Halloween preparations have consumed us all week. Sorry for the crappy updates.
Ate at a Mexican restaurant last night. I had 2 taquitos and some beans.
Tonight we'll be having Salmon and broccoli. I will barely have time to make it and finish my costume so I won't be posting a pic. I will however have a post up this weekend summarizing my month long experience and retouching on why I did this in the first place.
Total Calorie Count for the Day (29th): 960
Total Calorie Count for the Day (30th): should be 750ish, I'll update later.
Oct 30, 2009
Oct 28, 2009
Potato Soup with Andouille Sausage
Same as always for breakfast. Skipped lunch.
Made a potato soup today using onion, garlic, and minced rosemary sauteed with andouille sausage. Added the potatoes, covered with water and boiled until the potatoes were tender, then added two cups of milk and served it in a bread bowl. Good way to have potato soup without any canned stock or broth.
Received a boon in apples from my friend Brad, so I decided to make apple pie. Used the crust from smittenkitchen, which had vodka added to it of all things, and used the caramel apple pie filling method, where you saute the apples, tossed in cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and a bit of cream, to form a caramel base that thickens while baking. It's possibly the most beautiful, flaky looking pie I've ever made. Got the camera working just so I could take a picture.
Won't be having a slice of it tonight, but it'll be calling me in the morning.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 845
Made a potato soup today using onion, garlic, and minced rosemary sauteed with andouille sausage. Added the potatoes, covered with water and boiled until the potatoes were tender, then added two cups of milk and served it in a bread bowl. Good way to have potato soup without any canned stock or broth.
Received a boon in apples from my friend Brad, so I decided to make apple pie. Used the crust from smittenkitchen, which had vodka added to it of all things, and used the caramel apple pie filling method, where you saute the apples, tossed in cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and brown sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and a bit of cream, to form a caramel base that thickens while baking. It's possibly the most beautiful, flaky looking pie I've ever made. Got the camera working just so I could take a picture.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 845
Gumbo (26th) Manhatten Fish Chowder (27th)
Camera still wasn't working on Monday or Tuesday.
Monday was a leftover night, everyone kind of fended for themselves. I finished the last bowl of gumbo.
Tuesday I made manhatten fish chowder which, if you wiki it, has an interesting history. Recipe follows:
Monday was a leftover night, everyone kind of fended for themselves. I finished the last bowl of gumbo.
Tuesday I made manhatten fish chowder which, if you wiki it, has an interesting history. Recipe follows:
Manhattan Fish Chowder
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes in juice
2 (8 ounce) bottles clam juice
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound skinless tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch chunks
Coarse salt and ground pepper
In a large 5-quart pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon off and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat. Add onion and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juice (breaking tomatoes up with a spoon), clam juice, and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil.
Add potatoes and thyme; reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, but not falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add tilapia; cover, and cook until opaque and flaky, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. With a ladle, spoon solids and liquid into six soup bowls; serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes in juice
2 (8 ounce) bottles clam juice
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound skinless tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch chunks
Coarse salt and ground pepper
In a large 5-quart pot or Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon off and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat. Add onion and carrots; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juice (breaking tomatoes up with a spoon), clam juice, and 1 1/2 cups water; bring to a boil.
Add potatoes and thyme; reduce heat to simmer. Cook until potatoes are tender, but not falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes.
Add tilapia; cover, and cook until opaque and flaky, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. With a ladle, spoon solids and liquid into six soup bowls; serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings
Total Calorie Count for the Day (26th): 856
Total Calorie Count for the Day (27th): 923
Oct 25, 2009
Caloric Restriction
I've been asked several times why it is that I chose a 1000 calorie diet for this experiment. Generally, the choice came first because I sought a diet that would challenge me enough to require a significant personal change. Further, however, I sought something that was less about gimmick and more related to something that made simple sense. You can't get much simpler than the truths of caloric balance. To boot, I was also able to take some of the consequences to their logical conclusions in order to evaluate how one might balance the potential negatives of such a diet with the clear gains. However, there are more gains associated with caloric restriction than I have mentioned and that, more than any other reason, is why I chose the 1000 calorie diet. There is a direct link between caloric restriction and general longevity; a strict diet can, according to the research, help us to live longer. Extending life... an amazing dream and something I hope to see come to fruition. So, without further ado, let me present Dr. Aubrey de Gray and his reasoning for the future of humanity.
So what does that have to do with Caloric Restriction? A lot actually. Not only is there a lot of verifiable, data backed research suggesting Caloric Restriction may lengthen your life, there's some common sense to it, too. As Aubrey mentioned, most of what accounts for aging is a part of the metabolic process. Things build up, add to, are taken from, etc. over and over again in your body as part of making your body function. What if you cut that process in half? Or even reduced it by 25%? Then you'd have less of those negative events occurring (and of course, less of the positive events too). This will trigger hunger responses, but as I've mentioned before, it will also trigger basic homeostasis response: adaptation. You live longer because your metabolism slows and you take in less free radicals, etc., and in effect take longer to reach the same destination. All it takes, or so it would seem, is a bit of self control. We're in the business of mind over matter, folks!
Papa Murphy's (23th) Pasta Bake (24th) Frybread Taco (25th)
Camera went on the fritz, so just a brief update.
