It's Diet Time, Folks

As I've been writing this blog, I've been much more focused on foods that taste good and are relatively easy to make, but I haven't paid much attention to nutrition and calorie content.  That needs to change.  Since I've been writing this blog, I've gained weight, and so has Scott, and with our upcoming vacation in December (Cape Town, South Africa!!!), we need to start paying more attention to what we eat.

All recipes in the future (okay, not all, but most) will have nutrition information included, and I will try to make everything much healthier than I have in the past.  That said, I will not sacrifice flavor.  I believe that food should be something pleasurable, and even if you're on a diet, you should be able to enjoy your meals.  There will be no poached-chicken-and-steamed-broccoli meals on this site, ever.  In fact, I am going to try to make all the stuff I would normally make, but find creative ways to cut the calories and boost the nutrients wherever possible.

So if you enjoy my blog for all the yummy recipes, but you don't need to lose any weight (I am looking at YOU, Crystal!), still come by and check it out, and I'm sure my recipes will cater to you skinny-minnies as well as we curvaceous more-to-love folks as well!

Diet!

I just realized I haven't posted in quite a while.  That's because I'm slowly adjusting to a new healthy eating plan, and figuring out recipes is a little time-consuming, so I haven't been cooking as much.  Here's a little run-down of what I typically eat, for anywhere between 1300-1600 calories per day:

Breakfast is almost always the same thing, because I'm too lazy in the mornings to actually cook.  I toast a slice of Ezekiel Bread, smear it with a little fat free cream cheese, either some Marmite or Sriracha sauce, and top with a fried egg, over easy.  If I have a little more time I'll have a fruit smoothie or a bowl of fruit salad.

Lunch is different just about every day.  If I have leftovers, that's my preference, but usually I don't (due to the lack of cooking lately), and a lot of the time, I eat out.  When eating out, I usually stick to salad (I love Jason's Deli's salad bar!) or if I'm eating at work before a shift, I'll have a white meat chicken sandwich and toss half the bun.  Today I had a tuna caesar wrap: A Flat Out wrap with tuna salad (tuna, teaspoon mayo, tablespoon salsa, celery and sweet peppers) and Lite caesar salad.  I've also got a broccoli salad marinating in the fridge for a pre-work snack (broccoli florets, walnuts, and dried cranberries tossed in a homemade vinaigrette).

Dinner is the tricky part.  Cooking a whole meal just for me is becoming tedious, and I only spend dinner at my boyfriend's house once or twice a week.  I did pick up some chicken at the grocery store today, and I'm planning to bake it with some salsa, shred it, and make it a few different ways over the course of a week.  I may or may not make a post with the recipe, but it's so simple I'm leaning towards "may not".

I don't like desserts, and my meals and snacks are usually the same thing (I will eat parts of one meal throughout the day instead of sitting down for three different things at one time), so keeping my calories low is pretty easy.  I realize I don't have many readers yet, but I would love to hear feedback about what sort of recipes you'd like to see me feature on my blog!  Even though I may not have much time for cooking at the moment, school is almost over, so I am storing up ideas to make over the break.

This Saturday I'll be at Pepper Place Farmer's Market around 9:00 if anyone would like to join me, and hopefully all the lovely fresh produce will inspire my next recipe.

My Philosophy

Hi!  I’m Kelly and this is my first real attempt at a food blog.  It’s a food blog and not just a cooking blog, because I don’t cook all of my meals, and I’d like to share some of the great things I’ve had at various restaurants around town.

To get started, here’s my philosophy on food:

If I had my druthers, I’d only eat organic, locally grown, fresh foods.  However, that’s not always an option, so I like to aim for getting as close as I can to those principles.  I don’t eat fried foods or heavily processed foods (you will never see Velveeta on these pages!), and I like to at least know the ingredients for anything I put in my body.  I don’t eat at certain chain restaurants because I’ve worked in so many of them, and I know that most of them use canned, bagged, and frozen ingredients in their dishes.  When you use pre-prepared foods like that, the quality of the dish suffers and I just don’t think it’s worth my money or the calories to eat at those particular restaurants.  I love ethnic foods, especially Thai and Mexican, but I despise Americanized versions of these cuisines.  I believe Taco Bell and Olive Garden are the root of all evil, and I believe that more Americans should be able to experience true ethnic dishes.

As far as my own cooking goes, I love to experiment, but my resources are limited.  My kitchen is the size of a shoebox, and I live alone, so I’m often cooking very small meals, or making things that freeze well.  I try to watch what I eat, so I don’t cook with a lot of cheese or bacon or heavy cream, but instead I use herbs and spices to flavor my food.  I’m also a fan of putting together ingredients that most people would never try, the weirder the better as long as it’s delicious!

So thanks to those of you who encouraged me to start this blog.  I have a higher-than-average interest in food and cooking, and I prefer to make things from scratch, so to those of you who have told me countless times I should go to culinary school and become a chef, this is for you!  Cooking is not the career path for me; I’d prefer for it to be a hobby so I can continue to be passionate about food and educate my friends about ethnic food, quality ingredients, and good health.  Thanks for being here!