Day 1: In the Beginning...

I've always been one to use social media to post my culinary successes (and disasters), and am a big fan of posting generalized recipes on my Facebook statuses. I've been living healthy since July of 2011 when I realized that I had truly let myself go and stood on the scale at a whopping 182lbs, which is not healthy for my diminutive height of of 5'4". So my New Year's resolution for 2012 is not to just lose more weight (I've lost 30lbs so far) but to write down recipes I make up in the form of a blog so I can recreate them again (even though I usually just end up throwing together something new for a change) and to share them with the world while keeping track of my personal progress.

It's so tempting to go out in urban environments such as New York City (especially with the abundant variety of good restaurants), and it's a common notion for many New Yorkers to not use their kitchens, but I want to prove that anyone can achieve ingenious salubrity (that basically translates into being innovative and healthy) without breaking the bank and eating healthy can actually be simple and delicious! *Note: Many of my recipes will be gluten and/or dairy-free as I accomodate my sister's dietary needs. So I'm going to leave you with a quote and two recipes I made up today on Day 1 of my New Year's Diet:

"The richest of all lords is Use,
And ruddy Health the loftiest Muse.
Live in the sunshine, swim the sea,
Drink the wild air's salubrity." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sauteed Tofu Noodles, Spinach, and Garbanzo Beans with White Sauce

Makes 1 serving

1/2 c. fresh spinach leaves or frozen spinach

1/8 c. garbanzo beans

4 oz. tofu noodles (I use House Foods Tofu Shirataki Spaghetti)

White Sauce:

1/8 c. unsweetened almond milk (I like Blue Diamond's Almond Breeze the best)

1 tbsp minced garlic (I buy it pre-minced in a jar because I'm lazy--don't tell my

parents!)

2 tsp Parmesan cheese (you can make this vegan and use soy-cheese but I personally

have tried it and think it's gross, and the small amount here doesn't affect my sister

anyway, so I don't bother with that crap).

2 tsp margarine

3 tsp chopped chives

black pepper to taste

1) Put 1 tsp margarine in a skillet/medium saucepan on medium heat to melt.

2) Sautee spinach, garbanzo beans and tofu noodles in the pan and turn to low heat,

cover and let simmer while making the white sauce. 

*If you don't cook the tofu noodles, they will smell bad and be inedible in my

opinion (since smell is related to taste).

For the White Sauce:

3) In small sauce pan, melt remaining tsp of margarine.

4) Dump in the rest of the ingredients and stir on lowerheat, until sauce is

completely melted and creamy.

5) Remove tofu noodles, spinach and garbanzo beans from and put into a salad

bowl or plate and pour sauce on top. 


Enjoy and Bon Appetit! :)

Baked Tilapia with Creamy, Lemony-Herb Sauce over a Bed of Romaine
Makes 4 servings

4 frozen tilapia filets
6 c. chopped Romaine lettuce

Lemony-Herb Sauce:
2 tbsp cream cheese
1 tsp margarine
1/8 c. lemon juice

2 tsp chopped chives

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tbsp minced garlic
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tsp dill
½ tsp thyme

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place filets on a sheet of aluminum foil.

2) Mix ingredients in glass bowl and heat up in microwave on high heat

for 30 seconds--keep an eye on it depending on how hot your microwave gets

to prevent a messy explosion.  

3) Pull up sides of foil to prevent spillage and pour sauce over fish and close

foil to make a packet. 

4) Bake fish for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool down in oven.

5) Place fish on top of Romaine lettuce and pour some sauce from the packet

over the salad. Enjoy and Bon Appetit! :)