So...whats for dinner?
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Avocado toast & egg for brunch, with a handful of nuts afterward. For dinner, Bob brought home a Costco chicken. I made a tomato/basil/arugula salad with blood orange EVOO, balsamic (the Lucini cheaper stuff), and Sicilian orange sea salt; I also made sauteed garlic-ginger green beans with Monday's farmer's market find. Dessert was a ripe apricot and a square of Lindt 78% chocolate. Gordy came over today and I sent him home with some tomatoes for Leslie (he's not a tomato fan). Still have more ripening than I can use. Might make zoodles pomodoro tomorrow night with round two of the roast chicken, and either peppers (bell strips or blistered shishitos) or asparagus. Might do a veggie-provolone omelette for brunch tomorrow.
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Last night was the bean "shakshuka" with an egg; this time I melted cheese over it. TOnight, I'll use up the last of the beans to make nachos.
This People's pharmacy article was in my inbox this morning. Interesting. It seems to indicate that eating earlier in the day and quitting earlier is how intermittent fasting may work; other int. fasting protocols didn't produce outstanding results. And Inter. Fasting later in the day caused more muscle loss than fat loss. hmmmmm. Not sure what that will do with my choices.
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/does-time...
Editing to add, the comments are interesting and seem to dispute some of the studies. Good to know.
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I made another zucchini casserole, tweaking the original recipe a bit more to my liking this time and it was muy declicioso! Even dh was impressed. The recipe calls for shredded sharp cheddar and I added more of it and less bread crumbs because last time the texture was a bit gritty. Great way to use up zucchini; it's all gone and I can't wait to make it again. I've had different zucchini concoctions with mozzarella cheese but now I am a convert to using cheddar; it adds a delicious zing to the dish.
This is the first year I grew roma tomatoes and now that they're all ripening, I made a batch of fresh salsa using a packet of salsa seasoning mix and chopped red onion. Yum-Oh!!!! It turned out great. It's a good way to use up an abundance of tomatoes as I cut up quite a few to make 4 cups. I loved the roma variety for the salsa and will definitely plant them again next year. The main reason I grew them (and when I say me I mean dh as he is the vegetable gardener) is to try to make bruschetta, something I most especially love. I haven't made it yet but maybe when the next crop of tomatoes turns red I will get to it.
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Tonight we had a dinner salad with walnuts and some bleu cheese chunks for protein. It’s been a long week that was too short…but I’m glad it’s Friday.
Wallycat, I’ve never had shakshuka but it sounds like something I would like. Thanks for the article link. I think the jury is still out on intermittent fasting, but I don’t think it can hurt if you maintain a balanced diet. So, in case it might help, I do it occasionally. My issue with these studies is that I think it is difficult to connect the fasting to the weight loss results, going back to the “correlation is not causation” mantra. I also think it is hard to design research studies that control for other variables that affect our ability to lose weight.
eric95us, the thought of hot sourdough from the oven is heavenly. I don’t have time to make bread now, but I grew up making and baking bread in a homemade wood fired oven. It was delicious. Brings back good memories
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I think the point of intermittent fasting (per my NP and a book whose author I forget) is to maximize the length of time you're not secreting insulin. But the idea of an 8-hr "eating window," during which time you should refrain as much as possible from eating in order to stop spiking insulin, sounds little better (and nearly as "deprivational") than 16 hours of eating nothing at all. I am not seeing results other than maintaining--and I am sure it's not the tomatoes. I will bring this up with the NP next month. Sure, eating even small amounts of whatever normal food I wanted, interspersed with going "back on the plan" eating keto-friendly foods, has had disastrous results--having to intermittent-fast is the only thing keeping me from those nighttime carb-cheat binges. But it's a vicious cycle: sure, the later in the day I have my first bite means the later I can set my "stop eating" time--but then it means I have to wait again the next day till it's been 16 hours.
However, eating early in the day and then stopping at 6 is not gonna work. I have to sleep late because not only are Bob's hours so unpredictable (his weekend schedule changes with the whims and religious observances of the doc with whom he shares call), he gets phone calls & pages all night long--they wake me up so I can wake him up to answer them. The only way I can get my 7-8 hrs. is to sleep in. And he shuns breakfast (nowhere to stop en route on his long 20+-mile commute when the gastro-colic reflex kicks in), so his first meal of the day is also lunch. Neither of us are particularly hungry till at least 7, more often 8pm--which is often the earliest I can make a reservation if we go out, traffic being what it is these days. My NP does not understand why I don't tell him "the hell with it, I will eat when I ought to" and not wait for him. Well, we didn't stay married 51 years by saying "my needs come first." He works hard and I don't.
