Day #9

Menu #9

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Chicken on Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing
Dinner: Blackened Tilapia with Mango Salsa

Assessment Day 8:

I should NOT be weighing myself everyday. All that does is bum me out if I'm not lighter. Not craving so much as just wanting certain foods. Everyday is more of the same and it's ok :)


Blackened Tilapia with Mango Salsa




Recipe adapted from: Blackened Tuna Steak with Mango Salsa on AllRecipes.com

I thought about using salmon but went with tilapia for my fish this time. I made the "salsa" up the night before so it could stew in the lime juice and get yummy. Also added yellow, orange and red peppers so bulk it up and give it more flavors. For frying the fish, I went really light on the oil with just a splash in the pan. Who really needs THAT much oil for cooking meat? This was a gorgeous plate!

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Mango Salsa

1 fresh mango - peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

Combine the mango, bell pepper, Spanish onion, green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper in a bowl; stir. Add the lime juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and toss to combine. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour (I left overnight).

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Blackened Tilapia

4 tilapia steaks

2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon red pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder (Onion Onion)
1 tbsp Garlic Garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil for the pan

Stir together the paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, and garlic powder in a bowl. Remove the tuna steaks from the refrigerator and gently rinse with water and then dip each side of each steak in the spice mixture to coat.

Heat oil in pan. Cook 3-5 minutes. Flip. Cook another 3-5 or until the fish is no longer translucent and easily flakes with a fork. I also put a lid over it after the flip to ensure the meat didn't dry out while cooking all the way through.

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Notes: This turned out better than I had hoped! The dry seasonings on the rub helped to "blackened" the fish and roasted up really nice on the outside to give it a thin grilled layer. Making the salsa the night before was the way to go: I got home, pulled the fish out, seasoned it while the pan got hot, plopped the fish in, got the salsa out and plated while it was cooking and easy-peasy! There was dinner! Alice wasn't in a fish mood though ... and she wasn't liking the lime flavored mango .. but that's life.

Dia de Quatro

Menu #4

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Snack: Strawberries & Egg
Lunch: Spinach Salad with Leftover Chicken and Sweet Onion Dressing
Snack: Hummus and veggies
Dinner: Turkey Taco Wrap-Ups

Day #3 Assessment:

Day 3 ended up being better than 1 or 2 except for the fact I'M EXHAUSTED. I don't know if it's because my body is in overdrive or that I haven't had any downtime since I work, come home, clean up, make dinner, clean up, prep for next day, clean ... go to bed at midnight. Making food for my family is a PITA truthfully! I'm almost glad I don't have any sessions right now because I don't think I would have the energy to do it all right now.

And I'm craving vinegar. Since we haven't been eating processed foods, there is little to no sodium going into our diet and I think that my tastes are evolving to compensate by making other flavors more satisfying: like vinegar. I've never been a huge vinegar fan. Just a touch here and there. Right now, I could down a whole bottle and still want MORE. And having 4 types on hand is awesome, too. White, Red Wine, Basalmic (which is REALLY surprising since I've never liked it before) and apple cider all grace my cupboard for use currently.

Spinach Salad with Leftover Chicken and Sweet Onion Dressing



Ok, so using the leftover chicken (shredded) from last night, I put together a spinach salad, added green onion, sliced zucchini into slivers, and made up a fresh batch of the Sweet Onion Dressing. You can find all the details for the recipes on that on yesterday's post.

Notes: I think y'all know how in love with this dressing I am, so THIS was perfect, of course. I added a touch more vinegar to the mix than I had for the chicken and I was in heaven!

Turkey Taco Wrap-Ups



This is soooooooooooo pretty! Seriously, I was excited about the possible flavors and putting it together was even more eye and nose candy.

The recipe is based from Lettuce-Wrapped Tacos from Nutrition and Wellness Bytes Blog. What I did different: I used ground white turkey that I purchased from the local Farmer's Market; didn't use green salsa, salt or cilantro. I bought fresh romaine while at the market for the wraps.

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Cabbage Slaw Topping

2-3 cups red cabbage, chopped (try to get it thin - more slaw like)
1 cup cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup mango, diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Cracked black pepper to taste

Mix together and set aside to let the flavors mesh. Leaving overnight would make it stronger.
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Turkey Taco Meat

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper
1 tbsp red pepper flake
1 tsbp apple cider vinegar (this was a last minute addition to try and give it more flavor)

Lettuce leaves, for wrapping (Romaine or green leaf work well.)
Avocado, chopped for topping

Flavor meat in pan and cook through. Take place meat on a lettuce leaf topped with the Cabbage Slaw and avocado.
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Notes: Well, Alice kept trying to steal my mango! I was cutting it up and gave her some and she fell in love. Just another fruit to add to her menu (Buddy already eats mango as part of his line-up). She DID eat it after I put the balsamic on so I was very happy with that fact plus she had a few bites of turkey (WIN). Lettuce didn't hold in the filling very well; we shouldn't have filled them so full. Also, that turkey needed SODIUM. I miss sodium. It was REALLY good turkey, but if I could have seasoned it to my liking, it would have been better. Overall, VERY pretty dish and good. And I would definitely make the slaw the night before and let the vinegar break down the cabbage more.