Long time no post, but here is the recipe. I am making small weekly progress. Here is the Tropical Quinoa and black beans, tastes fantastic.

Tropical Quinoa and Black Beans

Serves 4

This dramatically colorful dish is flavored with a variety of seasonings for a taste of the tropics. A splash of fresh lime juice when ready to serve brightens the flavors even more. If you prefer extra heat, add a minced hot jalapeño or Serrano chile in addition to or instead of the cayenne. Cooked brown rice may be used instead of the cooked quinoa.  

·         1 cup quinoa, well rinsed

·         1 ripe mango

·         1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil

·         1 small red onion, minced

·         ½ red bell pepper, minced

·         2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 teaspoon light brown sugar

·         ½ teaspoon dried thyme

·         ¼ teaspoon ground cumin

·         ¼ teaspoon ground allspice

·         ¼ teaspoon ground coriander

·         ⅛ teaspoon cayenne

·         1½ cups home-cooked black beans, or 1 (15-ounce) can, drained and rinsed

·         Salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         2 tablespoons minced

·         fresh cilantro

·         1 to 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

·         Lime wedges, for serving (optional)  

1.       Cook the quinoa in a saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2.       Slice through the mango lengthwise, next to one side of the flat pit, and detach; repeat for the other side. Spoon out the flesh and chop. Set aside.  

3.       While the quinoa is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.

4.       Stir in the ginger, garlic, sugar, thyme, cumin, allspice, coriander, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 minute.

5.       Add the beans and reserved quinoa, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

6.       Stir in the reserved mango, cilantro, and lime juice, and cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes.

7.       Serve hot with the lime wedges, if using.

Robertson, Robin (2011-10-04). Quick-Fix Vegan: Healthy Home-style Meals in 30 Minutes or Less (Kindle Locations 960-965). Andrews McMeel Publishing LLC. Kindle Edition.

I did well this last weekend. I even worked out with out Leah. I made the Tropical Quinoa recipe and it is great. I cannot believe that it only serves 4, I have eaten it several times. The only change I made is I added a small can of diced chili's 1/4 cup of lime juice. and more chopped cilantro.I will work out this evening as well as on WED and FRI mornings with Leah. My goals this week are to eat more vegetables and fruits, drink more water, remove as much as sugar as I can.
Here is a picture of the Quinoa recipe: I will post the recipe tomorrow. It is very good!!!

Have a great day, this will be a wonderful week.

Not much new today, I am very sore from working out yesterday. Ate the refrig oatmeal for breakfast and logged my food intake today.  I did not do cardio or strength training but will meet with Leah in the morning bright and early.

Well it is almost time to say goodbye to this day. I married my sweetheart, Diane, 25 years ago today.

Reporting in
This morning Leah met us at the Wellness Center. I must admit, I was not happy to be there, sleep deprivation or is it just and excuse??? Well the workout went well. I do not like the bike, but did it anyway. My favorite cardio workout is on the treadmill. I caught up my food journal to this morning and actually ate a good breakfast. I really like the refridgerator Oatmeal recipes that Mindy gave us a couple of weeks ago. My favorite it the Blueberry Maple. Here is a picture of what it looks like:

Thanks to Mindy and The Yummy Life site I can enjoy this and it is so quick and simple. Of course mine didn't look like this due to the container, but my wife bought some 9.5 oz plastic containers at Maceys and they work fine, just no fancy glass--still takes the same.

But I really like this the Mango-Almond was the first one I tried and it was good too. Don't these all look great, and again . . . so easy. I know that Mindy stated that we didn't need to add the Chia Seeds but I did and I will be bringing Chia Seeds to class on Thursday to share with anyone who wants them. 

I am always looking for something different to try, I have no problem cooking new things or trying things that I am unfamilar with. So I ran across this little jewel and will  post it here. Still trying to figure out how to remove the sugar and what would be the best subsitute possibly Agave.

