I didn't know exactly what I wanted so I searched around my apartment. I took a chicken breast out of the freezer this morning so I knew that my dinner was going to consist of something with chicken, that is about all I knew! So I contemplated lots of different things in my head, pasta and chicken (nah), chicken pizza (had it for lunch yesterday.) So I glanced in my fridge and pushed some food around to see what I could come up with. I noticed all of the vegetables in my crisper were looking on their last leg so I knew I had to use them up. So I thought to myself...STIR FRY TIME! I rummaged through my cabinets and found some brown rice, soy sauce, crushed red peppers, and ginger.
First step to making this stir fry is to heat a pan with Olive Oil (about 1 tbsp) and to fill a saucer pan with water for the rice.
Then while the pan was heating up, I chopped up my vegetables which consisted of mushrooms, asparagus, onions, red bell pepper, and some black beans!
Once the pan was heated I took my chicken breast (lightly salted/peppered) and browned it on each side (about 4 min.) I then removed the chicken breast from the pan and let it rest on a plate (it will continue to cook through.) Next, I threw all of my veggies (minus the black beans) into the sauté pan.
I let them cook for about 2 minutes and then threw in some garlic! You want the vegetables to soften, but I like mine to still have a little bit of a bite so I cook them for about 5 minutes (or when the onions become translucent.) Then I added the chicken (which I diced up while the vegetables were cooking! If you under cook the chicken a little don't worry it will cut through once you add it back to the vegetable mixture) and black beans to the pan. The longer you cook beans the musher they will get so make sure to add them last!
Then I added just a little bit of soy sauce (be careful here, soy sauce is EXTREMELY high in sodium so only use a little) some crushed red pepper (I like it spicy) and some ground ginger. I let everything get nice and cozy with each other for about 3 more minutes. Then I take my brown rice and place it on the plate and add my delicious chicken stir fry to the top!
Now ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am a DESSERT FANATIC. I am that person who will have a salad for dinner just so I can get a piece of chocolate cake, tiramsu, etc. At my brothers rehearsal dinner last weekend I had a half a slice of tiramsu AND a half a slice of devils food chocolate chip cheesecake (sound heavenly??? oh it was!) Therefore, I am always looking at new ways to create sweet desserts that will get rid of my cravings and yet at the same time be nutritional. Behold the concoction I made below!
What the hell is that? It is one of the best desserts I have EVER had! What I did was take a 1/2 of a banana and some blueberries and threw them into the bowl. Then I remembered that I had some left over trail mix left over from the last time my boyfriend brought it from New Orleans. The trail mix called California Naturals Yogurt Nut Mix which consists of raisins, peanuts, dried dates, almonds, cashews, and yogurt chips. I sprinkled around a 1/4 cup over the bananas and blueberries. Then I took the new delicious creation by M&Ms (the new pretzels ones) and added four of them to the mix. What is great about the new M&M pretzel bite is that they are lower in calories than their counterparts and give you a great salty sweet complex.
First step to making this stir fry is to heat a pan with Olive Oil (about 1 tbsp) and to fill a saucer pan with water for the rice.Then while the pan was heating up, I chopped up my vegetables which consisted of mushrooms, asparagus, onions, red bell pepper, and some black beans!
Once the pan was heated I took my chicken breast (lightly salted/peppered) and browned it on each side (about 4 min.) I then removed the chicken breast from the pan and let it rest on a plate (it will continue to cook through.) Next, I threw all of my veggies (minus the black beans) into the sauté pan.
I let them cook for about 2 minutes and then threw in some garlic! You want the vegetables to soften, but I like mine to still have a little bit of a bite so I cook them for about 5 minutes (or when the onions become translucent.) Then I added the chicken (which I diced up while the vegetables were cooking! If you under cook the chicken a little don't worry it will cut through once you add it back to the vegetable mixture) and black beans to the pan. The longer you cook beans the musher they will get so make sure to add them last!
Then I added just a little bit of soy sauce (be careful here, soy sauce is EXTREMELY high in sodium so only use a little) some crushed red pepper (I like it spicy) and some ground ginger. I let everything get nice and cozy with each other for about 3 more minutes. Then I take my brown rice and place it on the plate and add my delicious chicken stir fry to the top!
Now ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I am a DESSERT FANATIC. I am that person who will have a salad for dinner just so I can get a piece of chocolate cake, tiramsu, etc. At my brothers rehearsal dinner last weekend I had a half a slice of tiramsu AND a half a slice of devils food chocolate chip cheesecake (sound heavenly??? oh it was!) Therefore, I am always looking at new ways to create sweet desserts that will get rid of my cravings and yet at the same time be nutritional. Behold the concoction I made below!
What the hell is that? It is one of the best desserts I have EVER had! What I did was take a 1/2 of a banana and some blueberries and threw them into the bowl. Then I remembered that I had some left over trail mix left over from the last time my boyfriend brought it from New Orleans. The trail mix called California Naturals Yogurt Nut Mix which consists of raisins, peanuts, dried dates, almonds, cashews, and yogurt chips. I sprinkled around a 1/4 cup over the bananas and blueberries. Then I took the new delicious creation by M&Ms (the new pretzels ones) and added four of them to the mix. What is great about the new M&M pretzel bite is that they are lower in calories than their counterparts and give you a great salty sweet complex. Then the kicker. Looks like vanilla ice cream doesn't it?? ITS NOT??? No, its cool whip free. This is a trick my mother taught me, take cool whip free (fat free version) and keep it in your freezer. Whenever you have a craving for ice cream have a scoop of Cool Whip Free instead. When Cool Whip is frozen it has the exact some consistency as ice cream and yet 1/2 of the calories and fat! Then I sprinkled some cinnamon on top of the cool whip to make it look pretty!
The dessert I made probably has around the same calories as a scoop of light ice cream yet pack double if not triple the nutrition! It gives a great salty, sweet, chocolate, creamy taste then will practically have you licking the bowl (I was soo close.)
It seems like a weird combination, but it was delicious. Never be afraid to experiment with food. Throw things together that you wouldn't normally think of. I mean what is the worse that could happen? If you don't like it, feed it to your dog! (I always give my dog leftovers!)
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