I'm a little cuckoo for cranberries

Cranberries! In My Mouth! Aaaahhh!

I've been eating this morning, noon and night for the last few days. It's about 180 calories (omit oatmeal to reduce even further)

6oz fresh cranberries
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (may work with cow milk, but I suspect immediate curdling would happen)
1/4 cup oatmeal (I use steel cut)
Favorite sweetener to taste
Soak oatmeal in 1/4 cup hot water for 10 minutes.

To blender or food processor, add all ingredients, puree then whip.

End result should be a thick and frothy sweet and tart bit of deliciousness.

Shpritz!

If you don't have a Misto, go get several. They're about $8-$9 each. I have one for olive oil, one for sesame and a third for air freshener that I make with essential oils and water. It's great because you can still get a lot of oil flavor with absolute minimal coverage and calories. I do something similar with soy - I dilute heavy soy with some water in a spray bottle. It makes measuring much easier (I think it's about 20 squirts in 1 tbs).

Sparse cupboard musings

Egg whites
Cabbage
sesame oil
soy
Rice paper

Shred cabbage and spritz with soy and sesame oil (see next post)
Fry up egg whites

combine all and wrap well in rice paper. It's tastier than it sounds.

Who says it's tasty? Sesame!

I had a sesame seed disaster last week, and by disaster, I mean delicious! I've had this huge bag of raw, black sesame seeds that I picked up from my local Indian grocer, for quite some time. It was a lazy, rainy day, and I did not want to leave the house, but I despaired for hummus and baba ghanouj! I have plenty of chickpeas (and chickpea flour) and eggplant, but no tahini! The solution? Google tahini recipe.

Easy tahini:
Toast sesame seeds:
Method 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Place x amount of seeds on a baking sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the seeds are sizzling and become very aromatic.

Method 2: Heat a skillet to med-high heat. Add seeds and stir until you get to the end of Method 1.

Method 3: Combine Method 1 or Method 2 with just a touch of olive oil. Caution: seeds will pop akin to popcorn.

Let the seeds cool.

I used a mortar and pestle for the next step, but I don't see why you couldn't use a food processor.

Grind toasted seeds into a coarse paste. Depending on the amount of seeds you used, add enough olive oil to make your mixture somewhat creamy. Take a taste. You will die from sheer delight!

The hummus part is easy after this: mix tahini, mashed chickpeas, garlic, cumin, lemon juice and a touch of olive oil. Easier and better to use a food processor. Season as you will (I added tobasco and chipotle). Chill until chilly. Eat!


Now, this is where the disaster part comes in:
I had about 1/2 cup of the fresh tahini left over, so I started experimenting.

Note: My tahini is a deep gray color due to the fact that I used black sesame.

Experiment 1:
Tahini+
Cumin+
Brown sugar
=FatMan's own delicious halvah!

Experiment 2:
Tahini+
Sour salt+
Thyme+
=Za'atar! (less sour salt next time. Technically, za'atar is uncrushed sesame..this just brought out more flavor).

The rest of the weekend involved various odd experimentations, most involving mixing za'atar with other things. Everything, really; there's not much it doesn't complement.

More later

New recipes:

Nawlins Creecha Pot
Vegan Atrocity
Ham n' Clams
and
Bland

It has been just about one month since I've started going to the gym and the results are astounding. Last night, I reached behind me to scratch my back and freaked out when I felt this hard lumpy thing - it was my shoulder blade! I was scratching my side and had a minor heart attack when I felt long, hard, bony things. Ribs! I have ribs! I've never felt my ribs before! Other things I've discovered: I have a pelvis, a collarbone, a chin and muscles. Oh boy, do I have muscles! Muscles in places I didn't know you could have muscles!

Something never seen or experienced

At 11:30am this morning, after a lovely 12 hours of fasting, I had my physical. My doctor informed me that I could have come in earlier for the blood test. Thanks, doc. There I was, all loopy in the head from a distinct lack of caloric intake and babbling up a storm, when my doc takes my blood pressure. 112/70. Are you kidding me?? I don't think I've ever seen a number like that. Then she checks my lungs - for the first time in the 10 years that she's been my doc, she hears NO wheezing, just perfect lungs. My weight is lower than she has ever seen (264). I think she wanted to hug me. It was all kinds of awesome. The bloodwork should be in tomorrow; I'm really curious about my cholesterol and glucose. I guess the internal improvements are just as noticeable as the external ones. Neat.

We have a winner

While partly inspired by the delicious salad I had eaten while out with a friend the other night, tonight's fare was, for the most part, an extremely fortunate accident.

Southwest Jupiter Salad-y Chicken
Large bowl
Chicken breast
Can of corn (I use no salt added, going to use 1/2 can next time)
1/2 vidalia onion chopped and separated into 2 piles
1/2 head iceberg lettuce
lime powder (I'm sure fresh lime will work as well)
2 tsp worstershire sauce
Rooster sauce to taste
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sodium free chicken bouillon
1-2tsp sugar (I used splenda)
fresh ground black pepper, oregano, basil, cilantro to taste
olive oil (2-3 second spray w/ my Misto)
honey mustard dressing (I used Ken's Honey Mustard spray)

Break up lettuce into large bowl
add 1/2 raw onions and 1/2 can corn (drained)
Toss and add a bit of dressing

Spray skillet or just add oil and heat to medium-high
Cut chicken into misshapen chunks and toss into pan
When half done, add onions and corn sautee 5 minutes
Add spices, worcestershire, rooster sauce and sweetener
When most of the liquid has cooked away, sprinkle with lime, toss and add to salad bowl
Top with dressing and eat!

Cardio has a friend!

This past week started a whole new direction in exercise: strength training. I've been building up my cardio (started with cycling - now I regularly 4-7 times/week - do 20-25 minutes on the elliptical, 30 minutes bike and 30 minutes brisk/very steep incline walking. The time has come to not only continue with weight loss, but to work on lowering my body fat percentage by building nice and lean muscle mass. More muscle mass also means a higher basal metabolic rate, potentially making the loss of the final 80 pounds easier.

For three days each week (evenly spaced out and no more than three days/week), I use the circuit at the gym: 10 weight machines that focus on the core muscle group. There's a traffic light to let you know the start and end points with each machine, the goal being to complete 10-12 reps during each green cycle. In between, there are steps to use to keep the heart rate up - I don't know if I actually NEED to do it, but I do each step for a minute between machines anyway. (Stepping up and down quickly for 60 seconds straight can be surprisingly difficult). Machine 1 minute, red light - switch to step, step for 1 minute, rinse, repeat.

I don't know the names of all of the machines, but the most memorable are the chest press, shoulder press, ab machine, leg press, bicep and tricep machines. The worst is the machine that works the Quadriceps. My trainer told me that, even after 25 years, it burns like hell. And does it burn! But it's not an "oh dear god it hurts!" kind of pain. It's more akin to, "oooh. Oooh. OOOH! I FEEL THAT. A LOT."

