Flexible Fried Rice - A Recipe!

Sometimes I gots to have me some fried rice. It's a comfort food favorite of mine and I was excited to find a super easy recipe for it that uses something I always have on hand, Minute Rice!

Fried Minute Rice

Ingredients Assemble!
1 c. veggies of your choice (fresh, or cooked if frozen)
1 c. Minute Rice
1 egg
1/4 c chicken broth or stock
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 T. soy sauce
salt to taste
olive oil for pan

Heat up a big skillet, or if you are fancy, a wok. Add a touch of olive oil and let it heat up. Add the Minute Rice and stir it around for about 3 minutes, getting it nice and toasty brown.

Make a little hole in the center of the rice and add the egg. Let it sit there for about 15 seconds before you stir it all around. Stir until egg is fully cooked.

Add your veggies and cook for about 1 minute. Then add your soy sauce and broth. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat, let sit 5 minutes to set up. Salt to taste and enjoy!

This recipe works great with all kinds of veggies. If you must use frozen veggies then take the time to thaw or cook them in advance, especially if they are larger, like pieces of broccoli. 60-90 seconds in a microwave with a little water should be enough to get them ready for the fried rice!

Feets Don't Fail Me Now

Last week, when I was on vacation at the San Diego Comic-Con, I planned to take a little break from the treadmill. I knew that I was going to be on my feet, walking several miles each day. I took my pedometer with me to keep track of my steps, because, even if I wasn't on the treadmill, I was still going to be logging qualifying steps.


About halfway though vacation Superfro and I decided to hit the fitness room in the hotel and get in some treadmill walking. Honestly, I might have been missing it. The steps that I had been logging were numerous for sure, but they weren't the sort I was used to.

Treadmill walking is a very different kind of walking. When I'm on the treadmill, I have the speed set to push myself, to force myself to keep going at a certain speed for a set amount of time. I'm aiming to get my heart rate up, way, way, up and work up a fast and furious sweat. Treadmill time is cardio time.

When I walk outside, taking the dog for a walk, for walking to work, it's still swiftly paced but nothing like the treadmill. I might break a sweat, depending on the weather, but my heart doesn't get that much of a workout.

San Diego Comic-Con walking is neither of those types of walking. It's more like strolling with bouts of standing, lots of stop and go, weaving in and out of crowds, short steps, shuffling in line and even a little bit of walking on tip toes. Comic-Con must be the only place where you can walk over 10,000 steps and not have a single bit of count as "aerobic." (My pedometer counts aerobic steps as being ones taken non-stop for 10 or more minutes.)

Now that I'm home, I'm trying to ease back into my treadmill walking. It's not going as well as I would hope. The oppressive heat in the non-air conditioned room the treadmill is located in does not help, but neither does the 4 day break I took. I'm amazed at how quickly my body went back to it's lazy self, proving to me that I certainly cannot stop my seven day a week cardio that I had been so proud of before vacation. I thought maybe eventually I could wean myself down to 4 or 5 days a week without much detriment, maybe throw in some strength training and still manage to shed the final 30-40 lbs. that I’d like to lose. Looks (feels) as if I am just not ready. So, time to lube the belt on the treadmill and log some steps! Feets don't fail me now!

What It Was All For

Last year the San Diego Comic-Con changed my life. To be more specific, one event from the Comic-Con changed my life. Actually, I can narrow it down even more. One photo from one event. This photo:

That is me with Yvette Nicole Brown of NBC's "Community." I had met her at an NBC party that I was invited to and Superfro took the picture (you can read more about the party HERE.)

The party was great, the convention was great, but when I got home and had a chance to look at the photos I was really embarrassed. I didn't recognize myself and had a hard time comprehending that it was indeed me. It was a rude reality check. So, I did something about it. I started my One Million Steps challenge which I chronicled in several blogs (HERE, HERE, and even HERE.)

The photo was the spark that started me walking and has led to the loss of 75 lbs. and a gain of energy and endurance. It was my hope that for San Diego Comic-Con 2011 that I would feel better about myself and that it would be easier for me to enjoy the show. Well, it worked. On one of the days I walked over 25,000 steps. I suffered no swollen ankles, no chaffing, very little fatigue and I got up the next day ready to do it all over again.

Now, to bring it all full circle.....

I was again invited to the NBC party and again got to meet Yvette Nicole Brown. She was just as sweet at last year, and remembered meeting me. I shared my story with her and, of course, broke down like a little baby. I was crying and we were hugging and it was so joyous and so, so, so, soooooooo worth it. It made every single drop of sweat worth it. Totally worth it.

A million thank yous to Yvette, the nicest and most sincere woman I have ever met.

Here's another deja vu shot, just for more comparison.