Again Time to Monitor What I Eat?

     As many of you know, I struggle with my weight. Wow, that is unusual and your are a Chef? Chefs and weight are like peas and carrots, let's just say we get along. The whole reason, I became a chef was because, I was in love with Hollandaise and all his lovely cousins. What is better than a perfectly poached egg, slathered in a butter sauce? To tell you the truth, that is how I tell if a restaurant is worthy, if the menu has Eggs Benedict, it is either a death sentence or a blessing. If you can't do Eggs Benedict right, then most likely the rest won't be too appetizing either.

     Creative healthy cooking starts out like gangbusters for me, then I lose interest and the pasta starts calling my name again. You would think that I would be the foremost authority on diet food. Yep, I am good at regurgitating useful recipes and hints, but when applying it to my own life, I get bored.

     My husband and I could stand to lose a lot of pounds. He is similar to me in that, we both feed each others ability to say "Tomorrow, we will start the diet", and "Today, let's have Alfredo sauce". Yep that is us, in a nutshell. Guess that is why they call it marriage, or rather "Partners in crime". He just stopped by the office, so I had the opportunity to inform him that  "We" are on a diet again. He is such a good sport. Let's see how long this will last.

     I think when we were young, we never knew, how or what was going to propel us in the direction we were meant to go. Some of us got there sooner, because they possessed discipline, while others, took the long way around (me). The solution has been whacking me on the back of the head for years. Hey, I learn at a slower pace!

     What if I combine my knowledge of food, with my desire to lose weight, that would equal Voila: a journey into making food more naughty but in a nice way. So that is the mission naughty but nice....oh Boy!!! I would like to introduce you to Joy Bauer, she is the Today Show's nutrition expert and has written books like "Your Inner Skinny"(I would LOVE that one), "Joy Bauer's Food Cures" and her newest "Slim and Scrumptious". This winter, I plan on going through her last book, recipe by recipe and trying all the creations. Hey, Joy, let's find a cookbook that cuts the carbohydrates? I am the chef, you are the nutritionist, we could rock the diet world.

     Tonight we are riding on the "we gotta lose weight wave", I made Basil grilled Pork chops. Yum.  With a really complex foo foo salad, we have a winner.

Basil Grilled Pork Chops

4 pork chops....just pick what you think is best
1/2 cup of fresh chiffonade basil
2 tablespoons fresh chopped garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon cut in half and squeezed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

Chiffonade the basil, and chop the garlic add to a gallon size plastic bag. Add olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice.  Add the pork and let marinate for at least 30 minutes. Remove and grill or broil accordingly.

     

Think before you Act...

     So, my son he got this 4-wheeler (I guess that is what you call them). Well, My husband (Jeff) and my youngest (Kerry) they been having a hell of a time, getting this darn machine running. It has been a more than a month project, and trust me when I say, we got's lots of projects. Remember when we painted the walls.

     Anyhow, I have been outside a lot, enjoying my flowers. and I was surprised that I only killed the calibrachoa superbells (this is what I did wrong, straight from the provenwinners.com website :Too much water makes our roots rot (Ick). Full sun. Fertilize once a month. How extra double super easy is that?) In a nutshell, I over watered, put it in the shade, tried to fertilize, but by that point it was a lost cause. So I was disappointed by that, but there is always next year. As usual, I digress.







There my man is, getting all greased up.



     Back to the subject at hand. My son's four wheeler. It looks so much less dangerous, when it sits in the yard. The last thing you think, is that it is a potential hazard. So night after night, I stared at my husband, as he got all grease monkey on me, pulling strange tool after strange tool out, playing with the wheels. I asked questions, but did I understand? NO!!  I still to this day do not know what a swing arm bushing is?

     So there came that glorious day when, I heard that familiar VAROOMROOM outside. I ran to door, threw open the screen, and what do my wondering eyes should appear, but four small boys, and two big ones, watching the brand new path being worn into the lawn, or rather that was my impression.

Look, he is in full guffaw mode.

    The laughing and guffawing drew me in, so I had to just mosey outside and monitor the fun. I must admit it looked really fun. Maybe that is why, my little Kerry, stopped looked at me and said "Hey, Mom wanna take a ride"? That was it, I jumped on that stupid beast. I got really too excited. We went less that 5 feet, and I managed to burn my leg(wearing shorts) on the muffler, and as a reaction to being burned, I dropped my right foot into the ground(wearing flip flops) to somehow stop this machine(like it is a bicycle or something) and ripped a toenail off. From start to finish less than 30 seconds of fun.

so much more work, than it is worth.

    But I was thankful, that I burned myself on a Saturday night, because I had the next two days off to recover, like it was a sliver or something. Boy, I was really wrong. Today is Friday and I am still recovering. I thought the toenail issue was gonna be a bigger deal, nope the burn took center stage, and God as my witness, I will never so much as think of getting on one of those four wheeler type things again. I don't care if they burn a trail to China on that damn thing, I am cured of thinking I am biker chick.

     What better way to make myself feel better, than to make some baby back ribs. Ribs or any meat for that matter, never really lasts that long in my house. The summer is the best time to have ribs on the grill, and I usually make homemade macaroni and cheese and collard greens to go with it. But that is a whole nother story to be continued......

Paige's BBQ Baby back Ribs

2 packages of really meaty looking pork loin back ribs

2 tablespoons granulated garlic

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste
1 18oz bottle Stubb's BBQ sauce(best in the world!!)

Remove the membrane off the back of the baby back ribs go to this you tuber to learn how. Once the membrane is removed. Combine the all the spices, salt and pepper, plus the vinegar and maple syrup and rub the ribs until all the mixture is rubbed in. Place in plastic bag and marinate over night. About two hours before you want to serve the ribs, pull them from the bag, place in aluminum foil and roast in a 300 degree oven, till almost done. Pull them out and slather with Stubb's and grill on charcoal grill until done, and enjoy.

Hey yogurt, if you're so cultured, how come I never see you at the opera? ~Attributed to Stephen Colbert