Crock Pot Cooking

I love my crock pot. I often say it was the best $12.99 I ever spent - I bought it maybe 10 years ago and have used it often to make my own soups and stews. I highly recommend anyone who's new to cooking start with a crock pot, it makes life easy and will help give you lots of options.

Anyway - tonight I tried a new recipe from a great web site I've found, Low Sodium Cooking. It's a crockpot chicken curry. I mostly stuck to the recipe - although I don't have cloves so I doubled up on the cinnamon. I have been realizing lately that I over-rely on pasta (and to a lesser degree rice) to fill out a dish, so since this curry had so much potato in it I decided to skip the added starch and didn't make rice. I just served this like a curry stew instead. And, this was my first time using a cornstarch slurry to thicken a sauce - I didn't do it very well, mixing the water and cornstarch poorly so it got really thick. In the end, I think the juices of this dish would've been just fine without it - I could taste the starchiness of the slurry. I'd skip that next time.

I took pictures, but they really don't do the dish justice... just trust me when I say smell-o-vision would be the best way to share with you how great this was. The smell of all those spices!!! I cooked the dish for about 6 hours on high, and took a nap during part of that time. Waking up to the smell of my own homemade curry was really delightful. :-)

BEST. RACE. EVER.

This morning I ran the Presidio 10K - 6.4 miles. This was like the BEST. RACE. EVER. You are running right along the water until you run up a hill and then run across the Golden Gate Bridge. The start and finish line were right on the Presidio with a full view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Sausilito. It was beautiful and almost relaxing to run with a view of the ocean and the rocky Northern CA coastline.

My goal was to run under a 10 minute mile pace which meant finishing in 64 minutes. This would be easier said than done because the first two and a half miles were pure uphill running. You start right along the ocean and then have to climb a huge hill. Once on the Golden Gate Bridge you still have a slight incline until you reach the middle of the bridge. With almost three miles of continuous uphill running, I was really tempted to start walking. speed increase myEven with all the uphill running, I was running at exactly a ten minute mile pace. Luckily, what comes up does come down and once I hit the middle of the bridge, I got to go downhill. And that's when I picked up the pace. Almost the entire last two miles were downhill and I was really running at a fast clip.

My finish time was 58:27, well under my goal time (close to a 9 1/2 minute mile pace). What amazed me about the race was how similar it felt to my regular running on a treadmill. I really try and run the first mile at a ten minute mile pace and also put in an incline in the first half. In my train runs on the treadmill, I definitely pick up the speed in the second half. I am really proud of is that my speed kept picking up the longer I ran. Not only that, I had a wicked kick at the end and passed four people who were running ahead of me for the entire race.

I am looking forward to running this again. I was pushed for sure but ran well within myself. The added plus is that they had a ton of food for racers and post race massages. SCORE!

A Family Recipe

I really appreciate that so many people are cheering me on in my cooking adventures and sharing their recipes. Tonight I tried a brand new-to-me recipe that my Dad - who's the big cook of the family - sent me. It's so cute, Dad almost never emails, so it means a lot that he sat down to type this all out!

Here's his recipe with the final results to follow:

for 4----3 pounds of chicken thighs, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, 2-3 tablespoons of flour, 2 bell peppers cut into strips(red or yellow have more flavor than green), 1 onion diced, 3 cloves of garlic minced, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, 1 quarter teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 half teaspoon of dried basil, 8 ounces of sliced portobello or button mushrooms(optional), 1 cup of red wine or chicken stock.(if making your own sauce)

Directions: preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet add 2 -3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper the chicken and then dredge in the flour, cook the chicken on all sides to golden brown, remove chicken to a roasting pan in a single layer that has a lid. Now saute the onion in skillet till translucent( about 5 minutes) , add garlic, cook 30 seconds, add 1 tablespoon of flour,cook 1 minute, add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes. basil and oregano, bring mixture to a boil--it will thicken some-add mushrooms and peppers-mix it and then pour over the chicken. Place in oven at 350 covered for 30 minutes-check if sauce too thin leave lid off till desired thickness-serve over rice or pasta--

If you don't want to make your own sauce could use classico"s tomato and basil instead--the procedure would be-brown chicken-add classico tomato and basil, mushrooms, and peppers-cook in oven 45-60 minutes and serve-but that wouldn't be any fun at all! Love Dad

I went all in and made the full version of the recipe, just skipping the added salt. Note, this is a big undertaking -- with prep time and cooking, this took me almost 2 hours tonight. It's definitely not a weeknight meal.

This was the first time I've used chicken thighs. I know chicken cacciatore tends to be made with dark meat for better flavor. I've learned my lesson, though, to not just buy a pre-wrapped package of thighs. They were VERY fatty, and I probably spent 20 minutes trimming and still didn't do a great job. If I buy thighs again, I will ask a butcher to trim them. (The point of all this lifestyle stuff is to avoid fatty thighs, right?!? ;-)

I did get the chance to use one of my cooking class skills again, dredging the chicken in flour before putting it in the skillet to cook. That's another first for me cooking at home.

