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Ginger Miso Ramen

4/29/2020

1 Comment

 
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Guys!  This recipe is so yummy and super easy - it came from Tasty, but I tweaked it a bit.  During quarantine I wasn't able to get miso paste, so I substituted miso soup mix, which wasn't as flavorful, but I also used double the amount of chicken broth and let it simmer for an hour to really get the flavors of the ginger, garlic and scallion.  I also added some mushrooms and omitted the spinach because I didn't have any!  It's really great with some bok choy too!  

I'm including the recipe as it was, but feel free to make some tweaks and let me know!

Ginger Miso Ramen

Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup corn
  • 2 eggs, soft-boiled
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed
  • thumb of ginger, 3 in piece, sliced
  • 3 pieces scallions, chopped
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 2 tablespoons miso paste
  • 2 servings ramen noodle, cooked
  • scallion, chopped for garnish
  • nori, for garnish

Preparation
  1. Heat butter in a saucepan, fry corn until warm. Set aside.
  2. Soft-boil 2 eggs and set aside. Blanch the spinach and set aside.
  3. Bring chicken stock, garlic, ginger and scallions to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes.
  4. Add the chicken, simmer for 20 minutes. Remove, and set aside.
  5. Dissolve the miso paste in the chicken broth.
  6. Shred the chicken.
  7. Put everything together. Divide noodles between two bowls. Pour over chicken broth. Add the spinach, corn, shredded chicken, chopped scallions, soft-boiled egg and nori.
Serves 2.
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White Bean Turkey Chili Recipe

3/30/2020

2 Comments

 
This is one of my go-to dishes!  Super easy and I always have the ingredients on hand, plus it's healthy!  It also heats up really well the next day and I think it's even better.  If you make it, leave a comment and let me know what you think!

White Bean Turkey Chili

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Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1lb ground turkey
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 - 15 oz cans of cannellini beans
15 oz chicken broth
4 oz can chopped green chiles
10oz frozen corn
2 tbsp Frank's Red Hot
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions: 
1. In 12- inch skillet heat olive oil on medium high heat.  Add onion and cook until brown.  Add turkey.  Stir and break up until meat loses pink color, about 10 minutes.  Add coriander, cumin and salt and cook for 1 minute.
 
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mash half of beans and set aside.
 
3. Add mashed and unmashed beans, broth, corn and chiles to the turkey.  Heat to boiling.  Stir in hot sauce.  Sprinkle with cilantro
 
Makes 6 cups.  270 calories 33 carbs 3 grams fat 28 grams protein
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Pura Vida!

3/7/2019

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Just back from Costa Rica and it was AMAZING.  It was my first time to the country and it was beautiful.  I got to attend a yoga retreat led by nOMad, which was great, b/c everything was planned out.  Here are some of the highlights from the trip:

Welcome to the Jungle!
The Osa Peninsula is a remote part of Costa Rica – right in the middle of the jungle – complete with monkeys, all types of birds, pumas and even jaguars!  To get there, I took a tiny 10 seater plane from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez (on Sansa Air). 
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I took a taxi 30 minutes from the "airport" on a VERY bumpy road to Osa Clandestina – what a beautiful spot!!  My room literally felt like I was staying in a tree house.  
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​All of our meals were prepared for us, by such a wonderful staff. The food was SO good – simple and local. The fresh fruit in the morning (pineapple, mangoes and papayas), was some of the best I’ve ever had. Plus the Costa Rican coffee - yum!!
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Our host, Michael, took very good care of us the entire trip!  There were smaller “casitas” on the property where some of the other guest stayed.  The property also has the most beautiful pool right in the middle of the jungle. All of our yoga classes were on a platform overlooking the trees (and butterflies, monkeys and a baby hawk that practiced with us daily ? ).  
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​Yoga and Movement
We had daily yoga practice every morning and experienced a movement class in the evenings, which was a beautiful way to move our bodies and find a connection between movement and stillness. Both were such a great way to clear my mind and stay present to really fully enjoy the entire experience.
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Surfing!
Costa Rica is one of the best places in the world for surfing.  Unfortunately, the day we were there, it was super flat!  Not many “olas” (waves) at the Playa Pan Dulce, but we still had a fun time enjoying the warm water and paddling around in the water.  It was just beautiful to be in the water and enjoy the scenery and sounds of the Osa Peninsula.  I was able to catch a few small waves, which made me happy!
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​Waterfalls – “Only Opportunity”
We took a couple of hikes to two different waterfalls.  So beautiful and the best experience to swim in a waterfall.  As our guide, Julio, said “This is your only opportunity!”  Such a great motto and one I want to take on whenever I travel from now on!
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​Horseback Riding
We also went horseback riding through the jungle.  We saw the most gorgeous views of the coast from high up.  Such beautiful scenery and interesting flowers and plants we encountered along the way. A wonderful experience to connect with nature.  
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​Meeting new friends
Part of having a “zest for life” is meeting new people and learning about their experiences.  It was so great to meet some wonderful women on this trip.  We really connected and had such a fun time together – which included a dance party and a dip in the pool (with or without bathing suits ? ) on the last night.  I love meeting and connecting with new people and these ladies were just the best!
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​I absolutely loved my time in the Osa Peninsula and am looking forward to my next trip back!  As they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida!!
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LA Meghan