Tonight we reheated more Costco chicken. I made "zoodles pomodoro" from the NYTimes' spaghetti pomodoro recipe (spiralized a yellow squash, squeezed out as much water as I could, and made a sauce from a dozen cherry tomatoes, EVOO, fresh garlic, a squirt of tomato paste for umami, butter and basil). It wan't the real thing but as a vegetable it was fine. The other veg was steamed asparagus tossed in lemon juice, EVOO and flake sea salt. Dessert was a 2 gm. net carb Halo Top ice cream bar. Its taste & texture is closer to the real thing than the brand's faux ice cream scooped from a pint; it''s enough to satisfy me and the erythritol does not spike my blood sugar nor have the unfortunate digestive side effects of the earlier-generation maltitol sweeteners. I do avoid aspartame & sucralose, though, because they fool the pancreas into squirting out insulin in anticipation of the sugar that never arrives to be burned or become glycogen--so the insulin helps the liver convert the food instead to fat which gets stored. And except for the small piece of baguette and a couple of macarons at Wednesday's luncheon, I have been avoiding sugar & starch.
Pure keto (with percentage "macros") doesn't work for me--it's simply not adapatable to the real world and social life. I accept the fact that I won't be going into ketosis, but with low-carb at least I am holding the line on further gain for now (lost a couple pounds this month, depending on time of day and what I'm wearing).
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Cythea I'm pleased to hear you lost weight on Noom. My first week seems like it's been spent learning how it works and how they categorize food. I plan to stick with it and am trying to up my activity level now that I've finished PT for my shoulder. I'm 5 ft 1 " so losing weight without starving seems hard, hard, hard.
Chi if what you said about sucralose is true I may finally give up my splenda addiction. Wow.
Someone's zuchinni casserole and sourdough bread sounded devine...👍
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I never liked Splenda--things (especially beverages) sweetened with it tasted more of "sweetness" than the underlying flavors--sort of blunted the edges of the foods' tsstes. Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet) let the flavors shine through. But it breaks down in heat & over time--as anyone who's opened a 6-month-old can of Diet Pepsi stored outside the fridge in summer will attest. (I had a singing partner who swore that to her it tasted like mold--but then again, that's how patchouli smells to me). Then there's Sweet & Low--I could always taste the saccharine's bitterness and the "blah-ness" of the stuff it was cut with to stretch it out; but my mom's generation adored it and insisted restaurants serve it. Erythritol tastes the closest to sugar, IMHO, and measures like it too. Lakanto foods (especially their "maple-oid" syrup, which tastes more like maple than does Log Cabin and is thicker than the "diet" syrups) are especially good. I do miss the neutral sweetness of good ol' liquid Sucaryl (cyclamate), though--it remained legal in Canada for years and I'd have friends smuggle me back a bottle.
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Come to think of it, I wonder how the original (Jean Nidetch-era) incarnation of Weight Watchers would hold up today vis a vis a low-carb but not keto diet. Sure, it limited fat (no added fats or oils at all, skim-milk only), banned cereals & potatoes, allowed red meat 3X week--no more, no less, and even fresh salmon counted as a "red meat," mandated liver weekly and fish 5x/week (3 of which had to be dinners), and 3 fruits, 2 milks & 2 slices of sandwich bread a day; classified veggies into "#3" (unlimited) and "#4" (limited to 1/2 c.per day, but also mandated that one daily serving); and protein portions were 4 oz at lunch and 6 at dinner. Its second version cut protein portion sizes by a couple oz., allowed "1/2%" milk, mandated one tablespoon of unsaturated fat daily and gave wider latitude for starch exchanges. I remember being able to dine out easily on both plans. (Although some nutcases would actually sneak a little postal scale into their purses to weigh out their portions in restaurants). But I'm still haunted by the memory of the first generation of T-Fal pans (the only way to "fry" or scramble an egg with no fat), those little packets of powdered skim milk (which turned coffee a dark gray) and the ubiquitous pink packets of Sweet & Low.
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Eric, the thought of having an oven on with temps like yours....OY. But YUM on the bread!
Nachos last night; I'm baking off some bacon as I type, before we hit the 70s, to make BLTs for tonight.
Seattle will hit a possible 90+ degrees again next week thursday (?)...that will tie them for 12 90+ days from 2012 (I think). Stupid climate change.
