Emiko: Day 41, Sweet (potato) Eats

Hello, hungry-bellied friends! Here I am going to offer you the two newest additions to our virtual cookbook. The ingredient featured in both of these recipes is the magnificent Sweet Potato. These are so delicious, yet sometimes under-appreciated. 

I am posting a delectably simple recipe for sweet-yet-spicy Sweet Potato Fries. So easy, so yummy! Next will be a Whole Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots recipe for the slow-cooker. Here is what the finished product looks like (with some of that Quinoa recipe on the side still left over from last time, and by the way it keeps really well!):

Looks awesome, right? Well, I would have taken pictures of the Sweet Potato Fries too, but we ate them too fast! So no pictures. But here's the recipe, and if you make then you will get the delightful bonus of getting to eat 'em, too. What could be better?

Sweet Potato Fries

4 medium-sized Sweet Potatoes

1 tbsp Olive Oil, plus a dash to grease the baking sheet

1/2 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

A sprinkle of Cayenne Pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside. As the oven warms up, peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into long, square strips. You know, like a french fry! Place the sweet potatoes into a sealable plastic bag and add the oil, paprika, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Shake the bag until the potatoes are evenly-coated. Pour a small amount of oil on the lined baking sheet, just enough to grease the surface. Spread out the fries evenly, in one layer. It is very important to have just one layer, or some fries may burn/remain soggy. Bake in the oven for a total of 25-30 minutes, checking in every 10 minutes and flipping them around. After 20 minutes, try a fry (be careful, they're hot!) to see if you want them any spicier, and if so add more cayenne pepper. Keep a close eye for the last 10 minutes, to assure your fries don't burn. Remove from oven, and serve immediately. And enjoy!

Slow-cooker Whole Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

I got this recipe from familyoven.com, I will link to it here. In my version, I am changing it slightly by substituting sweet potatoes and carrots for the mushrooms in the original. We used an unfrozen chicken, and removed all the skin and most of the fat. We came back to check on the chicken after 7 hours, and it was just right. I also think that there is definitely too much butter in the original recipe, so try it with less before you add more butter to the paste. We also didn't add any salt, and it still came out fantastic.

1 (about 3lb) frozen or fresh whole chicken (make sure it will fit in your slow-cooker!), giblets removed

1 lb sweet potatoes and carrots (about 1/2 lb of each), cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2-3 cups water

1 small white onion, peeled and chopped

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1/2 tbsp dried rosemary

1/2 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

1-3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 tbsp honey

Place the potatoes, carrots, and about half of the onions in your slow-cooker, and pour just enough water in to cover the vegetables. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables, and set the slow-cooker to low. Cover with lid. Place all the other ingredients in a food processor and blend them into a paste. Remove the lid from your slow-cooker, pour the paste evenly over the chicken, and replace the lid. Let cook 6-8 hours, depending on how hot your slow-cooker runs. If you are using a frozen chicken, it may take up to 10 hours. The meat should be falling right off of the bone, and the vegetables also very tender.

Emiko: Day 31, For Hungry Bellies

Doesn't our lunch look delicious?

We have officially crossed over the 1-month mark, and a lot of our cravings and habits are melting away in exchange for more positive things. So, Patrick has been telling us, "It's all fun from here out. The hard stuff is over." Time to celebrate and just go along with for the ride, right?

Well, not quite. Tonight was hard for me.

After doing a single set of 1,4oo jumps before rushing off to work (yet again I had to cut my jumps short), I arrived at work ready to chomp down on something filling. But wait a tick— I had already had lunch! From then on it was fruit and ONLY fruit for the rest of my shift, plus a little milk. It was a loooooong 8-hour wait until I got home and was able to eat my (forgotten) post-work-out egg white, Dinner egg-white, and late-night veggies. All of which I devoured!


The real purpose of this post is to share with you all a couple of recipes. The first is that for our delicous turkey-patties, and the second is one that I made for the first time today, which is a quinoa dish. Both are really good, PCP dishes that you can make in advance (and they both make quite a bit) for future meals.

Quinoa with peas, onions and spices!

Ady's Famous Spicy Turkey-Patties

Patrick has also started to hound on Adrian and I about making sure we have a lot of variety in our protein sources (he knows we love the patties), so although we won't be making another batch of these for awhile, we hope that you will enjoy them as much as we do.

Play around with the spices, especially the chili powder. If you want it spicy, use the max given here...or even more! Also, having a lime at the ready to squeeze over your turkey burger is an absolute must. Remember that you can experiment by trying different meats such as ground chicken or even fish. Have fun!

