What's on your plate?

[lylysa]

Hello there, ladies and gents!

Keeping in line with all the fun and interactive threads asking about your most recent halls, items you have your eyes on, what you're currently wearing, what's your hair routine, and more, I've decide to branch out and ask:

"What's on your plate?"

The beauty world doesn't just stop at skin care and cosmetics, it also goes hand in hand with your overall health and well-being, so with that, I'm curious to see what we're all chowing down and snacking on be it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or inbetween!

For those with apps that help count calories or to those who just want to keep a log, here's a place to share, possibly find and share some recipes, and even tips on maintaining a balanced diet.

Don't just share food items, but even drinks! I'm a huge fan of tea and at least have a cup of green tea a day (anti-oxidants) and drink plenty of water.

For lunch today, I had:

-Brown rice

-Steamed egg

-Steamed red snapper with green onion, sesame oil, and black pepper

-Gai lan (it's a type of Chinese vegetable/greens)

Now, tell me, Beauty Talk world, what do you have? 😄

[BuxomBabe80]

I hear ya, girl! I can cook but not well and I certainly don't enjoy it. 😞

[guzelkiz]

It's just sad because my mom is an amazing cook and she can make anything! I think what happened is that growing up she never let me be in the kitchen with her because she didn't want me to make a mess or do things differently than her way. So I stuck with my dad and worked on cars and fixing things around the house.  We also did countless renovation projects together. So now I just don't know how to start learning to cook and my husband and in laws spoil me so I don't really have to cook.

[BuxomBabe80]

Sounds to me like you have a pretty good deal with the husband though! 

Growing up I had it in my mind that I was going to be the opposite of my mom. Not because I didn't love my mom or respect her, but it's not the life I thought I wanted to lead. My mom stopped working when I was very young and has never worked full-time since. She did all the cooking and cleaning when I was growing up. She still does the bulk of it. But my mom's twin, my favorite aunt, was an engineer who got married in her 30s and kept her maiden name. She seemed more independent and that is what I wanted to be like. 

Fast forward a few years and I had my kids at 22 and 24. LOL But I have worked since my oldest was six weeks old and I'm the breadwinner in my relationship. So I guess I got the best of both worlds in some sense. 🙂

[guzelkiz]

Yes I totally lucked out with him! He has a crazy schedule and works all the time but he does most of the cooking on the weekends and I just eat that the whole week.

I know what you mean. My mom was a stay-at-home mom too. She worked before we were born but stopped. I always felt like she sold herself short because she is so talented in many ways and can do a lot besides housework and managing kids.

I totally get what you mean. I always feel satisfied if I'm pulling my own weight 🙂

[BuxomBabe80]

Well I'm sure he feels just as lucky to have you as you do to have him! 🙂

[guzelkiz]

Aww thanks! ❤️

[EvangelineDamon]

Last night, we had a pizza from the Sausage Factory (Castro, SF) and it was everything I had been dreaming about..

We ordered a Tony's Special (Salami, Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, Onions & Sausage), walked up the block to the Castro Coffee company and picked up two bags of fresh, dark beans...

-the Fog Lifter has been my new favorite for the past few weeks; "Strong Morning Blend of Central American and African Coffee; Bold Flavor with kick."

and a new of that I think I am already loving

-Barbary Coast Reserve; A full Dark blend of Central American and African Arabica's .A strong but not smokey roast that's sure to please your palate

[vegchililover78]

Both of those coffee blends sound so good! 🙂

[DiVWA]

This is a future plate -- tonight I'm making leftover baked chicken, steamed green beans, and some fresh butternut "polenta." I'll put some Trader Joe's turkey gravy on top. BTW, for those of you with Trader Joe's stores, their turkey gravy (available right now, until it's sold out) is a great pantry gravy for any time of year. It can actually be used as gravy for beef, pork or chicken too. I don't have much processed food around but this is one short-cut idea that I like. It seems to have much less "bad stuff" than other packaged gravies...

[EvangelineDamon]

Fabulous!

I'll put it on the shopping list for Sunday. 

Thank you...and your future plate sounds delicious.

