Sweet Love and Ginger

Garden Plans 2014

Garden Plans 2014

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It’s finally looking like garden season around here, and I couldn’t
be more excited.

Chuck put together some garden boxes for us. We used these
two years ago at our first place together and they worked wonderfully. Last
year we just cleared a patch of land, since we had good soil we thought the raised
beds would be unnecessary, however we under estimated the excitement of Brody
and his digging ability. We are hoping the boxes will help him understand the
barrier between the garden and the rest of the yard. I’m thinking this will
also help with the weeds; we had a terrible creeping vine last year that was impossible
to keep out of the garden.
I’m also interested to try out the square foot method. I
have trouble pruning, and whittling down the correct number of plants in a
space, and I’m hoping this method will help me with that.
We decided this year to have two 4×4 ft boxes for the main
garden and three 4x ½ ft boxes that we will put along the porch for peas. Chuck
has a pretty big affinity for peas so we want to make sure there are a lot of
them. There will also be a small container garden on the porch for herbs,
because I like the easy access when I’m cooking.
Here is my list of plants: Peas, green beans, yellow beans,
cherry tomatoes, beef steak tomatoes, cabbage, Caesar lettuce, masculine
lettuce mix, spinach, kohlrabi, carrots, heirloom carrots, cucumbers, radishes,
parsnips, peppers, and onions.
My list of herbs (some of these I already have and will just
move them outside): Rosemary, basil, purple basil, parsley, cilantro, mint,
chives, tarragon, thyme,

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With:

Clean Orange Chipotle Chicken Stir Fry

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So way back when I fell in love with this recipe from Cleaneatingmag.com (great place I tell ya). We are talking several years back, and as great as it is I haven’t made very much of it, probably because it’s not one of those quick and easy kind of things I like most of the time, and what vegetable do you serve with it? Well I decided to revamp the recipe into a stir fry, and made a few other additions, because we are trying to be healthy over here. It came out pretty darn good in my opinion, and now that it’s made that much easier (only 20 minutes!!!!) I think we will add it to the rotation a little more often.
For starters I used chipotle chili Powder because I already have it in my pantry, and I like recipes so much more when they don’t require a fancy ingredient I have to search the shelves for (chipotles in adobo sauce are not that popular in upstate NY apparently). I made it as basic as any other stir fry recipe, and added a few spices to the mix, like turmeric. I like turmeric because it turns
everything a really bright vibrant yellow, and I’m told it has all kinds of benefits like fighting Alzheimer’s and what not. I chose peppers and broccoli, because my love of broccoli runs deep, and peppers seemed like a good fit, plus we don’t eat them that often and variety is good for you too.
I just put it over plain rice because there was plenty of flavor in the recipe already, but I’m sure the cilantro rice in the original recipe would be a great addition as well.

Orange Chipotle Chicken Stir Fry

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bits size
pieces
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
Juice from one orange
1 tsp orange zest
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium yellow bell pepper chopped
1 head of broccoli
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add spices, syrup, juice, and zest cooking for another minute, stirring well to combine. Stir in the veggies and cook for another 5 minutes until just tender. Serve warm over cooked rice.

Fitness Update & 2 Week Clean Eating Meal Plan

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I know, I know I skipped the last Bi-weekly fitness update. I
won’t whine about my hectic life to you anymore so we are just moving
forward from this point on.

The last few months have been going good. I am getting in
the gym and lifting like a champ. Except for an awkward incident where I
totally left the gym without finishing my cool down because of running into my
ex. I have seen him there several times now and it appears we both are
terrified of each other so I think we will continue to pretend we don’t see the
other for a while, it’s cool. I personally think we are very mature (when are
they going to start using sarcasm font?).

I am still following a similar routine to this one I
posted way back when. However I think I’m going to need to add a few runs in
there since I seem to keep being recruited to run races with friends. Who am I to
say no? Race events with friends are always fun, so long as you don’t get overly
competitive about them. I also have one crazy friend who wants me to do a triathlon
with her in the fall, so I will probably have to throw a few bike trips and
some swimming in there too. In case you aren’t aware I really hate biking, so I
don’t have the slightest clue how she talked me into this.

The last few weeks have been good. I am getting stronger, but I haven’t been visibly seeing the results that I had started seeing at the beginning of this whole thing. I think the culprit may be my diet. Birthdays and holidays abound this time of year for my family so there have been a few more indulgent meals than should be, and with the hectic schedule a few too many quick and carb loaded meals.  

