My favorite thing about cooking is that it lets you be creative and it's not as strict as baking a cake or dessert. Most of the time when I cook, I don't have a cook book right in front of me to follow. Most of the food I've created are inspiration from another recipe, a restaurant, ingredient, color, or taste. I usually let my mind wonder about different recipes I can come up with. I also like the fact that most of my recipes are healthy. I make sure that every meal I prepare is well balanced and at the same time delicious and beautiful in the eye. I've created simple foods like ramen noodles and turned it into a healthy, nutritious soup by adding mixed vegetables in it. My mom inspired me to do that, she loves to add veggies in our ramen soup growing up 'cause she didn't want us just having sodium and carbs. LOL. Sometimes she would even add egg for protein, it was really good! Last night, I found myself creating a recipe from whatever I have in my fridge. Most of the time, I plan out what I will be cooking throughout the week but since I didn't have time this week due to school, I just decided to use whatever I had. This is the reason why I find so much joy in cooking. It's a creative outlet for me and it actually makes me happy. LOL.
I had chicken breast tenderloins thawed and I flattened it out. I had sun dried tomato packed in olive oil, pesto, feta cheese, and red pepper. I spread pesto on the chicken, crumbled feta cheese, placed sun dried tomato, and diced red pepper on chicken and rolled it. I placed it on an oven safe skillet, seam down. After I rolled and stuffed all of the tenderloins, I added salt, pepper, and garlic powder on 'em. I then let all the flavors set in over night and cooked it for lunch today. I pan fried it first, some of the oil from the sun dried tomato had leaked out and I used that to cook the chicken. I then transferred the skillet (it's an oven safe skillet) in the oven and baked it for a few min. I took it out, add fresh spinach on it, and covered it. I've created something similar before but instead of serving it with risotto (Italian rice), I served it with whole wheat ravioli filled with cheese (my husband loves cheese filled ravioli). I also made my own romano cream sauce with basil, it came out pretty good. The hubby really loved this one. He made a comment that it tasted like something you order from Tre Fratelli (a very good local Italian restaurant). So I was very happy about that. :)
You too can create a dish like this. Don't be intimidated. Watch the food network and learn from different chefs. Read cook books. My mom kept cook books and recipes, and growing up I would see her read 'em and she would teach me how to cook. She's definately my biggest inspiration and I would remember her showing me techniques and tips for cooking. One thing I learned from her is being patient while cooking. You need to let the flavors blend in properly, don't move it all around too much, let is sit there, let it all mingle together. That's how you'll get all the flavors from your ingredients. We use a lot of fresh ingredients and one my favorite is ginger. I loooove ginger and it's sooo goooood for you. Ya'll have seen me post a lot on cooking and food and I'm really thankful that God has given me this gift.
I'm sorry if I lead you to believe that this blog is going to be about abortion. There's a reason why I chose the words pro life here. I am against abortion though but that's a whole different topic and blog. Most of you have asked how I do it, eat healthy and enjoy being physically active. Living healthy doesn't have to be difficult, it's about the choices you make. With me, it all started by educating myself. I read books, health magazines, and surrounded myself with positive people. I use to be overweight, I was once a child that was obese, went through an eating disorder in high school, and almost killed myself. I was desperate and wanted to be healthy. Changing my lifestyle was not easy and fell off the wagon many times. But I pressed on and I didn't quit. Being healthy does not mean being at the perfect weight or fitting in a size 0 dress/jeans. It's about feeling happy with yourself because you know you're taking care of yourself physically and mentally. It's about setting an example to those around you and if you have kids, you are setting a great example to your children. You don't need a lot of money to live a healthy lifestyle. You don't need a gym or eat organic foods. You can go to the local park or your neighborhood and go for a walk/run. You can use soup cans as weights or other things you have in your house. You can buy your produce from your local farms and at the same time you will be supporting them. I am tired of the excuses people give me of why they can't live a healthy lifestyle. If you have a working body and you can walk from your living room to your kitchen then you can go for a walk outside. I've seen amazing people who have amputated legs and arms and have competed in marathons and other events. Or people who were once obese and decided that they will no longer be a slave to obesity and food. You can be like that person too. Don't ever limit yourself. You are wonderfully and fearfully made, how dare you say that you can't do something. Stop making excuses! You're killing yourself! Make a choice today, be pro life - when you choose to live a healthy lifestly, you are doing yourself a big favor, you are choosing life, and that's what I mean about being pro life. 
I loooove breakfast. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I love making it for me and the hubby. I was craving something light yet filling this morning for breakfast. I woke up earlier than usual to study but I didn't really have a whole lot of time to spend 30 min. in the kitchen, slicing, prepping, sauteein', etc. My favorite breakfast I would have to say is a sunny side up and an english muffin. Instead of frying my egg, I sprayed a small ceramic ramekin with olive oil and cracked one raw egg in there. I covered it up with a napkin, placed it in the microwave, and cooked it for 30 sec. I let it sit for maybe 2-3 min. It should be cooked and little runny after it sets. But before I cooked the egg, I pre-heated the oven to 400, placed one english muff which i separated into two and added a couple of deli turkey slices, tomato, and fat free swiss cheese on it. Bake it for 5-8 min. When cheese is melted and english muffin is toasted, take it out. Cut the egg in half and place one half of the egg on one english muffin and the second half on the other one. Add a dry or fresh chopped basil and enjoy! I served mine with a couple of organic cherries. They were really fresh! Remember, you can make something healthy, delicious, and fast right at your own kitchen. Just take preparation and willingness in your part. Plus you save a lot of money and you know what you're putting in your body. :)
