4 on 4 Week 3

RECIPE POST: This is some sort of record in the Hagman House. This week, the entire grocery bill was $86. Can you imagine??? And it was a lot of food too boot. Now I'm still running ahead of schedule and if I'm honest I think that at the end of the month the bill will end up being around $500, unless I can convince everyone in my family to fast for the last week. Even still, I'm wildly proud of us all. We've been concious of what we've eaten, how much we've eaten. We've thrown out a lot less and have cut our grocery bill in half. I told you our grocery bill was obscene! I wasn't kidding. So even though I don't think I'll hit the $400 dollar mark, this has been a very positive experiment and I'm going to keep it going. Eventually, maybe I will hit that $400 dollar mark!.

Yummy things we had this week included Country Style Steak, mashed potatoes, steamed cabbage, pinto beans, Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps, Fajitas, Black Bean Salad (for which I've already given you a recipe), Salsa, Guacamole and the usual assortment of hummus, peanut butter wraps etc. Here are the recipes

Country Style Steak

6 pieces of cube steak, dredged in flour to which you've added salt, pepper and garlic powder. Use maybe 2 cups of flour because you'll need that to make the gravy
Olive Oil
Big Onion
Kitchen Bouquet
Water.

Lightly brown the cube steak in the olive oil. Add the onions, a cup of the flour mixture and cover the whole thing with water. Cover the pan and simmer making sure the meat isn't sticking to the pan until it is fork tender. Check on it for the first little while adding more water as necessary and making sure the steaks aren't sticking - or flour if it seems like the steaks are swimming. Once they quit trying to stick and the flour water mixture is a nice gravy consistency, you know you finally have the right ratio of water to flour. Look, this is serious Southern Cooking, there are no exact recipes, you have to feel it, which is why its called Soul Food! Depending on how thick the "steaks" are it can take 45 minutes or so until they are fork tender. Add the kitchen bouquet (maybe 2 Tablespoons) to darken the gravy, adjust seasonings eat. You can also make this with veggie burgers and its good, if strange, and I usually don't.

Lower Fat but still comforting Mashed Potatoes
5-6 Big Idaho Potatoes
1 onion slivered
2 stalks celery
1 big carrot diced
Salt, Pepper
Water
1/4 butter/margarine

Boil the potatoes and vegetables until everthing is super tender. Drain reserving the liquids. Using a hand blender blend it all up adding just teeny amounts of the cooking liquids until you get the desired consistency. Add the butter, salt and pepper. They are really good and without using milk or cream. Now some may squawk that there are orange carrot bits in them, tell them to grow up!

Vietnamese Veggie Wraps.
My whole family loves these in a way that's hard to fathom but they are refreshing, it reheats nicely and honestly they are good cold right out of the fridge. You can use rice paper wrappers if you want to go to the trouble but we like the lettuce crunch.
1 package Smart Food "Ground Beef" Original Flavor. http://www.lightlife.com/product_detail.jsp?p=smartgroundoriginal You'll find this in the refrigerated section, sometimes in produce. Don't use the Boca crumbles the texture turns out wrong
2 cans diced water chest nuts drained
1 Big Onion Diced
Olive Oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
2 in piece of ginger minced
1/2 a bunch of fresh cilantro minced and a matching amount of fresh basil and mint minced
1/2 package dried ricethread noodles cooked in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drained and Chopped
Dressing
6 TB fish sauce (if you can't find a vegetarian version let me know, I have a reasonable recipe)
2 TB Soy Sauce
1 Lime, Zest and juice
1/3 cup peanut butter (I normally use chopped fresh peanuts but we didn't have any so I substituted peanut butter and we all liked it better that way)
1 head of iceberg lettuce (look for one that is super light weight and loose feeling if you get a tight one you won't be able to seperate the leaves to use as wrappers.)
Carrot Shreds

Lightly coat a pan with olive oil and saute the onions, garlic and ginger until translucent. Add the Smart Ground, the water chestnuts and the rice threads. Stir to mix and heat. Add the dressing ingredients stir to coat all the ingredients. Then right before serving add the fresh herbs. Fill up a lettuce leaf, top with some carrot shreds roll up and eat. Serves 6 and if you add hot and sour soup you can go 8!

