Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

One of Those Weeks…and a Winner

 Book review, Books, Contest, Giveaway, knee pain, Pixie Project, Runner's Knee, Running injury, volunteering  14 Responses »
May 242013
 

Is Mercury in Retrograde or something? (Sadly, it’s not, I looked.) I swear, it’s been the absolute week from hell for both Michael and I and according to my twitter feed, many of my friends, too. What is UP?! The Universe is definitely slinging some sh*t this week. From crappy work BS, to really bad knees to having to wait over a month to see a new specialist…Oh yeah, I guess I didn’t tell you guys about the winner knee specialist with zero bedside manner who told me if my knees hurt “that badly” that he could give me a walker or wheelchair.

Um, excuse me?

So yeah, I haven’t been in the best of moods this week. After several tearful meltdowns, some stress eating, escapism through Ironman in 3D, I finally made it to the end of the week. You know what helped me make it through the week? Walking dogs in the pouring rain.

Doesn’t sound like it would be a pleasant experience, does it? But Thursday after work when I went to the Pixie Project that’s exactly what I did. Michael had to work late so I went by myself. The first dog I walked was named Chewy and was probably the oddest looking dog I’ve ever seen…and yet he totally stole my heart. His odd appearance was endearing and he was such a sweetheart it was hard not to think he was adorable. Not only that, people on the street stopped me to look at Chewy and ask about him. He definitely had a striking look.

chewy

Chewy!

He was part Boxer and part Cocker Spaniel. Strange, eh?

Chewy was a bundle of energy and SO EXCITED to be going for a walk. He didn’t care that it was raining and honestly, neither did I. He galloped like a horse and at times would stop and look up at me to make sure I was still with him. I find that so sweet with dogs!

Chewy and I went for a long walk and then it was time to go back to the Pixie Project. I had time to help out more so I ended up being “promoted”! Instead of just being a dog walker, I got to help with “potty breaks.” Basically at the end of the night before they close, all the dogs get to go out one more time to pee. I got to see the back kennel area, which I’d never been in before, and was trained on how to leash up the dogs (which we didn’t do as dog walkers, that was done for us).

adelle

Adelle

The first one was Adelle and she was the sweetest little girl. Everything went well and then she was ready to go back inside (they are trained so well–I’ve yet to have a dog rebel against going back inside the kennel). She was a lovebug. Until she met up with another dog, then she was a fierce monster. (Hahaha)

Just to give you a quick description–the kennel area is a big warehouse with smaller individual kennels for each dog to have their own space. There’s a side for the big dogs and the row of small dogs (who I was taking out for potty breaks). You go through on caged gate, close it, then go through another and close it before you walk down a little hallway to each individual gate. It’s to ensure that no one escapes and gets very far. Foreshadowing, much?

Randy

Danny

Next was Danny, a feisty little chihuaha terrier mix that we’ve walked before and I remember him well. He was SO EXCITED to go for a walk and barely let me get the leash on him. I took him out of his kennel and then led him through the first gate. I was holding the leash and turned my eyes away from him for less than 2 seconds while I latched the gate behind me when I turned around he was gone. The little ninja had slipped out of his collar! I panicked, thinking OH MY GOD he got loose and into the big dog sections! They might eat him! I ran around calling his name and then found him exploring the little employee break room. The stinker. Long story short, the director said someone had put the wrong collar on him and he needed a smaller one. Thank goodness he escaped inside where he was safe and not outside! I was so anxious the rest of the night and double checked every single dog’s collar to make sure they couldn’t slip out of it.

abby2

Finally, Abby was the last dog I took out for a potty break. She was a tiny little thing, the size of a teddy bear and so soft. If I was going to take anyone home it was going to be Abby. She was like my kitties–soft, small and cuddly.

Abby was also a little shy and didn’t like being walked. Something tells me she was a purse dog before she came to Pixie Project and never had to walk anywhere. Poor thing. So I picked her  up and took her outside to the bushes and then she was done. She didn’t want to play much, maybe because it was pouring rain. I picked her back up and she licked my face and nuzzled against me as we went back inside.

abby1

I left feeling happy and re-energized. All I wanted to do was spend the rest of the night playing with puppies! Why can’t this be my job?!?!

Giveaway 

Now for the winner of the Foodist giveaway! The winner is….

Screen shot 2013-05-23 at 9.39.36 PM
#8! Deb! Email me your mailing address asap and I’ll pass it on to the publisher so you can receive your book.

Thanks to everyone who entered and I hope you like the book, Deb!

QUESTION: How has your week been? Any plans for the holiday weekend?

