Week one of DietBet, Kale Chips & Korean Triangle Steaks (yum!)

I weighed in one week ago for my DietBet social weightloss/diet. I'm looking at it as my making better food decisions and kickstart into better eating. Granted, during my week, I have had pizza and beer, a peach milkshake, and a few glasses of wine. But when I have had all of those items, I've also exercised. I've kept track of my calories, and allowed myself to "indulge" because I was not over my caloric budget for the day, and they didn't put me over for the day. During this challenge, I need to lose 4% of my body weight within 4 weeks. I have 3 weeks left and have lost 2.5 of my 6.5 pounds. I'm using Loseit to track my food intake and my heart rate monitor to track my caloric burn during workouts.

I've also done some meal planning again. I find when I actually plan out the food for the week, it makes eating healthy that much easier - and cheaper! Tonight's dinner was a fantastic Korean Triangle Steak with asian pear kimchi. Our appetizer was parmesan kale chips. Both were awesome. The steak came from a great magazine: Cuisine Lite, Fresh & Fabulous. This is also where the Cherry Chipotle Chicken Recipe comes from.


Kale Chips
2-3 large kale leaves
2-3 Tbsp Shredded parmesan cheese
olive oil spray
1-2 tsp sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 325F
Take 2-3 large kale leaves, remove the stem, shred into bite size pieces
Spray baking pan with olive oil spray
Spread kale on pan
Spray with olive oil spray - not too much, though
Shake sea salt over
Sprinkle parmesan cheese onto kale
Once the oven is to temperature, place the baking sheet in for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take out the sheet and use a spatula to "unstick" the kale and parmesan cheese. Put the pan back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Keep an eye on the chips to ensure they don't burn. Once the kale is crispy, take it out and enjoy while warm.

Ready to go into the oven

mmm...

All done - Kale and Parmesan cheese crispiness. It doesn't look that amazing, but one bite and you'll be hooked.

These do not last long in our kitchen! A serving of this yumminess is about 60 calories and is packed with healthy greens that taste fantastic.

And for dinner...

Korean Triangle Steaks with Asian Pear Kimchi
This dinner is spicy, sweet, sour and just plain delicious. If you are looking for a wonderful medley of flavors, this answers.

For the Steaks - 
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. molasses
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (you can press your own, or to save a minute, use the jar kind)
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger (I used the jar kind here, too)
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. chili garlic sauce (like sriracha)
4 triangle steaks = tri-tip (4-5 oz. each)
1 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted (I toasted these while the the kale was cooking)

For the Kimchi - 
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
1-2 Asian pears, peeled, cored and sliced (or just regular, firm pears)
1 cup seeded and sliced cucumber (I used 1/2 a cucumber)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1/2 cup sliced red onion

Brush the grill with oil
Preheat to medium-high
Whisk together all ingredients for steaks (minus the steaks and sesame seeds) and pour into a baking dish
Add steaks and marinate 10-15 minutes, flipping every 2 minutes (this isn't hard and fast, I think I ended up marinating about 30 minutes, flipping every 5 or so minutes) to hasten marinating time.
Combine the Kimchi ingredients and chill until ready to serve
Grill steaks, covered for 3-4 minutes each side for medium rare, 5 minutes each side for medium. Brush steaks with remaining marinade during grilling to help meat caramelize. Remove from grill and tent for 5 minutes.
Garnish the steaks sesame seeds and serve with kimchi

Nutrition Breakdown - 
Per serving: 205 calories, 6g total fat (2 g sat, 2g mono, 1g poly); 45 mg chol; 212mg sodium; 10 g carb (1g fiber, 3 g total sugars); 28g protein; 3mg iron; 43mg calcium

Pears, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, vinegar and sriracha - a tasty combo

Sriracha is the star of tonight's dinner

steaks marinating

All cooked and tented

Mmmm, and plenty for leftovers

Cooked, garnished and ready for consumption 

Steak, kimchi and beer = a great dinner for under 400 calories

The final product

The cutting of the veggies took the most time in making this dinner. I'd say I spent about 40 minutes total making dinner when it was all said and done. And this dinner was a true winner in our household. Let me know if you try either and what you think!