Full Disclosure - How To Survive/Live With Weight Watchers

I need to lose weight, and I have great respect for Weight Watchers, but more than that for a cook/foodie, nothing is off the menu as long as you allow for it, and track how it impacts the amount of food you are allowed. It takes planning but it can be done. I like the program because it has absolutely cutting edge tools on the internet that help you track your activity, and intake. In addition there are blogs you can read, community groups you can relate to for chatting and exchanging ideas, success stories and mistakes. Do I have to tweak some of my favorite dishes? Absolutely, but every cook prides themselves on some degree of creativity and I am no exception. I intend to use my blog to track my progress weekly...like the weekly weigh-in I need full disclosure!

Here is what I have to work with: An initial weigh-in that allows me to establish goals, most of them are in small increments of 5%, 10% etc. and are rewarded along the way. Printed tools to track progress, suggest meal planning, encourage you to move your lard ass off the couch with reasonable goals of walking a 5K marathon in about six (6) weeks. The weekly meetings are chaired by a WW leader who has successfully used the program to lose a significant amount of weight, and kept it off successfully. Each meeting gives you the opportunity to weigh-in, share your successes or frustrations and engage in a discussion on the topic of the week. The team leader has a lesson plan of sorts that guides the discussion. That's it in a nutshell, except that as the weeks progress you receive new and refreshing information to add to your library of WW guidelines. Also, there are usually some really big losers in the group who have dropped major pounds so you know it is possible. For me, this is crucial because I am at heart a very competitive person. But at its core, it is sort of like playing golf, the person you really need to beat is yourself!

All of the food is measured in "points" and you get a weekly allocation based upon a set of questions regarding current weight, lifestyle and activity. These points will diminish as your weight reduces, but hopefully you will increase your activity level and balance most of it out as you also grow to eat smarter. Consensus of opinion states that you actually eat more on a program that emphasizes fruits, vegetables and high fiber foods. Hunger is not one of the problems on Weight Watchers. It is a discipline, but one you have to learn to live with to be successful.

My weigh-in day is Wednesday, and I have decided my blog entries will be on Tuesday night. So, how do I think I did this week? I tracked, I have a few issues that I need to address, but at no time have I not stuck to my program. One of the tenets of the program is to eat from the food groups in a minimum quantity: fruits/vegetables, milk, whole grains, lean proteins,
liquids, healthy oils, daily vitamin/mineral supplement, activity and limiting sugar and alcohol. I have some adjustments to make in the daily vitamin/mineral category and because I drink soy milk I bought light soy milk for the first time and it is vile. So I may have to sacrifice points to drink a regular soy milk. No big deal! I will occasionally drink a glass of wine with dinner, but I am trying not to imbibe daily until I have made significant progress.

I have purged my pantry of all cold cereals (thanks to Kellogg's blase attitude about bugs in the box) so I am relegated to oatmeal, fresh fruit and yogurt and those are pretty much no brainers. But some mornings I crave savory, hot breakfasts with eggs, toast, etc. You can easily blow 20 points if you are not careful. So my creation includes egg whites, sauteed veggies, fresh fruit and a slim bagel...looks pretty good, huh?

Well cooked vegetables are my friends. I love to roast veggies, and roasted asparagus is not "diet" food, it's the way I prefer to cook it. And how pretty and delicious it looks!

Lean proteins are simple if you stick to fish and chicken, but boredom will set in, for variety I brined and grilled a loin of pork. It was great for salads, tacos, sandwiches, etc. Brining it yielded a succulent and flavorful pork loin.

So tomorrow when I weigh in we will see how my Chicago Kitchen supported my efforts to stick to this program for the requisite time to get to my ideal weight and then challenge myself to maintain my weight, still turn out creative dishes and not throw in the towel of boredom.

Wish me luck!

