Health & Nutrition - Quinoa, the wonderful Supergrain

I am going to share the recipe that you have all been waiting for!!

Quinoa with pan-fried chicken and asparagus

Ingredients:
- 30g asparagus
-  whole chicken breast
- Cajun seasoning (you may use your favorite seasoning)
- 1 cup of Organic quinoa (serves approx. 6)
- 2 cups of water
- 1 chilli padi

*I do not have photos of the entire process so bear with me with whatever I have :)

1. Prep the quinoa, make sure the ratio is 2:1 (2 portions of water: 1 portion of quinoa)

2. Wash the quinoa thoroughly with water, squeezing the quinoa while washing and the rinse the quinoa.

3. Pour the quinoa into a pot, drizzle a little olive oil and stir until quinoa is almost evaporated. Be careful not to burn the quinoa, keep the heat low.

4. After which, add the 2 cups of water into the pot and stir for a few rounds, then leave it to boil.

5. Once the water is brought to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest you can and leave it for 15 minutes (using a timer is advised).

6. While waiting, prepare the whole chicken breast, remove the skin (if there is) and chop them up to as little or as big as you like.

7. Add your favourite seasoning and mix the chicken with it. I use cajun seasoning because it's so yummy and goes with anything.

8. Wash the asparagus and chilli padi and then chop them up as many pieces as you like (as usual).

9. Pre-heat a saucepan/frying pan and drizzle abit of olive oil. Put in some garlic and onions if you like, (I used homemade pre-blended ones) and fry till slightly brown. Then put in chicken and fry for about 2-3 mins before adding the asparagus to fry together. By this time, your quinoa should be ready!

So, VOILA! You get healthy yet yummy food!

Why did I use quinoa (pronounced as 'keenwah') and what are the benefits?

• Quinoa is rich in protein as it contains all nine essential amino acids
• Quinoa has a lot of Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) - help create proper energy production in cells
• Quinoa contains twice the amount of fiber as compared to many other grains
• Quinoa is rich in iron 
• Quinoa is rich in manganese - an antioxidant that help protect red blood cells and other cells from injury by free radicals
• Quinoa is high in lysine - essential for tissue growth and repair
• Quinoa is rich in magnesium

I had ICECREAM during the weekend ZOMG! But it tasted heavenly because I haven't had it for ages. Spent the weekend working out as usual, and then spent some time with JasonJJ, since he just booked out on his first weekend and an advanced birthday celebration for the boy too.

The awesome company at The Daily Scoop!

Happy Birthday JasonJJ

Hope your weekend had been great and that your Monday is treating you well so far! Have a good week ahead! Feel free to ask me if you have any doubts in the recipe and do follow me on IG if you haven't, @limaranagustina. Till the next!

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Health & Nutrition - Taco-tomato beef minced

I would love to take this opportunity to say a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone for your support, I am extremely honoured to be an inspiration and I will try my best to share as much as I can too. These comments always make my day and keep me motivated, thank you guys!

As mentioned last week, I have one last recipe from the ingredients that I had bought to share. I would like to make the point across that eating-as-clean-as-you-can and calorie-counting do not mean that your food cannot be yummy and delicious. What you can do to make your food "cleaner" is to add or prepare your seasoning (which I will be attempting soon), use no salt no sugar, and little oil. Healthy/clean food, to me, is a form of indulgence too.

Have fun with your cooking and do share with me your favourite recipes! 

Here's how I prepared my Taco-tomato beef minced. 

Ingredients used:

Always note that everything must be consumed in moderation, no matter how nutritious that food is!

- Olive oil (as usual)
- 3 mini peppers
- 1 medium-sized tomato
- 100g of lean minced beef
- 60g of asparagus
- 3 fresh mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon of taco sauce
- 1 teaspoon of homemade ground garlic
- 1 teaspoon of homemade ground onions

1. Chop the ingredients to your desired sizes - this time round I chopped the asparagus too, leaving the tips as they are.

2. Instead of cooking the beef first, I added the chopped tomatoes first and pan-fried them with the garlic and onions - I wanted the tomatoes to soften and become gravy-like. Then, I added the peppers for the same reason.

3. I added the mushrooms after.

4. Only after all the ingredients are slightly soft, I added the beef in to slowly let the flavour seep into the meat as they get cooked - not sure if this is the best way to let the beef absorb the flavours from the tomatoes and peppers though.

5. The only ingredient I like slightly crunchier, I added the asparagus last.

6. VOILA! Here you go, craving satisfied with the tomato-gravy and I cleared all the ingredients I bought.

Hope you guys like this version too. I welcome feedback so do leave a comment or email me if you wanna share anything. I'm in the midst of preparing my next post on body fat percentage and how weight is not the best indication of your fitness level. Do stay tuned!

