I'm still holding strong with 30lbs down since February. I've been stuck. I decided it was time to get moving with the exercise. My friend Christine told me I had to go see Karl at No Bull Training. Couldn't hurt right? She had been going to the boot camp classes during the week and told me it would be a great place to start to get my ass moving and SHE WAS RIGHT! I am in love with this place. I signed up for 2x a week semi personal training sessions. Karl and his trainers are amazing! Motivating, encouraging, educated. I actually want to go to training. I've never felt that way before. They push me to my limits and know when its enough. I feel great when I leave there. Hoping this is just what I needed to get the weight falling off again.
FOOD. I haven't been eating so hot the past few weeks. I must get my food choices under control! I'm feeling like I need another long term juice fast to get me motivated, detoxed and positive. Problem is I need to find time to do it! I cannot fast while training (no exercise while on a juice fast, consuming too little calories). My training sessions end in mid august so I am thinking of starting a 15 day fast then and getting back to the training when I am done. I need to plan this out. I'll also be squeezing in short 3 days fasts here and there.
Now onto some recipes!
Crunchy Cashew Thai Quinoa Salad with Ginger Peanut Dressing {vegan & gluten-free}
Original Recipe: crunchy-cashew-thai-quinoa-salad-with-ginger-peanut-dressing
Ingredients
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1-2 cups shredded red cabbage, depending on how much crunch you like
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- ½ red onion, diced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup diced green onions
- ½ cup cashew halves or peanuts (honey-roasted is good)
- Optional: 1 cup edamame or chickpeas
- Fresh lime, for a bit of tang
- For the dressing:
- ¼ cup all natural peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce, gluten-free if desired
- 1 tablespoon honey (use agave if vegan)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- Water to thin, if necessary
Instructions
- To cook quinoa: Rinse quinoa with cold water in mesh strainer. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 ½ cups of water to a boil. Add in quinoa and bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15 minutes or until quinoa has absorbed all of the water. Remove from heat and fluff quinoa with fork; place in large bowl and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes. You should have a little over 2 cups of quinoa.
- To make dressing: Add peanut butter and honey or agave to a medium microwave safe bowl; heat in microwave for 20 seconds. Add in ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and both sesame and olive oil and stir until mixture is smooth and creamy. If you want a thinner dressing, simply stir in a teaspoon or two of water or olive oil.
- Add as much or as little dressing as you’d like to the quinoa. I always start out with a little bit of dressing and usually add more to suit my taste preferences. Alternatively you can save the dressing for later and add when you are ready to eat; however the flavors of the dressing usually soak into the salad so I love adding it to the quinoa first. I found this made a lot of dressing, use a little at a time.
- Next fold in red pepper, onion, cabbage, carrots, and cilantro into the quinoa. Garnish with cashews and green onions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with lime wedges if desired.
Honey Chicken Kabobs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast
|
halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cloves garlic
1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil,
honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Before adding chicken, reserve a small amount of
marinade to brush onto kabobs while cooking. Place the chicken and garlic and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the
better).
2.
Preheat
the grill for high heat.
3.
Drain
marinade from the chicken and discard marinade. Thread chicken onto the
skewers.
4.
Lightly
oil the grill grate. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes,
until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with reserved marinade
frequently.
| Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad with Balsamic Reduction Ingredients:(amounts will be based on the size salad you want to make) fresh local heirloom tomatoes (or tomatoes of choice) pearilini or ciliegine mozzarella basil leaves balsamic vinegar sugar (1/4 teaspoon for 1 cup vinegar) - optional extra virgin olive oil salt and ground pepper to taste Create the Balsamic Reduction: This is a very easy process, just keep a constant eye on it or you'll wind up with one large lump of balsamic vinegar! Begin with any amount you'd like. When completed, it will be 50%-75% reduced from the amount you started with. I began with 1 cup to yield 1/2 cup of delicious balsamic reduction. Pour vinegar in a heavy saucepan/frypan, one with a curved bottom is best. Turn burner on medium - med-high and bring to a boil. Once it begins to boil, reduce immediately to a simmer, medium to med-low heat. Whisk in sugar if using. Watch and whisk every minute or so until syrupy, approximately 10 - 20 minutes, depending on the amount you are reducing. Remove from heat, cool and pour in a glass container. Refrigerate any leftover. Create the Caprese Salad: Cut your tomatoes into 4, 6 and 8 piece sections, depending on their size (I used mini heirlooms, so I only needed to cut inhalf). Add mozzarella and basil leaves. Drizzle with evoo and balsamic reduction. Salt and ground pepper to taste. It's as simple as that! | |
| Look for a delicious scallops recipe I made last week in a few days. TTFN |
