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 30, IT'S DAY 30!!!

Wow guys, I really can't believe that PCP2 has been going for a full 30 days already! Has it really honestly been a month? Time has flown by.

I just finished whipping up another batch of Adrian's delicious recipe for lean turkey burgers. You can see a picture here of the mixing bowl. Doesn't it look just fabulous? We decided to double the amount of chili powder this time to make it extra spicy and exciting. We'll let you know how it tastes in a couple of days when we try the new round of patties.

These 100g-o'-meat patties have been our staple for lunch. Love 'em!

Anywho, I set another new record for myself in jump-roping today! I did one set of 1,700 jumps. Woo woo! Again, my body complained and complained through the first couple hundred or so. I almost stopped at 250 jumps to take a breather, but then a little voice in my head said, "Let's see what you feel like after another hundred. Just feel it out." So I did, and it kind of kept going that way until I hit 1,000. By that time I had decided to push myself and finish the full 1,600. But once I got to 1,600, the voice chimed in again..."Let's try another hundred, eh?" I stopped there, though.

It's amazing to experience how far I have come. Just a few weeks ago, I was doing sets of 100-150 jumps, 300 at most. Now 100 is nothing. I can just say, "Let's do another 100!" That's so amazing to me!

Speaking of progress...I am kind of embarrassed to show you all this, but here is a previously unseen Day 1 photo that I uncovered as I was helping Adrian upload a picture for his post half an hour ago. Oh my god, you guys! I can't believe how pudgy I was! Even by the end of Week 1 (the first photo on our Flickr photostream) you can see a big difference. In this photo I look pretty bloated in the belly. After the half-diets, the puffiness went down a bunch.

In finding this picture after a month on the PCP, most of the surprise didn't come from how much weight I've lost since then. That's maybe 10% of it. Mostly I can see now how stark the difference was between the image I had of myself and how I really, truly was. I never really realized that this was how I appeared to the world, because when I looked in the mirror I didn't want to see the truth. I compensated for my fat by sucking in just a little bit. You know you do it. I did it. And I still do it!

The initial shock of seeing this photo right after Adrian took it was actually part of the reason I didn't put much effort into uploading it. I didn't want it to be real. Well, now my secret's out!


Off to do my chores before bedtime! Good night, all.

Emiko: Day 29, Untitled

I just got home from an emergency call in to work, so I don't have the time or energy to write much.

But, like Adrian, I set another new record for jump-ropes today, doing all of my 1,600 jumps in a single set! At first my body was like, "No, not again!" but stopped complaining soon after and it was fairly easy. The work out was hard because I was sore from yesterday's exercises, but it was good.

Man, today I am really feeling this equation in my life: optimism about life + caffeine + in love with Adrian + exercising my muscles = Awesome!

I feel a very humbled sense of happiness, because I am working to positively change my life, which is positively affecting other's lives. Adrian and I are learning a lot during this journey together, and are having to really work as a team both PCP-wise and in general with life. Things are changing for the better in so many ways. I will elaborate more later, but now....sleep!

Love to the world! G'night and sweet dreams.