Cleaning Up My Favorite Takeout!

I love takeout food, especially from Asian type restaurants.  I used to order Chinese food at least once a week.  I got Indian food far less often but only because the only restaurant nearby is 20 minutes away and does not deliver.  While working in Ithaca this summer, my students introduced me to Thai food and all I can say is YUM!  I love all of these types of food (at least the kind you find at your local US restaurant) but now that I'm changing my lifestyle to be more health conscious, I can no longer justify ordering take out once or twice a week (partially because in addition to getting healthy, I'm also committed to saving money).

I was ok giving up takeout but not ok giving up these delicious cuisines.  So, I bought some cookbooks!  I found the blog hookedonheat last week and fell in love with the authors no-nonsense, simple approach to cooking Indian food.  So, a little googling later and I found the Knack series of cookbooks (the blog author wrote the Indian food one) and ordered three of them: Indian, Thai, and Chinese cooking.

I'm really excited to try these recipes!  Some of the recipes the authors give you suggestions about how to make them healthier and others I will use my own knowledge of clean eating to "clean" them up to my health standards (such as baking foods rather than frying).

Tomorrow I will test out the Chinese cooking book to recreate my favorite takeout meal.  I will make low-sodium wonton soup, baked (instead of fried) egg rolls, and chicken and broccoli with brown rice. I will also be sure to make those proper portions instead of takeout portions and save the leftovers for meals later in the week (and freeze anything I won't eat this week).  I'm very excited to try my hand at clean Chinese food and will share my results with you tomorrow!

Stay tuned!