Curry Salmon

When I found this recipe I thought it looked a bit familiar to the previously posted Chicken Tandoori recipe.  I would never have thought to marinate fish in yogurt but why not?

If you remove the skin from the salmon, the fish will absorb more of the flavor, your choice.  Once again, I used Greek yogurt to give this dish more tang and I also used regular curry but those of you who like it hotter should try Madras curry, which is made with more cayenne pepper.   We enjoyed this dish with a side of my mostest favoritest Spring-Green Saag.

By the way, if you suspect that I may have a Greek yogurt addiction, you are correct.  I have tried a few different kinds but my heart belongs to Fage Total (full fat version).  I found out that any yogurt that has 'pectin' as an ingredient means they added artificial thickeners to it so eeewww.

Honestly, Greek yogurt is just regular plain ordinary yogurt that has been strained so that it has less liquid in it, which concentrates the proteins.  To me, it tastes like sour cream, but then, I love sour cream....

Curry Salmon
makes 4 servings

2/3 cup plain or Greek yogurt, full fat

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or 2 teaspoons fresh grated)

salt and pepper

4 salmon fillets, about 4 ounces each/1 inch thick


Mix the yogurt and seasonings in a large Ziploc bag, add the fish and coat well, squeezing out all the air and sealing tightly.  Refrigerate at least 4 hours or even overnight. Remove the bag from the fridge about 20 minutes before cooking to take the chill off.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with foil (you'll be glad later) and scrape the excess marinade from the salmon.  Roast about 10-12 minutes, until the fillets are cooked in the center.

This dish is best served right away.  Unlike revenge, which is a dish best served cold...

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

photo courtesy of Rachael Ray

Five ingredients and 15 minutes to make this dish.  Thanks to my Facebook ladies for sharing this Rachael Ray recipe.

Don’t be shy!   Feel free to give this some BAM! (aha, mixing my Food Network stars) by tossing in some pepper or cayenne or whatever floats your boat (get it? fishing puns)….

I always read the comments section of an online recipe to get ideas that others have tried and I always learn something.  Remember where you heard that and later you'll thank me!

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

makes 4 servings 

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley or Italian seasoning

4  tilapia fillets, thawed (about 1 pound total)

Extra virgin olive oil

1  lemon, cut into wedges

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture, press gently to help the cheese cling to the fish.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes.   If you like it a tad more brown and crispy, put it under the broiler for a few minutes to finish it off.

Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.

Spicy Bombay Chicken

It's been a hot hot summer and I've been posting icy cold smoothie recipes for your enjoyment, but maybe I'll turn my attention to something a little mo' hotter, mo' better.  If you don’t care for spicy then you don’t have to make it that way.  But, if your name is Kelley or Susie then you probably would like it very very spicy.   However, the spicier you make it, the more likely you’ll overpower the ginger and curry flavors so the hotter the sauce, the less you should use.  Using yogurt as a marinade makes the meat tender and flavorful. 

You could serve this with crisp cold salad or slice it up, place on toothpicks and serve as an appetizer at your next party.  Those of you on Stages 2 and 3 could pair this with quinoa.

Spicy Bombay Chicken

makes 4 servings

1/3 cup plain yogurt (Greek or regular)

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger (or scant teaspoonful of ground ginger)

1 tablespoon mild cayenne pepper sauce

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 8 small boneless skinless chicken thighs

In a large zip lock bag, mix the  yogurt, ginger, hot sauce, curry powder and salt and squeeze to combine.  Add the chicken, seal and squish the chicken around in the bag to coat the chicken with the marinade.  Put bag in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight.

Oil your grill or broiler rack, then either prepare the grill or preheat the broiler.

Or you could take out the George Foreman Grill that's gathering dust on that bottom shelf.

Take the chicken out of the bag, removing excess marinade.  (You can now throw away the bag of marinade.)  Grill or broil the chicken 5 inches from the heat until cooked through, try 8-9 minutes on each side.

Winner winner, spicy chicken dinner....

Melissa's 30-Second Weight Loss Shake

What a gorgeous picture! 
Endless possibilities!

Don't get all excited now!  The SHAKE takes 30 seconds, not the weight loss....I know, whoever invents that one will be the master of the world!

