Stupidly Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 pound bag of frozen broccoli florets
jar of Ragu Double Cheddar sauce
1/2 tsp of xanthan gum (optional)
2 cups of chicken broth

Put ingredients into a 4-quart slow cooker. Mine took 2 hours on high. Nom!

Vietnamese-style pork stir-fry

700 g of pork diced into small 1-inch-ish cubes

2/3 cup of finely chopped onions

2 handfuls of very finely diced raw broccoli - with as few stems as you can muster - Justin has textural issues, so I like to accommodate this when cooking for him

a bit of cayenne pepper

one 8-ounce package of Shirataki noodles (the kind blended with boy Konjac and tofu)

cooking oil

about a cup of water

marinade:

• 1/4 tsp dried ginger
• 1/4 tsp chopped red pepper
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp of Splenda (3 drops EZ-Sweetz)
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum pre-mixed with 1 tsp oil 
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp erythritol 

Mix everything except for the xanthan gum and oil mix - which you add last. 

Put pork in marinade for as long as you can bear it, up to overnight.

finishing sauce: 

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp Splenda (6 drops Ez-Sweetz)

Mix this, put in a little container, and set aside until you actually cook the meal.

----
At dinner time:

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok until it shimmers. Add 2/3 cup of chopped onions and cook the heck out of it, all brown and caramelized. Add pork. Cook through until no longer pink on outside. Throw in 1 tbsp more of oil if the wok needs in. Throw in broccoli. Saute for a bit. Add in finishing sauce and 1 cup or so of water. I attacked the wok vigorously with extra cayenne pepper to kick up the heat a bit cuz that's just how I roll. Cook for a bit to get the broccoli soft and infuse the flavor. Add in a package of shirataki noodles (that have been drained and rinsed and parboiled on high in the microwave for 2 minutes and then redrained some more) and cook for as long as you can bear it and the sauce reduces to a nice thick consistency. And then yay! It's dinner time!

I loved this!

Next time I make it, I'll make sure to marinate it longer (overnight - I did about 4 to 5 hours I think on this go) and maybe add more acid through the lime, etc, to penetrate the pork tenderloin fibers a bit better, but the sauce was great! :D

Culinary Blasphemy - Curried Corned Beef

2 ounces of corned beef, chopped small
100 g of raw baby spinach

1 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
fresh ginger root shaved off with a veggie peeler (maybe a 1 tsp of flakes)
a few shakes of cayenne
a few shakes of tumeric
pinch of cumin
2 drops liquid Splenda (1 packet of Splenda = 2 tsp of sugar)
1/4 cup canned tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chili powder


Melt butter in pan. Throw garlic, ginger, tumeric, and chili powder into pan. Cook for a minute or so on medium/medium low. Throw in about half the baby spinach. Cook until wilted down small. Add corned beef. Add tomato sauce, water, and rest of the spices (including Splenda). Reduce until sauce is thickened to your liking (this will help the spices infuse the sauce). Serve on a plate over the other half of the baby spinach.

---

I know it's a weird mash-up, but it was deeeelicious. :)

Curry, Breakfast of Champions

Melted a pat of butter in a little pan. Threw 1 tsp of garlic and 1 tsp of chopped onions in there. Took a veggie peeler and grated in some fresh ginger. Put some chile powder and a touch of cayenne in there along with a few vigorous shakes of tumeric. Cooked it a minute. Added 1/4 cup tomato sauce and 3 drops of liquid Splenda. Added a pinch of cumin seeds and a few shakes of garam marsala. Opened a small can of chicken breast. Added 1/4 cup of water and then cooked the sauce on medium-low or so and reduced it to get the spices cooked into the chicken a bit - for the amount of time it took me to clean up the kitchen.

This was amazing. :)

10-week weigh in

March 19, 2012:

10 weeks

Justin -57, Page -26



*


Summary:

2 weeks

Justin -22, Page -12

4 weeks

Justin -25, Page -14

6 weeks

Justin -38, Page - 19

8 weeks

Justin -50, Page -24

Surf n' turf

Last night we split a 12 ounce Delmonico that was seared on cast iron and cooked medium rare. We had this with shrimp scampi cooked in butter, splash of white wine, garlic, parsley, hint of cayenne. For veggies, we had green beans that had been cooked in bacon fat with bacon, mushrooms, and onions.

Mm mm. :)

oh yumminess

1/2 cup of ricotta mixed with sugar-free hazelnut syrup + liquid splenda to taste.

Oh yum oh yum.