eG Foodblog: purplewiz - Eating Well In The Great Flyover

[snowangel]

Love your avitar, is (s)he as sweet as (s)he looks, or is (s)he the kitty from hell in disguise?

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My avatar is Oreo, and he's 17 lbs of pure doofus .

I had planned to post some cat pictures this evening, but in the grand tradition of the unexpected happening during one's foodblog, my digital camera died tonight. Fortunately, it died after the dinner photography, but in plenty of time to get a replacement. Now I just have to get comfortable with the new one....and of course I'm going to be testing it out on cat pictures!

Marcia.

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Good luck with the new camera! Same thing happened to me during one of my blogs. Turned out to be a blessing as the new camera is so far superior to the old one...

[purplewiz]

On Food, Cooking, And Why We Eat What We Eat

Some folks may have noticed a marked lack of carbohydrate-laden foods in my lunch and dinner postings. The reason is simple: we have followed a reduced carb eating plan for the past two and a half years.

This is because roughly two and a half years ago I was diagnosed with insulin resistance. To make a long story very short, this means my body does not handle large amounts of carbs well. The last research I did states that this is genetic in origin, having to do with the "thrifty gene" that enables us to store fat for the lean times. (A Google search will bring up lots more details.)

Unfortunately, at this time there is no cure; fortunately, it can be controlled by controlling one's carb intake. Of course, the minute I heard this I thought "oh, no, you mean Atkins?!?". My doctor, who was the one who suggested investigating the reduced carb approach, said absolutely not - I also had elevated liver levels that made Atkins a bad idea for me.

I realized pretty quicky that if I was going to make any changes - and it was actually that *we* were going to make changes, since if I was changing how I ate my husband was going to have to change along with me because I was NOT cooking two meals - I needed to be honest about what changes I was willing to make, what I was and was not willing to give up. And it would be me who made those choices.

This meant that most published, pre-scripted diets were not going to work. While most of them usually had some sound research at their base, all of the ones I read started exhibiting food prejudices when it came to the nuts and bolts of the diets they were selling. For example, they would state that all X is bad and should NEVER be eaten, except for this particular X, because THEY like it. Well, if there are going to be exceptions, I'm the one who is going to choose my exceptions.

I also couldn't do a NEVER/ALWAYS plan. I just can't. I can do a most of the time/once in awhile plan. I'm smart enough to know that "once in awhile" doesn't mean "every other day". So I turned to the web to read everything I could on the current state of knowledge regarding insulin resistance and the effects of diet on weight and health. Things sure had changed since I was a kid and it was all just about "will power".

Along the way I had an important epiphany: food was NOT the problem, food was the SOLUTION. What if I could find foods that were in plan that I liked just as well as those I was not going to eat all that often?

This realization dovetailed nicely with a separate, unrelated realization I'd had before this problem hit the fan: I'd become a lazy cook. I'd always loved cooking, I'd always been inventive, but due to personal issues unrelated to food and moving to Colorado where the continuous cornucopia of good and fresh and interesting foods just wasn't available, dinners had become starch with bottled sauce and meat. Boring.

The result of all of this is a reduced carb plan pieced together from the research I did, tweaked and modified based on our own experiences. From The Insulin Resistance Diet, I lifted the basics of 30 grams of carbs per meal, balanced with at least 15 grams of protein.

While that doesn't sound like much, 30 grams of carbs is a cup of cereal in the morning, two slices of bread at lunch, and another serving at dinner. Put that way, it doesn't sound so bad.

I added that my goal is to keep it under 100 grams of carbs per day - that adds another 10 grams for the random carbs found in everything. This is 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of the daily recommended carbs in the current government pyramids; hence, reduced carb, not low carb or no carb. We don't always hit those goals, but you have to start somewhere!

The majority of what we eat then became protein and vegetables. Fat was also important, as it is fat and carbs that create that sense of fullness, so without enough fat we'd never feel full.

There's a lot more to it, of course, but the bottom line is: it worked for me. My blood work is boringly normal and I've lost 130 pounds. Or I should say it's still working, as we're not planning to stop eating this way - we LIKE the food and we like the results.