My body is changing so fast at this point - I have these muscles that I never knew existed. There's this weird one which totally freaked me out - right above the knee. Lifting my legs feels so very strange; they feel so light, as if they are filled with feathers. I don't know if one week of strength training can make much of a difference, but I certainly do feel stronger.

Weigh-in

As of Sunday morning, I'm 268!! I haven't seen the 260s since about 1996.

Back in April, I purchased a gorgeous wool pea coat from Global Thrift for only $8. It didn't fit; not even close - I could not get it around my belly - The buttons were about 6 inches form the buttonholes. Last night, in the 90 degree heat in my apartment, I decide to try it on - and it fits! What really sucks is that it will be way too big by the time winter rolls around.

Mmm..cabbage

When I'm hungry and want a quick and light snack, I'll shred up some cabbage (or iceberg lettuce) and whip up a quick dressing.  Mixed together, it makes a delicious and filling treat that clocks in under 100 calories.  It's especially good on a hot day.

Last night, I was craving the cabbage, but I wanted a little more substance and wound up coming up with this:

Sweet and Sour Spicy Cabbage
1tsp sesame oil
1/2 head green cabbage (napa works well, as does a firm lettuce)
1/2 cup barley
1/4lb ground turkey
1/2 medium onion (I used a sweet vidalia)

Dressing:
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp ginger

hot pepper to taste (I typically use nam prik or sriracha)

Shred cabbage and pop into bowl
Slice onion into thin rings and mix with cabbage
Prepare barley according to package.

Brown turkey and season to taste (I used black pepper, sodium free beef bouillion and a1tsp of black bean paste)

Combine barley and meat, add last tsp of sesame oil and fry quickly on medium-high heat for just a minute or two (two evaporate any remaining moisture and possibly add a bit of crispyness)

Turn meat/barley mix into cabbage bowl.
Pour dressing over everything and mix all ingredients well.

Makes a LOT of tasty dinner, but the whole thing is only 800 calories.

I am the fine, fair and rotund offspring of Adonis and the Buddha

I'm feeling so good lately; it's such a surprise at times. So good that I'm tackling some of those hard to bear areas of life. There's a lot to be said for simply treating yourself well.

Over the last month, my cooking style has radically shifted. Instead of grandly planned, time consuming meals, I've been making quick and easy things. In the beginning of the gout attack, I had to focus on lower protein foods and gumbo fit the bill nicely:

Quickly Mumbled Gumbo

beef and chicken stock (1-2 cups each...I use sodium free powder)
1 green pepper
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
1-2 medium tomatoes
5-6 pods okra or 1/2 eggplant cubed
meat (usually chicken or fish)
sage, thyme, black pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, liquid smoke
1/4 cup complex carbs (brown rice, black beans, cracked wheat..any will do)

optional rue (tastes 100x better with it, but adds about 300 calories):
2tbs unbleached flour
1tbs vegetable oil (extra optional)

If you choose to make the rue:
with oil:
heat oil and flour in skillet slowly over low heat, stirring constantly. Never stop stirring. Seriously. You stop and it will burn. When the color changes to the tone of peanut butter, remove from heat and add to holy trinity mix below.

without oil:
add flour to skillet and heat slowly over low-medium heat. Keep stirring. Same as above with oil, but it will take longer.

The purpose here is to cook the flour so that it develops a nutty flavor.



Toss your holy trinity (peppers, onions, celery) and tomatoes into a nonstick skillet and simmer for about 10 minutes.
To a crock pot or rice cooker, add holy trinity and the rest of the ingredients and spices. Make sure to add plenty of cayenne pepper.

Turn on crockpot or rice cooker and cook until your carb is fully cooked.

Now, to thicken it up even more, you can do one of 2 things:
1. Add okra to the pot before cooking
2. Sprinkle in some Gumbo File

Serve with your favorite greens and die from deliciousness!

MildlyExcitedMiling

The purpose of this blog is to track my positive eating habits and record all of the tasty recipes along the way. As this is to benefit my health, it's only fair that I incorporate other health related topics here. Bicycling contributes to my health, and the eventual goal is the ability to bike the 12 miles to work each way every day. So, while I'm working up to it, I'm stuck driving, so that makes it a valid topic.

When I last filled my gas tank, I dropped a whopping $50 in my little 12 gallon tank. I decided then that I would attempt hypermiling. While I didn't go to the extreme, I made small changes in the way I drive: no jackrabbit starts, cruise control on the highway and no faster than 60mph.

I filled up my tank with 12 gallons on 5/22. I just filled my tank up again this evening. A typical tank gets me between 290 and 310 miles. With the incorporated changes, I hit 380(!!) miles! That's a difference of 24mpg before and 31mpg after. The second best part? I'm so much more relaxed. Let everyone else break their heads and wallets over jockeying to be first. I'll be here in lane #2, just above the speed limit.

There's other steps I can take as well: refilling before hitting empty, popping into neutral on hills and getting my oil changed. I'm not ready/willing to go the the extremes of turning off my car at the peak of every hill, but it would be great if I can pull a few more miles out of a tank. At this rate, I'll be saving a nice chunk of money every month.

He's not dead, Gym

I'm officially a gym member. I'm fairly nervous; cycling and walking outside is great because no one can see you*. In a gym, everyone can see you.

I fell for the upsell (originally, it was $10/month but I took the $20/month deal because it allows me to use other gyms in the network, and there's a 24 hour one right near work. That makes it worth it to me.) It comes with unlimited use of tanning beds. It doesn't get much creepier than that (aside from the unlimited use of the massage chairs).

Now that it's official, I need to put the finishing touches on my Massively Muscley Calisthenics Laden Adventure Management System! (MMM...Clams!). I'm designing quests, a combat system and developing an XP based reward mechanism based on a natural metering system so that it can't be gamed easily (and really, you're only cheating yourself). I'm also planning to make it scalable to massivly multiplayer, possibly incorporating armies in large and intricately detailed campaigns. The old school D&D freak comes out at again!

Seriously, anything that can boost motivation is a win in my book. Even though my motivation is extremely high at the moment, I know that will flag at some point. It needs to be FUN and stay FUN or I will get BORED.

Boredom is the ultimate mind and body killer.


*It's true.

He's me. While I'm still a fat man, I'm less of a fat man than I was 6 months or even 3 months ago. I'm hovering between 272 and 274. I've been hovering here for a couple of weeks; I think I've hit the weight plateau. Interestingly enough, this is roughly the same weight I was down to when I lost all the weight on the ADD meds.

That's fine, because things are still changing down there. I'm developing lean muscle mass - my thighs are like rocks, my chest is hard and kind of bulge-y (this is a good thing), my arms are tightening up.

I'm cycling between 8 and 15 miles per day. I'm joining Planet Fitness after work today. I eat well, I eat on target and I don't go to bed hungry.

