Soon...

I've been feeling under the weather lately and haven't cooked much but I'm going to make a big batch of SugarFreeSheila's pancake recipe tomorrow. I will take step-by-step pics (if my camera cooperates) and post it here. I really love this recipe because it's so easy to make, few ingredients and so delicious.

Watch out for it!

Pork Tenderloin Medallions

This recipe is very easy to prepare and doesn't have a lot of ingredients. Most of all, it tastes delicious! Beef tenderloin is quite pricey but using pork tenderloin in its place practically cuts the cost in half.




Pork Tenderloin Medallions

Ingredients
2 pork tenderloins
bacon strips (number depends on the number of pork tenderloin slices)
Italian seasoning
Olive Oil or butter
Salt and Pepper

1. Prepare the pork tenderloin. Cut the silver skin using a fillet knife, gently "sawing" it off with a back and forth motion. This will ensure that the meat is tender since the silver skin will turn rubbery and tough, making it difficult to eat.

2. Slice the tenderloin. Slice the tenderloin thickly, 1 1/2" to 2".

3. Season the medallions. Sprinkle Italian seasoning on the cutting board and roll the medallions over it. It doesn't have to coat the meat all over. Pat the meat gently to make sure the seasoning stuck to it well. You may add salt and pepper over the meat as well.

4. Wrap the medallions. Use the bacon strips to wrap the tenderloin. Tenderloin doesn't have any fat and the fat from the bacon will flavor the meat even more. Secure the bacon strips with tooth picks.

5. Sear the medallions. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet. You may also use butter. When the oil is hot put the medallions in. Sear for 3 minutes each side.

6. Let the meat cook. After searing, cover the skillet and let the meat cook. Make sure you don't overcook or the meat will be tough.

7. Deglaze the pan. Once the medallions are cooked, plate them. Splash some water into the pan to deglaze. This will make a glaze or a thin sauce that you can pour over the medallions when you serve.

8. Enjoy.

No Rice For Me, Please!

Rice. These white, pearly beads that accompany every Filipino meal is nutritious and delicious. It's very adaptable. You can make fried rice, rice toppings, garlic rice, bagoong (shrimp paste) rice, the list goes on and on. I loved rice.

When I was a kid my mother would always tell me not to eat too much rice. I remember slicing up my fried chicken thigh into tiny pieces so I could shovel three tablespoons of rice into my mouth with one tiny piece of chicken. Hence, making the chicken last longer. I would do that with everything, every meal. If we had chorizo (sausage) for breakfast, my brothers and I would fight over the chorizo grease, mix it with cups upon cups full of rice. Rice made us eat more. It made our delicious chorizo or hotdogs or corned beef last longer. It filled us up.

Fast forward to when I spent a few months in Japan where the rice is not only as white as snow and as fat as rosary beads, it also smelled so sweet! When the rice finished cooking and the rice cooker is open, the aroma wafting through our apartment would make my mouth water. I would immediately grab a bowl, fill it with rice and just sprinkle soy sauce, tongarashi (chili powder) and mayo and I'm good to go.

I had a love affair with rice. It seduced me, tempted me and left me weak with desire, longing for more. It made me sluggish, tired all the time and most of all it filled me up.

See rice is a filler. The way I ate it was to make my "other" food last longer. Much like feathers fill up and fluff up pillows, that's what rice did to me, to my hips, to my thighs, to my tummy. It fluffed me right up. But I stopped it.

After 29 years of my rice love affair, I quit it. I quit rice. It wasn't easy for a couple of days but now, after three weeks I can honestly say I'm over rice. I don't miss it, I don't crave it not even a little bit, not even at all.

I've had people ask me why I'm not eating rice anymore and I just say I want to lower my sugar and starch intake, tell them I'm going low carb or Atkins. The reply is 99% the same. "I would LOVE to go low carb but I can't LIVE without rice!"

1% of the time I want to say, "I thought that too, but look at me now. I can eat an 8 oz steak with a side of salad and finish it all because there's no rice to fill me up and ruin my meal. I can eat 3 cups of veggies in a day, bacon, eggs and not get tired or feel sluggish because of the carbs rushing through my blood. I thought I wouldn't survive it. But here I am."

