Cranberry Walnut Bread, remember that recipe I posted awhile back? Well, it is very versatile. I made a "shortbread" out of it, kind of like my Mom always made it. Sort of biscuit-y tasting, not sweet, really meant to sop up the juices from sweetened berries.
The way I did it was to use the basic recipe but omit the cranberries and walnuts and cut down on the sweetener and used lemon juice (only a little) instead of lemon extract. Then I baked it in a cake round instead of a loaf pan, mostly because my loaf pan was a scratched up rusty mess and I had to get rid of it.
Then, I defrost, or warm, my berries (I have blueberries and raspberries on hand) and pour them on top of a slice of shortcake. Dollop on a globule of lemon custard and, if you're doing dairy, either some sour cream (which is what my family liked on shortcake) or whipped cream.
I'll post a picture later.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Spicy, Roast Chicken -- Torture for the nose
I keep coming back to this chicken. This is why I have a couple of marjoram plants in my yard. In fact, one grew so big it took over my small planter, so I dug it up and took a bit of the top/roots and replanted and threw the rest out. Surprisingly I found a couple of cilantro plants growing underneath that bushy majoram! So I'm nurturing them along.
I didn't use a cut-up chicken but instead butterflied one, less work and I love how much skin gets exposed and crispified.
The tomatoes caramelize, the juices and fats mingle with the garlic, marjoram and tomatoes and it makes an amazing sauce.
When I started cooking it I had the tomatoes piled up on top of the chicken, but knocked them down below partway through. There's just so much flavor in that mixture.
I now have a cherry tomato, thyme, marjoram, mint and cilantro growing in my raised bed which I built from cedar fence planks and 2x4's.
I didn't use a cut-up chicken but instead butterflied one, less work and I love how much skin gets exposed and crispified.
When I started cooking it I had the tomatoes piled up on top of the chicken, but knocked them down below partway through. There's just so much flavor in that mixture.
I now have a cherry tomato, thyme, marjoram, mint and cilantro growing in my raised bed which I built from cedar fence planks and 2x4's.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Self-control is a resource
So I've been reading about this for awhile, self-control takes a mental resource we have in limited supply. So stop beating yourself up when you run out, and I have some tips for when it is in short supply.
Avoidance instead of self-control
If you are constantly in situations where you have to exercise self-control, then you're going to run out of self-control eventually. So modify your environment and habits so you don't even have to exercise it. Get the garbage out of your house, or at least out of your sight. You might need to enlist the cooperation of those you live with, but I assure you this makes everything much easier.
Substituting
Perhaps one can substitute one bad thing for something either not-so-bad or not-at-all bad. This is my reasoning behind using non-caloric sweeteners (rarely). I'd be much better for me to have a tasty, sweet treat that avoids sugar or high fructose corn syrup that would send my blood sugar to the moon or damage my liver. As my years eating low carb have progressed, I have come to rely on these sweet treats less and less, but they were very useful for me to make the transition to a low carb lifestyle, versus a temporary low carb diet.
Other things, those that fall under the, "Better than the alternative" could be something like very dark chocolate. It has a little caloric sweetener in it, but overall it's quite low if you get the 70-85% cocoa solids. And it is usually extremely satisfying for those who love dark chocolate. The bitterness takes a bit of getting used to, but most of us end up liking it. In fact, I had a commercial chocolate bar awhile back and it tasted very weird to me. I could barely taste anything chocolate in it, sure it smelled like chocolate but it was way too sweet, cloyingly sweet! I wondered why I ever liked it.
There have been other things that seem to soothe the craving beast. Bacon, chicken wings, a bowl of hot chili. A "burrito bowl" at Chipotle (without rice, maybe keep the beans, depends) with a big dollop of guacamole.
Maybe "treats" restore some of the will-power reserve. But I also think they can be misused. You can set up brain circuitry to start expecting treats on a regular basis. So don't abuse them!
