2012-06-14

You mean healthy as in not good?

I've been trying to get motivated to the point of getting off the couch for quite some time. My weight over the years has peaked and dipped in an endless cycle. It really isn't anything new since I've struggled with my weight since I was high school and even more so when I was in the Marines. So I decided I was going to watch the Biggest Loser on Netflix (189 episodes, thank you so much @netflix).

Surprisingly enough its actually working.

I've been to the gym 4 out of the last 5 days, haven't eaten out for lunch or dinner during that time, and have been feeling remarkable. I think a big struggle for me is going to be....well OK, there are going to be a lot of struggles but one of the struggles for me is learning to like new foods. Let me rephrase that. Learning to re-like old foods. I'd hardly say apples, peaches, bananas, are "new foods". I've just been so addicted to immediate over-flavored processed foods for so long that a lot of fruits just don't turn me on. Got it. I fully take responsibility for that statement and just how inappropriate it sounds. I meant to say I'm just not excited or hungered by the idea of eating fruits. How sad is that.

I discovered tonight that I actually like peaches. More specifically peaches that are just on cusp of being ripe. My disappointment in peaches has always been that they;re mush. Too soft. Too wet. Ripe peaches taste to me like peaches on the verge of going bad. Not necessarily flavor wise just texture and wetness.

So moral of the story is if you don't like the goopiness of ripe peaches try them just before they're ripe.

2012-06-10

Russian Shepherdess

Well, it's been a while since I posted and there has been a lot going on. Since my last post I've been back to Norway again and even had a little vacation within a vacation in Riga, Latvia. Yes, Latvia is a real country and no it's the fictitious country Dr. Doom comes from. While we were in Riga we ate at a terrific Russian restaurant and I kind of Shepherd's pie but it was covered in bread instead of potatoes.
Here's a picture of it. On the menu it was called Shepherdess.
It was terrific. It was a lamb stew with baked bread over it. Delicious. As a child of the cold war I would have never suspected I liked Russian food.

There's a ton more to share including Norwegian kababs and a 12th century feast. More to come I promise. That's it for now.

2012-03-18

Green to be back!

Hello world! 
Did you miss me? I know I've been away for a while but I'm hoping to get back on track. The biggest change for me since I last posted is that I've recently moved. I'm excited about it because we're within walking distance of a (very) local market that has terrific fresh produce and groceries. I stopped by yesterday to pick up some stuff for sandwiches (since our kitchen isn't fully unpacked yet) and not finding the standard chain cheese or lunch meat I bought a few small packs of the fresh cheese. 


Imagine my wonder and amazement when I got home and had cheese that actually tasted like real cheese. It had flavor. It had a distinct taste. It didn't have that "over taste" of concentrated flavors of what cheese is "supposed to taste like". I could actually get used to this. It's been a while since I've had cheese that actually required me to use a cheese slicer. 


One of the things that caught my eye at the grocer was their fresh green beans and snow peas. After doing some googling and wikipediaing (ok, not a word but you get my point) I'm opting to handle green beans first and snow peas second. 


I've been watching green bean videos all night and I'm surprised there is such a diversity in how to cook them. Normally for a particular food you may find a lot of variety in cooking methods but typically you find an excess of one particular way. Not so with the green bean. I found videos on blanching, sauteing, steaming, boiling and even baking. There was no clear obvious method based solely on the number of videos favoring one way over the other. 


I think though my most likely choice will be blanching followed by sauteeing with some butter, garlic, and lemon. I just love the color of blanched vegetables than other methods. There's something that psychologically makes you think you are eating healthier when the vegetables are like super mega-green. 


Enough for tonight, just wanted to stop in and say high. Hopefully I'll put something up on howmy green beans went in the next couple of days.