French Onion Soup, Meatballs and a Kitchen Assistant

Yesterday, I spent almost the whole day in the kitchen. Well, not the whole day but several hours at least. That was not my intention when I woke up but it just ended up that way. It began around lunchtime when I was really hungry but just didn't want a PB&J or a hot dog so I decided to make something for myself. I didn't want to make a whole meal or anything so soup seemed like the logical choice. Since my fridge was pretty bare of any ingredients, I strode over to the pantry to see what was there and I settled on making French Onion Soup. Man, it was GOOD! If you'd like the recipe, click HERE.

As previously stated, my fridge was bare as was my pantry so I was scrambling to put together the ingredients necessary to make the soup. I had onions, beef broth, thyme, flour, butter, bread and cheese and once I put them all together, this is was I got:

It was surprisingly good considering there wasn't a recipe to follow and the ingredients were thrown together in a moment. The only thing I wasn't completely wild about was the bread I used for the top but my choices were pretty limited. A slice of a baguette would have been much, much better but I used what was on hand, Pepperidge Farm Whole Grain Farmhouse Style White Bread. It was put in a 400 degree oven for about 10 mins, until dry and toasted and it worked out ok but it was definitely the weakest part of the soup. If you can't dowload the document at the link above, here is the recipe:

French Onion Soup in a Pinch

Ingredients:
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 small yellow onions
ground thyme, 2 tsp
2 Tbs flour
3 cups of broth (beef or a combo of beef and chicken)
thyme leaves, dried 1 tsp
cream or milk 1/4 cup
dry sherry
2 pieces of hearty bread
cheese of your choosing (swiss, mozz, parm)

Take your two yellow onions and cut them in half. Peel off the outer paper and skin then cut them into half rings. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium high heat along with the olive oil. Once it is bubbling, add the onions, salt, pepper, and ground thyme and cook until caramelized but not scorched. Stir constantly to keep them from burning.

Once the onions are ready, add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and then taste. Add more salt and pepper if necessary. Add the dried thyme leaves and the cream and stir in 1-2 Tbs of dry sherry. Turn heat to low.

While this is cooking, spray two pieces of bread with Pam and place on a cookie sheet in a 400-degree oven until very toasted and dry. Then, put soup in ovenproof bowls, top each with one slice of bread and then sprinkle the top with either swiss, parmesan, or mozz cheese. I used shredded mozz. Put under the broiler or in 400 degree oven set to convection until cheese is brown and bubbly.

Sit down and eat. I hope you enjoy it!

After lunch, it was time for my next projects: mini hamburgers and meatballs. I wasn't wild with how these turned out so you won't see the recipe here but I ended up with 24 mini burgers and three jelly-roll pans of these:


Well, what the heck. I'll tell you how I made the meatballs and perhaps you can improve them or suggest something that might make them better next time.

Ingredients:
1 lbs ground italian sausage (mild)
2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
garlic powder
onion powder
italian-style breadcumbs
salt
pepper
milk

I combined all the ingredients until moist then I pinched off a piece and rolled it into small-medium sized balls. These were placed on the pan and then cooked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. It seemed like they needed another layer of flavor or something, like more herbs. They were fine, just not "wow" for me. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them!

Later in the day, while making the mini burgers, I called my sister for a quick minute. During the call, she told me that my niece was sad because my sister told her she couldn't come play with us. "She can come play!" I said. So, off I went to pick up my kitchen assistant. Though I didn't know it would work out like that at the time. :)

When we got back to my house, she wanted to help me in the kitchen. See, my sister cooks all the time and my niece, though only two, loves to get in there and help out. So we pulled up a stool and let her make her own creation. Look at this face:

Who could tell her no?

Somewhere in our house she found a mini rolling pin and she wanted to roll out my meatballs but that didn't seem like a good idea so I gave her a piece of bread.

She requested some cheese to put on top and then she proceeded to roll it out. Sort of. Then she pretended to make soup and let all of us taste it, including herself.

This is where a healthy relationship with food begins, by letting your children in the kitchen early. Allowing them to see where meals are created and giving them the freedom to experiment with things as well. It is one of the things I wish my mother had done with me and it is something my sister does all the time with her daughter. Wonderful!

I have to say, after being in the kitchen with all that meat cooking yesterday pretty much cured my interest in meatballs for quite some time. I'm glad I made a big batch because it certainly seems like a money saver to have so many on hand in the freezer but I think it will be a while before I eat any myself. LOL

Today, I'm making a standing rib roast for dinner so be sure to come back tomorrow for the scoop on that!

What's Going On

Well, it has been a pretty crazy few weeks. After my dietary psychotic self left that incredibly desperate post, I had a change of heart and decided to stay with eating whole foods from all groups. Then, a week into November, I got bronchitis and laryngitis and am still suffering today though admittedly not like I was in the beginning. I survived the Thanksgiving holiday without gaining weight and feel like that is an acheivement of which to be proud. Now, it's on to Christmas. The extended holiday period that is laden with sweets, rich foods, and all kinds of wonderful temptations. I do feel prepared though to meet the challenge of eating well. Can't explain how that happened but a new sense of determination has settled over me and I feel good about things again. If you are currently or have ever battled with your weight, maybe you can identify with the schizophrenic feelings associated with trying to get a grip on the best course of action. At any rate, it feels like things are going well on that front.

Today, I sat down with my kids and we had a really long discussion about how we have been eating and what we need to do in order to make healthier decisions about the food we put into our bodies. They seem to live on the following:

• nitrate-free hot dogs
• chicken nuggets
• spaghetti (whole wheat)
• broccoli
• peanut butter and honey sandwiches on whole wheat
• homemade cheeseburgers
• grapes
• apples
• corn

It's not the worst list in the world but it could use a little variety. I told them that, with the state our economy is in, I cannot afford to keep running the kitchen like a restaurant and they are going to have to start eating what we eat. I just can't fix three meals every night, it's exhausting and expensive. So we sat together and came up with a bunch of different things that they will eat and they agreed to try some new things, too. We all agreed if someone doesn't like the meal being offered then they have the option of eating a PB and honey sandwich instead but, they have to try the dinner I cooked first. It felt good to include them and get their input on what they are willing to do in order to make our meals more affordable and healthy for us all.

I still need to find my own inspiration in the kitchen. It hasn't hit me yet and I've been yearning for it to do so. I've already planned our Christmas Day dinner that we eat with our extended family and I feel pretty underwhelmed by that but it is what it is. Sean and I decided that next year, we're switching things up and, instead of doing dinner with everyone, we're going to do a brunch on Christmas Day. So far, the only people struggling with that idea are my sister and her husband and they have said they may not make it next year. I will be seriously disappointed if that happens but, they have their own family and their own feelings about what is important for them and I can only respect the choice they make. It's not up to me to decide for anyone else. I think it's going to be fun though. Surprisingly, my mom is really excited about it. She was actually encouraging me to go ahead and make the change this year but I knew my sister would feel like that was too much of a curve ball so we've decided to hold off until next year. I don't want to cause any bad feelings right at the holiday, ya know?

I don't know if anyone still reads here, as slack as I have been about updating but, if you're out there, I would love to know the answer to this question. What is your favorite cookbook or website related to cooking? I have a gazillion cookbooks sitting on the shelf and yet I cannot find anything in any of them that is inspiring me to get in the kitchen and create something delicious. What is the best book on your shelf? What is your favorite recipe? I have several books by the barefoot Contessa and find things I like in all of them but I want to try something new. Any suggestions made will be greatly appreciated!!

Here is a picture of the last meal I ate before I got bronchitis and wished I would fall off the face of the earth:


It was a petite sirloin, bacon and onion potato gratin and sauteed green beans. The steak was awful. Of course, I bought it at walmart so I don't know why I expected it to be any different. Everything else was delicious though. Especially the potato gratin. It was my first time making one and it was sooooo good!! And easy, too.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough but I am really looking forward to seeing some cookbook suggestions. And hopeful that someone still reads here enough to make said suggestions. LOL

I'm so lost

I don't even know where to begin. At the beginning you say? Fine, except I really don't know where that is. My weight is such an issue. I'm depressed and loathe seeing myself in the mirror or, god-forbid, a photograph. I feel....desperate...lost...confused. I have tried so many things over the years and the only one to give me the best success was eating low carb. See, my struggle with weight is much like an alcoholic's struggle with the bottle. I can say this because my mother is an alcoholic and I've witnessed first-hand her battle to quit harming herself with booze. It's tough and, while I do not drink, I do eat. My self-medication is food and I will use it and abuse it like nobody's business. Now though, I'm actually afraid. I'm afraid that my health is going to get to a place of no return and I will die at an early age. It would be devastating for my boys to lose their mother so now is the time for me to get my shit together. Even though Thanksgiving, with all it's glorious, carb-laden side dishes is right around the corner I have to do something. Even though Christmas, with it's stocking's full of chocolate bounty, is only a short time away, I have to do something. I am unable to do a modified portion size lifestyle. That just doesn't work for me. I have to go back to doing low carb.

