Pan seared chicken with cherry glaze

I took some of this recipe from foodnetwork.com, but I decided to make it my own by creating my own glaze.  YUMMY!!

Ingredients:
4 chicken thighs
salt, pepper
poultry seasoning
2 or 3 sprigs of rosemary finely chopped

glaze:
half a jar of marachino cherries and the juice
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
3tbsp of orange marmalade

1.  Pat the chicken dry.
2.  season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning
3.  pour 3 tbsp of olive oil into a pan, and sear the chicken 3 minutes on each side. (be careful not to burn it) When you turn the chicken over, add the finely chopped rosemary
4. Finish it in a 350degree oven for about 15-20 minutes.
5.  pour the glaze over it and enjoy!

to make the glaze!
1. In a saucepan, pour the cherries, juice and balsamic vinegar.
2. Let it reduce to about half, until it becomes a nice glaze

Italian style Pork Loin

It was amazing!!! At first, I had no idea what I was going to do.  Since I'm going home for the holidays, soon, I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while and my food inventory at home is really thin.  I had pasta sauce, pork loin and broccoli to play with, so my creation for tonight was to be Italian.  Now, usually I make my own pasta sauce, but since I decided to use what was on hand, I did it this way:

INGREDIENTS!
2 loins
1 medium sized jar of pasta sauce
fresh rosemary
dried thyme
fresh oregano
salt & peppr
olive oil

1.  Butterfly the loins.  Keep them looking like a boat, so the sides are up and not flat.
2.  Rub them with salt, pepper, olive oil and oregano
3.  Liberally rub oregano, thyme and rosemary on the inside, and let it sit for an hour.
4.  Pan sear the loins for 2 minutes on each side
5.  In a baking dish, pour about 2 tbsp of oil, then place the loins.
6.  Pour all the pasta sauce all over and around the pork.
7.  Bake at 425degrees for about 40-45 minutes.
8.  Let it stand for about 15 minutes after you take the pork out of the oven.
9.  ENJOY!

Pork Loin for Moi!

This was the first time I ever made pork loin. MAAAN IT WAS YUMMY!!! What I really like about this diet is that it forces me to think outside the box.  I have to come up with new things to make.  Unfortunately, I once again forgot to take a picture of my yumminess.  I promise, though, it was great,  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 pork loins
complete seasoning (or any other kind of rub)
salt & pepper
balsamic vinegar
olive oil

GLAZE:
1/2 jar of jelly (any kind, I used strawberry)
2 rounded tbsp of dijon mustard

1. rub the loins in complete seasoning, salt and pepper, and balsamic.  Let marinate for an hour.  DON'T TOUCH IT!
2. In a baking dish or casserole dish, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil on it and a few more tablespoons od balsamic over and around the meat.
3. Pop it in the  oven at 425degrees for 20mins PER POUND!

To make the glaze:
In a saucepan, heat up the jelly and the dijon.

*Pour the glaze over the meat while it's cooking in the oven when there's 30 minutes left for baking.

ENJOY!

I made sauteed spinach on the side with cream of onion.  (That, I cheated, my boyfriend made those)

Beer Chicken!

So I decided to cheat in a different way.  I decided to marinate my chicken in beer before baking it.  It came out amazing!!! The recipe's below.  Because beer is still too bland of a taste for chicken, I had to marinate the chicken with much more.

Ingredients:
 4 chicken thighs (that's just what I had)
1 bottle of beer.  I used Coors, but you can use any kind.  The darker the beer, the richer the taste.
garlic salt (I didn't have anymore garlic, so this was my alternative)
fresh rosemary
fresh oregano
salt and pepper
dried thyme

1. pat the chicken dry
2. rub the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic salt, oregano, thyme and rosemary
3. In the casserole dish, pour the whole bottle on to the chicken (yes, the chicken will be swimming... it's okay)
4. bake at 375 degrees for about 45mins.
5. ENJOY!

The thing with this recipe is that you can put in anny kinds of herbs you want.  Chicken is meant to be tweaked with.  I had left over beer from before my diet, and I wanted to do something with it.  I served the chicken with a mixture of sauteed asian veggies that I got at my local oriental store.  I sauteed them with soy sauce, and they came out yummy!!

Unfortunately, I remember about taking the picture after I'd eaten dinner... Oops! Maybe next time!!

Juicy STEAK!

Just 2 minutes on each side and my steak came out exquisitly! That's pretty much it... I haven't been able to go to the gym today, since I woke up with a headache and have had it all day.  So besides my food, I have done nothing but mope.  TOMORROW IS A DIFFERENT DAY!

Baked Chicken, Cheezy Broccoli and Meringues!

For dinner last night, I made some amazing seasoned baked chicken thighs and cheesy broccoli.  I think it was pretty awesome! Here's the recipe:

4 chicken thighs
fresh oregano
fresh rosemary
dried thyme
low sodium soy sauce
extra virgin olive oil

1. pat the chicken dry
2.  season liberally with all the ingredients
3. in baking pan, pour a few tablespoons of the olive oil and soy sauce over and around the chicken
4. bake in the oven at 375degrees for 45 mins.
ENJOY!

Next, I just put mozzarella over broccoli and for dessert, I made meringues!

The recipe for meringues:

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

3/4 cup sugar (in my case, splenda)

I beat those eggs until they looked silky with stiff peaks.  While beating, I gradually added sugar.

I stuck them in the oven at 325degrees for 25 mins.

