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? 😄

[DiVWA]

Yum! This looks good! And almond-flour dumplings! I'd love the recipe.... [emoticon of cat begging]

Perhaps a pictorial that shows measuring out and assembly? A girl can only hope.

[lyravega]

Diva, they are the awesomest dumplings in my gf journey, so far! I miss my mom's farina/wheat semolina/cream of wheat(?) dumplings so much, and these are almost as comforting as those! 🙂

I'll try to find something similar in English, just to see the vocabulary used, and I'll try to translate it for you... It is very easy to make, I just need words/terms/expressions. 🙂

[DiVWA]

Tonight we had roasted brussel sprouts with baked wild salmon over cranberries.

Details:

Spoiler

The brussel sprouts were tossed with some lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and then roasted for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

The salmon was baked skin side up (this makes the healthy omega-3 fat melt down into the fillet), for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, on top of the cranberries. The bed of fresh cranberries had been tossed with a bit of maple syrup, orange zest and chocolate (liquor) bitters. The salmon melded with the underlying cranberries a bit.

Because the skin wasn't crisped up, we peeled it off and didn't eat it. Had it been super crisp, we would have eaten it.

[RandeeBT]

This looks like such a delicious and healthy meal, DiVWA! I made some roasted brussel sprouts last week but i left off the lemon juice and just did olive oil, salt and pepper. I'll be sure to add the lemon juice next time. I love lemon juice on salmon also! Yum! 😄

[4Ali4]

Mmmm that looks delicious!

[lyravega]

Garlic Parmesan chicken with zoodles today... YUMMMMM! This is sooo delicious! I made this two weeks ago, and I just had to make it again asap!

( Yep, some spinach in there, too. 😉 )

Recipe:

Spoiler

Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. butter
6 cloves minced garlic ( More like a whole head of garlic in my case. What can I say... we love garlic! 😛 )
2 chicken breasts-chopped into bite size pieces ( I use boneless and skinless chicken thighs instead. I hate chicken breasts! )
sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, vegeta
¼-1/2 cups parm cheese ( I'm sure I use more )
2 cups spinach

Instructions:

Saute garlic in butter for a minute or two.
Add chicken pieces, salt, spices, and cook until no longer pink in the middle.
Make sure to stir chicken to coat with butter and garlic.
Add parm cheese and stir until the chicken is coated.
Add spinach and cook until wilted.
Serve by itself or over pasta or zoodles.

Easy peasy and fantastically delicious!

[DiVWA]

This looks yummy. And you even put some spinach in there! So proud of you!

I like to make my zoodles curly. My spiral slicer makes the curl so long though that I have to break it off or cut it every once in a while. Otherwise, our pasta bowl would end up with several long zoodles each. I get messy enough when eating but a super long zoodle would really splash my sauce around.

[lyravega]

😄 *pats herself on the back*

[DiVWA]

Tonight we had braised grass-fed beef short ribs, cut in flanken style. This is my first time eating flanken ribs and they were so good! I made a spicy rub and let them sit out for about an hour, then baked them, covered, at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Then I removed from oven, drizzled some honey on them, increased the oven temp to 425 degrees, and put in oven again, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

I served them with some cauliflower and a glass of red wine.

I forgot to take a photo.

[EvangelineDamon]

For Lyra:

Tricky Avocado

From the Pretty Bee (Vegan Blog)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium avocado, ripe
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 Tablespoons honey for Paleo diet OR 2 Tablespoons agave nectar for vegans
• 6 Tablespoons almond milk
• optional: pistachios or other nut for topping

METHOD

1. Cut open the avocado and scoop out the pit. Cut it into large chunks and put in the blender.
2. Add the cocoa, honey or agave, and almond milk. Blend, starting on low and then moving to high speed until it is smooth.
3. If the avocado is larger, you will need a bit more of each ingredient. If it is too thick, drizzle in a bit more almond milk. Add more cocoa or honey or agave to taste.
4. Refrigerate the pudding and serve cold. Top with pistachios or other nuts. Enjoy!

[lyravega]

Awww, thank you for thinking of me ( and my health 😉 ), ED! That's too sweet...

You know, this could be good. I made something similar before. I'm gonna have to try it...

[DiVWA]

I bet this is good.

[DiVWA]

Polenta Friday! Today's polenta has one-pound of uncured bacon in it. Yummy! I think that even Lyravega would like this. The butternut squash has sweetened, as always. I replaced the ground nutmeg with some organic lemon pepper.

[RandeeBT]

That looks seriously delicious, DiVWA! 😄

[lyravega]

Oooooh, Lyra says YUMMMM!!! Not a fan of any kind of squash, but this just looks so good, I'm gonna have to try it...

Yeah, I'd like a square, or two, as well... You know, like a sampler. 😉

[michelleshops]

I get so excited for your Polenta Fridays!  This looks amazing D.  I'll send you my address for a square or two 😉

[EvangelineDamon]

I am so curious as to how this taste.

It just looks and sounds so good.

I think I picked out a bad squash when I got mine...it stated "crying" this sappy syrup looking stuff.

They have these cute mini ones at our Farmer's Market.

You keep tempting me with these Polenta Fridays 

[DiVWA]

They are super good! I make my final one (until fall) next week. So far, we've loved every one that I've made but our favorite are the ones made with fried onion and fried bacon. All are so good. The butternut squash transforms itself so it's slightly sweet and it makes the polenta creamy and very orange.

[vegchililover78]

I was in Columbus yesterday visiting my little nieces and I stopped at a few of my favorite places, Northstar Cafe and Pattycake Vegan Bakery. Northstar has the best veggie burger and Pattycake is soooooo delicious. I ordered a few extra veggie burgers so I can enjoy the awesomeness today! I'm not sure if I'll have dessert tonight, but I will post a pic of the gorgeous slice of mocha cake later!

[RandeeBT]

That vegan burger looks seriously delicious,vegchililover78!

[vegchililover78]

And the mocha cake! It got a little squished during the drive home, but it was so good.