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I used to run this blog with my fiance, but now she has her own: Affoodability.

This blog has become a place for me to talk about my journey into weight loss, fitness, and finding ways to always eat things that taste amazing. I'm a foodie, it's a passion of mine. But now I'm also a cyclist.

I feel like a teenager again.

I’ve been working out 4 times a week for the last 3 weeks. 

And now I’m hungry. ALL THE TIME. it’s ridiculous.

at least i’ve been sticking (mostly) to the healthy stuff. fruit, veggies, etc. i’m still not worried about the occasional cheeseburger, because i’m not of the mindset of cutting out things that are bad for you, but instead focusing on putting more good things in.

i’ve been eating more carbs lately, which i’m fine with because i need them for energy on the bike and in the gym. as a matter of fact, since i’ve been meal planning lately, i’ve decided to try and get in 1 pasta dinner a week.

actually, here’s my meal plan for the week (keep in mind it already started):

monday - night class, had to eat on campus. got a bowl of vegetable soup and a quesadilla with black beans, jalapeños and pico de gallo in it.

tuesday - getting dinner with friends at a local brewpub. it’s suprisingly fancy and expensive, so i don’t know what exactly i’m getting. just about everything on the menu is $25-$30, with the exception of the cheeseburger for $18.50 (lol). but their beer list looks awesome, so excited. really traditional style stuff.

wednesday - chicken shawarma. i actually have to marinate the meat overnight, so i’ll have to prep after i get home from dinner.

thursday - turkey taco casserole. it’s basically a taco made with ground turkey, but no tortilla, so you layer the taco fillings in a bowl and just eat it with a fork.

friday - thai red curry! haven’t made this in a while. delicious stuff. 

saturday - chicken sausage, mushroom and spinach pasta.

so this week isn’t exactly vegetarian, but it’s still pretty healthy - especially keeping in mind that i’m still generally doing green smoothies for breakfast and fruit for lunch.

less than a month until my BikeMS event!

thai green curry

first time making green curry, i usually go for the red.

chicken, green peppers, onion, broccoli, shrimp stock, green curry paste, brown sugar, chopped garlic and ginger, soy sauce, and shredded basil added at the last second. um…yep i think that’s it. sooo good.

homemade thai peanut salad dressing and marinade

ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

1/2 in piece of ginger

1 tbsp veg oil

1 cup peanut butter (chunky is nice, but smooth can be used if you prefer)

soy sauce

rice vinegar

brown sugar

white sugar

red curry paste

garlic chili sauce

cayenne pepper

lime juice

water

directions

almost all of the ingredients are to taste. this allows you to figure out how thick or thin/sweet or salty or spicy or sour you want it. it’s all about balance, too. if it’s too sweet, add a little more lime juice or soy sauce. if it’s too spicy, add more sugar, etc.

but here’s the main idea:

first get a pan to relatively high heat with about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. add in the red curry paste (i usually go for about 3 tbsp) and mix it into the oil. you want to “burn” the curry paste a little, caramelizing the sugars in the ground up peppers in the paste. as the mixture fries, it’s going to spit a lot so be careful. cook the paste and oil until it’s all incorporated together, it smells fragrant and it’s darkened shade of red. add in the chopped garlic and ginger and stir fry for maybe 45-60 seconds. next, add in around 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix thoroughly. at this point, you can turn the heat down to a simmer. add in your peanut butter, and stir it in completely. add in about 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, about a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of white sugar. stir everything to combine.

here’s where you taste for seasonings and adjust the recipe according to your liking. i really like spicy stuff so i just kept piling on the thai garlic chili sauce and cayenne pepper. i also added in more about 3 or 4 more tablespoons of soy sauce to boost the saltiness, and probably about 2 cups of water because it was getting way too thick. adding in the garlic chili sauce made it a bit too vinegary so i ended up adding more lime juice and bit more sugar to even it out. oh, i also added in some raw red curry paste to funk it up a bit.

some additional flavorings could include coconut milk, sriracha, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (although i suppose lime zest could work), tamarind paste (for sourness/sugar), palm sugar, the list goes on. read up on thai food for more information.

i use it as a salad dressing, but you can easily marinade chicken breast chunks in this for 2-3 hours, skewer and grill for an interesting take on chicken satay. the sugars in the marinade burn easily, which i like. adds a smoky element into the mix. also, pour it over some fettuccini noodles, top with grilled chicken and raw bean sprouts and you’ve got something that tastes quite familiar if you’ve been to the cheesecake factory. (spicy thai peanutbutter pasta, anyone?)