This time, low carb eating is going to be different. I'm going to do it differently in the respect that I'm not going to eat a bunch of fake foods to replace the ones I'm omitting. I will only use artificial sweetners in my tea or in a sauce if need be and I'm not going to eat a bunch of candy full of sugar alcohols. Believe me when I say this alone will make my family happy. My low carb days were some of the gassiest in history, all because of sugar alcohols. TMI. Sorry.

I will continue to document my journey and hope you will continue to join me. This site is about food and eating, too, and even though I'm cutting out flour-based meals and desserts, I'm still going to get my delicious grub on.

Now, I'm off to make up a meal plan for the upcoming week. I have roasted red pepper soup on my mind and may have to whip up a batch!!!

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches!

Wow, isn't this exciting?! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community! Here is a copy of the press release:

"LAUNCH OF GLOBAL FOODBUZZ BLOGGER COMMUNITY
LEVERAGES REAL-PEOPLE, REAL-TIME POWER OF FOOD PUBLISHING

San Francisco – October 13, 2008: Foodbuzz, Inc., officially inaugurates its food blogger community with more than 1,000 blog partners, a global food blogging event and an online platform that captures the real-people, real-time power of food publishing in every corner of the world. At launch, the Foodbuzz community ranks as one of the top-10 Internet destinations for food and dining (Quantcast), with bloggers based in 45 countries and 863 cities serving up daily food content.
“Food bloggers are at the forefront of reality publishing and the dramatic growth of new media has redefined how food enthusiasts access tasty content,” said Doug Collister, Executive Vice President of Foodbuzz, Inc. “Food bloggers are the new breed of local food experts and at any minute of the day, Foodbuzz is there to help capture the immediacy of their hands-on experiences, be it a memorable restaurant meal, a trip to the farmers market, or a special home-cooked meal.”
Foodbuzz is the only online community with content created exclusively by food bloggers and rated by foodies. The site offers more than 20,000 pieces of new food and dining content weekly, including recipes, photos, blog posts, videos and restaurant reviews. Members decide the “tastiness” of each piece of content by voting and “buzz” the most popular posts to the top of the daily menu of submissions. Foodbuzz currently logs over 13 million monthly page views and over three million monthly unique visitors.
“Our goal is to be the number-one online source of quality food and dining content by promoting the talent, enthusiasm and knowledge of food bloggers around the globe,” said Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, Inc.

The Foodbuzz blogger community is growing at a rate of 40 percent per month driven by strong growth in existing partner blogs and the addition of over 100 new blogs per month. “The Foodbuzz.com Web site is like the stock of a great soup. The Web site provides the base or backbone for bloggers to interact as a community, contribute content, and have that content buzzed by their peers,” said Mr. Dehan.
Global Blogging Event
Demonstrating the talent and scope of the Foodbuzz community, 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs offered online food enthusiasts an international, virtual street festival of food and diversity. The new feature showcased blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz partner bloggers chronicling events occurring around the globe during a 24 hour period and included:
• Mid-Autumn Festival Banquest (New York, NY)
• The "Found on Foodbuzz" 24-Item Tasting Menu (San Francisco, CA)
• Aussie BBQ Bonanza – Celebrating Diversity (Sydney, Australia)
• The Four Corners of Carolina BBQ Road Trip (Charleston, SC)
• Criminal Tastes – An Illegal Supper (Crested Butte, CO)
• From Matambre to Empanadas: An Argentine Dinner (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• A Sweet Trompe l’oeil (Seattle, WA)

“24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs” captures the quality and unique local perspective of our food bloggers and shared it with the world,” said Ryan Stern, Director of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community. “It illustrates exactly what the future of food publishing is all about – real food, experienced by real people, shared real-time.”
About Foodbuzz, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, Foodbuzz, Inc., launched its beta Web site, foodbuzz.com, in 2007. In less than a year, Fooduzz.com and its community of over 1,000 exclusive partner food blogs have grown into an extended online property that reaches more than three million users. "


Please go to Foodbuzz.com and check out what the "buzz" is all about!

Sharking

That's what I call it when I keep going into the kitchen and looking for something to eat repeatedly, without finding anything. I keep circling the kitchen, and circling the kitchen until I'm so hungry I'm ready to take a bite out of the fridge itself to see if it tastes good. Thankfully, these days, my sharking has been cut back extensively. I've been eating good food, in proper small portions, and haven't been snacking in-between meals. Now though, I'm sharking in a different way - via the internet.

Yes, now I circle the world wide web looking for new and delicious recipes to try. Especially since the holidays are right around the corner, I want to experiment and try some new things. The holidays always find me mired down in the regulars but this year, I'm going to step out of the box and try something new. If you know of any websites that have some wonderful things I might try, please feel free to leave a link here. I just don't want Green Bean Casserole this year. GASP!!! Did those words actually just escape my fingertips?? Blasphemy, I tell you. Long has GBC been one of my favorite foods, indeed I am known in my family for making it better than anyone else. A strange feat considering the ingredients but HEY! I'm going to take the accolades however I can get them, okay?

Somethings for which I'd like recipes are:

• different way to prepare sweet potatoes, my new love
• brussels sprouts
• stuffing (I use my mom's cornbread dressing recipe which is to die for but want to try something else)
• zucchini, squash, broccoli, or cauliflower

I am looking for things to make completely from scratch. No soup-in-a-can-casseroles for me this year. Nope, I'm trying to go old school which will without a doubt be a lot more work but I want to take on the challenge of seeing if I can do it. Any websites or recipes you can point me towards are greatly appreciated. Now, if you will excuse me, I've got some googling to do.

OMG People

Last night, I decided to get a little jiggy with my menu. See, I tend to be one of those people who gets in a cooking rut and will cook the same things week after week. It's easy for me to blame it on my husband's work schedule but I'm not going to do that anymore. I want to step out and experiment in the kitchen, get adventurous! Last night was the first step down that path.

While out and about yesterday I stopped off at one of our more chichi grocery stores and bought 2 snow crab clusters. Sean and I spent last weekend in MD and had some of the best crab we've ever eaten and I wanted to try and fix it myself. What I didn't know about the snow crab you buy at a store is that it's already fully cooked, just frozen afterwards so all you're really doing is heating it up. Ok, so that sounds like a no-brainer! I'm liking it already! I asked the butcher how it should be prepared and he said I had my choice of either boiling the clusters for a few minutes or baking them at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. I chose to boil them. This is so simple, y'all.

Take these ingredients here:


and place them in a large stockpot filled 3/4 full with water. Don't use the whole container of Old Bay, only use about 1/2 cup. Bring the water and Old Bay to a boil and add the crab to the pot, boil for about 5-7 minutes and voila! Crab legs! They were really delicious, easy, and low on the mess in the kitchen. Serve with melted butter and you will think you've died and gone to heaven. I must confess that, although I melted a couple of tablespoons of butter, Sean and I really ate most of the crab plain. It's so sweet and delicate that it doesn't need much adornment. I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

Fast forward to breakfast this morning. No, it didn't involve crab at all, just pancakes. Buttermilk pancakes that is. A couple of nights ago, the boys and I were watching "Good Eats" on Food TV with Alton Brown and he was showing viewers how to make the perfect pancake. Admittedly my pancakes always just turn out so-so, as a result I watched the episode with interest. This morning I was inspired to make some buttermilk pancakes and by using some of Alton's tips they were the best I've ever made!! Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
3 Tbs sugar (i used turbinado sugar)
1 1/2 cups to 2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

If you have a countertop griddle with a thermometer setting, bully for you! I don't so I had to heat up a large skillet, sprayed lightly with Pam and then wiped clean. If you're one of the lucky saps with a griddle, heat it to 350 degrees.

In the meantime, mix together the egg, 1 1/2 cup of buttermilk, vanilla extract, and oil in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, place the 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour. Pour the wet ingredients on top of the dry and mix, counting to 10. According to Alton, over-mixing is the reason pancakes turn out badly so I was very carfeul NOT to over-mix! The batter was still lumpy but that was ok. It was a little too thick and I didn't catch it until I got the first few cakes in the pan. I went back and added a splash or two of buttermilk to thin the batter out and the results were beautiful!



See how thick they are? Yummmm. I used a cookie dough scoop to measure out my batter in the pan so this recipe made at least 24 small pancakes. I served myself three, topped with pure maple syrup...


No, that's not butter on top, it's the reflection of the light over my stove. These were so moist they didn't need a lick of butter. My only complaint was they were a touch gummy. Anyone know why that might be? Please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know!

Pork Tenderloin

Have you ever prepared Pork tenderloin? many people are intimidated about cooking pork because, let's face it. It can get pretty dry if you don't do it right and, there have been many, many, times when I didn't do it right. But a couple of nights ago, I prepared the most juicy, succulent pork tenderloin I've ever cooked.