I don't know who I am, and while it's exciting, it's also a little frightening.

I woke up this morning at 5:30am; no alarm clock necessary. I got up, had some water, chomped down some oatmeal and skim milk, got dressed, stretched and hopped on my bike for a quick 30 minute ride.

Ten minutes in, having completed the river route and now blissfully breathless cruising through the Mt. Feake Cemetery, I nearly fall off my bike; I don't know who I am. But it's me. All me.
While I'm still the fat guy above, I'm really not the fat guy above, anymore. When my heartrate monitor hits the 175bpm alarm, I'm disappointed that I need to tone it down.

I, not so rigorously, stick to my daily calorie allotment. I'm flexible and most importantly, I'm forgiving. I play loose on the weekends. I went 800 calories over? It's ok. Just don't do it every day. I'll make it up during my workout. There's no penalty, just slower weight loss, and that's ok, too.

It's a frightening brave new world that I've entered. My legs (via pedals) frequently propel me at speeds upwards of 20mph. The intense pounding of my heart as I'm climbing a tough hill reminds me that I'm alive. The panic attacks are gone. Best of all, when I'm working out, my head is utterly and completely clear of all the shit that swarms around me. Work is breaking me? Ex girlfriend getting into my head? General FatManBrainFuck causing depression and anxiety? All I need to do is push myself into some cardio and it's tabula rasa. I spend my days yearning for the exercise. This is not me. This is some fascimile of me. I like this better version of me.

Best of all, I don't even care how dorky I look.

Agony of de feets.

First gout, now bunions.
My poor feet, why have you forsaken me?

I'm back!

After over a month of shattered lungs, broken feet and fading goals, I'm back and recommitting myself both to myself and this blog. I'm going to expand it a bit to include fitness as well as food (who start another blog when I can spew my fitness adventures right here!)

Even though I've been getting -0- exercise, I have been maintaining my calorie goals: 1800-2000 calories/day, so I've still been losing weight, albeit much slower than before. Official weigh in this morning had me at 274, which put me somewhere around 60lbs down so far. I've another 74 to get to my goal weight.

So, here I am, back and raring to go (I just got home from a great bike ride..more on that later).

Wow..it's been 2 weeks since I've updated anything here. It has been a hell of a time; I've been sick, I've been crazed, I've been overwhelmed and most recently, I've been injured, but I'm still here, hobbling about on my stumps.

Things of note:

- I've officially hit the 50lb mark. Even with no cardio for three weeks (see above), the weight loss has been progressing, slowly but forward.

- The dolmas need to be cooked no matter what the recipe says.

- My stomach is back even with my chest.

- Salt is still the enemy, but it's SOOO damned good.

- I'm wearing clothes that last fit in 2005, and they are getting more and more loose every day.

I've got some great recipes to share, and a couple of awful ones too. More later.

I'm a loser who gets sick, fails to update his blog and forgets he even has a blog.

I had bronchitis. Took drugs. Bronchitis almost got better. I pushed it a little too far. New England ass-weather took up residence and now I'm back to having bronchitis again. Lurvely.

I'm Skyr'd!

All thanks go to the lovely Emily M. for introducing me to my new favorite treat:  skyr (pronounced skeer).  

Skyr is an Icelandic cheese that has the consistency of extremely thick yogurt (thus, it is marketed in the US as yogurt).  It's about twice as thick as Greek strained yogurt, and a little more tart. I picked some up on the way home this evening.  Some Splenda, vanilla and a tablespoon of garam masala made for a delicious dessert!

Sunday's weigh-in: 289

4 pounds down last week. I can definitely feel a lot more muscle definition

After my visit to the doctor yesterday, I lay in bed, morose, moribund and just plain miserable, all the while I was trying, with naught but will, to tear a hole in the fabric of space-time so that I could escape the confines of that particular temporal element and launch myself further down the timeline and rejoin myself post-malaise.  Unfortunately, I never received my Time-Traveling badge in Boy Scouts.

I lay there fantasizing of my dinner options.  #1 on the dream list was Subway.  I wiggled with anticipation as I envisioned myself gnawing on some chicken-y type sandwich with fresh tomatoes, onions, lettuce  and pickles and various other hallmarks of a tasty grinder.  Problemo numero uno?  It meant that I would have to leave the house, get in my car, drive a few miles and talk to a human.  Being Earth Day, I felt that it would be fairly irresponsible of me to kill Big Mama Earth just to fill my belly.

As I lay crumpled in bed, desperately pawing at my kitty (who stayed just out of reach, glaring at me with a look that said, "back off, fat boy") and trying to somehow motivate myself to get up and out, I thought about what I had in the house:  chicken, slightly overripe tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and onions.  Inspiration struck and I leap out of bed, rush into the kitchen and start preparing what is sure to become a summer staple food and one of the most fabulous meals I have ever devised:

Non-creatively Named Lettuce Wraps

5oz chicken breast

lettuce

veggies of choice

I sliced the chicken into three pieces and splashed the surface  with a vinegar smoke mixture and crusted it with pepper.

While that was grilling, I sliced up my veggies:  pickle, onion, tomato and a rogue poblano pepper that had wandered to the back of the fridge.  I layed out three large lettuce leaves as well.

I wanted a creamy flavor, so I took a teaspoon of no-fat cream cheese and spread it on the lettuce and sprinkled with zatar. 

I placed all the veggies and chicken, wrapped tightly, took a bite and was in heaven.  It was seriously delicious and a perfect topper to such a balmy day.  And at only 400 calories for 3 large wraps, I think I've found a wonderful new direction for light and satisfying dinners.

Hey..Angel of Death, over here!

(From the weekend)

From the grip of sickness, I bring you two new recipes:

Just in time for Passover, it's "Briskuits!" AKA "Broken! Meat! Biscuits!"

And, just in case the Angel of Death DOES stop for a visit, it's "Shrooms, Dude"

Briskuits!:

While this particular batch went over about as well as the Hindenburg going over New Jersey, it was conceptually beautiful if not physically. It was an experiment delving into an area of cooking that I have lots of practical experience with, but barely any creative experience because I'm not completely on my game when it comes to the physics and chemistry of baking.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup lentils

1/4 cup barley

4oz ground turkey

2tbs wheat gluten

1 egg white
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4tsp baking powder

season to taste
Muffin pan

Cook barley and lentils until tender.
Pop barley and lentiles* in a food processor and pummel into a thick cream and season to taste.
Fold in wheat gluten, wheat germ and egg whites.

Season turkey to taste and form into small balls

Mix baking powder into what should now be a doughy paste and let rest for 20 minutes.

Grease the muffin pan and press dough bits into cups, making sure to cover the sides as well as the bottom, leaving a deep pit behind.

Press meat balls into pits

Cover with remaining dough and bake @ 425F for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and eat cautiously. You won't be impressed. The meat is tasty, but the "biscuit" is kind of wrong. In many ways. I'm on the right track, though. I'll continue the experiments until I have reached perfection. PERFECTION!


