New Recipes

It's been ages since I posted about recipes although I haven't stopped in my quest to collect a cookbook full of easy, yummy, kid-friendly recipes. I decided to do a little research at the end of my working day and I came upon two promising dishes. Here they are.

FABULOUS FRIED RICE

Ingredients

* 2 tbsp. (30 mL) vegetable oil
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 2 cups (500 mL) diced raw or cooked vegetables (see suggestions, below)
* 2 cups (500 mL) diced cooked meat or fish (or vegetarian meat substitute)
* 3 cups (750 mL) cold leftover cooked rice
* 2 tbsp. (30 mL) soy sauce
* 1 tsp. (5 mL) sesame oil
* 4 green onions, sliced
* Fried rice veggie ideas:
* Sliced, diced or shredded, raw or cooked celery, green or red pepper, mushrooms, carrots, bean sprouts, broccoli, zucchini, green beans, peas or snow peas, cabbage (regular or Chinese)

Cooking Instructions

1. In a wok or a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. (15 mL) of the oil over high heat. Add egg and cook, stirring, until egg is scrambled. Remove scrambled egg to a plate.
2. Pour the remaining oil into the wok. When it is very hot, add chopped onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes or just until onion is softened. Add raw vegetables first, followed by cooked vegetables (the first ones into the pan should be the veggies that take longest to cook, like raw carrots). Already-cooked veggies should be added last. Now add cooked meat, stirring to mix well and heat through.
3. Finally, add rice, stirring constantly to break up the lumps of rice, mix it with the other ingredients and heat thoroughly. Add soy sauce and sesame oil and cook, stirring and tossing, for 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in scrambled eggs and green onions and stir-fry for one more minute. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

BAKED BREADED TILAPIA FILLETS

Ingredients

* 1 cup (250 mL) bread crumbs
* 1 tbsp. (15 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 tsp. (5 mL) oregano or Italian seasoning
* 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) salt
* 1/4 tsp. (1 mL) black pepper
* 2-3 tbsp. (30-45 mL) vegetable oil
* 1-1/2 lbs. (750 g) tilapia fillets (or other white fish fillets, such as sole, cod or haddock)

Cooking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C). Lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a plastic or paper bag combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, oregano (or Italian seasoning), salt and pepper. Hold the top of the bag shut and shake to mix everything together.
3. Pour vegetable oil into a small bowl. Working with one fillet at a time, brush both sides with a little of the oil, then drop into the bag with the bread crumb mixture and shake to coat well. Remove from bag and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining fillets.
4. Bake for 10 minutes, turn fillets over and continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes when you poke into it with a fork.

The reasons I picked these two dishes is because they require the least amount of canned ingredients but are still easy to prepare, they are filling, and my hubby and kids love both rice and tilapia. It was really easy to decide to try these out. I am looking forward to making them over the weekend. I hope the family likes them!

More Weight Loss Tips

Ok, I've been trying to cut down on my calories, improve my social life, be more active, work, be a good mom, wife, and friend all at the same time and I can say only 1 thing right now: I am hungry!

In the spirit of continuously looking for ways to change my eating lifestyle, I went on the Net and found some helpful tips. When I say helpful, these are real things or activities that apply to me and my life and therefore I can change or control.

For exercising:

There are lots of ways to increase the amount of activity you do. Team sports, racket sports, aerobics classes, running, walking, swimming and cycling will all improve your fitness levels.

Find something you enjoy that's easy for you to do in terms of location and cost. You are then more likely to build it into your routine and continue to exercise, despite inevitably missing the odd session through holidays, family commitments, etc.

• Get out and about at the weekend. Leave your car on the drive and walk to the shops. Try to incorporate longer walks into outings to the park, coast or countryside and take a picnic so you are in control of what you are going to eat that day. (The picnic part is hard but the longer walks can be done especially in the mall!)
  
  
• Every extra step you take helps. Always use the stairs instead of the lift, or get off the bus a stop before the usual one and walk the rest of the way. (My house is FULL of stairs. This can work. Plus, the commute to work can be extra exercise.)
  
  
• Use commercial breaks between TV-programmes to stand up and do exercise, or consider using an exercise bicycle in the living room while watching your favourite programme. (This is the hardest for me. Often, I just want to sit and watch.)
  

For Diet:

In terms of weight-loss, you can get your body to use up existing stores of fat by eating less and making healthier choices.

This doesn't mean crash diet (anything less than 1500 calories), which usually ends up with you either getting weaker or giving up in desperation. Quick-fix diets can lead to a yo-yoing effect of drastic weight loss followed by weight gain, resulting in a vicious cycle.

There are no shortcuts to losing weight in a healthy and reasonable way.

Eating 300 to 500 calories less per day should lead to a loss of between one and two pounds per week. This is a realistic target. It may seem slow, but would add up to a weight loss of more than three stone in a year.

Below are ways to reduce calorie intake without having to alter your diet significantly.

• Replace fizzy drinks and fruit cordials with water. (Not a problem..)
  
  
• Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed, or semi-skimmed for skimmed. (Still easy)
  
  
• Eat less lunch than usual. For example, make your own sandwich and limit the use of margarine/butter and full-fat mayonnaise (store-bought sandwiches often contain both). (Still on track but self-control is needed here.)
  
  
• Stop taking sugar in tea and coffee. (not do-able. C'mon, gimme some things!)
  
  
• Have smaller portions of the food you enjoy. (OK.)
  
  
• Avoid having a second helping at dinner. (Sniff, sniff. OK.)
  
  
• Cut out unhealthy treats such as confectionary, sugary biscuits and crisps between meals. (This is easy. I am not a sweets fan even if I bake.)
  
  
• Cut down on beer and alcohol. (uhhhhhh.......occasional is cutting down, right?)
  
  

All these things will influence your health in a positive way.

Finally, don't be tempted to skip breakfast – or any meal to lose weight. While skipping a meal will reduce your calorie intake for that hour, it will leave you much hungrier later on.


Only 2 more weeks before I can start attending gym classes. I am excited!

(you can find the article here.)

Losing Weight

One of the things I told myself I would start doing again is exercising. Since my fall, it's been tough to do just that. I am almost well though so I am excited about starting my diet and exercise plan. I've already lined up gym possibilities and am going to check out their viability later today. So that's done. Now, I've never lost weight on diet alone and, from past experience, only 3 kinds of diet have ever worked for me: something low in carbs or counting calories or a combination of both. The last time I counted calories was way back in college so suffice it to say I do not remember the calorie count list. Because of this I went online to look for a chart that I could use as a point of reference and this is what I found.


chart 1
I love meat so this chart was (understandably?) depressing. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it's going to be to cut down on portions AND cut down on carbs at the same time. I think I'm going to be hungry a lot. I thought I would look for the chart with low calorie food to help me substitute without blowing my regular calorie intake count and this is what I found.


chart 2
Even more depressing huh? I seriously do not like a lot of the items on this table. Seriously.

But I am determined to lose weight. I think I've used the "I've just had 2 babies" line far too much already. Besides, there are too many cute (and cheaper) clothes out there for slimmer women that I want to wear. And, let's not forget, my vanity and memories of my slimmer days are torturing me. I miss the days when I was thinner because, in my opinion anyway, I looked better and I definitely felt better.

So wish me luck on this new project. So many ongoing projects, the Gemini in me is in heaven and hell at the same time.