When I buy the meat at the store, it comes in a package with two long pieces. I take the "tail" end, where it tapers down to a thin narrow strip and fold it under, tying it off with some cooking twine to insure even doneness. Is that a word? I don't know. I'm not a pro, people. Anyway, usually, I season the meat with olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, and herbs de provence, then sear all sides in a pan, and then put the pan in the oven to finish it off. Well, this time, I only seasoned it with some garlic salt, pepper, herbs de provence, put it in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes and took it out when the temp read about 170 degrees on a meat thermometer. I let it rest for about 15 minutes and people? Let me tell you, this was the best pork tenderloin I've ever eaten. it was perfectly cooked all the way through and each piece was so tender and juicy I thought my husband was going to ask me to marry him all over again. It was that good. If you haven't tried this cut of meat, do it ASAP. You will not be sorry. It is also a pleasantly nutritious meat. here are the facts for a 3 oz serving, roasted:

Amount Per Serving
Calories
122
Calories from Fat
27
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
3.0g
5%
Saturated Fat
1.0g
5%
Trans Fat
0.0g
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.4g
Monounsaturated Fat
1.1g
Cholesterol
62mg
21%
Sodium
48mg
2%
Total Carbohydrates
0.0g
0%
Protein
22.2g

Serve it with some wild rice cooked in beef broth and some steamed broccoli topped with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper and you've got a winner of a meal.

On the personal front, I have been doing quite well with getting back on track with portions and eating whole foods instead of processed. So far so good!!

Harsh Realities of Losing Weight

This blog is called the Incredible Shrinking Whimsigal. It is so titled because I've long been on a journey to shrink my size. That has been slow in happening. :) It's not just my dress size that I want to shrink though. If I can shrink the portions I serve on my plate, if I can shrink my grocery budget, those count as little successes, too. The harsh reality is, I have not been focused on reducing my portion size and as a result, my own size has not reduced in any way. That must change. I absolutely believe that you can eat delicious food and lose weight, it just requires a little more sense when you eat and some activity as well. For the last few months, I've been lying to myself because I eat McDonald's once a week and just plain eat out a lot. In order to lose weight that cannot continue. In order to be healthy that cannot continue. There is just so much junk in processed, prepared food that no one can live a healthy lifestyle by eating that all the time. It's time for me to get serious and be brutally honest with myself. As long I as I don't make any changes, I won't see any changes and it's as simple as that. It's time to get back to basics. Eat good, whole food. Prepare as much as I can on my own, even snack foods like chips. This is not a difficult task, I just haven't been serious about it for a while and have been lazing along, telling myself, "Oh I'll start tomorrow," and that tomorrow never comes. Until today. Today, I'm making a commitment to myself to be serious about getting healthy. No excuses, no procrastination. You will continue to see delicious meals here and I will break down for you what size portion I ate. I am going back to the tenets of Dr. Will Clower and am going to slow down when I eat. So many times, my meals are rushed, or eaten in the car and that has all got to change. Will you join me in living a more mindful life? Can you commit to sitting down at the table at least once a day and enjoying a slow meal? That is the commitment I'm making and I hope you'll stick around to watch me do it. For those of you who are in the same boat I am and need to lose some weight, don't give up. It's so easy to get frustrated and we tend to be harder on ourselves than anyone else but please, don't do that. It's a recipe for failure. If you fall down, just get back up. You can do it and I can, too. We just have to honor the commitment to ourselves to do so. Now that all of that is out of the way, would you like to see what I made for lunch yesterday? Great! Right this way!

One of my favorite things to do with beef and beef leftovers is make Shepherd's Pie. It's a dish that I grew up eating and have long loved and whenever I make it, the house smells amazing and transports me back in time to my childhood. Usually, I make it with ground beef because it's not often that I have leftover roast beef on hand On this occasion though there was leftover London Broil so I decided to give it a shot as the star of one of my favorite meals.

Because the meat is described as London Broil, one might think that those words describe the cut of meat when, in fact London Broil describes the manner in which the meat is cooked. The cut of London Broil is usually Top Round and here is the nutritional info, in case you're interested, as noted by The Daily Plate:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 ounce (28g)
Amount per Serving
Calories 49 Calories from Fat 11
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1g 2%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 17mg 6%
Sodium 12mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 0g
Protein 9g 18%
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%
Iron 4%
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat 18.4% Carbs 0.0%
Protein 73.5%

You can see that it is a fairly lean cut of meat and it is generally prepared in the following manner:

marinate the beef
broil or grill to medium rare
slice across the grain at a 45-degree angle

If not prepared correctly, it an be a horrible dining experience. On this particular occasion, I did not marinate my London Broil and it was fine but I did cook it under the broiler for 6 mins per side, after generously seasoning it with McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning. I was the only one home to eat it so there was quite a bit leftover and that's when I decided to use it in shepherd's pie. It was divine! The montreal steak seasoning really added a lot of kick to a dish that can be comfortable but less than exciting to eat. I wholeheartedly recommend that spice blend and use it ALL the time. Here is my recipe:

Shepherds Pie
Serves 6-8

1-1.5 lbs top round, London Broil, cooked, seasoned with Montreal Steak Seasoning (i was using leftovers)
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 - 3/4 cup of frozen chopped onion, (or fresh)
1 Tbs olive oil
salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 yukon gold potatoes, prepared as mashed potatoes
3/4 can beef broth
flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and spray a casserole dish with Pam.

First, cube the leftover london broil, not too fine, but into very small, bite-size pieces. Next, over medium heat in a large saute pan, heat up the 1 Tbs of olive oil. When it's hot enough, add the onions and saute until the begin to soften. At this point, add the cubed london broil and the garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. This gives the beef some time to warm up and release some of the fat that has grown cold in the fridge. At this point, begin adding flour in 1 Tbs increments until the meat is covered well but not too much. You're going to add the beef broth to make a gravy but you don't want it too thick. Cook for a couple of minutes to give the flour a chance to cook down a bit and then add the beef broth. Continue to cook and add the frozen peas. You can microwave them first but it's not necessary if you want to skip that step. Once the mixture begins to thicken, it's ready to go into the casserole dish. Carefully transfer it from the pan to this dish, if it splatters you'll get burned so watch out! Once the mixture is in the dish, top it with the mashed potatoes you made, or, if you're lucky you can use potatoes you had leftover, too! Sometimes, I take 2 Tbs of butter and dice it and place it on top of the potatoes before putting it in the oven. This time however I did not do that and it was still delish. One other thing, I always place my casserole dish on a foil covered cookie sheet because sometimes the gravy will bubble over the top. This will prevent a messy oven! Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes then take it out and let it cool down for about 20-30 minutes. Serve in a small bowl and enjoy!

Recent Eats

This week has been filled with good eats. On Sunday, I had big plans for watching football, even though I would be doing it by myself. The planned menu was homemade buffalo wings with ranch, chips and dip, and chocolate cake. None of that came to fruition because I spent all of Sunday morning helping my two boys clean their rooms. By the time that chore was done, I sat on the sofa with a ham sandwich and a pickle and watched the games. Fine by me, I really didn't need all that food to myself anyway. On Monday though, Ryan (my youngest) and I decided to get in the kitchen and make some chocolate cupcakes. He and I sat together on the sofa and looked through Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, and picked a recipe that looked pretty scrumptious to us both. Baking generally is not my forte. In the kitchen my tendency is to be haphazard and not measure things exactly. Cooking is forgiving of this method where baking needs precise measurements. As a result, I don't bake things from scratch very often. These cupcakes though were simple and absolutely divine when they were done.

Here is the recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes as adapted form Dorie Greenspan in the book, Baking From My Home to Yours.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a 12-cup muffin pan, fill each mold with a paper cup.

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa, whisking them together. Then in another bowl or in your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed. Add sugar and beat for 2 minutes. Then add the egg, mix well then add the yolk and beat until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl between egg additions. Beat in the vanilla, reduce speed on mixer to low and add half of your dry ingredients. Again, scrape down your bowl, add the buttermilk and mix well, then add the rest of your dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl once again and add the cooled, melted chocolate. Using a cookie scoop or your choice of instrument, scoop the batter evenly into the 12 muffin cups.

Place on the center rack of your oven and bake for a minimum of 22 minutes. In my oven this was plenty so be sure to keep your eye on them. Let them cool on a wire rack and frost if you desire. We just have been eating them plain!! Y'all, the batter alone was heavenly.

The cupcakes were beautiful and delicious. So simple to make and I will absolutely make these again. Why use a box when you can create something so good from scratch?

If you've read here before, you know I love to eat biscuits. Now that the temps are cooler in the morning, it's hard to beat the fresh, steamy goodness of a made-from-scratch biscuit. Again, why use biscuits in a can when you can quickly whip up a good, wholesome biscuit yourself. I use White Lily flour, which is the BEST, and their recipe on the back of the package. Simplicity defined. 2 cups White Lily self-rising flour, 1/4 cup butter or shortening, 2/3 to 3/4 cup of buttermilk or milk. They say to bake them at 500 degrees but in my oven, that will cremate your late Uncle George so instead, I cook them at 450 or 475. Know your equipment. It will help you get wonderful results. One thing that is interesting about these biscuits is, depending on what the weather is like, you may need more or less liquid. Today I think I probably used a cup of buttermilk and my dough was almost too sticky to roll out. ALMOST...it worked out wonderfully.