Shrooms, Dude:

5-6 large white mushrooms
1/2 cup egg whites
2tbs breadcrumbs (I was out of chick pea flour)
basil, oregano, onion powder, touch of salt
jalapeno
red pepper
turmeric

Smash mushrooms, add breadcrumbs, add egg and seasons, turmeric jalapeno and red pepper and mix well. Spoon out onto a greased baking sheet and bake @ 425F for 20 minutes.

End result is a trippy and colorful tasty, spicy and crispy treat!

* non-Jewish lentils

Diagnosis: Respiratory Haplorrhinus...

...aka:  lungmonkeys, bronchitis, pulmonary pwnage, pure and unadulterated suckage.

Exercise is on hold for the moment, and apparently, so is eating well.  I've been desperately fighting to keep from eating today.  I haven't had dinner yet, and I've already surpassed 1200 calories.  I imagine that the metabolic rate increases when fighting infection, and that could account for the mad hunger.  I may need to devise a recipe for Punishment Stew to whip my ass back on track.

Is it ironic or just unfortunate that I've spent the day wrapped up in a comfy, warm blanket on the couch watching season 4 of the Biggest Loser, all the while stuffing my face?  A little of both, methinks.

Last night wasn't much better.  My dinner, while very tasty, was FAR from positive eating:  half a potato sliced into paper thin slices and broiled 'til crispy, half a head of cauliflower sauteed with onions and 2 4oz grilled bison burgers.  I don't think I'll be doing the bison again.  This is the first time that I've had red meat in about two months, and I didn't handle it well (read:  severe nausea).

I just want to feel better.  I want to get outside.  I desperately want to try an elliptical trainer, or at the very least, see how I handle light jogging.  Most of all, I need to start looking into getting a personal trainer.  I need a place to start heavy workouts, but I don't think I can devise a proper and safe plan on my own.  Hopefully, next week.

Failure is a passion

I was so tired last night; I've been pushing myself too hard. I just wanted something simple, something comfortable. As a friend of mine used to say, I wanted goopy food. Last night's dinner inspiration was fueled by exhaustion, pain and misery.

Here's some new recipes:

-1 Stew of Disappointment:

1/4 cup black beans
1/4 cup barley
1/4 cup lentils
1/2 head cauliflower
Lace with excessive toil and season with tears
2-3 cups of water

Boil water and add all ingredients. Simmer until dark purple mess turns into a bluish gray muck.
Serve with a dirty spoon. While eating, gaze longingly at the floor. Wince and moan softly with each bite.
------

Peppers and Misery:

2 cubanelle peppers
1/2 medium red onion
2 medium tomatoes
4 oz ground chicken

In a saute pan, saute onions until translucent.
Add finely sliced peppers, saute until soft
Dice tomatoes and add to pan. Mush everything up and cover.
Check occaisionally.
When you have a nice goopy mess, make sure that you add spices and herbs that counter any possibility of good flavor.
Add ground chicken and cook until not raw.
Mix everything together into a not-so-fantastic tasting melange.
Cover with salt to make acceptable.
Pray that each forkful will be the last.



-----

Why, God, Why? :

1 package Jello Fat Free/Sugar Free Lemon pudding
1.5 cups water
4 tbs wheat germ

Mix Jello and cold water with a whisk forever. It will never thicken.
Add wheat germ in a feeble attempt at thickening the pudding.
Fail.
Realize that you have no clean spoons and proceed to drink the mixture straight from the bowl.
With each miserable sip, contemplate the wreckage of your so called life.
When bowl is empty. lick clean in a wretched attempt at extracting some final shred of joy before bed.
Make your bed, lie in it and stare at the ceiling as your stomach churns your dreams into a thick red paste.

It's like the Eye of Sauron peering into my belly

I had some sashimi from Sarku Japan yesterday afternoon. By yesterday evening, all I had was a raw, gaping hole in my abdomen that was made when my stomach made a break for it.

Sarku? More like Sauron.

I'm not sure what I was thinking. Sashimi and nigirizushi from a fast food place? Makizushi, especially California roll type things, sure. Nice and safe. But raw tuna, octopus and salmon? This crap was stale, dry and flavorless. Even the wasabi was awful (of course it's not true wasabi, just horseradish and food coloring, but I swear they pulled this horseradish out of a dirty ass). Never again. The stuff from Market Basket was higher quality.

Seriously, fuck you Sarku Japan.

Yum meditation: visualizing the flavor

This weekend, I'll be rectifying my photographic situation by either getting my camera fixed (unlikely) or getting a new and relatively inexpensive camera (oh Canon EOS, not today, but I'll have you yet!). I want to start posting pics of my tasty food.

While I always keep presentation in mind, historically, when eating alone, I tend to glop everything onto a single plate and let things get all mixed to hell (that's why I love Bib Bim Bap so much). Committing myself to photographing the food will help me with presentation even when I'm cooking solo.

Teh caffeinated hotness

We got one of these at work yesterday.

I try not to lick it, but I fear I may fail. I've already humped it in my mind. My precious.*

Attention Cow-orkers: You did not read that. These are not the droids you are looking for. Move along.

Feets, don't fail me now!

I did some exploring of Waltham on foot this past weekend. I've lived here for nearly two years and due to laziness and general social phobia, I never walked up and down Moody St. the way I had intended when I moved in. The healthy eating is being closely followed by physical activity, which is leading to little adventures that just don't feel the same in a vehicle.

Friday evening, I had a nice long walk around Waltham center, trying routes that I had never been. I'm quite pleased that I took the route that I've been avoiding since living here: the dreaded hill. Now that I'm getting in shape, the dreaded hill is really just the little hill. No sweat.

Saturday morning started early with a walk up to Global Thrift Store. I had a gift certificate that was near expiration and needed to use it, and fast. I found little in the way of clothing (other than a gorgeous black wool peacoat (that does not fit yet, but it will) for $10. I also lucked upon a bunny head purse and a few old cds. The catch of the day was the Armstrong Elkhart flute! What a find! It just needs a good polishing and some touchups here and there.

I walked home with my sack of goodies.

Later, I was in the Moody area again (doing laundry on Crescent St.). I decided to explore a little more and found a cool gaming shop called Danger Planet Games. It was a nice browse and rekindled my interest in tabletop gaming. I may hit one of their open nights and relive the ultrageeky glory days of my youth.

Next up was JN Joke shop, which has loads of great gags and costumes. I purchased a gold tooth cover.

There were a few smaller shops that I browsed before returning to laundry.

The next day, I wanted to change things up a bit. You see, a part of my particular brand of OCD involves me not being able to repeat a certain thing too often, else it will cause significant synaptic stoppage. I can't take the same path repeatedly, nor can I drive home from work the same day everyday. If I do, I go a little nuts in my head.