Had some deLite pizza from Papa Murphy's Thursday, make a pasta bake with leftover spaghetti sauce, some pepperoni, and some mozzarella, and had frybread tacos again today. Trying to stretch our current food supply a bit.
Total Calorie Count for the Day (23th): 985
Total Calorie Count for the Day (24th): 884
Total Calorie Count for the Day (25th): 954
Had some deLite pizza from Papa Murphy's Thursday, make a pasta bake with leftover spaghetti sauce, some pepperoni, and some mozzarella, and had frybread tacos again today. Trying to stretch our current food supply a bit.
Total Calorie Count for the Day (23th): 985
Total Calorie Count for the Day (24th): 884
Total Calorie Count for the Day (25th): 954
Oct 23, 2009
Andouille Sausage Cornbread Stuffing
This update is for Thursday, Oct. 22.
Orange juice for breakfast... really had no time this morning.
The wife and I had lunch at our favorite sushi place. It was fantastic. We split a lobster roll, had a half cup of rice, and some edamame.
For dinner, I made a stuffing meal out of leftover ingredients from the gumbo. Combined the remaining cornbread and andouille sausage with celery, onion, and red pepper. It's very good and very filling.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 993
Orange juice for breakfast... really had no time this morning.
The wife and I had lunch at our favorite sushi place. It was fantastic. We split a lobster roll, had a half cup of rice, and some edamame.
For dinner, I made a stuffing meal out of leftover ingredients from the gumbo. Combined the remaining cornbread and andouille sausage with celery, onion, and red pepper. It's very good and very filling.
Oct 21, 2009
Papas Fritas con Chorizo
Eggy toast for breakfast, gumbo for lunch.
Threw together some leftover chorizo (frozen from a few weeks ago) with some potatoes. Added some diced tomatoes for a few more vegetables. Fairly simple dish, but very satisfying, particularly because we don't have potatoes often.
Threw together some leftover chorizo (frozen from a few weeks ago) with some potatoes. Added some diced tomatoes for a few more vegetables. Fairly simple dish, but very satisfying, particularly because we don't have potatoes often.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 993
Oct 20, 2009
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Eggy toast for breakfast and a slice of toast with a slice of cheddar and an orange for lunch.
It was a cold, rainy day today, so I decided to make my wife's favorite: Gumbo.
This recipe was created by reading, of all things, a theory paper on how gumbo should be. My grandpa is a retired navy captain and gourmet chef, and after having heard that I was interested in learning how to make gumbo, he gave me a large stack of papers that turned out to be some guy's musings on what goes into a good gumbo. There were generally few directions and no measurements, with references to possible and preferred ingredients. So I adapted this, through trial and error, into my own homemade gumbo. What makes it different from others? Mine is a bit less thick because I don't care for the okra flavor in most gumbos (used as a thickening agent), though longer cooking will thicken it just fine if you're a real stickler but also don't care for the okra. Without the okra, however, mine also has a brighter palate with more distinct individual flavors within the flavor medley. As well, without the okra mine also has more diverse color instead of being a sort of thick green. I also use jalapeno in mine, though I doubt that's so uncommon. I use olive oil instead of butter for the roux (a much healthier fat) and I always include tomato in mine, though it's very common for tomato to be omitted in most gumbo recipes. The only real problem I come across when printing this recipe is that it's mostly in my head. I've only ever written it down for my brother-in-law. Here goes:
To make the Roux:
Roux consists of equal parts fat and flour. Heat the fat in a large pot and once a bit of flour dropped into the oil starts to sizzle, stir in with a wire whisk the remaining flour. I usually use 1/2 cup of each. You must constantly stir this for roughly 10 minutes. A finished roux should be somewhere between the color of a rusted penny and chocolate peanut butter. The darker the roux, the stronger the flavor.
Add vegetables:
Prepare these and collect in a single bowl before you start making the roux.
1 large onion, diced
1 elbow celery heart, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp ground thyme
2 tsp ground black pepper
1- 2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
The spice measurements aren't exact; I'm basically guessing at how much I put in. Add these vegetables and spices to the finished roux. Note those first three ingredients on the list: in Louisiana cooking they're called "the trinity." Coat the vegetables and spices evenly with the roux (it will smell amazing when you first drop them in) and cook for 7-9 minutes until the vegetables soften.
For the broth:
The only important thing about the broth is that it be room temperature. If the broth is hot or cold, the broth will disrupt the roux and cause the oil and flour to separate and your gumbo with be strange and lumpy. I usually use chicken broth for flavor. If you were to do a seafood gumbo you might try fish stock and clam juice. If doing beef use beef broth, etc. Really, you can't go wrong with chicken. Add about 3 cans of broth, or 4 and 1/2 cups. Bring this to a boil. As it boils, scum may rise to the top. You may choose to or not to remove that. Despite the name "scum," there's nothing wrong with leaving it in.
For the meat:
I use about 4-5 ounces of chicken breast and 6 ounces of andouille sausage. Some say you can't have gumbo without andouille sausage because without it it's just not gumbo. I have no idea if that's a purist definition, but honestly andouille sausage is synonymous with Louisiana cooking. It can, however, be hard to find. I was in the Provo area a few years ago, planning to make this for family, and couldn't find it anywhere. My grandpa had to bring some from Ogden. Otherwise, I've found them most reliably at Albertson's. The andouille is generally precooked, so your concern is to cook the diced chicken in the gumbo. Regardless drop both meats into the pot. Commonly I've added a half pound of shrimp, but there was no need for the calories.
