Beach Lunch & Never-ending Writing

Oh fridays, how I love thee...

Now that I have Fridays off, it's become one of my favorite days and yesterday was one of the best ones. I woke up and wrote all day then Michael took me to Paseo's for lunch and we brought it to the Golden Gardens park to eat.

Outside of Paseo waiting for our food!

My Caribbean bowl, yum!

Michael and his sandwich

Then we came back home and I went back to editing.

That stack = my manuscript

I had planned to send out the manuscript to my beta readers this morning, but then I met up with my writing critique partner later that night and she suggested a few changes.

Critiquing with my partner and Fuel coffee as I enjoy a Lavender Italian soda.

So it looks like I'm postponing sending out my manuscript to my betas next weekend before I leave on my trip to Walla Walla. Just when I think I'm almost finished, I'm not. Gah! Writing sometimes seems never-ending, and I am so tempted to start on a new project. Jeez M2, when will you be done?

Dare to "Green"

Green isn't my favorite color, but that doesn't mean I'm not attracted to it. It's just so vibrant and... lively! So I decided to make buckwheat soba noodles with zucchini for dinner. It was so quick and easy to whip up, I'm sure I'll be having these often on my busy nights.

Ingredients:
-buckwheat soba noodles (I used the pre-made ones that's a single serving. I cut a slit in the package and microwaved it for one minute)
-medium zucchini, sliced
-Season to your taste (I used soy sauce, lemon pepper seasoning, chopped onion seasoning, and green onions for garnish)

Cook your zuchinni on medium high heat. Toss in the noodles when the zucchini is slightly soft. Mix in the seasonings. And voila. That easy! Less than ten minutes on the stove. Add chickpeas or tofu for a protein source. I roasted some chickpeas in the oven, gave it a dash of seasoning, and had it for my appetizer.

Rice paper to the rescue!

The miracle of rice paper? They can make leftovers appetizing. Thank goodness for that, because I had spaghetti squash, baby carrots, and celery leftover from the week and I needed to get rid of it. However, eating them all week didn't make them anymore appetizing.

Nonetheless, I cut up the celery and carrots threw into a pan to cook, then added the cooked spaghetti squash.

To season, I added 1/2 a tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce and chili paste. Then I used rice paper (Three Ladies Brand is the best, in my opinion) and rolled them up. Although, I do need to work on my rolling/folding skills.

Nevertheless, the rice paper saved me from my leftover slump! Yumm! If you're ever in a rut, I suggest you try it!

Spaghetti Squash with Pad Thai Sauce

I've found another sauce that goes well with spaghetti squash! Pad Thai Sauce! I didn't have the regular ingredients at hand for pad thai, but I did have broccoli and tofu.

It turned out pretty well, that I made it again for my friend Lyly for dinner. Rest assured, it's been Lyly-approved!

Makes 2 servings (but you can easily make it for one due to the simple ratios)

Ingredients:
2 cups of broccoli
2 cups of cooked spaghetti squash
2 servings of tofu
3 Tbsp Pad Thai Sauce

Steam broccoli in one pan. Cut tofu into cubes and cook on medium-high until they have browned on all sides. When the broccoli is a vibrant green, set aside.

Once tofu is cooked, add the broccoli, spaghetti squash, and sauce together. Mix well over medium heat. Once the spaghetti squash is warmed up, you're good to go!

Loaded Veggie Soup

I'm not too good about eating my vegetables. Fruits, I love. Veggies, not so much. I try to incorporate salads or soups into my day as much as possible to compensate. So for this week I made a batch of soup to eat for the week instead of to-go salads. I'm a total newbie to the soup scene, so I just threw whatever sounded good in (the same approach I have to salads ;]).

Ingredients:

1 box of broth of your choice (low sodium)

1 medium zucchini

1 yellow squash

1 cup of cut green beans

1 can of kidney beans (rinsed)

1 cup of cut baby carrots

2 large celery stalks

Seasoning of your choice (I used black pepper, Mrs. Dash-Fiesta Lime, Chili paste) (weird combo! But that's all I had at the moment).