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We are now in northeast Arizona and it's a lot cooler than in the Phoenix metro area. Last night, the temperatures were in the low 60F degree range.
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Went to see "The Everly Brothers" Great show by two guys about the brother's lives and of course, wonderful songs. Dinner was at Katz Deli. I had a NY Patty Melt. Excellent. The taste of the accompanying onion rings was good, but there was 20x too much breading. I couldn't find the onions,
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Tonight was a crock pot roast with just enough leftovers to make beef and barley soup in a couple days. I love soup and that temps are cool enough for it.
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Mae - great to see you. Hope your recurring treatments are going OK and you're proceeding with the Beach Bar - not to mention the house.
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Got a text from my HK this morning--because she was having sinus issues since Thurs., she tested today: positive. Bob called in a Paxlovid script for her. Fri. was the worst but she turned a corner yesterday. She can't figure out how she caught it, except that on Wed. she went into the supermarket without a mask--but it was only a few minutes. She is double-boosted but a "COVirgin," never having caught it till now, not even when her DH had it in the spring of 2020. Bob & I tested as soon as he called her pharmacy: we're both negative (but will test again in 24 hrs. and a third time if tomorrow we're still negative, which is the protocol for fully-vaxed/boosted but exposed). She drove me to my mani on Thurs., and drove Gordy back to his place later that day--so he'd better test too. He, like her, is double-boosted but never had COVID. (Bob & I have some degree of "hybrid immunity," having had Omicron between our boosters--but there are no absolute guarantees with this bug). Another week of dealing with the kitties by myself. But (knock wood) I'm okay and so is Bob.
We did go to the Air & Water Show after testing. It poured for the first half-hour, and everything was postponed for 90 minutes. They had to cancel the water-rescue demos because the lake was so choppy (BTW, "water rescue" is a sore subject around here, what with recent drownings and horrible boating accidents in the lake), and the Blue Angels were delayed for another half hour before the fog lifted from Gary Airport, which is the aviation staging area. But a good (albeit wet & exhausting) time was had by all. Much free food & drink.
BBQ buffet from Smoque was delicious: tender brisket & smoked chicken drumstick. Before I could say "no" they put mac & cheese on my plate, but it was only a couple tablespoons and worth the cheat. Also had oil & vinegar slaw (turned down the beans). Got hungry again toward the end, so my "true cheat" was a mini-brownie and half a chocolate chip cookie. 5 hrs. later I'm still full.
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Too lazy to cook tonight. Went fishing and caught zip. Frozen pizza.
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But Wally - to my mind fishing is always wonderful even if there is no "catching".
Dinner was a mish-mash. Leftover broccoli salad w/grated cheese & I added sunflower seeds. A scoop of fruit salad with wilting bananas, aging mandarin oranges, chopped pineapple tidbits, coconut & marshmallows - mixed with sour cream & chilled. Two large handfuls of black olives sitting in the fridge waiting for me to make Naan pizzas. Small dish of Godiva chocolate pudding made with Tia Maria and heavy cream.
Most interesting is one of my latest Costco purchases. Castella - Japanese Style Baked Sponge Cake by Imuraya. Of course being Costco the box has 3 packs of 5 each - but at least I only have to open one pack at a time. I had one slice and it's decent. Would be fantastic with fresh strawberries & whip cream.
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Not really hungry--slight headache from not drinking enough water and being out in the sun so long (long sleeves & jeans didn't help when the temp hit 80), plus the mile walk afterward to the bus stop--where we waited 20 minutes in the heat. Bus was extremely crowded, traffic awful--it was over an hour ride. That plus worry over my HK. I had a pretty large portion of brisket, and I'm not used to real (as opposed to keto-fake) carbs. Might have a salad or some sardines later.
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Devine, would you mind sharing your zucchini casserole recipe. I have 2, but they aren't big enough to make my zucchini boats I like. I also have a good recipe for Nutty Cheesy Zucchini Patties.
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Minus, you are 100% correct...fishing is pleasurable in and of itself. The fish are pure bonus. And that I can still have DH by my side, priceless. But...it was PACKED. We lucked out with a parking spot. Seems the tourist crowd/camper folk are still in full force. We try and fish during the week but with tides and temps at our mercy, we take what we can get.
Sandy, I hope you're feeling better. What is up with your HK? Hope nothing serious. I know you mentioned her DH has health concerns.
Your mention of the keto-fake stuff got me wondering if similar to imitation sugars, the body reacts to imitation carbs in the same fashion. It would be a wonderful study to see if anything unexpected is going on.
