Breakfast was a few dried apricots and a few dried dates, a glass of orange juice, and a bowl of steel cut “Irish” oats with a little milk and some walnuts. I weighed in at 160 pounds.
Lunch was a redo of yesterday with Gretchen and I splitting the last <a href="http://www.saranac.com/paleale.html" title="SARANAC" rel="external">Saranac Pale Ale</a>. The last for how long? Who knows?
<ins datetime="2004-01-04T18:34:00-05:00">Dinner was Lo Mein with a <a href="http://www.godiva.com/welcome.asp" title="Chocolate Gifts from Godiva">Godiva</a> chocolate for dessert.</ins>
Roasting Peppers
<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/02/earlyshow/saturday/chef/main591130.shtml" title="CBS News | Flavorful Organic Food | January 2, 2004�21:15:08">Roasting Peppers</a>: “To roast a bell or chile pepper, rinse and dry the pepper and place over an open flame, or under the broiler. Cook, turning with tongs, until the outer skin of the pepper is completely charred. Transfer the pepper to a paper sack, seal, and allow the pepper to steam for about 10 minutes. If you don’t have a paper sack, you can also place the peppers in a bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Gently rub the charred skin from the pepper, and rinse gently to remove any charred residue. Roasted peppers will keep, refrigerated for about a week.”
Seafood Watch
<a href="http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp" title="Monterey Bay Aquarium: Seafood Watch Program - A Consumer's Guide to Sustainable Seafood">What is Seafood Watch?</a> “A program of Monterey Bay Aquarium designed to raise consumer awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. We recommend which seafood to buy or avoid, helping consumers to become advocates for environmentally friendly seafood. We’re also partners of the <a href="http://www.seafoodchoices.net/">Seafood Choices Alliance</a> where, along with other seafood awareness campaigns, we provide seafood purveyors with recommendations on seafood choices.”
| Best Choice | Caution | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Catfish (Farmed) | Clams (wild-caught) | Caviar (wild-caught) |
| Caviar (Farmed) | Cod, Pacific | Chilean Seabass/Toothfish |
| Clams (Farmed) | Crab, Blue | Cod, Atlantic/Icelandic |
| Crab, Dungeness | Crab, Imitation/Surimi | Crab, King (Imported) |
| Crab, Snow (Canada) | Crab, King (AK) | Flounders (Atlantic; except Summer Flounder) |
| Crab, Stone | Crab, Snow (U.S.) | Grouper |
| Halibut, Pacific | Flounder, Summer/Fluke | Halibut, Atlantic |
| Lobster, Spiny/Rock (U.S., Australia) | Lobster, American Maine (All Sources) | Monkfish |
| Mussels (Farmed) | Mahi-Mahi, Dolphinfish/Dorado | Orange Roughy |
| Oysters (Farmed) | Oysters (wild-caught) | Rockfish Rock Cod/Pacific Snapper (Pacific; trawl-caught) |
| Salmon (CA, AK; wild-caught) | Pollock | Salmon, (farmed/Atlantic) |
| Salmon (canned) | Scallops, Bay | Sharks |
| Sardines | Scallops, Sea | Shrimp (imported) |
| Shrimp/Prawns (trap-caught) | Shrimp/Prawns (U.S. farmed or U.S. trawl-caught) | Snapper, Red |
| Striped Bass (Farmed) | Sole (Pacific) | Soles (Atlantic) |
| Sturgeon (Farmed) | Squid | Sturgeon (wild-caught) |
| Tilapia (Farmed) | Tuna (canned) | Swordfish |
| Trout, Rainbow (Farmed) | Tuna, Albacore/Yellowfin/Bigeye (longline or purse seine-caught) | Tuna, Bluefin |
| Tuna, Albacore/Yellowfin/Bigeye (troll/pole-caught) |
Food Log
Breakfast was a few dried apricots, figs, and Christmas cookies, with at glass of orange juice.
<ins datetime="2004-01-03T13:06:00-05:00">Lunch was a serving of bite sized tortilla chips (18 chips each) with some of our homemade cooked tomato salsa (about half a cup each) and a bean and cheese quesadilla, with a <a href="http://www.saranac.com/paleale.html" title="SARANAC">Saranac Pale Ale</a> to drink and a <a href="http://www.godiva.com/welcome.asp" title="Chocolate Gifts from Godiva">Godiva</a> chocolate for dessert.</ins>
<ins datetime="2004-01-03T18:34:00-05:00">Dinner was a pasta salad with a slice of Italian bread and two glasses of <a href="http://www.champagne-roederer.com/style/us/flash/brutprem.html" title="Brut premier">Louis Roederer Champagne Brut Premier®</a> to drink and a <a href="http://www.godiva.com/welcome.asp" title="Chocolate Gifts from Godiva">Godiva</a> chocolate for dessert.</ins>
Simple choices can boost nutrition
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/01/foods.2004/index.html" title="CNN.com - Simple choices can boost nutrition in 2004 - Jan. 2, 2004">Simple choices can boost nutrition in 2004</a>: “Many try to cut down on the intake of carbohydrates, staying away from pasta and refined sugars. But the next time you’re at the supermarket, eliminate pasta from that guilty-pleasure list by choosing whole wheat pasta, which is high in fiber.
