???? ????

just curious. i am. i eat everything. in case anybody else wants to join me. fyi.

we had bacon-wrapped endive, steamed cherry tomatoes and soft-fried eggs for dinner. oh and mashed potatoes.

it was very good.

~ waves ~

Dear Waves,
That sounds wonderful!
Can I come to dinner soon? I promise to help clean afterwards.
M.

Cool!

and you don't have to help clean up!

i have been "trying" to make mac and cheese for the longest time now... but keep being sick and not really up to it...

first i found american cheese-ish stuff. then, during a special "british products week" we found cheddar!!! ate through one and the other is still waiting for me to get recipeutical. but it expires in feb.

if i don't get with it i will have to do something else fast...

...like maybe just eat it, NOM!!! (it is not like vermont sharp white, but, it is not bad).

~ waves ~

Dear Waves,
It's great that you found a source for cheddar.

Could you freeze the cheese and cook it when you are ready? I can't remember if I have done that with cheese before.

M.

hehe

i think i probably COULD freeze cheese... (i mean, frozen pizza comes with cheese on it, right, so it should work?) but it would still have to be used before expiration which is february. i think mid february.

then there is the mother contingent. which is that you can't freeze anything that she doesn't consider "qualifies" for a spot in the freezer. which is basically, nothing, besides a perpetual stockpile of veggies that were 'on special.'

the american cheese is a standard product. but the cheddar was not. it was only that one brit-week. and that isn't a regular event or anything. a few (4? 5?) years ago they did an american week for thanksgiving - and had fresh cranberries! now that was cool!

it will be nice if i can make it using some cheddar, but if that doesn't fly well, i'll just eat it and enjoy... and do it with the am cheese.

you won't believe this, but i am having trouble picking a pasta. those little elbows? well, we don't get them here. heheh. no shortage of pasta shapes, but i am trying to find something that will provide similar overall texture... crazy. it never occurred to me i'd have issues with finding pasta.... LOLOLOL!

~ waves ~

Hi,
My brother used to cook with penne.
I'm curious what you decide.

M.

well, i used to use penne a lot too. i like them lots of ways.

but i make different pasta different ways.

i did consider using thin-penne ("pennette") for more similar texture, or with half-lengthe penne, both of which ican get. but still it is not a close enough shape for me. i cannot get thin, half-length ones.

there is something called gramigna. but i feel it is too long....
gramigna :

sigh.

oh, and there is something called bucatini, which i thought, i might be able to snap into little pieces like spaghetti. (they are long, like spaghetti, but they are tubes) the bits it would be straight not elbowed, but might give similar feel in terms of cheese/coating and size.

fistful of bucatini - end view


or i might try a simil-seashell variant. duunooo.......

lets face it. i want elbows. lol.

~ waves ~

I mostly just wanted to say those pasta photos are awesome!

Had so much trouble losing weight in the last few years, my doc suggested this diet that looks to be the same as the paleo diet folks are talking about. It is working. So, I guess I'm NOT eating typically...not eating "normal" food compared to many.

However, I have "reserved" certain limited + select days of the year to eat whatever I chose/please...Christmas being one of them. I had wine, pasta, chocolate, etc. ITwas yummo.

Next day...back to my veggies, etc. I do enjoy getting into a size smaller jean, etc. It aint easy....choices...

Yeah VL, i know what you mean... i have boxes of clothes waiting to be got into. for a while i was "working down" my Zyprexa gain from 7 years ago. but that will have to go on pause for now.

but you know, it's not that people are dieting? it's the absolute rigor in many of these diets, regarding eliminating certain food groups or macronutrients that freaks me out.

i mean before (no offense to anyone) but i hear south beach or atkins and they are just labels to me and i do an eye roll... thinking, ahh, latest fad. i don't doubt they work... if observing them means the person has a balance of calories in/out. now i understand eliminating refined sugar - but eliminating cereals??? and in another case... nuts (because of high fat content)?