I have leftover bacon and depending on what we do (might be an evening fishing opportunity at Marrowstone Island), I may make carbonara or have the leftover pizza....
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I'm OK today except for classic (annual for me) height-of-ragweed-season hayfever season symptoms (itchy eyes, mild nagging ache above my left eye, occasional sneezing when outside in the wind, tickly throat I want to scratch through my ear canals and vice versa). Zyrtec and Nasacort help a lot. Will COVID test again today at dinnertime, and so will Bob.
My HK has a mild case of COVID. Her symptoms started noon Thurs., were worst on Fri., she rapid-tested positive yesterday and started Paxlovid as soon as she picked up the script Bob phoned in for her. She will test tomorrow and again Thurs. when she finishes her Paxlovid. If that's negative, she can go out again but mask up around people for another 5-10 days.
Tonight I will strip the remaining white meat off the roast chicken carcass and either stir-fry, make a cacciatore or fajitas for Bob, and have my leftover salmon & veg for me. Will supplement with ATK's green bean/cherry tomato/feta salad. (Need to use up the green beans and keep the cherry tomatoes from overwhelming my sill). For brunch, I think I'll have a couple of Birch Benders keto waffles.
Going back to the farmers' market when it opens at 3 before everything sells out; then to Petsmart to replenish the cat food pantry with stuff I know they like. Not sure for when the vet rescheduled their appts. (my HK & I were supposed to tag team today to wrangle them into their carriers, but obviously that can't happen), but they confirmed via text that they got my phone message. I had considered taking just Happy today but he's tougher to get into his carrier, and to lure him out if he hides; but my back is barely capable of feeding & watering them & scooping out their litterboxes--much less carrying a squirming 10-lb. kitty in a carrier up & down stairs to the car.
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Sandy, what foods will your kitty eat. Mine is so finicky. The worst is that the one food he will eat consistently isn't always in stock. Anything your cats like routinely, please let me know!!
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My kitties are exceptionally picky when it comes to wet food (they never met a kibble they didn't devour. but the vet wants them eating mostly wet). I tried them on both the refrigerated soft pellets & loaf from FreshPet and they gave me looks that said "are you effing kidding me?" All their wet food has to be "paté" (or in FancyFeast parlance, "classic"). They won't eat the "meaty bits," "shreds," or "cuts" even if I try to fool them by running them through the Cuisinart. Certain foods they loved--especially Friskies Turkey & Giblets and Ocean Whitefish & Tuna--they now sniff and walk away from.
I've found they like all meat-based Friskies (except the aforementioned turkey), Friskies Farm Favorites (the Chicken & Salmon flavors), and Friskies Mariner's Catch and Sea Captain's Choice. They like every Fancy Feast, Purina One and ProPlan I've offered them. They also like the Merrick single-ingredient turkey, venison & duck but turn their noses up at the rabbit. (Happy was prescribed Royal Canin rabbit but he meowed "fool me once..."). Neither of them like any of the prescribed wet foods--whether Royal Canin or Hill's Prescription. They don't like any of the fish flavors of TikiCat, but loved the Duck & Sweet Potato, which is out of stock. They hate Wellness, Blue Buffalo, or any of Petsmart or Petco store brands--but they wolf down "Whole Paws" chicken or chicken & giblets--fairly cheap at Whole Foods, but often out of stock. Happy loves all flavors of Sheba and the foil-packet "Senior Bisque" soups--but Heidi doesn't like either of them. Happy will also shamelessly beg for chicken, pork, milk or cream, even if the "cream" or "milk" I'm using is plant-based. Heidi has no use for "people-food." I have to put bones straight into the garbage lest Happy try to gnaw on them (they can splinter).
As for treats, Heidi's fave is Blue Buffalo "Fruitables" (both the blueberry-chicken and cranberry-salmon flavors) and Greenies Catnip flavor (she is a "nip-head," he can take it or leave it). Happy loves all the Friskies treats, but especially Lobster Mac & Cheese, Rockin' Lobster, and Shrimp--as well as Greenies chicken or turkey. I give them to him freely, to keep his weight up (he's 15 with IBD), but need to skimp on those for Heidi as she's still on the chunky side for her age (17). The treats are most useful for "studding" wet food that they seem to leave too much of on the plate--especially on the mornings I have to crush Happy's meds & mix them into his food. Works every time.
