Day 45--Starch Strong

The starch life is a much better one. Food is tasty, satisfying, and I am not starving to death. Here is a simple little rice and veggie dish I recently made:

I simply sauteed the veggies, beans, and spices in some veggie broth, and then added them to cooked brown rice. I heated the chopped potato chunks in the microwave for three minutes first, before adding them to the pan. 

This dish included the following: 

Russet potatoes, 3 small, peeled and chopped

Zucchini squash, 1 large, chopped

Red Bell Pepper, 1 medium, chopped

Crimini Mushrooms, ~1/2 cup, sliced

Spinach, ~2 cups

~ 1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes (comes in a bag, no oil)

Garbanzo Beans, 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can Roasted, Diced Tomatoes

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

2 teaspoons dried parsley

Vegetable broth to cover bottom of pan

Brown rice (short grain was used in this dish)

There is usually enough for five or six meals, which comes in handy when I need something quick. I can just pop the leftovers in the microwave and wah la! It also makes packing meals to take to work easy, too. 

This next photo is toast with hummus and red kidney beans. I have read from a few different sources that beans on toast is part of a traditional English breakfast, and I wanted to give it a shot. I added the hummus to give the beans something to stick to. I am still using the low fat hummus I buy from Whole Foods Market. The ingredients are just garbanzo beans, lemon powder, garlic powder, and citric acid. It has a nice lemony tang which gives a nice flavor. I eat it as a snack, but it could definitely be eaten as part of a meal. I have also used Pinto beans which were equally tasty and filling. 

I recently decided to branch out after reading through Dr. McDougall's lists of store bought foods, and I bought some sprouted whole wheat bread by Alvarado Street Bakery. Although I still like the Ezekiel bread I was eating before, this bread is quite tasty as well. Each piece is a little bigger, probably more like the standard bread everyone is used to buying, and it is fluffier.

This was last night's dinner: Salad, a baked sweet potato, and brown rice with some parsley flakes and Bragg Liquid Aminos. I probably would have enjoyed some more rice, but this was all I had leftover. I did not add a single thing to the potato. I heated it in the microwave for 5 minutes to cook it a bit faster, and then I set it in the oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit for about 10-15 minutes to get the skin crispy. The sweet potato is so moist and flavorful as is, and so I cannot imagine any good topping for it. I used to add a buttery spread, but that just adds fat to my waist, and again, the sweet potato is already so moist and delicious on its own.  

The salad was made up of Romaine lettuce, cucumber slices, carrot slices, cherry tomatoes, and raw beet slices to which I add Annie's Naturals Fat Free Mango dressing. 

 

On with Day 45....