My Beautiful Daughter Ashley Robin

I have taken this opportunity to brag about my beautiful daughter! In an age when so many of our children, despite all of our efforts, take the wrong path...the gods shined upon me and blessed me with Ashley Robin! I can't take credit for anything she has accomplished, I just bask in the pride that I have for who she is and how she has grown. Graduating from college only proves that you can graduate from college. Graduation does not prove that you may have learned anything except how to accumulate enough credits to get a degree. For Ashley, talented girl that she is, her journey to her BA was circuitous, difficult, plagued with obstacles, doubts and financial dilemmas. Welcome to the world every college student faces, huh? Some weather the storm and finish in the requisite four years, others take longer and still some just drop out for a myriad of reasons. The longer you take to find your path in college the more it becomes clear that you need to direct your college education to some career/academic goal. Just doing the BA/BS is not enough, what then?

She doesn't have all the answers, but she works regularly on her focus, direction and goals. But more importantly, she communicates with me, and for that I am eternally grateful and I cherish her thoughts, conversations and company with all my heart. She continues to keep me in the loop of her life, and it is a very warm, comfortable and loving place. She will be a wonderful mom someday, a loving, attentive and entertaining wife and if the gods continue to shine upon me, I will bear witness to the next chapter in her life's journey.

Thanks for indulging a proud mom!

Touring The Food Blogs

I can't let the month of March pass me by without sharing some of my thoughts on food. We all know that there are more food blogs out there than a lot of people think are necessary, but screw them! I half-heartedly maintain my blog because it can be a creative outlet for me to test my skills of organization and creativity. No one has to read it! This blog is for me and I think many of the other bloggers feel the same way. Yes... it can be a venue for business, advertising, etc. and that is fine, but thanks to technology it is whatever you want it to be. Post every day, three times a day, post once a month or every other month so far there are no blogging police!

Before the sun sets on March, I decided to tour some of the blogs I follow and see what inspired a lot of people this month and share those bloggings with you. So here goes:

Blue Kitchen posts regularly, I recently enjoyed reading about a familiar recipe for Matzoh Crack. What is great about this recipe is that although it can be kosher for Passover, it is just a great sweet/salty snack that doesn't need to be limited to the Passover season nor people who celebrate Passover seders. This stuff is great, addictive and can be tweeked to your liking by substituting different nuts and or toppings. The method is the genius here, so check it out.

Caleb Troughton is a web developer/techie kind of guy who is very passionate about food and quite an accomplished cook. I say this because he will tackle anything if it piques his curiosity or offers a challenge. His blog, Food Goes In Mouth, is on temporary hiatus because he is taking a unexpected "retirement" in China. I guess you could call it "retirement" since he is not even 30, but he's figured it all out and I am sure when he finds his Asian legs he'll be blogging again. He won an award not too long ago for a lamb burger, and the recipe is killer! It's a Lamb Slider w/Arugula Gremolata and Gorgonzola Mayonnaise This is not just another burger but worthy of your attention.

I love Greek yogurt and for a while I was hooked on Fage, but always complained about how expensive it was. And then I had a epiphany! I lined a sieve with some paper towels, poured in a large container of plain yogurt, placed that over a bowl and set it in the fridge overnight....voila! In the morning I had thick, rich, creamy Greek-style yogurt at a pittance of the price of Fage. To further punctuate my genius, Mark Bittman writes about this exact same thing. Here is how he recommends you proceed with not making yogurt from scratch, but creating some Greek-style yogurt. If you love the thick and creamy stuff you will know you can successfully substitute it for sour cream on a baked potato, dollop it onto soups, or make Ina Garten's tsaziki There's a myriad of uses, I love it simply topped with honey and blueberries in the morning.

The Easiest Best Scone Yet appeals to me. I love scones but a lot of the recipes call for heavy cream, which is not always in my fridge, but I do keep buttermilk because of it's versatility for cooking. She's In The Kitchen hit it out of the park with this recipe for me, especially because it uses nutmeg and lemon zest and of course it is really easy to substitute for other flavor profiles such as orange, cranberry, etc. The simplicity of procedure and the outcome with a superior scone is worth the try!

