Good so far!

Knowing that I need to photograph my meals is really helping me, because I find myself thinking twice about what I'm eating.

Bonus.

For breakfast, I was all about the Kashi cereal and diced peaches with FF milk.

Lunch was at a restaurant with my mom and kids.  Western egg white omelette with a side of grits.  No home fries, no potatoes.  That hurts, I gotta tell ya.  This, I didn't photograph.

But, for dinner I made an eggplant with beans and melted cheese.  I heated diced onion and garlic in a little bit of oil, added diced tomatoes and a couple teaspoons of tomato paste, and 1/4 cup of white wine.  Then I added some pinto beans and let it simmer for 15 minutes.  Sliced an eggplant in half, scooped out the seeds, and put the filling inside.  Topped with shredded cheese; baked at 350 for 45 minutes.  It was killer.  Except a little hard to eat, what with all the purple skin.  Some people eat it, I don't like to.  The eggplant wouldn't come away from the skin very easily.  But this would not deter me from making it again....my husband and I each had a half.

I almost don't miss meat that much.  But bread.  I still miss bread.

Roasted roots and a mockery

So this morning I was a bad girl.  For lunch, I grilled zucchini and slathered it with a little tomato paste concoction that I made for something else a couple days ago.  Tomato paste, a little stevia, salt, pepper, and some spices, I forget.  It was good.  (forgot to take a picture of post-paste zukes....)

Tonight's dinner, notsomuch.

I tried a new recipe called "Mock Cornbread".  It was made with cannellini beans, baking powder, 4 eggs.  Sure wish I saved my eggs for something worthwhile.  It was flat and a little mushy.  Just.  Weird.  Won't be making it again.

I also roasted a bunch of root vegetables, like rutabaga, turnips, onions, chickpeas, carrots, some olive oil and white wine.  Seasonings.  Turned out okay.  But I am really craving meat and bread.  Can't wait till I'm allowed a little.....

Not one of my better eating days.......there's always tomorrow!  Have a good night, friends.

Breakfast FAIL.

This is where I let it all hang out.  No sense lying about my meals.  Only hurting myself.

So today, I had McDonalds.  I made a nice pot of brown rice cereal, that tasted like warm rice pudding, but when my friend walked in with Mickey D's breakfast in hand, I caved.  Will Power = 1.  Me = 0.

Doh.

 
I will spend the rest of the day making up for this error in judgment.  But I won't punish myself for it.  I have accepted it, and am moving on!

Later, I'll check in with lunch and dinner!

What exactly is the point?

This isn't one of those fancy-schmancy foodie blogs, like recipegirl.com, smittenkitchen.com, the pioneer woman, etc etc.  I'm not a professional chef or anything.  I just like to cook, and offer meal suggestions.

Which brings me to one of the questions I was emailed:  NO, I'm not a vegetarian.  I am currently in Phase One of the Dr. Ian Smith FAT SMASH diet.  And as you can see, I cheat.  Only hurting myself.  lol.

Question number two:   I don't always cook dinner.  We always have a hot dinner, but many times, it's leftovers.  I tend to cook big breakfasts, medium lunches, and smaller dinners, because it's a healthier way to eat.  In this house, it hardly matters, because we never all sit down together and eat, as hard as we try.

So, business aside, let me get to this morning's menu.

Because I still have boatloads of veggies, I made a spinach and mushroom omelette today, with a side of radish/turnip/onion homefries.

The spinach was probably headed for the garbage.  It was getting brown and it was really stemmy and stringy, which I hate.  Maybe I should have just tossed it, but instead I wilted it down for an omelette.

Amazing how this:

Can wilt down to this:

Seems contradictory to the laws of physics or something.   So, I just sauteed these in a teaspoon of oil for about 15 minutes, then I added 2 eggs/3 egg whites mixture.  This was intended for two eaters, by the way.  So I split it in half and shave some cheese on there, fold it over, and done.

'Nother breakfast done.   'Nother set of dishes to tackle. 

After breakfast, I'm gonna check out last night's GLEE on Hulu.com.  See ya later!!

