My Attempt at Thai Fried Rice

Gina's Skinny Recipes site (http://www.skinnytaste.com/) makes me drool when I go through it looking for recipes. I love her site because she lists WW PointsPlus for each recipe and includes pictures. Her thai friend rice recipe was no exception to the drool rule. Look at that!

But... I didn't have the necessary ingredients and subbing things in didn't really work. Add the fact that I didn't cook the jasmine rice right (How DO you get rice to be dry and not sticky??) and you get something that turns out suspiciously like the chicken fried rice I made about a month ago. Oh well. I'm willing to try again if I can get my hands on some fish sauce and thai chili peppers and also learn how to make the rice not be so (hate this word) moist.

Here's the recipe anyway as I 'interpreted' it. (Click this link http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/09/thai-fried-rice-575-pts.html  for the actual recipe that should be followed):

(Yeah, not exactly the same look as Gina's, huh? Why is it so pale?)

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4th • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 320.8 • Fat: 7.0 g • Carb: 43.9 g • Fiber: 2.5 g • Protein: 20.2 g
Ingredients:

• 8 oz chicken breast, cut in small cubes
• 3 cups jasmine rice, cooked
  
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 3 egg whites, scrambled
• 1 whole egg, scrambled
  
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 4 tsp vegetable oil
• 4 tsp soy sauce (or more to taste)
  
• 2 tsp fish stir fry sauce (found at the seafood counter where Old Bay is found)
• Dash of lemon juice (I read that this plus soy sauce mimics fish sauce taste)
• salt and pepper

Instructions:
Prepare rice ahead of time according to package instructions. Gina says that it's best if it's made slightly on the dry side, but not sure how to make that happen.

Heat a wok on a high flame. Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper. When the wok is very hot, add 2 tsp oil. When the oil gets hot, add the chicken and cook on high a few minutes, tossing so that its browns all over. (Oops, didn't brown it) Remove chicken from wok and set aside, add the eggs and salt and cook a minute or two until done. Set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the wok and add the onion, scallions and garlic. Saute 1 minute, add tomatoes and stir in all the rice. Add soy sauce, lemon juice and fish stir fry sauce and stir to mix all the ingredients. Keep stirring a few minutes, then add egg and chicken back to the wok. Adjust soy sauce if needed and stir well another 30 seconds.

Quick house progress update

We're working on painting some rooms. Here are some pics.

Master: Valspar Cider

Before:

After (so far):

The color is off since we used semi-gloss and it is too shiny. We got a new gallon in satin finish and plan to finish up the painting this weekend. Unless Mike is finishing sanding the drywall patches (from where we took down the chair rail) and painting today while he honors US Presidents (pfft) and has the day off, but it's raining so I doubt it will be done. But we're so close!

Kitchen: Valspar Dolphin Cove

One wall down, three more to go. We love the color. It's a nice, soft gray that works with the purple, gray and blue countertops. I am just so glad that I found a color that worked that wasn't purple. Purple walls just aren't our scene.

Before:

After (again, so far):

WW Beef & Ricotta Lasagna

10 points per square for this one. The square sizes are substantial, so that seems fair. It was good, but two things would be great, but not possible since it's a WW recipe: 1) The reduced-fat mozzarella tasted reduced-fat-y to both Mike and I, and 2) there wasn't enough sauce. I would also have added fresh basil. But, it was tasty despite those small issues.
 
The recipe came from my new WW cookbook - Just 5 (125 Recipes with 5 Ingredients)

Ingredients:
1.5 lb lean ground beef
4 c no-salt added marinara sauce
1 box (8 oz) no-boil lasagna noodles
2.5 c fat-free ricotta cheese
1 1/4 c shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Spray 9x13 pan with PAM
Spray non-stick skillet with PAM and put over medium heat
Brown ground beef. Drain fat.

Spread 1c marinara on bottom of baking pan
Layers in order: 4 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of the meat, 1 1/4 c ricotta, 1 c sauce, 4 noodles, rest of beef, rest of ricotta, 1 c sauce, 4 noodles, remaining sauce, mozzarella cheese.
Spread sheet of foil with PAM, cover pan, and bake for 30 minutes
After 30 minutes, uncover and cook an additional 15 minutes
Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes & cut into 8 squares

Master confusion

Mike and I have a MAJOR case of confusion in regards to choosing the paint color for our Master bedroom. We're *this* close to making a decision, but I'd love to get opinions from you. I know I've already asked most of you about this and I know that those people are groaning LOUD right now, but you love me so deal with it. :)

Send me a comment with your choice. 

Here's our new bedding:

Choice #1: Cider by Valspar - Picture of it painted on a section of the wall (along with a big ray of sunshine over in the left side of the pic). We LOOOVE it, but is it too dark? The room isn't huge, but it gets lots of natural light.

Choice #2 -Bamboo Reed by Valspar - Safe choice. We painted a sample, but I forgot to take a pic. It looks pretty similar to the online sample below.

Both colors can be found within the bedding somewhere. Oh, and we aren't into doing one accent wall and three colors on the other walls.

Thanks!

Mexican Style Pork

Mid-week crockpot meals are so very wonderful. Especially when you are tired and miserable because it is colder than it has any right to be outside.

Weight Watchers Mexican Style Pork
7 points per serving 

Ingredients:
1 lb pork roast
1 20oz jar of salsa (I used Chi Chis Medium. Bring back Chi Chis!!)
1 4.5oz can of green chiles
1 15oz can of black beans (drained)
1c shredded Mexican cheese blend 

Instructions:
Combine pork, salsa and chilies in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for about 6 to 8 hour or until pork is soft and tender. (I recommend 7 hours on low and 1 hour on high)
Take out pork and shred with two forks. Place back in crockpot.
Stir in beans and cook again for about 5 minutes or until hot.
Finally drizzle some cheese over it.

I served it over 1/2c white rice.

Oh, and the recipe said to cut pork in cubes before cooking, but as I hate cubed meat (blech), I chose to cook it whole and then shred it. That method worked perfectly.

Treats for us dieting folk

We who must shed lbs want treats too, right? I love rice krispy treats. But what a pain to make if you don't have wax paper. I tried to smoosh them down in the pan with a cereal bag, but that MacGyver method failed. I just ended up with a cereal bag side covered with little krispies that I had to pick off and eat.

These are only 2 PointsPlus! Can't beat that.

Recipe and stats from www.skinnytaste.com:
Servings: 16 • Serving Size: 1 piece •  Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 84.4 • Fat: 0.7 g • Protein: 0.8 g • Carb: 18.9 g • Fiber: 0.0 g  

Ingredients:
PAM spray
6c Rice Krispies
4c mini marshmallows
2 tsp light butter spread

Instructions:
Spray a 9x12-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.  

Heat a large saucepan on low heat. Melt butter spread being sure to coat the bottom of the pot to prevent sticking. Add marshmallows and melt on low flame. Stir until completely melted, then remove from heat.

Add Rice Krispies to the melted marshmallows, and stir until completely combined (this is the hardest part, do this quick before the marshmallows cool). Press into the buttered pan with wax paper (NOT a cereal bag) and cut them into 16 pieces.