References
Freakonomics blog
Making choices impairs subsequent self-control
Association for Psychological Science (2009, April 7). You Wear Me Out: Thinking Of Others Causes Lapses In Our Self-control. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from You Wear Me Out
Avoidance instead of self-control
If you are constantly in situations where you have to exercise self-control, then you're going to run out of self-control eventually. So modify your environment and habits so you don't even have to exercise it. Get the garbage out of your house, or at least out of your sight. You might need to enlist the cooperation of those you live with, but I assure you this makes everything much easier.
Substituting
Perhaps one can substitute one bad thing for something either not-so-bad or not-at-all bad. This is my reasoning behind using non-caloric sweeteners (rarely). I'd be much better for me to have a tasty, sweet treat that avoids sugar or high fructose corn syrup that would send my blood sugar to the moon or damage my liver. As my years eating low carb have progressed, I have come to rely on these sweet treats less and less, but they were very useful for me to make the transition to a low carb lifestyle, versus a temporary low carb diet.
Other things, those that fall under the, "Better than the alternative" could be something like very dark chocolate. It has a little caloric sweetener in it, but overall it's quite low if you get the 70-85% cocoa solids. And it is usually extremely satisfying for those who love dark chocolate. The bitterness takes a bit of getting used to, but most of us end up liking it. In fact, I had a commercial chocolate bar awhile back and it tasted very weird to me. I could barely taste anything chocolate in it, sure it smelled like chocolate but it was way too sweet, cloyingly sweet! I wondered why I ever liked it.
There have been other things that seem to soothe the craving beast. Bacon, chicken wings, a bowl of hot chili. A "burrito bowl" at Chipotle (without rice, maybe keep the beans, depends) with a big dollop of guacamole.
Maybe "treats" restore some of the will-power reserve. But I also think they can be misused. You can set up brain circuitry to start expecting treats on a regular basis. So don't abuse them!
References
Freakonomics blog
Making choices impairs subsequent self-control
Association for Psychological Science (2009, April 7). You Wear Me Out: Thinking Of Others Causes Lapses In Our Self-control. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 23, 2010, from You Wear Me Out
Monday, March 15, 2010
Chili -- Breakfast of Champions!
Long ago when I was attending the Eastman School of Music -- or the Eastman Pool of Mucus, as my brother called it -- there was a little dive diner next door that had chili that was really hot and wonderful. In upstate New York, it was a great thing to have in the morning if you happened to have some time to consume breakfast. So I often had this chili that would make my eyes water and truly warmed me up in every respect. Ever since then, I've come to accept that chili makes a fine breakfast.
But sometimes these little nuggets of realization you glean from life experiences get misplaced like treasured sweaters that go missing. And then when you stumble on them again, you are overwhelmed with nostalgia and you swear allegiance again to the long lost item. I have such a sweater! Truly I do. I bought it probably nearly 25 years ago, maybe more! It has a massive neck that you fold over and over and it drapes nicely and it has bat-wing sleeves! And it is a vibrant maroon color. I love that thing.
I also love chili for breakfast! I have been eating quite a lot of chili since I adore it so much and I bought a huge pork shoulder, probably 12-15 pounds. I brought it home, cut it into large chunks and put what I suspect are 2-2.5 pounds in ziplock bags and stuck them in my freezer.
I'm going to share the recipe I use, I got it from the low carb forum. However, as is my way, I often make it from memory and forget some of the spices or simply make it easier by leaving some out. Lately I use 1/4 cup chili powder, a generous amount of cinnamon, cumin, allspice, either cayenne pepper or pepper flakes, and 2-3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder. If the cocoa sounds odd, let me reassure you it doesn't make your chili taste like chocolate, it gives it a deep, rich flavor that is sensational. I might use dehydrated onion if I'm not fresh onion enabled. Oh yes, add the vinegar, I forgot that this last time. I like the sharpness. I use 1 can of tomato sauce and one can of diced tomatoes. I don't bother with the beef broth.
Then I cook it all in my lovely enamelled cast-iron pot for a very long time over low heat until the pork is nice and soft.
