs but I am giving up fast food for Lent.Her face turned quizical in expression and I gave the brief description that Lent is the 40 days before Easter and many Catholics and Protestants give up something during this period as part of their faith and journey. I wasn’t expecting this struggle this morning at all.
While on my way to my job, I do pass several fast food chains to and from work. In the past, even recently, especially on the days I go to the Rec center to swim, I often imbibed and picked up a breakfast at one of the fast food chains;it makes things easier and tasty for me before I hit the lanes for laps. I can eat in my car (likely not a good habit to have anyway) and then realizse, as I evaluate my bank account weekly, just how much I am/was spending on fast food-especially lately as I have become passive, lazy about making breakfast for myself. But when does easy and convienent become a lifestyle? Why is this passively okay for when it’s not really okay as a norm? These are the questions I ask myself-and many more.
One lingering question, just a few days into Lent, is how do I make/cook more interesting food for myself? There are times, when I do need a quick meal, and I am learning that I need, at times, to practice better time management since I am eating solely homecooked meals at this point-with the exception of when I get invited to a family or friends house for dinner (or the like.) I didn’t anticipate that the struggle would also be with getting tired of my usual routine meals and recipes, especially so quickly.
While I did make myself breakfast (seen below), and while it settles down, I wonder, what easy meals can I make myself on short notice or with some prep work that are tasty and contian easily found ingredients? Please, do comment and share if you have ideas!
Multigrain Flat Bread
1 green onion
One small carrot shredded
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1/2 an avacodo
1 teaspoon parmesan cheese
Drizzle of Thousand Island Dressing
Left over Chicken breast shredded up
Spread the cream cheese on the flat bread, load veggies and avacado on top,add chicken, sprinkle parmesan and drizzle thousand island dress, roll up like a buritto. I also drank cold drip coffee with it. It was a B- meal.
Since I have given up fast food for lent, I am doing all of the cooking at home or going over to a friend or family for meals. Therefore I’m having to get creative. I was having a hankering for a fast food milkshake but that’s not allowed right now. I decided to make it healthier choice at home.
I gave up Dr. Pepper and fast food for lent, not a secret, but the lack of fizzy caffeine and sweetness is already greatly “missed” by my body.The fast food craving and hankerings haven’t kicked in, which I am thankful. A full glass of water and a little nap have helped to curb the headache but the craving remains.
The challenge, though, will come this evening when I return to work after a couple of routine days off. Why a challenge? There is a soda fountain and each employee gets unlimited free sodas from the fountain as a perk of the job, Dr. Pepper included. I really like Dr. Pepper. While there isn’t anything wrong with Dr. Pepper, it’s a fabulous product, I gave it up for Lent as I feel like I had become “dependent” on the product, drinking more of it than I would anything else, despite having lots of other options at home and other places, including healthier choices like herbal hot or iced tea, water, milk, or something different.
I have often packed my lunch for work before and now will continue to pack a lunch for myself each shift I work, using a cute Jurrassic World tin square lunch box I received as a Christmas gift. A bit of preperation and effort, meals at work will be delicious and as easy as fast food, but better for the mind and body, giving the proper nutrition for myself and time to focus on better things and spiritual growth.
A friend of mine is in support of giving up Dr. Pepper but inquired as to why do it for Lent;
Here’s a basic description of why we do it;
Fasting, or giving something up, is a very common practice during Lent. The idea is that giving up something that’s a regular part of life, like eating dessert or scrolling through Facebook, can be a reminder of Jesus’ sacrifice. That time can also be replaced with more time connecting with God.
Rising prices in eating out, inflation can be felt nearly every where these days but it doesn’t stop us from wanting to eat something tasty, go on date night or want to serve/dive into good meals. Eating is an essential but it should also be a nutrious joy, too!
I am a huge fan of getting good steals, using coupons and shopping local–thankfully, Aldi’s stores has had a good selection and price on fish lately and it has made cooking this winter a lot easier.
Tonights pre-dinner entertainment was provided by myself, compliments of singing to Ed Sheeran and my trusty wooden spoon was the microphone. My apologies to the neighbors and to my Sweetness, who was delighted to hear that super was being served and my horrid redentions were over.
4-6 Pieces of Frozen North Atlantic Cod (thawed)
2 Cans of Green Beans, drained
1 cup white rice (not boil in the bag)
Lemon Pepper, Salt Pepper, Garlic Powder, Cajun Spice, Lemon Zest, Cayenne Pepper, 3 cups of Corn flour, French Onions (course crumbled)
2 -3 eggs
Oil for frying
Crack the eggs in one bowl, in a second bowl, mix the corn flour and all the spices and herbs
Dip/Run each pieces of fish through the beaten eggs, thoroughly, and heavily coat in the corn flour mix, place in cast iron frying pan (with about an inch of oil of your choice in the bottom).
Make Rice in a seperate pot or in a rice cooker, adding 2 tsp of old bay seasoning or lemon pepper plus a little splash of oil.
Fry Fish on medium heat until fish is thoroughly cooked and crunch on both sides.
Warm Green beans
Plate a bit of each item on to a plate and serve. You can now unplug your wooden spoon “microphone” and put in the dishwasher.
My Travels 