in with the new

Passover Recipe

I posted my grandma's Sponge Cake recipe in my Recipe Database. It is a GOOD cake, but BAD for you. It's a dozen eggs and almostg 2 cups of sugar... I can't wait to make it!

Superbowl XL

This Sunday is the Superbowl! YAY! Well, yay for having people over, and making a lot of food, and the commercials! Who is in it this year? The Steelers and the Seahawks? (I had to look that up on superbowl.com.) Bleah.  I don't like football, but I like having a Superbowl extravaganza party! This will be a small, cozy extravaganza, since we live in a new place, and don't have too many local people. But it's quality, not quantity, and our people are definitely quality!!!!

Here's my menu. I hope it's enough! My quality guests will bring the dessert.

beer, sangria
Crackers, Tortilla Chips, Potato chips
Cheese - cheddar, parmesan
Veggies - carrots, celery, cucumbers, peppers
French onion soup dip
Mango salsa
Homemade guacamole
Black bean hummus
Clam Dip
4 Layer Mexican Dip
Mini Hot Dogs
Muffaletta
Turkey Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Wings

100% Whole Wheat

Have you tried 100% Whole Wheat Chips Ahoy yet? You should! They are good, and better for you than enriched flour Chips Ahoy. They taste a little fortified, but once you get used to that, you'll be happy you're doing yourself a favor with the fiber and the whole grains. And if you put a smidgen of peanut butter on them? Even better.

Have you had 100% Whole Grain Wheat Thins? Try not to eat the whole box in one sitting. OK, two sittings. They are fricking good. And easy to eat. And good for you! Well, better than the non-whole grain kind. And fricking GOOD.

Black Bean Hummus

I wanted a dip last week, so I made  Black Bean hummus. Me and chickpeas aren't friends, so regular hummus isn't an option for me. Sadly, neither is falafel. Sadly. (The Pump in NYC makes the BEST baked falafel!!!) So I made this dip, and it was so good! Good on chips, good on crackers, good on turkey tacos, good on ice cream... Mmmm.

Cookies!

I spent yesterday baking cookies. I was going to make 5 kinds, but the third kind took so long, that I will save the last 2 (pine nut cookies and peanut butter fudge brownies) for another time. Here they are, chocolate chipp, double chocolate, and stained glass window cookies! The stained glass's candy is crushed Jolly Ranchers. Here they all are!

New Friends and Tamales!

We made friends with our neighbors across the street! We saw them at the movies (we saw Waiting... AWESOME, really funny movie - I want to hang out with Ryan Reynolds now), and I asked if they wanted to get a drink with us. So they did, and we sat and talked for a while. It was fun to get to know a couple of our tattooed (well, one of 'em!) across the street neighbors, Jessie and Edson. Yesterday, Jessie knocked on our door to give us tamales with yummy green salsa on the side, all homemade by Edson. They're both chefs, you see. She said he cooks enough tamales for an army and she was happy to give some of them away. They were really good. Here's a link about them (I'd never had them before!) and a picture of them!

The Eating Stops Here

My clothes don't fit right, look right or feel right anymore.  I've been indulging for too many months! It's time to cut back on things that should be eaten sparingly and considered special.

Here are my new eating guidelines. I'm sure more will be added, but this is just the start:

1. no more chocolate (I eat a lot of the chocolate from a neighboring office's candy dish... DAILY)
2. no more cheese (I think I use about half a cup, if not more, of shredded cheese in soup/pizza/ice cream/whatever)
3. no more fried foods
4. no more non-whole grain bread products (so no more processed crap or refined sugars... like everyday muffins and cookies!)
5. no more seconds at dinner.

Like I said, it's just a start, but I have to start somewhere.  I've done the "no seconds" 2 nights in a row, and it's nice to not feel STUFFED while I'm watching my primetime shows. The cheese... it tastes good, but it drowns out the flavor of the food. So no more, or at least one tablespoon, instead of seven. The chocolate that I'm eating isn't even special! It's M and Ms and Hershey's Miniatures! Those are available ALL THE TIME EVERYWHERE, if I am ever craving them. If a chunk of Godiva or Dove came across my desk, I'd eat that, but only on the rare occasion.

Esca

While I'm congratulating people, congratulations to my neighbor, David Pasternack, for winning the Best Chef in NY award from the James Beard Foundation! He said he was so surprised to have won, and you can see it in his picture!

Last week we ate at his restaurant, Esca, and it was AWESOME. He's a great chef. The food (raw appetizer, pasta course, great filet entree and dessert to push us over the edge!) was fantastic. Plus, he's great at PR. He walked around the dining room at least twice while we were eating. He knows his regular customers, he chats people up, which makes his restaurant feel so comfortable and homey.

Congratulations, Dave!

Happy Cows

We got a Weber grill this weekend. All we have to do is fill up the gas tank, and it's ready to cook! When you have a grill, steaks and hamburgers are usually familiar territory. I haven't had any of that since September, when I read Fast Food Nation. I won't get into the gory details, because I don't want to gross anyone out. I gave up beef because of how the big meatpacking plants are portrayed in the book. They don't treat the animals well, they don't treat their workers well. I realize this portrayal can be identified with many big businesses, but I cannot give up everything. This book is what affected (effected?) me.

So I gave up beef. But not for good. I would eat beef. If the cows were happy. If it was a family farm where the cows graze all day, they aren't confined and aren't injected with antibiotics. Then I would eat it. I've narrowed it down to 4 sites to order beef via the internet. Now I have to choose one from the four! They are Pioneer Beef Company, Napa Free Range Beef, Niman Ranch and Lasater Grasslands.

There's more information at the Meatrix site. The Meatrix is "the lie we tell ourselves about where our meat comes from." It's got a cute cartoon with a pig named Leo. A cow named Moopheus shows him the truth about the meatpacking industry.

Eat Better, Please

Hey daddy, this post is for you. I made you a special page. It's a Balanced Eating Daily Checklist. It's NOT a diet. It's a healthy way to eat every day. It follows the Food Guide Pyramid. I kept it very basic, so that you would be able to follow it. It gives you freedom to eat what you want and keep track yourself. It's not the "3-Day Diet" that tells you 3 days of ridiculous foods (melon and a hot dog?!? 7 saltines and dry tuna?!?)... It's just guidelines for you to follow. Love you and want you to be healthy!

If any of my readers have any additional comments, I'd love to hear them. I will change the page accordingly. Thank you!