Tag: meals

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Stop throwing your Salad leaves away| Repurpose your salad ingredients | Asian inspired Sweet Potato Noodle Salad

Last week I wanted salad, which is a rare thing, but I purchased arugula and tomato and such for said salad! Well a week later (not even a week really) and I noticed my salad leaves were started to go bad; you know how they start to get wet and slimy and such (real gross)!

However today, I thought, why not repurpose my salad ingredients so I can stop throwing away my yummy salad leaves.

This meal is vegan-friendly, so no meat involved. So here we go with my tasty warm Asian inspired noodle salad. Everything is leftover and sitting in my fridge, looking sad.

I boiled and drained my sweet potato noodles, cut them into smaller piece and rinsed in cold water to stop the cooking and set to the side.

1 package of baby bella mushrooms quarter and about 7 baby bell peppers sliced.

3 roma tomatoes. I had a half bag of each of the following: spinach, arugula, and broccoli slaw.

In my big wok pan which I love sooooo much is olive oil, heated. Add mushrooms and peppers and garlic and stir-fry for 4 minutes or so. Then add in the broccoli slaw and cook for another 4 minutes.

Add in the salad leaves

Let them cook just until wilted then add in tomatoes and I had some alfalfa sprouts

Mix and cook for 1 minute; I just let my tomatoes get warm.

Now the last steps are adding in the noodles and sauce. The salad dressing I used was an Asian sesame dressing, but you can use what you want, this is what I had

Mix and serve. You can eat hot, cold or room temp. I will never again throw away my salad leaves or other salad ingredients. After heating all the veggies, I could have added them to rice, or other noodles or even potatoes. Better yet, I could eat them without a carb!!! I just wanted to share with you guys. Until next time remember to Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!

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Best Things I ate – Summer 2018

Hey foodies and non-foodies alike. I hope you had an awesome and tasty summer. So yes it is officially Autumn here in the U.S. and I just couldn’t let summer go without highlighting some of the best things I ate; some of these I cooked and others were had out and about. So in no particular order let’s get started.

IMG_2674I love Asian food of all kinds, and if there are noodles involved, I am sold from jump-street. I had these sweet potato noodles that I got from the Asian grocers. With them, I made Japchae, a typical cold veggie noodle dish. Mine had cabbage, shredded carrots, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and cilantro. This is so tasty and light and I like mine on the warmer side. But it is a great way to get your veggies in a meal. The great thing about this dish is that I ate it all times of day and night and it kept me full for some hours without feeling heavy.

Here in Portland Oregon where I reside, we have tons of food carts, pods, trucks, etc. Downtown Portland, the Alder Street Food Carts, there is a food cart called Bing Mi. It is located on 9th and Alder. The only thing they make is Chinese Crepes. I had heard a lot about this place before I ever ate one. I drive Lyft, and I had customers who were visiting tell me about this place. So I decided to give it a try. It was a phenomenal mix of Asian taste and American breakfast.

IMG_4517Oh, and I can not forget about fair food. I only go to county fairs to eat all the stuff I don’t eat on a regular. This fair, I had my eyes set on the huge smoked turkey leg and I made straight to the stand upon entering the fairgrounds. I felt like a Flintstone eating this big leg, and it’s not a cute food to eat. So if you are on a date or you are worried about how people look at you when eat, this might not be the food for you. But since none of these were the case for me, I chomped away.

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Now I love corn on the cob and I have been eating my share this summer. Before this summer, I slightly remember seeing a lot of Latinos and Hispanics eating corn on the cob that had cheese on it. But it didn’t fully register until I started seeing this corn called Elotes on Youtube. Well… I finally got to have one this summer at the Portland Pride Parade. OMG, it was the best thing; the combination of the sweet corn, the tartness from the cotija cheese, the creaminess of the mayo and the very very light spice of the chili powder. My mouth and my stomach were beyond happy. I loved this so much, that for the next two weeks following this encounter with my dear Elotes, I made them at home at least 6 times within those weeks. This might be the top favorite thing I ate this summer.

These were just a few of the great foods I consumed this summer, the ones that come to my mind first. The lovely thing about food is that I can have them any time of year I want because I can cook them at home, so I don’t have to wait until summer. In the comments, let me know what were some of your favorite foods you had this summer and if you have pics, I would love to see.

If you want to keep up with what I eat or what I am doing, follow me on Instagram @Gloriousgal .  I am typically very active there. Also if you want to see me cook different dishes or travel and eat, Follow my Youtube Channel @Cook Eat Enjoy.

And until Next time, Cook eat and Enjoy!!!