Finishing the dish:
Once you've combined the previous ingredients, add some diced tomatoes. Fresh is best. Probably about a cup to a cup and a half. You've added these so late because tomatoes are so much softer than everything else. Allow these ingredients to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. The longer the better for the flavors to combine. Traditionally, gumbo is served with rice on top, not the other way around, and often with a slice of cornbread, as I served mine in the picture above. Gumbo is amazing and once you get past the learning curve, it's relatively simple to make. Enjoy! This recipe will make about 10 1 cup servings at about 178 calories per serving (not including rice and cornbread).
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 948
It was a cold, rainy day today, so I decided to make my wife's favorite: Gumbo.
This recipe was created by reading, of all things, a theory paper on how gumbo should be. My grandpa is a retired navy captain and gourmet chef, and after having heard that I was interested in learning how to make gumbo, he gave me a large stack of papers that turned out to be some guy's musings on what goes into a good gumbo. There were generally few directions and no measurements, with references to possible and preferred ingredients. So I adapted this, through trial and error, into my own homemade gumbo. What makes it different from others? Mine is a bit less thick because I don't care for the okra flavor in most gumbos (used as a thickening agent), though longer cooking will thicken it just fine if you're a real stickler but also don't care for the okra. Without the okra, however, mine also has a brighter palate with more distinct individual flavors within the flavor medley. As well, without the okra mine also has more diverse color instead of being a sort of thick green. I also use jalapeno in mine, though I doubt that's so uncommon. I use olive oil instead of butter for the roux (a much healthier fat) and I always include tomato in mine, though it's very common for tomato to be omitted in most gumbo recipes. The only real problem I come across when printing this recipe is that it's mostly in my head. I've only ever written it down for my brother-in-law. Here goes:
Roux consists of equal parts fat and flour. Heat the fat in a large pot and once a bit of flour dropped into the oil starts to sizzle, stir in with a wire whisk the remaining flour. I usually use 1/2 cup of each. You must constantly stir this for roughly 10 minutes. A finished roux should be somewhere between the color of a rusted penny and chocolate peanut butter. The darker the roux, the stronger the flavor.
Add vegetables:
Prepare these and collect in a single bowl before you start making the roux.
1 large onion, diced
1 elbow celery heart, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp ground thyme
2 tsp ground black pepper
1- 2 tsp kosher salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
The spice measurements aren't exact; I'm basically guessing at how much I put in. Add these vegetables and spices to the finished roux. Note those first three ingredients on the list: in Louisiana cooking they're called "the trinity." Coat the vegetables and spices evenly with the roux (it will smell amazing when you first drop them in) and cook for 7-9 minutes until the vegetables soften.
For the broth:
The only important thing about the broth is that it be room temperature. If the broth is hot or cold, the broth will disrupt the roux and cause the oil and flour to separate and your gumbo with be strange and lumpy. I usually use chicken broth for flavor. If you were to do a seafood gumbo you might try fish stock and clam juice. If doing beef use beef broth, etc. Really, you can't go wrong with chicken. Add about 3 cans of broth, or 4 and 1/2 cups. Bring this to a boil. As it boils, scum may rise to the top. You may choose to or not to remove that. Despite the name "scum," there's nothing wrong with leaving it in.
For the meat:
I use about 4-5 ounces of chicken breast and 6 ounces of andouille sausage. Some say you can't have gumbo without andouille sausage because without it it's just not gumbo. I have no idea if that's a purist definition, but honestly andouille sausage is synonymous with Louisiana cooking. It can, however, be hard to find. I was in the Provo area a few years ago, planning to make this for family, and couldn't find it anywhere. My grandpa had to bring some from Ogden. Otherwise, I've found them most reliably at Albertson's. The andouille is generally precooked, so your concern is to cook the diced chicken in the gumbo. Regardless drop both meats into the pot. Commonly I've added a half pound of shrimp, but there was no need for the calories.
Finishing the dish:
Once you've combined the previous ingredients, add some diced tomatoes. Fresh is best. Probably about a cup to a cup and a half. You've added these so late because tomatoes are so much softer than everything else. Allow these ingredients to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. The longer the better for the flavors to combine. Traditionally, gumbo is served with rice on top, not the other way around, and often with a slice of cornbread, as I served mine in the picture above. Gumbo is amazing and once you get past the learning curve, it's relatively simple to make. Enjoy! This recipe will make about 10 1 cup servings at about 178 calories per serving (not including rice and cornbread).
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 948
Frybread Tacos and Southwestern Pumpkin Soup
Eggy Toast for breakfast, a half a banana and a slice of toast with a slice of cheese for lunch.
