Back in September, on a Sunday afternoon, Big Daddy took the girls for a ride. They came back with Daisy, an eight week old golden retriever. Big Daddy was more excited than the girls! He had plans! The dog was going to take the place of a health club. He was going to get up at the crack of dawn to walk his new pup. He said all of the walking would melt the pounds away!
Well, Big Daddy was right about the pounds melting off! Off of ME! The crack of dawn wasn’t all that it is cracked up to be! It was too cold and too early for B.D.. Daisy on the other hand wanted to go out every four hours. The cold and dark didn’t make her roll back over and go to sleep! Well, thanks to Daisy and all of her energy I lost 9 pounds in the first month of having her around!
Not only have I had to adjusting to having a dog around, but to Iris, going to school three full days a week. For the first time since August 2005 (the month Rose was born), I can actually focus a little on MYSELF! I have time and energy to do things like…put make up on, comb my hair and floss my teeth. Most importantly, I have had more time to work on getting rid of the “muddle in the middle” which has prevented me from getting into a bathing suit for the past six summers!
Although Daisy jump-started my weight loss it was just the beginning. I have been trying to curb my bad eating habits (like… eating on the run and finishing off what the girls leave on their dinner plates). In addition, I have been giving a lot of thought to calories: how many go into my mouth during the day, how to cut them, how to cut them without cutting flavor and richness, and how to break them up throughout the day so I won’t start eating the curtains. It’s was astonishing to see how many empty calories were going into my mouth when I started keeping track.
I love take-out Indian food, but I cringe when I think about what must go into the Chicken Tikka Masala to make it taste so damn good! The chef doesn’t care about how many calories and grams of fat I’m eating! They just want the food to taste amazing. When you cook at home you know exactly what you’re eating. I know it is hard after a long day to muster up the energy to cook a healthy meal. The chicken curry recipe below is not only delicious, it is quick, made in one skillet AND it is approximately 450 calories per serving. That’s not too bad. How can you NOT try it! The clock is going forward this weekend, the days are getting longer and swimsuit season is right around the corner!
Curried Chicken and Rice
serves 4
1 whole breast of chicken bone & skin, cut into three pieces (you can have butcher do this) or six
chicken thighs with bone and skin
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaping teaspoon ground turmeric
1 heaping teaspoon whole coriander seed or ground coriander
1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup basmati rice
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 oven proof skillet with lid (if you don’t have lid you can you tin foil)
1. preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In an oven proof skillet heat olive oil and saute the chicken until browned
on all sides. Set aside.
3. Add onion, ginger and garlic and saute until golden brown.
4. Add spices cook for a minute or so and then add stock, orange juice and
rice.
5. Bury chicken back into rice stock mixture
6. Cover and place in oven for 20 min. If liquid is almost all evaporated take
it out and let it sit. You can check to make sure rice is tender. Do not over
cook! You want it to be moist!
7. Stir in raisins and nuts
Genevieve Cremaldi 