Try that Recipe!

This week on Try that Recipe!,  I attempted to cook a lovely Zuppa Toscana Soup from the brilliant mind of NS Sweet Life.  Oh sweet Kelly, you may want to close the screen down now.  If you haven't then let me apologize, 'cause I'll admit it:  I am TERRIBLE at following recipes. When it comes to recipes, I am a reckless, mess of an almost-sometimes-I-do-tell-myself-I follow-a-recipe kind of gal. Anyone else like this? 

How does this happen?  It's simple right? Anyone who can read should be able to successfully follow a recipe.  Perhaps its because I have the attention span of a gnat, perhaps the character Dory was based on me, or I can blame the kids and tell you they don't allow me two consecutive minutes doing ANY activity at any time, EVER.

Regardless of the WHY, the fact is I am fairly certain I couldn't completely and accurately follow a recipe to save my life.

This is how it went down:

A few weeks back: 

LOOK! NSSL has a gorgeous (almost) vegan version of a soup I haven't  had in EONS!

I LOVE that soup. 

Hubby might actually eat this "vegan" soup with me....

**"Scan" ingredients.**

I can do this.

I'm going to make that soup!

**Kind of-sort of skim the directions**

(Several weeks go by now as I buy ingredients when I see them at the grocery store, one by one and completely from my fading memory, then subsequently forget and use them in different concoctions).

See a cooking show making soup - and remember I never made that GORGEOUS soup! 

Next grocery stop I am determined to get all the ingredients.  (Nope, determination doesn't spur me to look up the recipe again or make a list to get ALL the ingredients at home)

At the grocery store:

Spy YELLOW potatoes.  Oooooh.  I LOVE yellow potatoes, so buttery and creamy. 

Fields sausages!! Score!

Kale, kale, kale, kale, kale! Reminder to self, don't use up this kale in a smoothie! 

Hmmm....I think the rest of the recipe was staples.

I'm good!

Declare to twitter followers that I have ALL the ingredients to FINALLY make said soup - something has to hold me accountable, right?

SOUP-MAKING DAY!!

Decide to start prepping soup ingredients at about 4 pm on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Occurs to me I need to look up the recipe as I have no idea what I am adding, let alone what quantities.

Wait...this is a CROCK POT recipe?  This would be GREAT in the fall!  Ok, focus - I can still do this.  We would eat dinner at what, 11p?.......?!!!  THAT's not going to work.  Okay, okay, I can do this in a pot, right?  You can make soup in a pot. Ok!

Onions, onions....oh crap.  My onions went bad last week.  No onions.  OH, RED onion!  What's the difference again?  Um, okay close enough.

Garlic!  Chopped garlic.  How many teaspoons per clove?  Oh well.  I LIKE garlic.  Let's add LOTS.

Russet potatoes?  Oh, those went bad too.  Yellow potatoes are sooo buttery and creamy though. I love yellow potatoes!  That'll be good!

Only have cherry tomatoes.  THOSE are pretty. Dice? I'll just cut them in half.  They're so little!  Oh darn, that wasn't suppose to go IN the pot? 

White wine.  white wine? I don't remember that at all.  Hmmm, I have white wine vinegar....noooo, that can't be the same. Skip it.

Okie dokie, searching, searching, searching.  YES! - I DO have vegetable broth.  Good thing, 'cause that pot is sizzling!  I need to add some liquid, fast!

How many ounces are in a cup?

 **break for kid referring**

Was that four or five cups I added? 

Hmm...that's it? Awesome!

But....well.... I like me some spice! 

*liberally shake in some pepper.......add a little more......resist the urge to start tossing in other "italian-y" spices**

Boil, boil, boil pot!  I guess a watched pot doesn't boil. Well, what do you know?

FINALLY boiling.  Set on low and cover.

Actually read the recipe directions. 

Realize I have no DAIYA!  Oh good, it says optional.  Aww, I love me some daiya - poo.

OH, so the tomatoes were a gar-nish!

So if its 4-6 hours in a crock pot, how long is that in regular pot time???

Its starting to smell good!!  I must have done something right!

