Seared scallops, new potatoes and snow peas – October 12, 2012

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Beebamom

This week we are trying to be extra careful in what we eat since we both gained a pound or two in Hawaii. We’ve eaten at home every night this week. Actually that’s not unusual. Except when we are traveling, we almost always eat at home. It is so much easier to control what goes into our dinner when we make it ourselves. And since it is so much less expensive to eat in, we can treat ourselves to fairly expensive ingredients like sea scallops.

I think I’ve mentioned this a million times before that scallops are my favorite protein. Tonight’s scallops were quite large which let John get a good sear without overcooking them. I steamed some small new potatoes and sauteed some snow peas in a half tablespoon of faux butter and butter spray. The snow peas got a little color on them which made them taste really good.

Seared scallops with snow peas and new potatoes

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Portobello mushroom burgers with grilled asparagus and potatoes – October 10, 2012

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Beebamom

Here’s a dinner that never gets old. The real plus to this dinner is that it is all made on the grill so there are no pots and pans to clean up. The burger consists of a marinated portobello mushroom, a grilled onion and a roasted red bell pepper. It’s topped off with some arugula and the thin sandwich round has a smear of goat cheese. The asparagus had a quick dunk in the portobello mushroom marinade before they were grilled (an eensy amount of olive oil, olive oil spray, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder and salt and pepper.) The potatoes were microwaved, split, sprayed with olive oil spray and grilled.

Grilled mushroom burger, asparagus and potato

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Mediterranean Fish Soup – October 9 & 11, 2012

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Beebamom

We prepared this soup as a twofer. We made enough so that we could eat it on Tuesday and then again on Thursday when John was working and we knew that we would need something quick to reheat when we got home from his work. This soup fills the bill and it was actually much better on Thursday after it got to sit around in its juices.

First I cut up a lot of vegetables –

Zucchini, onions, celery, leeks, bell peppers, chiles, fennel and potatoes waiting for their turn in the soup pot

While I was cutting vegetables, John was making a stock of shrimp and lobster shells plus various vegetables. We save the shells and freeze them until we have enough for stock.

Seafood stock a-simmering on the stove

Lastly we put in the fish and shellfish so it won’t get overcooked and adjust the seasonings.

Shrimp, scallops, salmon and sea bass awaiting their turn

And, voila! Delicious Mediterranean Fish Soup!

The finished Mediterranean Fish Soup inspired by the recipe by Rick Stein

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Chicken Monday – October 8, 2012

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Beebamom

Tonight was a typical Chicken Monday except I bought the chicken all cooked at the grocery store. They can make a better whole chicken than I can so for convenience and taste’s sake I bought it. We had some leftover chicken gravy from some other Chicken Monday and I made a bunch of green beans (that were really too big for my taste. I should have frenched them.) Our faux starch was a mixture of cauliflower and rutabagas, pressure cooked and mashed together.

Store bought chicken, gravy, green beans and cauliflower/rutabaga mash

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The week of September 30, 2012

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Beebamom

I have kind of gotten behind because we have been pretty busy this week. Sarah is moving into a new place and John was working and Jon and the boys came to visit and we had to unpack and etc. This was not a stellar week diet-wise and now I am a bit freaked. Ended up Saturday with a pizza which is not a good thing. Too much eating out and snacking. I promised myself I would be extra strict last week but I only managed it one day. I think I will just move forward instead of getting out my hair shirt as punishment.

Some of the stuff we cooked last week –

Portobello mushroom burger with arugula, grilled onion, roasted red pepper and goat cheese accompanied by a grilled baked potato and broccolini

Curried chicken and vegetables over brown rice


Whole wheat spaghetti with vegetables and tomato sauce


John with a pork tenderloin rubbed with ancho chile powder and other spices


Ancho rubbed pork tenderloin, pork mushroom gravy, green beans and carrot/rutabaga mash

This is a very nice Rombauer merlot to accompany the pork dinner

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Hawaiian dining – September 25-30, 2012

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Beebamom

We’ve just returned from our week on the big island of Hawaii. It is really hard to eat perfectly on vacation and it is even harder to explain to your vacation buddies that you don’t want to cook with oil or you don’t really like sweets and especially not chocolate or you’d like to eat regular meals instead of snacking endlessly. But here’s some of the stuff we ate.

John cooking ono for fish tacos


Mahi mahi with rce and vegetables at Merriman’s


Filet mignon, green beans, salad and bread with dipping sauce (I couldn’t be a total tyrant and make everyone eat fish every night)


Seared tuna, broccoli and tomatoes


Both John and I had this at the Keei Cafe – mahi mahi in a curry sauce, rice and vegetables

In addition to these meals we also had the fish that I’ve already written about on the first night and we had beef again on the last night. Except for the wine and snacks, I think we did pretty well. I played tennis most days for exercise. Nonetheless I gained 1 1/2 lbs.

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Opah, green beans and tomatoes – Kona – September 24, 2012

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Beebamom

I am so annoyed that I forgot to take a picture of our first meal in Kona. John cooked the fish, Eileen made the green beans and cut up the tomatoes. I made a dipping sauce for bread and seasoned the tomatoes. (Hey, I am on vacation.) The dinner was so good that now we wonder how we could possibly top it the rest of the week.

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Scallops, green beans and mash – September 22, 2012

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Beebamom

This is the last meal we cooked before we left for Hawaii. We were supposed to make portobello burgers on Sunday but we gave up and ordered pizza. This must be why I have stopped losing weight.

Scallops, green beans and a combo mash of sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and rutabagas made for a tasty dinner. John does such a great job at cooking the scallops!

Scallops, green beans and mash

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GBOF – September 21, 2012

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Beebamom

We were in need of a giant bowl of food on Friday. This is whole wheat pasta and various vegetables. Yum!

Giant bowl of food – Whole wheat pasta with vegetables

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Pacific cod, oven steak fries and zucchini medley – September 20, 2012

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Beebamom

This cod turned out really well. John cooked it perfectly. I popped the olive oil sprayed potato wedges on a preheated cookie sheet in the oven and cooked them for about 15 minutes until they were crispy.

Pacific cod with oven baked potato spears and zucchini medley

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