What's Cooking. . . .

The Salmon last night was great!  It was even very good for lunch today.  The couscous recipe was from my new cook book and the lemon aoli was from pinterest.  Fixed another couscous recipe tonight for dinner, it was actually a mish mash of two different recipes that had a Moroccan flavor.  I really like this pearl couscous, it is larger than the traditional couscous that comes to mind.  I am also using the whole wheat couscous trying to keep it healthy.  The pearl couscous is a larger kernel than traditional. 
Here is my mish mash recipe for Moroccan couscous:
1/4 cup olive oil
2tbs balsamic vinegar
2 cups pearl couscous
2 cloves minced garlic
2 small red peppers chopped
2 green onions chopped
Mozzarella cheese cubed
2 bay leaves
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water


Boil 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup water and a splash of olive oil and 2 bay leaves,  after boil add couscous remove from heat and  cover for 15 minutes, 
mix together:  vinegar, oil, garlic and pour over couscous then add onion and pepper and cheese and toss and refrigerate.
I used Mozzarella instead of Feta. I do not particularly care for Feta cheese and I did not have any on hand. 
 Here is a picture of my lunch today with my Salmon and the other couscous from last night:

It was just as good as it was last night.  

I also made pumpkin muffins tonight, they were a little bland, I think it could use a little more spice maybe.  I am freezing some of them since I am the only one that will eat them.  Stay tuned for more recipe updates as I continue the "Real Food" adventure.                                                                                                                                                   

Another New Cook Book. . .. .

A friend of mine at work shared a cook book with me that she had recently purchased, 100 days of Real Food, by Lisa Leake.  I skimmed through it one night at work in between phone calls and I was intrigued.  You know I am always interested in a good cook book, especially one that has quick simple recipes, the bonus here is that they are also better for you recipes.
When you are working and trying to take care of your family you look for quick ideas to help you along, this is one of those resources. **** Full disclosure I am not being paid for this post, you all should know by now I post what I believe in and share things that I find have value. *****
There are a couple folks at work that are trying to keep everyone motivated with little tasks and helpful hints.  One is walking laps at the office when we are not taking calls to keep our energy up and our metabolism too.  Another couple of gals have created this great board to help keep us motivated and entertained with shout outs to other employees and little funny memes about talking on the phone all the time.  It is a big stress reliever and morale booster in my opinion.
So, with all of that said, my friend at work shared her cook book and I of course loved it.  I bought one of them on Amazon and have been reading it. 
The premise behind the book is to eat real food and cut out all the processed stuff that is available at the store these days.  It also hits home the amount of sugar that we consume on a daily basis.  She even tells what you can get at the different stores that are good choices for eating "real food."  I am off today and had to run some errands and decided I would go by the Whole Foods and pick up a few things suggested in my new book.  I do not normally shop at Whole Foods but I wanted some things that the book suggested that only Whole Food carry.  I am notorious for buying things not on my list and today was no different, we are having Salmon for dinner tonight with fresh dill, lemon, and butter.  I fixed my lunch today with suggestions from the book:   scrambled eggs, avocado, on a small whole wheat pita.  It was very filling and very good. 
Stay tuned, this is going to be an adventure for this crew.  Trying to cut back on eating out, eating more "real food," and cutting back on the soda (me).  This is not about calories it is about "real food."