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? 😄

[lylysa]

I shared a cucumber salad recipe a little while ago. 

It's the kind I always have in sushi/Japanese restaurants and it's very easy to make! 

Let me dig it up, be right back!

*through the magic of opening another window to access another page in this thread...behold*

Thinly slice cucumber rounds, drizzle some rice vinegar (you can melt a touch of sugar in it if it's too sharp on its own), top with crab meat (most of the time it's the artificial crab stick at sushi places), and sesame seeds! Play around with the sugar/rice vinegar ratio to your liking. I heat up the vinegar a tad to make the sugar dissolve better and you can even have the vinegar/sugar mix pre-made and kept on hand for whenever you want to toss in some slices of cucumber into a bowl and chomp away!

[BuxomBabe80]

Oh man, cucumbers are my very favorite veggie! I really appreciate this recipe. I'll be trying it soon!!!

[lylysa]

Happy to share! ^_^

[lylysa]

Had sushi on Sunday! I love the variety on your plate!

[BuxomBabe80]

Thanks! It was so yummy!

[lylysa]

I bet, now I want sushi....what was I thinking when I made this thread? I should have titled it "Hungry???? Come make your stomach cry if you don't have access to food right this second!" 😛 Haha!

[BuxomBabe80]

Right?! I'm getting hungry now too. 😄

[lylysa]

I'm tempted to go heat up the food I brought for lunch and eat it now, the dark chocolate and almond snack bar I had is NOT holding me over hahah!

[BuxomBabe80]

I'm rowing in the same boat! My Special K bar is not filling me up right now!

[lylysa]

So hungriesssss!!!

Come lunch time I'm annihilating the crepe I have left over from last night!

[BuxomBabe80]

Oh man! Crepes sound so yummy right about now. My boyfriend made me some a few months ago that had Nutella, bananas and pecans. I could literally feel my thighs growing as I ate them, but it was so worth it!

[lylysa]

Yessss! I go to a crepe place in town that makes Nutella ones, they even top off their crepes with a generous scoop of gelato if requested!

[BuxomBabe80]

OMG that sounds heavenly!

[lylysa]

It is! I got me a salmon, mushroom, egg, and cheese crepe...sounds a bit odd but it's like a breakfast/lunch crepe all mixed together and I want to inhale my left overs right now!

[BuxomBabe80]

Wow! That does sound pretty delicious! Now I reeeeeeeallllllly want crepes!

[redwagon44]

That looks so good!! I miss living in a town where I could get sushi from places OTHER than a grocery store 😞

[BuxomBabe80]

What's funny is that this sushi place is in Wichita, Kan. (I live in the 'burbs.) But I've had sushi on the coasts, Vegas, India and quite a few other states, and this place has the best I've ever tried!

[LariTheLoud]

I need to actually take photos. Today was the first day in three months that I had the energy to bake some bread again!! For dinner:

--Homemade Naan bread

--Indian-Spiced Coconut Shrimp Curry (with lots of heat)

--Saffron Rice

--Some decaf coffee with vanilla cream and a couple of andes candies for dessert

[redwagon44]

Mmmmm, naan. Care to share the recipe? I've been meaning to try my hand at homemade. 

Also, now that I'm thinking about homemade bread, I think I'm overdue for some two day no knead bread!

[LariTheLoud]

Oh, I use a really simple recipe that I tweaked a bit yesterday since I was out most of the day!

--2 cups flour (I used half bread, half all-purpose flour, but you can use all-purpose only)

--2 teaspoons sugar

--1 teaspoon salt

--1 teaspoon instant yeast (you can use active dry, just let it proof in the water and sugar for 10 minutes before mixing into dry ingredients)

--3/4 c warm water from the tap

--3 tablespoons yogurt

--2 tablespoons olive oil

--1 teaspoon fennel seeds or onion seeds, optional

--melted butter and coarse salt for brushing/sprinkling onto finished naans

Sift or whisk all the dry ingredients together (including the instant yeast or fennel seeds) in a medium to large mixing bowl. Mix all the wet ingredients together. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients, mix up with a wooden spoon until the ingredients come together to form a tacky, sticky dough. Stop kneading and working the dough. Spray top with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours.

Note: I was out for the day, so I made the dough, made sure it was rising after half an hour, then stuck it in the fridge for a 6 to 7 hour slow rise. When I returned, I pulled it out of the fridge for about 45 minutes to an hour to allow the chill to come off before proceeding. Also, if you only have active dry yeast and not instant yeast, mix the yeast with the 3/4 cup warm water and a pinch of sugar first until foamy and activated, then pour over the rest of the dry ingredients with the yogurt and olive oil.

Once dough is proofed and risen, heat a cast iron pan over high heat until practically smoking. Dampen/grease/flour your hands and workspace and gently split the dough into six mounds. Stretch and flatten each mound, place them one or two at a time in the ungreased cast iron pan. Allow to cook for 1 minute on the first side, then flip, cover the skillet, and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. It will char and bubble and smoke up your kitchen, so have a window open and/or your hood fan on full blast and be mindful of your smoke detectors. Once finished, remove from pan, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with coarse salt and set in tea towel lined bowl to rest while you finish the remaining naan. Serve warm with Indian curries or whatever you'd like. 🙂

[redwagon44]

Well I know what I'm making tonight! 😄