The Beginning of Success

Oh, frabjous day! A month ago I decided, firmly, to do something about my weight. Then I had my confrontation with flax. Flax won, temporarily, but now I’m back on track. Last weekend I finally sucked it up, gathered my courage and stepped on the scale. Surprise! It wasn’t as bad as I expected. It also set the bar – the benchmark of my starting point and told me how far I have to go to get to where I want to be.

Today I stepped on the scale again, after a week of ‘being careful’ and watching what I eat, denying sometimes (not as often as I should). Four pounds – one tenth of my goal – is gone. Yay, me!

I have a long way to go, and there will undoubtedly be ups and downs, times when I do better than others. It’s a start though, a good one. It’s also the downhill portion because it was mostly water so now starts the *ahem* heavy lifting.

Yeah, yeah. I know this is boring, no one but me cares, but it’s important to me so, because this is my blog, I’m going to crow about my successes.

As I said in a previous post, I’ve been here, done this diet / weight loss thing before. I know what’s required. It takes discipline and I know from hard experience that denial is a death knell for any diet.

When I was in high school, where my weight problem started, I would get home from school and make toast. Not just a slice or two. It was usually four or five slices, slathered in butter. It was like my gateway drug. From there I expanded to bags of chips. Not little bags, big ones, and cans of premade frosting.

Thinking of that stuff now it makes me sick, but that was how I got started. Then, when I was seventeen, I started to change how I eat, and I lost the weight. Then I got married and the yo-yo started.

Within a year after our wedding, the Fates delivered their twenty pound wedding gift to my belly, hips and thighs. To get rid of it, I tried a ‘fad’ diet. It was the early 80s and the diet du jour was the Cambridge Diet, a powder that you mixed with water and drank.

You were ‘allowed’ to eat celery and then one ‘good’ meal per day. In other words, not enough to keep an emaciated rabbit alive and, because I had nothing in me, I ended up with massive stomach pains. That time I went to the ER and the doc was like, ‘Duh!’

That was all I needed to teach me that fad diets are probably a bad idea. Won’t do ‘em, won’t pay for food separate and apart from what the family is eating because, undoubtedly, I would end up looking longingly at the other plate, thinking how unfair life is.

So I cook for myself. I like to cook, but I don’t like to spend hours in the kitchen and I certainly don’t want things that use a gazillion pots, pans, or utensils. Cleaning up is the worst part of it. Prep is only slightly behind cleaning, so I want things that are quick and easy, tasty but simple. One pan, maybe two and I make things for breakfast and lunch that I like, things that are reasonable in calories and fit my requirements. For dinner I typically eat what the family eats and, after years of struggle, have made it clear that I prefer to serve myself.

For two decades my husband served everyone – he is the cook, he deemed it his right. Since he’s a guy, he always served more than this gal needed or wanted but, dutifully, because I had been taught as a kid: if it’s on your plate, you eat it because of starving children in China. One day I decided ‘this is really stupid’. I said, ‘no thanks, I’ll serve myself.’ We argued, more than a few times over more than a couple of years, but I eventually won. Now I serve myself – small portions. Not necessarily as small as they should be, but smaller than if he portioned it out.

One of my favorite movie lines – and I only saw the trailer, not the movie – was a family sitting around the dinner table. Skinny sister looks at ‘fat’ sister and says something along the lines of, ‘who’s holding a gun to your head to make you put that into your mouth?’ Too true! So it’s on me and I have it pretty much under control.

This week’s lunch menu is pork roast, roasted Brussels sprouts with garlic, sautéed mushrooms with bell peppers, and rice. In case anyone is interested, here’s my recipe for sautéed mushrooms and bell peppers. Try it, maybe next time you’re having company so if you don’t like it you’re not stuck with a bunch of it. Or you can make less, if you’d like, but I make this and then keep the extras in the fridge to be rewarmed to have it with my meat, over rice, inside a warm tortilla or on pizza.