Oh, the smell of your house once you bake these in the oven is to DIE for!!! When my husband is home and I make these while he's still sleeping, the smell alone will wake him from the deepest slumber and lure him downstairs.

My favorite way to eat these is with a touch of salted butter on each half, and then a bit of either grape or cherry jam:

Oh...mercy day. So, SO good!!!

On the weight loss front, right now, I'm at 198. My goal is to lose 5 lbs a month and I think that seems pretty doable. I just have to get my butt in gear and start walking on my treadmill. NO more excuses! It's time to get it done!

Tomorrow I'm going to show you what I do with leftover london broil and mashed potatoes. It's a recipe you've seen here before but a teensy bit different because of the meat.

See you then!

Sweet Potatoes - Not Just for Thanksgiving

As more and more Americans are trying to find ways to get more whole, nutritious foods into their diets, many are branching out and trying things that might otherwise be reserved for specific purposes. Take the sweet potato for example. For years, this vegetable has been prepared as a sweet side dish during our most gluttonous holiday of the year- Thanksgiving. Whether cooked into a Sweet Potato Pie or baked in a casserole topped with mini marshmallows, this vegetable has long adorned the holiday tables of many an American family. I'd like to invite you now to try this root vegetable in another incarnation. I like to use sweet potatoes to make soup.

Sweet potatoes in soup was not my creation. When Sean (my husband) and I went on our honeymoon 10 years ago, we ate a bowl of this in Disney World. I was never a fan of sweet potatoes and would rebel should anyone dare to put them on my plate but, on this particular occasion, my throat was sore and soup was the only thing I could imagine eating. The only soup on the menu utilized sweet potatoes as the main ingredient so, in desperation, I ordered it. That soup was the most heavenly soup I have ever eaten and last year, I decided to try and recreate it. While I haven't been able to do that, my recipe is tolerable and my husband and I actually enjoy it quite a bit. Now that the weather has turned a bit colder, tonight seemed like as good a time as any to prepare this soup. Be warned, it looks like baby food. I can't lie to you about that but it is good and it will warm you up when things are chilly outside so here is my recipe:

Sweet Potato Soup
serves 4

2 large sweet potatoes (baked)
1 tbs butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
cumin
chili powder
cinnamon
salt and pepper
1 to 1 1/2 cups of GOOD chicken broth like Kitchen Basics brand
milk or cream (optional)

1. I baked the sweet potatoes in the oven because I think this caramelizes the sugars in the potato. Is this true? I have no idea but it's in my head that it does so this is how I prepare them for the soup.
   
2. I take the potatoes out to cool and while this is going on, I melt the Tbs of butter in a saucepan over medium high heat and add the chopped onion and 1 minced clove of garlic.
3. To this, I add 1/2 to 1 tsp of cumin, 1/8 to 1/2 tsp of chili powder, 1/2 tsp pf cinnamon, a generous pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of pepper. I let this cook over medium heat until the onions are soft but be careful not to burn the garlic as it will get bitter.
   
4. When the onions are soft, I scrape the flesh from the sweet potatoes and add it to the saucepan with the onions.
   
5. To this, I add the chicken broth. Please use good chicken broth. I used Swanson's and it is just too weak to be useful in this situation. Kitchen Basics is the best but I was being cheap. Don't make the same mistake.
   
6. After I added the broth, I used my immersion blender to smooth together the potatoes and the onions. My taste leans towards a thicker consistency but you may prefer a thinner soup. If that is the case, just add more chicken broth. In the event that you don't have an immersion blender, you may use a food processor or a regular blender.
   
7. When using a regular blender, PLEASE BE CAREFUL. You must cover the top with a towel when blending hot liquids or else it will splatter and you will get burned. Not good! Be safe and spend the $20 on an immersion blender!!
   
8. At this point, taste your soup. Is it spicy enough for you? If not, add a couple of shakes of tabasco. Make sure it is to your liking.
   
9. At this time, you may add milk or cream if you like. It is quite good this way. Tonight, I just went for plain jane without milk and it was still good.

Serve this with a side salad and you have a wonderful, light, healthful dinner. It only takes about 30 minutes to put this together, not including the baking time for the potatoes.

As far as nutrition is concerned, you can't go wrong with these little beauties. Sweet potatoes contain twice the daily recommended allowance of Vitamin A and nearly half the daily requirement of Vitamin C. It's low calorie yet chock full of nutritious goodness. For more information on them, go HERE. Sweet potatoes are such a wonderful vegetable and they don't have to be slathered in butter and smothered in brown sugar and mini marshmallows. Not that there's anything wrong with that but if you're looking for a different way to prepare these, give this a try. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

(tap, tap) Is this thing on?

It has been a while and things have been crazy as hell around here but, what's new right? Everyone's lives are crazy these days and it seems like much of my time is spent trying to keep myself from eating my way through a bad economy. LOL Seriously though times are hard all over and trying to lose weight while keeping the grocery bill down is not exactly the easiest thing to accomplish.

I'm off to watch my oldest child play baseball but I am planning to write a more in depth post tonight. Fall is here and it is my favorite time of the year. So many good things to eat and so many good recipes to share! I have a wonderful one to share with you this evening and, if you like soup and if you like sweet potatoes, you will like this recipe for sure.

Stay tuned!

Liar, Liar :)

So. I told a lie this week. Well, is it a lie if you say you're going to do something and then don't? I don't know the technicalities involved but this week I failed to follow through on the menu. Not good. We went to the grocery store unprepared today and hungry, too which is NEVER a good idea. $117 later, we left. I have some vague ideas about what we'll eat but nothing written down. Oh well, we'll just have to post our eats daily, I guess. :)

In other news, tomorrow I go back to my doctor for a follow-up appt. Can't wait. Here's hoping I get a good report.

This has been a crazy week in our state. On Monday, the remnants of Hurricane Fay worked their way here and our yard suddenly looked like it had a pond in it. Not only that but for some reason, the rain drove all these flies inside and that was nothing but madness and mayhem for two days straight! I felt like I was in a video game, in a stage where I'm fighting these things but they keep coming back. It was unreal and very disturbing. Finally today we are fly-free and I'm cooking for the first time this week. I didn't want to be anywhere near the kitchen because the flies kept congregating around the window over my sink. SHUDDER! You have no idea how happy we are that the rain has stopped.

I hope wherever you are that you and your family are safe, dry, and comfortable. Getting ready for the long weekend? We'll just be glad to be together for three days straight. I love it when Sean has a day off.

More tomorrow!

That Time of Year

Around this time of year, summer begins to drag on for me. Maybe it's because I live in the South where summer tends to last until Halloween but whatever it is, I'm ready for Fall. Fall is my absolute most favorite season of the year. The changing leaves, fall festivals, candied apples, roasted chicken, pipin' hot bowls of soup, and the list goes on. All I can think about are the glorious meals that I can prepare once it's not 94 degrees outside anymore and I get more excited about that than Christmas! LOL

Sorry I missed a few posts lately. In my other life, I'm an aspiring photographer and am trying to get my business up and running. Right now, my brain has been on overdrive trying to deal with all the mundane details required to get a business started. It's pretty insane actually. I feel like I'm going 'round in circles with it and I'll be glad when it's complete!

This week, the boys and I are getting back to planning our menu. Grocery shopping is just useless these days without a plan and we can't afford to be planless! Tonight for example, I had to throw away $18 worth of FILET MIGNON because I didn't cook it in time and it turned doo doo brown. You cannot imagine my dismay and horror when I pulled those things out of the fridge. All day long I had been dreaming of preparing those gorgeous little beauties but instead, I ended up having a potato and a piece of chicken. It was good but it wasn't FILET MIGNON. Okay? So we can afford anymore instances like that and it's back to the menus for us with the boys choosing 4 nights worth of eats and me choosing the other 3. It worked out well in the first week and they actually have requested that we do it again.

Look for a menu post from me on Wednesday! Hope you're doing well!

Decadence

This week, I needed some comfort and sometimes, accompanying comfort is decadence. I had some chicken breasts that needed to be prepared so what did I do with them? Fried 'em up, y'all. Paula Deen style. Not a Paula Deen recipe but I fried them in my iron skillet in, wait for it...Crisco. I know it's horrible for you but I wanted to see how it would turn out prepared that way and it was mighty delicious. Definitely not weight loss fare but every once in a while, you've got to go a little bit wild.

Evie's Fried Chicken

2 large boneless, skinless breasts
1/2 - 3/4 cup of flour
1- 1 1/2 Tbs Montreal Steak Seasoning
1-2 tsps poultry seasoning
salt (for sprinkling afterwards)
2 Tbs crisco or enough oil to rise 1/2" on side of skillet

First, I pounded the chicken breasts to try and make them as evenly sized as possible. Then I put the flour and spices in a pie dish and dredged each breast through the mixture while the crisco was heating up. Do not add the chicken until that oil is good and hot or else you won't get a nice crust on your chicken. I cooked these for 5-7 minutes per side until I felt sure that they were done then I set them on papertowels to drain and rest until ready to eat. reserve drippings in pan to make gravy (see below).