Salad...mmmmmm

Don't every get a salad from a fast food place.  They are nasty.  Even though you went with your friend, don't get the salad. Gross.

Applebees

I couldn't write yesterday; I had sooo much homework to do.  But let's get down to business.

Albert and I went to Applebees.  I love that 2 for $20 deal!  Anyway, we had boneless buffalo wings (I cheated a little... I actually foorgot that they were breaded), a 7oz sirloin without the potato and had a salad instead.  The salad did have croutons, and I really couldn't help myself.  I love croutons... as in, I could eat them as a snack anyday, and I did while I was growing up.  I just could not resist the temptation.  It was terrible, but they tasted soo good.  I didn't feel bad, either.  I made up for it by having water only.  I was happy.  I had steak, no potato, veggies on the side and a salad. YUM!  So the only thing that I really failed at was the buffalo wings.  On top of that, I had to eat them... I ORDERED THEM! I wasn't even thinking!!!!  I hope I don't have another brainfart like that again... I probably will, though.

Mmmmm... Greek food...

I think yesterday was the worst, eating wise.  Today, I just had no time to cook, so I went to Pitaria, a local Greek place.  Usually, I chow down on a yummy cheese steak pita with pita fries on the side and a Dr. Pepper.  Not today.  I actually took this opportunity to try something new!  I tried the bean dip.  The mushy substance came with these small circular thingies that were crunchy on the outside and a pale green on the inside.  Because the green things were obviously fried, I decided to just try a bite.  Man am I glad that I can;t have fried food, because these green things SUCKED!! They were too salty on the outside and too bland on the inside... at least the bean dip was worth it... Oh, and about the pita fries... unfortunately I couldn't have that... I did have some stuffed grape leaves! YUM!

I decided to treat myself today after finding out that I've lost some weight.  I went to the doctor's office, where I found out that I now weigh 127lbs!! I also decided to pick up some vitamine E at CVS, since my doctor reccommended it.  After that, I had a nice smoothie... mmm... it was a blueberry, strawberry banana smoothie... YUM! Oh! I have also decided to cut out one more thing from my diet: caffeinne.  No coffee, no soda, no tea.  COLD TURKEY!!

Breaking up with Jimmy Johns

I love Jimmy Johns.

I always get the same thing: a club tuna, easy on the sprouts. Do you know what is probably the best part of a Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich? The bread. It's perfectly almost crispy on the outside, nice and soft inside and tasted better than a Publix sub bread. Jimmy Johns is the reason why I hate this diet today. Or maybe it's the other way around...

Anyway, today I ate an unwich. I hate unwiches. It's Jimmy John's excuse for trying to accommodate those on a low carb diet (like me). Well, now I know why low carbers don't eat at JJ's... THE BREAD IS IRRESISTIBLE!!! Don't worry... I still had the unwich... that nasty excuse for a fake sandwich. For those of you who do not know what an unwich is, it is a lettuce wrap filled with whatever kind of sandwich meat you may like. I always get the club tuna and I always finish it. Most of the time, I finish my sandwich quicker than my boyfriend does. Today, I couldn't even get half way. I hate lettuce. Okay, that's a bit harsh. I hate lettuce when it tries to impersonate yummy sandwich bread.

My boyfriend thinks I'm going through withdrawles, which I thought I was ready for. I guess not. I feel like someone who just kicked their smoking addiction, but with carbs. This sucks. I actually have a headache. Albert and I actually argued in the car about this stupid diet. Why did I have to pick this one?! I can't have any freaking bread!! The bread really makes the sandwich, and I can't have it...

Day 2, Monday December 7, 2009

Okay so I made this amazing meal!!!

I stuffed lean chicken with spinach and some smelly 3 year old cheddar that my boyfriend likes. I then seasoned it with some aloha mix I got from Hawaii and balsamic vinegar. I baked it at 350degrees for about 40 mins. In addition to that, I made a carb free green bean casserole. It was delicious! I tried to work out after, but I ate too much. Instead, I worked out this morning after I had an omelet. I don't think I'm loosing weight, yet, but I feel pretty healthy. Munchin on some cashews now...

The South Beach Diet

Okay.

Let me explain this silliness I've put myself through:
There are three phases in the SoBe Diet.

The first phase is to eliminate cravings for sugar and other starchy foods. This is going to be a pain. This phase lasts two weeks. I'm going to have to start filling up on lots of fiber, reduced fat cheese and lean meat. It doesn't sound too hard!

Monday, December 7, 2009

Last night, I guess I failed at my diet thing... I napped and never woke up till this morning.

Today, I am going to bake chicken stuffed with 3 year old cheddar and spinach. To substitute for carbs, I'll be serving it over a bed of arugula and carb free green bean casserole.

http://www.southbeachdiet.com/sbd/publicsite/how-it-works/how-it-works.aspx


How could I miss this?! I've lived in Miami my whole life, so why not try the South Beach Diet? It's a low carb diet that I can follow.

Day 1, Sunday 12/06/2009

Alright.

Here's blog numero uno. Let me first introduce myself:
My name is Eileen and I have fallen victim to the insufferable "freshman fifteen". When I graduated high school, I weighed just under 115lbs and proudly wore a size 0-2. (I'm very short, so don't think I'm going crazy)

Today, I am about 135lbs, wearing a size 4 jean and have developed somewhat of a belly... I used to look cute, and now I can't wear a swimsuit...

My goal is to get to 115lbs in a month. My current diet is a very low carb one. Accompanied with exercise, I hope I can reach my ideal weight.