Tag Archives: eggs

Sunday Game Plan

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It’s been over a month since my last post, but a lot has happened in the last month with work and birthdays, so I haven’t been cooking as much. However, since my last post, I have actually completed all eight dishes during that week of the post.

I have posted pictures of my progress of the dishes I planned to make during that week on my Instagram stories (IG stories). Since IG stories only last 24 hours, a lot of followers haven’t seen the progress. Therefore, below are photos of what I’ve cooked since the last post.

Breakfast Egg Muffins
Egg Tomato Stir-fry
Spinach and Cheese Frittata
Banana Bread
Avocado Toast
Cinnamon Apples
Chinese Eggplant with Garlic Sauce
Maple Syrup Glazed Salmon

After cooking these eight dishes and finishing the leftovers, I’ve only cooked three more dishes. Only one of the three dishes was cooked on Father’s Day. Two of the three dishes were made off the cuff because we learned that the Prego Alfredo Sauce bottle had to be used up after three days of opening and refrigeration.

For the two pasta dishes, I used leftover cooked pasta and mixed them with the Alfredo sauce for a quick dinner after a long commute. I even paired the dish with Graham and Fisk white wine in a can.

Wine and Dine with Prego Alfredo pasta and Graham and Fisk white wine in a can

There was still a half bottle of Alfredo sauce, so I sauteed leftover cooked Perdue short cuts roast chicken slices, broccoli, and leftover pasta. Finally, I used up the remaining bottle of Alfredo sauce and concocted this dish that lasted at least 2-3 days.

Chicken, Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

Finally, on Father’s Day, I made skirt steak, and it came out really good that my parents took the leftovers home.

Ingredients used to marinade the skirt steak for 2-3 hours.
Skirt Steaks right off the grill and resting
Top section – well done
Bottom section – medium

Last weekend, which was the holiday weekend, I decided to stay home and cooked a Butter Basted Rib Eye Steak.

Rib Eye Steak
Rib Eye Steak basting in butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary
Butter Basted Rib Eye Steak resting

I know I won’t be cooking as much this week because my mom is going to bring her version of adobo, which will last two days. In addition, I’ll be participating in French Restaurant Week, which takes place during the week of Bastille Day. Finally, NurtureLife has supplied us with more products for the toddler to try and hopefully enjoy.

Traditional Tuesday – Bread Pudding

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Over the weekend, I decided to clean out the bulk of my refrigerator. What I came across were the following: Whole Wheat Bread, Mushrooms, Eggs, Milk, Thyme, Cream of Mushroom soup and White Cheddar Cheese. So it’s Sunday morning and I don’t want to waste food so I decided to create a family style portion of this comforting, hearty dish, which can also serve as a perfect potluck dish.

What is bread pudding?

Bread pudding is a dish that comprises of layering pieces of bread with a bunch of ingredients and mixing it with egg cream mixture prior to baking the concoction.

Where did bread pudding originate?

There are various version of where bread pudding originated from. The concept of this comforting dish came from the idea of utilizing leftovers while not wasting food. After reading the versions, I personally came to the conclusion that the bread pudding originated from the Egyptians. The Egyptians call their dish “Om Ali”, a dessert containing bread, milk or cream, almonds, and raisins. The Romans also created their version using stale bread, milk, fat and sweetener. In the Middle East, they create their own version called “Eish es Serny” which contains dried bread, sugar, honey syrup, rosewater and caramel. Currently, there is an Indian dish called “Shahi Tukra”, which is made from bread, ghee, saffron, sugar, rosewater and almonds. Of course, the real geniuses behind this comforting dessert do not get the proper recognition for creating bread pudding.

Now let’s get into on what food history has addressed the origins of bread pudding. Historians have stated that bread pudding originated in the Middle Ages with the invention of custard. By the 13th century the dish was labelled as a “poor man’s pudding” because it was made from leftover bread and was consumed by the lower classes. By the 18th century, the dish was served to people who were sick because the bread was easy to digest.