And the food has been wonderful. I still seek out new recipes and foods that fit in the plan, and have become a much better cook for it. I discovered that I love kale. I found out how good pureed cauliflower is - never mind the carbs or lack thereof, it's GOOD. I learned that while I have a sweet tooth it's not a sugar tooth, and many of the artificially sweetened products satisfy my desire to experience the taste of sweet very nicely.

This doesn't mean that we never splurge and eat off plan. In fact, we plan these splurges, usually once a week. We have found that it's not what you do once a week, it's what you do for those other 20 meals that makes the difference.

I won't ever say that this is the right eating plan for everyone - I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist, and I'm convinced there is no single best eating plan for every body - all I know is that this is what works for me. I truly enjoy the food I cook and eat - it's important to me that this change isn't penance or punishment, but simply a change of lifestyle. Things cannot get better without change.

There's a lot more to it of course, but I've tried very hard not to put everyone to sleep!

Marcia.

[Hiroyuki]

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I'm intrigued by this particular photo. Is this some kind of square foot garden?

[purplewiz]

One thing I didn't mention in my essay above is that movement (or exercise, to use the old-fashioned term!) is another component of this lifestyle change. We swim 3 times a week, and I've discovered that afterwards the body really wants a reasonable dose of carbs to help recover.

Tonight I fixed one of my favorites:

Strawberries sweetened with Torani SF vanilla (I love that stuff!) and topped with yogurt creme, which is roughly half whipped heavy cream folded with 4 oz. sugar free vanilla yogurt.

My husband and I also have a nightly ritual of a shared mug of tea; it's just one of the nice things we do together.

Tonight's tea is Celestial Seasonings Golden Honey Darjeeling, one of my favorites. It has a lovely floral note I really enjoy.

(And the new camera seems to be taking good pictures! Yay!)

Marcia.

[Ling]

That's wonderful that you're healthy and eating well! I love bison. What sort of sauces do you usually like to make when you serve it?

My blood work is boringly normal and I've lost 130 pounds.

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Sheesh...you could make millions writing a diet book, you know!

[Rehovot]

Yay, a Springs blog! Mmm, bison...

Where are your favorite places to grab a bite to eat or have coffee in/near town?

[fou de Bassan]

Marcia,

Oh what a lovely view you have from your back deck! And that bison jerky made my mouth water, I just wish we could get it over here. Thanks for blogging, I'm usually reading while the other hemispere is sleeping so it's nice to poke my head into your world for a bit.

Kathryn

[Jean Blanchard]

I really applaud what you've done with your diet. One of things that's so great about loving to cook (and eat) is that you can adapt more easily to whatever health issue you have and still have wonderful meals!

I've never had bison. Do you have to be careful not to overcook? Is the lower fat content why you've added a little flavored butter? Looks great.

[Chufi]

Along the way I had an important epiphany: food was NOT the problem, food was the SOLUTION. What if I could find foods that were in plan that I liked just as well as those I was not going to eat all that often?

(...)

I truly enjoy the food I cook and eat - it's important to me that this change isn't penance or punishment, but simply a change of lifestyle. Things cannot get better without change.

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I think that's a wonderful attitude towards 'eating heathily'. I don't believe any regimen or 'diet' that one looks on as a punishment or a series of 'don'ts', can work. And since your food looks delicious, I can see that you want to stick to this lifestyle!

I love those teamugs!

[purplewiz]

A quick post this morning:

Breakfast was a repeat of yesterday, so it was not worth photographing .

Except for the coffee:

I have my priorities.

In all the excitement yesterday, I forgot that my latest shipment of coffee was delivered:

I love the Rio Grande Roasters coffees. I discovered them on one of our trips to New Mexico. We had met friends for dinner at Ambrozia, an excellent restaurant in Old Town. The dinner was wonderful and the company even better, but what really reached out and grabbed me was their after dinner coffee. It was exceptional.

On the menu they stated that they served New Mexico Coffee Roasting Company coffee. I asked the server which of their coffees we had, and he was unable to find out.

