Tasty dindins

Wild salmon (fried in butter in the cast iron skillet) with lots of zucchini and peppers fried in bacon fat, and fresh garlic, which I'm REALLY starting to appreciate.

Getting back on track

I'm managing to change some of my bad habits again and eat better food. In just a couple of days I'm back down to 152.2 (the other day I was 154.5) and feeling a little better.

We've made a couple of stir fry dinners this week and unfortunately rice made a reappearance on our plate. At the very least, it wasn't instant rice! Usual ingredients in our stir fry include large chunks of zucchini, bell peppers, garlic, and sweet onion. These are fried up in hot bacon fat and then we usually add some sort of leftover protein (last night it was hamburger). Hot damn, it was delicious. It got eaten so quickly there wasn't any time for photos.

Tonight we're going to our friends' house for dinner and drinks, so I will try to be good under the circumstances.

I feel like shit.

My eating habits....well, hunger pangs are out of control. I am a slave to sugar and salt and Philly cream cheese onion chip dip. (Christ, it's so bad, just typing that makes me want to go buy some and down a large bag of dipped chips.)

I feel that my eyes and my tongue are in cahoots to sabotage my health and weight-loss that I experienced last year. I've only gained 5 lbs of it back, but it looks like it's all in my belly and I hate how fat it makes me feel. Last summer I almost thought I could see a glimmer of hope; a smaller belly with the possibility of one day having a flat belly again. I almost saw definition in it. Almost.

Then I got lazy. Again. I don't feel like doing much of anything and while I wish I felt like exercising more, I just don't feel like I have the energy. Of course I blame that on all the shit I've been eating lately. AND the rum and Cokes just about every night. Why can't I stop myself? Why????????? I'm even having trouble choking down the fish oil and calcium magnesium tablets!

We moved to a 'new' (older) house this summer and bought a new gas range too, however, I can't seem to get back into the swing of cooking. For shame, it's been almost 2 months and the most action it's seen is the frying pan with bacon and then eggs cooking in it. Actually, no, the MIL came by last month with her infamous apple crisp and needed to bake it in our oven. Of course.

I'm having trouble staying satiated for long as well. I need more fat in my diet and the chicken skin (from a crockpot-roasted bird) is not enough. Today I ordered a 1-gallon tub of Nutiva coconut oil so that will help.

When I open the fridge I want to dig in to the chocolate cream pie that's in there (yes, that was my doing as well). When I have bones to put in the organics-waste bag in the freezer, I see three tubs of sugar-laden ice cream and I groan inside my mind but I close the door. I have to be in a special mood to want ice cream.

I wish I had taken a picture of the bird in the crockpot - it was a beautiful sight. I cook it breast side down and when trying to turn it over to take its temperature the luscious dear just fell right apart. God, it was good. I have one more bird to cook this way (next week; don't want to get tired of chicken) and I promise to take a picture then.

My career goal is to become a certified health & safety professional and my brain is starting to remind me that I need to practice what I preach. I don't want to be a walking contradiction. Now if only my eyes and tongue would cooperate...

Yep

I suck. lol

I'm back!

Went through a bit of a cooking funk there, where nothing really inspired me. I've also got a lot going on over here, what with my online course aaaaaaaand we're prepping the house to sell it. Mix in the hours spent looking at prospective next homes and boy oh boy, I sure don't feel like cooking.

However, I did make a beef roast recently and hey, whatdoyaknow, when you have a proper meat thermometer that you can stick into the meat and leave it there while it's in the oven, cooking isn't nearly as unpredictable!

This roast still came out a bit more done than I wanted, but now I know for next time. The veggies were a frozen mix that worked quite nicely. I'm glad I didn't have to chop all of that stuff!

Update: Deodorant / Armpit Rash

Awhile back I had made my own deodorant, which was fantastic at keeping my pits smelling divine. However, because I already had a rash from my previous store-bought stick when I switched, the baking soda in the homemade stick irritated the rash enough that it wouldn't go away. It took me awhile to figure out what to do about it, aside from using nothing and stinking. Eventually I decided to try putting a dusting of corn starch on them, and nothing else for awhile.

It worked! The rash is just about gone, and once it's completely healed I'll try the homemade stick again. Should only be another week or so to be sure.

Successful Experiment: Eggs in Bacon Baskets

Got a couple of updates for the blog today, and the first is to proudly show off our eggs-in-bacon-baskets! :D

Tonight's Dinner...Pollock Fish Soup

This was something I kind of threw together, using coconut milk, some butter, some chicken stock, a package of frozen pureed squash, and various seasonings. Plus the pollock, of course! It turned out alright, which was pleasant surprise.

Successful Experiment: Cauliflower Rice

While it wasn't perfect, it sure was tasty! It went well with the slow-cooked ribs I made in the crock pot with beef broth and pork soup broth from last week. NOM.


Once again, Mom was impressed. :)

Successful Experiment: First Time Frying in the Cast Iron Pan

For my birthday this past September I had asked my parents to buy me a cast iron frying pan, and my hopes were to become a cooking expert with this "pro" tool. (laughs) After reading many different instructions on the 'net for seasoning this thing properly, we finally decided to DO it...IN DECEMBER!

We put it through only one 'round' of seasoning and time ran out and we just haven't gotten around to continuing for 5 more rounds. I've been reading that some people also say to just start using it (provided there's no rust in the cooking area), so today that's what I decided to do.

Today is Sunday, which is bacon 'n eggs day. I got the pan out, heated it up (I also read that there are two keys to preventing food from sticking; the pan has to be hot enough, and there has to be enough fat in there), and tossed the bacon in.

Once the bacon was done (and the fat was drained once part-way through), the eggs went in. Now I was pretty nervous about the eggs, because they would be much more likely to stick, so I kept a close eye on the grease and the heat. Luckily, they didn't stick all that much and I was able to lift off what did stick. Yay!

Then when the eggs came out, I added a couple more tablespoons of bacon fat and a bunch of sliced cremini mushrooms, and tossed those around for a few minutes. YUM.

In the end, the pan is free of stuck food and the oil just needs to be dumped. Then I'll wipe it down with paper towel and it'll be ready for next time.

W00t!