Salsa
16 big Plum Tomatoes, diced
1 softball sized white onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro minced
Jalapeno, habanero or what ever other chili you like in the amount you like
Cider Vinegar
1/2 package Stevia

Mix it all together and let sit. I think I probably use a 1/2 cup of vinegar but this is one of these things I just kind of "feel" it rather than measure it. You don't want it soupy but it needs to have enough vinegar to macerate the onions. For a tasty alternative add a big green pepper diced, a can of black eyed peas rinsed and drained and a small can of tomato sauce.

Guacamole
3 Ripe Avocados seeded mashed
1/2 cup of salsa (recipe above!)
Juice of a lime
1 Tb Garlic
1/2 tea salt
Put the garlic and salt into a pestle and grind until pasty add everything else and stir to blend.

4 on 4 Week 2

RECIPE POST: Week 2 has come and gone and the original bill was slightly under a $100 which was amazing.  I only spent $45 at the grocery store, the rest at Sam's or the farmers market.  It ended up being a little more than 135 because my eldest ended up in the emergency room with enough stomach acid to eat through metal and has to modify her diet to keep from getting an ulcer, so I had to buy some additional items.  Still, for the 2 weeks, I'm only 75 over which is a HUGE deal, especially when you consider that I'm including in the money the things I bought to fix for the party we went to on the 10th.

If you go to the grocery store, Harris Teeter, in this case, about 20 minutes before they close, all those delicious roasted chickens have been reduced for quick sale and one that would have cost you $7 at 5pm costs 4.  I bought a couple of those.  It was World Cup Championship weekend and the teams my husband and youngest were pulling for played in the finals, so we had a celebration cook out.  I've been working quite a bit this week so dinner has been more on the fly than I'd have liked but I did grill a bunch of chicken thighs, made some black bean salad, chicken salad, grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, corn and Morningstar chicken patties - the "griller" ones are really tasty http://morningstarfarms.com/products_grillers-chikn-veggie-patties.aspx, and we've been nibbling off of that and salad all week.  This next week's grocery bill I think is going to be super low because I'm all caught up on staples and meat.  So we'll see.

Here are some fun things for you to play with.

Chicken Salad
1 Whole roasted chicken, meat pulled off the bones and chopped (use the carcass to make stock!)
1/2 big red onion minced
3 stalks celery, minced
1 tea garlic powder
2 T dried parsley
Lots of black pepper
DUKE'S Mayonnaise (there's only one mayonnaise in my world!)
Mix everything together.  Makes a really nice chicken salad.  When ever you cook chicken you should always cook a few extra pieces to turn into chicken salad.  Its a big hit in my house!  NOW, when I make this vegetarian, I substitute the chicken for these wonderful WONDERFUL delight soy chicken pieces they sell at Earthfare. http://www.delightsoy.com/ If you haven't tried them, you should.  They are high in fat, its true, but these are the best I've found on the market both in taste and texture.  Use a pound  to a pound and a half chopped in the above recipe.  I also use nayonnaise instead of Dukes (hear that little wistful sigh - I really really love and miss Duke's mayo) which everyone in my family will eat when I veganize some favorite dish.

Hot Dog "Filli"  (Meaning fake chili)
1 lb veggie "beef" crumbles
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
4 TB chili powder
1 TB garlic powder
1 tea onion powder
1/4 Texas Pete wing sauce.
Cook it all together.  Has a nice kick to it and let's you have "Carolina" burgers - chili, slaw, onions and mustard - if you're a vegetarian.

Slaw - Cabbage, Nayonnaise, Cider Vinegar, Stevia, Lots of black pepper.  Sort out your own proportions but maybe a big head of cabbage 3/4 cup of mayo (I don't like mine soupy) 1/4 vinegar 1 - 2 packets of stevia.

Black Bean Salad
2 Cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 Cans White Corn, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 lb plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 bunch cilantro, minced

Mix all together and while the rice is still hot, dress

Dressing
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 TB each chili powder, cumin
1 TB garlic powder
1/2 tea onion powder
Red Pepper flakes and Salt to taste.