Pineapple Carpaccio with Thai Basil and Blueberries



Nutritional information Per Serving:

·                     Calories: 89

·                     Protein: <1 g

·                     Total Fat: <1 g

·                     Saturated Fat: <1 g

·                     Carbohydrates: 23 g

·                     Cholesterol: 0 mg

·                     Sodium: <1 mg

·                     Fiber: 1 g

·                     Sugar: 20 g

Vegan Gluten-Free

Servings: 4; Prep Time: 30 minutes or fewer

Thai basil has a stronger anise note than Italian sweet basil, and pairs beautifully with pineapple, but sweet basil may be substituted. Salting the pineapple brings out the flavor of a less than stellar fruit. Leftover syrup combines refreshingly with lime, lemon, or grapefruit juice and still or sparkling water to make spritzers.

 Syrup

• 1 cup sugar or agave syrup
• 1 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves

Carpaccio

• ½ pineapple, peeled and cored
• 8 Thai basil leaves
• ½ cup blueberries

Directions

·         To make Syrup: Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and basil in saucepan; bring to a boil; and cook 1 minute, or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, let steep 5 minutes; strain, and cool. Discard basil.

·         To make Carpaccio: cut pineapple in half lengthwise, and then slice crosswise very thinly, 3/8-inch or thinner.

·         Arrange pineapple slices on serving plates, slightly overlapping slices; sprinkle lightly with salt, then drizzle each serving with 1 Tbs. Syrup.

·         Stack basil leaves, and then roll lengthwise. Slice roll crosswise into thin strips. Garnish pineapple with basil and blueberries. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Next it is on to Quinoa I will try a recipe called "Tropical Quinoa and Black Beans,  I will let you all know how it goes and post the recipe if it is good.

Thanks for all the support.

This is my first entry, I must admit, I have been very resistant to using this, the current online “Social” networking is not my favorite thing.  As far as the 100-day Heart challenge, I haven’t been as diligent as I hoped to be but, I have no one to blame but myself for what I did “not” accomplish in the prior weeks.

I heard a saying yesterday that caught my attention, and wondered why I haven’t been more cognizant to it before. ”The time for action is now; it is never too late to do something. “  Tony Wrighton. I know what I need to do, cardio >30 minutes at least 5 or 6 times a week, strength training at least 3 days a week, and nutrition—the thing that is my bane as well as my savior. 

Early this morning I received an email from a friend and they stated, “Your health decisions are up to you.  As much as the rest of us want to help, you have to be the one to take responsibility for your choices.  Now is the time to make that change.” This inspired me to commit to my own well-being. I did cardio tonight for 40 min and every 4 min I jogged at 13.5mile/hr. speed at the AF Rec center. 5 min warm-up, 35 min cardio and 5 min cool-down, and I DID IT! No, it is not easy, but I did it, I need to keep it up.

I was speaking to Mindy after class last Thursday and told her about the “a-ha” moment I had the night before. Her lecture that day struck a chord with me, in-so-much that I was wondering why suddenly everything had gone to “heck in a hand basket”.   I then realized I am trying too much. I am panicking that the days are ticking down from 100 to the end. I felt sheer powerlessness at the outcome, yet in that dark moment; I had a glimmer of hope. I realized that this 100-day challenge is not the end, but the path of a lifestyle that will and should continue way beyond the 100-Days end.  All the stress at not “reaching” my goals due to my own self-sabotage caused a paradigm thought change within me. “It took me over 30 years to get this way, and you are expecting too much to have it all changed and working properly in 100-days, but don’t let that be an excuse, you have more days and more time to continue, improve and be what you believe you can become.” 

Bless my trainer, Leah’s heart; she is so forgiving and positive. I don’t think I could have asked for someone better as a trainer. I will use this time wisely, get in a habit to work on the low-hanging fruit such as nutrition improvement, working out habit cultivation, and self (things within my head) improvement. It is just a beginning with HUGE payoffs the rest of my life. So this coming week, I want to work out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The time is unimportant but the fact that I have written it here for all to see, at least all that are important to me, so I need to follow through. We all have rough times and can easily blame othe\rs, but it comes down to our choices and how we accept the responsibility of them and be accountable for the outcomes.

To end this a quote from a book I am currently reading, “If we don’t practice the tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us, and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, a world of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who saunters along.” –Carl Sagan, Astronomer.