Tag: chicken

Days 3, 4 and 5 – there are no shortcuts

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Family, gratitude, Health, Inspiration, Nutrition

RisottoSo ends the first five days of my cleanse. I fared well. I had a couple slips– a bite of bread when we went to Daphne’s Grill for dinner tonight, the most delectable chocolate ball by Lindt… Hazelnut truffle! but other than that I did rather well. I treated myself to a gluten free lemon scented risotto with seared scallops and green beans At the Blue Stove in the Thousand Oaks Nordstrom- possibly my favorite restaurant in the Conejo Valley.

All week I managed to create some rather delicious gluten free dishes for my family, thanks to the amazing support of the Facebook group thats supporting this program. Yesterday I ran out of time to cook, and resorted to an old standard– linguini with vodka cream sauce…something that needs 5 ingredients and can be cooked in 20min. But luckily I had quinoa, sautéed spinach and mushrooms and pan-seared chicken breast finished in the oven- but of course like any cook, I had to taste the food I cooked and holy cow it was delicious! But my meal was awesome too.

Seared Ahi Tuna salad
Seared Ahi Tuna salad

Today my friend Deanne took me to lunch to celebrate my transition from W2 to 1099! I had the most delicious seared Ahi tuna salad with mixed greens, daikon sprouts, carrots and tomatoes. I made sure to eat all the tuna first and sure enough it was so filling that I couldn’t finish the salad. A-ha! My stomach is shrinking already. A week or two ago, I’d have no trouble eating the whole thing. The cleanse is working, my stomach is shrinking.

Today an interesting thing happened — I was on my way to meet with a friend in Malibu at the Starbucks in my old stomping grounds– I got my MBA at Pepperdine 13 years ago. There’s a traffic light by the school entrance where you can take a short cut to the mart by turning left but you can’t do that till after 9am. It was 8:56am, and the memory of the ticket I got for not paying attention to the time as a sleep deprived MBA student is still fresh Even 13 years later. So I crossed the light, and for not taking that shortcut I was rewarded with the beautiful vision of 6-7 deer grazing on the grass at Alumni Park. I was in the wrong lane to pull over, nevertheless I said a silent prayer of gratitude at the vision that started my morning well– my reward today for not taking a shortcut. The entire day went amazingly well. I spent time with good friends, then with my little girl alone, then with both my kids at Daphne’s. We laughed a lot today! Now I’m snuggled near my husband with the fireplace candles, watching a movie with half an eye as I write this. Life is Perfect!

Tonight i send to you my wish — I wish for you the complete peace I felt today. I wish for you the chance to stop and smell the roses or see the deer as the case may be!

Sending you you all love and light from a heart filled with love

Niki

Day 16: 30 days to fit- chicken two ways

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Family, Health, In Their Words, Nutrition

I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation.
Madam Benoit

I didn’t post yesterday because my 2yo wouldn’t sleep till 11pm! He then decided to wake up at 4:15am – back to bed in 15 min thankfully but then 5:30am he’s opening his bedroom door again. Ugh! I’m exhausted and groggy so I grab my blanket and go lay down on the floor of his room- so as not to get him too used to being in bed with me (and we have a strict no kids in our bed policy!). He’s asleep and now it’s 7am and it’s time to wake – but I just don’t want to!! I’m wiped out and the day has barely begun! My back and neck are sore from sleeping on the floor.

Thank goodness for my pick me up Arbonne protein smoothie breakfast complete with Almond/Coconut blended milk, almond butter, celery, spinach, green beans, strawberries, blueberries, lime and ginger. Extra strong decaf coffee (ha) rounds out my breakfast with my usual assortment of vitamins!

Lunch is Indian chicken and lentils (thanks ma!)

Two Arbonne mango chews and a chocolate nutrition bar helped tide me over till dinner which was chicken teriyaki including a teriyaki sauce made from scratch! I got the recipe from Mark Bittman’s cooking app and improved upon it!

Here’s the recipe:
1 1/2lb skinless chicken (I used drumsticks but feel free to use whatever!)

1/3 cup each of mirin, water, soy sauce, 1T sugar, 1T black bean paste.

If you can marinate the chicken in the sauce overnight awesome- if not – don’t worry.

-heat 2T olive oil in cast iron skillet on med-high heat
-add chicken and cook both sides till slightly brown – couple minutes per side
-add all the marinade, lower heat to medium, cover and cook till chicken is done (175F on instant read thermometer) turn chicken every few minutes to get an even browning.
-once chicken reaches 175F remove lid and let the sauce thicken a bit – just a few minutes longer. Serve over basmati white rice! YUM! My kids and hubby each devoured two legs – leaving me with just one! Such a great feeling!

Ok so not only did I cook this but while this was cooking I also made Indian spinach chicken to be had for lunch tomorrow. I’d marinated the chicken in ginger garlic paste the night before.