Makes enough for an army. This is a HUGE hit at parties and because it doesn't have Mayo in it, is fairly durable at a summer picnic.  Its also a great veggie fajita/burrito stuffer.  Complete protein, colorful and cheap, what more do you need!

VICTORY IS MINE!

RECIPE POST:  So if you've been following the blog, you know by now that I love snack foods, with a capital LOVE, and that we've had a crazy busy social calendar of late which I think has finally tapered off for a bit.  You also know that I had a "doh" forehead slapping moment of clarity recently that if I stopped taking fattening, salty wondrous appetizers to a social gathering that I might infact, not find myself diving onto the snack table, gathering the food all around me and screaming MINE! at anyone who dares to approach! 

Well guess what?  I'm happy to announce this little trick actually worked!  I won't lie and say not nary a snippet of salty crunchy passed these lips, but I only had 3 little bugles dunked in spinach dip to assuage the evil wicked Snack Monster that dwells within the heart of me!  This is a victory akin to the blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  One sided.  Complete.  Annihilation.  I'm most pleased.

I behaved at a party and still had a fantastic time!  YEAH TEAM!

So here are the recipes for what I took.  Try them.  You'll LOVE them.

Barbecued Cauliflower.  (My friend Connie's recipe that I modified to make it spicier)
1 big head of cauliflower, broken into florets.  Drizzle a scant amount of olive oil over them.  Salt and Pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Let cool

1 cup ketchup
1/4 soy sauce
2 TB olive oil
1 - 2in piece of ginger minced
1/4 c minced garlic (again I use the jarred stuff which won't be as strong as fresh, so if you're using fresh, cut back to maybe 3 -4 cloves)
1/4 cup of Red Curry Paste.  I use Patak's Mild. 

Saute the garlic and ginger in the olive oil being careful not to let the garlic brown.  Add the other ingredients and cook until thickened.  Cool then coat the cauliflower in the BBQ sauce.  This will sit nicely for a while, but long term, the BBQ sauce pulls the liquid out of the cauliflower and the results, while still tasty, are soupy looking.  Its good at room temp or cold.  What I do is keep things separate until right before I'm ready to serve.  This is yummy and Connie and I and our husbands fell in love with this at a restaurant here in town called Copper.  If you like Indian food.  Try it.  Both the carnivores and this veggiehead were all exceedingly happy! http://www.copperrestaurant.com/

Corn Zucchini Stir fry ( this is a lift from The Field of Greens Cookbook which is one of the best vegetarian cookbooks on the market in my opinion.  http://www.amazon.com/Fields-Greens-Vegetarian-Celebrated-Restaurant/dp/0553091395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278872430&sr=8-1
1/4 olive oil
1/4 cup of garlic (remember back it down if you're using fresh)
5 ears of corn (don't use frozen or canned, it'll turn out mushy) Cut the kernels off with a sharp knife
3 big zucchini cut into 1 in dice
1 big red onion, diced
1 bunch cilantro, minced try to avoid the stems as much as possible
salt and pepper to taste.

Saute the garlic and onions in the olive oil until the onions are translucent.  Add the corn and cook, stirring frequently because it will stick, until the corn is cooked.  Add the zucchini and cook until its wilted but still maintains it shape.  Add the cilantro, salt and pepper and heat through.  The original recipe also calls for topping with smoked cheddar cheese which I admit is wonderful and also has you using zucchini boats stuffed with the filling which makes for a lovely presentation, but tastes just fine this way and is easier.

Sisyphus Rocks!

Of course all my readers are well schooled in the minutiae of Greek Mythology, but for the rare person who fell asleep that day in Mr. Curtis' Mythology class, Sisyphus was a poor tormented soul who outfoxed the God's on more than one occasion and, as the God's truly despise being outfoxed, our man S. was forced to spend all eternity pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down on him right before the crest. Poor Sisyphus. I've been pondering on this of late and it got me thinking about one of my favorite, albeit, seriously cliched expressions. If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten.

Seriously, if Sisyphus was really all that and a bag of chips when it came to God-hoaxing, why did it never dawn on him to try something different when it came to rock rolling? I mean why didn't he enlist his friends to help? Or trick them into helping, which was certainly more his style? Why not tunnel through the hill or push it around the base? Granted that would have taken longer, but since gravity and the spitefulness of the punishment were working against him AND he had all eternity to accomplish the task, common sense would suggest - DO SOMETHING ELSE, DUMMY!