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Comfort Food: Veggie Lasagna & Chicken Lasagna

Let’s talk comfort food. Technically, all food can be comfort food if said food brings you comfort when you think about it or partake.

For me, when I think of comfort food, the foods that immediately spring to mind, makes me smile and makes my mouth begin to water just from the thought are: fried chicken wings, homemade Mac and Cheese and Lasagna.

I do not eat any of the aforementioned often because… well… I am trying to eat better and all that jazz. However, sometimes, it is good to treat yourself. Self care comes in many forms and me being a food lover, what better way to show myself some love than to make one of my happy food dishes.

So, I typically make Lasagna the traditional way. Okay let me specify because my family traditional is probably not the same as actual ‘traditional’. So traditional meaning a ground beef meat sauce, ricotta and different shredded cheeses. But since I am trying to be a bit more healthy, I decided to make a veggie lasagna for me and since my family loves chicken, I made them a shredded chicken lasagna.

Chicken lasagna is super easy, I just boiled chicken breast in seasoning and shredded it.

For the veggie Lasagna, I used veggies that I love and that would hold together. I used yellow summer squash, zucchini squash, a medley of 5 mushrooms and red spinach. Red spinach has a slight bitter taste, so the next time I would just use regular spinach. Never-the-less, my family devoured the chicken lasagna; I got none, but they definitely enjoyed it. The Veggie lasagna was so hearty, that I forgot it did not have meat in it!!!

If you want to see how I prepared these two dishes, check out the video HERE!

And please like comment and subscribe.

Let me know in the comments below, what is your favorite comfort food?

Until next time, Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!

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Vegan/ Vegetarian Experience

It is never easy to change. Sometimes change is forced upon you, while other times you are the one initiating change. Either way, it takes some time to get your feet under you when the winds of change blows.

I have experienced quite a bit of change here in 2018; most I could not control. However, the one I could and can control is my diet. I have taken on a Vegan/Vegetarian diet with the occasional fish.

I wanted to try this eating change because of health issues. I wanted to see how a change in my diet would affect my mental and physical states. I love meat of all kinds; from your everyday beef and pork to the more exotic (to some) deer, rabbit, etc. I also love veggies; growing up, my parents insisted my brother and I ate our beans, peas, green and the likes. No, was not an answer, which has served me well as an adult.

I have never not eaten meat, nor have I ever had the desire to not eat meat. But as I grow older and different health issues have manifested, it has been suggested that I cut meat from my diet and perhaps try a vegan, vegetarian or even pescatarian diet. Of course, when it comes to food, I am game to try new things and if it will assist in decreasing or eliminating me health issues, I am here to give it a try.

So for the next 4 weeks, maybe more, I will be embarking on this Vegan/ Vegetarian diet. Actually I have already begun. I am now ending week 2 and will be posting the week 2 update on my YouTube Channel: Week 1 is here.

So far so good. I am really enjoying eating and especially make vegan/vegetarian meals. It has given me a chance to test my food creativity and try new foods I would not have otherwise tried. For example, I have tried Beyond Meat burgers and they blew my mind!!! The same with Field Roast’s smoke Apple sage sausage.

So here I am on another food Journey, so come and follow along and watch the updates and recipes on my YouTube channel Cook Eat Enjoy.

In the comments, let me know if you have or ever considered going Vegan/Vegetarian and why? Also let me know some of your favorite vegan products that you think I should try.

So I would say wish me luck, but so far, so good. Until next time, Cook, Eat, Enjoy!

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Seafood Boil

Hey All,

Hope this blog post finds you well and prospering in 2018. Well let’s start this year off right and that could only mean seafood for me.

Last week, I was inspired to make a seafood boil and it turned into a Mukbang on my youtube channel Cook Eat Enjoy

I am an east coast girl, so seafood is in my blood and I could eat it everyday!!! I am actually considering becoming a pescatarian… maybe. Anyway, I had really been craving seafood and was going to go out to a restaurant, but realized that I could get more for my money if I did it at home, and that is what I did. So I was home alone, everyone else was either at school or at work, so I got to treat myself, but I did save everyone else some… I am not that greedy (although when it comes to seafood, I typically am).

My seafood boil had head-on shrimp, snow crab legs, king crab leg, little sausages, red and yellow potatoes, frozen corn on the cob, mussels and old bay seasoning.

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Of course, any combination of seafood can be added, your choice.

All of this cost me about $32, and I had enough to feed 4 people and it took me about 30 minutes to make. Please tell me in the comments if you know of a place where you can get a deal like that. That is a restaurant I might just go check out with my family 🙂

Never-the-less, if you want to see how I made the Seafood boil in 30 minutes. Go check out the  youtube video Seafood Boil Mukbang 

Oh and while you are there please like, comment and subscribe to support your girl, me!!! Until next time; Cook, Eat and Enjoy!!!