– 1 pressure cooker
-1 diced onion
-1 diced tomato
– 1/2 diced jalapeño
– 1 t cumin seeds
-2 t coriander powder
-1 t cumin powder
-1 t turmeric powder
-1 t salt
1 t ground garam masala (or whole – 4-5 cloves, 4-5 cardamom, 1 small stick cinnamon, 3-4 black peppercorn)
– chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

Heat oil in pressure cooker, add cumin seeds – they should sputter
Sauté onions till dark golden brown
Add tomatoes and all spices
Add little water at a time to make a nice paste – let the tomatoes breakdown till they’re not lumpy.

Add chicken stir to coat gently add about a cup of water and cook under pressure for 5 minutes. Release pressure, open lid, lower flame to simmer and let the gravy thicken and flavors meld together. About 15 min. Toward the very end, add spinach and let it cook till fully blended into curry…3-4min. Garnish with cilantro- serve hot over basmati rice!

It’s 9:50pm– my 2 yo is fighting sleep re-training! I’m standing outside his door- hand on the knob so he can’t turn and open it. I’ve a timer set that’s going up in minutes from 2 to 5 to 7 to 10…I go in at each interval, soothe him, put him down (he starts crying again) and leave. I’m at the 15 min interval and although he’s turned the big light on– all is quiet. I’m going to wait till 20min before going in to check on him.

Give me patience and strength!

Day 6: 30 days to fit

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Health, In Their Words, Nutrition

Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. (John F. Kennedy)

Another night of 3am wake up to the 2 year old wanting to sleep in ‘mama bed.’ Had to sleep in his bed with him with his arm flayed across my face!

10:00am- Arbonne vanilla smoothie with carrots, celery, green beans, berries, ginger, kiwi and kale. Décaf coffee with 3/4tsp turbinado and splash of soy creamer.

1:30pm- three tablespoons basmati rice with chicken curry and black-eyed peas. (Lobia) Indian style. Not supposed to have rice but mom made fresh lobia and I can’t resist.

3:45pm- 1/2cup snap pea crisps

5:30pm- husband asks me if I want a beer– we have Abbey Leffe, Sam Smith Nut brown ale, Ninkasi’s oatmeal stout all lined up in the garage fridge — and I say NO!! as much as I love beer- I’m saving my one allowed (my compromise) alcoholic beverage for the beach party we are going to tomorrow!) I’m so proud of me! I have to tell you- Leffe is my all time favorite beer- followed by a good chocolate or oatmeal stout.

6:30pm- charbroiled hot wings courtesy my amazing scientist husband the self-taught chef! He makes two different sauces- one with a franks red hot base and another with an Asian wing sauce made from scratch. Home made coleslaw and French fries rounded out the meal– I think I had all of 7 fries (again– not allowed but my weekend compromise!)

30oz water and I’m feeling really good about myself today. I’m a day away from a week and I can’t wait to step on the scale Monday morning!

Day 5: 30 days to fit

by Niki Chopra Richardson, posted in Health, In Their Words, Nutrition

As I see it, every day you do one of two things: build health or produce disease in yourself. (Adelle Davis)

Had a rough night with my toddler wanting to crawl into my bed and that’s a big no-no in our house- rather I crawled into his twin bed for a few hours from 2-5am– then groggily stumbled back into bed only to wake up waaaay later than usual!

9:30am- Arbonne vanilla protein smoothie with carrots, celery, green beans, kale, strawberries, blueberries, ginger, lime, and orange juice

1245pm- Arbonne vanilla protein smoothie with carrots, celery, green beans, kale, strawberries, blueberries, ginger, lime, a pinch of cayenne pepper (be sure its a little pinch!–hiccup) and orange juice

4:00pm – Arbonne detox tea slushie made with two strawberries, kiwi, carrots blended with ice! Yummy perfect summer drink on a hot day! I also enjoyed a few spoons of ‘khatta mittha’ which is an east Indian tea-time snack which has chickpea flour, nuts and a bunch of other things.

6:30pm – dinner at Camarillo Supermarket which is owned by a Lebanese couple and they have the BEST middle eastern food– here you can get Gormeh Sabzi, khoobideh etc. the family enjoyed rice and lavash too but I stuck to just the chicken kebabs and salad! I did have two teaspoons of the delicious Persian rice though– couldn’t resist! And didn’t want to deal with cravings later- so figured 2t can’t hurt!

8:45pm – 2 dark chocolate almonds with sea salt and turbinado.

Been really bad about water today– aside from what’s in the tea- I think I only had about 16oz! Hmmmm

The weekend is here– this should be interesting! It’s the time when I feel like allowing myself to slack off! I might be using you for greater accountability this weekend! Stay tuned!