Everyone knows I am a java addict, but when I don't feel well I cannot drink coffee. That's a barometer for knowing that I am under the weather. The elixir of my dreams when I am sick is Chai Tea, or I head to the nearest Starbucks and get a Chai Soy Latte. Long have I looked for a home recipe and The Sprouted Kitchen has provided one! This recipe for Spicy Chai Latte makes perfect sense and I won't have to leave the house feeling bedraggled on a hunt for a Chai Soy Latte. I would of course substitute the dairy milk for soy milk since I don't drink dairy milk, but I will have to stock the muscavado sugar which I am sure makes a big difference. This is on my permanent save file!

Eric Gower pens a blog that marries his skills in Asian cooking/seasoning/travels as both a writer, teacher and private chef. His blog has really good information such as "Cooking With Cast Iron" or knife sharpening, cooking with citrus flavors, etc. Many of these are in video format. I check in to his blog from time to time to learn something and I always leave with good ideas. Check out The Breakaway Blog and steal some of his really good ideas!

I love food as most food bloggers do, but Italian food has a special place in my heart. More than any other cuisine, I will shove all other excursions aside when good Italian food is the option. Northern, Southern, peasant, or fine dining...I don't discriminate. What is it about Italian food that makes us all Italian? They say that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, well I am Italian when I dive into a plate of Italian food! The Italian Chef is one of my favorite sites for inspiration. Many of the recipes are not heavy handed, but a simple, straightforward approach and bursting with flavor. One of my favorite Italian meals is lasagna, but I have gotten into the habit of hand rolling my lasagna. The Italian chef has a version of Hand Rolled Lasagna which is a wonderful Spring dish and the other one is Spaghetti alla Carbonara, I do use pasteurized eggs so that I don't worry about salmonella. Peruse this site and I am sure you will find authentic Italian dishes to add to your repertoire. Mangia!

I can remember as a child pulling taffy in my mom's kitchen with my big sister. It was melt-in-your-mouth wonderful and probably tasted better because we built up so much anticipation while we were pulling it. Today's delight in candy is myriad and although I don't make my own truffles, I do crave a salted caramel. David Lebovitz has a delightfully sweet/salty recipe for Salted Butter Caramels that has that quintessential quality that home made candy delivers. It tastes so good because you use primo ingredients and the anticipation lends to the final delight when you pop one in your mouth. Kudo's to David, you will love the finished product!

Finally, what would a blog written on the advent of Easter be without some ode to lamb. I know we referenced the lamb burger, but it is so simple to roast a boneless leg of lamb and it is so delicious. It is Spring and it is the season of lamb. I found that The Reluctant Gourmet Blog has a nice little treatise on roasting a boneless leg of lamb as well as information on different types of lamb. There are good instructions here but the dish is simple to prepare with a little prep. I tweaked this dish by adding about 1/2 cup of chopped parsley, I buy it boned and butterly it and make sure that I remove some connective tissue and after stuffing with the ingredients in the recipe, tie it up nice and tight. Leftover lamb makes a superlative sandwich with dijon mustard, I cannot say enough about it. I hope you enjoy!

So there are my musings at the end of the month as we "march" into Spring. I had a lot of fun trying to summarize some of these wonderful recipes and even more fun sharing them with you. Long live the food bloggers, they contribute so much to the food that emerges from The Chicago Kitchen!

Goldilocks Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is the quintessential comfort food. All warm and redolent of cinnamon, spices, raisins, custard and sugar, it makes the ideal breakfast food. It very often reminds me of french toast with its "custardy" personality, so it is great for breakfast and brunch. Sometimes however, it is one note perked up with a "rum sauce" or "whiskey sauce" and that is okay, I just opt for the pudding itself to be able to stand alone with a good mix of flavors and textures. Sometimes it's too smooth, sometimes it's too sweet, like Goldilocks I was always looking for "just right." So here is my attempt to find the "just right" bread pudding...

