Back on the Horse!

Have I mentioned that I am taking part in an online Biggest Loser competition?  I came in 6th, the last round.  We have just entered the third round (each round is 12 weeks), and so far, I've gained.  GAH!

So I must start this Monday off the right way.  I just returned from an overnight trip to Newport, RI, where I overindulged and then some. 

Here's today's breakfast of champions: 

That is 8 oz of skim milk, five strawberries, some ice, and two scoops of protein powder.  I make sure to use a protein shake that is made from protein other than soy, because soy tends to mess with me, hormonally.  I have noticed that removing soy from my diet has curbed my PMDD and PMS significantly. 

Anyway, my menu today will be minimalistic.  I will post later.  But for now, allow me to post some of the last Thursday's meals, which I never got to blog.  First, our breakfast.  These are parsnips.

Instead of white potatoes, I tried parsnips for homefries.  I chopped them up with onions, and fried in a teaspoon of oil.  For the main event, I made fried eggs with spinach and mushrooms.  See how I make it all in one pan?   I hate doing dishes, so I try to make everything in the same pans, when I can.

Then, Thursday evening, I attempted some maki rolls.    Now, I made sushi rolls in the past, once, and they turned out a little better.  This time, I had some trouble.

To make the rice, you would usually use special sushi rice.  But I tried brown rice, because it's healthier.  And if you ask me, I didn't detect TOO much of a difference.  So I made the rice in my rice cooker, then added :

• 3 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

You're supposed to put this all together in a saucepan to allow the sugar to dissolve, but I'm lazy and hate to dirty dishes.  So I dumped it all into the prepared rice and stirred it up.  It worked.  You have to use a non-metallic bowl to make sure there is no interaction with the rice vinegar.  I don't THINK this bowl was metallic.  It's non-stick over aluminum, probably.  Oh, I don't know. 

Then, I prepared my bamboo mat.  First, I covered the mat with a sheet of press n' seal glad wrap.  This assures that the rice won't stick to the mat.  It plain doesn't work without some kind of wrap overtop.

Then, I laid out a piece of nori seaweed.  This stuff had been in my fridge for months, and did not smell oh-so-fresh.  But I used it anyway. I spread out the rice, leaving about an inch border.  Then I laid out my filling.  In this case, I used canned sweet potatoes.  Not the best, but it was all I had around.  Next time, I will use fresh avocado, cucumber, and matchstick carrots.  That pulled pork from the other night would have been good, too.  Really, it's whatever you can dream up!  Anything you would eat with rice, works well.

I then took the bamboo mat and started rolling and lightly squeezing.  Then I removed the mat, and lifted the roll onto a plate.

I sliced it up and made a second roll, after this.  Boy, were they oogly.  But they didn't taste awful.  We were lucky to have a little tube of wasabi in the fridge. 

Next time, fresher ingredients......