Ingredients:
(Makes 9 patties with 100g protein, 10-20g carbs)

2.5 lbs ground, Lean Turkey (or substitute)
2 slices Whole-Wheat bread
1/2 cup sliced Green Onion
8 cloves minced Garlic
5 squirts (or about 5 tbsp.) Dijon Mustard
3 tbsp. Non-fat Yogurt
2-4 tbsp. Chili Powder
1 heaping tbsp. Thyme
1 heaping tbsp. Curry Powder
1 heaping tbsp. Smoked Chipotle Powder (optional)

Materials:

1 Large Mixing Bowl
1 Big Knife
1 Cutting Board
Cookie sheets, or some other flat surface/container to place the patties on while freezing
Freezer
Saran Wrap
Freezer Baggies
Aluminum Foil
Broiler


Preparation: Thaw the turkey until it breaks apart easily. Break up into small pieces into a large mixing bowl. Also break up the whole-wheat bread into very small crumbs and place in the mixing bowl, and set aside. Slice the green onions, mince the garlic, and add both into the bowl. Add the yogurt, mustard, thyme, chili powder, curry powder, and chipotle powder (optional). Use your hands to mix up the contents of the bowl thoroughly.

Shape the turkey mixture into 9, equally-sized patties, placing onto cookie sheets (or other surface/container) as you go. Place in freezer for 30 mins, or until patties are firm but still malleable. Remove patties from freezer, reshape if necessary, and wrap individually in saran wrap. Place patties into a couple freezer bags, and freeze. Voila!

To Cook: Thaw turkey patty for an hour or two, or defrost in microwave being careful not to cook the meat. Turn on the broiler, and place a sheet of aluminum foil on the broiler rack. Place turkey patty on the foil, and broil for 10-12 mins. on each side.

Quinoa with Veggies

Quinoa is a grain that is new to me, although I've heard really good things. It fairly high in protein, and is supposed to be a "complete" protein unto itself.

Adrian found this recipe on Google. It is the first link that comes up when you search for "quinoa recipes." I will link directly to it here. We decided to double the amount of cinnamon, and want to add bell peppers to the mix next time because it needs something more. Again, play with it!

Serves Six to Eight

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa
1½ tbsp. Vegetable Oil
½ Onion Diced (about 4 or 5 ozs.)
1 tsp. Grated Fresh Ginger Root
½ Fresh Green Chile (Finely Chopped)
1 heaping tsp. Turmeric
1 heaping tsp. Coriander
¼ tsp. Ground Cinnamon (or to taste)
1¾ cups Water
½ cup Fresh or Frozen Peas

1. Rinse quinoa with cold water. Use a fine mesh filter or coffee filter. If you're a klutz like me use the fine mesh filter or a lot of quinoa is going to wind up in the sink!
   
   Quinoa is coated with a natural substance called saponin that protects the grain by repelling insects and birds. Rinsing the quinoa is important to avoid a raw or bitter taste. You can tell if there is saponin by the production of a soapy looking "suds" when the seeds are swished in water.
   
   
2. Place oil and diced onions in a heavy saucepan. Saute the onions on medium high heat for four to five minutes.
   
3. Add the ginger root, chile, and quinoa. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
   A fine, white spiral appears around the grain as it cooks.
   
4. Stir in the turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and salt. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
   
5. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
   
6. Stir in peas. Cover and cook for four or five minutes or until peas are tender and all the water has been absorbed.
7. Fluff with a fork before serving

*Optional Ingredient: 1 to 2 Tbsp. Chopped Cilantro.


Well, I know this post looks really long, and it took me quite a bit of time to write it all out. I hope that you can enjoy these recipes.

Good night everybody, and go do some happy, healthy eating!

Emiko: Day 22, Drinkable Dinner!!

I just finished reading Adrian's post, and he got me a glass of water and it was yum.

Today is the official first day of Week 4! Can you believe it? By this time next week, a month will have past. Holy guacamole, y'all.

We did our last work outs for Week 3 today. And I was really groovin', as is always the case right before we receive new our new exercise routines every Friday! I did my all-time record for jump-ropes...*drum roll*.......

600 jumps in a single set!!!!!!!!

Of course, I must admit that I tripped sometimes in between, so it wasn't a consecutive run, but 600 nonetheless! Woohoo!

