Tonight for dinner…

Posted: September 27, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog | 1 Comment »

 

Vietnamese-Style Beef with Garlic, Black Pepper, and Lime

I’ve spent the day being ‘Lisa Haus Frau’ Whirling Dervish of clean and I’m just too tired to fuss with dinner. But I still want to eat something good. You should have most of these ingredients in your pantry. Or you have soy sauce packets leftover from you last take-out order of Chinese. And if you’re a fan of gin and tonics, margaritas or mojitos I know you have plenty of lime on hand. Enjoy!

2 Tbs. soy sauce

2 Tbs. fresh lime juice

1 1/2 Tbs. light brown sugar

1 Tbs. fish sauce

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbs. peanut or canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 lb. beef tri-tip steak or tenderloin,cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1 medium yellow onion, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick wedges

3 Tbs. chopped salted peanuts, preferably toasted

2 scallions, both green and white parts, thinly sliced 5 cloves garlic, minced

 

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, lime juice, sugar, and fish sauce; stir until the sugar dissolves.

In another small bowl, stir the garlic, 1-1/2 tsp. of the oil, and 1-1/2 tsp. pepper.

Season the beef with salt and pepper. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 1-1/2 tsp.of the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Swirl to coat the skillet. Add half of the beef in a single layer and cook, without stirring, until well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Using tongs, turn the pieces over and brown on the other side, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Transfer to a medium bowl. Add 1-1/2 tsp. oil to the skillet and repeat with the remaining beef, adding it to the bowl with the first batch when done.

Put the remaining 1-1/2 Tbs. oil in the skillet and heat until shimmering hot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the garlic mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pan and stir to combine.

Add the soy sauce mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the beef and onions are coated and the sauce thickens slightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve sprinkled with the peanuts and scallions.

Recipe courtesy of www.finecooking.com

This is another go-to site for me when I need ideas. Love them!

Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Dijon Sauce and Crispy Pancetta

Posted: September 23, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog, Recipes | Leave a comment »

Pan Roasted Chicken Breast with Dijon Sauce and Crispy Pancetta

This recipe is so crazy easy to make and usually you have most of the ingredients in the pantry or freezer.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the pancetta and cook until browned and crispy. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the chicken breasts skin side down to the drippings in the hot skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes until skin is golden brown, then transfer the skillet to the oven. Cook in oven 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Turn the chicken breasts halfway through cooking. Remove skillet from oven and place chicken breasts on a plate. Cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings from the skillet. Heat the skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook 1-2 minutes until translucent. Stir in the Dijon mustard and cider vinegar and cook until vinegar is reduced. Raise the heat and whisk in the chicken stock and brown sugar. Cook 3-4 minutes until sauce thickens. Taste and season with salt and black pepper to taste.

To serve, plate the chicken breasts and pour the pan sauce on top. Sprinkle the crispy pancetta over the top. Serve warm.

Recipe courtesy of Food52 – www.food52.com

This is one of my most very favorite websites!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are not all the same…

Posted: September 21, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog | 2 Comments »

 

Just because your best friend, sister, husband, co-worker swears by hot sweaty yoga, the Paleo Diet, barefoot running or eating twigs and berries doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for you. You’re you. Not them. Question your doctor, friend, Oprah, Dr. Oz, Suzanne Somers, Paula Dean. Ask for different opinions. Read everything you can get you hands on.

Every week I plan on posting articles about different food trends (raw, macrobiotic, juicing), diets (Paleo, Zone, Flat Belly) and recipes that are easy to make and just plain good.

Or check out what I have to offer under the Health Coaching tab on my site. Let me do the leg work. Based on what you tell me, I’ll develop a plan that is the right one for you. You and you alone.

The message here is – It’s all about perseverance. Keep trying new things until you find something that works for you.

It’s not a walk in the park. You have to want it and own it. All of it. Good and bad. But know in the end that it will be so worth it.


 

Big words and self doubt

Posted: September 20, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog | Leave a comment »

 

When I first developed the tagline for my business/blog/what have you I got very shy. I felt like ‘empowering you to lead a healthier life’ was so lofty and arrogant. But once I stepped back and thought about what ‘empower’ really means I realized that is exactly my intent, goal and purpose of creating this business.

To ‘empower’ is to ‘enable.’ To ‘provide with the means or opportunity.’ To ‘make possible, practical or easy.’ (It’s the geek in me that likes to look up actual definitions of things)

My objective is to provide you with information regarding health, food, wellness and other things that strike my fancy. With the ultimate goal of you discovering how to lead a better, healthier life with more joy, more laughter and less of a bagel belly.

The intention is for you to uncover what’s truly best for you. Not the neighbor lady. Your boss. Or that chick on Dr. Phil.

Don’t worry. You won’t be doing this alone. I’ll be along for the ride.

 

 

At what age do we stop believing we’re awesome and can do anything?

Posted: September 9, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog | 1 Comment »
I shared this on facebook yesterday and I think it’s worth sharing again. Remember what it was like to feel proud of something you accomplished? Something simply for you. If you have kids or know a kid or have seen one on TV you know that look of unbridled joy and excitement when that little person figures something out.
There’s nothing wrong with being five again.
Waking Up Full of Awesome

blog.pigtailpals.com

There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the hell would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of shit?
Wouldn’t that be nuts, to tell my little girl below that in another five or ten years she might hate herself because she doesn’t look like a starving and Photoshopped fashion model?
Or even more bizarre, that she should be sexy over smart, beautiful over bold?
Are you freaking kidding me?
Look at her. She is full of awesome.
You were, once. Maybe you still are. Maybe you are in the process of getting it back.
All I know is that if you aren’t waking up feeling like this about yourself, you are really missing out.

The Two Fat Ladies

Posted: September 6, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Blog | 2 Comments »

 

My struggle to develop a name for my business has been epic. My good friends and poor husband have heard me go on ad nauseum about the name of my business. I wanted the name to reflect who I am (approachable, irreverent), my approach to health and wellness (personalized and realistic) all with a good giggle and snort thrown in for good measure.

That is asking a lot of a name. But I’m ridiculously stubborn.

The inspiration, my muses for the name of my business are the witty, brilliant, culinary geniuses Jennifer Patterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright. Otherwise know as ‘The Two Fat Ladies.’

I know there appears to be a big disconnect. Fat Ladies. Health. Nutrition. Not so much. These two women capture the personality I want for my business. They’ve been described as having….

An uncompromising approach to food and cooking.

Irrepresible views on everything from the proper way to hang meat to the vilfication of cholesteral

Unflailing good humor, lack of airs and grace

And their food…full flavored fare for those who delight in the savory goodness of well prepared ingredients

If I can capture just some of that I will consider myself successful.

But wait…still no explanation for the name???

At the end of each show, after sourcing the freshest of ingredients, cooking amazing food and providing their opinions about essentially everything they would close, with the two of them sitting in comfy chairs, a glass of wine in hand and say to each other ‘To Your Very Good Health.’

I know that’s a long explanation for a name. And the marketing girl in me should know better. But somehow it just feels right.