Remember the Chocolaty Frosty recipe a few weeks back?  Stay tuned for another AWESOME recipe from Satisfying Eats, a terrific blog with grain-free recipes, which are perfect for Stage 1.   Gotta give Melissa a LOT of credit, she works hard to find all kinds of goodies that she shares with everyone - so I want to make sure y'all know these are her creations and not mine, 'cause that would be rude and then all my shakes would taste like shame.

 

Don't forget you can make it dairy free by substituting coconut milk for the heavy whipping cream.  

Once again - be sure to keep frozen almond milk in ice cube trays on hand or you'll have to wait several hours until you can make this! 

 

Chocolaty Frosty

recipe courtesy of Satisfying Eats
makes 1-10 oz Serving

4 cubes unsweetened almond milk frozen in ice-cube trays

1/3 cup heavy cream or coconut milk

2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

2-4 servings of stevia or preferred sweetener

1/2-1 teaspoon vanilla

 

Add ins: 

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries or other fruit (fresh or frozen)

1 scoop protein powder

2 cubes of frozen coffee

 

Pour unsweetened almond milk into ice cube trays and allow to freeze.  Be sure not to fill to the top so that they can be easily removed from tray.   Freeze until solid.

Add 4 cubes of almond milk to blender, Magic Bullet or Ninja.

Add milks, sweetener and vanilla.  Always start with least amount of sweetener first and then taste.

Now is also time to add-in any extras, if desired. 

Blend for 30 seconds or until you can hear that there are no more chunks.

Strawberry Lassi

Whole Foods - that's where you'll find me every weekend most of the time.  It's the only place I can find my full fat Fage Total Greek yogurt (highly recommend!) and my mom likes to go up and down EVERY SINGLE AISLE just in case she might have missed something from last week...

Anywho - the Whole Foods website has tons of great recipes, many of which are P10 compatible or can be adjusted for P10.   I think using Greek yogurt in this will really bump up the protein.  I'm torn between labeling this as a treat, a dessert, a smoothie or even breakfast!  Guess I'll use them all.  You could totally get your kids to partake of the lovely healthy yogurt without their knowledge!   :D

Ice-cold, yogurt-based lassi is a favorite refresher in India. Sometimes made with fresh mango, this delicious version uses strawberries

 

Strawberry Lassi

makes 2 servings

1 cup plain or Greek yogurt

2 cups roughly chopped strawberries

2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

1 cup ice cubes

1/2 cup milk (regular or almond)

Few pinches ground cardamom (could sub cinnamon or nutmeg)

 

Combine yogurt, strawberries and honey in a blender and pulse until strawberries are pureed. Add ice and milk and blend until smooth. Pour into 2 tall glasses and garnish each with cardamom.

Second Verse...Same as the First!

The last time most of you saw the post below was November 2012.  My dad had just died and I was a mess and waaaaaay off track from following P10.  Today I was browsing back through the blog, saw this old post and I realized that I was right back in this place AGAIN.  And I started crying.  Because I cry a lot lately.  Because life happens and taking care of myself once again falls by the wayside.  And I read this and realized that I CAN pick myself back up again.  Sorry if you dropped by looking for recipes, today will be an advice column.  Maybe you can use it and maybe you can't.  And maybe you can save it for another time when you do need it. 

You know what I WISH?  I wish we could all get together and talk and hang out like they do at WW meetings.  How about you?  Since that would be a logistical nightmare, come on by the Perfect 10 Diet Recipes Facebook Page and say hi, chat a while, see how others are doing.  I promise not to weigh you in public! 

Take care!  J

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Just This Once...

So lately I’ve had a lot going on.  My wonderful bestest ever Dad died, family came to town, things at work got really busy and my wallet is really empty -  and I’ve used all that as an excuse to not worry too much about eating right or exercising and I started comfort eating many foods I haven’t had in a long time…just this once…

Well folks, that ‘just this once’ turns into again and again and again and a GAIN!

And the stuff I wanted to eat – just this once several times– sure didn’t taste as good as I’d remembered it…it was greasy and left a filmy layer on my teeth and not to mention all the other ‘benefits’ such as:

Hungover feeling

Unable to get to sleep and unable to sleep soundly (twitchy feet)

Feeling tired and cranky and emotional

Cravings and hunger returned

Aches and pains

Headaches and exhaustion

Aching tummy with disgusting ‘musical’ accompaniment

COMFORT EATING WAS NOT VERY COMFORTING!

So WHY WHY WHY would I let myself fall back into this when I know better?  Why is it so hard to get back on track when I already know the answer?

