Fresh Tart

Alright, after all my reading (I've been a bit buried for days, sorry), I've decided to back way off on sugars and grains. I haven't completely eliminated them, of course, but I'm consuming very few. Even more emphasison fresh meat, dairy, veggies, fruits. Whole foods, baby! Actually not much of a change, I haven't been eating all that much bread anyhow, since I decided to pare things down exactly one year ago - except toast for breakfast. It's been a week since I started tinkering and I have to say - I feel great. And I'm not puffy, or hungry, since I'm not limiting fat. I'll let you know how I continue to feel, and look, I find it all quite fascinating. Me, interested in food and nutrition? No way!

So...mushroom & gruyere omelets for dinner, yum. Sunday nights are often omelet (or frittata) nights, they're just so tasty and easy, you know? We had a shockingly, wonderfully lazy weekend - Nathan and I have been on a big Grey's Anatomy kick (past seasons) and we had ourselves a little marathon since he had extra days off for MEA. And, oh, John and I continued our anniversary celebration yesterday afternoon with lunch at Bacio followed by a sweet, appopriately romantic movie, Ira & Abby. Way fun.

So my head's in the clouds, but I'm still here, still cooking. Just thinking. Hmmm...

Anniversaries. I don't go overboard for the required celebrations (other than my 40th birthday, ha). Oh, John and I saw an amazing movie (Into the Wild), followed by a lovely dinner tonight, in the bar at La Belle Vie (always a winner) to celebrate our 5th annivesary. But the forced part of it, that this should be an amaaaazing night, better than all others, meh. Rather unromantic, I know. But I'm not that uber-romantic girl. I don't love surprises. Plus, romance requires a certain amount of sentimentality, don't you think? And I'm too practical to be terribly sentimental. The day-to-day is where the pedal meets the metal! Our weekly Date Nights are really fun to me, because they're not forced, we just go with what sounds good. Spontaneity that I have a say in, much more my (sometimes cranky, often controlling) style, ha.

So...sorry to have been absent for more than a week! Sheesh! Not cooking terribly interesting things - the Good Calories Bad Calories book has me thinking - a lot - about grains and sugar. Hmmm...especially in light of diabetes in my family, and other health issues, just a lot to think about. A bit of an awakening, perhaps. Doesn't change things terribly much, but while I'm all contemplative and such, I tend to withdraw. Hmmm...

Hope all is well with you!

All hail kale! OMG I hated the stuff when I was kid - or at least I thought that I did, I never actually tried it. My Grandma Meyer cooked it, long and slow, with some form of pork (I think), which sounds absolutely delicious to me now but egads it stunk up her house. I don't know when I turned the kale corner - probably about the time I turned the cheese-steak-salad-egg-nuts-tuna corner, around age 14 or so. And thank goodness! Kale is wonderfully nutritious, easy to cook, and whenbraised and then drizzled with best-quality (syrupy, rich) balsamic vinegar... The. Kill.

Check out this Star Tribune review of Gary Taubes' new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. Taubes stirred the pot - BIG time - with his 2002 New York Times Magazine article, What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?, when he poked a big fat hole in dietary recommendations to avoid fats and eat grains. I'm no low-carb fanatic (moderation, natch), but I do steer away from most processed foods, refined grains, and sugar and try to fill my plate with veggies, add some protein, add a small amount of whole grains, and include some fat (olive oil, butter, avocado, and/or nuts). I get off track sometimes, of course, especially after trips or parties (woo hoo!). And then I feel like crap, retain water, and put on weight (not woo hoo!). Moderation, baby! Real food, prepared simply, in moderation. (Like kale!) Yeah.

Aannnd, speaking of food (awkward transition alert, sorry), Happy Birthday to my King Foodie father-in-law John!

Hey, me again, back to report that I roasted yet another buttery, crispy chicken, and oh my. So good. Here's the way to eat it - preferably alone, standing up, directly from the cutting board, dipping pieces right into the bowl of pan juices. Yeah, oh yeah. Now I'm properly fortified for our neighborhood women's association meeting - wine and chat, here I come!