Here's the dish after 30 minutes at 350. I don't have lids for my roasting pans, so used foil. I did stick it back in to thicken up for about another 8 minutes while I was cooking the pasta.

The finished product, over whole grain rotini.



This made a HUGE amount overall, and I have 3 big containers of it stowed in the fridge for lunches this week. It was tasty, and it made me VERY full and satisfied. I'm still learning to like green peppers, and this has a very peppery taste. In the future, I may add more of the spices in the beginning and/or a cup of marsala wine instead of the chicken broth to enhance the flavor. But, this recipe can definitely be called a success - and I'll be eating it all week!

Checking In

It's day 5 now of life post-nutritionist, and things are going pretty well. I've been following her advice and making all my meals, changing my kinds of snacks, and writing everything down. Today is the last day that I have to fax to her (though I don't know if my building has a fax in our business center so I may not do that until Monday), and then she's going to call to give me her feedback on how I'm doing so far.

I have quickly realized that, with all this cooking and bringing leftovers for lunch, I'm going to get sick of my usual meals VERY soon. So I've been trolling for new healthy recipes and asking friends for their (easy to make) faves. I've gotten a lot of great new ideas, and I think my new plan will be to try to do major cooking of at least 2 big dishes every weekend that can serve as my lunches during the week. That way, I can make new dinners on weeknights and not worry about having to eat the same thing for lunch every day that I'd just had for dinner the night before. I like leftovers, but it can't always be an exact repeat of the previous meal.

A few other updates:

• On my nutritionist's advice, I tried that super-healthy plain Greek yogurt. FAIL. That stuff is disgusting!
• I did go out and buy a whole bunch of new pans, more cutting boards and some utensils (including a better garlic press with the little nubbins like Scotte recommended). So between the nutritionist's fee itself and the new kitchen stuff, I'm making quite a financial investment here.
• I did sneak a peek at the scale this morning. It appears this low-sodium, less-refined-sugar plan may be having a very positive effect...
• I've had no caffeine since Monday! None! (She didn't rule out sodas, but I didn't make any Coke Zero runs during the day this week anyway. That'll probably change next week.)
• I've really cut down on refined sugar, with the exception of a birthday cupcake on Thursday afternoon. I can feel a difference - my afternoon hunger is still there, but the lightheadedness and crash feeling have been noticeably absent.
• While I have been making big changes to what I'm eating, and cutting down on portion sizes especially at dinner, I don't feel like I'm depriving myself like on a usual "diet." Yes, I'm feeling hungry at times but that feels normal and natural, not like the insane starving feelings of being on a 1200 or 1500-calorie-a-day WW plan. So, after years of not really using it anyway, I actually just cancelled my online WW account. I can still access the recipes and exercise info on the site, and I'll save myself the $17 bucks a month since I haven't been using the online journal anyone. My trusty little spiral notebook seems to be doing just fine as a replacement.
• The acidophilus continues to do its trick!

That's all for now - stay tuned for cooking adventures!

Wish me Luck!

This Sunday at 8:00 am, I will be running the Presidio 10K. My goal is to run under a 10 minute mile pace which would mean I would finish in 74 minutes. Full report to come Sunday night after a long hot bath.

A little housekeeping

I'm just doing some tidying up on the blog layout, and I've added links to the 2 lifestyle blogs of 2 friends who are really helping me along this journey. I'll hope you'll check out their blogs and support their efforts, too. And I hope my co-blogger will feel free to add any other good blogs about people facing the same challenges and enjoying the same successes as we are!

Pantry Cooking II - Electric Boogaloo

Whew Stef, it's been a pretty intense month for you health wise. One of the healthiest (both for your body and your wallet) changes you can make I to do home cooked meals. You get to control the fat, salt and carb content. You get to portion things out. It’s great. Like Stef said, the hard part is making sure your pantry has the staples to make healthy food.

Here’s what’s in my pantry:

Starches (bread like starch is made with whole wheat flour):
Almond flour
Pasta
Brown Rice
Bread
Hamburger Buns
Hot Dog Buns
Crackers

Proteins (fast):
Egg beaters
Egg whites
Trader Joe’s Salmon Patties
Turkey Burgers (pre made and frozen)
Chicken sausages (defrosts great)
Tofu

Proteins (remember to defrost in the fridge that morning):
Salmon fillets
Pork chops
Chicken breasts (even better if you have a chance to pound them flatter with a rolling pin)

Vegetables:
Carrots
Onions
Green onions
Collard greens
Zuchinni
Salad greens
Red bell peppers
Cauliflower/Rutabaga/Turnip
Cherry tomatoes
Lemons
Blueberries/raspberries/strawberries

Condiments
Brie
Low fat feta
Cheddar
Parmesan
Silton
EVOO
Balsamic vinegar
Lowfat coconut milk
Say sauce
Fish sauce
Sambal chili sauce
Uncle Brutha’s
Thai curry paste
Dijon Mustard
Ketchup
Cumin
Chili powder
White wine
yogurt