I mapped out a route following Prospect St., which curves to meet the far (relatively) east end of Moody (around High St.). From there, I would trek down Moody and back home. The walk up Prospect was nice, albeit chilly. Then I hit the river. I cross it almost every day, but I never give it much though; this is the benefit of walking - you have the time to contemplate your surroundings. I noticed a path wending all along the river and realized that this is the same path that goes by the Moody St. bridge and beyond, following the river all the way to the Museum of Science! I pushed on up to Moody and back down and took the path all the way back to where I first found it. It was wonderful! Ducks and geese were happily nibbling the bits thrown to them from the local restaurants. It was so peaceful. I wanted to see where the trail picked back up after hitting Prospect (I think it goes into the Mt. Feakes cemetery), but daylight had all but burned out.

All told, it was a 3.5 mile trek that has given me some new territory to explore. This weekend, I'm thinking of exploring the path further west (maybe I'll set a 2 hour time limit..walk west for two hours and then turn for home.)

As ridiculous as it sounds, walking is fun!

Balls: it's what's for dinner

I want something simple and easy last night, especially after Sunday's grand production.
What did I have to work with? The usual suspects: ground turkey, cauliflower, spinach. But I did have something different: Bulgar wheat. So, I attempted and was amazed by my success in making kibbeh. It was SO delicious that I it was a struggle to keep from making more.

Easy Kibbeh:
4oz ground turkey
2 egg white
season to taste(I used salt, pepper, onion powder, chopped peperoncinis and a tasty blend of herbs.)

1/4 cub cracked Bulgar wheat
2tbs wheat gluten
cooking spray


Form the balls like any other meatball and set aside.

Boil water and Bulgar wheat (I used 1 cup water to 1/4 cup wheat) and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain water and let cool (or, if you have a fine enough strainer, rinse under cold water)
Add egg whites and wheat gluten and mix well until you have a fair paste.

Put a dollop of paste on your hand and flatten. Put meatball in the middle and wrap the wheat paste around it, adding more if necessary to get full coverage.

Place balls on oiled baking tray (I used Pam High Heat spray) and give each ball a quick shot of cooking spray.

Bake @450F for 20 minutes then broil on high for 3-4 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Makes 6 balls.

These will have a wonderful crunch on first bite. I may have to make more tonight.

The best market, ever

People have been telling me to check out Russo's Produce Market in Waltham for quite some time.  I just never got around to it, until today.

Holy crap.  It may very well be the most awesome place on earth.  I picked up poblano peppers, ugli fruit, cubanelles, a buttload of dill (for only 99 cents!) and various other tasties.  The best find was the Japanese mountain yam.  I'm going to have some fun with that.  They seem to have every Asian and Southeast Asian vegetable I've ever gone looking for (except for wax gourd, but that may be seasonal).

Dinner tonight:

Roasted poblano peppers stuffed with smoked turkey, onions and barley, cauliflower stirfry and mixed greens (a misc bag from Russo's containing everything from spinach to dandelion greens).

Dessert:  An attempt at gelatinized frozen yogurt:  fat free yogurt, Jello, fruit cocktail.

Incidentally, today's weigh-in (averaged, as it does vary over the course of the day): 293

This week's loss:  6 pounds. 

Dinner musings

While I've been enjoying a great deal of variety in my cooking, I started feeling the urge to eat more than I should be, so I decided that it was time to simplify. Last night, I went back to basics:

Falafel chicken
cauliflower stir-fried with whole cumin seed, whole fennel seed, fenugreek and pepper
Eggplant - 1/2 chickpea flour breaded, baked then broiled and 1/2 grilled on the George Foreman.
Yogurt with a touch of pomegranate molasses, almond extract and a few drops of lemon.
A granny smith apple

Easy, simple and filling.

The falafel chicken was the best I've ever made; rather than baking the chicken, I used the GF grill. Holy crap, was it tasty. So juicy and tender that I'm cheating and having the same thing tonight.

I'm also going to nix the nighttime fruit bit. I think all that sugar has been disrupting my sleep.

GOOOOOOOOOOAL!

200 pounds by my 36th birthday.
99 pounds to lose.
3.67 pounds per week.
That will put me in reach of my ideal healthy weight (147 to 183 pounds).

I haven't weighed 200 pounds since 7th grade.

Size matters

Side note:

I can now fit into clothes from early 2006.

Abundant adulation at the aromatic altar of Penzey's

Back in 2004 when Penzey's started asking for suggestions for locations for new stores, I may very well have submitted Boston a half-million times. Having been a regular catalog customer since 1998

They obvious took my spamming seriously and opened a store in Arlington, MA in 2005. I was somewhat ecstatic.

Today, I'm a regular there, spending more money than is necessarily necessary, but I keep telling myself the the boost to my quality of life is worth it.

Saturday's run netted:

Mexican vanilla pods
Cumin seed
Fennel seed
Zataar
Dill weed
Anise seed
Sweet Hungarian Paprika*
Crushed, dried jalapenos
A Russian season blend called Tsardust Memories

While Penzey's has a lot of what I'm looking for, they have far from everything. I finally made it to the Indian grocer today and picked up:

Whole coriander**
Methi seed (whole fenugreek)
Amchur powder (powdered mango)
Black sesame seed
Asafoetida, aka heeng powder (of which I am a bit afraid. It's called Devil's Dung for a reason; it smells horrible, but supposedly mellows out quite a bit when heat is applied).


* I have clear memories throughout my childhood of my mother preparing a chicken for roasting by rubbing it inside and out with paprika. I asked her why and she told me that it just makes it colorful. "Is that all? Doesn't it taste good, too?" I asked. She said that paprika didn't have any flavor of its own, and I believed this until Saturday. I've been adding paprika to everything! Warm and rich and subtle, it rounds out most things I've tried it with. WTF Mom?

** In the "I learned something new today" department, cilantro is the leaf of the coriander plant.

Reality is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.

I hate generally surreal nature of reality television, but I love Biggest Loser: Couples. It has been a great motivator.
This is the last week before the big finale, and they brought some fancy-shmancy chef in to teach the formery-fat-folks how to prepare their fave meals in a healthier fashion.

After the segment, I danced a creepy dance of joy through my apartment. As it turns out, many of the food choices that I "discovered" on my own are spot on. Here's a few:

Using chick pea flour as breading for pan fried stuff.
Using a VERY hot pan to reduce the amount of oil needed for cooking
Yogurt and gelatin to make a tasty ice cream workalike.

I know it's just a dumb tv show, but it's a dumb tv show about fat people becoming not fat, and I am operating in parallel. It's great to get some validation, as surreal as it may be.

I haz a flavur...IN MY MIND! II

Success! Sort of. The taste was dead on, but there was something missing from the texture.

1 cup yogurt
1/2tsp almond extract
1/2tsp coconut extract
1/4 mexican vanilla pod scraped then minced
splenda

It was missing something slightly gritty and slightly chewy. I think raisins, shredded coconut and a touch of rum will round it out.