Fast forward to a stop at a grocery store to stock up on road snacks for our drive home (and various New Mexico green chile related products). In the coffee section I noticed they carried "Rio Grande Roasters" coffees, and the Thunderbolt sounded really good. So I bought about a quarter pound.

Imagine my surprise when I brewed a pot and discovered it was the coffee I'd had a few nights previously! A little research turned up that Rio Grande Roasters is another label of the New Mexico Coffee Roasting Company, which is now owned by Victor Allen. The best discovery of all was that the coffees are available to order online, which keeps me happily supplied.

Behind the bags is my coffee set up. To the left is the KitchenAid Pro Line grinder. I've been very happy with the coffee it produces - a nice, even grind. It's aimed at people like me who are looking for something more than a blade grinder, but who aren't so far into coffee that they're willing to spend the thousands of dollars for commercial grinders.

In the middle is the espresso machine - it works reasonably well for a consumer model, and to be honest I just don't use it all that often. To the right is my workhorse coffee maker, the 4 cup Cuisinart. It makes a darned fine pot of coffee.

I'm a little behind with things around here due to the chaos of yesterday, but I'll be back as soon as possible to answer the posts/questions!

Marcia.

[SMW]

It may be a bit late for this comment, but the last couple of days have been crazy!

In any case, an easy alternative to sun tea is tea brewed in the fridge - I had no idea you could do this but it turns out that you can, and it turns out great. The method is easy - put tea bags and water in a pitcher in the fridge - in 12-24 hours you will have wonderful iced tea. the thing I like is that it doesn't turn bitter at all, I think because you're not fully brewing it you never get to the tannins. In any case, it's easy, and requires absolutley no monitoring!

Edited June 21, 2006 by SMW (log)

[mizducky]

I realized pretty quicky that if I was going to make any changes - and it was actually that *we* were going to make changes, since if I was changing how I ate my husband was going to have to change along with me because I was NOT cooking two meals - I needed to be honest about what changes I was willing to make, what I was and was not willing to give up. And it would be me who made those choices.

This meant that most published, pre-scripted diets were not going to work. While most of them usually had some sound research at their base, all of the ones I read started exhibiting food prejudices when it came to the nuts and bolts of the diets they were selling. For example, they would state that all X is bad and should NEVER be eaten, except for this particular X, because THEY like it. Well, if there are going to be exceptions, I'm the one who is going to choose my exceptions.

I also couldn't do a NEVER/ALWAYS plan. I just can't. I can do a most of the time/once in awhile plan. I'm smart enough to know that "once in awhile" doesn't mean "every other day". So I turned to the web to read everything I could on the current state of knowledge regarding insulin resistance and the effects of diet on weight and health. Things sure had changed since I was a kid and it was all just about "will power".

Along the way I had an important epiphany: food was NOT the problem, food was the SOLUTION. What if I could find foods that were in plan that I liked just as well as those I was not going to eat all that often?

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Once again, I find myself wishing eGullet had an "applause" emoticon. This so totally jibes with my own experiences in building my weight management routine. If only we could get this strategy out into the minds of the masses, the entire diet industry would go broke (and we'd be much the better for it, too).

[purplewiz]

Catching up with comments:

Good luck with the new camera!  Same thing happened to me during one of my blogs.  Turned out to be a blessing as the new camera is so far superior to the old one...

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Thanks the good wishes - so far, so good. I had had my old camera for about five years, and I'm sorry to see it go because we've been through a lot together, but my goodness, technology HAS marched on in the meantime!

I'm intrigued by this particular photo.  Is this some kind of square foot garden?

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I looked up square foot gardening since I wasn't sure about all the concepts, and I guess this is somewhat similar. The soil around here is very poor - it's either sand or impenetrable clay - and vegetables need a much richer mix. Our yard is also sloped, which makes it difficult to keep soils and water in place. A raised bed made sense to contain the improved/enriched soil. The soil level drops about 6" - 8" by the end of gardening season because the plants use it up. I'll try to take a picture from the side for another view.