Made a frybread tacos for dinner. Cora loves this stuff, I call it her soul food. I made a basic sort of bean taco filling to go on the frybread. Also made a southwestern pumpkin soup that only I and the boy liked. Meh, what can you do. Here's the recipe I used for the frybread:
Made a frybread tacos for dinner. Cora loves this stuff, I call it her soul food. I made a basic sort of bean taco filling to go on the frybread. Also made a southwestern pumpkin soup that only I and the boy liked. Meh, what can you do. Here's the recipe I used for the frybread:
· 3 cups flour
· 1 tablespoon baking powder
· 1 teaspoon salt
· 1 tablespoon sugar
· 1 tablespoon powdered milk
· 1 tablespoon lard or margarine
· 1 1/2 cups warm water
For the Frybread: Mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and powdered milk. Add lard or margarine and mix. Add water to make dough soft. Refrigerate until use. Dough will keep several days.
In a heavy skillet, heat 3/4-inch of oil to 375 degrees F.
Pat or roll out dough into about 6 (1/4 to 3/8-inch thick) rounds. Slide into hot oil. Puncture once or twice. Fry until golden brown. Flip the dough over and fry other side to golden brown. Take out and drain on paper towels.
The dough can be quite sticky, if so knead in flour until it's not. Sorry that picture is a bit blurry, the lens must be dirty. Frybread tacos are really simple and quite delicious. I flattened the frybread out quite a bit so it wouldn't undercook the middle, but that made my meal seem huge and therefore I couldn't finish it all. Oh well, lol.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 926
Oct 18, 2009
Tofu in Thai Curry Sauce
Eggy Toast for breakfast.
Banana for lunch.
Made Tofu in a Thai Curry Sauce with some Cauliflower Gratin. The tofu was meh, but the cauliflower... like macaroni and cheese without the noodles.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 898
Banana for lunch.
Made Tofu in a Thai Curry Sauce with some Cauliflower Gratin. The tofu was meh, but the cauliflower... like macaroni and cheese without the noodles.
Oct 17, 2009
Conspiracy
Last week I mentioned Michael Pollin’s book In Defense of Food as a reference to the benefits of a mainly vegetarian diet. What I didn’t mention is that Pollin and his book are quite the hot button topic lately. Pollin’s book amounts to an attack on the very foundations of how we provide food today and as such is a great segue into one of the weirdest aspects of dieting: conspiracy theories. I’m not necessarily speaking of conspiracy theories by definition, but to the nature of the very broad spectrum of flimsily supported opinions about food and food production spanning the whole of the issue.
For instance, Pollin’s arguments focus on the nature of food itself. He believes that we should be eating more natural food and less food augmented with nutrients. He claims there is much less food in our food. This is a sliver of the organic vs. mass production model of agriculture. For some time organic foods have been touted as the healthier, tastier, more nutritious of foods available. They have also been the most expensive. Further, the labels used to identify an organic food product can be difficult to understand because non-organic food companies have been using weasel word advertising to imply that their product is organic as well. Finally, to further complicate the issue, recent research shows that there is no nutritional difference between organic and non-organic foods. Pro-organic shoppers argue it isn’t just about the nutritional quality, it’s also about the use of potentially harmful pesticides and fertilizers. Sites like foodnews.org claim to track the levels of such dangerous chemicals in everyday foods that you might buy. Nevertheless, it would also seem that even the idea that organic foods taste better is a myth:
Proponents of the way agriculture works now also point to how seemingly necessary these fast and modified ways of growing food are. In fact, it’s fair to say that the scientists who developed these methods are true heroes:
Opponents, on the other hand, are quick to point to unwanted consequences. In fact, it has seemed a fairly popular documentary topic lately. Some of them have been quite compelling, as with Food, Inc.’s investigation into how our food is manufactured.
Indeed, we’re given the question, what do we know and what do we want to know about what we eat? It’s not inconceivable for a child to believe that farming doesn’t actually happen anymore, everything is created in a lab. When we don’t understand the nature of our food, we take that food for granted and, I believe, this is the core of our obesity epidemic.
Most intriguingly then, we have to wonder if there isn’t some entity out there behind the scenes controlling the various chess pieces to a favorable outcome; something akin to a pharmaceutical company that owns one of the largest corn production companies that creates the corn syrup that gives the people diabetes and other health issues that cause them to turn to that same company for their drugs that they need to make them “healthy” enough to continue purchasing food. Sound far fetched? Take the case presented in The Future of Food:
The very nature of patenting seeds has allowed large companies to take over family owned businesses in a manner akin to hostile business takeovers… except multimillion dollar companies are taking over poor farmers because a pervasive and disease resistant strain of wheat or soy has polluted the farmer’s crops. I don’t generally buy that there are hands in things so deep as to completely control all aspects of such large societal systems. I believe that these systems are, frankly, too big to be controlled, but that doesn’t mean you can’t manipulate them. However, I also don’t believe that they think too far into the future. Most companies I’ve had experience with are so shortsighted as to cut off their own noses in order to be profitable for the quarter.
So are there big companies manipulating our food system? Doubtless, yes. Are they doing it maliciously? Some may be, insomuch as it improves their profit margins. But don’t neglect the power the average consumer yields, as pointed out by Food, Inc.: if we make our preferences heard, the retailers hear only the sound of cash staying stuck in our pockets and begin to make concessions, sometimes quite quickly. Your real solution? I guess, buy local, buy in season, and grow your own garden. If you can’t seem to do this (I’ve only really been successful with one of the three) then accept that you may be slowly poisoning yourself to survive.
Almond Crusted Pork with Vegetarian Egg Rolls
Woke up late today so I had more of brunch than breakfast or lunch. Stuck with eggy toast again.