Over the last few centuries bread pudding has evolved to become a versatile dish where it can be made sweet, which popular in most high end restaurants (found in desserts) and savory.

A year ago during NYC restaurant week I had the privilege to eat the the Australian restaurant “Burke and Wills” located in the Upper West Side, which permanently closed early this year. They served an amazing dessert that was part of their three course prix fixe called “Bread and Butter Pudding” which was made with bread, toffee sauce, marscapone, and hazelnut.

Burke and Wills “Butter and Bread Pudding”

Over the weekend, I purged the refrigerator by utilizing all of the Whole Wheat Bread, Mushrooms, Eggs, Milk, Thyme, Cream of Mushroom soup and White Cheddar Cheese to made a Savory Mushroom Bread Pudding .

  • 1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees 2) Cut up the bread into cubes and layer the bottom of the pan. 3) Slice mushroom and spread it across the bread.
  • Combine 4 eggs, milk, cream of mushroom soup and thyme.
  • Whisk all ingredients until it’s well combined.
  • Pour mixture over bread and mushroom. Press the bread slices to absorb the egg mixture. Let it sit for 30 minutes
  • Place the dish in the oven and cook it for 35 minutes.
  • Add white cheddar slices/shreds on top and cook it for another 10 minutes so the cheese will melt. Serve.

The dish came out almost perfect because I used what I had leftover so this version had an unequal ratio. There was way more bread than there was mushroom and cheese. The cream of mushroom soup and thyme saved the day because the flavor of the dish was on point. In addition this dish serves six people and after consuming a third of what would be considered one slice was already filling. I had a lot of fun making this dish and would like to explore different variation of creating bread pudding. I definitely want to explore creating a different version that is gluten and dairy free.

Sunday Game Plan – Diet plan for one week

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Hello everyone! So tomorrow is July 1st and this is the perfect time to make a change with the end goal being weight loss and eventually getting into my dresses comfortably.

After doing some research I read an article from Woman’s Day regarding a 6 day summer weight loss program and as much I want to replicate the plan, I have to do some modifications because I had to work with what I had. In addition, I will be traveling back and forth so planning healthy meals will be tough. The article set a plan where the most calories come from dinner. The calorie outline listed on the article was 300 calories for breakfast, 400 calories for lunch, 500 calories for dinner and 150 calories for snacks. Therefore the total calorie intake is 1350 calories.

For this week’s game plan, I have listed meals for 7 days instead of 6. In addition I didn’t count calories so I am unsure if I went over the total calorie intake. So below is the list of breakfast, lunch and dinner meal plan for the week.

Pictures of these proposed meals will be posted on my Instagram: tablespoonsandteaspoons.

Wish me luck and stay tuned!!

Lent – Sugarless Diet Game Plan

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Hello everyone Happy Presidents Day! We as the title states it’s that Christian season again, Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which was the same day as Valentine’s Day. This Lenten season I decided to give up sugar with the exception of fruit and vegetables. So far, I’m getting through it but at the same time it is difficult especially when I had to eat out for Chinese New Year. Eating out was a challenge because I don’t know whether sugar was added to the diet. As a result, I ended up at a buffet, a Middle Eastern and Hibachi restaurant.

For the first five days of Lent, here were my meals containing 0g of sugar:

What I’ve realized is to successfully accomplish this I have to cook my meals at home.

After going through my current pantry at home, I’ve discovered more limitations to this no sugar sacrifice. However, this week’s game plan will consists of the following ingredients that contains no sugars to date:

Black beans

Red Kidney beans

Eggs

Salmon

Cod

Ground Kobe beef

Ground Turkey

Olive oil

Coconut oil

Ghee

Butter

Quorn Chik ‘n Patty

Cauliflower

Asparagus

Oats

Rice

Parmesan cheese

Cream cheese

Almond milk

Strawberries

Blueberries

Follow me on Instagram at tablespoonsandteaspoons for updates on the recipes made this week with these ingredients.

