LindsayAnn

I like fast food too - not weekly - def not....but a few times here and there and yum yum yum... I also like boston market (not at all fast food), but it sure is fast to get your food there! LOL I love taco bell when I am drunk, or even the morning/afternoon/evening after being drunk....its a great "I need grease now" hangover cure....4 hard shell beef taco and a chicken soft shell taco - side order to nachos with cheese and I am set....no more hangover (just an overload of salt!)...but I sure do love salt...

oooh, they have this totally legit 'raw ramen' snack called 'Mamee noodles' in Asia/Australia. You crush them into bits while they're still in the bag, open the bag, fish out the msg sachet, then toss it all in. good stuff. ← Oooh they do this a lot in Korea! My kids have taken the same route. In the supermarket, they actually have noodle snacks speicifally made for this (made to crush, and then add the seasoning packet). I'll post some pics later. ← Please please do! I havent seen these here in Chicago but I want!

Nice Steven! Any pictures of these 'masses of bones"? How much meat did you leave on the bones before freezing, or is it mainly just bare bones? Lastly - can do we get to see some pictures of your final product (stock, and anything you'll use the stock for)? I SURE HOPE SO!

I dunno but I would love to know this also...I love peanut butter...put it together with chocolate and OH MY GOSH! I am from the burbs of Chicago...St. Charles to be exact. Geneva is a sister town, and they have a downtown area that is simply charming. On one of the old streets, 3rd street, there are all sorts of antique shops, restaurants, knick-nack shops and alike, and there is a chocolate store called Grahams chocolate shop - homemade everything. And - sticking on topic - there are these HUGE peanut butter cups homemade - they make them in this big window that you can watch them from ont he street - you can also see them from inside the store making the chocolate everythings. So good. Click: http://www.grahamschocolate.com/index.html

So how can I (in chicago) find the raw kraut.....its healthier, no? I mean with the lactic acid and natural bacterium....living organizms (the good ones) I would guess its beneficial, like yogurts with live active cultures are, to your tummy/intestines/well-being/immune systems....right??? Anyone know where I can find this in Chicago area? The real...uncooked stuff?

RAW MILK CHEESE ARE BAD BAD BAD AND PASTERIZED IS HEALTHEIR? Yeah right....healthier? more prosessed? Refined? Fake? Unfortunely for me I live in the Uniter States...which is biased to raw milk cheeses...BOO - the rest of the world enjoys the complex flavors of raw milk's cheeses and we suffer from the pasterization....although SOME cheeses I find are raw milks there are rules like "not aged more than blah blah blah" - and the french and other lovely countries get the good, real aged, magnificant, cheeses...more for THEM at OUR expense.... You wouldnt really understand why I am complaining unless you've sampled the REAL stuff...then you'd turn to my side...at least if your a cheese fan like me. Oh well....we deal (while complaining all the way)

I cannot wait to see pictures from your Dim Sum Bruch! Mizducky I have been following your blog all week - love it. I love seafood and cook often but usually find myself eating seafood when I order/go out....my fiance (and roomate) doesnt like it...nor the spell of it cooking...kinda limits me. He is, err...picky....beyond picky actually. Oh well....love him tons anyway. I have also read your other blogs (the one you did about a year back), read this months back....and I have been following your weight loss website. I am going to repeat many others and sound like a broken record but I have to day it, congrats congrats congrats. I am so proud of you. My aunt (by marriage, she married by mom's brother) is in the hospital for weight issues and has been in there for about 4 months now. Lost 175 pounds. She has been overweight her whole life....and got to the point where her liver was falling (operating at only 10%). She couldnt walk, and they had a hard time getting her in the ambulence. My uncle is visiting her daily, working long shifts, and caring for their two sons while she is working on getting bettter. She is such a lovely lady, I love her tons, and I hope she continues getting better. She was well over 400 and is now at a healthier weight....I hope she can continue her progress once shes on her own. Having said all that - your weight loss (that YOU did that all by yourself) is amazing and I am so thankful that you are living such a happy healthy life now while eating foods you love! by the way, I love soups (and won ton soup is a favorite of mine, especially when there are hunnks o' pork floating around the wonton yumminess)....so I find your noodle/seafood soups mouth waterings...and you not only order them our but you make them yourself.....AWESOME! I have had Shirataki noodles (whole foods here carries them) and I enjoy them. I am not low carb but they are yummy. I do find that even when cooked a bit they water down sauces...I have had them with marinara....so I liek the fact that you use them in soups...can't really water down a brothy soup...haha. You rock mizducky....not only your weightloss and your food diversity, but you also seem like a FUN loving gal living life to its fullest....keep it up You're my kind of peeps! Edited to fix my spelling and other errors due to thinking faster than I can type....I do EVERYTHING too fast....especially talking...."say what?"

