Wednesday, August 17, 2011

A Real Meal, A Real Mistake

For the last few weeks, I have been following a strict diet regimen in a serious effort to lose the 10-15 pounds that crept up on me during this first blissful year of marriage. When I'm happy, I eat, what can I say? Aside from my closest friends and family members, I have kept word of the dieting on the dl, as to avoid the inevitable "you look fine, you don't need that" placations and hints of disapproval.

I had my 3rd weigh in yesterday, and in what I full well know was an effort in self-sabotage, I had already decided walking into the office, that if the scale had gone down at all this last week I was going to treat myself to a real meal for dinner.

Let me point out that I absolutely expected to see the scale sadly shake it's digital head at me and reflect not even an ounce of weight loss. Truth be told, I'd cheated a bit this past weekend (I love/need wine, which after extensive research I discovered is actually VERY low in carbohydrates, thanyouverymuch). So in reality, I was not really expecting to be able to indulge in anything "off plan". But much to my shock, surprise and disbelief, I had lost another 2 lbs. It seems that wine loves me too!

Immediately after closing the door to what I refer to as the place of stress and trepidation, I texted my partner in crime that we were ON! And what was the meal of choice after 3 weeks of carefully constructed, calorie restricted dieting?

Yes, that's right, I don't just fall off the wagon, I jump. Oh but that's not all, I mean what's a burger without fries right? But even better than fries are these:

Not just any ole tots, Garlic Tots!
And when Bergie says garlic, Bergie means garlic. There must have been at least 3 raw cloves smeared on those tots. So much garlic, I couldn't even watch True Blood last night.

And so I ate. And ate. And about halfway through I pushed my plate away with something akin to a grunt, mumbling I was stuffed.  Then 42 seconds later I changed my mind and ate some more. I managed to polish off the burger, but even I, garlic lover galore, could not manage to eat more than a couple handfuls of those vampire smiting tots.

Why do I do this to myself?
Did the food taste good? No doubt.
Did I enjoy my off plan meal? Hell to the yeah.
Did I enjoy the way I felt for the remainder of the evening? No.
Do I enjoy waking up still stuffed and mildly nauseous? Gag, no.
Will I ever learn? I am still holding out hope that one day I will.

Lesson learned from events on Tuesday 8/16/11: Figure out that thing called moderation, or all this dieting work that I spent so much time and money on will all have been for naught.

But for those of you who have already mastered it, check out Bergie's Burgers in Old Town, so delicious, you'll go off your diet for it!


Monday, August 15, 2011

More Cheese, Please!

I live 5 blocks from here:
You may be thinking, "So, what's the big deal?" And if you are, then you obviously don't love cheese.
Well, I do.
Love cheese. A lot.
And living 5 blocks from an artisanal cheese shop makes my love affair a dangerous thing.
If you've been lucky enough to attend one of my entertaining evenings, you know that my favorite thing to make is a cheese board. Not so much because I know my guests will like it, more so because it gives me an excuse to go to this little devil shop and taste test several of their cheeses.
It's like Saturday at Costco, only 10x better.
Because they have cheese.
And they don't have 7032 people banging carts into you.

My current favorites: Vlaskaas, Port Salut, Fromager d'affinois

My Trip to Chino Farms

Below is the glorious bounty at the roadside farmstand. Chino Farms is the preferred farm of such chefs as Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck and Martin Woesle. I was lucky enough to pick up some fixins for Monday night dinner this weekend. Here is just a bit of what they had to offer.
 Gorgeous rainbow chard, sauteed with a touch of olive oil and garlic: buonissimo!

Radishes, carrots and turnips, oh my!

Lima beans (got some!), adorable baby brussels, huge shallots, fresh figs and berries

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes

Fresh rosemary and delicate squash blossoms ready to stuff!

Tonight I will be making stuffed poblano peppers and a tomato radish salad using my purchases from this weekend. I'll let you know how it turns out!

An Idea Comes to Fruition

For years I have been wanting to hop on the blog train. Several of my friends write funny, intelligent, quirky blogs about their lives, lessons and loves, but I don't have children to dote on, any hard hitting political views to share, I'm not a master of any particular talent or skill so what does one base a blog on?

I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out, it should have been plain as the Italian nose on my face. Write what you love. And anyone who knows me knows I love food. Shopping, cooking, eating, sharing, if it's related to food, I'm all over it. So what better thing to write about than food in all its glory. I work in the food industry, I live in the center of San Diego's food mecca (at least if we had one, it would be my area), I know chefs, farmers, and restaurateur's galore, and i love everything related to food.

So here you are, a place where you can follow my passion for all things edible. I hope you enjoy.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

There it is, my delicious, carb free crust made almost entirely of CAULIFLOWER! I thought it couldn't be done, alas, I was wrong. One head of cauli made 6 of these darlings. It couldn't have been easier, or tastier:

1 cup lightly packed shredded cauliflower (food processor is a must) 1 head makes about 6 cups
1/4 cup eggbeaters
1 oz low fat ricotta
1 oz low fat mozzarella or other Italian cheese blend
Seasonings! Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, anything you choose
Mix it all together

Preheat oven to 400, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread cauliflower mixture into a circle, about dinner plate size. Bake for 25-30 minutes, carefully flip, bake another 10-15 minutes. Don't worry if it looks burned, this is ok, the darker the crust, the crispier it gets. Once done, cool on rack then top with sauce, veggies, meats, a little more cheese. Voila!