Sides, Southern Green Beans and Mashed Potatoes with Cream Gravy.
For the beans you will need a 1/2 cup of chopped onion (I used frozen) 1 tsp butter, salt, pepper, ham boullion, and 1/2 package of frozen cut green beans. Oh, and water.

Before cooking the chicken, I actually got the beans going because they need to cook for a long time to get that good southern flavor happening. I put the butter in a saucepan and let it melt over medium heat and then I added the onions. I cooked these until they were soft and translucent. Then, I added about 1 tsp, maybe 2 of the boullion and some water (1/2 cup?). I stirred this until the boullion was well combined. Then I added the green beans and enough water to cover. I let this cook over medium low heat for 30-40 minutes.

I prepared the potatoes as I always do by dicing them, placing them in a saucepan and covering them with just enough water. Add salt, and gently boil for 10 minutes. Drain and then put back in the pan and cover, allowing them to steam for 15 minutes. Then I take my potato masher and smush them really well, adding butter and milk to taste. Add salt at the end if necessary. If you make cream gravy, be sure to keep a light hand with the salt in the potatoes. The gravy will be seasoned and you don't want to overdo it.

Gravy
reserved drippings
flour
salt and pepper
milk (to thin out)

Over medium low heat, add flour to the drippings in small increments until all the grease is absorbed. Cook for a couple of minutes stirring constantly. Then add milk (eyeball until gravy is right consistency), stirring well and add salt and pepper to taste. Then you're ready to eat!



So, so good y'all. Small portions. remember that. My weight is still holding steady at 197. I haven't gotten back into walking since I was sick but that's about to change. Things should begin moving off me once I get moving.

Make some chicken this weekend!

Sausage and Lentil Soup

Yesterday the temperature only went up to about 75 degrees and for August in the South, that is a very cool temperature. It got me in the mood for soup. But not a heavy, cream-based soup. No, I wanted something "light" and broth-based so I got out this bistro cookbook I have and proceeded to comb through it for a recipe. There was only one that I had most of the ingedients for so it was the one I decided to prepare. Here is my version of "Lentil Soup with Pork Sausages" as adapted from the Bistro Cooking cookbook, by Patricia Wells.

Ingredients:
1/2 package of nitrate free bacon
1 onion, chopped well
1 grated carrot
2 tsp ground cumin
2 cloves of garlic, pushed through a press or minced
4 whole cloves
2 1/4 quarts of liquid (I used half chicken broth and half water)
1 pound organic french green lentils
2 bay leaves
1 Tbs unsalted butter
3 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
1 package of polish kielbasa

First you will need a large stockpot. Brown the bacon in the bottom of the pot, then remove the bacon leaving the drippings behind.
Next, add the cumin, chopped onion, grated carrot, 2 minced cloves of garlic, and the 4 whole cloves and saute these until they are all nice and brown.
Then add the lentils and bay leaves, give it a good stir, and then add all your liquid. At this point, you will also need to add a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Taste the broth as you add to make sure it's to your liking.
Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and let the lentils simmer until cooked through, which takes about 45 minutes.
About 10 minutes before the lentils are done, slice the kielbasa into rounds and place it into a pan with the 1 Tbs of butter and the Worcestershire sauce. You may also add a light sprinkling of cumin here if you wish. Cutting the sausage and then cooking it cuts down the time it takes to get these done and you want them to be a nice brown. When you see that, you'll know they're ready.
In small soup bowls, ladle some of the lentil soup in first then top it with a few pieces of the cut kielbasa. It's quite tasty and so simple because there aren't many ingredients. This should serve at least 4-6 people. I had a bunch of soup leftover to freeze for another day.

Here is what mine looked like:


A couple of notes for you, this took a lot more salt than I would have thought it would so don't be scared when you're adding it to yours. Also, if you can't find the French Green lentils, regular lentils will do just as well. I halfway think I like them better because they're a little more substantial than their French counterpart.

If you make this and enjoy it, please leave me a comment and let me know!

The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

I'm not dead. Yeah, I know you were thinking I had fallen face-down into a vat of caramel or something and had OD'd but fear not! I yet live. Last week was a rough one though because our house was infected by some kind of ass-kicking cold and I didn't cook as much as I would have liked. However, in spite of eating out a couple of times, really it wasn't a bad week eats-wise overall.

Thanks to my handy dandy menu planning, grocery shopping has been quite breezy and affordable here lately. I'm liking the whole menu thing and fully intend to keep that up. The kids have been enjoying their involvement in the process, too, and I expect that, as time goes on, they will grow accustomed to eating healthier foods. It's not going to happen overnight because they haven't been raised to eat that way but with time I'm hopeful that things will get better.

About me. This morning I had a quick, small breakfast of one Alexia Biscuit. These things are delicious and are so close to homemade tasting it is ridiculous. It's a pricey option but sometimes, I don't feel like standing in the kitchen making biscuits. No, I want to sit on the sofa, waiting for the ovven to preheat while taking in the glorious sights on re-runs of "Third Watch" on A&E. Bosco is yummy to look at, what can I say? But these biscuits are made from all natural ingredients so I feel a lot less guilty eating one of these:

as opposed to eating a McDonald's biscuit. Look for them in your grocer's freezer section. I promise you will love them. And no, I'm not getting paid a single cent to promote them they're just that damn good.

For lunch, my sister took me out to a wonderful little local restaurant and I had an Italian deli-style sandwich with a small side salad. The salad was fabulous because they use nice, dark green lettuce, along with julienned zucchini and carrots. Not that there's anything wrong with iceberg but I enjoy a hearty salad when I go out to eat.

For dinner, the boys wanted to go out for pizza and, since Sean wasn't home for dinner tonight, I was happy to oblige. Here is what my piece looked like:

In the spirit of full disclosure, this picture is of a piece of pizza that I ate last year but I swear, the one I ate tonight looked JUST like this. Except it had yellow peppers instead of green but that was the only difference! It was funny because I really didn't want pizza and did my darndest to convince the boys to choose something else but in the end, that pizza was goooood.

Now, my belly is full and I am finished eating for the night. My weight is actually down another pound to 197. It's slow but I'm good with that. I'm trying to make changes and choices that I can live my life with and not do a crash diet that will send me off on a binge when a stressful moment strikes. Tonight, I'm going to sit snuggled up under a blanket and watch "the Closer" and "Saving Grace". It's nice to feel like I'm on the right track for a change.

I'll be back tomorrow and with better photos! Hope all is well in your world!

I'm Sick

I'm just to tired to post anything substantial. I will be back tomorrow or Friday.

Here we go!

So, after visiting the doctor I had a coming to Jesus party for myself. Things have got to change or else my life will be miserable and I don't want to be miserable. I've implemented some changes in my life that should help with that and here is what they are. First of all, I'm using weekly menus. This will help me keep a record of what I eat AND it will help me spend more wisely at the grocery store. Another thing I have done with the weekly menus is get the kids in on the action. Right now, they eat pretty much what they want which means I'm preparing at least 3 different meals, 3 times a day. I'm not going to do that anymore so we've made a compromise. They get to choose their meals 4x a week and then in turn, they must eat what I choose for them 3x a week. You can't make a kid go cold turkey onto grownup food so this seems like a decent way to get them to make the eventual switch to healthier eats. The kids and I sat down together and figured out or menu for this week and here they are, their menu and mine:

Kids
Friday: Chicken Nuggets, french fries (all from frozen)
Saturday: Pizza (homemade)
Sunday: My choice
Monday: My choice
Tuesday: Corn Dogs, Grapes
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Meatballs, Salad
Thursday: My choice

Me and Sean
Friday: Fish, Green beans, Rice
Saturday: Homemade pizza
Sunday: Meatloaf, broccoli, Potatoes
Monday: Oven Fried Chicken, Peas, Rice
Tuesday: Leftovers from Meatloaf night
Wednesday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Thursday: Turkey Sloppy Joe's and Salad (from Rachael Ray's 30 minute meals 2 book)

There are some meals that we will eat with the kids like pizza and spaghetti because I use whole wheat crusts and noodles. And on the nights when the kids don't eat with us I'm able to incorporate leftovers into our meals. It's economical and healthful. I'm liking our plan thus far.

Here are some photos of what we've been eating this week. My new favorite breakfast is something the Pioneer Woman featured on the cooking portion of her website and it's called Egg-in-a-nest. I freaking love this now and eat it almost every day. There's just something about the combination of lightly toasted bread, seasoned with salt and pepper paired up with a gently fried egg in the middle. It is, in one word, divine.

I use a whole grain bread and cage free egg because the yolks are a million times better.

Another breakfast I make when I have the time is an egg and some sauteed potatoes.