The last time I made this I cooked the pork cubes sous vide for 12 hours or so at 145, then finished in the pot. It cut some cooking time off, if you don't count the sous vide time!
Tastes great but it's always better the next day.
Oh nearly forgot my optional things. Optionally, you could add some soy beans (look for them in the bean section in your health food store), if you really like beans in the chili. They add very, very few carbs. Or you could use a can of kidney or black beans. They're not strictly low carb or paleo but one can divided over about 10 servings is a pretty small addition. And I always like getting a bean or two, they seem like such a treat.
But sometimes these little nuggets of realization you glean from life experiences get misplaced like treasured sweaters that go missing. And then when you stumble on them again, you are overwhelmed with nostalgia and you swear allegiance again to the long lost item. I have such a sweater! Truly I do. I bought it probably nearly 25 years ago, maybe more! It has a massive neck that you fold over and over and it drapes nicely and it has bat-wing sleeves! And it is a vibrant maroon color. I love that thing.
I also love chili for breakfast! I have been eating quite a lot of chili since I adore it so much and I bought a huge pork shoulder, probably 12-15 pounds. I brought it home, cut it into large chunks and put what I suspect are 2-2.5 pounds in ziplock bags and stuck them in my freezer.
I'm going to share the recipe I use, I got it from the low carb forum. However, as is my way, I often make it from memory and forget some of the spices or simply make it easier by leaving some out. Lately I use 1/4 cup chili powder, a generous amount of cinnamon, cumin, allspice, either cayenne pepper or pepper flakes, and 2-3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder. If the cocoa sounds odd, let me reassure you it doesn't make your chili taste like chocolate, it gives it a deep, rich flavor that is sensational. I might use dehydrated onion if I'm not fresh onion enabled. Oh yes, add the vinegar, I forgot that this last time. I like the sharpness. I use 1 can of tomato sauce and one can of diced tomatoes. I don't bother with the beef broth.
Then I cook it all in my lovely enamelled cast-iron pot for a very long time over low heat until the pork is nice and soft.
The last time I made this I cooked the pork cubes sous vide for 12 hours or so at 145, then finished in the pot. It cut some cooking time off, if you don't count the sous vide time!
Tastes great but it's always better the next day.
Oh nearly forgot my optional things. Optionally, you could add some soy beans (look for them in the bean section in your health food store), if you really like beans in the chili. They add very, very few carbs. Or you could use a can of kidney or black beans. They're not strictly low carb or paleo but one can divided over about 10 servings is a pretty small addition. And I always like getting a bean or two, they seem like such a treat.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Carnivory
I have become, as I like to say, Carnibbleous. What's that mean? Well, it's low carb with a vengeance. I am eating nothing but meat and eggs, with adequate spices of course. In sticking to my philosophy of food should be fun I do use garlic, onion, lemon juice, spices, herbs and even continue to eat the occasional egg custard with non-caloric sweetener.
Why? Well, after the holidays my weight went up a couple of pounds but it seemed like I was much fatter than my weight. It wasn't coming down by my usual techniques so knowing there's a growing trend on the low carb forum I frequent towards eating meat-only, I figured I would give it a try. I've done it before, for about a week. It was ok, I lost a quick 5 pounds, but that was before my metabolism seemed to utterly derail about a year ago.
So I started again this time, thinking it would maybe be a week or two and I could shed some quick weight. Ha! I knew I was kidding myself. Nothing is ever quick about weight loss for me. I have the metabolism of a anesthetized tree-sloth. I can reduce my calories drastically and maintain my weight. I'm looking into possible hormonal reasons, especially involving leptin resistance or perhaps thyroid resistance, for this but for now just know that I'm a very disciplined dieter and things just don't work for me that should.
So I'm a couple weeks into this all-meat thing, I started before my monthly cycle. I seem to have about 7-10 days of a weight loss window because after that, hormonal changes happen and it all just stops. So my first 10 days of being a carnivore was just pretty much nothing happened. Now that the monthly cycle is over, I've managed to drop a few pounds. About 4 or so.