The raised bed also has the advantage that the rabbits haven't climbed up into it yet. It probably makes them feel too exposed. The deer, however, have no issues walking right through it.

That's wonderful that you're healthy and eating well! I love bison. What sort of sauces do you usually like to make when you serve it?

...

Sheesh...you could make millions writing a diet book, you know! 

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I use pretty much any sauce/seasoning I'd serve with beef. Red wine or brandy and shallot reduction sauces, compound butters, peppercorn sauce, it all works well to my palate. I'd also like to try a balsamic reduction sometime because while bison is very similar in flavor to beef, there is a unique flavor component that is subtle and hard for me to describe but which would seem to go well with a slightly sweeter sauce.

Thanks for the compliment, but I'd be a terrible diet book writer. I couldn't tell people that I had a magic plan that would solve all their ills which wouldn't require any change to make it work and keep a straight face. If I ever did write a book (who knows? weirder things have happened), it would have to be more along the lines of a memoir or maybe an exploration into the philosophy of it all.

Where are your favorite places to grab a bite to eat or have coffee in/near town?

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I live in the north end of town, so many of my favorite places are, sadly, chains. The local dining scene up here has been grim, but it's slowly and steadily getting better. Pueblo Viejo seems to be making a go of it in a doomed location - it's mixed Mexican, but they make an absolutely killer Chile Colorado burrito. The Pork Chile Verde burrito is also excellent.

Lemongrass Bistro is Vietnamese with some Chinese, and if I remember the report correctly from the newspaper, it's run by the person who used to run Saigon Springs downtown. We have two good sushi places: Jun, which most often wins the "best of" award and has opened a second location, and Sushi Ai. Caspian Cafe is located in a former Denny's at I-25 and Garden of the Gods and serves Mediterranean food. I had a good meal there, but I won't go back on nights when they have a belly dancer - she was often in the way of the waitstaff and nearly clocked a couple of people the night we were there!

I'm hoping/planning to do dinner at one of the local restaurants this week.

Coffee is difficult at this end of town as most places close at 9pm, 8pm or earlier on Sundays. This leaves Starbucks for "late night" - they close at 10pm. This is why although I like the local Pikes Perk and their coffees, I don't often go there. They're always closed when I'm in the mood for coffee. My current favorite is It's A Grind; while it's a chain, there are only two local outlets, and I like both their coffees and their passionfruit iced tea.

We don't get to downtown very often because by the time we drive down there (I-25 through town is under major reconstruction and to say it's ugly doesn't even come close) and find/pay for parking, we can be most of the way to south Denver.

I've never had bison.  Do you have to be careful not to overcook?  Is the lower fat content why you've added a little flavored butter?  Looks great.

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Yes, you do have to be careful about overcooking; since bison is so low in fat, it cooks faster than beef. That's why I usually cook it at a slightly lower temperature, to allow me more leeway in the timing. It didn't really need the butter, since it was cooked to right around medium rare and was very juicy, I just really like chive flower butter . The heat from the steak melts the butter and releases the gentle oniony flavor, and it's really pretty with all the lavender and green flower bits against the pale yellow butter (which I did not capture in my picture).

I don't believe any regimen or 'diet' that one looks on as a punishment or a series of 'don'ts', can work. And since your food looks delicious, I can see that you want to stick to this lifestyle!

I love those teamugs!

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You're absolutely right - if I didn't really like what I was eating, I wouldn't be eating it, I'd be out finding something I do like and eating that. Life is too short to eat bad food. (I love those tea mugs, too - they're big but comfortable to hold.)

In any case, an easy alternative to sun tea is tea brewed in the fridge - I had no idea you could do this but it turns out that you can, and it turns out great.  The method is easy - put tea bags and water in a pitcher in the fridge - in 12-24 hours you will have wonderful iced tea.  the thing I like is that it doesn't turn bitter at all, I think because you're not fully brewing it you never get to the tannins.  In any case, it's easy, and requires absolutley no monitoring!

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I'll have to give this a try, especially on a rainy day. I'm all for anything that gives great results that doesn't require a lot of work!

Marcia.