The only real problem here is that I still can't figure out what it was that I had eaten as a kid. I can point to various things over the years that contribute, but not one single thing. It's a melange of pina coladas. marzepan, chewy toffee and something else.

While this is no life quest, I think dessert is going to be fun for the next few nights.

Speaking of dessert, I finally have my ice cream maker back in shape and I'm planning on attempting to reproduce an accidental creation from last summer. With my ice cream maker, it's fairly difficult to make low fat treats due to the temperature of the crock (the fat content and temperature are the keys to making well textured ice cream. It's a gel filled crock, so there's no adding salt to bring it down). Last year, I discovered that I could approximate the texture of ice cream and maintain the low to no fat status by adding a packet of jello to the mix.

I need some win to balance out the Wretched Jofu.

I haz a flavur...IN MY MIND!

There's been this niggling sensation lingering at the back of my mind for weeks now. It's a very gentle flavor that's poking up from the deepest recesses of my childhood memories. The taste is beige and pale yellow and flecked with a mahogany. (Have I mentioned that the synesthesia I experience is becoming more defined? Awesome!)

Tonight, an experiment shall be performed. I shall attempt to bring this decades old, deep recessed mindflavour LIFE ANEW*!


* (Without reliving the undying tragedy that is, was and ever will be Wretched Jofu)

Weight Obsession in P Minor

I just pee'd a pound.

My favorite kitchen accessory of late is my mortar and pestle. I've been pulverizing just about everything I come across: bay leaves, cumin and fennel seeds, cloves, peppercorns, tsien tsien and sanaam peppers. Now I just need to find a good way to clean it (charnushka has left a heavy black residue). I've read that you can use plain old sand. I wonder how well (fresh) kitty litter will work? I might give it a shot tonight.

I want to say that my new George Foreman grill is my second favorite, but so far I'm not terribly impressed. It handled the peppers and tomatoes well on the first night, but the tandoori chicken was WAY too dry last night. I'm thinking that I probably cooked it for too long.

Wretched Jofu

1/2 brick tofu
1 pack sugar-free jello
1 dollop misdirected creativity
Prepare according to directions:

1. Mash the tofu. Drain off excess water.
2. Prep Jello according to box, reducing water by 3/4 cup.
3. Add mashed tofu to jello mix. Stir it up and toss it in the fridge for a few hours.
4. When jello has congealed, attempt to consume.=
5. Do you taste the fail?.
6. Loudly proclaim, "god damn, this is wretched!"
7. Take a few more spoonfuls and give up.
8. Place on kitchen counter (in very dry environment) and accidentally leave overnight.
9. In the morning, notice that the wretched concoction has changed a bit, becoming very firm and dehydrated.
10. Cautiously taste.
11. Revel in the chewyness of the horror.
12. Fail again, but chewier and tasty.

Alien Meat Cones

Alien Meat Cones:

3-4oz ground * (in this case, * is turkey. Last week it was chicken)
1/4 cup barley
4tbs wheat gluten
Portobello mushroom caps, stems trimmed to half mast

season to taste (Last night: 1 stewed tomato, 1tbs Korean soy sauce, coarse ground black pepper, 2 bay leaves, pulverized, 1tbs garlic powder, 1tbs onion powder, a touch of coriander, 1tbs balsamic vinegar)

Cook barley. When done, cool with cold water and drain

Mush barley with *. Add spices and liquids and mush. Add wheat gluten last and blend well.

Take barley mixture and pack onto mushroom cap into the shape of a cone. Pop in steamer (I'll try baking them next week).

Eat.

Prepare without mushrooms and shape mixture into little elephants and you have Babarleyballs.

As prepared above: ~600 calories (makes 2 cones and 2 balls..I had it with Baingan Bhartha (100 calories) and was very full.

----

I'm seriously starting to lose it

I bought a scale on the way home last night. Over the years, I've eschewed the thought of using a scale to measure my progress in losing weight (brilliant, eh?). I had fears of obsessive disappointment; daily weighing showing bare progress and fears of that demotivating me. At the level that I am tracking my caloric intake, I decided that a scale would give me a more accurate picture of where I am rather than going by "this part feels less squishy!"

My pre-adderall days of 5 years ago saw me pushing just under 350 pounds, 3x shirts and a 56 inch waist. In the period that followed, I had lost roughly 80 pounds, smoothed down to size XL shirts and slinked into 40" pants. The post adderall climb crushed me; a 20 pound weight gain over a period of a year. Nothing fit, both clothingwise and emotionwise.

A year ago, I quit smoking and gained another 10-15 pounds and 2 more inches on my waist.

My last doctor visit in November of aught-seven had me in at 318. My 48" waist was pushing beyond the limits of my belt rather painfully. The XLs were traded in for XXLs. From December through February, I became an eating machine. Judging by the the upward scaling of clothing size, I estimate that I had put on another 10 pounds. I couldn't fit into my pants, shirt or underwear anymore. I picked up some 50" pants (waist was tight, but wearable) and some XXL sized underwear. I had crossed the threshhold, and was officially a disgusting pig again.

I weighed myself this morning. I estimate that, at the point I started all of this, I weighed about 330 pounds. While a net loss of 20lbs over that last five years, it was still a 60 pound gain from the completely lifechanging weight loss. While I have been noticing physical differences since changing my eating and exercising, I had low expectations of the scale.

I stepped on, closed my eyes and waited for the beep. I look down.

303.6

No fucking way. I reset and try again.

303.6.

I get undressed and try again.

299.2.

I've lost 30 pounds in the last month. Without medication. Without any support. Just me and only me. Absofuckinglutely incredible.

I'm still motivated. I'm going to do this, I'm actually going to do this.

Needless to say, I'm feel pretty damned extraordinary!

Every day gets a bit easier. This is different (it's always different, each iteration).

Not too busy for tasty

I haven't had much opportunity to update over the last two weeks. I don't have much time right now, but last night's dinner is worth mentioning:

Chicken Tandoori, Bhangan Bhartha, a lentil/barley casserole and jello with yogurt.

Not bad for 900 calories.

I made everything from scratch. I don't puff me ego up too much, but, damn, I'm good. I can't see myself buying Indian food again; my reproduction of the tandoori was flawless! The Bhaingan Bhartha, delectable! The lentil/barley casserole was meant to be boring filler carbs, but it was delicious! And it was all so easy to make (prep time + cooking was about 30 minutes. Tandoori marinated for 4 hours). I'm having leftovers tonight (yeah..me..leftovers..whoulda thunk it?)


After some fears of a loss of motivation, I've been reinvigorated by actually noticing improvement to the corpus pinguitudo: I've apprently dropped about 6 inches from my waist. Not bad considering that I started this just one month ago.

More later. I need to compile recipes for my creations from the last two weeks. Stay tuned for Wretched Jofu, BabarLeyBalls and Alien Meat Cones!

