Curry in a Hurry

I love cooking half homemade meals. One of my favorite weeknight go-to is curry! I simply buy a premix, vegetarian bag and add fresh ingredients then serve over rice. Here's the brand I prefer:

 

 

 

You should start by sautéing vegetables on low heat, like eggplant, onions, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, etc. in olive oil and spices like garlic salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, essence, parsley, etc. While that is cooking, boil water for your rice. Once they are all complete, mix it all together and enjoy!

 

 

 

Seriously, in less than ten minutes you can have all of this cooked! t was delicious and nutritious. 

Help! I'm Addicted to Guacamole!

I love Mexican food. I really love guacamole. Okay, I really just love any use of avocados. Although, guac and avocados pair best with bad Mexican food there are some easier alternatives:

• Guacamole on a breakfast omelet. You can leave out the cheese and potatoes to save carbs/calories. You can add, egg whites, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, spinach, mushroom, jalapenos or just about any vegetable your little heart desires.
• Guacamole in a salad. You don't even need a dressing! It is so good with eggs, peppers, and tomatoes.
• Guacamole in pesto! Make your pesto normally and just add guacamole or avocado to it. Serve over spaghetti squash instead of noodles if you want to cut back.
• Guacamole on pizza! I like to make 'salad' pizzas. Let's face it, we all want pizza some time. Why not try to make it a little healthier? Try topping your cheese pizza with salad items next time. It is delicious.

Don't be afraid to try something weird. You might just find a new recipe!

Shaking Things Up

I've always been told that in order to blog properly you need to have a focus. This blog has been like me: all over the place. I've decided to dedicate this blog completely to recipes and food. 

I've had a tough time finding recipes that fit my pescatarian diet so I decided to create a blog for others like me. In this blog, I plan to write ways to add meat to these meals, because my boyfriend is definitely not a pescatarian. And, I'm sure you're friends aren't all pescatariants either.

For those of  you that don't know what a pescatarian is:  Pescatarian = Vegetarian + Seafood. Not to be confused with the religion, "Presbyterian".

I became a pescatarian in April 2008. The reason I chose to be pescatarian vs. vegetarian is because I grew up on the sea and absolutely love seafood. There is no way that I could give it up or cheese. Plus, my dad is a boat captain. I could NEVER give up free seafood caught by my old man.

I became a pescatarian after reading the book "Skinny Bitch" in college. This book changed my views on food, health and animal rights; which immediately changed my palate.

Even if you're not into the pescatarian diet, I hope you enjoy this blog and find some yummy, new recipes.

My other blog is dedicated to inspiring myself and others. To follow it, please visit: http://marissadeslatte.wordpress.com/

I plan to post at least once a week to both. Enjoy!

VegOut! Challenge

For this challenge, I have 30 days to eat 30 different vegetables, but I don't think it will take me that long! Today is day 5 of the VegOut! Challenge and I've already had 12 different vegetables. Here's what I've had so far:

I started on Saturday, March 1st with a  healthy breakfast. One fried egg over easy topped with salsa and served with avocado (Veggie #1) and grilled Tomatoes (Veggie #2) and White Onions (Veggie #3).

I went to Mardi Gras the rest of the weekend so didn't worry about the VegOut! Challenge. On Monday, I was back at it:

For lunch on March 3, I made Okra Stew served over rice. In it I pan cooked Okra (Veggie #4), Chives (Veggie #5), Celery (Veggie #6), Green Bell Peppers (Veggie #7), Garlic (Veggie # 8), Eggplant (Veggie #9) and a few other vegetables that I've already counted like White Onion and canned Tomatoes.

For a snack that afternoon, I had more vegetables!

I love eating vegetables with either ranch, peanut butter or hummus. On Monday, I added Cucumbers (Veggie #10) to my veggie log.

For dinner on Tuesday, March 4, I made one of our favorite meals:

This is wasabi and soy marinated tuna steaks, cooked with tomatoes and onions and topped with avocado. For sides, we had wasabi and soy mashed Russet Potatoes (Veggie #11) and fish sauce Brussels Sprouts (Veggie #12).

All in all, this VegOut! Challenge has been fairly easy. It has challenged me to be more creative and more complex. I'm a very simple cook, meaning I can make a meal with anything I find in my kitchen. This has caused me to add more ingredients to normal meals and grocery shop more frequently.

So far, I've been sticking with the veggies that I know and love. But, I can't wait to add a few new vegetables that I don't cook or eat very often like: Bean Sprouts, Cabbage, Edamame, Daikon, Mustard Greens, Kale, Turnips and more!

Practice Makes Perfect

Okay, I have a confession. I hit the diet SUPER hard in January, but have been semi bad after my first cheat day (Super Bowl!). Nothing crazy, but definitely not as strict as I should have been. It was so hard with Valentine's Day and celebrating a new job:(

Now that I've had a month off, I'm ready to get back in to it. My boyfriend and I are both going full force next month. To keep us on track, we're doing a 30 day veggie challenge. No we're not just going to eat veggies. We're going to take the VegOut! challenge, which has you trying 30 DIFFERENT vegetables in 30 days for March, which is National Nutrition Month by the way!

Today's lunch was practiced for my challenge:

 

 

All I did was pack a few of my left over sides from dinner earlier this week and I knocked out 5 veggies in one meal! I had:

• Steamed Asparagus with a little (I mean LITTLE) Butter
• Okra with Onions pan cooked in Olive Oil and topped with Tony's and Black Pepper
• Zucchini and Squash pan cooked in Olive Oil and topped with Tony's and Black Pepper

It was delicious, light and filling. Often times I eat too big of a breakfast or lunch that I don't even want to eat my snacks. I'm trying to stay consistent with three small meals and at least two small snacks. I've been eating snacks from Nature Box. They are AWESOME! You should definitely give them a try and this 30 day veggie challenge. To sign up for the challenge visit: VegOutHouston.org

 

A few more FAQs for ya:

• Do I have to live in Houston to participate? NO
• Do I have to eat only veggies? DID YOU NOT READ MY BLOG? NO!
• Can I eat meat? YES, YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT. YOU JUST HAVE TO EAT YOUR VEGGIES TOO!
• Can I eat the same veggie 30 times? SURE IF YOU WANT, BUT IT WON'T COUNT. YOU HAVE TO TRY 30 VEGGIES!
• Eat 30 veggies--all of them? NO, YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY IT! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO EAT IT.
• Why would I sign up for this? BESIDES IT BEING HEALTHY, FREE, EASY--YOU'RE ENTERED TO WIN GREAT PRIZES IF YOU SUBMIT YOUR VEGGIE LOG BY 4/4!
• Do I have to participate in March? NO, YOU CAN DO IT WHENEVER BUT IN ORDER TO WIN PRIZES YOUR 30 DAY VEGGIE LOG MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 4/4.
• How do I get a veggie log? ONCE YOU REGISTER ON VEGOUTHOUSTON.ORG YOU'LL BE GIVEN ONE. IF YOU LOSE IT YOU CAN GO BACK ONLINE AND DL ONE.
• Does it have to be 30 consecutive days? NO, NO ONE IS SPYING ON YOU. IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE 30 DAYS IN MARCH. JUST SUBMIT YOUR LOG BY 4/4.
• I don't have a team and I feel like a loser, what should I do? JOIN MY TEAM: AD 2 HOUSTON
• You didn't answer my question what do I do now? LEAVE A COMMENT AND I'LL RESPOND!