A Caloric Journey

It wasn’t the six-week pastry class, or the Christmas feast, or the drinking on New Years, no ladies and gentleman is was the Superbowl weekend that took me over the edge.  Very unexpectedly but to no surprise a weekend of drinking, deep fried food and more than a taste of two different cakes left it’s mark.  But, after about two weeks of ‘dieting’ I was reminded about how unproductive and depressing putting yourself on a diet can be.  From a person who lives each day from one meal to the next this is a partial death sentence.  Not to mention I really believe that once you are off the diet you are at risk to gain it all back!

I think my diet was more about pushing myself to get to the gym, eating tuna and salad more frequently, and a reminder about portion size and over indulging.  Not to say that I’m about to go off the deep end again, but I think I learned my lesson and I’m okay to enjoy an oatmeal cookie and a happy hour.

Conveniently, Ed Levine founder of Serious Eats just posted about a similar experience and I can totally relate to his dilemma and I have adopted his outlook on dieting as a ‘caloric journey.’

From now on I am not going to refer to my weight control efforts as a diet. What I have embarked on is a series of choices and an overall attitude about eating and living. What I am laying out is a way to eat for pleasure without losing control of my weight. It’s something a lot of serious eaters can relate to, I think. I’ve come to think of it as a caloric journey.

I needed these two weeks to set myself straight, but now I will listen a little more closely to that skinny angle on my shoulder when the fat one is tempting me greasy fatty goodness.  She will remind me of how hard it was to reach 150 calories on the treadmill and if that 300 calorie bag of chips is worth it.

The term journey seems fitting.  An adventure that is likely to have steep hills of fried chicken, wrong turns of cannoli cream and detours of never ending kegs of Palm Ale, but all will eventually surpass and I will refocus towards the path of overall health and wellness.  

 

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Oktoberfest, Fall Harvest, Halloween Mash-Up

Bacon for the German Potato Salad

Cutting squash and more squash for the soup

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year especialy when it comes to flavors.  To celebrate the coming of this magnificent season I decided to have a traditional German Oktober Fest complete with sausage, kraut, pretzels and beer.  It ended up being a mash-up with some butternut squash soup, pumpkin pie and rigatoni.  Searching for as many local ingredients as possible and with the help of  my trusty Fresh Direct delivery man I devised a pretty solid menu with all the trimings and party planning details.  I manged to take some preperaption photos but have included some beauty shots with links to the recipies. 

Sweet ‘n Spicy

For those who know me, know that I LOVE spicy flavors (My brother was even creative enough to sign me up for the“Hot Sauce of the Month Club”).  I may be a little late to the game on this but I just discovered Spicy Ice Cream!!  Creative flavors are springing up all over the place!  Cucumber, lime, chile or watermelon-jalapeno!  Or a thai chili with toasted coconut, cayenne and coconut milk!

An article from Serious Eats directed me to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.  Check it out, really interesting flavor combos and using the freshest of local ingredients Yay!!