Barley and Spring Vegetable Risotto

Okay, I know that technically, this can't be called a risotto because it isn't made with arborio rice, but if Weight Watchers wants to call it a risotto, I will too.  My sister and I were talking recently about using barley, but I didn't have any recipes. Imagine my surprise when I opened up my WW Weekly on Saturday morning before my meeting. There it was. Barley and spring vegetable risotto. I sent her the recipe and she made it this Sunday. She said she added more vegetables, so it made 6 servings instead of 4. I am all for adding more vegetables than a recipe calls for. Zero points and I get to eat more. Yay! So I did the same, doubling the asparagus and the snap peas, plus I cooked up all of the mushrooms I had in my refrigerator and added them too. In my haste to shovel some of the finished risotto into my mouth, I completely forgot about adding butter, too. Oh well. Tasted awesome without it. The good thing about this recipe? Everything in it is on the Simply Filling Foods List. (I'm not counting the olive oil, since you're supposed to get a healthy oil that you don't count when you follow Simply Filling.)  I need to get back to following this plan. It worked so well for me in the past, and I've been in such a rut. I haven't officially started, since it's mid-week, but my new goal is to eat whole foods, nothing processed, for a week. Last night I had some of The Aussie's sandwich roll and a few Hershey's Kisses, so yesterday didn't count. Eating whole foods, not processed crap, is a good goal. So enough of my dithering on, here's the recipe!

Spring Vegetable "Risotto"

2 T Olive Oil (divided)
1 lb mushrooms (I used a mixture of baby bella, shitaki and portobella), sliced
2 cups finely sliced leeks (rinsed VERY WELL)
1 shallot, minced
4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup pearled barley
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces (1 bunch)
1/2 lb sugar snap peas, trimmed and cut in half
1 t lemon zest (I sprinkled in TrueLemon)
1/4 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t garlic powder
1 t dried dill (I totally forgot to put this in...)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I just sprinkled a teaspoon on top of my serving)

First up: Heat up a large pan over medium high heat. When it's hot, drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook them down. This should take about 10 minutes, and you'll need to stir them frequently. When cooked down, remove from the pan and set aside.

Next: Drizzle in your second tablespoon of olive oil.  Add the minced scallion to the pan and cook until they start to get translucent, about 2 minutes. Add in the leeks and cook for another 7 or so minutes, stirring so they don't scorch, until they start to cook down.  Now it's time to add the barley, stirring it around so that it gets coated with a little oil. (I have to tell you, I didn't think 3/4 of a cup of barley looked like much. Wrong.) When it's coated (I won't tell on you if you add a little more olive oil), pour in the stock. Bring it to a light boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer. The original recipe says 30 minutes, but mine took closer to 40 minutes.  When the barley is almost tender, but still has a bit of chewiness to it, add in your vegetables, stirring well, and add your seasonings.  Again, the recipe says 3-5 minutes, but I still had a lot of broth left to be absorbed by the barley, and a lot more vegetables to cook. Uncovered, I cooked the risotto an additional 15 minutes so that it was the proper consistency.

Remove from heat, stir in cheese and lemon zest, and your dill, if you're using it. As I said above, I simply sprinkled a little cheese on top of my serving.  Because of all of the vegetables I used, this made 6 huge servings.

Enjoy!

Am I inspired? Ask me after my workout today...

This is kind of a catch 22 for me. Am I inspired to work out? Not always, no. Do I feel better if I do? Usually, I do. These days, though, it's taking several days for the muscle soreness I feel after working out with my trainer to go away. I had every intention of going to a yoga class at my gym last night, since The Aussie and I were planning on celebrating Valentine's Day tonight, anyway. I didn't go. I was still too sore from the core workout I did on Wednesday afternoon. Heck, I'm still sore today, and I have to go back and train with him again this afternoon.  I don't feel super guilty for not going to yoga, because I did start up C25K again yesterday morning, so I got a workout in. But I did want to go to the class.  How do you deal with delayed onset muscle soreness? Do you push through it and end up even more sore or do you rest another day or two?

Laissez les bon temps rouler chicken and sausage gumbo

There are some times when you just have to step back from your food tracker and have some good old rib-sticking, tummy satisfying gumbo. Being that today is Mardi Gras, this is the perfect thing to make for dinner!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

4 cups chicken stock (this needs to be hot, so heat it up in the dutch oven while you chop veggies and brown chicken)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup diced onion
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped red pepper
2 stalks celery, sliced
3-4 pounds of chicken pieces (legs, thighs, breast)
1 1/2 pounds fully cooked smoked sausage (andouille, keilbasa, turkey sausage, etc), sliced on diagonal in 1/2" slices
1 t salt
1 t cayenne pepper
2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t thyme
1 t garlic powder
1 t paprika
1 t dry mustard
1 t ground file
1 t Tabasco sauce
2 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 green onions, thinly sliced on diagonal (optional garnish)

1. Chop up your vegetables.

2. In a small bowl, blend together the black pepper, thyme, cayenne pepper, paprika, dry mustard, file powder, garlic powder and salt.

Rub about 4 teaspoons of the spice mixture on the chicken pieces.