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Now back to human stuff. Test #2 was negative--so thus far what I'm feeling is hay fever (sky-high molds & weed pollens) plus my admitted allergies to my cats' dander (especially my fluffy ginger-patch boy Happy). My symptoms were really bad at the farmers' market today, but disappeared when I masked up and went into Petsmart (reappeared when I went to load my car & removed my mask). Was able to offload a couple more tomatoes to Leslie (DDIL).
Brunch (2pm) was a couple of Birch Benders keto waffles with Lakanto maple-oid syrup. Had an unsweetened oat milk breve cappuccino out on the deck before giving the cats their lunch and heading out. Bob is working very late so my dinner was fridge-foraging. Reheated my leftover salmon (not much in the way of veggies, as I ate most of them at the restaurant). Also had sn "eggplant parmigiana pizza," with sliced eggplant and half a tomato on a low-carb tortilla as a crust and thin-sliced provolone instead of parm & mozzarella. Seasoned with Penzey's Tuscan Sunset blend. Surprisingly good & filling. Dessert was 1/2 c. of Rebel triple-chocolate keto ice cream, finished at 9:30pm. So no more food till at least 11:30 tomorrow.
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Today's meal was a green salad from a bag with added sunflower seeds & slivered almonds and shoestring beets. HEB Ranch dressing. Dessert was 3 spoons of fruit salad that I made yesterday because it was use or toss the fruit. Two bananas, 2 mandarin oranges, 1/2 small can pineapple tidbits, coconut, a handful of mini marshmallows and some sour cream.
Off to the medical center tomorrow. At least I'll "kill two birds with one stone" - Neurologist in the morning and Ophthalmologist after lunch. Fingers crossed that the rain isn't too heavy.
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Minus, you had me with the fruit-marshmallow salad but lost me with the bananas. Dunno why I've always hated bananas (except fried & caramelized à la churrascarias, or Foster). Not a symbolic thing (nor even because the ether they gave me to put me under for my childhood tonsillectomy smelled like bananas)--my mom told me that as a baby I'd reject strained banana baby food and even reconstituted powdered dried banana. As a kid, I refused to eat banana Turkish taffy. I don't even like banana bread or banana cream pie--and I can smell & taste bananas in a smoothie, which makes me queasy.
Bob tested again tonight when he came home at 10pm--he, too, is still negative. We're on the fence about testing a third time.
Good luck with the neuro & ophtho. I hope Houston isn't getting the Biblical deluge plaguing Dallas. (My DDIL Leslie's folks live in Katy--half a mile uphill & dry from the Harvey flooding).
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Sandy, thank you for the cat-info. Sounds like your kitties "allow" you more freedom than mine. Mine refuses everything you listed yours refuse plus some of the stuff yours accept. Worse, he will happily eat 1/2 case of something, then decide, nope. UGH. And with out of stock issues, this is driving me to distraction.
Minus, hope the weather won't be an issue and all your doc stuff turns out OK.
We took our leftover pizza to the beach last night; no fish in sight. We did see two dolphins swim by.
Tonight will be the carbonara.
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goldie, here’s a link to the zucchini casserole recipe, and I will post a couple screenshots for it as well. A few tweaks I made include slightly decreasing the bread crumbs to 1/4 cup, and increasing the cheddar (I used sharp cheddar) to 1/2 cup but of course that’s personal preference. It bakes in an 8 x 8 dish. When a recipe calls for something like “2 quart pan” I have to google the measurements because my mind is wired for length and width, not volume. Same with “pounds”. I used about three or four average zucchini. The blogger arranges her slices beautifully in the pan, but mine were tossed willy nilly and it turned out just fine. I like the squash and zucchini combo but this could easily be made with just zucchini or just squash.
https://www.spendwithpennies.com/easy-squash-casserole/
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Devine, thank you so much! I love it, and so simple! I will have to see if my small baking dish will fit in my toaster oven, my oven exploded last week, almost killing my brother
but he is ok. I think I will add some tomatoes to it. I love them in my zucchini boats I make.0 -
I'm at at training conference. Dinner last night was Korean BBQ. I'm not sure about tonight.
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Last night I skipped dinner due to a fever. I tested negative for Covid, but I talked to a nurse and she thought that Covid was likely and that I should re-test in a few days.
I didn’t eat much today, but my fever came down with Tylenol so I was able to get some work done.
Dinner was a salad and almond flour cheese ravioli with Rao’s. The ravioli was on sale at WF, and it was so good that I told DH that he should go back to buy more. (I had only bought one box since I had never had ravioli made with almond flour, and I didn’t know if we would like it.)
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