The weather last week was very uncooperative again, so I had a very inactive week again. The weather was either rainy, or too hot to get out to exercise and as a result, my Fitbit step report is not looking good. My average has fallen from over 6000 steps per day, to less than 3000…there are only so many laps I can do of my apartment. Despite the lack of activity I am now over 1/3 of the way to my ultimate goal! I lost 1.4 pounds this week, for a total of 46.4 pounds. Soon I’ll run out of my smaller clothing sizes and I’ll have to go shopping for something new! I’m trying to hold out on that for as long as possible.
The dish I have to share with you today was rather disappointing. This is what happens on a hot day, when I’m not feeling particularly inspired to cook. I figured I would share my failure to see if anyone had any suggestions on how to spice it up a little.
Looking in my freezer, I pulled out, and thawed some cod, wrapped it in foil with some salt, lemon pepper, and fresh lemon juice, and tossed it into the toaster oven. Toaster ovens are awesome when you are cooking for one, and don’t want to heat up your whole kitchen (and as a result, your entire apartment) during the summer.
To accompany the fish and the brown rice, I also washed and cut some baby bok choy, and made a simple stir fry with some fresh minced garlic, fresh grated ginger, and a bit of sesame oil. Once that was cooked, I removed the bok choy from the skillet, and added a handful or two of grape tomatoes I had cut in half. I cooked the tomatoes for a couple of minutes, then added 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and cooked the mixture for a few minutes longer until the vinegar reduced a bit. After removing the code from the oven, and placing it on my plate, I poured the tomato mixture over the fish and bok choy. The result looked delicious, but tasted less than spectacular.
I had a much more satisfying dinner on Wednesday night when I met my friend at IKEA, and we had dinner there. I saved some points for the day, and splurged on the chicken meatball dish, complete with mashed potatoes (which I never have at home now), sauce on the meatballs, and lingonberry sauce on the side. I also went all out, and had a slice of garlic toast to top it all off. I have to say, it was delicious, and worth the points. I love that Weight Watchers is more of a whole life plan, so I can enjoy a meal out once in a while, without feeling bad about it.
What do you do when you aren’t feeling inspired to cook? Do you throw something together, or do you have a favourite recipe that you fall back on?
Life, Tea, and Everything 
Kate, this all looks so good, I’m trying to think why it didn’t appeal, and my only idea is the texture? Maybe that great veggie combo would have been better as a crunchy salad? Your cod looks wonderful (even to me, who isn’t keen on fish) and the rice looks normal. You are doing so well on this journey, I am very impressed. Hope you get to walk MILES this week in lovely weather. Now that I have a good raincoat I love walking in the rain…maybe that’s a splurge for your new smaller size shopping? 😀
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A raincoat is a great idea considering the weather we’ve been getting this summer. I think my Yorkie will need one too, he hates to get wet! The texture was not bad, I think I needed more spices of some kind somewhere, I like lots of flavour and although the tomatoes with balsamic vinegar was quite flavourful the rest was rather bland. I just made sure to get a bit of the tomatoes each time to even it out, lol.. I’ll try this again, and see what I can come up with.
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I’m horrible at spices, so not much help. The only thing I can think of in that regard might be just a bit of red pepper flakes to liven up the cod? They are supposed to be metabolism booster too.
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Nice idea, I’ll try that next time.
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Just wanted to say I am following because of the legendary title of your blog. Fab 🌺
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Thanks, lol. I just need to start blogging more about my tea obsession. So far it hasn’t made it here.
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Yes, please do! 😊
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Great job on the weight loss! The dinner looked good, did you have enough seasoning on the cod? Sometimes boiling the rice in chicken broth can give it more flavor too. Just a thought😊.
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The rice was okay, I always use broth for that, I’ve learned my lesson there. Yes, I think the cod was the main culprit. I think it needed a bit more pizzazz. And the bok choy too, I thought it would have more flavour considering the amount of garlic and ginger I used, but it didn’t seem to pick up either of those flavours at all.
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Maybe some lemon or lime on the cod would have helped? Because it’s a white fish (very lean), I think it might have needed just a splash of olive oil as well to add a little extra fat. Not sure how that would work with your points though. And you’re doing so well I’m totally impressed!
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I put lemon, but maybe not enough. Olive oil is good in small quantities. I think it would have been ok for this dish. I’ll try it along with the other suggestions for next time. I love fish but I don’t cook it often, lol.
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You’re doing so well on your journey 🤗 I’m very impressed.
I’m with Kathy Reeves – try red pepper flakes and/or green onion…that should give it a bit more ‘ooompf’ 😋
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A little squirt of citrus usually brightens up everything. Or maybe a pinch of basil or dill. It looks delicious though. All of my usual tricks wouldn’t be very helpful because they involve butter, salt, bacon or some other fat. Is there an indoor area you can walk in? Maybe a mall or a large store? You’re really making so much progress – you must be feeling really proud and you should!!! 😀
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Thanks! Here are a couple of malls not far from me, but I can’t take my Yorkie, so I’ll have to figure out something for home on rainy days.
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