3. Combine the all purpose flour and 2 teaspoons of the spice mixture together and coat the chicken.

4. In a large frying pan, cast iron if you have it, brown the chicken pieces over medium high heat for at least 3 minutes each side. Remove chicken and set aside, draining on paper towels if needed.

5. To the large frying pan, add the vegetable oil and heat over medium to medium high heat. Add the flour and spice mixture that was used to coat the chicken pieces. (I needed to add more flour since I'm messy when it comes to coating chicken pieces). Stir the flour and oil together to make a "roux" (aka "a smooth paste"). Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly until it turns a nutty brown. DO NOT LET THE ROUX BURN.

 

When the roux reaches the color brown you want, add in the onion, bell peppers and celery to the roux and remove from the heat. Stir the mixture together to coat the vegetables, making sure there are no clumps.

6. In a large dutch oven, bring your stock to a boil. Whisk 1/2 cup of the hot stock into the roux mixture. Slowly add the roux and vegetable mixture to the stock, stirring constantly so there are no lumps.

Add the sausage and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often. (Note: I used Oscar Meyer turkey keilbasa and a Texas brand of smoked jalapeno and cheddar sausage. I think the jalapenos made it spicier than normal.)

7. Add in chicken pieces, bay leaves and hot sauce. Cook over medium low heat for at least 40 minutes, or until chicken pieces are cooked through. (I cooked over low for over an hour since I was making it in the early afternoon.)

8. When the chicken is cooked through, remove from the pot and cool. When it's cool, remove the skin from the chicken and the chicken from the bone. Cut into bite sized pieces and return chicken to the pot.

At this point, adjust your seasonings and it's ready.
Serve over hot rice and garnish with green onions.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Spark: the journey

I don't like getting my picture taken. Some people photograph well. I am not one of them. The fact that, at one point, I was about 75 pounds overweight, was a factor, that's for sure. The fact that I'm actually posting pictures is nothing short of crazy for me. You'd better believe I edited pictures. A few of my friends in my Spark group posted pictures today of their journeys. Not before and after pictures, really, because as Susan said recently (I'm paraphrasing, please forgive me), "after ends in the grave." There is no after, because this will always be something I have to work at. The last two weeks have been frustrating. Between having and endoscopy last week and having the flu this week, I have been on the sidelines. Figures. So, to inspire me, I'm going to look at how far I've come, not how far I have left to go. Although, I think I do look cute in my Grand Canyon pictures.


 The blue shirt pictures were taken in 2007, late summer, when my mother in law was visiting from Australia. I think I've given away the v neck t-shirt, but I still have the button up blouse. Two things amaze me: first is how much that fit like a sausage casing in 2007, and second, how big it seemed this summer. I did wear it once, to church, but I actually tucked the blouse in to my black skirt. I don't know if this was me at my heaviest. Probably not. I don't look happy, and I certainly don't look comfortable.

 

 These pictures were taken in October of 1999. The Aussie and I took a much needed vacation and drove around the Southwest for two weeks. I'm in my mid-30s here, so the weight has started to creep on, but not enough to get me to do much about it. Oh, I'd join a gym every year or so, work out for a bit, maybe take classes for a bit. I wish I could write a letter to who I was then, or time travel like the nasty Senator in Time Cop did. He told his younger self to lay off the candy bars or twinkies. Something like that. I look at me here and I see what I aspire to get back to. I can do it. *knock on wood*

And this. This is me these days. Naively signing up for a DietBet, taking my picture in front of the mirror with their "word of the day." Life has a way of throwing plans aside. I won't be winning that bet, so I can kiss my $20 good bye. Oh well. I'm a work in progress. I'm certainly healthier than I was in 2007. The progress may take a bit longer than I'd like, but it is what it is. Besides, they moved the finish line for "after." It's no longer when I get to my goal. The finish line is a lot more permanent than that. So I'll just keep in mind, while I plod along my path: Forward is a pace.

Better than a parking lot...

Yesterday afternoon on FB, I posted the following:

"Feeling nauseous. I just "liked" a particular marathon page. It may be time to get my act in gear and start running again. The marathon is December 1st. I haven't run, if you call my turtle pace running, since June, when I did the Wounded Warrior Half. Is this enough time to train?"

The responses were very positive, and a friend from church who is a marathoner said "Yes!!!" So I started looking in to various training plans. I am not looking to push it, especially since I haven't run since June and I'm a little bit more creaky in the knees and hips. Hell. I'm closer to 50 than 40. I'm happy I can get off the couch some days, given as spastic and clutzy I am.  What I found is Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme marathon training guide. It's a 30 week schedule. This gives me plenty of time (knock on wood) to prepare for and train for this race.  It even gives me time to complete all 9 weeks of C25K beforehand.

Last night after dinner I told The Aussie to visualize spending a few days in Florida at the end of November/beginning of December in Florida. He says "okay, sounds nice." I then told him why. I said "I promised you that when I was ready to do a full, that you'd have something nicer than the parking lot at Fair Park to look at."

source: Pegasusnews

 

BTW, I'm feeling nauseous again. I just finished copying the training plan in to my calendar. Yikes.