Sauteed Bell Peppers and Mushrooms

Three or four bell peppers, seeded and sliced into strips

One pound mushrooms, washed and trimmed, then sliced

Optional: Thin sliced scallion

Optional: Black pitted olives, sliced

Butter

Good quality balsamic vinegar (can substitute Worcestershire Sauce)

White pepper

Melt a small amount of butter, enough to coat the bottom of a large pan. Sauté the mushroom slices, cooking them until they are golden brown or darker (depending on preference). If needed, cook in batches. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mushrooms from the pan, leaving the liquor. Put them in a glass bowl large enough to hold all of the mushrooms and peppers, once they’re cooked. To the pan, add the sliced bell pepper in batches, without crowding, add more butter if needed. Sauté until cooked through but still firm (you should be able to cut one in half with the edge of a spoon without too much effort). As each batch is done, move them to the bowl with the mushrooms.

After the last batch is cooked, put all of it back in the pan. Add, if desired, the sliced scallion and sliced olives and reheat. Sprinkle with white pepper to taste and splash with vinegar, to taste. Reheat for about two minutes, to take the ‘edge’ off the pepper, stirring frequently.

Once the veggies are cooked, remove them from the pan leaving the juices. Continue cooking the juices down, until it thickens. This is where the salt will really come out, so you don't need to add any - you're concentrating whatever was already there from the vinegar, the olives (if you added them). When you're satisfied with the consistency, pour the liquor over the veggies, toss and serve. Or refrigerate to use later.

* * * * * *

Yes – I know the butter is ‘bad’ for you, but if you try to use cooking spray or olive oil, it’s not going to taste as good. They’ll be slimy for one thing (I’ve tried it). Just use a little – just enough to keep the ‘shrooms from sticking and keep stirring until they give up their water (and, believe it or not, mushrooms have a lot of water in them). Use the butter judiciously.

Another favorite of mine is roasted Brussels sprouts. The recipes I’ve found say ‘use a pound’ or some defined quantity. Nah. I buy two pound bags of them from Costco and use however many will fit in the roasting pan. I use a big roasting pan, so it’s usually the whole bag. If they're big and the pan won't hold all of them, I put whatever is left into a Ziplock bag, squeeze the air out and put them into the veggie bin in the fridge. They'll keep for a couple of weeks.

For roasting, though, the keys are to get ‘em all in in one layer, and to leave a little room so you can stir them and they’ll actually cook.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

One or two pounds of Brussels sprouts or however many will fit in the pan (see above)

Olive oil - get the good kind, it's worth it

One head garlic, peeled and cloves separated (you don't need to trim them - the cooking will soften them enough that they're edible by the time it's all over)

Optional: one medium sized sweet onion, chunked*

Balsamic vinegar

White pepper

*Chunked – it’s what I call it. There’s minced and chopped, we all know what those are. Chunked is when you cut the onion in half, then in quarters, then cut it until you have big chunks, like eighths or ‘steenths. It’s bigger than chopped so it’s chunked.

If the Brussel sprouts aren’t already trimmed (stems), trim them. Wash them in any order – before, after, I don’t think it matters. I usually do it after because I think the water helps steam them. If you feel inclined, you can slice them down the middle. I never do because it’s too much trouble and they cook just fine.

Put a little olive oil into the bottom of the roasting pan. Add the sprouts and sprinkle the peeled garlic cloves around the pan, among the sprouts. If you're adding the onion, do that. Stir it all up to coat the veggies with the oil.

Splash with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with a little white pepper.

Now, recipes call for salt. I never use salt. The vinegar has salt. There’s naturally occurring salt in the sprouts and onion. I don’t think the salt adds anything but if you’re a salt-o-holic, knock yourself out and have at it.

Put the pan in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes check on them. Stir them, turn them over, and see how they’re doing. Put them back for as long as you think they might need – 10 minutes, 15, 20, use your judgement.

When they’re done, take them out and let them relax in the pan for a few minutes. They’ll keep cooking until you take them out of the pan or until they get cold (whichever comes first – that’s my disclaimer), but that’s okay.

Once you serve them, they will be sweet and just a little mildly ‘sprouty’ – not overwhelming. They make a great side with pork or lamb or beef. The best part is the next day. Once they’ve chilled they will sweeten up – all the natural sugar will come to the fore and it’s like eating candy.

So that’s going to be the secret to my ultimate success: lots of vegetable dishes that are quick, easy and delicious, along with protein – mostly chicken and pork. I’ll have some bread but not a lot, and won’t deny myself much of anything so I don’t get frustrated.

Now, I’m off to get cooking and I hope you have a lovely Fourth of July!

Best~

Philippa

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