Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice
something savory to balance a month of sweets
You probably expected a cookie or cake recipe from me this time of year, instead of a savory, very non-holiday recipe for chicken cauliflower fried rice. When you’ve been writing online and sharing recipes as long as I have, there’s only so much new cookie content to share. This isn’t to say I’ve baked all there is out there. In fact, I find myself saving more and more recipes to my baking wishlist. Alas, there’s only so many hours in a day, and we can’t survive on cookies alone for the month of December.
You’ll notice there’s nutritional information at the end of the recipe. This is based on adding the ingredients to my MacrosFirst app. I’m including this info in case it’s helpful for anyone else tracking macros. While I thought I’d have to be content with my weight where it was, and feeling like a stranger in my own body, since no doctor offered more advice about the many physical challenges of menopause, it turns out tracking my macros has been a real game changer, and the answer I didn’t realize I needed. I’m eating more than I’ve ever eaten on a daily basis, am more active, have lost some weight, and am sleeping much better.
Before making this change to my lifestyle, I woke up on average every two hours, resulting in feeling exhausted when I woke up in the mornings. Now I tend to sleep about 5 hours before I wake up (except for last night due to a stuffy nose from a cold that came for a visit Sunday morning, and has decided to hang around for a bit). I occasionally sleep seven entire hours before I start to stir. I feel more energetic, and the strength training has me feeling more flexible and ready to tackle the day ahead.
The most positive impact has been feeling lighter both emotionally and mentally. There’s a clarity I’ve longed for, and thought was unattainable. Tracking macros is a lot of work. Weight loss is a lot of work. I cook three meals a day, and while it was daunting at first, I fell into a rhythm and really appreciate the way it forces me to focus on myself. It also offers me control in a way that so many other parts of my life don't always allow.
I don’t take for granted that working from home makes this more achievable. If I commuted, I’d definitely need to do meal prepping and advance cooking on the weekends. This fried rice would be a really easy recipe to make in batches and portion out as needed. There’s lots of notes at the end, so be sure to read them.
In case you’re wondering how much fun my meals are, I end most evenings with a cup of hot cocoa made with almond milk, cocoa powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract & a pinch of flaky sea salt, and sometimes a little squirt of whipped cream. I still get to eat pasta and sweet treats, just not every day. It’s all about balancing your protein, carbs, fat and calories for the day.
If you’re looking for some baking inspiration, you can start by downloading my Christmas Cookie ebook. I’ll work on a post sharing some more ideas, especially some no-bake treats to gift friends, family, and teachers if you have school-age kids. Virginia is in 10th grade, and she still loves bringing in gifts for her teachers. There’s a really fun idea for homemade hot cocoa spoons in my IG stories right now.
Be well, and remember to be kind. —xo, j.
p.s. This coming Sunday was supposed to be our monthly cooking class for paid subscribers. I definitely got too ambitious by trying to launch these classes during the last couple of months of the year. It’s such a busy time. My priority right now is making time to be with family, so I’m sharing a discount code for all paid subscribers to watch last year’s Rainbow Cookie Class for free. See the code in the Notes section at the end of the recipe in this post. If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, there’s a special right now through the end of the year for 50% off of paid annual subscriptions if you’re looking to gift yourself or someone else.