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The Trouble with Breakfast

The trouble with breakfast is that sometimes I want something more elaborate than toast or cereal with milk, and I am just too darn lazy to make the effort. And sometimes, breakfast just gets boring with the regular cold cereal or quick toast or waffle.

What I do is try to incorporate something new, something that I have never tried before. In this case, Garlic Naan and Overnight Oats.

I purchased my Naan at the regular grocery store, but next time I think I will try my hand at making it. This was pretty good. Warmed in the Microwave, pre the directions and then I smeared it with butter and sprinkled with coarse kosher sea salt.

This went well with my mushroom and cheese egg white omelet and sausage. Again, the trouble with breakfast is that I am too lazy to cook like this every morning and my hips and stomach are probably better for it.

The overnight oats might be the game changer for me; the problem solver most days. I grew up hating oatmeal. The first time I made overnight oats, the consistency was not my cup of tea. Try two, this time, was better. I like my overnight oats stiff. This is peach, almond, cinnamon flavor, paired with some yummy sausage. I was happy this morning. and have made enough for the week so guess now my ‘trouble’/problem is solved for now.

Until next, Continue to Cook Eat and Enjoy!


Oh and Come follow me on my new Youtube Channel called: Cook Eat Enjoy

 

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Couscous with Veggie Medley

I have been trying to make my life easier as I continue on my high protein diet by making some of my sides ahead of time and adding everything together.

This time I wanted to experiment with couscous because I have never had it before and I love trying new things. To make couscous you follow the directions on your package, or if you get it in the bulk-food department like me, here is how I made it.

I used multi-colored couscous


1 and 1/2 cups of couscous in a pot with a bit of salt and add water until it just covers the couscous.

  
Cover, Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer on low heat until water has soaked in completely. Remover from heat, mix from the bottom, replace top and let the heat steam.

  
Now time for the Veggies. 1 Can of Garbanzo beans rinsed, 1 tomato, diced. My favorite garlic pop-ins and grilled onions.

 Speaking of new things, have you ever heard of Kale Sprouts? I went to Trader Joes and found it here. I love Trader Joes, I always find something new there that I haven’t seen or heard of.
Anyway, Kale Sprouts are a mix between, you guessed it, Kale and Brussel Sprouts and have a similar flavor.

Rinse and cut the ends off.

  
I happen to have made some bacon the morning of, so I used the oil from that, but any oil is okay.

 Heat oil then add Kale Sprouts, tomatoes, 4 pop-in onions and 4 pop-in garlic saute for about 4 minutes.

 Diced 1 roasted red bell pepper.

  
Add in the Garbanzo beans, bell pepper, salt to taste and I like a little heat, so I added about 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper.

  
Let all that cook together until the Kale Sprout are cooked to your liking.

Last step is add in the Couscous, mix and place top over pan for about 5 minutes off heat.

     This is the perfect side dish or you can eat it as a main meal. All the protein , fiber, vitamins and such, in one meal, that is actual really light.


 Until next time, cook, eat and enjoy

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Nothing Fancy: Pan cooked Trout 

People tell me all the time that they are afraid to pan cook items. Afraid that they will burn or not cook their item enough, etc. One of those items is fish fillet.

Everything doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated; a lot of times, simple is best.

So I am gonna show you how to pan cook a trout fillet with yhe skin on. I love skin on my fish, especially when the skin is crispy.

So. I have two store bought trout fillet with skin on. I seasoned both sides with seasoning salt, black pepper and garlic powder.

 
  
In a frying pan, big enough to fit both fillet and have some room, add about 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil and heat. You want you pan hot, but not smoking.

  
Now add your fish, skin side down. When you put it in, it should be sizzling. You want  your skin to be crispy.

  
You are only gonna flip your fish once so the skin will stay crispy. When you see the edges of the fish turn white, it is a good bet that it is time to flip.

 
So flip your fish

  

You can see the pretty caramelization on the skin. Now you have to give the other side time to cook, abot 3 to 5 minutes.

  

 I did a quick check and the meat side is starting to brown, but it is not quite cooked through, so add  about 1/4 cup water to the hot pan

  
The water to the hot pan and oil will create steam and take the fish over the finish line of done in the middle. 

  
The water will cook up and create a nice little fish broth as well that, in my case I added over some steamed broccoli I had leftover from the night before.

  
And there you have, nothing fancy but extremely tasty pan cooked trout with crispy skin.

Until next time, cook eat and enjoy!