I got the latest Eating Well magazine yesterday. I really enjoy this magazine, as it has a lot of interesting recipes that have been slimmed down for our waistline's (and palate's) pleasure. The last page of the mag had a humor essay by Colin Nissan called "Odes to the things I can no longer enjoy on my damned diet". The title itself made me smirk, as did the rest of it, so I thought I would share it with you.
http://www.eatingwell.com/food_news_origins/people_perspectives/good_reads/odes_to_the_things_i_can_no_longer_enjoy_on_my_damned_diet
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
Let's Talk Christmas
Christmas is one week and one day away. WHERE did the year go? It was a mere 5 months ago that I had my surgery. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by...it saddens me that my children are growing up so quickly. New Years Resolution #3: enjoy the time spent with my kids more.
With the holidays comes...food. Ah, my arch nemesis. We shall meet again. This Christmas is going to revolve around food, and because of my surgery I am confident that my waistband will not expand this year. We have two parties to attend on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day we are heading to my parents' house for yet another feast.
Christmas Eve party #1 will take us to my parents' house to exchange gifts with my sister and her husband. My grandparents will be there, and my uncle may pop in with his girlfriend. I hope he does! We are planning a huge smorgasboard of appetizer-y type foods. I myself am taking four dishes: some form of chicken wings (I haven't decided on the exact sauce yet), cocktail meatballs, buffalo chicken wing dip, and amaretti cookies. My mother's hobby is cooking, and she's amazing at it. She is making several dishes (that I will talk about in a later post), and my brother-in-law is making his famous mini calzones. Can't have an Italian gathering without some sort of Italian food! We tend to have enough food for the entire county, but none of us mind.
Christmas Eve party #2 will find us at my husband's parents' house for our annual Dinner of the Seven Fishes and gift exchange. My sister-in-law started this tradition over 10 years ago, one that we all look forward to and enjoy. Strangely enough, she's not Italian (for those of you who don't know, it is a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner) but those of us who enjoy seafood are entirely grateful! My husband's family is quite large, so there will be a houseful of people bringing a seafood dish to add to the spread. Typically we always have lobster bisque, hand-breaded haddock, bacon-wrapped scallops, clam strips, and crab legs. There are always a couple of new recipes to try, which will round out the seven. And dessert! Who can forget dessert?
Christmas Day we will head back to my parents' to hang out and exchange gifts with my aunt and cousin. The plan is to snack on all of the left overs from the day before, then finish up the day with a boiled ham dinner. For those of you who don't know what it is (I thought everyone knew, but apparently there are some that don't), boiled dinner is a ham, potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage all--you guessed it--boiled in one pot. It is one of my favorites.
Can you hear the button on my pants pop off and fly across the room?
Let's talk a little about Christmas cookies. I'm in full-on cookie mode. I'm going to be baking several different kinds through out the week, for gifts and the different gatherings. I'm not going to say what kinds at this point, so as not to spoil it for those that are receiving them as gifts. I think I'm making so many cookies lately because it warms up the kitchen (didn't they put heat in kitchens 40 years ago??) and makes it smell homey in here.
No baking today though...I have a turkey in the oven! I bought one fairly cheap after Thanksgiving, and it's been thawing in the refrigerator for a week and a half now. Would you believe it was still semi-frozen? It sat in a sinkful of cold water this morning to speed up the process. This sucker is a whopping 21 pounds...what was I thinking? What the hell am I gonna do with 21 pounds of turkey??
Perhaps this post gives you some indication as to why I had surgery. I will always be the foodie fat girl, no matter what my body size is.
With the holidays comes...food. Ah, my arch nemesis. We shall meet again. This Christmas is going to revolve around food, and because of my surgery I am confident that my waistband will not expand this year. We have two parties to attend on Christmas Eve, then on Christmas Day we are heading to my parents' house for yet another feast.
Christmas Eve party #1 will take us to my parents' house to exchange gifts with my sister and her husband. My grandparents will be there, and my uncle may pop in with his girlfriend. I hope he does! We are planning a huge smorgasboard of appetizer-y type foods. I myself am taking four dishes: some form of chicken wings (I haven't decided on the exact sauce yet), cocktail meatballs, buffalo chicken wing dip, and amaretti cookies. My mother's hobby is cooking, and she's amazing at it. She is making several dishes (that I will talk about in a later post), and my brother-in-law is making his famous mini calzones. Can't have an Italian gathering without some sort of Italian food! We tend to have enough food for the entire county, but none of us mind.