But 99% of the time I end up just smiling and shaking my head. And when that big rice platter is handed to me I just say with a big smile, as I look down at my FULL plate of fish, chicken, beef, pork, veggies, cheese and butter, "No rice for me, please!"

And I mean it.

Callanetics 10/10: Hour One

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

What did I ever do to deserve torture like this????

I swear... at one point I thought I was going to throw up! I couldn't even DO or attempt three of the exercises and I bet my form was just stupid and I was probably jerking all over the place instead of doing tiny, delicate movements.

It. Was. The. Hardest. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Done. EVER.

I feel tired and sleepy afterwards. I guess it was wrong to do it after a heavy dinner. Maybe next time (if there is a next time!) I should do it in the morning or something. I sure hope it gets easier. IT HAS TO GET EASIER!

I want that lifted butt! The tight and peachy hips! The long and toned arms and flat tummy! I want it all!

But whoever said the road towards beauty isn't without any pain or, in this case, leg and butt cramps? So I guess... onward I go.

I Am SO Over My Scale! (And other vents...)

I hate my weighing scale! It's not working right! If I put it on one part of our room it would say I gained four pounds. I move it a few inches and it says I lost 2 pounds. It IS driving me INSANE!

I might just buckle down and get a new one. I found one that not only measures body fat percentage but also saves your weight. It has its own memory. I just might get that for my peace of mind. UGH! It's so frustrating not knowing if I actually gained weight or lost weight!

I'm going by the weight that I took at my doctor's appointment but that's a week ago. I really need to get a new scale. Need to save money 'cause I also want a griddle pan LOL

Good thing I'm going to start a new job soon. No more bumming around for me and actually going to an office for the first time in 4 years. Scary thought, isn't it? I'm so used to working by myself. My last job was as a home based medical transciptionist. I just get email and do my work and email it back. So easy and devoid of any social interaction (unless Facebook counts). So I am excited and a little nervous. Do I even remember how to talk to people face to face? I sure hope so.

Beef Shank Stew

When we go grocery shopping, my husband and I would always make it a point to drop by the meat section to see if there's anything that looked good. This particular day we saw some really nice looking beef shanks. Neither of us had any idea which part of the cow it came from but they looked really fresh and nicely cut. We got around 1.5 kilos, got home and stuck it in the fridge. After a lot of googling we found out that beef shanks come from the cow's legs and since they use their legs a lot the meat tends to be drier and tougher.

My husband decided to make stew with the beef shanks and it turned out really well. The meat was so tender and delicious and the stew was hearty and so filling. The carbs in this dish is relatively high because of the tomato sauce but you can always add water to thin it out so you don't have to use too much. It's also a very easy dish to make and a throw-everything-you-want-in-it dish which is great when you have a lot of odds and ends veggies in the fridge.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did when we had it for dinner. And breakfast. And lunch. It was a lot of beef =D.




Beef Shank Stew
Serves 6

Ingredients
2 lbs beef shank, remove connective tissue around
3 C string beans/green beans, we used fresh
2 C celery
5 cloves garlic
2 onions
1.5 C cauliflower
1 C broccoli
5 medium tomatoes
150 g tomato paste
salt and pepper

1.Prepare the shanks by removing the connective tissue around as much as you can. Boil the beef in a big pot with enough water to cover it, sliced onions, garlic and salt. The length of time depends on how tender you want the meat to be.
2.Prep the veggies by cutting them in bite-sized pieces to make sure they cook evenly and at the same time.
3.Once the beef is tender, take it out of the pot and slice them into bite-sized pieces and return to the pot. You may leave the bone out. Add all the vegetables and let them cook.
4.About 5 minutes before the veggies are done cooking, stir in the tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Heat through.
5.Serve.

The Drought Is Over

I haven't been posting but that is about to change. I could give you the usual excuse of being busy but I'd rather just show you. Here are the pictures/reasons why I have been too busy to post.




I will post recipes of all the dishes I had made the last month. Happy low carbing!