Blackened Seared and Steamed Tilapia with Mashed Cauliflower and a Side of Asparagus

Blackened Seared-and-Steamed Tilapia with Mashed Cauliflower and a Side of Asparagus
Drink: Republic Of Tea - Decaf Ginger And Peach Iced Tea

Whipped this up in 20 minutes right after my workout at the gym. This was our family dinner tonight. Healthy and absolutely fantastic. Without further ado, the recipe is below.

Sauteed Asparagus
(serves 2)

Ingredients
8 asparagus spears
2 tbsp olive oil (1 tsp if cooking only the asparagus)
Salt, pepper to taste

Heat up the pan and add 2 tbsp of asparagus. While the pan is heating, cut the end of the asparagus and discard. Add the asparagus to the pan just so they are coated with olive oil. Remove immediately.

In another plate, season the asparagus with salt and pepper to taste. Add the asparagus back in the pan and cook until desired, turning over as needed. (We like ours a little crunchy so we don't overcook them)

Place in plate.


Blackened Seared and Steamed Tilapia 
(serves 2)

Ingredients
2 fresh tilapia fillets (4oz)
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
2 tbsp olive oil (from the olive oil from above)
Lime

While cooking the asparagus, pat tilapia dry and then sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides. Set aside.

Once asparagus are cooked and placed in plate, turn the stove up to high heat. Place both fillets in the pan and cook for two minutes.

Turn the fillets over and cover the pan with a lid. Take out of the fire and let it steam for 10 minutes. Do not take the lid off till 10 minutes are through.

Squeeze lime on top.

(This comes out perfect every time)

After 10 minutes, place in the plate.

Mashed Cauliflower
(serves 2)

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
10+ cups water
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Chop the cauliflower and boil until fork tender.

Drain cauliflower and place in a food processor with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder. Add Pulse till consistency of mush.

Serve on plate and top with a dash of black peppr.


Nutrition Facts (per 1 plate): 270 calories, 16.0g fat, 50mg cholesterol, 87.7mg sodium, 10g carbohydrate, 3.3g sugar, 5.7g fiber, 25.2g protein.

California Sandwich

The California Sandwich
Ezra Pound Cake
The Kitchen Confessional Of Rebecca Crump

I got this recipe from the blog Ezra Pound Cake, The Kitchen Confessional Of Rebecca Crump. I decided to try it out this morning with a few changes since I didn't have the ingredients with me at the grocery store. Instead of mixing up the ingredients for the spread, I used the Oikos Cucumber Dill Dip Greek Yogurt. I LOVE DILL! It's fantastic that they came out with their dip line. I also didn't put any cheese. It still turned out fantastic.

Here's the recipe from her website below:

California Sandwich 

Rebecca Crump (EzraPoundCake.com)

Makes 2 large sandwiches or 4 small wraps

Chive Spread:
• 1/4 CUP GREEK YOGURT OR MAYONNAISE (OR 2 TABLESPOONS OF EACH)
• 1 TABLESPOON FINELY CHOPPED FRESH CHIVES
• SALT AND PEPPER, TO TASTE

Avocado Salad:
• 1 AVOCADO, PEELED, PITTED AND DICED
• 1 TOMATO, CORED AND CHOPPED
• 1 CUCUMBER, PEELED, SEEDED AND DICED (OPTIONAL)
• SQUEEZE OF LIME JUICE
•  2 TABLESPOONS CHOPPED FRESH BASIL OR CILANTRO
• SALT AND PEPPER, TO TASTE

• 4 SLICES BREAD (PREFERABLY WHOLE GRAIN) OR 4 SMALL TORTILLAS (FLOUR OR MULTIGRAIN)
• 1/4 CUP ALFALFA SPROUTS
• 2 TO 4 SLICES PEPPER JACK CHEESE

1. To Make the Chive Spread: In a small bowl, mix the Greek yogurt and chives. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. To Make the Avocado Salad: In a medium bowl, gently toss together the avocado, tomato, cucumber, lime juice and basil or cilantro. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. To Assemble: Spread the chive-yogurt mixture on all four bread slices. Divide the sprouts between two slices of bread, and top with avocado salad and cheese. Cover with the remaining slices of bread. (If using tortillas, spread the chive-yogurt mixture on the tortillas, and top with cheese, avocado salad and sprouts. Roll, and eat.)

Here's what mine looked like. I didn't whip out my Nikon. This is my mobile camera. Not too shabby.
It tasted all sorts of fantastic! HEALTHY too.