it's just all bizarre. i sometimes wonder if we aren't headed for astronaut style food....


but, apart from scary
----------------
it also feels a little lonely... because i am not in a place (mentally) where i can handle restricting myself. in fact i am being rather lax... which i know i will pay for because i am allowing myself some real 'excesses' - such as
- eating when i am not hungry and
- eating excessive sugary or starchy things

but other than that - and it is truly exceptional behavior - i wouldn't say i have a bad diet. i mean heck i don't even drink soda!!!

p.s. i DO know that the ketogenic diet, as skewed as it is in terms of macronutrients has been shown to be beneficial in juvenile epilepsy. so hat's off to that one!

i do wish you well on your diet and i am frankly glad you give yourself 'grace' days where you can eat "normal" foods.

Dear Waves,
I'm going to give it a try. Ignore for the moment that I don't eat gluten and am not eating dairy.
=-=-=-=-=

My Publix has a much smaller section of frozen food than Publixes did even three or four years ago. What little frozen veggies the store does have comes with various sauces:

http://www.bettycrocker.com/Products.../Products.aspx
http://www.google.com/imgres?


http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/st...0052&langId=-1

The "Steamers" are made so that you don't even have to open the bag -- just put in the microwave with the correct side facing up. I have enough sense not to accidentally buy rice w/ my broccoli, but my plain broccoli choices of no sauce are very limited.
I can buy fresh broccoli this time of year of course. My point is that these books and diets (Eat Right for Your Type, etc . . . .) essentially get people off the carb train and out of the inner aisles of the grocery store. The advice is to only shop on the outer edges of the store: bakery, meat, dairy, produce. .. . . . places for whole foods with no packaged junk. The profit margins of whole foods are lower than the packaged stuff. One has to steer around the junk.

I think that you are in a physical place that has better access to real whole food than I am.

We have food items that are not really food:
Special K crackers with a taste of sugar? They should be called cookies with salt.
http://www2.kelloggs.com/ProductDetail.aspx?id=15751

The juice section of Publix is now full of sugared energy drinks and vitamin water? . . . vitamin water with 150 calories of added fructose because one container is two and a half servings.
http://flavored-waters.com/Flavored_...ater/index.asp

Due to Congressional budgets for farmers, US farmers produce more food than can be used:
http://www.wisegeek.com/how-many-cal...per-person.htm
The math looks wrong in this quote. Maybe you get the idea. lol

Hubby and I eat nuts and other like things. (walnuts, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, . . . )
Cereals are not really cereals. In Publix last weekend, I asked my friend to help me find regular grits -- not the quick kind, not the flavored kind, not the cheese kind ---- regular slow cooking grits. We had to search high and low and ended up very high in the back of the shelf. I cooked the grits later in the rice cooker with sweetened almond milk. Beautiful.

This guy points out the some science in his books and talks:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...nxiety/?page=2
Here is important nutritionist Marion Nestle:
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10...rica-big-binge
Michael Pollan writes about eating real food:
http://www.amazon.com/Food-Rules-Eat.../dp/014311638X
His advice is summed up thus: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. It seems obvious, but people have to be told that.

I do most of the shopping in our household. Hubby cooks. We plan what to eat. It does not just happen. One could easily walk into a store and buy "non-food" items that are sold as food. People who buy that end up bringing home a week's worth of crap.
(I'm not going to mention what goes on in restaurants because it is pretty disgusting . . . . the amount of carbs, fat, and salt on one plate is huge . . . . and restaurant sized plates keep getting bigger each year. Worst of all, unless one goes into a very high price bracket, food in restaurants is poor quality. )

One practically needs to take classes, read books, or join support groups to select, buy, cook, and eat healthful foods.

I'm thinking that you were asking a sincere question, so here is my sincere answer.

You are seeing threads now because Bizi is trying something new and because I don't feel like posting epics about what is really going on with me -- boring stuff about sleep, work, hubby.

M.