But the interesting thing with carnivory is how one feels about food. You would think, wow eating nothing but meat has got to be boring. But with a few cooking skills meat is utterly wonderful. So wonderful we usually make it the centerpiece of our meals, right? Or at least, that was what we did traditionally. When I'm carnivorous I do get hungry and very interested in eating. So I have my meat or eggs and then my interest in eating shuts off entirely and doesn't come back for a very long time, depending on how much meat I had and what type.
So a typical day of eating for me might be:
Morning: A nice sized Italian sausage with nose-searing mustard.
Lunch: A large pork chop with duck reduction sauce.
Late Dinner: Another sausage -- maybe a small bowl of custard.
At lunch I get so full I don't eat again until 8pm or later. And dinner is quite small, as is breakfast.
Now why am I not bored? Good grief, I have 2 meals that are nearly identical? Well, maybe this me or perhaps it has something to do with eating nothing but meat but I just don't get tired of it. When hunger comes it comes on pretty strong and the saying "appetite is the best sauce" is very, very true. Everything tastes extremely good when you're really hungry. I experimented with Intermittent Fasting for awhile and found that food never tasted so good as when you are really and truly hungry and have been so for awhile. Well, it seems my all-meat experience does the same thing.
Simplicity
One thing I think makes a diet successful is simplicity and nothing is more simple than eating nothing but meat and eggs. You don't get hung up on rules or counting anything. Also the meal preparation for me is usually extremely easy. I have my sous vide setup which I use daily, then just sear my meat. One time I had some lamb stew which was lamb meat, egg, lemon, spices. Wonderful stuff. I made the mustard crusted chicken, and have another batch ready to go.
With Sous Vide I can do things like prepackage the pork chops with a pat of compound butter (made with fresh thyme and roasted garlic) and drop it in the bath in the morning. At lunch I remove it and sear it. Warm my duck sauce in the microwave and serve it with that. I bought a bunch of super thick pork chops at Costco for a great price. When I run out of meat, I think I'll go for the lamb stew again.
Anyway, that is carnivory as I practice it, in a nut-shell. I feel fine. In fact, my IBS issues are non-existent when I do this so it leads me to believe there's something in the plant kingdom my gut really doesn't like that I haven't figured out yet. My energy levels are fine, for me, and my arthritis seems better. In some ways it makes me a little sad, I love eating plants, but if one feels better NOT eating them, it seems obvious doesn't it?
Well lets see how this goes, it is still early in the process.
Why? Well, after the holidays my weight went up a couple of pounds but it seemed like I was much fatter than my weight. It wasn't coming down by my usual techniques so knowing there's a growing trend on the low carb forum I frequent towards eating meat-only, I figured I would give it a try. I've done it before, for about a week. It was ok, I lost a quick 5 pounds, but that was before my metabolism seemed to utterly derail about a year ago.
So I started again this time, thinking it would maybe be a week or two and I could shed some quick weight. Ha! I knew I was kidding myself. Nothing is ever quick about weight loss for me. I have the metabolism of a anesthetized tree-sloth. I can reduce my calories drastically and maintain my weight. I'm looking into possible hormonal reasons, especially involving leptin resistance or perhaps thyroid resistance, for this but for now just know that I'm a very disciplined dieter and things just don't work for me that should.
So I'm a couple weeks into this all-meat thing, I started before my monthly cycle. I seem to have about 7-10 days of a weight loss window because after that, hormonal changes happen and it all just stops. So my first 10 days of being a carnivore was just pretty much nothing happened. Now that the monthly cycle is over, I've managed to drop a few pounds. About 4 or so.
But the interesting thing with carnivory is how one feels about food. You would think, wow eating nothing but meat has got to be boring. But with a few cooking skills meat is utterly wonderful. So wonderful we usually make it the centerpiece of our meals, right? Or at least, that was what we did traditionally. When I'm carnivorous I do get hungry and very interested in eating. So I have my meat or eggs and then my interest in eating shuts off entirely and doesn't come back for a very long time, depending on how much meat I had and what type.