Here's what I had been up to:

Never seen myself having so many veins

Under good lighting

Had fun taking photos of my ootd which happens every sunday :)

This smoothie is a mixture of 2 strawberries, 1 kiwi and a banana, very very yummy!

What I had last evening

In case you are not following me on IG, this was part of my legs workout yesterday

Do follow me on IG if you haven't okay? @limaranagustina

Have a great week ahead everyone! Remember to stay tuned for the next post! :)

 

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Health and Nutrition - Taco beef with peppers & asparagus

Well, before I start sharing my recipe, please do take note that I CANNOT cook for a living. HAHA. I cook only because I want to be able to know how much of all the ingredients I put into my body. If you have a better suggestion on how I should cook this, PLEASE do let me know because I'm not sure if this is the best way to cook, but I know I took less than 15 minutes to prepare this quickie. So, enjoy!

What you will need:
- LITTLE bit of olive oil (I estimate. heh)
- 30g of asparagus
- 3 pieces of mini peppers
-100g of lean minced beef
- 1 tablespoon of hot taco sauce
- Garlic salt (can do without)
- All purpose seasoning (can do without)

Got everything from Cold Storage - Asparagus, lean minced beef, sweet mini peppers, Hot Taco sauce (because I was craving mexican), garlic salt and all purpose seasoning

So how did I get all the portions as mentioned above?
1. I portioned the beef into 3 segments since the net weight is 312g and expiring 23rd Aug 2013, so I have about 100g of lean minced beef per day for cooking. Then I portioned the sweet mini peppers into 3 days too. As for the asparagus, I divided what I bought into 6 portions of approx. 30g each. Okay, the reason why I have to do all these portioning is to know how much I eat (everything in moderation, no matter how beneficial something is), and it's much easier for me to key into my calorie counter app (My Fitness Pal). This is how it looks like.

2. Next, cut/chop (whatever you call it) the ingredients to as small or as big as you want, making sure you wash them before you starting the cutting/chopping. For those who know me well enough, I HATED eating veg and ermmm, I still am very picky about the types of veg I eat but I usually force them down and have the least favourite food first before the meat. But wait, I love peppers and asparagus now because of their benefits (will go to that later).

3. Heat up a frying pan till it's hot enough. Now, pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and spread the oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the minced beef and fry till about half-cooked. Put in your favourite seasoning (doesn't have to be taco) and then the peppers. The reason why I put in the peppers earlier is because I like to eat the peppers softer and I want my beef to absorb the fragrance from the peppers. Fry until the beef is fully cooked or when the peppers are soft.

4. Last step, take out the cooked beef and peppers and serve them on a plate, then put the asparagus in and fry till brown (you can choose to take them out earlier) or when they are soft.

TADAH! Easy peasy right? I used less than 15 minutes to prepare this fuss-free meal and gobbled everything up in 5 minutes. Tastes yummy and looks so colourful! Go ahead and try on your own, get your favourite seasoning, or do without.

Let me share with you why I chose peppers and asparagus (besides the fact that I am picky with veg so I chose only the ones I like).
Asparagus:

• is a very good source of fiber, folate, vitamins A, C, E and K, as well as chromium (a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells)
• prevents cancer - a particularly rich source of glutathione, a detoxifying compound that helps break down carcinogens and other harmful compounds like free radicals
• is filled with antioxidants!
• helps in water retention - contains high levels of the amino acid asparagine, which serves as a natural diuretic, and increased urination not only releases fluid but helps rid the body of excess salts
• is an anti-aging property!!

Sweet mini peppers:

• is high in vitamin A, B-complex and C
• is filled with iron, copper, zinc, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Selenium is an anti-oxidant micro-mineral that acts as a co-factor for enzyme, superoxide dismutase

Here's also what I have been up to in pictures, just in case you have not been following me on IG. Follow me on twitter and IG if you have not, @limaranagustina, I update regularly! :)

MIL cooked yummy and healthy food, loads to learn from! A portion of everything good, not too much, not too little. :)

I put chia seeds in my water to drink everyday and I try to drink at least 2 bottles of this 1.5litres (SO difficult I swear, keep hydrating your body because the more you drink, the more you drain!)

One of my morning feeds

Bendover row on Tuesday - new PR yippeee!

One of my evening (fasting hours) feeds

This morning's smoothie which tasted SOOOOO heavenly

Week 1 - abs are flatter but still gathering fats, keep getting at it!!

Today - still trying to get this 145lbs deadlift right and good, with an aggravated ankle (URGH!)

TGIF tomorrow so enjoy the weekend after! I hope you like my recipe and do follow me on IG if you haven't, for LIVE updates (if you are not afraid of the spamming). HURHUR. Hydrate and eat well everyone! :)

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