The day I didn't wear my bra....

Hi. It's been a while. It's actually been 971 days, or, 2 years 7 months and 27 days, since my last time posting on this blog. Whoops....

I miss it. I miss you, the reader. I miss creating new recipes and having a passion for cooking.

A lot has happened in the last, almost, three years! When I last saw you, I had recently moved to Columbia, SC. Well, now I live in Hilton Head Island! (or is it on HHI?) I have also changed a lot as a person... I went from being just over 300 to almost hitting 400 pounds! Yeah, I know!

Here is a typical picture of me >
I am seen in a bar, with my amazing roommate, with a drink in my hand and the ever growing waist line. This was Christmas 2015, aka me at my largest!
                                                                           
But! As I turn over new leaves in career, friendships, and local of where I'm living; I am now turning over a new leaf in my diet... literally! Out with the fried and in with the green! Now, I am sure you have seen blog after blog of people that "eat clean" and are perfect and look perfect and poop perfect and probably never even think about farting .... I'm NOT that person!

I LOVE MEAT!!! Pork, beef, chicken, gator.... you name it, I love it! My body however, does not. So I am back. I'm here to show you just how easy eating healthy can be! As well as just how hard it can be.

I am not perfect. I do not see butter and salt as a sin. Sometimes I add fat to a dish because it just tastes good! I have lost over 40 pounds in the last three months however and plan to lose a lot more!

<---- This is me now! Much better but still some more work to do!

The victory I am celebrating today is that I went out in public without my "bra" today. For years I have been wearing tank-tops under all my shirts to attempt to hold back my "moobs". Today I felt like it wasn't needed! This isn't saying I'll never wear them again, but I'm getting to a point where I don't feel like I have to!

So welcome, again, to my journey. I plan to clean up my eating while I clean up my life! This is a hard step for me to take and I can't take it alone. You may have not signed up for this ride but now you have to take it! It's really a fun ride! All you have to do is support me and compliment me on how well I'm doing! (I'm a millennial so I need constant reassurance of how well I'm doing, duh!)


 - NoPro

Leftover Madness turned Lunchtime Delicacy

So you are sitting in your house after just finishing your morning chores, you're tired and hungry and don't want to have to make a big deal for lunch. You could always make a cold cut sandwich, again, but thats so boring and lackluster. It's time to mix it up and have a delicious lunch that is super easy to make, and the best way to do that is to look at the other meals you didn't finish in the fridge.

I had sliced tomatoes sitting in a plastic container from a BLT made over the weekend, some extra Farfalle noodles from my moms Mac N' Cheese, and a few extra chicken breasts from the previous week. As I stood there, I thought, how can I use these seemingly unrelated items and make a meal out of them? Then it hit me, a fall pasta with grilled chicken! A simple, light, meal that won't take more than thirty minutes to prepare and will fill me up until dinner time.

To start, preheat the grill to 300-350 degrees. If your chicken breast has the rib meat attached, go ahead and pull that off. You now have chicken tenders for another meal later in the week! Now, drizzle the chicken in EVOO and sprinkle about a tablespoon of basil and a teaspoon of garlic powder over the top. Allow the meat to sit while the grill preheats to allow the oil to begin to penetrate the breast. Once your grill heats to 300 degrees, place the chicken on the grill, basil side up. with the grill on its Medium-Low setting, allow the chicken to cook on that first side for fifteen minutes. It is important to allow most of the cooking to be done on that first side to allow the basil and garlic flavor to infuse with the meat. After fifteen minutes, gently flip the breast over and allow for ten more minutes of cooking time. After the ten minutes, flip the breast one more time, and gently press down with your spatula. If the juice is flowing clear at this time, remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for about 2 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, there is a lot to get done! At this point you will want to get your Magic Bullet System out, or a basic food processor will work. Put your sliced tomato in along with about a quarter cup of
EVOO, two tablespoons of butter, a teaspoon of garlic salt, and a dash of basil. Blend this all together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Pour the sauce into a medium sized wok, add a quarter cup of water to help thin the sauce a bit, and heat over medium heat until the sauce begins to simmer. Stir the sauce often to keep a "skin" from forming on the top. Once the sauce is heated through, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and stir together. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and begin to stir in to coat the pasta thoroughly. Once the pasta is totally coated in the sauce, cover and turn the heat down to low to allow it to simmer, stirring occasionally. The pasta will heat and cook until the chicken is done.

Once the chicken is done place a small "lunch sized" portion of pasta on the plate along with the grilled chicken breast. Since this is lunch, you don't have to worry about serving anything else with this meal; however, if you decide to make this for dinner, serve with a side salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and a chilled glass of Chardonnay.

What you need

1 Sliced tomato

EVOO [Extra Virgin Olive Oil]

Basil

Garlic Powder

Butter

Cooked Pasta [Spaghetti style noodles not recommended]

Chicken

Salt and Pepper

Dining on Flipper!

Well, not really. Dolphin yes, but not the friendly mammalian type that we adore so much and swim with and chirp with and all that amazing fru-fru jazzy stuff. Mahi Mahi, a more acceptable thing to say other than dolphin. It's a hearty white fish that is very versatile in flavor. You can steam it, bake it, grill it, or fry it. The easiest of which being baking or grilling. I have found the best flavor combination is citrus basil. It keeps the light flavor of the fish available while subtly adding notes to it that bounce all around your pallet.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grab some aluminum foil. Lay out a large enough piece of aluminum foil to hold the entire piece of fish. Sprinkle the juice of half a lemon over the fish and sprinkle about half a tablespoon of basil over that. Take a clove of garlic and peel off the skin. Place four portions of the garlic around the fish and wrap the foil up over it all. Place the foil packets in a baking dish and place in the oven.

The fish will take about 20-30 minutes to cook. While the fish cooks, you can prepare your sides. I ended up cheating today and using some microwave in the bag rice and green beans. They are good, simple, and easy to make. That way you can focus more on a glass of wine or ice cold beer and the people you have invited over.

When the fish has completed cooking, it will be slightly flaky, yet still firm. Cut the Mahi Mahi pieces into smaller steak sizes and serve over rice with the beans on the side. This fish goes best with a crisp white wine like a Chardonnay. With the time you saved on making the sides, you can think of an amazing desert to make for afterwards!

What you need

Mahi Mahi

Rice

Green beans

Lemons, or juice of, half for each piece of fish

Garlic

Basil