Oh Saint Valentine, the Tiger got me!

I don't know why I even bother to come up with some excuse as to why I succumbed to the sweet and salty pleasures of unhealthy food this weekend? It's practically a broken record at this point.

And, with the title alone, you can probably figure that I was bad diet-wise, falling for TWO holidays that came together on Sunday - St. Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year (Year of the Tiger - roar!).

But it honestly wasn't too horrible. Granted, there was a dessert during Friday night's dinner...and some wine...but the main entree of scallops balanced things out (fingers crossed).

Saturday's dim sum, on the other hand, was FAR from innocent.

The shrimp dumplings were, by far, the most innocent in a mess of fried shrimp, taro cakes, sticky rice in lotus leaf, pork dumplings and sticky buns filled with bbq pork.

We were sodiumated for sure!

And stuffed.

We did some ethnic grocery store shopping (Italian, Asian and German) afterward, but we were too full to want anything except something sweet from all the sodium. At the Italian store, she got a cookie and I got torrone. At the Asian store, I was thinking of loading up on some fun junk food. It was definitely filled with it during this festive day and tons of people.

But it was also sporting some long lines.



So I never did get this Durian Pudding I considered buying since their only fresh Durian cost 5 bucks a pound.

At the German store, we bought chocolate. Then we found more dessert for that evening in Tremont (scroll down).

We were honestly full for some time on Saturday after dim sum. When we finally did get hungry, we ended up eating burgers at a local bar/restaurant and mine came with a plump potato pirogi inside (a nice touch with the sour cream).

Then at home, the Tremont dessert awaited...

Salted caramel cupcake!!

But that's been the worst of it...really. This morning I had some grainy German bread topped with a chipotle pepper, egg white omelet, avocado and butter cheese.

Not so colorful top.



More colorful inside.

Other foods included steamed broccoli, chicken, and walnuts.

Diet food.

But, in my next entry, I'll tell you about the olive oil pancakes....

Soup - a complex relationship

I have found myself many-a-time faced with inconsistent stances on food.

For example, I don't like tomato sauce. I don't like it on pasta, on pizza, on stuffed peppers, or rice. I don't like dipping fried mozzarella sticks in it or mixing it with seafood. I'd rather it not be included at all.

That's how I stand on that.

But...every so often, I will end up eating it (whether for lack of other options, or choice) and I may enjoy it.

This was the case this past weekend when my aunt made stuffed shells and homemade meatballs. She used tomato sauce. And I liked it. I even had seconds.

But, if I had pasta for dinner tonight, I probably wouldn't use tomato sauce as a sauce. I still prefer to stay away from it.

I have very similar feelings where soup is concerned.

I don't like soup.

But how can I say this really? REALLY?

There are so many types of soups, let alone flavors among those types.

You have...
1.) Broth Soups
2.) Cream Soups
3.) Chilled Soups
4.) Dessert Soups
5.) Chowders
6.) Stews

To nix out an entire world of culinary variety would be ludicrous - for me, at least.

And, honestly, I do like all of these types with exception to broth soups (which can also be good sometimes under the right circumstances), but I usually prefer not to eat it for one reason or another. Here are some reasons (probably) why...

1.) Sodium Content - if it came from a can, it's probably far too salty.
2.) Distribution of Ingredients -I like soup that is hearty with the advertised ingredients. If it's called Clam Chowder, there better be clams in there and plenty of them. Many times, this is not the case and, therefore, not worth ordering to find out. I mean, how odd is it that people are surprised when the soup is actually good? This is a telling sign.
3.) Quality of Ingredients - this is why I also never order soup out. You can taste the difference between processed and real, frozen or fresh.
4.) Psychological Trauma - I can't tell you the amount of times I've burnt my tongue on soup. I still harbor bad vibes for this reason...hot chocolate as well.

Now that I've gotten all that out of the way, it's time to talk about what I made for lunch this week. Are you ready for the irony?

Maybe it's not too ironic, since I didn't make Chicken Soup with extra salt and bits of chicken from processed chicken nuggets at a scorching hot temperature.