Always hated peppers (red, green, yellow, orange) ALL of them. Ick...I wished I liked them....I hate hating healthy foods....why is it I like all non-healthy foods though? hehe.

Got some new gems (as in cheese gems...haha) today. Fow and Obel food store (one of the best cheese counters in chicago): -Doleman Mazl Dome Pasterized Goat's Milk - France. (I get this one quite often...good edible rind with a creamy layer right beneth the rind and a center that is both creamy, crumbly,tangy and fresh tasting...mmm) - Bayley Hazen Blue (Jasper Hill) Raw Milk Vermont....this is a new winner on my list. Heavy blue veining and so yummy....crumbly yet creamy at the same time....mmmm Whole Foods: Tournevent Goat Medallions (2 of them) - good fresh goats - And, Laguiole Raw Milk French Cows.....I was told by a woman behind the rather largish (compared to some whole foods cheese sections, this is in the gold coast and a large large cheese counter) cheese counter that this is a wonderful cheese that tastes strangly like scrambled eggs...in a good way. I was perplexed...and bought on the whim without even asking to taste...I ahve to admit its damn good pretty flavourful (very pleasant flavor at that) but nothing like scrabled eggs! What was SHE talking about? I do love it and I will add this to my rotating list of cheeses for sure. I love finding new favorites....all cheeses are good but its rare to add another to the list of all stars...let alone TWO new one in one trip (two diff shops but one cheese outing b.c I went to the stores back to back....okay okay you get my point. Have a cheese-delishous (sp?) weekend - all.

Gariotin that is so mean! You were my cheese idle...now I don't know what to think about you!!! Kidding, but that really is cruel! To take a childs pet and cook it!!!

Love milk... grew up on whole which cahnged to 2% when I was around 7 or so. Then I lived with 8 other gals in college and changed to skim cause each and every one of them drank skim. Now I drink soy milk - I like the sweet flavor and I eat soooo much dairy as it is with my cheese addiction problem

This puzzles me.. you trust the restaurant more than you trust yourself (your choice of meat supplier, your handling and storing it, your cooking it)? ← These are my thoughts exactly. As was stated above Lindsay, the issue with beef is bacteria. Bacteria will only be on exposed surfaces. Bacteria requires moisture and oxygen to grow. Remove those from the equation, and you have a perfectly safe piece of beef to eat. So steaks can be cooked blue, rare, medium rare, what have you, without you creating risk for yourself. Buy your steaks that day, and you have virtually no risk. (As an aside, meat that is more rare will digest easier in your stomach, as the natural enzymes existing in the muscle tissue will help you break down your meat. Cook the meat to well done? No more enzymes.) Beef does not carry salmonella. Also, yes, ground beef is a different matter. More oxygen and moisture. More surfaces to contaminate. That is why it is recommended to cook burgers to medium well or more. Pork, same issue, but there was also the Trichinosis problem, which I understand has been eradicated in North America for decades. I serve my pork medium without any risk. Chicken and Turkey, well done. As these are the birds that carry salmonella. Ducks and Squab do not, so they can be cooked rare. I feel that the only way that you will be convinced about this though, is if you do the research yourself and rid yourself of your fear by having the proper knowledge. Good luck! ← Thanks Irish girl, not to mention everyone here! Yes, i know steak=no samonella....not even sure why I brought that into this equation (oh wait, yes yes I know, cause I overcook all meat, chicken and beef and prk alike. I am not much for eating duck or squab though, no worries for me there!). I never considered or even thought about the enzyme thing in rare beef...although I know this (I am a big cheese eater and raw milk cheese is better for you and digestion for these same reasons...hence why I prefer raw milk cheeses, but I dont discriminate I just prefer...haha). Your posting irishgirl, bringing that into the equation brought me particular comfort, as did all of the other posts. Chufi, it puzzels me too....you short but to the point posting made me feel particularly strange about this, and embarrased!

