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ANARIE's Recent Blog Entries
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Thursday, June 19, 2008
I made pickles! I had never done that before. As a general rule I don't like most pickles, but I found a recipe for sweet-hot refrigerated pickles and decided to try it. They were so easy, and they're SO good! You just put veggies, including some hot chiles, in the containers, mix vinegar, sugar, and pickling salt in a pan and bring it to a boil, then pour the hot brine over the veggies. It takes like 15 mins total. I put in cucumbers, cauliflower, onions, and baby carrots. All are yummy, and really you could use almost any veggie. Supposedly they'll keep for several months in the fridge, so it could be a good way of preserving some of the extra garden produce.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
I've really been enjoying my meals lately! I don't know if I've really been coming up with good recipes, or if I've cut my calories far enough that *anything* would taste good! I had some curry paste-- I needed a tablespoon for a recipe I made a while back, and of course the only way it was available was in a whole big tub-- so I mixed some of that with a little coconut milk and sauteed up all the stray veggies I had in the fridge. I served it over brown rice, and it was terrific! Then, since the tomato torrent continues and has been joined by eggplants, I made a super-simple eggplant parmesan-- I breaded the eggplant slices with a little panko and pan-toasted it with cooking spray, no oil, and I chopped up tomatoes and cooked them down with nothing but a little basil and oregano. Then I layered them like lasagna, with just a tiny bit of grated cheese in the middle and on top, and some Italian chicken sausage. It was really good when I made it on Saturday, and I was very surprised to find that it was even better reheated Tuesday night! Who would have ever thought that I'd be raving about eggplant?!?
So, I've been eating mostly healthy, but I've been wimping out on exercise. It' s just SO hot. We've had 12 days over 100 already, and average is 11 days over 100 for the entire summer. I run at night, but it's still over 90 some nights at 9 or 10. Sunday night I just couldn't force myself to go. Broke my SparkStreak!
Tonight I managed to drag myself out, but boy, was it hard. And forget about any long runs. I've managed a 5K about once a week, but no longer than that, and most days it's 2 miles. I kind of wanted to do a 7-miler at the end of July, but unless it cools off, I just don't see how I could be ready. Ick. It could be worse, I suppose. I'm sitting here right now watching coverage of the flooding in Iowa. That's pretty unbelievable. I was out of the country in 1993 when they had such bad floods in part of the same area, so I can't really sense whether this is different from that, but it's pretty freaky. The '93 floods were especially bad for agriculture because they came really late, sometime in July, I think, and it was far too late to replant the crops that drowned. This year could be just as bad or worse, though, because even outside the flooded zones there's been so much rain that they can't get into the fields to plant. My dad's tenant only has about 1/4 of their land planted. They've got about two more weeks before it's totally too late, but even if they got it all sown tomorrow, their yields will be down.
So, be ready for grocery prices to go up even more! Guess maybe I'd better plant something more than tomatoes and eggplant in my little garden.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
I picked almost 8 pounds of tomatoes this week! Needless to say, I'm trying to think of all sorts of different ways to cook and tomatoes. The best was what I had last night. I just sliced a couple really thick (3 slices per tomato), put them in the toaster oven at 425, and baked them for about an hour, then put a little fontina-asiago-garlic cheese blend on top and baked 'em until it was brown. Then I sort of slightly spread them on a slice of toast. It was phenomenal.
My tomatoes are doing well this year, though I think it's going to be a very short season. I got a great initial set, especially on the big tomatoes-- I'd never had much luck with anything but cherry tomatoes before. But now it's so hot already that even the cherry tomatoes and the supposedly "heat tolerant" varieties aren't setting blossoms. Actually, come to think of it, even the peppers aren't blooming. Bummer. I was really late getting my squash out, so I'm not sure I'll get anything at all off of those.
Still, for several weeks I'm getting as many veggies as I can handle for free.
Oh, by the way, the party I was worried about turned out fine. I was worried there would be a bunch of fried stuff, but there wasn't. There were plenty of veggies, including a curry that was just fantastic. I'm trying to figure out how to imitate it.
Friday, May 30, 2008
I had a big pig-out last Friday and Saturday-- I made cookies for a party, and since I don't get many chances to bake anymore, I get carried away when I do have an occasion. I made 4 kinds. (Three of them were unbelievably good  ) Anyway, at my weigh-in on Sunday, I was up to a point I swore I'd never get to again. It was back down several pounds the next day, but even so it was a scare. So, I put myself back on a really strict calorie regime, logging every breath mint, planning everything the night before, and so on.
Now tomorrow I'm going to a party where the hostess is making Chinese food, and I'm all nervous because I don't know exactly what she's planning or how she cooks. I know all the "tips" about having a snack beforehand, etc, but I'm still worried like I used to be 3 1/2 years ago when I started losing for the first time.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
For about a year I've been trying to do all the things that are "supposed" to work. I cut out the diet soda (mainly to save money, but also because "they" say it makes weight loss easier) and I worked really hard to bring my carb percentages down and eat more protein. The result? I've been sloooowly gaining until suddenly I was 10 pounds over my lowest weight and 5 over my "comfort zone."
Two weeks ago I bought myself a bunch of 12-packs of diet soda (store brand, buy-three-get-one-free special, so it was maybe 12 cents a can), and at about the same time I just quit worrying about my nutrient ratios as long as I'm getting enough fiber and calcium. I've stayed within my calories or below every day since, and the weight is starting to drop. Either the diet soda or the excess carbs, or a combination, really eases the munchies, especially in the evening. It's not caffeine, because the soda is caffeine-free. Other than those two changes, nothing else is different. I don't get it. I'm not complaining, mind you, but it's just weird.
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