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Two For You

 BBQ, calories, Chicken, Crockpot, Dinner, food, Food update, Grilling, Low Calorie Recipes, pork, protein, recipes, Review  7 Responses »
May 232013
 

This post is about two recipes I made recently that turned out exceptionally well.

The first was a dinner made perfectly for a sunny, warm evening spent on a deck with a grill. The evening was cooling down after a record hot day and Michael had biked home from work. I got home from the gym and we relaxed outside with a glass of wine while it cooked. The side dish, Creamy Dill Cucumber salad, was really quick to make, kind of a lazy man’s tzatziki sauce.

I halved the recipe since I only had one cucumber (although it was a very large cucumber so….it might be pretty close to the recipe). Either way, my calculations make it about 160 calories for Michael and I splitting half the recipe.

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Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 1 minute

Yield: 8

Calories per serving: 85-100

From: http://www.nutritiouseats.com/creamy-dill-cucumber-salad/

Ingredients

  • 2 English cucumbers, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
  • Freshly grated black pepper

Instructions

  1. Place cucumber slices in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with salt and toss, let sit for ~20 minutes or until they lose some of their water. Remove cucumbers, squeeze and blot dry with paper towels.
  2. In a large bowl, mix sour cream and vinegar until combined. Stir in red onion, garlic and dill.
  3. Add cucumbers and stir to combine. Season with black pepper to taste (optional).
  4. Refrigerate, covered, at least 1 hour before serving.
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I didn’t follow the directions exactly (it would help if I read the instructions first, right?) and skipped the step with the salt and cucumber. Oh well! It didn’t seem to matter. The cucumber salad was delicious and not soggy at all.

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I’d been marinating some chicken thighs in a store-bought lemon and herb marinade and even though it was store-bought, it turned out to be really, really good. I was happy with the end results.

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I definitely prefer to make my own marinades (and I’m pretty good at it) but this one was just fine and good for a work night when I didn’t have much time. The cucumber salad went well with the lemon chicken.  I think next time I’ll try it with plain Greek yogurt.

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Michael and I split the whole cucumber salad and it was delicious! Definitely staying in the rotation for this summer.

The second recipe was a crockpot recipe I found on a food blog. I had some frozen pork chops (from Costco) that had been cut in half so I used 4 thin pork chops instead of the 6 thick ones the recipe called for.

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Easy Crockpot Thai Pork

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 15 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Calories per serving: 257 calories (not including rice)

From: http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/pork/easy-crockpot-thai-pork-2.html

Ingredients

  • 6 thick cut boneless pork chops-trim fat
  • 1 lg red bell peppers-chopped
  • 1/3 c prepared teriyaki sauce
  • 1 c chicken broth
  • 2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
  • 3 lg cloves garlic-minced
  • 3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • FOR SERVING:
  • 1/2 c green onion-chopped
  • 2 limes-cut into 8 wedges
  • 1/4 c dry roasted peanuts-chopped
  • cooked rice

Instructions

  1. Grease crockpot or use a plastic liner.
  2. Place pork, bell peppers,broth, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes and garlic in cooker. Cover and cook on low setting until pork is fork tender, 6-8 hours.
  3. Remove pork from cooker and coarsely chop. Add peanut butter to liquid in cooker; stir well to dissolve peanut butter and blend with liquid to make the sauce. Return pork to sauce and toss to coat the meat.
  4. Serve in shallow bowls over hot rice. Sprinkle with green onions and peanuts. Pass lime wedges, to serve with this wonderful dish.
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It took about 15 minutes to throw everything in the crockpot and just let it do it’s magic. I did this one on a Sunday and spent the rest of the rainy day catching up on some TV shows while it cooked.

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I checked on it periodically and had some doubts about the pork. It was starting to look a little overcooked but I decided to just wait and see. About 30 minutes before it was going to be done, I shredded the pork, added the peanut butter and then mixed the pork back into the sauce.

The sauce thickened up nicely with the peanut butter and it smelled great! I started the rice cooker with some jasmine rice while I finished things up.

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I LOVED the flavors. The peanut butter was not overpowering and it wasn’t too spicy (next time I’ll add more red pepper flakes). I topped the dish with crushed roasted peanuts, green onions and drizzled some fresh lime juice on it. Everything went together perfectly. I loved how the peanut topping added some crunchiness to the meat.

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The red peppers were pretty decimated by the time the dish was done cooking. I might add them later in the process next time just so they don’t get so mushy. Michael loved this recipe. It’s definitely the kind I would make for a dinner party.

Using 4 thin pork chops got me about 4.5 servings total. I had leftovers for lunch the next day and it still tasted great. The pork wasn’t dried out like I had worried it would be.  It could definitely be done with chicken, too.

Both of these recipes were winners! I hope you give them a try.

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