Most Friday's we order pizza - either delivery or carryout. We've been working on finding our favorite place...i.e ordering from a diff. joint each week. I now find myself asking others in the Chicago are "so, where do you order pizza from? What is your fav?"....trying to find out the best place! Current #1 was a Linz (me) find - cafe luigi (on clark street just north of fullertin in the Lincoln Park neigborhood)....so good. I have to admit though - it's traditional New York style pizza....I do love it though! Huge, long, thin floppy slices with your topping of choice (black olive for me spicy sausage for the boy) slathered on every lil bit!

Okay - I know this may sound strange...hell it sounds strange to me too! I always overcook meat...ON PURPOSE! Why? because of my fear of eating partially raw, contaminated, samanila-laydon meat..... When I am at a restaurant I will order steak rare, happily and securily....but when I cook it (grill, broil, pan fry, bake, etc...) I always cook it so that it is sooooo done that is is drier than it should be and drier than I prefer. I do it on purpose - I AM INSANE! I have gotten sick from undercooked meat before, and heard many stories like it...I hate being sick (especially from food poisoning, etc....), I dread it, so to prevent this I cook all meats well well well done. Not my style though! Not at all. Now - having said all that let me explain that yes, I know I have a higher chance of getting food poisoning/sick from vegs/fruits, but even-so...its the meats that scare me. I suppose I think if I cook em' real good, really really good, I will cook out and possibility of cantamination... So, please help. Fix me. What can I do. Anyone have any stats. that will reverse my horrid style. Thanks! P.S i grilled out burger and steaks today, outside on the grill, and yes, I charred them....soo much. The steaks weren't even a slight pink in the middle. And I knew I was doing it the entire time.... Oh the humility....

I always had an after-school snack...I was always very hungry as my school served lunch between 10:40 and 12:30 (I always happend to be on the earlier side of the schedule, somehow, around 11AM). I was either out of school and home by 3, and often times later if I had an after schoola ctivity or sport (home around 5 or 6!). Thinking back, I often had string cheese, handisnacks (crackers and a soft cheese all in one package - you make your own cracker/cheese sandwhiches), apples and peanmut butter, left-over whatever looked good in the fridge, some sort of fruit snack or fruit roll-up/leather, sunchips/doritos, or cerial out of the box. Oh yeah - also an occational icecream bad/frozen fruit bar. I liked my junk-food a lot as a kid...I had so sneak candy though (that was saved for a special occasion/dessert so I had to sneak it)

Susan although I do not post as much as many as these folks - I am always lurking the dinner thread (and the cheese thread....mmm), and I just LOVED all of your meals....I am sort of a newbie in the cooking arena (I am only 25) but I love learning from folks like you. I started off as someone who had a natural nack at cooking (everyone likes my food, I love that) but due to you (and many others) I have grown into a more versed, knowledgeable food condisore/cook. Thanks, thanks thanks a thousand times. You are quite the cook and I hope to someday we as good as you!

Thanks! Hope your experiements were fun at least! I have whole foods (many of them) around here, and I am there weekly, once or twice usually. I will start looking for more diversity...who knows maybe Lindt is my fav but maybe its not! (Like you said). I do tend to like goats cheeses and the such (bitter, sour in a way, tangyish - you get my drift) so maybe the bitterness you speak of in Lindt is what I actually like....but maybe not!>!>!>?!?!?! Oh the wonders of chocolate! (Currently, I am a huge cheese snob/know it all/pro...chocolate is a new thing for me and I know little about it!) Linz

That one does deserve an "Ewwww".,.... What were you thinking? Pregnant much? hahah I dont even get cravings that bad/weird when I am PMSing!

