the joys of crockpots and other miscellany

Miscellany is a word, isn't it? I should just go with it.

After cleaning out my fridge and freezer the other day I discovered the long forgotten about pork roast hiding in the back under random frozen fruits (bananas perhaps?). I thought I'd make it easy on myself and toss that hunk o' meat (all four pounds of it) into the crockpot with a few spices. Crockpots are fantastic. Seriously fantastic. I knew this before, but I think with each time it gets put away in my pantry I forget until I use it to make something else and discover its wonderfulness all over again.

Here's what I did. It was the best pork roast I've EVER made, and that's saying a lot since I had an ex-boyfriend whose favorite thing I made was a pork roast. He's an ex-boyfriend so it's highly doubtful that he'll ever get to experience the new and improved version. His loss. Ahem.

I carefully cut off as much of the visible fat as I could. Pork loin is very lean, but when it is sold in the roast form there is a large, hmm, how to say this kindly...large layer of fat on one side of the roast. I created a marinade of sorts that included a lot of freshly ground pepper, some salt and some EVOO. In hindsight next time I'll use a tiny sprinkle of salt or omit it altogether. After spreading all over the roast I put it in the crockpot and put some plastic wrap over it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning I put that baby in the crockery, tossed in a bay leaf , a little water and some dried onion pieces (since I didn't feel like cutting up a fresh one at 7am) and let it work its magic. I came home to a delightful smelling house and when dinner was served at my friend's house that evening the pork roast and I received many compliments. It was a bit too salty, but otherwise it was so freaking yummy.

Back to the freezer. There were bananas. Lots and lots of frozen bananas. So many so that I baked FOUR batches of banana bread on Tuesday night. It was a late night and I seriously considered skipping out (er, I mean rescheduling) my first gym appointment. Anyhow, four batches of banana bread were made. Banana bread, while sounds somewhat healthy, is nothing of the sort. Despite my lack of passion about bananas (it's gotten better through the years, but I mostly buy them for their health benefits) this is pretty fantastic. I make mine special by adding walnuts and chocolate chips. That's right. Chocolate chips. If it's gonna be dessert, you might as well add some chocolate chips.

So, I mentioned the gym just a second ago. I've decided to give it a go and sign back up to my old gym. I'm kind of excited about it. After sucking it up and making it on Wednesday morning after my banana baking bonanza (triple alliteration. woohoo.), I felt so good. It was such a great feeling bursting with energy. And, just today at work they announced a Biggest Loser Competition. I'm pretty competitive and I'd like to win some cold hard cash, so I'm hoping this will be another way to keep me accountable to my goals and ambitions concerning a healthier life. I better go on and give away the rest of that banana bread now. However, those snickers that are stored in my kitchen junk drawer are not on the giveaway list.

I'm just keepin' it real.

shock and awe

On my menu plan for these week I had tonight slotted as Sesame chicken w/brown rice and veggies. Yep, that's right; I said veggies. Here's the thing: Vegetables and I haven't ever really been friends. At least not close friends. We're working on our relationship right now. My favorite vegetable would have to be the cucumber. So refreshing and crispy-crunchy. Mmmm (note the address of this blog).

I'm picky, to say the least. In the last few years I've had good luck with stir fries and eating some bite sized veggie pieces in there. Granted the veggies I tend to stick with are all ones I dig, but I've experimented with the random broccoli tree and carrot with decent luck (read: I haven't spit it out, gagged, or ignored the poor little veggie). It wasn't something I'd say I enjoyed, but was tolerable. That is, until tonight.

Tonight I made a concoction loosely based on a recipe from WW. I didn't have any ginger, dry sherry or maple syrup on hand, so I simply omitted those ingredients. It was more like chicken fried rice with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

Here's what I did:
As the brown rice was a cookin' I coated the chicken and started sauteing. After getting that going I minced some garlic and tossed it into a little EVOO in a low-heat pan and then removed after about 4 or 5 minutes. In the same pan I tossed in some peeled carrots, then some frozen peas, very small cut broccoli "trees", and diced red peppers (I forgot to add in the green onion til the end) and a few dashes of sesame oil. After that was cooking on med-high to high heat for about 15 min. (total guess on time) I tossed in the cooked brown rice and the garlic and mixed it all around. Then I added in my chicken and sprinkled on the sesame seeds and some low-sodium soy sauce.


The VERDICT: As if you couldn't guess, this one was yummy. It had lots and lots of flavor and wasn't overly asian spice tasting or really greasy and heavy. I wanted to go back for seconds, but because it was nearly 8pm by the time I ate I decided to refrain. Besides I'll be excited to eat the leftovers at work tomorrow. I'd say one of the main reasons the veggies in this dish were yummy were the flavors they were married with and also the fact that I kept the veggies in very small pieces.


Tomorrow night I'll be sharing a meal with friends. We're having pork roast, stuffing, green beans and some other goodness.

What's yummy from your kitchen?

*crickets* and do-overs

I didn't think my last post through as much as I should. I have many excuses, none of which are all that worthy. Anyhow, I have decided to put the hunger challenge on hold for the time being. Sorry for the lack of follow-through right now.

I am, however, jumping back on the bandwagon of my journey towards a healthier lifestyle; a week before Halloween where chocolate and candy will be plentiful.

The fridge and freezer were cleaned out today; tonight I went to the store to stock up on some good food. What I want to focus on right now is planning and making my meals instead of eating out. I'm working out a menu plan that I can live with. Let's face it, if my menu planned called for lima beans and carrots every other meal I simply wouldn't stick to it. What's the point in that?

This week I plan to swing by my old gym to see if I want to re-join. If I don't have somewhere to go where I feel comfortable enough to work out, I simply will avoid it and end up wasting money. Case in point: my exercise bike sitting in my basement; I've maybe used that thing a dozen times. I'm learning that I've got to be honest with myself if I'm to get any traction.

Here's to do-overs!