No, no, no, not THAT kind of working girl. I am a wife, mother and a full time employee of a large, unwieldy corporation. I know I haven't posted in a while but I've been busy. Luckily for me, I work from home or as some call it "virtual office." I wish I were "virtually working." I still have meetings and deadlines and such but I take care of those things with the aid of a laptop and a cell phone, no cube-farm environment required. This is both good and bad.
It is good because my schedule is a little more flexible. I work on the west coast but my office is on the east coast. I have only met my current boss once and he wasn't even my boss yet at the time. The last time I was required to come into the office was 5 years ago. I work in sweats and t-shirts, no shoes, no makeup. I can kiss and hug my daughter goodbye before school and I can pick her up afterward.
It is bad because I am very close to my refrigerator.
When I am frustrated at work (often) many times I will turn to my refrigerator for comfort. My refrigerator comforts me, it understands me, it loves me and feeds me. (Is this too much information?) Anyway, as we all know, I should not be so friendly with my refrigerator due to the "mad love" fallout that is currently my stomach and my ass. Me and my refrigerator need to break up.
So far, I have been making giant pots of soup and chili and curry to aid in my curing my heartbreak. Unfortunately, some of that has come to an end. While working from home I could carve out a half an hour to chop and dump ingredients into a big pot for simmering but I AM NOW A COMMUTER... well, sort of. During the summer I am bringing my daughter to my sister's house. I'll work from here while keeping an eye on her kids and mine to save us from child care costs.... but now I am far away from my new lover, my soup pot.
Now my soup/stew/curry making has to be relegated to Sunday afternoons. I bought a bunch of single serving sized semi-disposable storage bowls so I can freeze my concoctions. I've been bringing one over to my sister's every day. Chicken wings. Don't knock 'em. Hot wings are not that high in calories and hot sauce has almost no fat at all. About 6 wings is very filling and about 250-300 calories. Cook up a big batch and freeze them (once cool) in freezer storage bags. They take 20 minutes to re-heat in the oven or 5 minutes in the microwave. Make the teriyaki sauce I used for my stir frys and use that on the wings for a change of pace. There are also low-fat cheeses that come in handy 1 ounce sticks to be found in the dairy section of the grocery store.
So, today, my point is... even if you can't be at home, all is not lost. Just plan ahead. I doubt my refrigerator even misses me.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
If two people reek like garlic is there still a stink?
My husband has decided to go low carb with me. Now this is a good thing, in general. It is a good thing because he could stand to lose about 50 lbs. His cholesterol is too high. He likes gigantic super-tankers filled with sugary soda fountain drinks which will rot his teeth, make the rest of his hair fall out and probably pickle his brain into the next millennium.
It is a bad thing because he is somewhat of a picky eater. I'm not complaining! Honest! He just won't try some of the things I have embraced to make my low carb quest easier... like tofu, shirataki noodles, low fat cheese. I married a straight-up carnivore. He will eat vegetables within reason (his reason, not mine). So, my quest is to come up with manly, meat-filled dinners that will satisfy his need for lots of charred flesh and my need for low fat/low carb/low calorie meals.
I follow a lot of celebrity chefs on Twitter. Okay, yeah, I am a cooking show junkie and always on the look out for tips and tricks in the kitchen. One of my favorite cooking shows is Alton Brown's "Good Eats." He presents a lot of the science behind cooking which I find fascinating. Anyway, Alton tweeted about a dinner he was making his family which included "40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken." It sounded delicious but when I looked up the recipe it had way too much fat. My version is not strictly low fat (I confess a love for crisp chicken skin) but it has a lot less fat than Alton's version. I also changed it to chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken... I might have mentioned my general aversion to chicken breast meat.
Here is Alton's version:
Food Network - Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Without further ado, here is my recipe for:
40 Cloves of Garlic and Some Thighs
Serves 4-6
8 skin on, bone in chicken thighs
Cooking spray
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Trim any obvious big globs of fat off the chicken thighs. Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray. Lightly spray the skin side of the chicken thighs with cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. You may have to do this in two batches. Don't crowd the chicken too much or it won't brown properly.
Line a half sheet baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. Place the browned thighs on the pan skin side up. Sprinkle the garlic in and around the chicken. Lay the thyme sprigs across the chicken. Cover the whole pan with more foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.
**NOTE** Many mainstream grocery stores have peeled garlic in jars in the refrigerated section of the produce department. It sure beats peeling all that garlic! The garlic gets soft like butter... mmmm. Eat some of the garlic with the chicken. If you have any left over save it and toss with steamed or stir-fried vegetables. Delicious! I served the chicken with roasted cauliflower sprinkled with a third of a cup of 2% shredded cheese. My husband (and 6 yr old daughter) scarfed this down with nary a complaint.
It is a bad thing because he is somewhat of a picky eater. I'm not complaining! Honest! He just won't try some of the things I have embraced to make my low carb quest easier... like tofu, shirataki noodles, low fat cheese. I married a straight-up carnivore. He will eat vegetables within reason (his reason, not mine). So, my quest is to come up with manly, meat-filled dinners that will satisfy his need for lots of charred flesh and my need for low fat/low carb/low calorie meals.