Losing momentum

I'm finding myself losing momentum with the diet (or, just thinking that I'm losing momentum because I've upped my daily consumption).

CH-ch-ch-chickUN!

The chicken was fabulous lastnight! Baked nuggety goodness on a baking sheet.

Batter:
2tbs wheat gluten
4tbs wheat germ (who knew it would be so yummy?!?!)
about 1/8th of a cup of plain bread crumbs (I'd rather use them up than throw them out).
Flavor to taste (onion powder, garlic powder, citric acid (for some tang), smoked black pepper, a touch of cumin, a touch of basil and 2 pinches of Herb-Ox sodium free chicken bouillon.
Preheat oven to 400F

Chicken was sliced into 2-bite-sized morsels, egg washed (egg whites only) and drenched in the dry batter mix.
A cookie sheet was oiled lightly with cooking spray. Chicken was placed on the tray and given a quick topcoat with cooking spray.

Bake for 22-24 minutes. The batter had a wonderful, delicate crispiness and a really rich flavor. I need to isolate which bit did the trick: bread crumbs, wheat gluten or wheat germ. The wheat germ lent a wonderful nutty flavor that went exceptionally well with the spicing. The bits were delicious dipped in tabasco sauce.

I also attempted another eggplant skin experiment. I just can't seem to reproduce the bacon effect. This time, I cut razor thin planks of almost nothing but the skin, greased them down and popped on a cookie sheet. The pieces were to rigid and sharp. I think I should try cooking them longer next time.

The last bit of accidental deliciousness came from my discovery of Bakey Bits™.
To make Bakey Bits™, pour the leftover egg whites into the leftover dry batter from above. Shake it all up and you'll get solid little nuggets. Bake for 20 minutes and you get Bakey Bits™!! The closest thing I can compare them to are hushpuppies, but without the fried parts. They bake up brown and crunchy which a soft, puffy center.

DInner was topped off with some steamed spinach and properly made fauxtatoes (I finally bought a potato masher, so no more chunks). 1tbs of wheat germ took care of the wetness issues.

Dessert: Lemon jello and yogurt.

I ate a bit too much, so I had a bunch of leftovers.

Total caloric intake: 1678 (dinner and dessert accounting for 900)

Sweet delight with vicious bite

Someone mentioned to me today that Julia Childs suggested placing a vanilla pod into a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar.  I have some dried tsien tsien peppers; I'm going to place a couple in a jar of sugar, then using a mortar and pestle, grind up a tiny amount to sprinkle in making hot pepper sugar.  Oh my, such yumminess.

(Oooh...wasabi-sugar!  Must.hit.Penzey's on the way home)

Easter dinner....

I wanted something quick, so I made stuffed *balls, but changed it up:

Ground trukey
2 green onion
1 stalk of asparagus
1/4 cup fine sliced red pepper
wheat germ

All sliced fine and rolled up, stuffed with a mushroom (I wanted to stuff it with the asparagus - I may do that tonight).

I layered fresh spinach on top of the balls in the steamer - spinach matched perfectly.

Dessert was greek yogurt with vanilla and lime. (I'm going to try and make my own greek yogurt in the next few days (recipe here. It looks dead easy, and a hell of a lot cheaper than $5 for 2 cups).

Total consumption: 1800 calories. Right on target.

Happy Anniversary!

A year ago today was my first day without a cigarette in 18 years. Today marks one entire year without a cig. I really don't miss it. Well, there are some things I do miss: cloves being one. I wish I could smoke without inhaling, but I fear that may lead me down a dangerous path).

I may finally throw away the pack of smokes that has been sitting on my stove (or maybe not - I almost feel like it's a charm).

Go me.

Weekend recovery

I was worried about my eating over the weekend. A good friend was in town, and food options were limited, so I prepared as best as I could.

The Burger King lunch was the killer. I chose as best as I could from the menu, but still ended up with a fat-laden, 1000 calorie disaster.

Dinner was a few sandwiches of cold cuts; not bad, in and of itself, but the gracious host pushed his sweet, sweet wares on me, and I ate a canoli, a brownie and an eclair, which put consumption for the day at 3000 calories.

Sunday, I spent the day at work, went shopping and got back on track. I tried to get some exercise in: fast walk (according to my calculations, I'm getting up to 4.5mph. Not bad for having stubby legs) with medicine ball juggling (I'm really liking the tone my forearms are developing). The only problem with walking is that I'm not getting my heart rate where I want it to be. My doc says that 160 is perfect, but I'm not getting about 140. I'll need to intensify what I'm doing.

You've got to make better choices, man.

I didn't get home until 11 last night. Yesterday turned out to be a crisis day and I lost complete track of time and barely ate.

I missed breakfast (the moment I arrived at work, I was grabbed to put out fires) and only had a medium Dunkin Donuts coffee (with even less redeeming nutritional value: no sugar, no cream, no nuttin). I made an attempt at lunch (brought from home: an array of veggies and my to die for avocado tzatziki), but after a few mushrooms, I realized that I had no appetite.

The fires burned bright, and I started getting shaky, and my cow-orkers push upon me a girl scout cookie and some goldfish (which quelled the vibrations and allowed me to, you know, not pass out). A few hours later, dizziness ensued again, so I forced a finishing of the vegetables, tastysauce and a granny smith apple that I forgot I had.

After the flames had been successfully retarded, I packed up and headed home, knowing full well that 300 calories was not enough to sustain me, so I plotted a quick dinner (in retrospect, I think should have just gone to bed and stuffed my face this morning).

I made a strange concoction consisting of a chicken breast, 2 eggs and a can of corn, seasoned to some alien taste. While I can't say that it tasted good, it was extraordinarily satisfying. I followed it up with a cup of yogurt, ending the day with 1100 calories.

When I get to work today, I won't allow anyone to kep me from breakfast.
I have to runout of work during lunch today0, so0 I may pick up a can of smoked oysters or something similar. Lots of protein, and a reasonable amount of fat. I need to figure out some good carbs to go with it.

If the shoe fits, eat it

I'm not hungry. This is worrisome.

I'm officially an ad whore

I decided, on a whim, to sign up for AdSense. Come on my peep (I think there's only one, so far). Help me make a dollar this year!

Fat Man is sleepy

I simply not getting enough nutrition. A month ago, I was stuffing my face with anything and everything and today I have no appetite. Why must I only do things in the extreme?

I'm 120 calories in today. I was close to passing out when I got home last night and still only clocked the whole day in at around 1300. I have no appetite (I wasn't even hungry for the tzatziki). In my estimation, I've either borked my brain or I have stomach cancer.

I had some naked mirror time last night and realized that parts of me are starting to look like a Shar pei. Lovely. This will score points on the date, surely.

I really have no idea as to what my weight is right now. I've been estimating 330 (because that's how I feel).

