Wow. This dinner was GREAT!!! Such a surprise and one of those “throw together” dinners that turns out better than expected. I have to give props to the husband, who did most of the work on this while I did chores on my computer.
We started with black-eyed peas in typical Southern New Year’s tradition – thanks to the husband’s mom giving us half of her bag this morning.
We had planned a meal with shitake mushrooms and dried paddy straw mushrooms that we found at EarthFare with turkey cutlets and pasta, but obviously the ingredients switched roles.
The beans soaked in water all day. We rehydrated the mushrooms and then used their broth to cook the beans.
In the meantime, we were planning to walk to the grocery store for some collard greens to round out the New Year’s menu, but we realized we had bok choy that was starting to turn in the fridge and it worked as a perfect substitute!
The husband sauteed the mushrooms in 1 tablespoon of real butter (one of the few things we use the real stuff for – it’s worth it on mushrooms!) and added the bok choy halfway through and the beans at the end.
For our grain, we tried a new kind of rice we got for Christmas: forbidden rice, a.k.a. black rice. It was SOOOOO good but very odd at the same time. I have to say, it was kind of like eating mouse poop! The color was just freaking me out a little. Also reminded me of crushed roach. But I just closed my eyes and enjoyed some of the best rice I’ve ever had texture wise. It was really, really chewy – I like to chew things! What a neat find.
Dinner calories: 316
Dessert
Had two pieces of chocolate for dessert. *Licks lips*
Walk
This afternoon we did 45 minutes of walking around our neighborhood. We had to walk slow because my mother in law was with us and she has some foot problems, but we made up for our speed with a longer walk. 150 kcal burned! It sure was windy though…
Snack
After our walk I had a delicious hot chocolate made with skim milk and Nesquik. And half a serving of graham sticks. I’ve been a little short on dairy these past few days. I need to up it tomorrow. ~180 kcal.
Recap
Total Tuesday calories: 1618
-526 thru workout and walk
= net of 1092.
OK for a recovery day and with a big trip coming up next week.
Tomorrow
Ugggggggg. I only have 3 more days of work until it’s back to school!!! I can’t wait, but I’ve got the alarm clock set for 4:50. Coming back from vacation is never fun. Especially since this is the most time off I’ve had since college – including my wedding and honeymoon!
I am surprisingly excited about going to the early morning gym though. When I get out of routine, I actually look forward to getting back into the early morning gym groove. I just really enjoy my time there to myself, reading magazines and feeling strong.
See you tomorrow!
hk says
yummm yumm yumm! I would love to recipe for this delicious looking New Years meal! MMMM, i really like forbidden rice, glad you enjoyed it! I would love to know the spices, measurements..etc for this dinner..when you get a chance. Happy 2008:)
the husband says
Honestly, you could just buy the ingredients and throw them together and probably not screw this up. There weren't too many measurements but here's what we did:
-Began soaking ~.5lb black eyed peas in 4C water at noon.
-At 5pm, we got the paddy straw mushrooms out (1oz dried) and soaked them in maybe 2C warm water
-5:30, drained beans and put in pot, drained mushroom liquid right onto beans
-brought beans to boil, then simmered for 1hour
-6pm cooked 1/3C forbidden rice as per instructions
-6:30, heated 1T butter in large pan, cooked mushrooms (with 2oz shitake, chopped) for 5 minutes, then added bok choy (11oz – chiffonade cut), then added 1C black eyed peas (reserved the rest of them in the fridge)
-seasoned with maybe 1t kosher salt, 1t black pepper ground, 10 whole black peppercorns, 1t red pepper flakes
Enjoy!
hk says
yum, thanks husband 🙂
rivermomx3 says
After spending the last 5 days with people who: could care less about the environment, their health, the health of their children, exercise, nutrition or any of the things that matter so much to me, I was so happy to get back home and read your blog. It makes me feel like I am not alone!
Twice this week (by 2 different people) I was told that I used to be so much more fun. I guess since I no longer chain smoke and get drunk often, I am now considered "lame". But since the only opinion that matters besides my own is my husband's, I asked him what he thought and he is still quite happy with me and actually appreciates me not wanting to do those things, since we are getting older and he doesn't want to do them either.
Today I made my own chicken stock, roasted 2 different kinds of squash and made dinner for my family feeling good about who I have become and the healthy choices I am making for us.
I just wanted to express my appreciation for what you do, I can only imagine how much work it is. So, thank you!
Jill says
I love "moose poop!" When I have left-overs I can mix it in with brown rice and that's really yummy too. I do have a question, I'm a little confused on the scale, how and when do you use to calculate nutrients and all that, do you look up the amount in the different foods after every meal or do you have the fancy kind that tells you?
hk says
Thank to Roni's great recipe at Greenlitebites.com, I thought I'd show you all her recipe for healthy hummus…looks great!
* 1 can of Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
* 1-3 cloves of Garlic (depending on taste- I used 2 and boy can you taste it!)
* 1 tsp sesame oil
* ¼ – ½ cup of vegetable broth or fat free chicken broth
90g (1/4cup) ~100 calories
great!!!
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* ½ tsp curry powder (more to taste-this just gives a nice hint)
Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor with only ¼ cup of the broth. Blend until smooth adding more of the broth to help consistency if you need too. You may have to help it with a stir now and then you want it thick.
Serve with whole-wheat pita and veggie slices, use in wraps, smear on whole-wheat crackers. You can really do anything with it and it sure is great for a parties!"
Caitlin says
rivermomx3, you are not alone! I used to be a pretty heavy drinker and really into going out and partying, but cut that out of my life almost completely at the beginning of last year (for several reasons, my health being near the top of the list). Since then, I can't tell you how many people have told me things like "I used to be so much fun" and called me "lame." Reading your post really hit home with me! At first, comments like that stung a little, but I slowly realized that my personal choices really don't concern them and just kept doing my thing. And, like you, I asked my boyfriend if he's bored with me now that I no longer "hang" like I used to, and he put all my worries to rest. Maybe the rest of them are just jealous – it's hard to put those partying ways behind you, but since I did, I've been much healthier and happier.
Kath says
Caitlin and Rivermom,
Congrats to you both for realizing your health and happiness are more important than peer pressure! I get reactions like this sometimes – when my whole family is drinking and I'm sipping a diet tonic or have finished my one glass. But I'm the one happy the next morning when I'm out running and they're hungover!
Jill,,
My scale is just weight – no calories. You probably know from the blog that I log my meals at CalorieKing.com so I just enter in "5 oz of apple" or "2 slices of bread" and it does all the math for me. I've looked at lots of online food journals and this one is by far the most user friendly.
Jill says
Thanks for the information! Now I have to convince myself to purchase a membership…