In the kitchen all day, it seems...

Well, after this morning's egg egg-stravaganza (sorry!), I decided to keep it light for lunch.  Keeping in with the flavors of a BBQ, I made myself an ear of corn, and a baked sweet potato with some homemade quickie baked beans.  I had two cans of pintos, so I threw them in a saucepan with about 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup mustard, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and some hot sauce to taste.  Donzo!

All morning, I spent in the kitchen, today.  It's baby food puree day, which comes around once a week or so.  Today, I will be making pureed zucchini, sweet potatoes, and beets.  And since I was going to be in the kitchen already, I decided to also whip up a batch of RAW LEMON COOKIES for the dehydrator.

First things first.  I threw a couple of sweet potatoes in the oven, along with a couple of foil-wrapped beets.  350 for an hour.  (I threw mine and my husband's corn in there to cook, as well.  Two birds, one stone.)

Now, since I've got an hour to wait before I make THOSE purees, I had time to boil some zucchini, too.

Now here's what happens when you've got too much going on:  I SHOULD have removed the zucchini and sweet potato skins FIRST, before cooking.  Because then I had to remove HOT SKINS from HOT VEGGIES.  Not smart.

So, I've got the puree veggies going, it's time to start the RAW LEMON COOKIES.  Because I delved into the world of RAW FOOD, I went out and bought a $35 dehydrator, which I love.  And I also have many dehydrator recipes, which I will share from time to time.  Here is the cookie recipe: 

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup grated coconut
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tbsp honey

Put the flour and coconut in the food processor until they are ground fine.  Add lemon juice and honey.  Process again until a ball forms.  Put the balls directly onto the dehydrator screen and dehydrate overnight or four or five hours.

 
I stuck some flax seeds into the mix, thinking they would grind up.  They did not.  These cookies are oogly, but they taste good and are good for you.  That's all that counts, in my kitchen.  I try things out all the time, and am not always successful.  Okay.  So I stuck them in the dehydrator.  They'll be going for about five or six hours or so.

After an hour went by, I removed the sweet potatoes and beets and zucchini and processed them all in the Cuisinart by themselves.

I used three medium-sized zucchini, which filled one tray.  Three beets filled only a half tray, and one sweet potato filled only a half tray.  I had so many trays ready.  I wish I'd made more.....

Oh well.  I'm out of the kitchen for a little while.  Although the dishes need to be done again, which would make the second time today.  Tonight for dinner, I might do a spaghetti squash with tomato sauce.  Don't know yet....

Happy eating!!

Eggs, day two.

(This morning, I've got Ashlee Simpson, Mary J. Blige and Carrie Underwood on the ipod as I cook.)

I eat eggs often.  I tend to think I have an insulin resistant problem, so I try to keep sugary foods at bay.  Doesn't always work, but I try.  Also, as I said yesterday, I attempt to eat all produce first, before I resort to foods that can last longer in the pantry.  So veggies and fruits are the first things I reach for, when they're in the fridge.

This morning, I'm going to have fried eggs over asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes.  First, I load up my veggie steamer with asparagus.  My steamer has been through the mill.  The timer doesn't work, I lost the lid, the bowl is cracked and missing handles, and the only way to turn it off is to unplug it.  But it still serves its purpose.....

 Next, I put a teaspoon of oil and one small pat of butter (for flavor) in the frying pan and throw the mushrooms in.  Salt and pepper.  I cook these down until there's enough room to toss my eggs in there, too.

Then, once there's enough room to fry two eggs, I add another couple drops of oil, then crack the eggs in there.  Salt, pepper, garlic herb seasoning.

I flip them when the egg white's translucency is gone, then today I added a few thick slices of tomato.  Salt, pepper, sprinkle of parmesan cheese.  I only add tomatoes at the last minute, because I hate when tomato skin is cooked too long.  Then about a minute later, I get 'em all out of there and plated it up.

Then, to finish if off, I shred a few slices of pecorino/romano overtop with the veggie peeler.  Mangia!

Nothing beats BEETS!