Roasted Mushroom and Butternut Squash Pilaf

Ever since I roasted mushrooms to make a mushroom bisque a month or so ago, I have been enamoured with them. Roasting can turn regular white mushrooms with little flavor, into a delicious meaty morsel. I've used them in the bisque, I've used them in my loaded veggie chili, and now I'm using them in a lovely pilaf along with roasted butternut squash, baby kale and brown rice and quinoa mixed grains.

I cut up a pound of mushrooms in to chunks, about 8 pieces per mushroom, and I peeled and cut up a butternut squash in to 1/2 " pieces. Each came to about 6 cups of vegetables. I heated the oven to 400 and sprayed two baking pans with non-stick cooking spray. If you have the olive oil flavor, that's great. I sprayed the tops of the veggies, too. Roast them for 20 minutes, rotating trays after ten minutes. You want to make sure the water that comes off the mushrooms has a chance to evaporate.

In the meantime, chop up half of a red onion in to a small dice. If you want to use fresh garlic, chop up or press a couple of large cloves. One thing that I do to make things come together quickly is chunky garlic from a tube. You can find it, along with ginger, garlic paste, and cilantro paste, in the refrigerated produce section of your grocery store.  Get a large sautee pan heating over medium high heat. Drizzle in a tablespoon of nice olive oil. When it's shimmering, add in the onions. I cooked them so that they got a bit of a crisp on them, to add texture. Add in the garlic and quickly sautee.  Deglaze with a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Now it's time to add in your mushrooms and stir the mixture together. Doesn't it look delicious?

I'll let you in on another secret of mine. If you don't have time to make your own quinoa and brown rice for this dish, or any other, for that matter, see if you can find this product: Seeds Of Change organic quinoa and brown rice. It's super easy to cook. Just 90 seconds in  your microwave.

 



Once the mushrooms are nicely coated with the balsamic vinegar and the onion garlic mixture, it's time to add in the kale. You can use a bunch of regular kale that you've taken the woody stems off of and chopped, or you can you baby kale. I'm fortunate in that my Kroger has started carrying baby kale in a large clamshell type container. It's probably meant for kale salad, but it hasn't made it that far with me. I keep sauteeing it with garlic and olive oil.

 See, it really cooks down. Keep turning the leaves so that they cook down evenly. Then add in the quinoa and rice mixture and the butternut squash. Toss everything gently, to combine. Adjust your seasonings, adding salt and pepper if you like, and more balsamic vinegar to taste. I finished mine off with a big splash of balsamic vinegar, some freshly ground pepper, and a dash of TrueLemon to give it a little extra zing. This made 6 very large servings. After having 2 last night and 1 for breakfast, I'm guessing I'll be done with the whole batch by tonight. ;)

 

 

Roasted Mushroom and Butternut Squash Pilaf

 

6 cups butternut squash, 1/2 " cubes

1 pound mushrooms, roughly diced (6 cups)

olive oil cooking spray

1 T olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1 T garlic

2-4 T balsamic vinegar

1 package baby kale (3+ cups) or large bunch, stemmed and chopped

1 cup cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked quinoa

squeeze of lemon (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

 

Epiphany

Epiphany (feeling)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, "manifestation, striking appearance") is an experience of sudden and striking realization. Generally the term is used to describe breakthrough scientific, religious or philosophical discoveries, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective. ...

Epiphanies are relatively rare occurrences and generally following a process of significant thought about a problem. Often they are triggered by a new and key piece of information, but importantly, a depth of prior knowledge is required to allow the leap of understanding.



Yesterday was the celebration of Epiphany at church. The sermon got me thinking about the other meaning of the word epiphany and what the Pastor called "Ah-ha moments." Granted, he's talking about spiritual ah-ha moments, but I started thinking about other types.

I can gripe all I want about not making any progress, but until I actually make myself accountable for what I am doing to myself, nothing is going to change. Part of the new Weight Watchers program, Weight Watchers 360, is about implementing small steps so that they become routines. I have to admit to myself that I have really been lax with tracking. The two weeks in Australia became two more weeks at home without attending meetings. Tracking went out the proverbial door for the month of November. It's been difficult getting my head back in the game, but I have to stop fooling myself. If I keep crap in the house, I'm going to eat it. When we were out on Saturday, I bought myself a Subway combo meal. The sandwich was fine, I had water, but I also selected a small bag of Cheetos. Before opening the bag, I did look up the points. 9 points for a little bag. So, I said, not worth it. But I kept it in my pocketbook anyway. Funny how that little bag opened itself and hopped in to a bowl last night. Granted, I didn't eat all of it, but I made the stupid choice to open it up and start eating Cheetos. Stupid, stupid, stupid. So an ah-ha moment is that I can't have this in the house if I want to succeed at getting healthier and losing weight. Another moment is that I have to stop fooling myself on how much I'm eating and drinking and I need to accurately track and measure what I'm eating. The program won't work if I don't actually follow it. So here's to a fresh start in a new year, new month, new week. Today's a new day. What happened yesterday doesn't need to affect what happens today.

Peace.

Kyra