Recipe of the Week

I found the following recipe on allrecipes.com.  It's actual title there was "Grilled Salmon I", but I renamed it, haha.  Also, since I only cook for 2, typically, I reduced the amount of ingredients as necessary.  The ingredients shown are as they are in the original.  Also, instead of seasoning the fish prior to marinating, I did it afterwards... So, do whatever floats your boat.

Sweet & Tangy Grilled Salmon
Servings: 6, Time: 2 hours to marinate, 30 minutes prep/cook

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lb salmon
lemon pepper, to taste
garlic powder, to taste
salt, to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1.  Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt.
2.  In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water, and oil until sugar is dissolved.
3.  Place fish in a resealable plastic bag with soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4.  Preheat grill, or pan.  Place salmon on grill/pan and discard marinade.  Cook salmon on each side until it flakes easily with fork (about 6-8 min per side).

New workout

So I completed the "3-week to a Bikini Body Workout", although I extended it to 4 weeks.  Last week, I didn't really do a workout "program".  That week, however, I did go on a four hour hike, a 1 hour hike, a 2.5 mile run, and lots of walking through downtown Seattle.  So... there was still lots of physical activity.

This week I will be starting a program entitled "Intermediate Running for Weight Loss".  Now, I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight, but I do like the looks of the program.  I found this program on the Women's Health Magazine web site.  The pre-requisite for the intermediate program is that you be able to run/jog for 30 minutes at any speed.  The program starts you off with 30 minute runs and over the course of 6 weeks gets you running for an hour straight.  The runs are 4 days a week with 2 days a week doing resistance workouts, and one day for rest.  There are two different resistance workouts for the first 3 weeks, and another two different resistance workouts for the final 3 weeks.

Recipe of the Week

BBQ Roasted Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes
Total time:  55 min, Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 lb red potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup italian dressing
1 1/2 tsp chili powder, divided
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb)
1/4 cup bbq sauce
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2.  Toss potatoes with dressing in 13x9 inch nonstick pan; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp chili powder.  Bake for 25 minutes.
3.  Stir potatoes, push to sides of pan.  Place chicken in single layer in center of pan; sprinkle with remaining chili powder.  Drizzle with bbq sauce.
4.  Bake 20 min or until chicken is done and potatoes are tender.  Transfer chicken to platter.  Stir potatoes to evenly coat with pan drippings.  Spoon around chicken on platter; top with parmesan.

Recipe of the Week

I've decided to post a recipe a week.  It may be something new that I really loved, or it may be a regular favorite.  So the recipe of the week this week is....:

Maple Mustard Pork Chops
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp olive oil
1 small clove garlic, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
2 bone-in pork chops

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl, stir together the syrup, mustard, oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
2.  Place the chops and mustard mixture inside a large ziploc plastic bag, then thoroughly coat the chops.
3.  Cook each side of the chops on a skillet.  In the last minute of cooking, pour the remaining mustard mixture onto the chops.  (This recipe states 3-4 minutes on each side on med-high heat.  I prefer to cook mine on med-low to med, and I don't use a timer, I just judge by appearance, and make sure the meat is cooked thoroughly before removing from heat)

This recipe is a regular in our house.  We got it from menshealth.com when my husband was doing the Belly Off program.  I usually serve these pork chops with apple sauce and some sort of green vegetable.

Snacks & New Recipes

I thought I'd first share they types of snacks that I normally eat throughout the day.  I eat 2-3 snacks during the day.  I typically try to pair something with protein with some sort of fruit or vegetable, but that's not set in stone for me.  Having protein with a snack helps to keep me from getting hungry sooner.  Here are some of the items I will have:

• Protein:  Nuts, lunch meat, lowfat string cheese, chocolate milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt
• Fruits or Vegetable
• Popcorn
• Toast

I also wanted to talk about a new recipe I just tried out.  Being that it's the fall, I really wanted to try some pumpkin recipes, but I also wanted to keep it on the healthy side.  So... I just made some whole wheat pumpkin muffins with cranberries and walnuts.  They tasted how I expected... healthy.  Haha.  But I did enjoy the one that I ate, and I made it a little less healthy by spreading some margarine on it, yum!  If you're interested in the recipe, let me know!