Enurmi--- Wow sounds like you've tried a lot...so I am going to pick your brain... For dark I have been eating Lindt 85% Cocoa bars. I like em' a lot - but I haven't much dark chocolate to test them against/compare them to. i just recently got into darks....and I have lil mini 70% dark Dove's bites (3 bags of them that mom and grandma filled my stockings with (because I had told them for my deep, newish, love of dark chocolate) and I like the dove - but I like the Lindt more cause its darker....85% vs. 70%....Lindt to dove respectively.... Well --- what is up with Lindt in your opinion???? why don't you care for it as much now that you've tried all those others....??? What is it about the Lindt? Am I horribly missing out here? thinking that Lindt is so grand when in reality there are others that would kick it to the curb in an instant? And - if so....where would I find these possible delights? I am in Chicago and I see Lindt bars everywhere - yet have not seen all those that you referred to! Is it cause I am not looking for them, yet I am farmiliar with Lindt so I spot it? Thanks in advance! Sorry for all the q's!

forgot to mention, here they are 4.00 a box!

Last Sunday bought them at Jewel(midwest large grocery store). There they were (those ruthless girlscouts....they appear so inocent...they ARENT - they know they've got you right where they want you as soon as you walk in those revolving grocery store doors) 5 think mints 3 dos-i-do's 3 tag-a-longs 3 somoas 1 (forgot name) this new one its gramcracker or something dipped (one half) in chocolate MMMM one box of think mints went to the fiance's office, one in the freezer...and the rest in the pantry

You should know this one by now - on the forum no needed to ask "if you guys want to see picts. I can post them"....OF COURSE WE WANT TO SEE THEM. If you ahve them - post them....no questions asked. HAHA - ok, now for real...please post!

Yum --- just bought a sourdough loaf of bread (fresh from bakery section,.....I LOVE sourdough bread...its the combo of the sourness and the chewy bread with the crusty exterior) and spread on some marmite, covered liberally (like three slices....thick sliced) of sharp cheddar...popped in toaster oven until it was browned SO GOOD

I read the whole article...on a few points that it addresses: I shop at more than one food store, NOT because and one lets me down or anything. Its jsut that I like shopping, browsing, seeing the different strategies, etc...and from al this I now have certain things I like from each shop that their competitors don't do/have or don't do/have as well. Surely, I like Whole Foods...the ones in Chi (there are about 5 in the city alone) do very well. I read something in the article about stores in DC and NY experiencing foods past their prime...I was shocked. NEVER happens to me in Chi...must be all about the store level management and inventory control tactics/procedures.....Yogurt a month past the use by date? Tomatoes that are wrinkley? Potatoes (baked and sweet) that are old? Gosh...I never expereicne these concerns and I am at whole foods average of 1-2 times a week. I can only imagine the difficulites whole foods faces with local produce (meats from farmers, not huge businesses) and purchasing directly from the little guys... But - they are trying, and in many areas suceeding. Many companies grow....they have grown due to their response from US. Popularity usually causes growth...and with that comes the challenges of maintaining their original vision/mission....just continue to let htem know that it matters and that we care....like I said - at least they are trying, more than many stores can attest to. keep on giving them your opinion and advice....if enough of it comes in they will be forced to respond....like they have been as of the late....

Are artichokes jerusalem artichokes then? I dont know if that's the kind I buy, but I buy artichokes (whole, fresh) and cook them in water (either boil them...but usually not I dont want to take the time so I cut off the stem and place the choke in dish with just a half inch of water or so...place saran wrap over dish, and microwave for about 12 mins...a lil longer if its a huge artichoke.) Melt butter in a dish, pull off leaf by leaf dip in butter - yum. The best part is the heart, get out all the nasty fuzzy stuff, and then you dip the heart in the butter, liberally. How can you not like artichokes! AHHH I am not a huge veg. lover - but artichokes are to die for..... I love it when restaurants have stuffed chokes (again, the whoke lovely thing stuffed liberally with bread crumbs, parmessan cheese and other fillers......delish - these are so rarely on restaurant menues due to the pain of cooking and eating! They take a lil work, both ends (to prepare and to enjoy) But, then again, who said the good stuff in life was easy?