Okay, same-day posts will be atypical for this blog.  I just want to warn you in advance.  BUT, the day after shopping day, I tend to start saladizing the perishables, if you will.  Fifty dollars of every grocery bill goes toward produce, and I hate hate hate throwing away food.  So I go for them, first.

Today, I decided to make a beet salad.  Usually, I would make a beet gorgonzola salad, but I'm on a diet, and cheese is the devil.  So I used a pecorino/romano mix and shredded it lightly.   Anyhoo, here goes.

PS:  this is my method, but I'm sure there are others.

I remove stems and butts (as I like to call them), and boil the beets for about 30-40 minutes.  With the skin on.

You'll know they're done when you can stick a knife easily, all the way through.  (ignore my dirty stove.....cleaning it now....)

Then, I remove them with a slotted spoon and let them cool.  Once cooled (but not cold), I grab some paper towels, and begin to peel off the skin by applying some pressure, and sliding it off with the towel.  My hands never touch the beet, because that stuff stains.  (sorry for the blurry picture.  hard to photograph and peel simultaneously.)

Now, you dice the beets and put into a bowl.  I toss them with my own version of vinaigrette, which consists of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and a garlic herb seasoning.  I use this vinaigrette for EVERYthing.  Seriously.

And I don't use measurements.  I just eyeball it.   When you're dressing a salad, it's often different amounts of food, so how can you measure for that?

After I dressed the beets, I shaved a little of the pecorino on top and voila.  Beet salad.

A special thank you to my sous chef, Sabrina.

Welcome to my blog!!

Good morning!! 

I have decided to begin a new blog, for two reasons:  first of all, I am striving to lose 30 lbs in 9 weeks.  A lofty goal, perhaps, but my brother is getting married, and I just had my second baby seven months ago.  I gained 50 lbs with my first pregnancy in 06, and 30 with my second pregnancy in 09.    Therefore, I am very conscious, right now, of what I'm eating.  This daily journal will definitely keep me honest.

Although, I'm sure I will have the occasional slip.  Which I will document, as well.  This blog is all about honesty.  Like I say:  real food for real life.  Ideally, I would always watch what I eat.  But sometimes, you grab what's easy. 

The second reason for this blog is this:  people often ask me what I cook.  They can't believe I cook three meals a day, and rarely repeat the same meal.   I, myself, used to get stuck in meal ruts, but for some reason became more adventures the last few years, and I would like to share these culinary experiences.

So here we go.

This morning, I was in the mood for something heavyish.  My stomach was growling the minute I woke up, so I went for the eggs.    I would love a big egg breakfast with home fries, but alas, I prefer to skip the carbs, if possible.  So I made the next best thing:  sauteed veggies.

I chopped these veggies (onion, zucchini, radish, and turnip) and sauteed them in a teaspoon of olive oil.  (I treat turnips just like potatoes:  I remove the skin with a peeler, then cut off the ends and chop!)  I don't use PAM, because it just seems yucky like I'm spraying chemicals.  I like to be as close to natural as possible....

I seasoned them with seasoned salt (like Lawry's) and pepper.

This would be enough for two, and I could probably eat it alone as a breakfast, but to keep my stomach feeling full, I decided I need some protein along with the veggies.  So I also made a mushroom scallion omelette using one egg and 1/4 cup of egg whites. 

Don't know how to make an omelette?  Here's a little tip:  after the edges start to look done, lift one edge just enough to let the top liquid pour underneath.  You may have to tilt the pan a little to do this.  Keep repeating this in different spots until the omelette looks done.  Keep your heat on the medium side.  Not too high.  

Then add your fillings on one side, and flip the other side on top.  If I don't have shredded cheese, I use a veggie peeler on the cheese block.  Fancy!!    Now when trying to get the omelette out of the pan, don't use your spatula.  Just slide the omelette onto the plate.   

 Now, it's a little anemic looking, probably because I could use a better camera.  But it didn't taste anemic, and that's the most important part.

I'm hungry again, just looking at it.  I didn't have any toast or anything with it, because I'm watching my carbs.  But I didn't even miss it, to be honest....

Later today, I'm making beets!  Stay tuned!!