So a typical day of eating for me might be:
Morning: A nice sized Italian sausage with nose-searing mustard.
Lunch: A large pork chop with duck reduction sauce.
Late Dinner: Another sausage -- maybe a small bowl of custard.
At lunch I get so full I don't eat again until 8pm or later. And dinner is quite small, as is breakfast.
Now why am I not bored? Good grief, I have 2 meals that are nearly identical? Well, maybe this me or perhaps it has something to do with eating nothing but meat but I just don't get tired of it. When hunger comes it comes on pretty strong and the saying "appetite is the best sauce" is very, very true. Everything tastes extremely good when you're really hungry. I experimented with Intermittent Fasting for awhile and found that food never tasted so good as when you are really and truly hungry and have been so for awhile. Well, it seems my all-meat experience does the same thing.
Simplicity
One thing I think makes a diet successful is simplicity and nothing is more simple than eating nothing but meat and eggs. You don't get hung up on rules or counting anything. Also the meal preparation for me is usually extremely easy. I have my sous vide setup which I use daily, then just sear my meat. One time I had some lamb stew which was lamb meat, egg, lemon, spices. Wonderful stuff. I made the mustard crusted chicken, and have another batch ready to go.
With Sous Vide I can do things like prepackage the pork chops with a pat of compound butter (made with fresh thyme and roasted garlic) and drop it in the bath in the morning. At lunch I remove it and sear it. Warm my duck sauce in the microwave and serve it with that. I bought a bunch of super thick pork chops at Costco for a great price. When I run out of meat, I think I'll go for the lamb stew again.
Anyway, that is carnivory as I practice it, in a nut-shell. I feel fine. In fact, my IBS issues are non-existent when I do this so it leads me to believe there's something in the plant kingdom my gut really doesn't like that I haven't figured out yet. My energy levels are fine, for me, and my arthritis seems better. In some ways it makes me a little sad, I love eating plants, but if one feels better NOT eating them, it seems obvious doesn't it?
Well lets see how this goes, it is still early in the process.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Celebrating Saturated Fat
Anyone familiar with me knows I have no fear of saturated fat, what scares me is the crazy engineered "factory" fats that people eat.
Anyway, two important reports came out recently about the non-danger of saturated fats and were roundly ignored by the press. I'm not sure why the press ignores these, you'd think people would want to know?
But I'm going to collect and publish everything I find on the topic right here in this article and I'll update it periodically.
An excellent article from Men's health quoting lipid research Dr. Ronald Krauss (who used to be a lipophobe I believe).
Dr. Briffa blogs about 2 recent studies that exonerate saturated fat: Saturated fat does not cause heart disease
"Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease" -- The conclusion is that saturated fat does not contribute to heart disease. This is Dr. Ronald Krauss again, who Dr. Steven Guyenet describes as "one of the most prominent lipid researchers in the world".
Strange how quickly the popular press will jump on any schlocky science as long as it vilifies meat and fat but they pretty much ignore anything shedding light on the contrary. However, we have an growing independent media now amongst the people who blog and post on forums and such. There are many, many doctors doing this too and it is refreshing to have all these wonderful sources of truly independent thinkers available.
Update 1/20/2010 -- Later same day
Another article from Dr. Krauss, that Dr. Steven Guyenet blogs about showing that replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates is a bad idea. What's a refined carbohydrate? My definition is anything that's been processed in a factory. That would include so-called "healthy whole grains". They're full of lectins and phytates that actually prevent you from being able to absorb minerals and vitamins. Oddly enough, white rice might be a little better than brown rice, in that the bran contains a lot of the bad stuff.
Anyway, two important reports came out recently about the non-danger of saturated fats and were roundly ignored by the press. I'm not sure why the press ignores these, you'd think people would want to know?
But I'm going to collect and publish everything I find on the topic right here in this article and I'll update it periodically.
An excellent article from Men's health quoting lipid research Dr. Ronald Krauss (who used to be a lipophobe I believe).
