Tandoori Chicken

I love Indian food and I really like Tandoori chicken. The problem is that it calls for yogurt, which I'm allergic to. So I wanted to figure out a way to prepare tandoori chicken, have it still taste good, and actually be able to eat it.

I decided that coconut milk would be a good substitute for the yogurt and I cheated and bought a jar of Pataks Tandoori paste instead of making my own. This was a super easy dinner and was very delicious (And even passed a test from my husband's Indian friend).

Mix 5 tbsp of the paste with 1/5 a can of the coconut milk (Be sure to give the can a good shake before opening)

Cut your chicken in half, length wise.

Add chicken to the sauce, making sure to coat the chicken evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Place in a single layer on a foil lined cookie sheet. Cook for 20 minutes at 400*

I made a sauce to go along with it using the remaining tandoori paste and the half can of coconut milk. I mixed the two together and heated over low heat. I served the chicken along with steamed cauliflower, brown rice, the sauce and naan.

I didn't put the sauce on for the picture. But when I ate it I cut up the chicken, added the sauce and mixed it all together

Cedar planked salmon

If there's one thing I like about this time change it's that I can now BBQ with sunlight. Yep, I'm one of those Canadians you see in the middle of winter, in the dark, full outer wear in tack (Toque, mitts, boots, down filled jacket) using a flashlight to see what they're doing (or the light from a cell phone when the flashlight is dead) so I'm very excited that I can go on outside and BBQ and see what I'm doing.

Tonight I made cedar planked salmon. I think this may be my new favorite way to cook salmon. The best part? Everything smelled of campfire, which makes me excited for summer!

So here's some step by step for my salmon, which I kept super simple tonight.

I bought these planks at superstore for super cheep, they were only about $2 something each.

Take them out of the package and put them in your sink. Fill it up to cover the boards

Put a heavy pot filled with water on top to keep them submerged. Leave them for 4-6+ hours.

Take your planks out of the water and dry them off. Season the boards with olive oil, salt and pepper

Place the salmon on top and just season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and a little lemon pepper seasoning.

Place the boards on the grill, close the lid, and leave them alone!! Your BBQ will smoke and your boards with probably get some small flames on the edges (keep a spray bottle of water nearby so nothing gets out of control). Cook until done

I served these up with some mashed yams, steamed broccoli and cheesy rice.

Where's the re-start button?

Back in September I joined a "biggest loser" type weight loss challenge with a a few girl friends. I ended up losing 30lbs by December and won, yay me. I lost an average of about 3 lbs a week and was humming along perfectly. I started up my own biggest loser challenge just a mere week later because I wanted some extra motivation to keep pushing on. My weight loss was going well until about 5 weeks ago. My weight loss slowed down to .5-1.5 lbs a week. While I know this is still a decent number it's a far cry from the 3 lbs I was losing before. Nothing had changed either, if anything I was exercising more now than before because of the nicer weather. At first I was fine with it, but after 5 weeks and only losing 5 lbs my patients grew thin and I felt my old habits creeping up. My old habits to say "eff it" and give up, cause really, what's the point of healthy eating and working my butt off to not literally work my butt off. I've had a few days here of not really caring about what I eat and I must say, I don't feel too hot. I feel bloated and fat, am gassy and just feel gross. Not only that but I definitely feel guilty for eating this crap. (For the record, I'm down 55.5 lbs). I feel as though I'm at a plateau, and while I know they're normal, I hate that I'm at one with still having another 55 lbs to lose!! (Again for the record, I'm currently 200.5 lbs and am 5'9". My goal weight is 150 lbs). So what to do?!?! I definitely don't want to let this get out of control and need to nip it in the bud while it's still fresh. I worked hard to get this weight off and don't ever want to see it come back. Ever. So where's the re-start button? I need to find it, fast.
I was sitting here the other day trying to figure out what could have changed my weight loss numbers? I came up with one answer, stress. Now I don't know how much of a factor stress actually is in weight loss, but it's the only answer I have. We have one of our friends living with us right now. He moved in at the end of December and things were going great. The start of February he started getting a little moody and stopped helping out (He used to be my little man servant). I'm definitely a person who feeds off others emotions, so when all I'm getting thrown is negativity, it doesn't bode well. I just need to figure out a way to better deal with my stress than eating. That's what I do, that's what most women do. And while I was still eating healthy things, I was eating and snacking far too much. A handful of Kashi crackers here, an extra banana there, an extra helping of rice at dinner, an extra piece of dark chocolate, doesn't add up well at the end of the day. This is something I definitely need to deal with, stress is an unavoidable factor of life and I can't let it stall my weight loss, or make me give up on a healthy life style every time it rears it's ugly little head.

One more thing I need to work on is consistency. I work 3 days a week, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. When I'm working my eating is regular, but the days I have off it's not. I might not eat till noon, or just eat at totally random times. Or end up snacking my way through the day. This is something I really need to fix. I need to find a way to make myself eat at (about) the same time every day, regardless of if I'm working or not.
I also want to schedule in exercise. Everything I do I do just when I can find the time. So some nights after getting home from work, cooking dinner, cleaning up, spending time with Landon and then just having some time to relax, midnight rolls around and I still haven't done my work out. It'll be between sleep or yoga, and 99% of the time, sleep will win. So then I set my alarm for an extra hour earlier in the morning telling myself that I will get up, morning rolls around and my snooze button gets the workout, not me. I don't really want to sign up for any classes, but I want to start treating my working out like it is a class I'm signed up for. Something that I have to go to at "x" time. Something where when Tuesday night at 8pm roll around Scott already knows that I'm going to workout and it's not surprise and I'm not begging him to use the TV so I can do my DVD.
So, re-start button, come on out, I'm ready for you. We just need to make a few minor adjustments and we're good to go.

Herbs and spices

I love food and I love cooking, especially for others. I truly don't mind spending over an hour in the kitchen preparing a meal then watching others enjoy the meal I just created.
I've always wanted a good spice and herb collection. I have a cupboard full of opened, half used, mostly stale bags of spices from Safeway and Superstore. Nothing fresh, and nothing of good quality. But I've found it hard to find a place in Calgary that has all the spices I want, at a decent price. So what to do? Well yesterday I came across a website for a Calgary based company (unfortunately they don't have a store front) that sells good quality, fresh spices online. Horrah! Problem solved.

http://www.silkroadspices.ca/

I'm not talking the typical collection that you find in the standard spice cupboard (Oregano, pepper, pizza seasoning, paprika, garlic salt, parsley, basil, etc.(Although, I do want to get a bunch of those in fresh and good quality form)) But ethnic and exotic spices like whole nutmeg, turmeric, lavender, star anise, saffron, vanilla beans, annatto seeds, fenugreek, rose petals, Indonesian cassia, etc. As well as some good quality spice blends like garam masala, Greek seasoning, apple pie spice, Chinese five-spice, Turkish baharat, Bow river fish blend, Cajun blackening spice, Texas BBQ rub, panch poran, etc. But the meal possibilities are so endless when you have a large variety of good quality herbs, spices and blends.

I also want to get a good mortar and pestle so I can grind up the whole seeds and actually use them. Cause what good is having an amazing herb and spice collection if I don't have any way of using them!

Now I just have to convince my husband that it's worth the price to splurge on a large amount of fine spices!

Let us begin.

Ah, the blog. A random online world where anyone can hop on their soapbox and chat about whatever little thing they please.
This is my first attempt at a public blog. I'm sure this is going to be one big melting pot of a blog for everything in my life to go. From recipes, weight loss and exercise, to makeup and crafts to just day to day life. We'll see where it goes, and hey, maybe there might even be something interesting going on