“Choosing whole wheat pasta contributes to a lowered risk of heart disease, reduced complications linked to diabetes, a lower likelihood of having cancer and better gastrointestinal health because of more fiber.”
Food Log
Breakfast was a glass of orange juice with a piece of Gretchen’s Italian bread, toasted, and served with homemade strawberry jam.
<ins datetime="2004-01-03T09:09:00-05:00">Dinner was half of a broiled farm-raised catfish filet, rosemary roasted potato wedges, and a small green salad, all drizzled with <a href="http://www.newmansown.com/4a15_lightbalsamic.html" title="Newman's Own - Lighten Up - Light Balsamic Dressing">Newman’s Own Light Balsamic Vinaigrette</a>, with a <a href="http://www.saranac.com/paleale.html" title="SARANAC">Saranac Pale Ale</a> to drink and a <a href="http://www.godiva.com/welcome.asp" title="Chocolate Gifts from Godiva">Godiva</a> chocolate for dessert.</ins>
New Year’s Day Food Log
Breakfast this morning was a glass of juice. I weighed in at 160 pounds.
Gretchen made grilled cheese for lunch today.
We had dinner at her sister’s with her husband and her mother and father. She made roast pork with sauerkraut, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls, and served it with Sutter Home White Zinfandel and had cookies for dessert. Now that we are home, I am having a Saranac Pale Ale.
Gretchen and I have decided that we have successfully made it through the eating season and it is time to get serious about getting down to our goal weights. As soon as we finish what is left in the house — not much — we are going to drop some serious calories.
New Use for Honey?
<a href="http://www.honey.com/pressrm/research/honmed.html" title="Honey as Medicine;�Australia Produces a World's First">Honey as Medicine</a>: The use of honey as a wound dressing goes back to ancient times and has continued into present-day folk medicine. It is a common observation in medical journal reports that numerous benefits result from using honey to dress wounds:
- The viscosity of honey provides a protective barrier to prevent wounds from becoming infected.
- Honey stimulates the re-growth of tissue involved in the healing process. It stimulates the formation of new blood capillaries and the growth of fibroblasts that replace the connective tissue of the deeper layer of the skin and produce the collagen fibers that give strength to the repair.
- Honey does not stick to the underlying wound tissues, so there is no tearing away of newly formed tissue, and no pain, when dressings are changed.
- Honey has an anti-inflammatory action, which reduces the swelling around a wound. This improves circulation and thus hastens the healing process. It also reduces pain. The amount of fluid exuding from wounds is also decreased by the anti-inflammatory action.
- The high sugar content of honey draws lymph out of a wound, which lifts dirt out of the wound bed.
- Honey rapidly clears infection from wounds. It is fully effective even with antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Unlike antiseptics and antibiotics there is no impairment of the healing process through adverse effects on wound tissues.
Good Advice Regardless of the News
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/31/dining/31WELL.html?ei=5007&en=c8b2521ac6757d44&ex=1388206800&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=all&position=">Eating Well: Warily Searching for Safer Beef</a>: The safest beef is from cattle that have been raised organically, because by law they cannot be fed animal byproducts, which, while banned from cattle feed since 1997, are believed to be the major source of mad cow disease. Organic beef is available by mail order, online and in some stores.
Beef that is labeled grass-fed, but not certified organic, would be a second choice. There are no regulations governing what can be called grass-fed, so it can be difficult to ascertain what the animal has eaten. Experts advise asking the butcher or supplier a few questions to assure the meat’s safety.
- Has the animal’s feed ever been supplemented with grain or with protein, which might include animal byproducts?
- Were the animals “finished” with any grain? In other words, were they fed grain to improve the flavor of the meat before slaughter?
- Were the calves weaned with a milk replacer? Milk replacer can contain cows’ blood, which might spread the disease.
- Was the animal slaughtered and processed at the same place as conventional cattle? If so, what assurances are there that they are not contaminated?
One other note about grass-fed beef: because it does not have as much fatty marbling as grain-fed beef, it should be cooked for less time and at a lower temperature…
Making your own ground beef at home is safer than using packaged hamburger that may have been purchased in bulk. It is not difficult if you have a food processor or an attachment to a mixer… With a food processor, use the steel blade, but watch carefully so that you do not turn the beef into hamburger purée.
A hand grinder like your mother or grandmother used to use costs less than $30. (You can also spend more.) It clamps on to a table and has a crank shaft…
Another suggestion is to buy boneless beef in a supermarket with staff butchers, and have them grind it.
New Year’s Eve Food Log
Breakfast was a piece of Gretchen’s Italian bread, toasted, with homemade strawberry jam, and a glass of juice.
<ins datetime="2004-01-01T09:09:00-05:00">Dinner was another bowl of the ham and bean soup with a slice of the Italian bread and a small Caesar salad with a <a href="http://www.saranac.com/paleale.html" title="SARANAC">Saranac Pale Ale</a>. For New Years Eve, we split a bottle of <a href="http://www.grahams-port.com/" title="Welcome to Graham's Port">Graham’s</a> Tawny Porto (30 Years Old) <img src="http://www.personal.psu.edu/staff/m/h/mhl100/images/gasp.png" height="18" width="18" alt="=-O" /> and an assortment of Christmas cookies we got as a gift.</ins>