***************

So in the end, this is how I murdered revised this lovely innocent  recipe ingredient list:

4 Italian "sausages" (vegan Field Roast)

2 cloves 2 tbsp Garlic (minced)

1⁄8 1/3? large red Onion (diced)

4 cups 1 bunch Kale (mostly torn in to pieces - extra rustic! chopped)

2 Large Russet  3 medium yellow Potatoes (cubed)

32 ish ounces Chicken broth (vegetarian, if desired)

2 cups Water (added later just realized it was actually in the ingredient list!)

1⁄2 cup White Wine

1⁄2 cup Daiya cheese (optional)

1⁄2 cup  1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved Tomatoes (diced, optional)

black pepper to taste

I could pretend that I am just sooo creative in the kitchen, and meant to do this.  And ultimately these shananigans would be fine when I actually end up with a tasty concoction.  But I NEVER end up marking up the original recipe, because I am delusional and think I will ONE DAY do it right. OR that I will remember what I changed!! - HA! I crack me up.

So there you have it.  Kelly, if you're still reading, I'm sooo sorry!  I'm sure your version is phenomenal as it likely actually took careful thought and planning.

What was that? How did it turn out you say?

SUPER tasty!  And yes Kelly, HUSBAND approved!! (I did manage to save some for him after devouring a good portion of it - so yum!)

I am definitely giving it another go.  I may even follow the directions this time and enjoy the FULL awesomeness of this recipe!

 

 

VERDICT:  SUCCESS!

Protein Puzzle

There is a lot to figure out the past few days for the fitmixer bootcamp.   It's been a challenge. Like putting together a puzzle.  I like puzzles. Good thing, cause I might have given up already. 

Let's talk meal plan.  So here are the goals I was given by the registered dietitian:

Calories: 1200-1300

Carbohydrates:  150 grams

Protein:  90 grams

Fat: 27 grams

Calories are no surprise for me.  It's consistent with every other plan and weight loss tool I've used.  Carbs are in line too.  Protein on the other hand is much higher than what I have been eating.  I've been in the range of 45-60g eating a plant based diet.  So I've had to work at getting to that mark. 

I decided to plan my meals as usual, then see what I need to add to ramp up the protein.  My go to meal is a veggie bowl.  This particular one was:

1/2c brown rice

1/2c broccoli

1/2c chickpea salsa

Usually I would stop there, but that only got me to 11 grams of protein.  Goal for dinner is 20 grams.  What to add?  I would have loved to add more chickpeas, but alas I had to keep it to 350 cal's too.  Since the chickpea salsa had a Mediterranean flare, I took a peek at the protein in some fat free feta cheese crumbles: 8 grams in 1/4c and only 40 cals in a serving.  CHEESE! Perfect!  Cheese completely makes a meal seem indulgent.  And here is what I ended up with:

I could have completely loaded up on more broccoli to get the additional 8 grams I had with the cheese.  Usually in trying to get volume in my meals I would have.  But 6 meals a day in this plan has been working well at keeping cravings at bay.  It feels like I'm constantly having to jump up to grab the next round of food.

People always ask me if I get enough protein.  And the answer has been yes.  And with awesome products like fitmixer protein drinks, I can ramp up on protein when I am working out bootcamp style.

There is plenty of protein in vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, with soy and legumes coming in as the heavy hitters in protein for vegetarians.  Soybeans weigh in at 29g of protein - completely keeping up with 3.5oz of chicken breast which has 30g, and lentils come in at 18g per serving, most legumes come up in the teens.

Check out sparkpeople.com which has a great article for more plant based protein sources.

And speaking about those workouts.  Wow!  New terms on day 2 and 3:  Isometrics and Tabata.  It is a test in patience, and an investment of time for me!  Not only am I learning what these are, I have to take time to watch the videos a few times and practice the motions as these are totally new to me and I have to really watch and work on form.

Nevertheless, I know it's only the first week, so I am taking the time to do it, and am DEFINITELY getting good workouts.  I know because I am becoming AWARE of muscles in my body that I didn't know EXISTED before this week.

AND I am soooo tired! 

Anyone else a newbie at all of this?  How are you doing Week 1?