What I Ate Wednesday #15

 
I started the James Wilson 12 week workout program on Monday and I know I'm only 3 days in but I love it. Today was my rest day and I am still eating tons! I'm trying to get my macros close to where the are supposed to be, but it's taking a bit of work. I don't think I'm eating enough at this point.
I have also started ordering food from Pfennings, a local organic farm that collects organic foods from other farms and delivers them to you house. I love waking up Wednesday mornings to a food box filled with fresh local fruits and veggies. Check out what I got today

 For my family this is enough. I usually buy a couple more bananas on the weekend and some berries from the grocery store, but this pretty much covers it!

So anyways here's what I ate today

Breakfast

This is just an Ezekiel English muffin with natural peanut butter and a few strawberries...I also had a coffee

Snack, Lunch, Snack

 

I knew that today I wouldn't be able to take pictures of my food before I ate it, so I took a picture before I packed it all up.

For my first snack I had 1/3 cup 0% vanilla Greek yogurt mixed with 1 scoop of protein powder, 1/2 cup blackberries and a green tea

Lunch was 6 baked chicken meatballs (extra lean ground chicken mixed with no salt added BBQ chicken seasoning), I dipped them in mustard and 1 cup cubed roasted sweet potatoes. I was so full I didn't end up eating the salad. I had another coffee as well.

My second snack was 3 hard boiled egg whites and 10 almonds

Supper

Grilled hoki fish, I'm not even sure what kind of fish that is but it's good. I added a little salt and chipotle mango seasoning. Three grilled shrimp skewers, 1 grilled peach and 1 cup of roasted broccoli.

Night Snack

Egg white pancakes, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 banana and 1/2 cup egg whites, I used no sugar added maple syrup and had a Lemon Blueberry Passion tea!

Well that's it! Head on over to Peas and Crayons to check out a whole bunch of other fabulous blogs!

Asian Blade Steak

I am participating in my first Foodie Friday today. I really like doing these link parties, I get to read so many blogs that I probably wouldn't have stumbled upon if it weren't for them. Click on the picture above to check it out!

 This steak recipe that I am posting was made a few weeks ago. I have never cooked a blade steak before this. It was this tough piece of beef that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I don't like steaks with sauces so I knew doing a braise or slow cooker thing wasn't going to work.

I figured out that marinating beef in ginger really helps make it tender. We have used flank in our pho in the past and that's what we do, so I figured I might as well try it here. I wanted to grill the steak, I paid $9.00 for 2 big blade steaks, what a great deal. So I marinated it overnight and grilled it until medium well, let it rest, then sliced it against the grain. It was soooo tender and had so much flavour. We ate it with vermicelli, lettuce, cilantro, basil and mint and Vietnamese dipping sauce.

 

Asian Blade Steak

2 blade steaks

1/2 cup fish sauce

4 garlic

1/2 onion

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 tbsp minced lemon grass

2 tbsp sugar

Put all ingredients in a freezer bag or bowl. Let the steak marinate overnight. The next day, heat up your grill. Cook the steak 3-6 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the steak and how well you like the steak cooked. Let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes, while tented with foil. Slice it against the grain, serve it with whatever you like.

What I Ate Wednesday #14

 
It's that time of the week again..man the week goes quick! Well I think maybe it's the weekend that goes quick, too quick. Click the picture above to head on over to Peas and Crayons, there you will find some great recipes and links to other bloggers participating in What I Ate Wednesday.

This weekend was the airshow that we have here every year. I have gone to a couple of airshows in other cities but have now gone to 3 here in my city. I looove the airshow! Check out this awesome plane

Okay enough about planes!

So here's what I ate

Breakfast

Chocolate Protein Oat Bran with strawberries and coffee, man I love that oatbran!

After this workout I had a protein shake
then another coffee

Lunch

Turkey Burger....mmmmm....

Supper

2 BBQ Chicken thighs, a sliced roma tomato, greek salad and white cheddar KD

After supper I had another coffee

Snack

Green tea, a rice cake with natural peanut butter and cinnamon and a few sour cream and onion popchips

Have you ever been to an airshow?
If you have what are your favourite planes?

Mustard Rubbed Pork Ribs with Apple Butter Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

 

Click on the image above to check out what some others are eating!

 

I love ribs! These ribs are kinda like the other ribs I have posted but a little different. I really like mustard and I really like rubbing mustard on meat. I have been rubbing down prime rib roasts with mustard for years.  It worked out just as well with the ribs. The only thing missing was some coleslaw!

Ribs

2 racks pork ribs, I used side ribs

1/2 cup yellow prepared mustard, or whatever you have

Spices

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup apple butter

1/2 cup brown sugar BBQ sauce

Place the ribs on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Rub them all over with the mustard. Mix up the spices. Sprinkle all over the ribs. Let the ribs sit in the fridge for a few hours. You could cook them right away too, I like letting them sit.