[purplewiz]

One of the many things I didn't get done yesterday was hard boil (hard cook) some eggs for snacks and lunches. I have a lot of eggs right now because they were on sale for $0.34 USD a dozen last week at SuperTarget:

The red thing in the water with the eggs is an egg timer.

One of issues of cooking here is altitude. We're at roughly 6500 ft. above sea level, which means water boils at roughly 198F. (It changes a degree or two based on weather/air pressure.) This means that the rules about timing eggs that work so well at sea level don't work here - a three minute egg is raw.

I really like this timer for boiling eggs - it is roughly egg sized and shape, and as the heat penetrates it, it turns dark. There are lines for soft, medium, and hard boiled eggs, and while it takes a little calibration to determine if you want to stop the cooking when the color reaches the line or a little before or afterwards, after that it works wonderfully.

When the eggs are cooked through, it looks like this:

After bringing the water to the boil, I've found that I can't take them completely off the heat because the pot cools down too much. I leave them on the burner turned all the way down as low as it will go.

One of those eggs was featured in lunch:

I love egg salad (egg, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper) on rice cakes. Rice cakes are all about texture, I love the contrast of the creamy egg salad with the cripsy rice. It's also really good topped with a slice of fresh tomato and slices of fresh avocado, which I'd've used if I had any.

I also ate a piece of cheese because I was still hungry, and figured I didn't need to take a picture of it .

Another issue of altitude is dehydration. The air here holds less water, so 12% humidity here is a lot less damp than 12% humidity at sea level. I am always carrying around a glass of something to drink:

It goes with me everywhere during the day, and I fill it multiple times. This is iced tea, but I've since switched to ice water. We always carry at least two bottles of water in the car no matter where we're going because dehydration can sneak up on you.

Marcia.

edited because when you leave out words you also leave out meaning

Edited June 22, 2006 by purplewiz (log)

[Genny]

Marcia, it is great to see you blogging this week!

I used to live near Garden of the Gods (for 3 years) and absolutely loved it. Its unfortunate the culinary outlook has not improved much since I was there, I moved in late 1999.

Do you ever get to Par Avion, the gourmet shop? It is all the way on the opposite side of town near the Broadmoor. We knew the owners; they get the freshest fish, great quality meats and have an incredible cheese selection. And their deli meats are what I originally fell in love with. They have real Italian cured meats (not Boar's Head)...mmmm caldo salami!!!

My favorite breakfast was at Gunther Toodies. What a great diner! Their chicken fried chicken still haunts me on Sunday mornings! I get a craving for it a few times a year (with the sausage gravy, natch!)

[GourmetLight$]

Hi Marcia: enjoying your blog as someone from "the Springs!" I moved away when I graduated from High School in 1976, but still have all of my closest family there. Where in the Springs do you live that you have deer in your yard?

I agree that Colorado Springs is chain-restaurant central! When my Mom gets excited about some new independent restaurant, inevitably about 6 months to a year later she reports that they've closed.

Cheers,

[jsolomon]

Another issue of altitude is dehydration. The air here holds less water, so 12% humidity here is a lot less damp than 12% humidity at sea level. I always carrying around a glass of something to drink:

It goes with me everywhere during the day, and I fill it multiple times. This is iced tea, but I've since switched to ice water. We always carry at least two bottles of water in the car no matter where we're going because dehydration can sneak up on you.

Marcia.

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I can attest to that. When I ran the Pike's Peak marathon, I carried 5 liters of water with me, and that was finished before I reached the summit! That's twice as much as I normally carry on a marathon and it was gone in half the distance, too!

[Hiroyuki]

I'm intrigued by this particular photo.  Is this some kind of square foot garden?

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I looked up square foot gardening since I wasn't sure about all the concepts, and I guess this is somewhat similar. The soil around here is very poor - it's either sand or impenetrable clay - and vegetables need a much richer mix. Our yard is also sloped, which makes it difficult to keep soils and water in place. A raised bed made sense to contain the improved/enriched soil. The soil level drops about 6" - 8" by the end of gardening season because the plants use it up. I'll try to take a picture from the side for another view.