Magic Pop Open-Faced Turkey Salad Sandwich With Raw Veggies

Magic Pop Open-Faced Turkey Salad Sandwich With Raw Veggies

100 calories,  3.8g fat, 13.1 g carbs, 4.6g protein, 2.5 g fiber
Weight Watcher Points: 0 pts

Of late, I've been obsessed with healthy eating. My biggest inspiration is Heidi Powell, a coach, mother of three, and manager of their family business. She is also the wife of the famous Chris Powell, the coach and fitness trainer in the ABC's, Extreme Weight Loss.

Anyway, Heidi had this recipe in her blog: Open-Faced Low-Carb Turkeywiches. It makes 2 Turkeywiches, has 200 calories, 5 g fat, 14 g carbohydrate, 20 g protein. Not bad at all. I decided to try it. Everything listed in the ingredient section was in my grocery list. At the store, next to the rice cakes were these Magic Pop bags. I turned it around to look at the nutrition information and then BAM - I was blown away. 

Magic Pop Nutrition Information

As you can see to the right side, 1 piece of Magic Pop is only
15 calories and 4g carbohydrate. It's also 0 Weight Watchers points. As a bonus, it's diabetic friendly. 

These genius Magic Pops made it into our grocery cart. As another bonus, it comes with 12 different flavoures! This has become my substitute for bread! What an awesome guilt free snack to eat that will  totally fill you up. 

Magic Pop Open-Faced Turkey Salad Sandwich 

With Raw Veggies

Ingredients
1 Magic Pop 
2 tbs Chicken or Turkey Salad (add more as needed)
2 slices of tomatoes
lettuce (as much as you want)
raw broccoli (as much as you want)
raw carrot chips (as much as you want)

Instructions

1. Spread the chicken or turkey salad on the magic pop.
2. Top with tomatoes and lettuce
3. Eat with a side of raw broccoli and raw carrot chips

1 serving (including vegetables): 

100 calories,  3.8g fat, 13.1 g carbs, 4.6g protein, 2.5 g fiber.

Converted to Weight Watcher Points (including vegetables): 

1 serving (including vegetables): 2 pts

Hey Girl...

I made my first meme. In case anyone hasn't figured it out, I'm an avid Mr. Darcy fan. Specifically that of Matthew MacFayden in the Pride & Prejudice movie. My gosh, what a measure of a man. Ryan Gosling, who?

Posted it on twitter too:

B is for...

Grinding coffee beans allows the flavoure to really come out. The coffee is fresh, delicious, and perfect.

Happy June 2013 Everyone! 

This month, I decided to participate in FatMumSlim's Photo-A-Day Challenge. Today is, B is for... Coffee Beans, Brewing, and Barista. Usually during the weekdays I use the Keurig at work. It saves a lot of time. However, during the weekends, I'm more of a barista/coffee aficionado. I take my time to create the perfect cup of Joe. Here's my weekend morning coffee ritual.

Dunn Bros Coffee is fantastic. They have numerous flavoures from all over the world.
The decafs are just as impressive. Tastes like regular blends.

We keep coffee in an air tight container to lock bean freshness.

Not particularly proud of my focusing skills here. But in our household, we grind coffee beans.

Brewing coffee. Mmmm...

12 Steps To Self Care

The previous two weeks had been particularly challenging. Owning your own company with your husband isn't exactly the ideal dream life. In such a case, all means of normalcy ceases to exist. Between catching deadlines, running errands, working 15 hour days, business calls, wanting to smash your smart mobile across the room, taking care of reality, making everyone happy, feeling guilty for not spending enough time with our son and pets, and not getting quality time together in a married life - life gets pretty hectic. In such the environment, the only normal is to be bitter, cynical, and negative.

I stumbled upon the image above in facebook. I read it and let it sink in. Within minutes, I was transformed. Hope and motivation suddenly emerged from all the negative energy.

• How often do we let circumstance control our lives? 
• How often do we become the worst versions of ourselves because we can't manage everything that is thrown at us? 
• How often do we put ourselves in our own world of hell because we're too hard on ourselves?

It's quite important to take care of ourselves - not only physically, but mentally. It's a different form of detox that I like to call, bliss. I encourage you to look at the list above and see what you need to improve to love and take care of yourself from the inside. 

RETWEETED ONCE MORE

Alright, I got another RT from another one of my favourite shows: Arrested Development. Gotta love twitterverse! I'm so proud of my most favourited tweet!

@bluthquotes Why are there no men? Ah, Jean Parmesan and Uncle Jack, I really don't fancy.
— Ella Arkhipova (@ElleArkhipova) April 29, 2013