Here are some sample menus

Turkey Burger night
Turkey burger with bun, caramelized onions and mustard
Feta and tomato salad

Breakfast for dinner
Almond meal pancakes with sugar free syrup (or even baked apples with cinnamon)
Chicken sausage
Plain lowfat yogurt (sweetened with Splenda) with berries

Comfort Food
Egg white frittata with sautéed greens, red peppers and cheddar cheese
Cauliflower mash

Asian
Tofu Curry with carrots and red peppers
Brown rice

Elegant dinner
Pan seared pork chops with a dijon/white wine pan sauce
Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette
Roasted carrots

Assignments & Accountability

I had my appointment with the nutritionist tonight... wow. This is a much bigger deal than I thought going in, but it's all good. I had really just planned to ask her how to get past my IBS problems to be able to eat more fruits and veggies as part of my overall approach... turns out she really takes a holistic view and instead is advising me on improving my entire diet and nutrition. It makes sense, and I need it, but this is going to be a much bigger effort and investment than I first intended.

We went over my usual daily routine combined with my own medical issues, and then she talked me through all the changes she'd like me to make. This is the first step, which we both hope will work - she said she waits to see how clients do on his before moving to a more structured approach (which would be similar to the old, old, old WW approach of different carb, protein, grain, etc. exchanges at each meal).

Some of her recommendations? NO STARBUCKS. At least nothing other than herbal teas. And I pretty much need to cut out all the processed, packaged food I have remaining - and I'd already cut out a lot. I need to start bringing my lunch, cuz that's really my downfall. Even when I think I'm buying a healthier lunch, it's still loaded with sodium. I need better snacks (fruit, raisins, unsalted nuts, yogurt, lowfat cheese sticks) and I need a bigger breakfast so I can keep up a better energy/blood sugar level in the morning and not be starving by lunchtime. I've already cut out table salt, but I need to go a step further and stop getting salty snacks and salty restaurant or deli meals.

All of this is very common sense stuff, which I'd done some of during the WW days, but the switch to really trying to cook almost everything is going to be a major change. She reminded me that this is all about planning - which makes me think of Scotte and his AWESOME spreadsheet - and buying and cooking for several meals at a time.

After our appointment, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up a whole lot of produce, some of those healthy snacks, and an imitation spray butter for my toast in the morning. She also recommended I get an air popper, cuz air-popped popcorn is a great snack. Thank you, Target.com.

My assignment? Start making these changes and keep a daily food journal. For the next 5 days, I have to keep the journal on specific sheets and fax them to her, then she'll call to go over it all. Since I mentioned visiting my parents in a few weeks will be full of all kinds of food pitfalls, I'm faxing her those days, too. Then I go back again in a month to see how I did. And she says I should definitely stick with the acidophilus to help me with my IBS.

Here's the thing that I'm hoping makes this work: for once, I am now accountable to someone other than myself. I'm accountable to someone I'm paying a large amount of money to (!!!!) and who can pretty easily see through my crap rationalizations. I usually have no problem justifying things to myself, but now I have a very friendly and supportive drill sergeant watching over me and evaluating what I do. Ouch. This is a totally different approach than anything I've tried before, but I hope that's the trick right there.

Tomorrow morning I start those journals and fax them in to her in 5 days, then I see her again in 3 weeks. I'll need support and encouragement to get over my own tummy and verbal grumblings over these changes. For all of her talk, as well, about how this is a lifestyle and not a diet, it's sure gonna feel like a diet. Wish me luck!!!

Phew

It took FOUR WEEKS for the stupid radiology office to send my results back to my doctor, and I kept calling and calling... but good news! My thyroid sonogram was NORMAL.

Pantry Cooking

One of the things I have long admired about my co-blogger and his hubby, and Scotte and so many others of my cooking friends, is their ability to whip together good meals from just a few random ingredients they happen to have on hand. On a night when you don't have something specific planned, you could choose my former route and go for takeout, or you can think creatively about the different staples you have and what you can put together that would work well. Guess which way is healthier? :-)

Of course, to get to that point, you need to have a well-stocked pantry with healthy ingredients. With my great new kitchen and a good grocery store 2 blocks away, I think I'm finally at that point! For example, the other night I made a very tasty and very economical Mexican-style chicken dish just from stuff I had in the kitchen.

Here I took a package of chicken tenders (organic / free range / whatever the good label said), cut them into cubes, seasoned them with black pepper and cumin, and sauteed them with a whole bunch of my chopped frozen onions in some olive oil. Then I added a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, about 1/3 bag of frozen corn, some chopped fresh cilantro, more black pepper, and some dried parsley. After cooking it down, I served it with some shredded fat-free Mexican cheese blend. It was delicious!

And this was all stuff I just had in the fridge, freezer, or cupboard. I like that I'm learning more about what things work together and can just buy them whenever they're on sale or when I've got room in my shopping basket, to keep around for nights just like this. Good stuff!