Indulge those cravings

Most days for the last few weeks, I've kept my carb intake below 25 grams. It was probably slightly higher over Christmas, but not enough to throw me out of ketosis or seriously mess with my blood sugar. I've reached the point where I get hungry, but not hangry. Thank the stars.

I've also reached the point where I'm craving things I've cut out. The other day, something I haven't eaten in years sounded unbelievably good: Sweet and sour chicken. Oh, who am I kidding...it was the pineapple. I was craving pineapple. Like blueberries, and kiwi, pineapple has that wonderful sweet-tart thing going that I adore. 

So, I bought the cup of prepared fresh pineapple from Safeway. And instead of simply chowing the whole darn thing straight, I made sweet and sour chicken. Yeah, the pineapple was pretty much my day's allotment of carbs, but it didn't need any additional thickener or sweetener, I used a couple scallions in lieu of onion, and green bell peppers and mushrooms don't add much to the equation. I ate my fill. It was good. 

It was also ridiculously easy. 

  1. Roughly chop the bell pepper and pineapple, slice the mushrooms, chop the scallions, and mince some ginger.

  2. Thinly slice chicken breast & marinate with some minced ginger, Tamari, sesame oil, and Sambal chile paste.

  3. Mix some more minced ginger, Tamari, sesame oil, and Sambal with chicken stock for the sauce.

  4. Stir fry the chicken & offload.

  5. Stir fry the veggies & deglaze with Shaoxing rice wine.

  6. Scrape the veggies up the sides of the wok, add the sauce, and reduce.

  7. Add the chicken & juices back & toss well.

The longest part of the process is letting the chicken marinate for 15 minutes or so before cooking.

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