I also made smoothies tonight for the first time since Day 8. That first smoothie was a complete disaster, because I blended milk, banana, egg whites, and a whole apple (including peel, which is where things went foul) into a nasty-thick pint of yuck. Please never EVER make a smoothie like this. It was my first official 'PCP Dinner" smoothie, and good lordy was it a test of my devotion to the Project to drink/gag it all down.


But tonight's was a delight! Both Adrian and I had a smoothie made with milk, 1 banana, 1/2 an apple (peeled!), and ice. It was refreshing and much more filling than I was expecting. Our bellies reported that it felt like a real dinner, that's for sure. Finally full at dinner time again!

To the right, you can see me looking rather like someone spiked my smoothie, and also unquestionably like my mom...!

That is all I have to report today. I do want to make a quick comment that ever since the PCP began, not one day has passed where I thought "where did the day go?" I like that a lot. Even if the day sucked, I was there for every moment of it and it felt rightfully long and full. A lot happens in a week, and we have been changing! With that in mind, I am excited for Week 4 and to see what wondrous things we encounter!

I just remembered that I forgot to eat my nightly veggies! Dang. Better go steam up some cauliflower!

Night night!

Emiko: Day 17, A New Yearn For The Burn

Today was the first day since Day 8 (the first day of weighing-out our food) that I really screwed up my diet. I wasn't on track this morning when I first got up before work, and only managed to eat the egg before I left. Once at work, I ate a 100g bowl of Vanilla Almond coconut-flakey granola (yum) with 150ml milk at about 8:30am, and then some carrots, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes with a little baba ghanoush around 11am. All of this space in between my "breakfast" didn't feel right. The Sunday morning shift is the busiest of the week, so I was feeling the pressure to even find time to stop and eat.

One thing I will pause to tell you about is the amazingness of cucumber water! Some of my coworkers and I have become really excited about it, and put a pitcher of it out for customers to drink. I made some for Adrian the other day, and he liked it too. All you have to do is slice some cucumbers, put them in your glass and pour water over them. I like to add a little ice to bring out the cucumbery flavor. It is so refreshing!

Anyways, I should also mention the new, harderrrr exercises! Right before the new exercises came a couple of days ago, I was just starting to feel comfortable with most of the old ones. So of course we are offered a bigger challenge! Yesterday I surprised myself and did really well with the jumpropes. I did a couple sets of 200 or so jumps, then a set of 404 and finally a last set of over 500! I kind of shocked myself with that one. Today's jumps were not so crazy, but I made it over the required 1,500.

I also struggled through a lot of my work out today (Week 3, Work out 2). My shoulders had proved weak weak weak during last week's work outs, but the new Shoulder Press exercise was more manageable. I was really burning by the 10th rep, but I kept sticking it out until rep 15. My face looked like a radish, it was so red. But TRIUMPH! That is all that matters! Similar cases with the Ski Jumper and Leg Ups. But somehow I maxed out all of the exercises! What?!? I was confused when I realized that I had gone to the maximum set of reps for all of them. 

HOW? I thought. But I guess my will-power is getting stronger. I know that I often find myself thinking, "I'll be one step closer to Peak Condition if I keep going!"

Adrian: Day 10, eats

Improvised a few new dishes today.  Patrick's advice was to make a lot of food in advance so we wouldn't have to spend so much time cooking every day, but Emiko and I have yet to find a meal that we can eat without feeling sick, so we're trying a bunch of new things.  It's time consuming, but it's fun, and it requires you to think creatively.  For the first time, Emiko and I are learning how to use a kitchen.  We never spent much time preparing meals before starting PCP.  We were the type to buy bread, milk, eggs and sandwich meat at the grocery store, and eat out every other day.  These are the new dishes:

Lunch

baked home fries w/onions & garlic

broiled chicken breast strips w/onions, garlic, squeezed orange juice & apple slices.

whole grain brown rice

Dinner

broiled turkey patties

1.25 lbs 99% fat free turkey

1 c bread crumbs, whole wheat

1/4 c yogurt

green onions

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp cayenne pepper

a sprinkle of curry powder & thyme

2 T dijon mustard

My veggie serving for dinner was slow cooked beans seasoned w/onions, garlic, thyme & bay leaves.

If you make 9 turkey patties with this recipe, then each patty gives roughly 50 g of meat & 10 g of bread.  It's pretty simple, and it was tasty too.

I'm struggling a bit with the new exercises.  I can't do the incline pull-ups without overstraining my neck.  Hopefully I'll get that worked out soon.

Adrian