1/18/2019

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LA Meghan! Click the picture to shop my outfit
​Three (out of four) of my siblings live in Los Angeles.  I typically visit a couple of times a year.  I’m lucky enough to get out there for work usually once a year and I always tack on an extra weekend to spend time with them.  The first time I went out to visit them was soon after I had 3 kids in 3 years (!!), so I was definitely ready to let loose!  We were celebrating my sister’s birthday and a few of my cousins joined us for the trip too.  We had a blast and I definitely took advantage of being childless for the few days I was there!  They ended up nicknaming me “LA Meghan” and the moniker has stuck!

​It’s always an adventure when I’m there.  This time revolved a lot around food.  We got to go to Majordomo, David Chang’s restaurant.  I’m slightly obsessed with David Chang and the best meal of my life was at Momofuku Ko in 2008.  As soon as I knew I was going to be in LA, I booked a reservation when they opened up 30 days before.  It was AH-mazing.  The space was super cool.  The service was fantastic and the food was seriously SO good. I started with a “cobbler” cocktail which was made with scotch, smoked short-rib fat, apricot and oloroso sherry.  It came in a copper julep cup and was delish!
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The Cobbler
It was great going with 4 people because we got to try a lot of dishes – and none of them disappointed! We started with the Bing with Pork Neck & Spicy Pineapple, then we had the stuffed peppers, which are one of their most popular dishes and definitely a crowd pleaser.  
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Stuffed Peppers
Next we had the marinated mushrooms, which were so good – super clean and bright flavors. 
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Marinated Mushrooms
The next dish was my absolute favorite – macaroni & chickpea with black truffle.  This dish was so good – no cheese at all, but it was the creamiest, yummiest pasta ever.  
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Macaroni & Chickpea
We also had the Black Cod, which was also amazing – I wish I could eat it every night! Then we had the roasted duck crispy rice – yum! Loved the crispy bits of rice – they mixed it all at the table.
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Marinated Black Cod
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Roasted Duck Crispy Rice
We finished out the meal with the amazing boneless chuck shortrib, which was topped with melted raclette right at the table.  We literally had other tables gawking to see what it was.  
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Boneless Chuck Short Rib
We somehow had enough room to try dessert and I was SO glad we did!  We got the passionfruit dessert, which had meringue on top and it seriously just hit the spot!  Such a perfect way to end the meal.  If you’re in LA anytime soon, I’d say it’s a must!!
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Passionfruit Dessert
We also checked out Milkbar while I was there.  Tried the famous cereal milk ice cream and the crack pie – both were delicious!  The space was super cute too – lots of pink (my fave!).  They had a class going on when we were there, which I’d love to try next time – maybe learn how to make crack pie on my own?  That might be a dangerous thing!!
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On a sugar high in this pic :) Click the pic to shop my outfit
Anyway – all in it was a fantastic trip to LA.  I got to spend a few days with my family and then attended my company's sales kickoff event for a few days at the Beverly Hilton.  Ended the trip with an awards gala on the same stage that they have the Golden Globes, so that was pretty cool! LA Meghan had a pretty great trip and can’t wait for the next ​one!!!
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Work event at the Beverly Hilton! Click the picture to shop my outfit
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