The raised bed also has the advantage that the rabbits haven't climbed up into it yet. It probably makes them feel too exposed. The deer, however, have no issues walking right through it.

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Thanks! Tell us more about your garden!

[purplewiz]

Tonight's dinner:

Deconstructed chicken paprikash: chicken breasts seasoned with salt and pepper, then liberally coated with exquisite grade Hungarian paprika and smoked Spanish paprika, drizzled with olive oil, then grilled. Topped with caramelized onions and a dollop of sour cream, garnished with chive sticks and a chive flower.

Sides were grilled zucchini sticks seasoned with Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle (it works magic on zucchini) and a chopped vegetable salad of cucumbers, celery, green onions, tomato, and cheese crumbles dressed with a traditional vinaigrette.

(Side note: I love terms like "deconstructed" - it makes straightforward dishes sound so complicated and sophisticated!)

A great deal of today's cooking activities involved spilled liquids of various sorts topped by a thunderstorm which started just as I went to put the chicken on the grill and ended just about as we sat down to dinner, dessert was the usual square of chocolate and this:

which we sipped out on the deck watching the sun set between showers. The lawn and the garden will be happy.

Marcia.

[snowangel]

Marcia, I agree. Deconstructed sounds so elegant and complicated.

And, thanks for the hint on the Penzey's Sandwich Sprinke. My kids love grilled zucchini. Reminds me that I really should plant some zucchini.

[judiu]

Marcia, I agree.  Deconstructed sounds so elegant and complicated. 

And, thanks for the hint on the Penzey's Sandwich Sprinke.  My kids love grilled zucchini.  Reminds me that I really should plant some zucchini.

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Sorry, I have NO idea wha Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle consists of, but one of my new favorites is McCormick's Lemon & Dill Seasoning. It's salt free and just does the BEST things for a tuna salad sandwich, especially a commercial one that lacks seasoning at all. A dab of extra mayo (yes, dammit, Hellman's) and a good big blast of the lemon & dill stuff and some onion power and VIOLA! a whole new thing!

[purplewiz]

A quick picture of the kitchen:

It's reasonably sized, but even for being as large as it is it's really not set up for two people to cook simultaneously. The work triangle is all behind the island and the pantry is off to the left, so if there are two people around, we're constantly tripping over each other.

I'm afraid this is the way the kitchen really looks from day to day. It's ripe for a remodel, but that's not going to be happening, and a remodel wouldn't help the clutter issue.

What's great is that the kitchen does have a great deal of storage area. In addition to the cabinets there's the pantry:

The pantry looks more full than it is. All the items on the shelves are towards the front, and if I gave everything a good shove towards the back the shelves would probably be about half full.

The spice cabinet.

The deep freeze, out in the garage. I usually spend it down during the summer and restock for winter, but it's pretty full because Safeway had a spectacular meat sale a couple weeks ago.

There's also one more pantry out in the laundry room that I use for bulk food/soda storage, cooking equipment storage, and general stuff storage. It's a junk closet, basically.

And our cats:

Oreo....

...and Abbey. Oreo weighs about 17 lbs, Abbey about 10 lbs, and that's about right for each of them. Neither of them are "food cats": they like their treats, and Oreo is especially fond of cheese and has been known to steal bacon bits off salads that have been left unattended on the kitchen table, but neither of them are obnoxious or persistent about it. It makes for a more pleasant dinner time .

Tonight's tea is Celestial Seasonings Sweet Coconut Thai Chai. It has some flavors reminiscent of Thai iced tea. The mugs are from the Fat Beagle pottery in North Carolina.

Marcia.

[mizducky]

Awwwww ... cute kittieeees! The rapt attention with which they're staring up into the camera really makes me smile.

What is that gray electrical box-thingie sitting on the floor next to your kitchen's island? I'm guessing it's a humidifier ... ?

[Joann]

Gray electrical box-thingie looks a lot like my shredder-in the kitchen as well.

[BarbaraY]

Great Blog.

Do you include snacks in your food plan or just stick to three meals a day?

Do you bake at that elevation and have you managed to adjust recipes so that they work right?