Other P10 followers have mentioned this as well, so I sat and thought about what or why we sometimes do this to ourselves – here’s some of my thoughts.

One time I read that many homeless people are actually people with mental health problems who stopped taking their meds because they ‘felt better’ and then were not able to take care of themselves.  And of course, one would say ‘well of course you felt better, it was the meds!  Why’d you stop?’

I think on P10 we start to feel so much better physically and emotionally that we forget just how BAD we felt before and so we think we can put our big toe across that line and eat like that ‘just this once’ and then we are surprised by how bad it feels.  If you get a hold of yourself you can go right back onto P10 and keep going.  Or if you’re like me, you can think ‘well I already blew it I might as well cross the line a little more while I’m at it’ and then one day you realize that you’re veeeeeeeeeery far from shore.

For those of you who have experienced childbirth, it’s the same principle.  Scientists tell us that we forget how painful it was and that’s why we are able to have other children, because we block out the pain and remember the joy.  I think that applies to P10 as well.  We’re so jazzed to feel great and lose weight we lose sight of just how miserable we were before and then we start putting a toe over the line – just this once – and then again and again, etc.

Well, let’s be frank – you’re not cheating on P10 at all.  You’re cheating yourself.  I love hearing from the new P10 peeps about how they’re losing weight and feeling great and how awesome is this?  We get in the habit of eating right and feeling good and tend to forget how far we’ve come and how hard we had to work to get this far…

I remember being able to turn my nose up at the bread plate or smiling and sweating every day after my 5am workout and I wonder where that person went.  Sure, we all have stress and issues and problems, there’s no getting around that.  What happened to that person that decided that I was worth the extra effort, the discipline, the praise and the sweat?  My ‘old self’ took advantage of me being down and out and crept her way back in. 

Time to throw her out.  Time to take back my health and P10 lifestyle.  Time to start feeling GREAT physically, mentally and emotionally.

That’s the beauty of P10.  No need to sign back up, recount your points or wait until Monday to start over.  JUST DO IT RIGHT NOW.  The next meal, and the next and the next.  And if your brain thinks it needs that grilled pastrami sandwich and onion rings or chocolate shake tell it to wait – it’s not like that stuff is going to disappear in the next five minutes.  It’ll still be there days, weeks, months and years from now. 

One meal, one day, one step at a time.  Take the time to get back on track and take care of yourself.  We use stress as an excuse to eat badly and get lazy but FOR PETE’S SAKE when you’re taking care of yourself the stress doesn’t eat you alive. 

I apologize if this rant doesn’t have to do with you.  I figure we’re all human and we all have our issues and maybe you can get a germ or two of wisdom/experience from all this.  Maybe you’re new and you’re like ‘oh that won’t happen to me, I’m doing awesome.’  And you are and I hope you continue to do so…

BECAUSE WE ALL DESERVE TO FEEL BETTER

Thanks for listening.  I’d like to hear your constructive comments about how you worked through your own situation where you turned around and realized you were headed into deep water.

Blender Eggs (Bleggs)

Sometimes I make my eggs 'pancake style'
this version is with flax meal

 
My Bubba calls these ‘Grinch eggs’ and he won’t even try them!  This would be fun to make for your kids and you can call it ‘green eggs and ham’ and you can get a lot of veggies into them this way. 

 There’s really no set and special recipe for this, I was messing around with my NutriBullet and decided to try this out.  And since I have eggs for breakfast pretty much every day (I love ‘em) this was a quick and easy way to get lots of healthy boosters into my breakfast.  If you don’t have flax seeds, use chia or whatever you have on hand.  This is also a good way to sneak boosters like Spirulina into your own food – very healthy and great benefits!

My favorite way to eat them is with Greek yogurt and avocado on top.  Oh yes, and a nice grind of Himalayan pink sea salt is really good too!

Share ideas!  Leave a comment below with some ideas of what YOU would put in your bleggs…

 

Blender Eggs (Bleggs)

makes 1 large serving

2 eggs
handful of green veggies or a mix of them - like spinach, broccoli, kale, etc.

this one is spinach with chia seed gel

1 teaspoon of Spirulina or maca powder, whatever you’ve got
1-2 tablespoons of chia or flax seeds
toppings:  Greek yogurt, salsa, avocado, whatever sounds good to you
 

Add ingredients to blender, blend for about 30 seconds or until smooth.

Melt butter in skillet, pour in the egg mixture and cook the way you like them.

Serve with toppings (healthy, of course) of your choice.