I generally keep some variety of dried fruit: raisins, apricots, pears, peaches, mangoes which are flavorful and pack more of a punch in their dried form. For this version of my bread pudding I chose raisins, dried pears and combined them with orange and lemon zest, and the Granny Smith apple is for added moisture and flavor. I still kept some traditional flavor with the addition of extract and the expected spices. In my humble opinion the most important ingredient in bread pudding is the bread! For this recipe I chose an artisan bread that found at Whole Foods called "Seeduction." This bread has poppy, sunflower and sesame seeds and quite frankly it is not one of my favorites but ended up being perfect for the bread pudding. It lent a textural quality to the bread pudding and it merged well with the custard. It makes the bread dominate and not the custard. There are usually three types of milk in my fridge: soy, almond and buttermilk. I chose the almond milk to make the custard, and then topped the dish with sliced almonds as a complement and for added crunch. The serving you see is topped with toasted coconut (more crunch). I hope you enjoy this recipe it is addictive, flavorful, moist and has a great texture...and a little vanilla ice cream doesn't hurt either!

Ingredients
3 cups of bread (my choice was the grainy Seeduction bread from Whole Foods)
1/2 c raisins
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 c of dried pears, chopped
zest of one orange
zest of one lemon
3 oz sliced almonds for the topping

The custard
3 eggs
3 cups almond milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. nutmeg
dash of cayenne pepper

The Method

In a large bowl combine the bread, fruit and zest. In another bowl combine the ingredients for the custard and whisk until well blended and sugar is dissolved. Pour the custard over the bread mixture and combine thoroughly, and let the mixture rest until a lot of the custard has been absorbed by the bread. You can place this in the refrigerator overnight and bake in the morning, or let it rest and marry for at least 2 hours.

Oil/butter a a rectangular baking dish (13 x 7.5) and pour the mixture into the dish and top with the sliced almonds. Bake in a preheated oven at 350º for 50-60 minutes, and it should be "just right!"

Madras Curried Chicken With Jasmine Coconut Mango Rice

I love Indian curry, it has a depth of flavor and a complexity that is both a taste sensation and comforting. My first curried dish was prepared by my Aunt Mattie. She traveled the world with my Uncle Warren who was a Cultural Affairs Officer for the State Department from the 50's through the 70's. She soaked up the culture of every country they lived in and visited, bringing that exposure to her dining table in true epicurean fashion. She prepared a curried chicken dish that I vividly remember, served it with jasmine rice, naan bread and a bevy of condiments including: raisins, ground peanuts, toasted coconut, chutney...there may have been more but to my young and inexperienced taste buds these stand out in my memory.

Indian curry can range from mild to explosively hot, its heat doesn't just sear the throat but can cling to the roof of your mouth, inflame your gums and its heat can stick to you like epoxy. In my adaptation I used a combination of Sun Brand Madras Curry and a hot curry from The Spice House in Chicago, judiciously blending the hot with the mild in careful proportions. If you can handle hot Indian curry, go for it but beware!

In the following recipe I made a paste in which I marinated the chicken and once the paste is made the recipe remains easy and straightforward. Toward the end of cooking this dish I added a pint of grape tomatoes to add a little acid bite, and sliced zucchini for bulk and when finished I stirred in some chopped fresh mint. I serve this over a Coconut/Mango Jasmine Rice and have also included that recipe in another post. Many of the condiments that would traditionally adorn an Indian curry and in the rice such as coconut, raisins and dried fruit.

Ingredients

6 Boneless and skinless chicken thighs, chopped into bite size pieces
The paste:
1 1/2 T Madras curry powder
1/2 T. Hot curry powder
1 t. ground cinnamon (rounded)
1 t. ground cardamon
1 t. ground coriander
1 t. dry mustard
2 t. paprika
1 t. salt
1" piece of ginger
2 garlic cloves
1/2 of medium onion, rough chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1 t. sesame oil
6 T. canola oil
1/4 c. chicken stock

Place the spices, ginger, garlic, onion, tomato paste, oils and chicken stock in a blender and thoroughly blend into a paste in which you can coat the chicken. If it needs thinning add a little more stock, but don't make it soupy. Toss the chicken in the paste and blend well, refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

The vegetables:
1 red bell pepper cut into 2" strips
1 yellow bell pepper cut into 2" strips
1 medium to large onion, cut in half and sliced into 1/8" strips
2 cups lite coconut milk
1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock
1 large zucchini
1 pint grape tomatoes
2 T. chopped/minced mint
1/2 cup chopped scallions (green part)

The Procedure

Heat a deep sided non stick pan over medium high heat and sear the chicken, marinade and all for about 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. To the pan add the chopped bell peppers and onion and continue to saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and chicken stock, lower heat to medium low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

While this is simmering, prepare your rice.