FitDay disappointment

I started all of this three weeks ago when I started using FitDay, an online food diary/nutrition tracker. I really liked the ability to microtrack all of my nutrition, and I've been recording my intake religiously.

The website frequently shows an ad for purchasing the PC version, allowing for more detailed charts and whatnot. Today, I decided that it would be great to e able to do it, so I shelled out the $20 and installed it.

The single biggest problem I have is that it has NO hooks into the website. None. I read through the software description, and in my opinion, anyone would assume that it would. There's no way to import external data (and the website offers no way of exporting). I'm going to try and take apart the local database and see if I can write some pipe to spit data from the site into the proper db format. We'll see.

I haven't delved deeper into the software (I'll be damned if I reenter the last three weeks of data) as I have no data sets to work with.

I'll be shooting the FitDay folks a cranky email tomorrow; it's rather disingenuous to present this software package that is apparently advertised as a companion to the website when there is no connectivity.

Now, FAT MAN MUST SLEEP.

Dinner wound up being strange. I was a little high from lack of proper nutrition this evening, so my culinary attempt was a partial failure.

I mashed up some cauliflower with nutritional yeast, garlic, onion, salt and pepper and tried to stuff chicken *balls, but the chicken was too sticky, and I was too tired, so I had one ball with mashed cauliflower and the rest with no stuffing. The balls WERE tasty, just not what I expected. Served with steamed broccoli and extra mashed cauliflower.

Dessert: yogurt with vanilla

Speshul Sauce

I just whipped up a fresh batch of tzatziki - using avocado for a real green goddess flavor. I must say, I've impressed myself.

Fat Man is not pleased

Dinner was a disappointment, but not so much to completely ruin me.

Falafel Chicken
Falafel Eggplant
Steamed Broccoli
Cabbage
Oyster mushrooms

Steamed oyster mushrooms are gagalicious. Seriously nasty. And I'm getting really sick of cabbage.

Dessert (so sweet) was OK. I forgot to make Jello, so I had an orange, an apple, a chunk of coconut and a cup of yogurt with lime, vanilla and splenda.

It's the season for the reason

*ball template

Ground * (1/2lb is my standard)
1/2 cup of green peas
2tbs wheat gluten (binds everything well and imparts a chewier texture-yum!)(I want to try this with sweet rice flour as well)
Dehydrated onion (about 2 tbs) or fresh onion (1/4 med onion, minced or chopped fine)
1tbs garlic
1tbs coarse black pepper
1 egg white (optional - debatable - still experimenting)

Try to mush up the peas before adding to the meat.
Mush peas and meat together (I just squish the whole mess with my hands, squeezing bits between my fingers. Vinyl prep gloves reduce the gross factor.)

Add spices and mush again. Add egg and mush.
Roll the meat into a big ball and make a well in the center (like you're making biscuits). Pour wheat gluten in well, fold and mush until well mixed.

Divide meat into X balls and put in $cooking_implement(I use my rice cooker w/ steaming tray)
(Usually makes 6-8 good sized spheres)

Some ways I like to change it up:
Meat additions: sriracha, black bean paste, cilantro, jalapeno, nutritional yeast

One thing I tried a few weeks ago (which has now become the standard) is to stuff the meatball. I'll take a small amount of the meat mix and flatten it into a thin patty.
Next, place the stuffee (I typically use a whole white button mushroom) on top and press. Try to fold the meat over the entire mushroom (this can be delicate work).
If you can't get complete coverage, grab some more meat and close the holes.
Shape a little more and cook.

I don't put salt in the mix, but salting them lightly after cooking really brings out the flavor.

Last night's dinner

While I would not call it a failure, I wouldn't call it a complete success, but there were successful elements.

*balls (chicken variety) stuffed with shitake mushrooms and tomatoes. I modified my basic *ball recipe and tried tossing a chunk of tomato in the center. The end result was a tasty meatball filled with stewed tomato and mushroom. Stewed tomatoes rate very low on my list of tasty things. The rest of the meatball was great, though; the fermented black bean paste gave it a great savory flavor, and the sriracha gave it the perfect amount of kick.

Fauxtatoes: 3/4 head of cauliflower steamed and mashed with pepper, 2tbs of parmesan cheese and 2 tbs of nutritional yeast (not as nasty as it sounds - adds great umame!)

The success: eggplant crackers!! VERY thin sliced egglplant, sprayed w/ cooking spray, coated w/ garlic and onion powder, baked for 25 minutes and broiled for 5. YUM!

All greek to me

I just got a cow orker to try my homemade tzatziki sauce. She thought it was rather delicious (and I'm bouncy :).

Lunch:
Tzatziki
Cuke
Carrots
Shitake mushrooms (need to find out about the bleu cheese taste).

My tzatziki recipe:
plain non-fat yogurt
1/4 cuke grated
1tbs coarse ground black/white pepper
2tbs garlic powder (didn't have any minced handy)
1tbs onion powder
1tsp dill
3-4 big squirts of lime juice
1/4tsp olive oil

blend well and put in fridge covered for a few hours to let the flavors settle.

So hungry

I need to boost what I eat during the day. I've consumed roughly 300 calories today - not enough, really. While that does leave me more room, calorie-wise, for dinner, I really want to move the big meal to lunch at some point.

Tonight's menu:

Shitake stuffed chicken spheres
Eggplant planks experiment: trial 2
Br-Br-Br-Broccoli and/or Fautatoes.

Dessert shall be lemon jello with yogurty goodness.

Last night contained a somewhat successful experiment that led to an amazing revelation:

The goal was to make breaded, fried eggplant without breading or frying.  First, I took a few long and very thin cross-section slices (think sagittal view).  Then I coated the (eggwashed) eggplant in falafel mix (more about that later).  I spray olive oil flavored cooking spray onto a piece of tinfoil, and piled on the coated eggplant.  Then I seasoned with garlic and onion powder and gave a quick topcoat spray with the spray oil.  

Baked at 400F for 20 minutes, then set to broil for 5.

The "breading" was still a bit too bland..(I'll try again tonight by spicing it up a bit more), but overall, it was very tasty.  The very thin slices were crispy like crackers!!

Now, the revelation:  the broiled eggplant skin tasted JUST LIKE BACON!!!  *faint*

I need to try skinning a whole eggplant and attempt doing some vegan pork rind type things.

I need to come up with a good and easy way to extract data from FitDay.  I can grab a url that goes to my current day's states - I can even break down dates through the url.  The biggest challenge is parsing the data.  This may be my excuse to play with Yahoo...the Yahoo thingy that I'm blanking on. I could always do the parsing on my virt box, but I'm considering shutting it down.  We'll see.

(Yahoo tubes?  pipes?  PIpes!  Aha!  It is Pipes. Cool.

Let's get this thing on the hump

The terms are simple:

0) Monitor and record all nutritional intake and physical activity
b) Make up tasty and filling recipes that adhere to a very rough set of guidelines
III) Blog about it every single day

Good luck