Atkins. We’ve sort of lived South Beach style, but we’ve gotten more luau than restrained South Beach for way too long, during the stress of the winter, and now—
Now we’ve agreed we both feel better if we can be some pounds lighter, Atkins is the most effective diet for us, and they’ve revamped it to include more variety—and are now offering frozen dinners. Which gives me a bit of a holiday.
The catch is, in our area, Walmart is where to get the frozens. And our neighborhood Walmart is the only Walmart in town that isn’t a superstore. WHich is… yes. The only store handling them.
So after driving a couple of miles, hiking the entire frozen section, waiting in a long line at customer service, and finally finding out the deal, I then drive four miles through the city’s worst traffic to reach the ghastly-sized giant Walmart, wherein getting a bag of potato chips requires half a city block of choices.
Of course the frozens are at the rear of the store, which is sort of looming like the Alps in front of Hannibal.
Of course people have hit this brand like locusts and the selection isn’t huge.
Of course Atkins has put onion in all the breakfasts. I detest onion and eggs. I detested it when I was able to eat onion, back in the Permian. Sigh. So I bought eggs. Jane doesn’t like eggs in the first place, but that’s our only choice: omelets, boiled eggs—I can think of things I could do, but none as zero carb as an egg and cheese. So I’ll try to get creative. I’ve got some ghastly thin buns and I’ll see if those can be rendered edible with egg and cheese.
But I got out of there.
Jane’s got company, doll enthusiasts—alas, it’s the only hobby we don’t share. I admire them, but I can’t quite figure what to do with them besides judge that they’re very pretty, so that’s Jane’s thing. I’ve been off on my own project, which I started when I was so distracted by the biopsy and the waiting for results. I’ve written a non-fiction book, a how-to manual for people starting or contemplating starting saltwater aquariums, which is one of my hobbies that I do more of than Jane does—not that Jane hasn’t done it and can’t do it, but I’m the one who primarily logics through the stuff. Took me all of five days, since I have a lot of saved articles I’ve written previously, and I’ll release it as a Kindle book, likely, with the hope it makes a little money. Never thought I’d write a fish manual, and my Grunt Chem prof would die laughing at the notion of me lecturing on chemistry, but hey, I do know this stuff pretty well, I do know marine chemistry, and I can do a good deed by telling people how not to fail massively and with loss of fishy life.
For the next few weeks I’m resigning cooking—except for eggs—, until we bust off some of this weight. We’ll feel better for it.
Don’t panic about the Atkins: we both have really good cholesterol when we’re on this diet, better than on a low-fat diet. Seems to us the worst sin is fat and carbs, not fat and protein. So we’re not failing to think about our health.
Portabella Benedict… just use the mushrooms instead of the bread? Oh, but Jane doesn’t like eggs or mushrooms, does she? Next idea, Spinach Benedict!
Actually, she will eat cooked mushrooms. And eggs. Thanks!
Try this blog, Kalyn’s Kitchen. It’s South Beach Phase I but still, there may be something interesting in there for you (excluding members of the lily family).
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/01/index-of-south-beach-diet-phase-one.html
I favour Weight Watchers, myself, and I modify her recipes for their Simply Filling Technique.
I took a quick look at all the breakfasts, quite yummy, but then, I really like eggs.
I would buy that book:) I cherish dreams of fish, if only I knew how….
Have I got the book for you! Fish AND corals, easy.
Bring it on.we had a fresh water aquarium and I killed all the fish and then I broke the aquarium. I do need help. But I did love all the fish…
Be welcome! Portabellas work for anything that you usually serve over bread.
How about omelettes with chopped tomato, some chopped spinach leaves and/or a little chopped basil and other spices of choice, some crumbled bacon or sausage, or finely chopped cooked chicken breast, maybe some chopped green (with or without tail lights) or black olives, . . .? You could put shrooms in yours and not put them in Jane’s
As for cash flow generators, you could film your salt water aquarium fish doing their fishy thing for 4-5 hours, burn it to DVD and sell it for people to use as a “screen saver” to turn their flat screen TVs into big aquariums. You could do a sound loop of your waterfall falling for the audio. If people will buy a DVD of fire burning. . . .
Would either of you tolerate frittatas? You can use any combination of veggies that you like, appropriate herbs/spices, and add some cheese when you’re at the finishing point under the broiler. We use a bit of oil (olive, almond, walnut) just to make sure nothing will adhere to the pan. Varying the veggies and the seasonings can make the dish taste different each time you make it. We use lots of veggies and just enough eggs to hold everything together.
Pan-seared salmon with some lemon juice/rind and a tiny drizzle of balsamic vinegar?
Halibut poached in white wine/water/lemon with tarragon and anise seeds? [Most of the alcohol will boil off if you prepare the poaching liquid first.]
Etc., etc.
Good health and good eating!
Hmm – just realized that my not-so-helpful suggestions involve active cooking, when you were seeking time-and labor-saving approaches. Sorry not to have paid closer attention! Our household has folks with varied dietary limitations, so cooking is generally necessary.
Slightly of topic – I received Protector yesterday! 😀
I finished it about 1 am and then realized I have to wait for another year for the next part…
But it’s good 🙂 (no spoilers) I’ll wait a week and have a re-read 🙂
Also off topic…Tor’s excerpt of Protector is listed on S. F. Signal’s article Free SF, Fantasy and Horror Fiction for 3-26-2013. (Near the end, under “Excerpts”.)