Made some tasty chinese inspired dishes today.
1 cup coarse dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large egg white, beaten
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.
2. Place breadcrumbs, almonds, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish.
3. Place egg white in another shallow dish. Dip both sides of each pork slice in egg white, then evenly coat with the almond mixture. (Discard any remaining egg white and almond mixture.) Place the pork on the prepared rack and coat on both sides with cooking spray.
4. Bake the pork until golden brown and no longer pink in the center, 16 to 18 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, whisk honey, soy sauce and mustard in a small bowl. Serve the pork with the honey-mustard sauce.
and for the Egg Rolls:
Made some tasty chinese inspired dishes today.
Almond Crusted Pork and Vegetarian Egg Rolls. Recipes follow:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large egg white, beaten
1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack on a baking sheet and coat it with cooking spray.
2. Place breadcrumbs, almonds, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse until the almonds are coarsely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a shallow dish.
3. Place egg white in another shallow dish. Dip both sides of each pork slice in egg white, then evenly coat with the almond mixture. (Discard any remaining egg white and almond mixture.) Place the pork on the prepared rack and coat on both sides with cooking spray.
4. Bake the pork until golden brown and no longer pink in the center, 16 to 18 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, whisk honey, soy sauce and mustard in a small bowl. Serve the pork with the honey-mustard sauce.
and for the Egg Rolls:
· 3 ounces rice vermicelli
· 1.5 cup bean sprouts
· 3 teaspoons sesame oil
· 4 cloves garlic, minced
· 3 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
· 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
· 1.5 cup shredded carrots
· 1.5 cup shredded cabbage
· 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
· 3 tablespoons freshly chopped scallions
· 20 spring roll wrappers
Soak noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, until tender.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, cilantro and soy sauce and cook 2 minutes, until vegetables wilt. Stir in noodles and scallions and toss to combine.
Assemble egg rolls. Baked at 425 for 10-15 minutes.
Everything is baked, reducing the amount of fat by quite a bit. I then tossed some cabbage with some carrots, red onions, and sliced grapes, adding a soy-sugar-lemon juice-sesame oil-olive oil dressing lightly on top. The dipping sauce for the Egg Rolls is a soy, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, red pepper flakes combination.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 976
Super Hot Dogs and 1/4 lb Burger
Shame on me, I had no breakfast today... it happens.
After much whining by the wife, I decided to make a good old American meal... so it's by far the most unhealthy meal we've had.
For lunch we had what we call here at home "Super Hotdogs," or beer boiled cheddar-wursts. The kids had a problem calling them by their real name, but they are, after all, super hotdogs. I boiled them with some onions in Bud Light with Lime then grilled them briefly. Mine had ketchup, spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut, diced onion, jalapeno slices, and tomato slices. Made a quick family favorite to go with it: my grandma's cottage cheese jell-o. Recipe follows:
8 oz cool whip
24 oz cottage cheese
2 small packages of jell-o
1 1/2 cups fruit
Simply mix them together with a spoon until well incorporated. I used sugar free jell-o. 1 cup is about 200 calories (I had 1/2 cup). I used lime jell-o and pineapple chunks this time. A favorite is strawberry jell-o with banana slices.
For dinner, to sate my wife's thirst for "real" red meat, I broke down and made some 1/4 lb cheeseburgers. I used some of the sauces from this week's fish tacos on mine; it was a great use of those sauces. Also had sliced tomatoes and jalapeno slices.
After much whining by the wife, I decided to make a good old American meal... so it's by far the most unhealthy meal we've had.
For lunch we had what we call here at home "Super Hotdogs," or beer boiled cheddar-wursts. The kids had a problem calling them by their real name, but they are, after all, super hotdogs. I boiled them with some onions in Bud Light with Lime then grilled them briefly. Mine had ketchup, spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut, diced onion, jalapeno slices, and tomato slices. Made a quick family favorite to go with it: my grandma's cottage cheese jell-o. Recipe follows:
8 oz cool whip
24 oz cottage cheese
2 small packages of jell-o
1 1/2 cups fruit
Simply mix them together with a spoon until well incorporated. I used sugar free jell-o. 1 cup is about 200 calories (I had 1/2 cup). I used lime jell-o and pineapple chunks this time. A favorite is strawberry jell-o with banana slices.
For dinner, to sate my wife's thirst for "real" red meat, I broke down and made some 1/4 lb cheeseburgers. I used some of the sauces from this week's fish tacos on mine; it was a great use of those sauces. Also had sliced tomatoes and jalapeno slices.
Since it was so nice out, we ate outside. From the grill to the plate! On the left is a spinach and strawberry salad drizzled with an improvised vinaigrette. I used 1 Tbsp low sugar strawberry jam, 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, and 1 Tbsp olive oil, heated until boiling, then allowed to cool. If you've never tried the strawberry-spinach combination, you're missing out.
I ran real close to my calorie count because of these meals and had to be very judicious with the amount of vinaigrette I used, amount of sauces I used, how much cheese I could put on, etc. However, it is doable.