For this version, I used red potatoes which I diced along with a green pepper that was grown organically in my container garden. The homegrown peppers pack a lot of flavor into them and are really sweet and delicious. I love eating an egg for breakfast, in case you couldn't tell. It just is a great start to the day.

Salmon is a favorite fish around here. It's hearty, pretty, and doesn't need a lot of adornment to bring out the wonderful flavor of this fish. Here is a piece of wild Alaskan Salmon that I bought at the store:

Isn't it beautiful? Anyway, I cook this under the broiler skin side-up after I season it with a tsp of olive oil, and a tsp of lemon-pepper. Once the skin begins to bubble, I pull it out of the oven, pull the skin off, flip it over and finish it off under the broiler for a few more minutes. The times will vary depending on the thickness and cut of your fish but this particular piece took 5-7 mins start to finish. I served it with a long/wild rice blend, and steamed green beans that I tossed in a pan with some garlic infused oil. Mmmmmmm. So good.


Yesterday, I got a little crazy in the kitchen and decided to make my own pizza dough from scratch. Baking and I don't usually get along because, let's face it. I'm one lazy sucker and I don't like have to be so precise with my measurements. Eyeballing it is more my thing but in order for me to have a healthy dough, I was going to have to make it myself. Last year, I bought a Wolfgang Puck food processor and it came with a couple of recipes for pizza dough. I used the one for whole wheat dough and it turned out all right but I don't think I would use it again. Anyway, here is the pizza in all it's crispy, golden glory:

Again, I used homegrown peppers, canned black olives, and canned mushrooms. Calm down! I was going to use fresh shrooms but they had gone bad. I'll use fresh next time, ok? Here is the pizza up close:

Can't you just smell it?

I'm feeling really positive about this direction in which we're going. It feels good including the kids in the menu-making process and it helps all of us make healthier choices. Since I've added wheat products back into my diet I'm expecting to see my weight go back up a bit but this week, I'm putting exercise into my routine and am hoping it may offset the gain.

I'll be back tomorrow to post pics of tonight's dinner!

Menu Post and Recent Eats Coming Soon

Tomorrow morning I will be posting my menu and recent eats. I will show you my latest favorite thing to eat for breakfast!!

See you tomorrow!

Evie

Been a rough eats week folks.

I have not been feeling well, friends. In fact, I have been feeling so yucky that I went BACK to the doctor, again. This time, I requested a woman because I was really feeling like no one was listening to me and I'm glad I did that because things have been much better since I did that.

You know what the diagnosis is? I'm fat. Yep, I've GOT to lose some weight. A lot of my issues can be connected to my overweight state. For the time being I'm on Prilosec for acid reflux, the reflux has been causing my breathing problems evidently. She also suggested a sleeping pill, exercise, and a healthy diet. As you will remember, I was associating my problems with a possible allergy to wheat but I can tell you, based on my experience over the last couple of days that I don't think I have an allergy at all. I felt amazing today and expect to fell better as the days progress.

I suspected that my weight was part of the problem but it took a visit to the doctor to confirm it. I'm lucky. My weight hasn't caused my blood pressure to be high but I don't want it to get to that point. As a result of my visit to the doctor, I have decided to make another change here. Every week, I"m going to post my menu ideas here for each meal. I will document one in photos every day and share nutritional info when I can. My plan is to use recipes from Cooking Light, Rachael Ray, and Dr. Will Clower's books, as noted in the sidebar. When using a recipe, I will provide a book title or internet link when available so you can follow along with me if you like!!

Tonight, I'm going through a stack of cookbooks on my coffee table to prepare my menu for the week. Sorry about the prolonged absence I just wasn't feeling well enough to post here for the last few days. Come back on Saturday as the menu should be up by then!!

am I turning into a food snob??

For days I have been craving my favorite side dish. My old family meal stand-by - green bean casserole. The ingredients were purchased and all I was waiting for was the right moment to prepare my all-time favorite meal. Yes. You read that right, I said meal because I can absolutely eat it all by itself. At least, I used to be able to do it until last night. I knew something was wrong when I popped open the can of Durkee's Fried Onions, which in the past I have munched on while mixing the casserole's ingredients, because when I took a little taste, something was amiss. They didn't taste good to me. Immediately, worry set in. I thought perhaps I had a funky can of onions. Well, I forged on and got the casserole together and put it in the oven and anxiously waited for it to come together. It came out of the oven and sat on the stovestop, steamily resting, and I continued to wait for it eagerly. Earlier I had baked some drumsticks in the oven with BBQ sauce and knew this meal would be so good in it's old-schooly comfortable way. After the casserole had cooled down, I plated my dinner with one drumstick and a healthy spoonful of Green Bean Casserole....

It's never been a pretty thing on the plate...

I took a bite, the first one of this manna from heaven in a long time, and was instantly disappointed. It tasted nothing like I expected nor like I remembered. Gone was the delicious warmth that used to envelop me when eating this dish and it was replaced with a bland, slimy, blahness that defied explanation. Has it finally happened then? Have I reached a point in my quest for finding good eats that my old favorites are now history? I don't know, friends. I just don't know. What is known is this. I woke up to a different world this morning, people. Green Bean Casserole no longer equals goodness to me and what that means in the scheme of things is yet undetermined but for now I think it means I have moved on. I'm really ready to eat better things or perhaps to find a more delicious way to prepare the dish that doesn't include canned soup, onions, and beans. Does this portend other major food changes? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Oi yoi, yoi

What a crazy few days we've had around here. Thanks goodness I have been doing ok foodwise, in spite of all the stressful things going on because my weight is down to 198.5. Hey! Every little bit counts!!!

On Friday, we yet again ate the chicken dish I've been gnawing on for the last few days. I was going to fix salmon but Sean didn't get home at a decent hour so we just had leftovers. On Saturday at lunchtime, I figured I would fix the salmon we missed out on the night before but I didn't count on finding it spoiled in the fridge. That's the one bad thing about buying fish on special. If you don't eat it the same day you buy it, you may as well throw it out. So what was I going to do? Thankfully I had some butterflied pork chops in the fridge and we had those along with some roasted asparagus and tomato, mozz, and basil, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Roasted Aparagus is so good and easy. You need:

1 bunch of asparagus
olive oil
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover a jellyroll pan in foil, unless you like to clean dishes in which case you may leave the pan naked.
Trim 2 inches off the ends of the asparagus and place on your jellyroll pan.
Drizzle with 2 tsps of olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper over the top and then toss them around the pan to coat.
Put them in the oven for about 15 minutes.
When you removed them, sprinkle some good quality parm on the top or grate some if you have fresh parm.



So gooood!

The Tomatoa, Mozz, and basil is pretty basic. For two people, I used:
1 tomato
half a fresh ball of mozz
a few leaves of fresh basil
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Slice your tomato and mozz and layer them on a plate along with some torn basil leaves. Drizzle with the oil and vinegar very lightly, you don't want to drown them. Then crack fresh pepper and sprinkle a tiny bit of kosher salt over the top.

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to eat, in spite of the fact that I have never been a big fan of tomatoes. I can't wait for the baby tomatoes growing on my plant to get big enough to eat!

The pork chops were simple as well. In case you haven't noticed, I like keeping things simple. I'm simple. Got it? Ok.

2 butterfly-cut chops 1/2" thick
2 tsp olive oil
garlic salt, fresh pepper

Warm the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Season the meat according to your own taste and add to the pan once you see ripples in the oil. Cook a few minutes per side, until the you can press on the thickest part and it feels like the part of your palm, close to the heel of your hand. Firm but not hard. It should still have some give. Pork is tricky because you don't want to overcook it or else it's really unpleasant.



This was a great meal!

Later that night we went out to dinner with friends and had a nice time. I got tuna in a soy-ginger glaze served with rice. For dessert, Sean and I split a piece of carrot cake, it is one of our favorites!! Then Sean proceeded to drink too much and spent the next day hungover. LOL


Last night, the boys and I had McDick's for dinner. Usually, I would have the Filet-o-fish combo but instead exercised some restraint and had a regular burger, small fries, and a small vanilla shake. It was not good but I was proud of myself for keeping my portion sizes small.


Hope all has been well with you!

Still here!

I will have a post for you tomorrow, friends. One of my littles is sick so I'm a bit preoccupied. Come back tomorrow though for some photos!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Lunch and an Interesting Article

Yesterday was a pretty good, healthy eats day for me. I started out the day with lowfat cottage cheese and pineapple. Yum! That combination is about the only way I can eat cottage cheese and it was delicious. As I puttered around the house yesterday, I was trying to figure out what to do for lunch. The day before I had cleaned out my freezer and had taken out some thin chicken breasts to defrost so those HAD to be used yesterday. My sister had invited me over for dinner so chicken was on the menu for lunch. Frankly, I've been feeling a little uninspired by my chicken preparation ideas and yesterday was no exception.