Directions:

Wash, peel, and cut veggies while bringing broth to a medium boil. Add carrots to the boiling broth first to give them a head start. Then add everything else. Stir occasionally.

Add seasoning. It's done, when the veggies are tender. Don't overcook it or you'll end up with mushy veggies (unless you like it that way).

~makes about 8 cups at 75 cals per cup

 

Spaghetti Squash with Hoisin Sauce

This week I had spaghetti squash with vegan meatballs for my meal prep. Today I didn't have any red sauce or vegan meatballs left, but I still had half a cup of spaghetti squash. Today must be my "winging" day because I winged this one too.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of spaghetti squash (cooked) (since it was all I had left)
1/2 tablespoon of hoison sauce
1 tsp of chili paste (if you like it spicy)
cilantro (optional, I used it to garnish)

Mix together and cook on the stove (med-low heat) until warm!

Tasted great! Since I know it worked out well, next time I'm gonna double the recipe, add veggies, and a source of protein to make it a real meal.

Remember, I'm a basic experimental cook. So get creative with this and add whatever you like! I for one cannot wait to eat this with red bell peppers, onions, and grilled shrimp!

Have a happy healthy day!

Spaghetti Squash with Vegan Meatballs

My healthy take on spaghetti, it's as simple as one, two, three! Seriously.

1) Spaghetti squash
2) Red sauce of your choice
3) Vegan meatballs (or you can go for whichever meatball that suits you).

Yum! Michelle Approved! 

Yellow-Green Salad (to-go)

I didn't plan on the colors, they just came out that way. Prepping salads are a life-saver! Or should I say, time-saver!

This recipe yields four, because I basically put 1/4 of everything in a bag (with the exception of the lime--those are halves).

Ingredients:
1 big box of fresh spinach
1 can of rinsed garbonzo beans
1 can of corn (no salt added) and rinsed
1 granny smith apple
1 cucumber
1 mango
2 limes (cut in halves)

Put the heavier items on the bottom and the spinach at the top. I don't really use dressing, instead I use half a lime and I mix it with any type of Mrs. Dash's salt-free seasonings.

The simpler, the better! Like the bag says, YUM!

BASIC Cauliflower Fired Rice

I will just say now that I am a basic cook. I like to be as simple as possible. When I heard about cauliflower as a substitute for rice, I had to give it a go! I'm trying to get as much veggies in as possible, so I thought fried rice with mix veggies would be perfect.

So I use an eco non-stick pan that doesn't require cooking spray or oil, so if you must, add it accordingly.

Ingredients:
I medium head cauliflower
1 Can of mixed vegetables (Although, I prefer frozen over canned, but seeing as I didn't want to wait for it to defrost, I went with canned this time)
2 eggwhites
black pepper and soy sauce for seasoning

Like I said, this is a very basic recipe. Feel free to add garlic, green onions, your choice of protein, and other additions to your liking.

To prepare the cauliflower, either put it in a food processor to chop, or you can cut it yourself if you have the time.

Rinse/defrost your mixed veggies.

Medium-heat a large pan.

Cook the cauliflower first (or rather, give it a head start) then add the mixed veggies, egg whites, and the seasoning.

I thought it was pretty good, considering I was eating a plate of veggies! I can't wait to use the cauliflower rice with something else. Maybe curry? Hmmm....

Spaghetti Alfredo with Shrimp and Asparagus!

So for lunch I was really craving Alfredo pasta, so using whatever ingredients I had, I came up with this!

Voila! It was definitely yummy, nutritious, and completely hit the spot!

Ingredients:
2 cups of spaghetti squash
1 serv. shrimp
12 asparagus spears, cut inch-sized
1/4 cup of Classico, light creamy alfredo sauce

Prepare spaghetti squash.
Steam asparagus and cut when cooled
Boil shrimp.

Mix together with alfredo sauce on the stove. Put crushed red peppers and black pepper to taste.

~269 cals

Enjoy:]