Sauteed Garlic Asparagus

I had a request to share recipes so I guess this is my first one. I am pretty obsessed with food and cooking lately so this is probably a good match for this blog, esp since I need to pay attention to it more. Anyway, that being said, this won't help you gain weight, but this is nice and healthy and vegan! if you are into that sort of thing.. like me. =)

Original recipe is here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sauteed-Garlic-Asparagus/Detail.aspx

I joined allrecipes.com and I really like it even though I wish it was more vegetarian/vegan based, but there's still good stuff on there and of course ways to alter the recipes to work for me. For example, this recipe calls for butter, but olive oil can easily be substituted to make it vegan (and healthier) and that was actually suggested by many non-vegans on the site anyway so yay. =)

There were tons of comments on how to make this recipe better and lots of good ideas on how to personalize it so I kinda took the ideas I liked best and made my own vegan versian. I tried it last night and yum! It was really good! I've never made asparagus until yesterday so I feel good about that. I think I can really say that I can cook, finally. I feel confident these days and feel like I know what I'm doing, and I cook often now cuz it's really enjoyable and satisfying. =)

So here is my vegan versian of ~*~SAUTEED GARLIC ASPARAGUS~*~



THE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 1 bunch fresh asparagus (bend to find where they break naturally, use only the ends with the spears)
* 3 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 shallot, chopped
* 1/2 cup baby portabella mushrooms
* 1/2 tsp sea salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
* 2 tsp balsamic vinegar


DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the garlic, shallot, mushrooms and asparagus spears; cover and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until asparagus is tender and bright green. (if it starts to brown you risk overcooking)

3. Add the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and balsamic vinegar and serve!

Loooosing Sloooowly: down to 166 lbs

So I know I never update but I'm still here. I'm alive and I'm losing weight which is actually fun for me. I guess I just like the idea of my body changing slowly over time either way.

I've been calorie counting which works really well for me, and it's been 7 weeks already. My girlfriend Chrissie and my mommybear are doing it with me. We're all losing weight pretty good! Losing weight is harder than gaining so I'm proud of myself. =) I was 166 this morning but I've been as low as 164 so far. I was 173 at my biggest so I've lost 7 lbs so far. I should be at ten shortly.

I keep thinking about taking some measurements so hopefully I'll actually do that sometime soon. I'm going to be sad to see the weight leave places like my thighs and arms and booty but my belly really isn't flattering to me.. i dunno. Some disagree I guess, but that's really the only thing I didn't like about gaining.

Oh, well there was one other thing. THE MONEY. It costs a lot to gain!! and didn't realize that until I stopped. My finances are doing much much better now..lol And I'm even eating probably 80-90% vegan too, which can be more expensive at times.

Soo I'm enjoying this. I'm eating very healthy and vegan and cooking a lot. I've really grown to enjoy cooking, esp yummy vegan dishes. I've been making things like curried chickpeas, miso soup, black bean vegetarian chili and coco-ginger soup. mmmmmm I really do love love food. Always will I suppose. And I think you appreciate it more when you are trying to limit yourself, cuz I'll wait til i'm absolutely starving before I eat sometimes and I swear I almost orgasm..lol

Soo yah.. hi! =) I'll try and keep updating occassionally as I lose more.