Ended this fine day of backyard picnic grilling by taking the kids to see Where the Wild Things Are, which was fantastic.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 981
For the record: having not had a heavy red meat in almost 2 months, it had quite the effect. Though it was incredibly satisfying, it also felt like a barbel had been dropped into my stomach. I felt weighed down... really, really weighed down. This is of course anecdotal and could be my imagination, but Cora had a similar impression. Food for thought, I guess.
Oct 15, 2009
Spaghetti (yesterday) and Tuna (today)
Been very busy with midterms and visitors so pardon the lack of update from yesterday,
Had spaghetti yesterday. Ended up making extra because Jake and Brandon stopped by on the way to California. Was fun to feed so many people. The homemade french bread turned out fabulous.
Calorie Count for the 14th: 996
Cora's parents took us to breakfast at Ihop. I had the Chicken florentine crepes but I didn't add the holandaise sauce and gave Fallon half of one of my crepes. Still ended up being more calories for breakfast than I like to have, so dinner was a small amount of fish, some rice, and a bit of onion soup.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 960
Sorry for no pictures... again, so busy that once eating time has come I just forget about taking pictures.
Had spaghetti yesterday. Ended up making extra because Jake and Brandon stopped by on the way to California. Was fun to feed so many people. The homemade french bread turned out fabulous.
Calorie Count for the 14th: 996
Cora's parents took us to breakfast at Ihop. I had the Chicken florentine crepes but I didn't add the holandaise sauce and gave Fallon half of one of my crepes. Still ended up being more calories for breakfast than I like to have, so dinner was a small amount of fish, some rice, and a bit of onion soup.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 960
Sorry for no pictures... again, so busy that once eating time has come I just forget about taking pictures.
Oct 13, 2009
Salmon Over Couscous
Eggy toast for breakfast.
Way too busy for lunch today, unfortunately.
Had broiled salmon over couscous with pine nuts, and a pear, plum, and cranberry fruit salad and some asparagus tips. I was so hungry I ate it all and forgot to take a picture, lol.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 836
Way too busy for lunch today, unfortunately.
Had broiled salmon over couscous with pine nuts, and a pear, plum, and cranberry fruit salad and some asparagus tips. I was so hungry I ate it all and forgot to take a picture, lol.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 836
Oct 12, 2009
Fish Tacos and Watermelon Jicama Salad
Made some blueberry whole wheat pancakes because we had some blueberries that were ready to go bad.
Cora's parents came to visit, so I decided to make something fun for dinner. Made several sauces and some fish tacos to use them with.
Used this recipe:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/throwdowns-fish-tacos-recipe/index.html
Then used another Bobby Flay recipe to make this:
It's watermelon tossed with jicama and some orange and lime juice with a bit of honey. I've never had jicama, but it was pretty good! Very refreshing.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 830
Cora's parents came to visit, so I decided to make something fun for dinner. Made several sauces and some fish tacos to use them with.
Used this recipe:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/throwdowns-fish-tacos-recipe/index.html
Then used another Bobby Flay recipe to make this:
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 830
Oct 11, 2009
Linguine Carbonara
Toast for breakfast because I knew I had a high calorie dinner to prepare for.
Made some baguettes... used a pâte fermentée and everything, but electric ovens suck.
Then I threw together a Carbonara. This is among the simplest dishes to make that I've ever made. Crisp some bacon at some point before you boil the noodles. Simply boil your noodles (used linguine because we ran out of spaghetti) and just before they're finished, in a bowl, whisk in 1 cup of cream, 2 eggs, and some salt and pepper. Then you can add some parmesan cheese to the mixture, or add it to the plates. Drain the noodles, but be quick, you want them tossed in the cream as hot as possible. Once the noodles are coated, plate. No, you don't cook the sauce. The hot noodles are enough to kind of congeal things and make it stick. Add bacon on top (and anything else you want; I added some diced tomatoes as well). Quick easy, and classic American-Italian.
The wife and I had some cosmopolitans for a night cap. Good food evening.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 864
Made some baguettes... used a pâte fermentée and everything, but electric ovens suck.
The wife and I had some cosmopolitans for a night cap. Good food evening.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 864
Oct 10, 2009
Mainly Herbivorous
I like vegetables, I really do. I have yet to find a vegetable that, given just a bit of kitchen work, can’t end up a delicious part of an everyday meal. However, I have a very hard time eating dinner without some meat as part of it. It’s not that I necessarily believe that I shouldn’t have meat at dinner, but I am distressed that the idea of not having meat in my dinner makes the meal significantly less satisfying. I have therefore spent some time investigating meal plans that attempt to make meals without meat to see if I can get myself over that little hump. Remember, again, that my goal is self control, so anything that is so unexplainably compelling to me merits investigation as to why.
My investigation led me to much of what began my initial realization that I was eating poorly as well as too much. Particularly, I focused on Harvard’s modified food pyramid. The pyramid, pictured above, focuses on the need for fruits and vegetables and distinctly minimizes the need for meat, and red meat in particular. Further, though, it included studies associated with their reasoning and pointed out that traditionally humans were far more herbivorous.
In his book, In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan emphasizes that point. Pollan argues for a more natural approach to food. He calls for more fresh produce and less nutrient enhanced replacements. This stance has been championed by the celebrity food industry for years. Most of the chefs and cooks for Food Network, for instance, consistently advocate using the freshest ingredients available, for both health and flavor. In concordance, the Food Network chefs who have a habit of using canned goods, boxed premade ingredients, and frozen produce have a certain notoriety for being subpar at best (think Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee).