After 15 minutes toss in the grape tomatoes and sliced zucchini and continue to simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat and cover the pan until the rice is done. When ready to serve, stir the mint into the chicken curry, plate and scoop rice over the top adding condiments of your choice...in my case I dressed it with chopped scallions



Jasmine Coconut Mango Rice

Ingredients
2 cups lite coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped dried mango
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 t. salt
2 T canola oil
2 cups Jasmine Rice

Place all ingredients (except the rice) into a 2 quart non stick sauce pan with a tight fitting lid, stir to combine and bring to a low boil. Add the rice, return to low boil, stir well and lower heat to a slow simmer and cover and continue to cook for at least 15-17 minutes. The rice to liquid ratio is increased because the coconut, and dried fruit will absorb some of the liquid, slow down the cooking time and you have to adjust for that. Some varieties of Jasmine rice cook in as little as nine minutes, some longer. The variety of Jasmine rice I use generally cooks in 9 minutes but with the addition of other dried ingredients, the total cooking time was 15 minutes for perfection.. This rice is fragrant, slightly sweet and the perfect accompaniment to a spicy curried dish.

Carrots! Carrots! Carrots!

I recently made a 3 tiered carrot cake and processed a bit too much carrot, so I found some ways to put the extra grated carrot to good use in two delicious ways...and by the way, I did not post the recipe for carrot cake. It was delicious, but carrot cake is only attractive/photogenic in the deft hands of a pastry chef!

GOTCHA! Salad

I like an accompaniment to a sandwich or grilled/roasted meats and fish. Traditionally we have used potato salad, slaw and lately we have cleaved to a variety of salsas. Salsas have gained in popularity, largely because they wake up our taste buds and have more complexity of flavor and spice than traditional potato salads and slaw. They do require a few more ingredients than the accompaniment I am sharing today, which is why I love it. This salad was inspired by Phyllis Meras book, Carry-Out Cuisine. There is a recipe from McMead's a carry out shop that was in Coconut Grove, FL. It was a "Honey Glazed Carrot Salad," whose kick came from the healthy addition of dijon mustard and ginger. Of course, being the "adaptable" cook, I made some revisions to the original recipe, but kept the total amount of ingredients to 6 plus salt and pepper. I hope you try it with any grilled meat or fish and it is a great wake up topping for a grilled burger.

Ingredients:
6 cups grated carrots
1 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup honey
1 T.+ freshly grated ginger, or 1 t. ground ginger
1/2 c. golden raisins
Juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste


Thoroughly mix all ingredients, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Chill in refrigerator and enjoy. My favorite way to enjoy is with roast/grilled chicken, only to be topped as a hamburger topping. Scrumptious!


...And expanding on our "carrot" theme, my favorite/only daughter, Ashley, loves avocados! So with some left over grated carrot on hand, I decided to incorporate them into a vegetarian sandwich I knew she would enjoy. I used to make a variation on this sandwich many moons ago when I had a carry out shop. The difference then was that I used sprouts instead of lettuce, no whipped cream cheese and eliminated the Monterey Jack cheese. Sprouts scare me now, so I stay away from them. Color me coward!

The Californian Sandwich


Vegetarian sandwiches can truly be filling, flavorful and imaginative. The use of high fiber whole grain breads lend a density to the sandwich, and a good dressing helps. Because vegetables hold so much water, liquid oozing can attempt to turn your fresh and tasty sandwich into a soggy mess. Mayonnaise is not an effective barrier to this moisture, and while it does lend flavor to the sandwich it will not retard moisture seeping into the bread. This requires a bigger "fat" barrier that you can traditionally obtain with butter spread on both slices. I opted in this sandwich for a different profile, and used whipped cream cheese, in lieu of two fat laden ingredients like butter and cheese.

