Habit Reform-ation and Food Love.

Well, I managed to survive my crazy week last week with my sanity intact.  My waistline, however, was a different story.  I started off with the best intentions, even going so far as to pack healthy choices to take with me on location.  But when your shoot goes longer than you anticipated and you're working with a bunch of hungry teenagers.  Well....pizza it is!  That seemed to be the theme of the week.  I wasn't eating at my "regularly scheduled" intervals (usually every 2.5-3 hours) and what I was eating was generally far from healthy.  When I got back to the gym on Monday and weighed myself, those poor eating habits manifested themselves in the number on the scale and in the way I felt.

My healthier version of a Martha Stewart turkey burger

I didn't panic.  I didn't freak out.  Weight is just a number and it can fluctuate.  It's not the be all and end all.  The big deal is getting back to my "good" habits.  When you're stressed and super busy it's so easy to fall back into old patterns and habits.  So this week I have focused on habit reformation.  That meant a re-visit to the PN binder, a big trip to the grocery store and a whole lot of cooking.

Grocery shopping is like a fresh start for your fridge.  A clean slate so to speak.  The opportunity to start again and perhaps try something different.  In a way, I find it kind of therapeutic.  A weird sort of "retail therapy" that I look forward to every week.  Crazy I know.  But what can I say, I love food.  I get excited about going to gourmet stores and farmers markets.  Good times in my books.

Grilled salmon with BBQ sauce & grilled zucchini with grape tomatoes & feta

I've been getting a bit more improvisational with my cooking as late as well, especially since I'm cooking a lot more simply.   I had some ground turkey in the fridge that was originally destined for another version of turkey burgers but I decided burgers would be too much work so I opted to make a "hash" for lack of a better description.  I adapted a recipe from Gourmet Nutrition Volume one for Thai Ground Beef.  I have to say for something that I just threw together, it's pretty darn tasty!

I liked it so much I thought I'd share!





Thai Ground Turkey


1 lb of ground turkey
1 tsp of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of small onion, diced
1 cup of steamed broccoli
1/2 bag of coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage + a few shredded carrots)
1 sliced carrot (since there isn't really much in the coleslaw mix)
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 tbsp of President's Choice Light Peanut Sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 small handful of chopped cilantro if desired.

Thai Ground Turkey

Directions:

Saute garlic & onions in olive oil. Add ground turkey and cook through. Add ground ginger and stir. Add rest of veggies and stir over medium heat until softened. Add soy sauce & peanut sauce and mix thoroughly. Garnish with chopped cilantro.