Preheat the oven to 350. Cover the ribs with foil. Cook for an hour and a half, 90 minutes. Mix the sauce in a bowl and split it in half. When the 90 minutes are up you have 2 choices  

1. Slather  the ribs with 1/2 of the BBQ sauce and uncover the ribs, cook for another 30 minutes or so, until the sauce is bubbling and the ribs are browned

2. Preheat your BBQ,  Cut the ribs into 3-4 ribs per piece. Place on the grill until you get light brown grill marks on each side. Put the BBQ sauce on the ribs and cook abit more until the ribs get a bit charred.

Serve with the extra sauce on the side!

What I Ate Wednesday #13

Well It's time for What I Ate Wednesday. A day where bloggers from all over post what they ate for a day! Click the link below to check it out

  Alot of you were celebrating Memorial Day and had a long weekend on my day of eats. We had our long weekend last weekend and I had one again this week. Not because I wanted one or because it was an actual long weekend but it's because one of my babies has tonsillitis! Oh man he would be so mad if he knew I wrote one of my babies, he is 10 you know! So I stayed home and took him to the doctor.  Wanna know what happened on Monday that made me very happy? Dan Brown's new book, Inferno, came in at the library for me...YAY! Last week the new Iris Johansen book, Taking Eve, came in and I had just finished it Sunday night, perfect timing! Anyways here is what I ate Breakfast

 

2 little 100gram containers of full fat yogurt

1 tbsp chia seeds

1tbsp ground flax seeds

about 1/2 cup raspberries

3-4 tbsp plain granola

I love having this for breakfest, I was supposed to have hard boiled eggs and toast, but I forgot to boil the eggs Sunday night

I also had a BIG coffee with my breakfest!

Snack

I had to boil my eggs for the week so I just figured I would eat some

I also had another coffee!

Lunch

 Tuna Salad with Garlic Naan

3 cans of flaked light tuna

2 celery stalks, finely minced

1/4 red onion, finely minced

2 tbsp chopped dill

1/2 tsp salt

a few turns of the pepper mill

4 tbsp fat free plain greek yogurt

This makes 3 servings

Supper

Mustard Rubbed Pork Ribs with Apple Butter Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce (Recipe will be posted Sunday!)

lots of grilled asparagus

3/4 of Lipton Sidekick- Broccoli and White Cheddar

That's it!

Grilled Pork Belly and Pork Patties with Vermicelli and herbs or Bun Cha

This is one of my favourite BBQ'd dishes! The kids love it, so there's no complaints. It is super easy to do, it does take time to marinate the meat but it's worth it. 

 Marinade 

4 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1/2 onion, finely minced

1/2 cup oyster sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 Slab of fresh pork belly, not cured

1 lb ground pork

For the Noodles

1 pack of vermicelli

Herbs

1 head of green lettuce

1 bunch of cilantro

As much mint and basil as you like

Fish Sauce

4 cups of boiling water

juice from 1-2 limes

3/4 cup of sugar

1/4 of fish sauce

 3-5 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 chili peppers, minced

Night Before

Mix all of the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Separate into two portions. Thinly slice the pork belly, as thin as you can get it. Mix the marinade with the pork belly and the ground pork. Keep the two meats separate. Keep it in the fridge overnight.

4-6 hours before your ready to cook, soak the vermicelli noodles in cool water. Leave them to soak until your ready to cook.

Wash and pick separate the herbs, dry them as much as possible.

Boil water then cook noodles according to package directions. It won't take long to cook them. Drain and rinse them. Leave them aside.

Heat your grill. I use charcoal.

Combine all the ingredients for the fish sauce. Let it sit.

Form your ground pork into patties that are the size of sliders.

Grill your patties, a few minutes per side. 

I have a thing that looks like this

I have no idea what it's called

I use this for the pork belly. Place the pieces of pork belly onto this contraption in a single layer. Close it and grill a few minutes per side. I suppose you could also skewer it.

Let everyone assemble their own bowls. Put noodles, any herbs you like, the meat and top with as much fish sauce as you would like. My boys also like to wrap it all up in a rice paper roll and dip it into the fish sauce.

 

 

 

Grilled Catfish with a Lemon Garlic Marinade

I'm always looking for ways to cook fish. I love fish and so does everyone else in the family, especially my youngest two children. I cook fish the same way all the time and was looking for something new that didn't involve a sauce. This is a very simple marinade but has a lot of flavour. The charcoal adds a smokiness that I just don't think I could do without. We just had caesar salad and garlic bread with the fish. Something quick and easy for a hot day during the week. Enjoy!

Grilled Catfish with Lemon Garlic Marinade

Juice from 1 lemon

4 cloves of garlic

1 onion chopped

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5 catfish fillets

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl or large freezer bag. Add the catfish. Marinate in the fridge for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Heat up your grill. I used charcoal. Place the fish on the grill. Discard the marinade. Grill 5-7 minutes per side, depending on thickness.