Christmas Eve party #2 will find us at my husband's parents' house for our annual Dinner of the Seven Fishes and gift exchange. My sister-in-law started this tradition over 10 years ago, one that we all look forward to and enjoy. Strangely enough, she's not Italian (for those of you who don't know, it is a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner) but those of us who enjoy seafood are entirely grateful! My husband's family is quite large, so there will be a houseful of people bringing a seafood dish to add to the spread. Typically we always have lobster bisque, hand-breaded haddock, bacon-wrapped scallops, clam strips, and crab legs. There are always a couple of new recipes to try, which will round out the seven. And dessert! Who can forget dessert?
Christmas Day we will head back to my parents' to hang out and exchange gifts with my aunt and cousin. The plan is to snack on all of the left overs from the day before, then finish up the day with a boiled ham dinner. For those of you who don't know what it is (I thought everyone knew, but apparently there are some that don't), boiled dinner is a ham, potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage all--you guessed it--boiled in one pot. It is one of my favorites.
Can you hear the button on my pants pop off and fly across the room?
Let's talk a little about Christmas cookies. I'm in full-on cookie mode. I'm going to be baking several different kinds through out the week, for gifts and the different gatherings. I'm not going to say what kinds at this point, so as not to spoil it for those that are receiving them as gifts. I think I'm making so many cookies lately because it warms up the kitchen (didn't they put heat in kitchens 40 years ago??) and makes it smell homey in here.
No baking today though...I have a turkey in the oven! I bought one fairly cheap after Thanksgiving, and it's been thawing in the refrigerator for a week and a half now. Would you believe it was still semi-frozen? It sat in a sinkful of cold water this morning to speed up the process. This sucker is a whopping 21 pounds...what was I thinking? What the hell am I gonna do with 21 pounds of turkey??
Perhaps this post gives you some indication as to why I had surgery. I will always be the foodie fat girl, no matter what my body size is.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Resolutions and Stuff
Is it bad luck to make your New Years resolutions early? I have a couple I'd like to make, and I don't want to wait til January. The thing with resolutions for me is that I never make them. I think they're stupid, and if you want to change something about yourself or your life, do it, no matter what time of year it is. But, since this is a new(er) me, I'm going for it. If I fail, I'll chalk it up to the fact that I made the resolutions before Christmas.
First and foremost, I want to write a post for this blog once a week. I've failed miserably at doing it, and I find I feel better after I do. So, that's one. I'm going to shoot for the same day every week, to be determined....later. (I am an A1, first class procrastinator).
Second, and more cliched, I want to try to exercise more. Notice the use of the word "try". I'm not going to be unrealistic and say I'm going to do it come hell or high water, five days a week. It would be nice if the Boonville Health and Fitness Center made their New Years resolution to lower their rates, but that's neither here nor there, I suppose.
I'm going to stop there with the resolutions, for now at least. If I come up with something later, I can always wait for the new year.
As for life post surgery, it's going well. I am throwing up much less now, and I can't say I miss it! Figuring out what works and what doesn't makes all the difference in the world. I do have habits that I need to change, one of them being I've gone back to being a night time snacker. Such a bad habit to go back to!
If there is something you'd like me to write about, (some question you have, some observation, whatever), please feel free to message me on facebook or send me an email if you've got my address. There's not much that goes on around here these days, and coming up with something to talk about is hard sometimes! Hence the long gaps of time between posts...
First and foremost, I want to write a post for this blog once a week. I've failed miserably at doing it, and I find I feel better after I do. So, that's one. I'm going to shoot for the same day every week, to be determined....later. (I am an A1, first class procrastinator).
Second, and more cliched, I want to try to exercise more. Notice the use of the word "try". I'm not going to be unrealistic and say I'm going to do it come hell or high water, five days a week. It would be nice if the Boonville Health and Fitness Center made their New Years resolution to lower their rates, but that's neither here nor there, I suppose.
I'm going to stop there with the resolutions, for now at least. If I come up with something later, I can always wait for the new year.
As for life post surgery, it's going well. I am throwing up much less now, and I can't say I miss it! Figuring out what works and what doesn't makes all the difference in the world. I do have habits that I need to change, one of them being I've gone back to being a night time snacker. Such a bad habit to go back to!
If there is something you'd like me to write about, (some question you have, some observation, whatever), please feel free to message me on facebook or send me an email if you've got my address. There's not much that goes on around here these days, and coming up with something to talk about is hard sometimes! Hence the long gaps of time between posts...
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