My Husband, the Butcher

Our family hosts Christmas dinner, which is traditionally a roast beef.  I can still remember how the kitchen used to smell in my grandparent's house, with a roast beef in the oven!  Mmmmmmm....

This year, Brian thought about what we wanted to do, roast-wise.  (this really is more his area of expertise.)  He decided that we should buy a really big roast, figure out how many people we were having and then cut it up into the Christmas roast and some steaks.  Ten NY strip steaks later, we had our Christmas Roast!  And it is a beautiful sight:

We had some of the steak for dinner tonight and it was out-of-this-world!  Can't wait for Saturday!

Snacks Should Taste Good

At last week's weight center meeting, we talked in depth about snacks. Why snacks are important in the weight loss calculation. (i.e. how they keep you from getting so hungry you'd gnaw off your own arm)  What consists as a snack, and what is just a meal masquerading as a snack.  How much protein/carb/fiber/calories should be in a snack.  Hmmmm....a lot to ponder.

They passed out free samples of these chips that I've seen in the grocery store, "Food Should Taste Good."  They come in several different flavors and have wholesome ingredients like quinoa and whole grains.  I took home two little bags.

The first one was cheddar.  It boasts itself as a chip AND a cracker.  It is certified gluten-free and consists of corn, quinoa, sunflower seeds and cheddar.  Nothing crazy.  I loved them!!!  Will enjoyed them.  And Brian thought they were pretty good too.  All right, something that makes all of us happy!  (and is still better for you than a greasy bag of potato chips.)

The second bag, I ate them while I was impatiently waiting for dinner.  And then immediately poured a glass of water.  No, two sips of milk.  Folks, they're Jalapeno and crushed pepper.  All the same wholesome ingredients, and a whole lotta spice!  I love spicy foods!  This one wasn't blaringly obvious as the chip makes contact with your taste buds.  Rather, the burn builds up so you go from being totally fine to "Holy Hell, what did I just eat!"

Can't wait to try some more different kinds.  This is a snack I could live with.

The Annual Gingerbread Donut

It's that time of year....Dunkin Donuts has their gingerbread line!

I allow myself ONE gingerbread donut a year.  I stop at one because seriously, it could easily become a habit.

I bought my donut last night and I've got big plans:  I am going to sit down with it, and eat it slowly.  Savor every morsel, 'cause there won't be another Gingerbread Donut Break until 2011!

Budding Chef

Not only does our little Buddy love to eat, he's showing an interest in fending for himself in our kitchen!  Nothing makes Baby happier than an open fridge door.   Here, observe him banging on a container of leftover mashed potatoes to test for freshness.  :)

Making Changes: The Good and the Bad

As I probably have mentioned before (and am too busy to check) I started a weight loss program with the local hospital.  It's a fifteen week program, with five weeks each dedicated to the subjects of Nutrition, Exercise and Psychology.  (what you're eating, what you're doing fitness-wise and why you want a candy bar when you are so stressed out you could choke someone)

I was supposed to start this program back in September, but I got waitlisted.  'Cause really, does anyone "want" tostart a weight loss program three weeks before Christmas?  I don't think so!  I did meet with the hospital's nutritionist in November, so I got a three week start before everyone else in my group.  I'm proud to say that I've lost six pounds (through Thanksgiving, thankyouverymuch, though I had some unwelcome help from a stomach bug last week, too)  My jeans are looser and I'm already feeling pretty good.  I think one reason why I have been successful so far is because I'm not treating this like a diet.  This is a lifestyle change, people!  And I have the full support of my husband and family, and my friends too.  It turns out that if you're vocal about what you're doing, people want to help!  We've broken our nightly ice cream habit, relegating it to weekends-only.  And we've lightened up our cooking, which has made a big difference.  However, not all "light" cooking turns out to be good food.  This weekend was a prime example for this.

First, the good:  I have no idea where on the Food Network this recipe came from, but Brian made this roasted salmon recipe on Saturday night that was divine!  It was salmon roasted on top of a bed of green, red and yellow peppers, red onion and fennel.  The "fronds" of the fennel were chopped up and mixed with some pecans on top of the fish.  I never thought I'd like fennel, because I'd heard it was licorice-flavored.  Black licorice is one of those things that people either love or hate, and I'm firmly a licorice-hater.  But you know what?  Fennel is delicious!  The salmon, adorned with fennel fronds and pecans, was light and delectable.  I'm continually surprised when stuff doesn't have a buttery sauce or cheese comes out tasting so good, it turns out that unadorned foods save for maybe a little sprinkle of salt can be really, really good.

Now for the bad....which I have no pictures of.  Sloppy Joes.  Brian loves these, especially with that Manwich sauce.  I for one do not like Manwich, it's so salty!  So when he found a "healthy" version made with beef, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions, we agreed to give it a try.  It may be healthy, but it tastes like mush.  I like all of the ingredients, but the sandwich was just a big miss.  Needless to say, our garbage disposal ate very well Friday night!!

First Family Dinner

Tonight marks a special event:  it is the first time that the four of us ate dinner together!  Yes, I know, we have all eaten together.  But not the same meal!  Grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone.

Sean loved his first grilled cheese sandwich.  In fact, he loved it so much he had to have a bath right after because he combed melted cheese through his hair from the excitement.  I'm still calling it a success.  :)

Ricotta Pancakes

I made a pan of lasagna a couple of weeks ago because we were having a busy week, and the leftovers helped with that.  However, as I always seem to do when making lasagna, I bought waaaay too much ricotta cheese.  So I had a small tub left over in the fridge and no plans for using it.

So I posted out to my Facebook friends:  any ideas?  I got a slew of responses, from ricotta pie to baked ziti to just eating it with a spoon.  :)  The winner was my friend Amy in Washington State, with Raspberry-Ricotta Pancakes.

Alas, Crafty Mama's kitchen didn't have any raspberries.  However, we always have fresh blueberries on-hand because the big kid loves to devour them for breakfast.  So, armed with the Food Network website, I found a recipe for blueberry-ricotta pancakes.

The biggest roadblock in the process was Hubby.  You see, Brian has an aversion to "mishy" foods.  On his list of things that he won't eat:  beans (kidney, black, white) hummus, sweet potato and (horrors!)  cheesecake.  Yes, ricotta is on that list.   I'm shocked that he'll eat lasagna, but he makes an exception for whatever reason.  As soon as he saw that I was gearing up to put ricotta in the pancakes this morning he was aghast.  I assured him that they would be delicious, and they wouldn't have a "mishy" texture.  After all, I have had pancakes made with cottage cheese before and the texture was fine.  (And man, do I abhor cottage cheese, it is the Devil!!!)  He warily agreed to try the finished product.

I gave him the first two pancakes, hot off the grill.  And you know what?  He liked them!  I did too, the ricotta is a nice addition, yielding in a moist pancake.  And lucky for us, there are some in the freezer.