Week One Semi Paleo/Clean Eating Diet and The Final 15-20 Update

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Hello everybody, as Labor Day approaches which unofficially means that summer has ended.  So in my last diet game plan post,  I took ideas from the a diet published by the authors of Physique 57 Solution   The good news is that I followed the classic workout outlined in the book, it definitely took longer than 57 minutes because I kept taking breaks.  However, I struggled with the diet as unfortunately I have cheated numerous times with ice cream, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, flour and alcohol.  I improved my water intake and slept according to schedule for the most part.  Consequently I did not lose the weight.

I am not giving up and still hope to lose the last 15-20 before the year’s end.  I began doing research again on devising another diet plan and for the next two weeks I am going into the plan that is semi paleo and semi clean.

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It is obvious that I have stocked up on spinach, onions, eggs along with my own pantry of oils and spices.  My goal is to track the number of calorie consumption and calories burned throughout the day.   I do plan on having lots of left overs so hopefully by the end of next week I can feel skinnier.   Stay tuned.

Meatless Monday – 2 courses – 7 ingredients

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Happy Monday! Following my game plan posted yesterday, I created a two course meal that only requires a total of eight ingredients. These two dishes commemorate three monthly food observances:

National Egg Month
National Salad Month
National Strawberry Month

The first dish requires only two ingredients. It is gluten free and Paleo friendly.

Banana Pancakes
1 ripe banana = 110 calories = $0.49/lb. this week at Stop and Shop
2 eggs = 90 calories/egg

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Second dish requires five ingredients:
Strawberry Arugula Salad
1 cup arugula = 6 calories
6 strawberries sliced = 35 calories = $2.99 a package on sale this week at Stop & Shop
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted = 350 calories
1 tablespoon spoon extra virgin olive oil = 120 calories
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar = 30 calories

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Traditional Tuesday – Egg in a Hole

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Happy Tuesday! Starting off my revising diet with a recipe I have been making and consuming for several weeks and complementing with either a half avocado or a cup of strawberries.

Egg in a Hole is a fried egg on toast.

The original recipe was published during the late 19th century by Fannie Farmer, author of the Boston Cooking School Cookbook.  The recipe was called “Egg with a hat”.  The dish was made using a two-and-a-half-inch cookie cutter to remove the bread’s center.  It is served with a cooked egg, that becomes the “hat”.

The dish has many names such as “Egg in a Basket,” “Egg in a Frame,” “Toad in a Hole,” “Egg in a Nest,” “Sunshine Toast,” and even “Gashouse eggs.”  Movies such as “Moon Over Miami,” “Moonstruck” and Vendetta” have made this very simple dish popular.

The dish itself is primarily made of two ingredients: toasted bread and an egg.  It is a fun, quick and simple dish to make.

1 extra large egg = 70 calories (recipe below I used a jumbo cage free egg = 90 calories)

1 toast bread, I used Udi’s Gluten Free Omega Flax Fiber Bread = 75 calories/slice

Total calories = 145 calories (using a jumbo egg = 165 calories)

Total cost = Investment of $10 (ingredients last about 1-2 weeks)

1.5 dozen Eggland’s Best large eggs  on sale this week for $3.99 at C-Town.

Bread on sale this week ranging from $2.99 to $4.99 at Stop & Shop

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Two ingredients used – toast bread and egg

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Cut a circle in the center of the toasted bread, set it to the side, then place the “hole” bread into a non-stick pan.

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Crack an egg into the hole and let it fry for about 2 min.

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Flip the bread over and cook the other side.

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Egg in a hole is cooked and ready to serve.

 

Sunday Game Plan – Snow Aftermath

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Happy Snow Weekend! It’s been a rough couple of days as I am recovering from a very bad cold thanks to the change of weather resulting in a lost sense of smell and taste.  Over the last week, just been stocking up on fish such as tuna steak and wild salmon.  What was purchased and stored from the last two weekends is coming into use especially being snowed in for the weekend.  I am carrying over some recipes from the previous Sunday Game Plan, which I did not have the opportunity to make last two weeks.  20160124_110647