And THAT got me thinking about my weight. My 20 plus year battle with my own personal blubber boulder has been one of ground hog day like repetition. Lose it. Find it. Lose it. Find it. Repeat ad nauseum. I've always approached the whole ordeal as simply a function of losing weight. Period. Never once have I attempted to get at and deal with the underlying reasons for why I'm fat in the first place. That's the main push for the pitched battle this time around and its slow going and sort of hit or miss.

One of the things I have to do is rewire how I think about food. What it means. How it makes me feel. I've been trying lately, to really think about what I'm doing when I'm getting ready to put food in my mouth. Am I really hungry? Is it stomach hungry or mouth hungry, because mouth hungry is often thirst. Am I reacting to something, or as I'm finding, to someone. Is what I'm eating the right choice?

I don't want to make it sound like I have some extended windy angst ridden internal dialogue everytime I reach for a carrot stick. Nope, its just a quick gut check to make sure I'm eating healthy and working towards my objectives. My hope is that at some point, practice will take over. That good choices will become ingrained in my muscle memory. That I'll be able to identify the over-eating triggers and behaviors that have held sway over my weight for most of my adult life and DO SOMETHING ELSE and in doing something else, will arrive at a different end point than I have in the past.

Its a daily thing. It requires concious consideration. Its also, kind of a pain in the ass, when all I want is a handful of potato chips as I'm breezing through the kitchen hoping the Fat Fairy doesn't notice me scarfing down the Kettle Chips and slap me with a five pound penalty kick. Its at those moments that I start wondering if this isn't a waste of time exercise, more than a little bit obsessive and start looking in the pantry for a can of rationalization. Can't you just hear the chip bag rustling?

Then today, something really really cool happened.

My husband and I were having a conversation on a serious topic. Not a fight. Not a disagreement. Just a grown up topic kind of conversation. The kind that make you feel tense. Worried. Nervous. Halfway through the conversation I realized I was stress eating! I even said it out loud. It was a unique experience in the dietary history of this girl, let me tell you, but there it was. My brain actually made the connection that I was eating for ALL the wrong reasons and it did it on its own because I seriously paid zero attention to the fact that I'd gotten up from the sofa, waddled into the kitchen and found me a big old plate of comfort.

This is great news in my book. The downside is that before my brain actually kicked in I'd eaten two bowls of pistachios, a scoop of hummus and chips, and some grapes! Its not a perfect synaptical connection yet, but it did happen and I have to believe that if I contiue paying an appropriate amount of attention to my emotional relationship with food, that the changes will come quicker and be more permanent. Again, that my doing different will result in my being different.

I have another challenge coming up this weekend. We have another party to go to. Truthfully, we're only this social in the summer because in the South, its always so damned hot, about all you can do is get together, eat, drink and bitch about how hot it is. This summer is ridicualously hot, so there's even more than normal amounts of getting together, eating, drinking and bitching.

Normally, when we go to a party I'll take an appetizer or two. Why? Because appetizers are my very very favorite things to eat. And there in lies the rub. I'd much rather graze over a table of little yummies than to have one plate of "meal" food. Its a fake out. Nibbles are small bites. Meals are big bites. Problem is, you eat enough nibbles under the guise of "just a bite" and the next thing your know, you're halfway thorugh the bag of corn chips on your way to a full on food stupor.

Enter epiphany here. Why would I keep taking to parties the things that tempt me so and end in my stuffing my face? How about NOT taking those things and taking something else instead? EUREKA! It sounds so simple, it kind of makes me feel like a moron not to have thought of it sooner, but who knew? This party, instead of the wickedly fattening but oh so delicious Cannelini Confit, I'm taking two vegetable side dishes and a mushroom to throw on the grill. I can avoid the snack table because I don't have anything to put on it. I won't even have to go near it! And as for the dessert table...welll.....they aren't really my thing so no biggie there.

Hopefully this little experiment will be such a success that I'll be able to tell that silly Sisyphus to put his rock down and go over the crest of the hill on his own!