Still Going!

3 days on the big salad mode and still going strong! Bought more supplies tonight: more cauliflower (very tasty boiled in chicken broth) and more fish. Pollock is on sale right now, it's low fat and it’s perfect for dinner. Humm, what will it be for tomorrow?? Maybe I’ll do a replay of Sunday‘s sweet & sour beans and I’ll add chicken. Or maybe another beef salad but with Thai dressing? So much choice! And I haven’t done the spinach salad yet!

I’m Exhausted!

All that veggie chopping and preparation is a lot of work! It seems that all I’ve been doing since yesterday is planning and preparing healthy food! On the menu tomorrow will be a chicken club salad: spring mix and spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrots, crispy prosciutto, grated asiago & Monterey Jack, onions, rosemary-flavored croutons and honey-French Vidalia onion dressing. Today’s lunch beef gourmet salad was very good and will be on the menu again. So far so good.

Forget About Counting Calories!

As I am embarking in this “salad” adventure, I must share with you my culinary experience in Michigan last December. It was highly recommended (Thanks Dave for the tip!) I try a Michigan specialty: National Coney Island; I knew I wouldn’t have any personal time in Jackson so I made a stop at the National Coney Island diner at the Detroit airport. Actually, I stopped by twice, upon my arrival and I couldn’t resist stopping again when I left! I had their specialties: Coney hot dog and cheese fries. The dog was simply delicious! It comes with chili, mustard and diced onion and I added cheese. The wiener was cooked perfectly, juicy and the bun steamed – a real treat for a Montrealer like me! The wieners come from Dearborn and they were so tasty that I’ll bring back a box when I go back!

New Beginnings

I decided that this week-end would be the turning point. I’ve been in a rut for long enough. Not too sure what is behind that, but could be loneliness, wearyness, unsatisfactory work life, never enough of things such as company, help, money, time, outings… Most probably a combination of many things. But nonetheless, my life sucks and it’s time I do something.
First problem is actually with me. I’m too fat and I don’t like it. Never did but always lacked the discipline to change it. I’ll give it another shot now and maybe other things, that aren’t too great in my life, will turn around if I take care of that problem first.
So I went grocery shopping yesterday and here’s my plan: I’ll make a salad everyday for lunch, and/or dinner. And I mean an interesting salad. I get bored easily with food; it’s got to be exciting and varied. Bonny, my lunch buddy at work, makes great salad and I enjoy them a lot! Is it because they’re prepared by somebody else or is it because she puts in her salads toppings that I never have on hand?? In the past my salad are always the same, because if I buy an ingredient or another, I have to make consecutive salads to use it all up before the best before date. So I get bored with the salad thing. I won’t worry about that too much, cause this time, I’ll make a lot lo salads! I also made a spreadsheet listing all kind of components that would make my salads interesting. I can use that as a reference chart and compose new salads just by mixing stuff on my list.
So in my fridge right now are 3 lettuce choices: romaine, spinach and spring mix, all pre-washed and ready to use. Very important cause I don’t want this to become too much work. Their large containers were on sale and that should last me for the entire week. Then I have some choices in terms of meats/proteins to give it the filling effect. First some rotisserie chicken leftover (most probably for a chicken ceasar salad for Tuesday) and some roast beef that will be for my Outback-inspired skeakhouse blue cheese chopped salad for tomorrow’s lunch. Today for lunch I’ll have sweet & sour greens and beans, and will have some peas and beans left-over for another day. I also have a few veggies and fruits to make the week interesting and a variety of chesses: Asiago, old cheddar, swiss, grated parmesan and grated romano. Two different flavors of croutons and a good selection of dressings. I’m good to go and have no excuses not to have a successful week! Oh and I started the day by juicing a carrot and an apple and made some buckwheat waffles that I ate without butter and maple syrup. That’s a small victory for me. I plan to have a juice every morning and that should help me get my 5-10 servings of fruits/vegetables daily as recommended by the Canadian Food Guide!
I hope you'll share your own salad ideas.

How Do They Get Away With This?

I bought this can of Green Pigeon Gungo Peas based on the packaging only; I’ve never heard of Gungo peas, but the picture looks like pods from the sugar peas I grow in the summer so I thought, humm must be good!
What a disappointment upon opening the can! The bright green peas from the picture turned yellow-brownish and are not as appetizing…..They fooled me. I should have known better; when does the Big Mac you order look like the one pictured on the menu??
Anyway, I mixed the yukky-looking peas with canned white kidney beans & thinly sliced onion and with the sweet & sour salad dressing recipe I got from my brother; it’s the dressing they serve with the salads at the Knights of Columbus dinners in Ste-Madeleine. It’ll marinate for a couple hours and then I’ll just have them on greens for lunch.