Ingredients: Serves One
2 slices whole wheat/whole grain bread of choice
1/2 - 3/4 cups of grated carrot
2 T. Whipped cream cheese
1 avocado, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Curly lettuce (arugula works well here also)
Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

Assembly

Smear whipped cream cheese on both slices of bread, and pile on grated carrots on one slice of bread.

Arrange the avocado slices on top of the carrots, and salt and pepper to taste.

Add your lettuce or arugula, top/close and enjoy your vegetarian sandwich!

Banana Chocolate Chip Nut Bread With Molasses & Marsala

I really don't care for banana bread, at least I didn't before I perfected this recipe. The only reason I would have been motivated in the past to make banana bread is because I had over ripe bananas hanging around. I buy them for my morning cereal quite often, but some mornings it's a savory breakfast that wins out or I have oatmeal. Thus I look at those bananas that start to really freckle up and have that dilemma. Sometimes I peel them and wrap them in aluminum foil and put them in the freezer. They make an excellent snack that is good for you and if you talk yourself into it you can imagine you are eating banana ice cream. But more often than not, I already have some in the freezer and banana nut muffins or banana bread comes to mind.

In the past I have made banana bread, but I was like Goldilocks and The Three Bears, one was way too moist, one was way too dry, but this recipe is just right. This banana bread retained the correct amount of moisture, and is meltingly delicious and from hence forth I will be a banana bread fan! I love this recipe and I hope if you decide to try it you will love it too!

MY ADAPTATIONS

I started out knowing I would use bananas, flour, and sugar and oil. As for the flour, I try to use some whole wheat flour in most of my baking, when I can. In this recipe I used whole wheat and all purpose in a 50/50 ratio. I know most people give a greater ratio to the all purpose, but I tried it this way and it worked. When it came to oil/butter I have left butter behind in most of my cooking and opt for either canola oil or olive oil. Lately I have graduated to olive oil in my baking because it provides a textural quality to baked goods that I don't get from canola oil, and as long as it is not too fruity it compliments the flavor profile in the baked product. I know walnuts or some addition of nuts is traditional, but for me they would represent texture. The chocolate chips and molasses (cut back on the sugar a bit) were a definite flavor addition and because I was jotting notes and sipping a bit of marsala I just knew in my bones it would also work. Maybe I had sipped a wee bit too much Marsala, but it proved to be a genius addition if I do say so. Whereas some recipes call for the addition of buttermilk, I substituted the marsala as a liquid. My only concern was with the elimination of the buttermilk and its chemical action, should I add more baking soda? I didn't and it turned out just fine.



Preheat your oven to 325º
Oil/flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan
Total baking time 75-90 minutes

Dry ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, you may substitute melted butter, or canola oil
1/2 cup dark, unsulphured molasses, you may substitute an additional 1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 cup Marsala wine, you substitute 1/4 cup of buttermilk
2 large eggs, well beaten
4 ripe mashed bananas

Blend into final mixture:
6 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup well chopped walnuts

The Method:

Into a bowl sift all the "dry" ingredients and set aside.

Put olive oil, molasses, sugar, vanilla extract and wine into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 10 or more minutes until well "creamed" and sugars have dissolved. This step cannot be overworked so take your time here. Next add the beaten eggs and mix again to incorporate. When this is all blended, fold in the bananas and hand mix thoroughly.

Add the dry mixture to the mixing bowl of wet ingredients in 3 batches, stirring/folding until just blended. Then fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts and pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Place on a rack in the center of the preheated oven and bake until done. I tested mine with a wooden skewer, but at 75 minutes it was not quite there and left it in the oven the full 90 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, remove to a rack and cool completely.



I wrapped the bread in foil and left it at room temperature overnight, and do believe it tasted better the next day. The texture was great, the flavor was more complex with the molasses and marsala while the chocolate chips gave it a decadent tone that I usually didn't experience with banana bread.

My next iteration of this recipe will mix 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 toffee chips and that will be that!

Enjoy!