I made Lamb Stew.

I sometimes wonder if stew is really part of the soup family or soup's opposite. I mean, stew is comprised of solid ingredients with small amounts of liquid to retain the ingredients' combined flavors. Soup, on the other hand, is a mass of liquid that holds ingredients within it.

I imagine stew as a mountain or a structure with cracks throughout it, which are filled with water. Soup I imagine as a body of water where the ingredients swim within it.

Two different things.

In any case, I made the lamb stew with the organic lamb I had in the freezer. Here's how I made it...

Ingredients
- one large sweet potato
- 2 parsnips
- 6 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 3 small onions
- 2 beets
- 1 lb turnip greens
- 3 cans chicken broth
- few cloves garlic
-2 lbs lamb


Directions: I cut up all the veggies, except for the garlic and turnip greens, and put them in a casserole dish. I put some olive oil over it and sat it in the oven at 400.
I cut off whatever excess fat I could from the lamb and chopped up the garlic. In a pan, I browned the lamb with garlic and olive oil at a high heat.
Once brown, I replaced the pan with a pot containing 2 cans' worth of chicken broth. As it heated up, I added chopped-up turnip greens (I didn't include the stems). I removed the veggies and added them to the pot as well, followed by the lamb.
At medium heat, I allowed it to cook for about 20 minutes. I ended up adding a 3rd can of chicken stock and let it all simmer for another 30 or so. Here's how it looked...

Notice the red color brought on by the beets (I suggest cutting the beets carefully so as not to stain yourself). It really is a vibrant dish and very tasty - especially after adding some cilantro.

I will say that, diet-wise, there are flaws in this stew. Some veggies used, such as carrots and beets, are high in sugar. And there's still some fat on that lamb I used. So it's not like I can splurge during other meals of the day simply because this dish is healthy.

I did, in fact, splurge over the weekend with homemade pizza, homemade desserts, alcohol, etc. That's what I get for going to 2 parties. :-) But I'm back on track again. I weighed myself on Friday morning at 162-163....3-4 pounds less than a few weeks ago.

So things aren't so bad.

I'll weigh myself in again in another 2 weeks (Feb 5 or 6) and keep you up-to-date on culinary experiences in the meantime.

Bad Habits and Strict Dieting

I was a fat kid. Let me just let that off my chest.

So, deep in my grown-up fat kid's subconscious, there are learned eating habits that are bad bad BAD! And, once the grown up feels he is in the clear and in no danger of that fat kid coming around, the habits pick back up.

Lately, those bad habits have come into play.

And it's stupid stuff. A piece of candy here. Mindless chip eating. Perhaps a small "harmless" dessert. But they've been adding up and I feel it's been a tad out of control lately.

So today, I'm officially dieting and trying to be super-strict with things. Fingers crossed, I hope it works.

There was some dieting during the week this past week, which included a herring salad (which I don't recommend). It included German herring with the cream sauce (you can get it in cans) and roasted red peppers. Here's a pic...

This coming week will include some meat from the organic grass-fed cow recently collected and some ground lamb bought at the store. There's also lettuce, apples, egg whites, avocados, etc.

In fact, every work-day morning, I make an egg-white omelet, getting some hummus in there and avocado, if possible. It's an open omelet...so perhaps you can call it an egg-white pancake. In any case, here is how it usually looks...

This morning, it didn't come out quite like this actually. I used a different pan and it stuck in spots when I tried to flip it over. So, in the end, it was more like scrambled egg whites and mashed avocado.

And now I try to keep in line with this healthy eating through the rest of it, careful to avoid all products with sugars and syrups and things of that genre. This week also includes some 30 minute fast walking to get about 2 miles in, not including the afternoon workout where I'll be starting the P90X today. I just need to stay focused and not eat out as much as I have been.

I need to stop making excuses.

And, speaking of excuses, I don't want to weigh myself until Saturday, especially after all the sushi I've eaten as of late. But I promise I'll do it then, in case there are people who really really really want to know.

Sadists. :-)