Usually when I cook these scallopini-style breasts I pan-fry them and then make a caper sauce but I didn't want capers yesterday. I still pan-fried the breasts but this time, I made a very light sauce out of dry sherry, chicken broth, and a touch of half-n-half. It was so good! I forget how good sherry is for cooking until I use it. It just adds a layer of taste that is so unexpected. What I did was season the chicken with kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper and garlic powder on both sides while 2 Tbs of olive oil was heating in my pan. Then I quickly cooked the chicken (there was a lot) and layered the breasts on a plate while I got out the ingredients for the sauce. Into the still hot pan I poured a 1/2 cup of good chicken broth, 1/2 cup of sherry and brought it to a boil and reduced it by half, stirring occasionally to be sure all those yummy brown bits released from the bottom of the pan. Once the liquids had reduced I added about a 1/4 cup of half-n-half over low heat. I tasted it and added a pinch of salt and a couple of turns from the pepper mill and the sauce was ready.

While all this was going on, I put my microwave to work on my side dishes which were leftover rice and green beans. My meal was absolutely delicious and light!

I still have plenty of leftovers so it will be repeated today.

Last night for dinner, my sister fixed homemade steak and cheese sandwiches which were out of this world. They weren't heavy or greasy and were seasoned very well also. On the side, she fixed a salad which I topped with 1 1/2 tsp of light ranch dressing. It was so good! After dinner, we had some chocolate chip cookies which really hit the spot, too. I needed that chocolate! As I said earlier, yesterday was a good eats day for me. I felt really satisfied with it.

I don't know if I've ever said anything about my dieting past on here but a few years ago, I followed a low-carb regime and lost quite a bit of weight. I actually enjoyed eating low carb and because of choosing that lifestyle, I fell in love with a lot of vegetables that I had never tried before and still love to this day. However, when I hit a bump on the road of life, I fell off the wagon and used food to try and make me feel better and the weight piled on pretty quickly. That is pretty common for me, I gain fast and lose fast. At any rate, I didn't go back to low carb and I've been trying to lose weight ever since. That was in 2003. I was pretty bitter for a long time and blamed the low carb diet for my weight gain, which would have happened no matter what regimen I was following. Why am I telling you all this? Yesterday, I was reading the news on the internet and came across the following article:

Low Carb Beats Low Fat on Weight Loss

It is an interesting read which basically states that low carb, low fat, and low cal diets all produce weight loss but out of the three, low carb provides the best results in both weight loss and improved cholesterol. Check it out for yourself. What are your thoughts on that?

Not sure what today brings in the way of food but I'm going to do my best to make it healthful and delicious!!

Stress Eating

Y'all. I'm BRIZOKE! That's "Broke" for those of you who don't understand my pitiful attempt at being hip. The stress has really gotten me down and I spent the day trying to make myself feel better with food. There wasn't much here to float my boat but tonight we went over to my sister's house and had pizza. All in all, it could have been worse. Like I said, there wasn't a bunch of junk in the house so my stress monkey went hunrgy for most of the day. The only thing I munched on was a few chips with homemade salsa. I couldn't decide whether to be more depressed that I had no money or no junk food in which to drown my sorrows.

The economic times are hard right now and, even though we make a good living, the rising costs of fuel and food are hitting us pretty hard right now. Something happened at dinner though that made me realize that even as stressed as I am, there are people who are having an even harder time than we are. When my sister and I went to pick up the pizza, there was a young girl in the parking lot trying to sell candy. Her family was sitting in the car as she wandered from person to person, doing her very best to make some money. My sis and I felt terrible because we didn't have one iota of cash on us. We just never carry it anymore. When we told her we didn't have any money, she looked at our pizza boxes with obvious envy. It was quite a moment. One of those, "Ok, Evie, it's time to get over yourself" moments. Here I am, money is tight but at least I can afford to eat without resorting to taking my children to a shopping center to sell candy bars. Something has got to change and soon. If people like me are struggling, I can't begin to imagine what it's like for that little girl's family.

I'm sorry for going off on that tangent but that occurrence really affected me.

My goal for wednesday is to be more positive, to eat mindfully, and healthfully, and get up and move. Please come back and see how I did!

Everybody Loves Pie

Well, maybe not everyone but I sure do! Apple, cherry, Lemon meringue, Key Lime, chocolate Silk. Need I go on? While on our PA trip, my SIL had the latest issue of Cooking Light magazine and prominently featured on the cover was a beautiful cherry pie. I knew when I got home that a copy of that magazine was going to be in my cart on the next trip to the grocery store.
Being who I am, I couldn't make the recipe as printed. Nope, had to switch things up a tad. Instead of cherry pie, I made peach which required additional spices and some adjustments to the recipe. Without further adieu, here is the recipe for Evie's Rustic Peach Pie as adapted from the Cooking Light July 2008 edition's recipe for Fresh Cherry Pie.

2 TBS uncooked quick-cooking tapioca
5-6 large fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon (all of it!)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 TBS maple syrup (the real thing)
1/8 tsp salt
1 (15 ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (i used pillsbury)
Cooking spray
2 TBS water
1 large egg white
2 TBS turbinado sugar



Place tapioca in a spice or coffee grinder; process until finely ground (i used mortar and pestle). Combine tapioca and next 8 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; toss well. Let stand for 30 minutes and then stir to combine.



Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll one of the packaged pie crusts into an 11-inch circle. Place in the bottom of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. (i forgot the spray, don't do that) Allow the dough to extend over the edge of the plate. Pour the peach mixture into the dough and be sure to scrape all the spicy goodness in there. You don't want to miss a thing. Roll the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle and then cut 12 1-inch strips. (i did 1/2 inch strips because I read wrong) arrange in a lattice pattern over the peach mixture. Fold edges under and crimp. (i SO can't do this well)



Combine 2 TBS water and egg white in a small bowl. Brush the egg white mixture over dough on top of pie and sprinkle dough evenly with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400 degress for 20 minutes. Then take from the oven and shield pie crust edges with foil. Put back in oven and bake for an additional 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool pie in pan for 45 minutes on a wire rack. Makes 12 servings.



Y'all. This pie is SO good. I might have to eat a slice for breakfast. It's only 282 calories so I can do that.

Our evening meal was courtesy of another cooking light recipe, this time from their website. Farfalle Carbonara. Again, I made a couple of tiny adjustments because that's just how I roll, yo, but for the most part the recipe remained unchanged. You can find the recipe HERE. The only changes I made were to add 1 cup of frozen baby peas that I heated in the microwave and 1/4 cup of half-and-half. It was really pretty good, see?



For those of you doing WW points, one serving of the pie is 6 points and one serving of the Carbonara is 8 points. Well worth every one. Oh, and I was 199 even today, yeah!!! This week I begin exercising in earnest!!

Another delicious dinner

Last night, we ate a goooood dinner. It was simple, delicious, light, and flavorful. Oh yeah, it was healthy, too. I took two filets of salmon, with the skin still on, and broiled them, served that alongside a wild rice blend (not Uncle Ben's), and tomatoes fresh from my garden paired up with artisan mozzarella and organic basil. Yummy!


To prepare the salmon, I preheated my broiler for about 15-20 minutes. Of course I'm cooking on Wilma Flinstone's range so yours may not take that long to heat up. I seasoned the salmon with kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, and a light sprinkling of lemon-pepper seasoning. Then I placed the filets skin side up on a foil-wrapped cookie sheet and placed them under the broiler until the skin started to bubble. Once that happened, I took them out, peeled the skin off and put them back under the broiler for 1-2 minutes and they were cooked perfectly.

While the broiler was heating up though, I cooked the rice in the microwave. THis is by far my most preferred method of cooking rice because I don't have to worry about messing it up on the stove and it is cooked perfectly every time. I had a wild rice blend that included white basmati rice, red rice, and wild rice which I placed in my Pampered Chef steamer along with 1 1/2 cups of fat free beef broth (to 1 cup rice) and about 2 tsps of butter. That took about 20 minutes to cook.

When those things were both done, I took the last couple of minutes before plating the meal to prepare the tomato-mozzarella dish. I had two beautiful tomatoes from my patio garden and after slicing them and the artisan mozzarella, I layered them with torn leaves of organic basil. Then I drizzled a TINY bit of olive oil and some balsamic vinaigrette on top and Voila!!

Dinner was served. It was really, really, good, didn't make a big mess in the kitchen, and was so easy to do. My goal is going to be to try and find a way to make all my dinners like this. I love to eat but I hate slaving in the kitchen!!

After dinner, we went to Baskin Robbins where I had one scoop of my all-time favorite flavor, Pralines-n-Cream. It is freaking DELICIOUS. Forget Cold-Stone Creamery, just give me a sugar cone topped with a scoop of Pralines and Cream and we'll be friends forever.

This week, I'm planning on making a peach pie from scratch so stay tuned and see how that works out.

Dinner was Good!

Last night I had leftovers for dinner and, really, I'm not such a big fan of leftovers. Well except that it means less work for me in the kitchen. I ate the leftover chicken and capers from Tuesday night (in spite of the coconut taste) and paired it with some steamed green beans and a small serving of smashed red potatoes.

