Evil Jungle Princess!

It's a humid, cloudy, post rainy Sunday morning here in PA. Just took the dogs for a walk and feel like I need a shower. I got up refreshed from a great night's sleep. I am enjoying the life of a single girl, even if only for a weekend. Some of the guys should be home shortly.

Yesterday, even though it was supposed to be a Pattie day, I ended up doing work and catching up on stuff that will need to be done for work this week. I felt good to get that out of the way. Then I did a few errands, and got takeout Thai food while I was out.

My favorite dish is called Evil Jungle Princess. It's chicken and veggies (eggplant, onions, carrots, broccoli) in this very light, thin, orange sauce. The offical description says "boldly spiced chicken, sauteed with vegetable medley and flavored with exotic herbs and spices". I think I taste some coconut in there, and it does have some spices with some kick to it. They serve it with white rice. I asked for brown but they didn't have it. So I put alittle of the rice into the concoction, stirred it together and ate in on my deck with a nice glass of Chardonnay, and a few new magazines that came in the mail. It was quiet and peaceful and very relaxing. I forgot to take a photo to post, so I looked online and found a recipe on a blog for it. I think it would fit in ok on the BFC. The one I ordered has different veggies, but I don't think it would matter what veggies you put in. I'll post the recipe at the end.

After dinner, I curled up on the sofa and watched Eat, Pray, Love,. I enjoyed it and even shed a few tears in some parts. The 'eat' part of the movie was alittle hard to watch. She was in Italy and all the pasta and pizza reminded of the two times I was there. My mouth was watering, especially for their pizza. It was so good, and one of the best food memories along with the gelato!

I made myself a little dessert to top off my evening., I melted one of my dark chocolate nut clusters ( I promise I will post this reipe soon) and added some blueberries and redi whip. Stirred it all together, and it was like a sundae with the nuts and melted chocolate. So delish! I confess I over did it alittle on the berries. And that brings me to my next thought.

I really think that if I am to be honest, I don't lose the way I should because I overdo my portions. Even the stuff that we are allowed to have that's 0/0 in sugar and carbs, like cheese and mayo, I am overdoing it on. The same with nuts. I really have to get strict with this, or I will just be treading water here and not moving forward.

Today, because I felt like I had the time, I went through alot of the blogs looking at what everyone eats. I pulled out the BFC book and now I am going to come up with a plan for 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 5 dinners that I can make, and especially quick ones when I'm working or in a hurry. I need to have a written plan, and not the 'hmmmm., let's see what shall I have for insert meal  today' plan. So that is my goal for today. To put all this great info that you all share and is written in the book into a working plan for the week.

I have a birthday coming up in 2 weeks and I have set a little goal to reach. It's a high goal, but I'm going to go for it. If I fall short, at least I will be closer to my goal. I know it's better to set short, attainable goals, but I just want to go for it this time and see if I really get strict, really count and track, and increase my activity, if I can do it. Wish me luck!

Thai Style Evil Jungle Princess from OhGloriousFood.blogspot.com

This has long been my favorite to get at Thai restaurants! I was thrilled when I found this recipe and tried it out right away! It was so good! The kids were licking not only their plates, but the serving bowl by the end of dinner. I didn't make it too spicy - between a 1 and 2 but next time I might make it a bit spicier so I can have leftovers! ;)

Thai Style Evil Jungle Princess

1 TBSP olive oil (or Peanut)
6 garlic cloves peeled and minced
1 1/2 stalks lemongrass chopped into 1" - 4" pieces (variety is fun!)
4 TBSP lime zest (or 6 Kaffir lime leaves, softened in warm water)
4 8 oz chicken breasts, skinned and sliced into pieces
1 C coconut milk
1 C chicken broth
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp sugar
10-12 fresh mint leaves, chopped
4 TBSP fish sauce (I left this out, since I had none... I just added a small amount of salt toward the end of cooking)
2 tsp cayenne pepper - or to taste
6 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 C finely chopped red cabbage
1 C finely chopped Chinese cabbage (or regular - that is what we used!)
1 2/3 enoki mushrooms (I didn't use these but might next time!)

Cooked Rice if desired

Heat the oil in a large skillet or Wok and add the garlic. Cook until oil is infused with garlic and add the lemongrass, lime zest, and chicken. Stir fry chicken until no longer pink. Add coconut milk, chicken stock, and chili powder and stir fry until chicken turns white and sauce has cooked down into a coating cream. Stir in the sugar, mint leaves, and fish sauce. Add your cayenne, keeping in mind that how much you add will determine the 1-5 heat factor. I would say that 1 1/2 tsp was about a 1.5 on the heat scale. A little spicy, but still fine for kids. Stir in lemon to suit your taste.

Put the sliced cabbage and mushrooms into a hot skillet with a little chicken broth or water (just enough to cause steam) and allow to heat through (I did 8 minutes or so)

Serve the cabbage over rice (if desired) and top it all with the evil jungle princess! YUM!!!

***NOTE - towards the end I wanted it a little saucier so I added more coconut milk (about 1/2 cup) so it was a little thinner... but still awesome and it went farther that way! Woooo hooooo;)