Source

The above being so very true, I think it’s time to revisit
my diet and bring it back to being a priority. Swim suit season is coming,
despite Mother Nature’s fickle ways it is finally starting to get
warmer in these parts, and I want the results of my hard work to actually show
up, I mean that’s kind of the point right?

This is my rough plan for the next 2 weeks (starting
yesterday). It’s totally clean except for the one meal a week we have with my
parents, and a training class I have at night where sandwiches are provided. The
focus of this diet is proper workout fuel, and high protein throughout the day. I may alter things based on my own cravings and what not, but this gives you a general idea. My workout days are typically Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, after work with a
random weekend day for a long run, hike or bike. Because I knew I had a training class coming on Tuesday I put in an extra day this weekend. So I won’t miss a workout.

Korean Beef, Sausage, Tomato & Spinach Stew, Roast Chicken, Greek Salad w/ chickpeas & feta, Shrimp Fried Rice, Orange Salmon, Chicken Parmesan Meatballs Recipes for Orange Chipotle Chicken Stir Fry, Greek Tilapia, Loaded Greek Salad are coming.
EDIT: Orange Chipotle Stir Fry, Greek Chicken & TIlapia 

Filed Under: Fitness

I Had Big Plans. . .

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I had big plans for this week. It marks the 2 year anniversary of this little
space and I wanted to celebrate it, having let the first anniversary pass
without much fuss. I was going to revisit my shop  and talk about all my
plans for all the wonderful new stuff I have been creating. I was going to find
a really awesome spring recipe and bake it up for you. I was going to share a
collection of my favorite blog moments, or recap the last two years in some
fashion. I even thought about putting up some decorations and taking ridiculous
pictures of myself celebrating. I was going to do a lot of things that just
didn’t happen.
It’s cool though, we can get by without a big celebration.
I’ll just list my Top 5 Most Viewed Posts. It’s Friday after all,
and we like lists, and not thinking too hard. At least that’s how I feel about it.

Scalloped Potatoes, and Oscars Smoke House
Clean Corn Chowder with Crab and Red Pepper Crostini
A girl’s Gotta Have Quirks!
Hungarian Goulash: An Impromptu Dinner Party
D4One: Vegetarian Mushroom Stroganoff

 

So now that we have recapped a little, how about I slap a discountto my shop up here too? Interested in a new piece of inexpensive, classy jewelry
for spring? (How’s that for a sales pitch?) 25% OFF FOR THE NEXT 7 DAYS!!! Just
use the code ANNIVERSARY
Each and every piece is unique and hand made from my own heart. After
this sale whatever is left is going to get broken down for new pieces, because
I’m moving in a different direction, but we will talk more about that another
day.

 

D4One: Shrimp Fried Rice

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Shrimp Fried Rice
Fried rice is probably one of the easiest recipes ever, and shrimp fried rice is only about 1/8 of a degree more difficult. It’s also something that can be made pretty easily from pantry staples, so no additional shopping is needed.  I made this recipe the easiest I possibly could, even cutting out a lot of chopping and shucking by using frozen peas and carrots. Of course you can also use fresh veggies, I do suggest cutting them up pretty small, and at least tossing the carrots in the pan at the same time as the onion so that it cooks all the way through, and otherwise it’s basically all the same.
Shrimp Fried Rice

This recipe, though suited for one is pretty easy to double, triple, or even quadruple to feed a crowd. I was able to stretch this recipe for one to feed both me and Chuck by steaming up a large batch of Asian style veggies. We are trying to keep it a little healthy over here.

PS. This one is clean too.

Shrimp Fried Rice
Shrimp Fried Rice
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 serving
Ingredients
  • 4 oz. of Shrimp (about 9 medium shrimp), peeled & deveined
  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp low sodium teriyaki sauce
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ a small onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup of frozen peas and carrots
  • ½ cup of cooked brown rice
  • handfull of green onions, chopped (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and ginger then add shrimp and toss. Allow them to marinate at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
  2. Preheat a large sauté pan with oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté for about 30 seconds a side, or until they begin to turn pink. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Reduce the heat to medium (you may need to add some more oil) and add onion to the pan cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent.
  4. Add the egg right into the pan and using a spatula mix well, breaking the yolk and cooking through.
  5. Then add the vegetables, and rice tossing well to mix and heat through.
  6. Stir in the shrimp, and green onion to the pan and again mix well.
  7. Serve immediately with an extra drizzle of soy sauce.