It was actually pretty good the second time around. I still struggled with the sweetness imparted by the coconut oil but the capers helped get beyond that. I've gone back to using my smaller plate and find it to be a very useful tool in determining the proper portion size. I did find that yesterday I felt pretty hungry during the day. Not sure if that's due to an increase in activity or what but I've been busting my ass trying to get this house clean. You all know I'm not neat and cleaning house is a major struggle for me but I'm tired of looking around and being surrounded by cluttery shit.

Don't know if I mentioned this or not but this year, I decided to try my hand at gardening and here are the first fruits of my labor. Homegrown tomatoes!

Of course, they're not really that color, I was just trying to get artsy with the photo. They still need to ripen on the counter for a couple more days and then I think they'll be good and ready! Funny thing is I'm not a huge tomato fan but we'll see if homegrown tomatoes taste better to me.

And just because I've been holding out on the photo front, here are some gratuitous shots from our trip to PA. First is the view of Philly looking over the Delaware River from NJ.

I was actually pretty pleased with how this turned out and think it might look good blown up and on the wall.
Now this photo is of some pears on a tree in my SIL's yard. I'm so jealous that she has fruit trees!

I don't even like pears but I love the color of those!

This weekend I'm going to be spending time looking for some good, simple recipes that don't use a ton of ingredients in an attempt to plan my menu for the week. Sean won't be around for dinner most of the week so I may have my big meal for lunch. For some reason, it just seems easier to me to cook a big meal during the day instead of in the evening. Are there any recipes you can suggest or any websites you particularly enjoy? I'd love to hear!!

What's Up, Party people?

I'm back and SUB 200lbs! Yeah baby!!! I'm 199.5 but it's below 200 so that's all I care about for now. Thank goodness I nearly starved to death on our trip so I could break that 200lb barrier. LOL You know that's not true....

Yesterday, I started an exercise routine although it wasn't the one I originally intended. See, we have an elliptical trainer, a treadmill, and a Sears version of the bowflex and we use none of them. But my husband won't let them go because, I guess it's kind of like women and their skinny clothes. One day, you might be able to use them again. Yesterday was that day for me. My intentions were to get on the treadmill for 30 mins and ease back into a routine but the stupid thing wouldn't work so I had to get on the elliptial trainer instead. Man, I frickin' hate that thing. It's really, really, hard for me to use for two reasons. One because it's just tough. Two because it's missing the plastic pads that your feet rest on so I spent the 7 minutes on it trying to keep from falling off and getting injured. I think today I'm going to check out my extensive library of exercise DVD's and do something aerobic that way. It's less likely to maim me.

Eats-wise, things have been going pretty well. I made chicken last night which I sauteed in coconut oil which is supposed to be the "new healthy" oil. I'm not a big fan because in spite of reading that it doesn't give off a funny flavor, it really does. I'm going to stick with olive oil, thank you very much. I also made creamed corn which was delicious. Have you ever made that? It's so easy! Here's what I did.

3 ears of corn
1 TBS butter
milk
cornstarch

Take a knife and cut the kernels from the corn into a bowl, reserving all of the milk given off of the cob. Also, be sure to scrape the cob down really well to get as much milk as you can off the ear. My corn was a little too old for this which is why I had to use milk and cornstarch. Over medium heat, add 1TBS butter to a pan and melt it, then add the corn kernels and corn milk. Remember, if your corn gave off a lot of milk you may not need the cornstarch. You want to cook it over a medium-low heat until it starts to thicken up. If it doesn't do this, then make a slurry of 2 tsps of cornstarch and 3/4 cup cold milk and add to the corn. Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste and cook for a total of 20-30 minutes. It's really delicious when you use very fresh corn.

I steamed some broccoli and served it along with the chicken and corn. Tasty!

Right now, I'm following the WW points program but as soon as my 3 months are up, I'm not going to continue using it. If I keep this as my journal, then I don't see the need to continue paying for WW's. I KNOW how to eat right, it's just a matter of actually doing it.

I know I haven't posted any photos of food yet and I'm sorry about that. These blog posts are like dry bread without photos so I will try and fix that this week. I've just been lazy about it, frankly.

Well, I hope you had a wonderful 4th holiday!! I got my hot dog on and that's always an important part of the 4th for me. :) Stay tuned because this week, I'm going to try and make green bean casserole from scratch without using flour. Woo Hoo!!

Heading Out!

We're heading out for PA, baby! We'll be back on Sunday so I will get back to posting again on Monday.

Have a great 4th of July holiday!!!

Within POints but eating crap

I don't think the WW points system intended people like me to eat their day's points value in fun-size Baby Ruths. Call me crazy but, I'm thinking they meant for us to eat healthful things like fruits, veggies, and the like. Yesterday began with a container of Stonyfield Whole Milk Strawberry yogurt. Freaking delicious. I just can't eat the low-fat stuff. It tastes like ass. Not that I would actually have any idea what that is like...Moving on. For lunch, I had three ham roll-ups which is basically a slice of ham, a tsp of mayo all rolled up in a lettuce leaf because I'm still avoiding gluten. It was quite good although I think iceberg is a better rolling lettuce than say, romaine. Just my personal opinion on that one. That afternoon, I ate 3 fun-size Baby Ruth's and had 2 Cokes!!! People, I had gone for YEARS without buying Coke at the store but for some reason, this week, I bought them and drank two yesterday. Sheesh!!

Okay y'all. Here is the topper. For dinner we had MCDonalds because I was too lazy to get in the kitchen and cook anything. I pulled myself back a bit and didn't order my usual super-huge ass busting Filet'oFish combo and instead ordered a regular Cheeseburger and small fries. Yes, I know I ate gluten by eating a burger. Amazingly, it didn't bother me so now, I'm thinking I'm just plain crazy. And big. And that's why I feel yucky, because I'm a crazy, big, hypochondriac. Anyway, I only went over my daily points by 1. can you believe that??? Insanity.

This morning, I got on the scale and I'm at an even 200 lbs. It's kind of sad but I was happy to see it on the scale. A few months ago, I was 192. Throw in a hysterectomy and a 6 week recovery and BOOM up to 203. But now, things on are the way back down and that feels good. I really think cutting out gluten products has helped me drop the weight. I'm not cutting it out completely but I am still going to try and create meals that don't include it if I can. Now, we're going out of town on Wednesday so, on the road it's harder to avoid but I will do my best. Also from Wed-Sun you may not see any posts from me because I don't know that I will have access to the internet. No, we're not traveling to some backwoods cabin but since we're visiting family I don't feel right asking to use their computer all the time, just because I need to speak to my people. LOL

Today we slept until 10:30, how glorious is that? Thank god my kids are at an age where they sleep past the crack of dawn and we can all be slackers together on the weekend. Families that sleep together...wait. Eww. Nope, that isn't right. Well, you catch my drift.

Yesterday wasn't as bad as I thought

Quick update. For those of you doing Weight Watchers, my daily points value is 25 and when I wrote my post last night, I hadn't finished my log for the day so this morning, I finished it up and was quite surprised by what I saw. With all the crazy stuff I ate, I thought for sure I'd gone over my allowance but in fact, I was .5 a point under. Insane, isn't it???

Just had to post that here. PLUS, I'm down two pounds. Still over 200 (ewww) but on the way down at least. Today has started out well with cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast and a handful of raw almonds. Looking forward to the rest of the day!

First Day In

So today was my first day "back". As I said in my post yesterday, I'm trying to stay away from gluten and wheat, which was a bit more of a struggle than I thought but I did it. All I had for breakfast this morning was a small sausage patty I had cooked yesterday. It was a crazy morning as I had to get the boys up and dressed and ready to play gold with my dad at 9:30. That might not sound like much but my boys can SLEEP and my 6 year old is especially hard to wake up. Anyway, by the time they were out the door, I wasn't far behind and on my way to the grocery store. What the hell, people? I planned to spend $60. Yes, I know that was a freaking ridiculous idea to begin with but still! That was my goal. Well, apparently I needed more than I thought and then add $4.99 to my total to buy a pie for the troops on the 4th of July and I spent $152. Good Lord. That was a credit card purchase, let me tell you. Anyway, I digress.

After the grocery store, I met some friends for lunch at a mexican restaurant. I barely ate any of it because we were so busy gabbing so of course I had to come home and eat. Still avoiding gluten, I chose sour cream and onion chips and 1/2 a Cadbury bar. Mmmm. Doesn't that sound healthy? FF to dinner, I prepared baby back ribs in the oven which were to die for. I would have used the grill but it broke while it was on a couple of months ago and the fire dept came and yada yada yada, we can't use it anymore. I had a small green salad with a Ginger dressing and one small new potato roasted in the oven. I only ate four ribs. If you want to know the secret to fall off the bone ribs, it's cooking them for a couple of hours in the oven at 300 degrees, tightly wrapped in aluminum foil. Then top them with your fave BBQ sauce and put them back in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. They are Goooood.

All in all, it wasn't a TERRIBLE day. It could have been better and I used up some of my extra points but I actually do feel like I'm back on track. I'm better prepared and ready to face tomorrow and make healthy choices. Tomorrow will be MUCH different!