In-House Protest

I guess I've been on the computer too much, for too long: I got this, with "the look", as soon as I left my spot for a few minutes!

All Wired Up

But nothing is working! Last year, I disconnected the satellite TV and decided solely on my antenna TV, hoping for a simpler life. I didn’t realize that without the sat receiver, all the other components would not be working. So after almost 9 months without DVD and VCR, I decided to hook up again the VCR. After all, how hard could it be? I had detailed diagrams from the TV instruction guide and felt confident I could do a good job. And I did, for a short time. Last week, I realized that while the VCR is now working well and I can tape TV shows, the stereo is no longer working: no radio, no CD player! So I’m back to square one, with the TV, VCR, DVD and the stereo system’s instruction booklets showing hieroglyphs meaning absolutely nothing to my creative brain! And all I wanted was to simplify my life!

Another Delectable Treat!

Scotch Eggs! Freshly made with pork/beef sausage meat, seasonings and coated in breadcrumbs. Yummy yummy! I couldn’t resist and had one while they where still warm! Thanks to Sue, who shared her Aunt Shirley's sister Marilyn's recipe! I couldn’t remember what I’m supposed to serve them with; I had mine with honey mustard. Delicious!

Plans are Made to be Changed!

There will not be a scrumptious turkey dinner tonight. Because my oven is not large enough, I always cook the bird on the BBQ. Unfortunately, today the weather is not cooperative. We had such a beautiful sunny afternoon yesterday that I was hoping for the same. But the snow has been falling steadily with the wind from the north; the coldest kind, coming straight on the BBQ on the deck. I shoveled the snow off the deck early this morning but as you can see on the pic, it took no time to accumulate again. I’ll have to raid the freezer to see what other feast I can do for tonight! In the meantime, this weather is perfect to enjoy a good book!

Happy New Year 2008!

Ah the joys of a day of leisure!

I was too tired (from what I not too sure!?) last night to make sausage rolls to nibble on while waiting for the new year to arrive. So I did them this morning!

Banger pork sausage wrapped in wonderful flaky pasty, with chunky pineapple sauce for dipping.

I shamelessly made them for breakfast!

Merry Christmas to All!

Here's for Me to Upgrade my Skills!!!

Nonsense

I get to the Detroit airport early and with hopes to change my late evening flight home to the early evening one. The line up was short so I got to the counter in less than a minute. The clerk told me to help myself with the self-check-in terminal. But she stood beside me and told me to press here, swipe my passport, press to continue….. Why didn’t she do it herself from her counter if she was going to take the time to do it with me????
Anyway, when I selected the "change your flight" option, the next screen told me that it was “Not Available” for that flight.
True to myself, I questionned her ”What does that mean, Not Available?” Snotty, she reply, “it means not available, sold out." Well, I said, why then is there an option here right beside to make the change for $25.00 if it’s sold out?”
Puzzled, she told me to try it. I proceeded, under her watchful eye, to swipe my credit card, select my seat (the flight was almost empty!) and check in my bag! So why is it that the bozo who created that program did not use wording as “Available with a supplement only” or something similar. How many other peple could not change their flight and had to kill a few hours at the airport just because the machine is not detailed enough and the check-in clerk doesn’t know any better?? Isn't that her job to check you in??

Things that make you go hummmm.....

Things I've Learned ~ part 4

Eat brain food so your brain can kick in overdrive when needed! When things happen quickly, it’s amazing the number of thoughts that you can actually have in a very short time. As I realized I was crossing the other lane, I was relieved there was no incoming traffic, I applied the breaks for a second, then thought “Well, that was stupid, it can’t do nothing, I know better”. Once my brain assessed that the situation was out of control, I realized I had to let go and wait for it to be over. When the truck finally immobilized, I though “Why is no one coming?” I then pressed the hazard lights button to make sure someone would see me because I thought I was probably a bit below road level. Then I couldn’t unbuckle myself and was becoming impatient. Again, I thought “Why is no one coming???” I then reasoned with myself, stopped struggling with the seat belt and just waited for someone to come. It took just seconds. It’s truly incredible how much you have time to think, plan and do, in very short stressed-filled moments.

Things I've Learned ~ part 3

It’s also much easier to be patient you when you have no control at all on the situation. While I was hanging upside down, it was easy for me to assess that I was alright, that I had no injury at all. I was just stuck up there, unable to detach the seat belt. The crowd that assembled around the truck was very nice and inquired if everything was fine. Greg or Steve first wanted to crawl in to detach me but someone reminded them him that we’re not supposed to move an injured. Because I was not in a situation to detach myself and even thought I knew I was ok, I decide not to argue and antagonize them. After all, they were there to help me; I just had to be patient. Although I’d like to, things don’t always happen on my time schedule.