[DiVWA]

TJ right now has butternut squash on sale for about $1.79 each--any size. (If you don't see this in your TJ, then maybe it's a local thing here.) If you see it at TJ, grab one that feels more heavy--it's a great bargain. Butternut squash is a super yummy squash--besides making a "polenta" with it, you can roast it or mash it. When I mash it, I add butter, some sugar-free apricot preserves, and a splash of soy sauce to it. According to NutritionDataSelf dot com, butternut squash "is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese." The glycemic load is only 8.

[EvangelineDamon]

I picked up a butternut squash today.

They had so many different squashes there from $1.49 to about $4.49..

Thank you for the head's up and information on it.

[DiVWA]

Would you like my butternut squash "polenta" recipe? 🙂

[EvangelineDamon]

Yes, please...

[DiVWA]

Oh I love that kitty. I'll try to get this dang spoiler tag to work for me:

Spoiler

Butternut Squash “Polenta” (gluten-free)

2 pounds fresh butternut squash

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the kind in the green sprinkle container is okay to use)

1 cup blanched almond flour

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F. Peel the squash and then dice it into about 1/2-inch squares. Put the diced squash inside a couple of vegetable steamers. Steam for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is very soft. Let it cool and then put all the squash into a large glass bowl. Mash the squash by hand with a potato masher.

Add the beaten eggs, salt, nutmeg, cheese and almond flour and mix well. Put the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. The mixture will be the consistency of thick mashed potatoes; use a small metal spatula to spread the mixture to all the edges and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour, or until the polenta feels firm. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the parchment (with the polenta on top) to a large cutting board. Cut the polenta into squares in whatever size you want. Serve hot with a sauce on top.

For leftovers, pre-cut them into squares and wrap each square into its own cling wrap and then store all wrapped squares in a sealed gallon freezer bag.

To re-warm leftovers, defrost the wrapped square(s) overnight in the refrigerator. Microwave or reheat in the oven until the square(s) is/are heated through completely.

Optional add-ins:

Dried rosemary

Dried marjoram

Dried red pepper flakes

Dried thyme

Lemon Pepper

Finely chopped fresh chives

Finely chopped fresh scallions

Grated garlic

[EvangelineDamon]

You did it!!!!

With perseverance, we can accomplish anything. ha ha

 

Thank you very much.

This looks a lot "easier" than I thought it would.

[lylysa]

I like how you brought a real-life Garfield into this thread!

[DiVWA]

It is pretty easy.

Instead of steaming the squash, you can always bake it in the oven and then scrape it out from the peel too. Not sure the time for that but probably 45-60 minutes at some temp over 400. I have a couple steamer baskets w/pots so find it's easier and quicker to steam it (but then again, if it were baked, you wouldn't have to pre-cut it so that would save some time).

The end result is very much like polenta in texture but it's more orange. And there's a squash taste, but really not what you'd expect--it's a bit more subtle, allowing for your sauce to come through. I like that the texture is similar to polenta and so different from normal squash dishes. I like regular polenta except that I've gotten to the point that corn taste is unpleasant to me--probably because I gave up eating corn for a while. (Seeing King Corn and documentaries about GMO probably doesn't help either.)

[Anonymous]

Other than eating out for tex-mex, I avoid corn too. I'm kind of sad that what originally started out a dense protein grain was modified to be nothing but sugar. Well, among all the other tragic things that corn is now.

[lylysa]

I can't resist corn.....I'll sit and eat any left over corn salsa from Chipotle if possible.

I love that scene from Nacho Libre.

[Anonymous]

Pico! Raw onion is the worst sometimes a couple of hours later. In fact, a coworker gave me her recipe for her Garbanzo salad.

10oz drained and cooked (hot or cold doesn't matter) Garbanzo/chickpeas

1 sm yellow onion chopped

1 sm tomato or 2-3 romas chopped

1 juiced lemon

Combine and season with salt, fresh ground pepper, and sprinkle in ancho or other mild spices to taste. This is supposed to marinate overnight but I've been known to fix it fresh and serve immediately.