Okonomiyaki Recipe

Okonomiyaki Due to my recent venture into a Japanese grocery in Midtown Manhattan, I was inspired to make my own okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake). This dish is savory, and not sweet as the usual American breakfast pancakes are. I based this recipe on this one, but made a few modifications of my own because I was lacking some ingredients like red pickled ginger, tempura flakes, seaweed powder and bonito flakes I'm vegetarian (most of the time) Ingredients:2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/4 cup stock or water 1 egg (per batch, this makes about 4 batches) Dole classic coleslaw mix Canned corn (about 2 tbsp per batch) 4-6 tbsp chopped green onion (I didn't have this but I would use it if I did) 1/2-3/4 cup tenkasu (tempura flakes)  2 tbsp crushed...

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Posted in: recipes,vegetarian

Vegetarian Secrets for Quick, Everyday Meals

Amy's Mattar Paneer, and Mock Salmon Since I started the whole vegetarian thing I've been asked the question "Isn't it difficult?" plenty of times, and many more questions regarding nutrition, especially "Where do you get your protein?" Well, the answer to the first question is, surprisingly, "not really". I find there's plenty of restaurants in New York city that cater to vegetarians, and there are a lot of possibilities for cooking. Now, it's not always an option to cook a whole meal from scratch, because I do work full-time. So I usually go halfway and just alter whatever quick meals I may have. My secrets (which may just be common sense to some people) for everyday quick meals are the following: Frozen Entrees (Amy's, Cedar Lane, Morningstar...

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Posted in: grocery,vegetarian

I'm VEGETARIAN??!!

Vegetable Green Curry Aside from my being lazy, one of the main reasons I haven't posted on this blog lately is that I seem to put a curse on any diet I write about in this blog. I start writing about it then immediately stop dieting. So I wanted to wait 'til I had stuck with one diet for awhile before posting about it. I've been vegetarian for almost 2 months now. The most surprising thing about this isn't that I tried it (judging from the variety of diets I've been on I was sure to try this one at some point), it's that I actually DON'T MIND IT! This is crazy coming from someone who, in the back of her mind always thought vegetarians are weird. How can anyone live without meat? Turns out it's not as bad as I thought it was. I haven't...

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Posted in: recipes,vegetarian

Why Can't I Have Coffee, Dr. Atkins? :(

I mentioned in my previous post that South Beach hasn't really been working for me. Despite that, I've been trying to cook mostly low carb since I bought those new cookbooks (they've been excellent so far). The food is delicious and my hubby seems happy that I'm cooking a lot more. This is really the reason why I haven't gone back to Jenny, which has been proven to work. I've mostly been maintaining though, and haven't really been taking dieting seriously. I started reading up on Atkins this week, because I feel I need a more carb-controlled lifestyle as opposed to going on South Beach Phase 2 and bingeing on all the 'good carbs' I want. So far it seems reasonable, although I am still a little scared to have full-fat everything. But it has...

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South Beach Blah

My husband told me a few weeks ago that he had a desire to start eating healthy because Rite Aid's blood pressure machine told him he was 'pre-hypertensive'. I immediately thought of South Beach, since the diet was originally created for people with heart ailments, so I started making weekly menus based on phase 1(for myself) and phase 2 (for my hubby). Phase 1 was very successful for me. I lost 7 lbs in 2 weeks. My husband started feeling better in general, so I continued cooking SB meals, weaning myself off of phase 1. Unfortunately, I've gained most of the 7 lbs back, so I guess maybe South Beach in its entirety really isn't a good fit for me. I'm starting to realize that maybe I have to count carbs as well. Overall, I think I might be over South Beach, because nothing but phase 1...

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Posted in: low-carb,south beach

Eat This, Not That - Louvre Chocolate Cake, Shepherd's Pie and Eggnog

Today I found out that my two Eat This, Not That books that were ordered for me by my hubby were supposedly delivered last week. They are not here. So we've been bugging USPS about it, and while being all stressed out I started looking up recipes and treats for the holidays. NOT A GOOD IDEA. I've been pretty good about my portions recently (lost 8 lbs so far) so I tried to figure out what I could do to curb the cravings I'm having for holiday yummies. First is the Louvre chocolate cake, http://www.payard.com/louvre-cake.aspx which I found out about when my sister showed me the link to their Pain Surprise, a French appetizer that we've been looking for in New York for sometime now. This cake was featured on Sex and the City I believe....

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Posted in: eat this not that,low calorie

I Can Eat Indian Food Without Feeling Guilty Now!!

My hubby was craving Indian food today and asked me if I wanted to order some for dinner. I groaned inwardly since I knew I would not be able to resist, and I ALWAYS end up bingeing and going into a food coma after. He suggested I get the small portion and just eat that. I thought about it a little and went even further. I researched the calorie content for basmati rice and lamb rogan josh, and portioned them with the help of my always helpful kitchen scale. Here are the numbers: Basmati Rice, Cooked - 1 cup - 205 calories Lamb Rogan Josh - 150 grams - 250 calories That was a total of 455 calories, which was well under my calorie budget since I had a light breakfast and lunch.  For the first time ever, I ate Indian food at home without overeating and taking a nap 5 minutes after the...

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Posted in: low calorie,workouts