As I began to investigate this further, I turned to my habit: investigate the extreme. What exactly is a vegetarian diet? Per its namesake, it’s a diet consisting of mainly plants. Generally speaking, individuals who identify as vegetarian will still eat eggs, drink milk, and eat fish (as, by definition, fish isn’t “meat”). Though there are some concerns about staying healthy while vegetarian, particularly with lacking certain chemicals and nutrients, in this day of modern science one can live as a vegetarian without any negative side effects, aside from difficulty find anything to eat when not in an urban center. My mother did vegetarian many years ago and seemed to see some very positive results from it. Taking it one step further are the vegans. They seek to ensure that whatever they consume was in no part a product of an animal. Theirs is a total lifestyle, rejecting food, products, clothing— anything that made use of animals. Fish have feelings, the whole 9 yards. And of course, they have their crazier associates among PETA.
On the other philosophical spectrum are those who advocate nearly all meat diets. The Atkins diet, apart from being highly dangerous, has claimed thousands as advocates, and even convinced food chains to add it to their menus. They advocate the consumption of meat over carbohydrates to force the
body to use fat as fuel. It works, but it has its side effects. Generally speaking you don’t have to advocate Atkins to advocate a high consumption of meat. In fact, you just have to be American. We package meats to such an extent that we can hardly recognize the animal in the meat. We even alter the meat’s appearance so it can conform to our perception of what meat should look like, as though it were bread dough to be shaped into creation.
So, as you can see, struck with dilemma, I came to no firm conclusion, but I did decide on a couple of things. First, and foremost, if I’m going to use meat, it cannot go to waste. Though I need to accept food waste in my home, I refuse to accept meat waste. If an animal must die for me to eat, then dammit I’m going to eat that meat. I should at least give the animal that much respect. I’ve also decided to lower my meat consumption to one type of meat a day, for one meal and only one meal each day, at only one serving of that meat per meal. Maybe I do need meat in my diet, but I don’t need much. Other than that, I have no answers. What do you think?
I’ll leave you with this discussion on the matter:
Chicken Soup with Dumplings
Pumpkin pancakes for breakfast to use up the rest of the pumpkin. They were very moist but I don't know that I care for them. Got it from one of my favorite food blogs.
Had a peach for lunch.
Made chicken soup with dumplings for dinner. Used the chicken broth from poaching the chicken from the enchiladas as the broth for the soup. Sauteed onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil, added salt, pepper, and thyme to it until aromatic, then added the 6 cups of broth. Added bays leaves and a cup of milk to the broth and let it begin to boil, before dropping it to a simmer. Added about 15 ounces of diced chicken, cooked that for about 15 minutes, before adding some whole wheat dumplings. Got the dumplings recipe from another of my favorite food blogs but altered the recipe to use whole wheat. The dumplings were quite dense, next time I'll form them smaller.
Dense whole wheat dumplings, however, are extremely satisfying!
Had a cup of low fat ice cream for dessert and ate some air-popped popcorn with the kids while we watched Monsters Vs. Aliens. Ate popcorn until I hit 1000 calories, lol.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 1000
Had a peach for lunch.
Made chicken soup with dumplings for dinner. Used the chicken broth from poaching the chicken from the enchiladas as the broth for the soup. Sauteed onions, garlic, and carrots in olive oil, added salt, pepper, and thyme to it until aromatic, then added the 6 cups of broth. Added bays leaves and a cup of milk to the broth and let it begin to boil, before dropping it to a simmer. Added about 15 ounces of diced chicken, cooked that for about 15 minutes, before adding some whole wheat dumplings. Got the dumplings recipe from another of my favorite food blogs but altered the recipe to use whole wheat. The dumplings were quite dense, next time I'll form them smaller.
Had a cup of low fat ice cream for dessert and ate some air-popped popcorn with the kids while we watched Monsters Vs. Aliens. Ate popcorn until I hit 1000 calories, lol.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 1000
Salmon with Aspargus Tips
Same breakfast as the last several days.
Busy cleaning the house, neglected to have lunch.
Made salmon for dinner. Just pan fried it with a bit of salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon zest. Threw in some asparagus spears and used up an old box of Stove Top stuffing. Made it using the 1/3 calories margarine substitute from Blue Bonnet. Couldn't tell the difference, honestly.
Busy cleaning the house, neglected to have lunch.
Made salmon for dinner. Just pan fried it with a bit of salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon zest. Threw in some asparagus spears and used up an old box of Stove Top stuffing. Made it using the 1/3 calories margarine substitute from Blue Bonnet. Couldn't tell the difference, honestly.
Very simple meal.
Also made some pumpkin cookies because I'm planning to make some whole wheat pumpkin pancakes tomorrow morning.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 983
Oct 9, 2009
Penne alla Vodka
More egg and toast for breakfast.
Went to Subway for lunch again. Oven roasted chicken feels so healthy... could be awful though. I need to look into it, I imagine.
Made Penne alla Vodka for dinner. It was very quick. I used the remaining sauce from the other night and added 1/2 cup of vodka and 1/2 cup of cream, then stirred in some chalulu and red pepper flakes, with a small amount of parmigiano-reggiano. Tasty stuff.
