Post Zumba Shrimp Stir-Fry

Zumba kicked my butt tonight, but I didn't have to take a break.  That's success in my book!  Our Zumba leader is just wonderful and I think I want to hang out with her.  She seems like she would be a lot of fun and a great friend.  I really held up well until the cool-down song, and then I felt like I might puke.

When I got home I was hungry!  I think it was partly because I had been to Costco this afternoon and had some fresh groceries to feast on.

As logic would dictate, I was craving protein, and Ive been learning to pay close attention to my body's cues in regards to food.

I don't have a wide range of protein sources in my diet, because I've eliminated the most common sources.  Seafood is still something I eat, so I went right for the shrimp tonight.

One thing I do that might seem a little silly, but I think somehow works, is trying to put as many different colours as possible into each meal.  I've read some articles that say this is good, because it helps make sure we get a variety of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

I put some arborio rice and water in a pot to cook.  Then I put some olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  I cut up a yellow onion and threw that in the skillet.  Next I opened the fridge and just started pulling out things that I felt I needed.  When I do this I trust that my body knows what it needs and it will taste good, even if it doesn't really follow proper cooking etiquette.  I grabbed ginger puree, chopped garlic, red chili puree.  I put it all in the skillet and gave it a stir.

 I pulled a bag of frozen shrimps out of the freezer and added those to the skillet.  They hold a lot of water, so I usually cook them for awhile to let some of that moisture evaporate and make a sauce out of what doesn't evaporate.

I noticed my basil plants were needing pruning, so I grabbed all the extra leaves and added them to the skillet.

As I was chopping a couple big portabello mushrooms, I saw the shrimp were shrinking into itty bitty shrimps. :(  This was NOT what I was craving.  I wanted a good mouthful of shrimp to bite into and chew.

After I threw the mushrooms into the skillet and stirred it around I decided to grab some tiger shrimp from the freezer and added them to the skillet. 

The chopped tomatoes went in next.

The arborio rice was too "wet", even though it was fully cooked.  I used a slotted spoon to scoop all the food out of the skillet and left the sauce in the skillet.  All the rice went into the skillet and I simmered the rice in the yummy sauce until most of the liquid was evaporated.

I put a bed of baby spinach on a plate, added a layer of rice, a layer of stir-fry, then a few tiger shrimp.

I had some salad dressing left from my pre-Zumba salad, so cut up more tomato and cucumber, then added spinach.

My belly is full.  I have had good fats, proteins, iron, and a whole host of other good nutrients.

Husband ate two platefuls of the rice and stir-fry.