Good Food so far

I was thinking about making a list of the foods we've cooked that we like and will try again. I decided this was a good place to keep track. I don't want to do a new post every time we find a winner but then I remembered that these post can be edited. I'm not listing the things that are already part of our standard fare. So this is what I've found so far that I like and think is worth trying again:
1. Lemon chicken with green beans
2. Vegetable curry
3. Tabbouleh with carrots and tomatoes
4. Pork Noodle Soup with bok choy
5. Oriental Chicken Salad
6. Pear and Brown Rice Salad
7. Orange Salsa on white fish
8. Garlic Shrimp with Orzo
9. Pasta Primavera
10. Pork Marsala
11. Barley Hoppin' John
12. Rich Chicken Stew
More will be added as time goes by and I find more things that fit into this challenge.

Healthy Alternatives

So while I was at Whole Foods doing my veggie shopping this week I picked up some buffalo stew meat that was on sale. (It's actually in the crock pot as I sit here writing this.) I'd heard that buffalo was healthier and yada yada yada, I never really given it much thought so I decided to look it up online. A simple google search has me STUNNED! A comparison of buffalo to other meats not only shows that it is drastically lower in calories and fat than beef but it's also lower in calories and fat that chicken WITH THE SKIN OFF!! What! That can't be right, so I checked again. I looked at different web sites. I scratched my head and doubted everything that I know to be true in this world. Then I thought I would share because if that is true, and it seems to be, there is an option for a steak type food in my low calorie TASTY diet, YAY!!

Harder than I thought

I can't remember if I've ever noticed how incredible difficult it is to make healthy choices about food when you are away from home. While at the family reunion our meals included: family dinner catered at the hotel, restaurants, and a family member's home. At the catered dinner the healthy choices were the usual veggie and fruit trays and dry chicken. That's what I ate but I can't say I enjoyed the food. It served the purpose. Let it be said that other members of the family ate BBQ beef, ribs, potato salad and apple pie as well.
We ate a breakfast, a lunch, and a dinner in restaurants. It was more than a little challenging to find something healthy to eat. Whole wheat toast came buttered, and baked potato came loaded with butter and sour cream without being asked. It was assumed that we would want it that way. Fish is the healthy offering but it too came with breading and butter.
OK so what's my point. Obesity in our country is the norm, not the exception. Being overweight is not unusual, its to be expected. Our restaurants are giving people what they want.......fat.
Making a decision to eat healthy is more of a challenge that I realized. When you can't run home for something you cook yourself you are left to the mercy of our society's norms about food. Even healthy eating shows on Food Network don't last very long.
This is going to be much more of a challenge that I had really expected.

Breakfast

Reading that a bad breakfast is better than no breakfast has made me rethink my usual breakfast of two cups of coffee with creamer. I read that a cinnamon roll is better than nothing. REALLY??? Not only do I have to eat breakfast but I have to eat it within an hour of waking up is shaking my world. YIKES!! I am committed to the challenge so its non-negotiable.
Today as I made my coffee I measure out the water for oatmeal, put it in the pan and set it on the stove. I put the oatmeal out with the 1/2 cup measuring cup. That's it before I have coffee. After one cup I just turned on the water to boil, measured the oatmeal......... Two minutes later the oatmeal is sitting in the pan with the lid. I can have another cup of coffee and then breakfast is ready. Now I'm awake and the oatmeal is ready. I add blueberries and my 200 calorie breakfast is ready.
I like oatmeal that is made on the stove. I can't do oatmeal in the microwave. Remember this is the FOODIE challenge so bad food is not an option. I think that oatmeal is like a canvas that can have anything added. I intend to explore all kinds of oatmeal additions over the next few weeks. Today was blueberries with cinnamon and vanilla with a hint of honey. I will be trying dried fruit, nuts, seeds, berries...... Breakfast in the first hour of being awake here I come.

Success

After last night's dinner I knew I wanted to have food that was more that edible. I wanted it to be good. I would say I was quite successful. Ratatouille and grilled chicken was good.


Thyme, garlic and a pinch of red pepper flake gave the ratatouille good flavor.


I found a trick with the grilled chicken. I split the breast horizontally and grilled (grill pan) them exactly 3 minutes per side. They were moist and delicious. By splitting them horizontally it gave the impression of being a whole chicken breast.

Husbands

As husbands go I've got one that I want to keep. However the man knows very little about good food. Knowing that I need to make a meal that was better on the waistline, I made chicken sausages, boiled cabbage, roasted beets, and watermelon. OK. It was a low calorie meal that left me going why didn't I do SOMETHING to boast the flavor. This was not a culinary/challenge hit but it did get me off to a low calorie day. The funny part is that Paul told me twice how good dinner was tonight. If I have to think about why he liked it I would say he likes plain food. See what I'm up against?

This has got to stop!

So after a sinfully decadent month we've decided to take a step back and actually consider the food we are putting into our mouths. We've pigged out on pasta, cream, butter, juicy delicious everything we could get our grubby little hands on, and it has to come to an end. The only problem with this is that we are both Foodies! Meaning how the heck are we going to do this, we LOVE food. Well that's what makes this a challenge. We want to cut calories, cut excess fats, cut excess everything, all while keeping the flavor and the joy of eating that we love so much. Join us on our journey to find what works and what doesn't work, what's yummy and what's just low calorie.