Dr. Briffa blogs about 2 recent studies that exonerate saturated fat: Saturated fat does not cause heart disease
"Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease" -- The conclusion is that saturated fat does not contribute to heart disease. This is Dr. Ronald Krauss again, who Dr. Steven Guyenet describes as "one of the most prominent lipid researchers in the world".
Strange how quickly the popular press will jump on any schlocky science as long as it vilifies meat and fat but they pretty much ignore anything shedding light on the contrary. However, we have an growing independent media now amongst the people who blog and post on forums and such. There are many, many doctors doing this too and it is refreshing to have all these wonderful sources of truly independent thinkers available.
Update 1/20/2010 -- Later same day
Another article from Dr. Krauss, that Dr. Steven Guyenet blogs about showing that replacing saturated fat with refined carbohydrates is a bad idea. What's a refined carbohydrate? My definition is anything that's been processed in a factory. That would include so-called "healthy whole grains". They're full of lectins and phytates that actually prevent you from being able to absorb minerals and vitamins. Oddly enough, white rice might be a little better than brown rice, in that the bran contains a lot of the bad stuff.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Lemony, Meaty Stew
This stew is so fabulous! I got the original recipe from a book with 300 stew recipes but I've made a few changes. The original calls for lamb but you could really use any meat one would roast with or stew.
2 pounds of meat, cut into large chunks (they'll shrink).
Juice of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
salt & pepper
Fresh herbs (optional) -- I think thyme, rosemary, marjoram might all be good choices.
1/2 cup of wine (I used red, but white is what the original recipe calls for)
1-2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
3 Tbl of onion minced (I used half of a largish onion, and only sliced it, didn't mince)
1/4 cup of oil
In a nice stewpot cook the meat in the oil until browned. About 10 minutes or so. Throw in the onion and the garlic and cook until those are softened. Dump in the wine and reduce over high heat for about 10 minutes. This is the point I would throw in those fresh herbs. I used thyme this last time (heh!).
Cover and cook at a simmer over lowish heat until the meat is fork tender, which will be at least an hour, maybe longer. If it starts looking dry in the pot add water as needed. Mine never got dry.
When the meat is nice and tender, mix together the egg and lemon juice and beat well with a fork. Take the simmering stew off the fire.
Now take a tablespoon or so of the hot broth from the stew and add it to the egg mixture. And beat it in well. Keep doing that until you've slowly raised the temperature of the eggs. Then lastly pour the egg mixture into the stew and stir well. If you do it right you'll get an amazingly thick broth that's creamy and ever so satisfying. If you heat up the eggs too fast, you'll get bits of scrambled eggs in the broth.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
2 pounds of meat, cut into large chunks (they'll shrink).
Juice of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
salt & pepper
Fresh herbs (optional) -- I think thyme, rosemary, marjoram might all be good choices.
1/2 cup of wine (I used red, but white is what the original recipe calls for)
1-2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
3 Tbl of onion minced (I used half of a largish onion, and only sliced it, didn't mince)
1/4 cup of oil
In a nice stewpot cook the meat in the oil until browned. About 10 minutes or so. Throw in the onion and the garlic and cook until those are softened. Dump in the wine and reduce over high heat for about 10 minutes. This is the point I would throw in those fresh herbs. I used thyme this last time (heh!).
Cover and cook at a simmer over lowish heat until the meat is fork tender, which will be at least an hour, maybe longer. If it starts looking dry in the pot add water as needed. Mine never got dry.
When the meat is nice and tender, mix together the egg and lemon juice and beat well with a fork. Take the simmering stew off the fire.
Now take a tablespoon or so of the hot broth from the stew and add it to the egg mixture. And beat it in well. Keep doing that until you've slowly raised the temperature of the eggs. Then lastly pour the egg mixture into the stew and stir well. If you do it right you'll get an amazingly thick broth that's creamy and ever so satisfying. If you heat up the eggs too fast, you'll get bits of scrambled eggs in the broth.
Salt & Pepper to taste.
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