Oh, active cooking I have to do for breakfast, as is, probably lunch. But getting out of supper prep is my vacation.
And the recipes are welcome!
Tut-tut, m’dear! We’re a creative group. We’ll fix you up. I actually got the gist of the thread from the Latin!
OK, now first and most importantly, DO NOT drive to Walmart for eggs!!! Nor any other store. Go the other way! Out, not in. Certainly someone in the exurbs is running a flock of hens in the yard. Get your farm-fresh eggs from a farm! To call store-run eggs a pale comparison to the real thing from a free-range hen is being over generous to the imitations.
So with good, flavorful eggs to begin with, how about pouring them into a pan with some crumbled chorizo? Or, or even with, some chopped chilies of whatever hotness you desire? Cheese is good.
Y’all are making me hungry, and I just ate lunch. — A small portion of roast, a real treat, simply cooked. Frozen spring rolls last night.
Vae, I had read somewhere was cognate to woe or alas, or something like that. But my memory might be mixed up.
Viximus threw me, because it couldn’t be sinci or vici, as far as I knew. (Keep in mind, I don’t speak Latin, but know French and Spanish and can guess in Italian and occasionally Portuguese, and puzzle through Latin a little.)
Then I thought of victuals, les victuels, which people might not think of when they hear, “Vittles!” even though it’s the countrified term. Then viximus made sense. But I’d expected something like comer (Spanish) or manger (French). Oh well.
Bibimus was no problem. Bebemos, beber, or boire, buvons are close enough to that so it’s easy.
Nunc, I’ve seen somewhere. Nunc dimittimus. Aha, now I know. I’ve seen the Latin for the Lord’s Prayer.
Dietemus, I wouldn’t know if it’s real Latin or schoolboy (er, or schoolgirl) Latin, but yeah, I get the idea.
I bought an ebook copy of Wheelock’s Latin, but haven’t read it. For shame.
If I want a tasty treat, and something very filling, for breakfast, I fix an omelet with a little cheese (OK, more than I should) and with a bit of chopped ham or microwaved bacon, plus a little bell pepper and tomato and green onion (yes, sorry). Sometimes a little of black olives, because I like them. Or throw in your favorite salsa instead of the veggies. If the idea of ham or bacon is not doable, diet-wise, maybe a little fish instead. Or omit the meat/fish. The eggs and veggies and cheese should be plenty. — Hmm, I have almost no experience with tofu, but bought some to try in stir-fry last week. I wonder, maybe that instead of cheese and meat, an omelet with veggies and a little tofu? — I’ve never tried frijoles refritos in an omelet, but that might work too.
Diet-wise, I found that I’d cut out beef way too much, so that when I had some steak or roast a while back, I felt hugely better all around. So, even with the cost, beef is on the menu each week again. I also found I’d apparently cut back too far on salt, while being careful for my grandmother. Whether my body needed it or only liked (craved) the taste, I’ve cautiously increased that, but I don’t think I overdo it.
I’ve been lazy lately about home cooking instead of pre-packaged or canned or frozen foods. Got to get back in the habit of real cooking more often, and it should save some money and be healthier, though not quicker. I should tell myself I need the break in my day.
I have no problems with onion and like garlic, sparingly. Very sorry it gives you trouble, since it’s so very commonly used in any kind of cooking.
But I did find recently I really don’t like something (oil of Bergamot?) in Earl Grey tea. Nothing agains either the Earl or the Lady Grey, nor Capt. Picard, but Earl Grey tea is not for me. (I’d had the same taste issue each time before, but thought I’d try again. Now I’m sure.) — Most other tea, though, I really like. I prefer tea to coffee.
Too bad I can’t get gfi. 😉 It sounds good. Uruus might be good too, though not after a long spacewalk in an old EVA suit…. (It must be time to reread the Chanur books.)
P.S. — That neat chili recipe you had a week or two ago, I still need to copy down and fix. Seems somehow between here and the kitchen, I fixed shrimp stir-fry instead, that week. (I’d already thawed the shrimp, so had to use ’em.)
The title is Vae: Woe! (the most famous phrase that uses it is Vae victis! Woe to the conquered!
Viximus (We’ve lived, we’ve drunk, and now we shall diet.” (The last is a construct: Latin never hesitated to borrow a word that they could pronounce.
Nor to change words if they couldn’t pronounce them!
Chili omlettes are pretty darned great!
Make sure that you press the tofu at least over night, so that it will absorb the other flavors. I slice mine and put it between two plates with a piece of rock or a bowl of water on top. if you don’t care if it is in cubes or not, you can put it in a flour sacking dish towel and wring it out.
Deep fried tofu balls calls for shredded carrots, green beans, and green onions, (though one might use and flavorful alternate) and an egg to bind it. then one drops it by the rounded teaspoonful, (the kind you use at the table, not the measure), into the hot oil and cook until golden. Love the stuff, but it’s kind of a pain to make, and nobody else in my household does.
I also dislike the flavor of bergamot; it reminds me of the odor of chemical processing.
One of my favourite lunches on Weight Watchers is left over vegetables, or some of whatever is in the fridge, sauteed with a little olive oil, break an egg into it, cover and cook on low till done to your liking.
Filling and nutricious.
One of my friends introduced me to the idea of poaching eggs over top of whatever you are cooking in the pan. Maybe simmer up some vegetables in broth (chicken, vegetable, etc.) and break an egg into the pan once they are mostly finished?