I follow a lot of celebrity chefs on Twitter. Okay, yeah, I am a cooking show junkie and always on the look out for tips and tricks in the kitchen. One of my favorite cooking shows is Alton Brown's "Good Eats." He presents a lot of the science behind cooking which I find fascinating. Anyway, Alton tweeted about a dinner he was making his family which included "40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken." It sounded delicious but when I looked up the recipe it had way too much fat. My version is not strictly low fat (I confess a love for crisp chicken skin) but it has a lot less fat than Alton's version. I also changed it to chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken... I might have mentioned my general aversion to chicken breast meat.
Here is Alton's version:
Food Network - Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Without further ado, here is my recipe for:
40 Cloves of Garlic and Some Thighs
Serves 4-6
8 skin on, bone in chicken thighs
Cooking spray
10 sprigs fresh thyme
40 peeled cloves garlic
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Trim any obvious big globs of fat off the chicken thighs. Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray. Lightly spray the skin side of the chicken thighs with cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides. You may have to do this in two batches. Don't crowd the chicken too much or it won't brown properly.
Line a half sheet baking pan with aluminum foil. Spray the foil lightly with cooking spray. Place the browned thighs on the pan skin side up. Sprinkle the garlic in and around the chicken. Lay the thyme sprigs across the chicken. Cover the whole pan with more foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove chicken from the oven, let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and serve.
**NOTE** Many mainstream grocery stores have peeled garlic in jars in the refrigerated section of the produce department. It sure beats peeling all that garlic! The garlic gets soft like butter... mmmm. Eat some of the garlic with the chicken. If you have any left over save it and toss with steamed or stir-fried vegetables. Delicious! I served the chicken with roasted cauliflower sprinkled with a third of a cup of 2% shredded cheese. My husband (and 6 yr old daughter) scarfed this down with nary a complaint.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day
No, seriously. I would not jive you. Yeah, yeah... "they" have been telling us (they starting with your mother) that we need to eat a good breakfast in order to have the most productive day. Well, they weren't kidding. Maybe mother did know best.
I actually start the morning with a good multi-vitamin. If I have been dragging ass, I'll take another one in the afternoon for a few days. Just in case. I eat my breakfast about an hour or two after I wake up. If I eat too early by the time I really reach consciousness I have forgotten I already ate then I eat again. Not a move that is conducive to weight loss.
Eating low carb poses a problem at breakfast time. What are all the best breakfast foods? BREADS AND POTATOES! Toast, English muffins, cereal, pancakes, hash browns, French toast... oh God, I love French toast with bacon... wait, I digress. Now that I no longer eat any of those things for breakfast I actually... have... more... energy. Carbs give a sugar rush, a high that lasts a couple of hours. That is why I used to crash and burn hard around the hour mark before lunch. Protein and the few carbs you get from vegetables give energy but the energy is released more slowly, thereby preventing that nose dive into your keyboard late morning.
I have eggs for breakfast just about every morning. Some might say, "Eggs are super high in fat and you will get cholesterol globules coming out your ears." That is why I use an egg substitute. You can find several types by the regular eggs. I just use my grocery store's house brand. Its actually not a substitute at all... its egg white. I saute some chicken sausage or an ounce of thinly sliced dry salami with a quarter cup of chopped onions, throw in some sliced mushrooms and a handful of thinly sliced chard or spinach. Once the vegetables are mostly cooked I drizzle in the egg substitute and let it cook, like a frittata. Then I sprinkle on a third of a cup of low-fat shredded cheddar. Let it melt and VOILA, Bob's your uncle and you have a delicious, filling breakfast for about 350 calories and about 13 carbs.
Eat your breakfast! Believe me, it helps. I mean 4 bazillion mothers can't be wrong, can they?
I actually start the morning with a good multi-vitamin. If I have been dragging ass, I'll take another one in the afternoon for a few days. Just in case. I eat my breakfast about an hour or two after I wake up. If I eat too early by the time I really reach consciousness I have forgotten I already ate then I eat again. Not a move that is conducive to weight loss.
Eating low carb poses a problem at breakfast time. What are all the best breakfast foods? BREADS AND POTATOES! Toast, English muffins, cereal, pancakes, hash browns, French toast... oh God, I love French toast with bacon... wait, I digress. Now that I no longer eat any of those things for breakfast I actually... have... more... energy. Carbs give a sugar rush, a high that lasts a couple of hours. That is why I used to crash and burn hard around the hour mark before lunch. Protein and the few carbs you get from vegetables give energy but the energy is released more slowly, thereby preventing that nose dive into your keyboard late morning.
I have eggs for breakfast just about every morning. Some might say, "Eggs are super high in fat and you will get cholesterol globules coming out your ears." That is why I use an egg substitute. You can find several types by the regular eggs. I just use my grocery store's house brand. Its actually not a substitute at all... its egg white. I saute some chicken sausage or an ounce of thinly sliced dry salami with a quarter cup of chopped onions, throw in some sliced mushrooms and a handful of thinly sliced chard or spinach. Once the vegetables are mostly cooked I drizzle in the egg substitute and let it cook, like a frittata. Then I sprinkle on a third of a cup of low-fat shredded cheddar. Let it melt and VOILA, Bob's your uncle and you have a delicious, filling breakfast for about 350 calories and about 13 carbs.
Eat your breakfast! Believe me, it helps. I mean 4 bazillion mothers can't be wrong, can they?
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