Food for Thought

QUICK! Point your browser in the direction of the Light & Tasty Recipe Finder

This great new recipe finder has some awesome search capabilities. For example, I can call up recipes that are lower in carbs, higher in protein, lower in fat and are diabetic friendly. You can also search by how many grams of protein you want, how many calories per serving, etc. If you use the advanced search, you can put in the ingredients you have on hand and it gives you recipes you can make. And you can tell it how many servings you need.

The recipes come from a few different cooking magazines, including Taste of Home, Quick Cooking and Cooking for 2, in addition to Light & Tasty. You might have heard of the magazines...they don't carry any advertising.

If you sign up for FREE (basically, just give them your email) you can save your searches, make a shopping list, create your own recipe box and also access their contest recipes.

I think what I like best about this site compared to other recipe sites like All Recipes is that ALL of the recipes at Light & Tasty have actually been prepared and tasted by people (including dietitians) in the their test kitchens. Some recipe sites are basically crapshoots when it comes to what's on them. You never know if they'll turn out.

Oh, one other thing: they have makeover recipes. I know this is a regular feature in the magazine, but you can actually see what the "fat girl" recipe is before and how their test kitchen made it "skinny".

Check out my favorite recipe: Maple Salmon When I made it, I didn't do the couscous. And instead of regular maple syrup, I used sugar-free. And I used the fresh minced garlic you buy in the store instead of a garlic clove. It was awesome!

Let me know what you think!

Satchel Ass

Don't ask me what it is, but today Rose informed me that I have a Satchel Ass and I was wearing Satchel Pants. WAH???? I think it was her way of telling me my pants are baggy and my ass ain't fillin' out the folds.

My new bra from 2 weeks ago is now too big for my ever shrinkin' boobs. I'm going to get some of those fake things and start wearing them.

I have my 3 month follow-up with my surgeon the day after tomorrow. I took the afternoon off so I can come home and change into lightweight clothes. How dumb is that? I've lost over 70 pounds in the last 3 months. So what difference will any extra 3 pounds in clothes make? I know, I know. It is stupid. But I still get that same anxious bile rise in my throat (minus the actual bile) everytime I get on a scale and someone else will read the result.

Also called today to try to schedule an appointment with a shrink I want to see. Of course, she closed her appointment books 3 weeks ago and isn't taking any new patients now. So I called and left a message on her voice mail. Maybe my pathetic charm will inspire her to make an exception for me. She'll WANT to spend an hour with me every week just because I'm so witty! Yeah, right.

And finally, I got a new job. Same company. Different position. Great move for me. Unfortunately, the change can't happen until 1/3. It'll be a LONNNNNGGGGGG December!

Open the flood gates and let the food in!

What a crappy food day. From the moment I woke up, I've been thinking about food. Every kind of food. When I can eat. How much I can eat. Wondering what would happen if I eat a scone or a candy bar.

I started out with the best intentions. I drank about 6 ounces of water when I got up. I suck at getting in water. Drinking sucks. If I'm not thirsty, I do not want to drink.

For breakfast I had a South Beach Cereal Bar. Maple Nut. Yum. Then I had a cup of wretched, disgusting decaf coffee. Well, I was going to have a cup. But it was so nasty I tossed it. I miss caffeinated coffee. Decaf tastes like someone sprinkled hot water with used grounds. I used to roast my own beans. I still have about 10 pounds of green beans. But they aren't decaf. I could buy some, but will they taste even half as good as regular? Probably not.

So by mid morning I decided I wanted a snack. I wasn't hungry, just wanted to crunch. So I had some flat wheat cracker thing. 2 of them. And a slice of cheese.

Then we went to lunch at our friend's gallery. Had a crab cake. 3 oz. Tasted Rose's scrambled eggs, tasted her cantaloupe, tasted a corner of her cinnamon coconut scone. I WANTED MORE!

When we got home, I started in on the water again. Slow going. Then a couple hours later I ate the rest of my fake pumpkin pie pudding. And at that point, I could have opened the fridge and shoveled every last damn bit of food in my mouth. So I left the house.

Obviously, I'm back home again. But I'm heading up to my art room. Yep, there's a refrigerator up there. But it only has a couple bottles of water and a quart of 6-week-old grape koolaid. Busy hands. That's what I need.

I hate the weekends and the lack of structure for me. The work week with its meetings and projects and BS keep my mind away from food. I focus on what I should focus on. I guess I'm glad tomorrow's Monday.