Archive for November, 2008

Are you stuffed like a turkey?

I spent Thanksgiving evening with my fiance’s family.  A 20 lb of turkey, plus the standard side dishes like mashed potatoes, squash etc, and 3 pies!  I ate just enough because I knew how easy it would be to overeat, and I was glad that I stopped at where I was.  I love to eat, but I am also quite particular about what I eat.  I don’t really watch my weight or go for the fat-free stuff when I cook/eat, as long as it tastes good, I’ll eat it.  However, I will make sure that I don’t overdo it.  I think for anyone wants to lose a few pounds, the key is to monitor eating, not to restrict.  What’s the meaning of life if you have to eat tasteless boiled vegetables?

There were of course plenty of leftovers to be taken home.  I made turkey fried rice on Friday for lunch, and maybe this can help you if you also have turkey that is waiting for a new recipe.  I don’t usually measure things so make up your portions here:

1.  Rice has to be cooked the night before.  A little on the dry side is preferred for frying, and jasmine/long grain rice is ideal.

2.  Get the turkey out of the fridge.  Use a knife or hand to tear it up into small bite size pieces.  Put some salt and pepper and mix well.  If you find a few chunk of fat/grease under the turkey skin, put it aside.

3.  Crack some eggs in the wok with a little oil and scramble it up nicely until all the little egg pieces are cooked and maybe a little golden brown.  Put it in a bowl.  If you like onions you can dice some up, and brown them now.  Also put it in the same bowl.

4.  Put the grease/fat into the wok.  You want to force the oil to come out, so use medium to medium high will be great.  After the fat/grease has turned brown and crunchy, take it out (or eat it!).  Throw the rice, a little bit at a time, into the wok and fry it with the turkey oil.  It will take a while, but make sure to fry it evenly.  Add salt to taste.

5.  Put the onions and eggs in, stir the fried rice well, then put the turkey pieces in and fry it for another 3 to 5 minutes or so. Put some chopped green onions in as well.

6.  Turn off the stove.  Scoop the fried rice into bowls, and sprinkle the top with chopped green onions.

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Maui

maui-052

Just got back from the trip to Maui and boy it was a very beautiful, primitive place.  We drove (well, ok, it was my fiance actually) on the one lane roads that went across the crater and around the island.  I must say I was a bit scared because the road is really narrow and both directions were travelling on one lane, but we got to see places where other tourists usually wouldn’t go.  We camped all the way, met a lot of very nice local people and got a great slice of Maui.  We saw the sunrise, moonrise, waterfalls, crater and rainforest…it was a lot of outdoors and close encounter with nature, and I think we did it quite complete in the short 4 days we had.

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It is getting cold here!

I thought we would get our first real snow (it snowed in late Oct once, but nothing sticks), but we haven’t which I am happy about.  However, the temperature has dropped to about 32 degress F, so it’s that time to get the hat, scarf, gloves and coat out every time.  I also have a big coat filled with geese down feather that will be used when the temperature drops more…

So glad that my mileage run is coming up in a few days, where I get to see the sun again (hopefully, since the forecast seems to indicate a lot of rain).  Oh yeah!

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