Oct 7, 2009
Enchiladas Suiza and Pear Soup
Egg and toast for breakfast again! Had some light cran grape juice too.
Forgot to have lunch... naughty me...
Made Enchiladas Suiza for dinner. Followed this recipe from epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Enchiladas-Suizas-235502
Replaced non-fat and low calorie things where I could, so my calorie count was lower than theirs. I also used Cotija cheese instead of Monterrey Jack. Further, I made five servings instead of four. Good stuff but I think next time I won't mix the cheese into the sauce and instead put it on top like the recipe advised.
I know the pictures kind of bad... but paired with my enchiladas is a lovely bowl of poached pear soup. Recipe follows.
Forgot to have lunch... naughty me...
Made Enchiladas Suiza for dinner. Followed this recipe from epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Enchiladas-Suizas-235502
Replaced non-fat and low calorie things where I could, so my calorie count was lower than theirs. I also used Cotija cheese instead of Monterrey Jack. Further, I made five servings instead of four. Good stuff but I think next time I won't mix the cheese into the sauce and instead put it on top like the recipe advised.
· 5 pears, diced
· 3 cups sweet white wine
· ½ cup Triple Sec
· ½ cup syrup from canned pears or grape juice
· splash of lemon-lime soda
· mint leaves
Put the pears, orange liqueur, and wine in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Once the wine is boiling, lower the heat to medium and gently poach the pears uncovered until the wine has almost completely evaporated. Once there is only about a 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of wine left, put the pears and wine in a food processor and puree. Then turn the food processor on and slowly drizzle in the syrup or juice until the soup has reached the consistency you want. Chill in the refrigerator. Right before serving, add a splash of lemon-lime soda (I used a diet soda), top with mint. You could chop the mint leaves if you wish because they taste wonderful with the soup.
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 947
Oct 6, 2009
Spaghetti with Clams
The toast with egg thing is growing on me. The calories are so minimal but it's such a satisfying breakfast.
Had an apple for lunch.
Decided to experiment and made Spaghetti with some Venus Clams I found at Albertsons. It was delicious!
This is actually a lot easier than it might seem. Dice an onion and saute it in olive oil for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, start a pot of water boiling. Once the onions are translucent, add 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced. Saute that for 1 minute. I wanted some green beans with this, so I added them at this point (they were fresh, not canned). Then add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup red wine, like Marsala (to your taste, remember though, never use a wine to cook with that you wouldn't be willing to drink) though Sherry will work just as well. Add cherry or grape tomatoes, and saute until the wine starts to look like a syrup. It doesn't take very long. Finally, add the clams. As you place them one by one into the pan, if they're already open and won't close when tapped, they're bad. You can get very sick eating a bad clam. Once the clams are in place, cover the pan with a lid and steam for about 5-8 minutes. This can be fun to watch because as they cook the clams will begin to pop open. As they pop open, the clams release their juices which add to the wine and form a delicious sauce. Once the clams are done, remove them one by one. If any of the clams didn't open after the majority had opened, then the closed ones are bad. Again, don't attempt to eat a bad clam. Once you have the clams removed, toss the spaghetti with the beans, tomatoes, and sauce. I used whole wheat spaghetti, which, by the way, tastes great. Once you coat the spaghetti, dish it out and add the clams to the plates. I left the shells on because I was taking a picture and it looked cool that way, however, you can easily just remove the meat and put it in the dish (though this makes it very apparent that you're not getting a whole lot of meat from it).
I have about 300 calories left for the day, so I'm gonna have some fruit for dessert. I love clams!
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 994
Had an apple for lunch.
Decided to experiment and made Spaghetti with some Venus Clams I found at Albertsons. It was delicious!
This is actually a lot easier than it might seem. Dice an onion and saute it in olive oil for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, start a pot of water boiling. Once the onions are translucent, add 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced. Saute that for 1 minute. I wanted some green beans with this, so I added them at this point (they were fresh, not canned). Then add about 1/2 cup to 1 cup red wine, like Marsala (to your taste, remember though, never use a wine to cook with that you wouldn't be willing to drink) though Sherry will work just as well. Add cherry or grape tomatoes, and saute until the wine starts to look like a syrup. It doesn't take very long. Finally, add the clams. As you place them one by one into the pan, if they're already open and won't close when tapped, they're bad. You can get very sick eating a bad clam. Once the clams are in place, cover the pan with a lid and steam for about 5-8 minutes. This can be fun to watch because as they cook the clams will begin to pop open. As they pop open, the clams release their juices which add to the wine and form a delicious sauce. Once the clams are done, remove them one by one. If any of the clams didn't open after the majority had opened, then the closed ones are bad. Again, don't attempt to eat a bad clam. Once you have the clams removed, toss the spaghetti with the beans, tomatoes, and sauce. I used whole wheat spaghetti, which, by the way, tastes great. Once you coat the spaghetti, dish it out and add the clams to the plates. I left the shells on because I was taking a picture and it looked cool that way, however, you can easily just remove the meat and put it in the dish (though this makes it very apparent that you're not getting a whole lot of meat from it).
I have about 300 calories left for the day, so I'm gonna have some fruit for dessert. I love clams!
Total Calorie Count for the Day: 994
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