Slipknot's Slope

[Chris55]

Kitchen clutter is a problem here, too. That's why I'm trying to swear off any more electric appliances. My cast irongrill/griddle is now where my Jennair grill was - it fits in the hole that the grill rack was on, so it's now part of the stove. That only leaves 2 burners unless I rearrange things like I do for Thanksgiving when I need the 4 stove top burners instead. But I just got the Aerogarden which now occupies the corner behind the stove where my rotisserie was (don't ask why I have one when I could put one on the Jennair), so the rotisserie is now part of a tower. Lowest level is the microwave, then the toaster oven, then the rotisserie. Ridiculous, especially in a small kitchen. And we're in a very old house with old wiring, so we have issues when we use too many things at the same time!

It sounds like you'll do fine with Phase 2. I added all my new carbs at the end of the day at first, too, since that's when I seemed to need more to eat. The carbs will also have less impact on your blood sugar than if you have them first thing in the morning.
Have fun experimenting!

[Slipknot]

It might have been chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with little shavings of dark chocolate, or...well...that pretty much sums it up. It might have been a heart-stoppingly dense slab of chocolate confection by the way my taste buds reacted. It might have been a lot of things, but as it was, it was a slice of whole wheat bread with a bit of smart balance spread on it. You know - whole wheat. Sticks and pine cones and bark - that kind of whole grain goodness - but to me it was heaven. Two weeks on Phase 1 will do that to a man. I made it through the valley, friends, and now it was time to shout down from the mountaintop: "Bread!"

B: Two eggs scrambled with red peppers, scallions, onion, garlic and scallions; refried black beans; 1%
S: Peanuts
L: Chicken Caesar salad, my old friend; diet coke
S: Green tea
S: String Cheese
D: Curried Chicken and Spinach Redux; ww bread with smart balance; 1% milk
S: LCL and zinfandel
S: Babybel

What can I say? I'm a wine and cheese guy. I guess I need a tweed jacket with elbow patches and a ponderous pipe. Could a membership to the art gallery be far off?

There's an inch of snow down and ice on the way; everyone but me has a two hour delay already. I'm trying to find a way to get in on that. I could use the beauty sleep. We'll see what kind of circus tomorrow's commute brings now that I have bread back.

[Chris55]

Isn't it amazing how good something so simple can taste? Wait until you have fruit next week!

[Slipknot]

Sometimes you don't have control over your food. I'm not talking about the cupcakes that jump off the counter and into your mouth - I've been there, and as much as we may not like to admit it, it takes an act of will. No, I'm talking about the catered lunch like I had yesterday with a pre-determined menu. I foolishy assumed there would be salad (there has to be salad, right?) so I packed an extra bag of nuts and a couple of string cheese for the meeting. When I saw chicken on the menu stuffed with squashes, onion, and red pepper, I thought everything would be okay. Alas, there were mere strands of vegetable; I maybe got a half cup total with the soup, and I paid for it with hunger in the afternoon.

I also turned away a brownie drizzled with chocolate sauce and dolloped with vanilla ice cream. I think I borrowed someone else's willpower, so if you didn't have any yesterday, it was my fault.

B: Two scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, onions, garlic, scallions and red pepper; refried black beans; 1% milk
S: Peanuts
L: Stuffed chicken breast; 1/2 a bowl of cream of mushroom soup; butternut squash; sniffed the air over someone else's brownie; diet coke
S: String Cheese
D: Sirloin steak; steamed brocolli, squash and carrots; diet coke
S: Babybel

I probably should have skipped the soup, but I was trying to get every veggie in that I could. I was really impressed by how hungry I got without veggies at lunch, and by how quickly I filled up at dinner. I ate about 4oz of steak and probably two cups of mixed veg and I felt like I ate the entire fatted calf by myself.

DW noted some looseness in my clothes this morning, but she may just want something...

[Slipknot]

So I got my mandoline and box chopper last week and put the chopper to immediate use - the mandoline not so much. When faced with the prospect of leftover roast beef needing a veg, I decided to julienne some squashes and sautee the sticks with some red pepper strips, red onion and mushrooms. It worked out well with some thyme, basil, oregano, parsely, salt, and pepper in the pan along with a dusting of parmesan on the plate. This Vidalia box chopper - an As Seen On TV gadget - is well-designed and cleans up easily. I would never typically buy that kind of thing (I saw too many K-tel and Ronco commercials in my youth; "Now how much would you pay? Don't answer!"), but I have to give them props for this. With my time constaints and my poor vision (does anyone else cook with reading glasses on?), it's only a matter of time before I chop a finger off if I stick with knives for everything.

B: Two scrambled eggs with onion, garlic, scallions, and Canadian bacon; refried black beans; 1% milk
S: Peanuts
L: Whopper Wednesday! BK Chef salad with grilled chicken; diet coke
S: Green Tea
S: String Cheese
D: Roast beef; squashes, red peppers, red onion and mushrooms sauteed in evoo with herbs and parmesan; slice of ww bread with smart balance; 1% milk
S: Babybel
S: Thin slice of angel food cake with whipped cream

My second snack was off-plan but DW made a fuss out of making a dessert for me and I had to have a little. So far, no ill effects in terms of morning hunger, so the timing must have been okay.

Lakegran recently asked my why I chose "Slipknot" as my name. It's actually the name of a song/jam by the Grateful Dead. Am I a deadhead? Not at all, neither in lifestyle, nor obsessive musical choice, but I do listen to them once in a while. I really like jazz and a lot of music with jazz influences; that particular song is an improvisational jam and it's a nickname I used years ago on a music forum, so I picked it up again. Aren't you sorry you asked?

[Chris55]

So was the angel food cake the birthday splurge? If so, Happy Birthday!! Having a little sugar late at night is the best time to have it - not much in the way of residual cravings if you go to sleep afterwards.

I love kitchen gadgets, too. I have a touch of carpal tunnel, so got one of those little hand choppers and managed to bend the blade a bit - overzealous chopping! My mandoline is great for slaws and major amounts of slicing. And I have one of those tiny food processor/choppers so I can zip up pesto or grind nuts to throw in my breadcrumbs. That way the big clunker one can stay in a cabinet. But I like my knives the best for most things! Just need to keep them sharp.

[chefk]

I'm really glad it wasn't the sadistic freakjob punk band! I also like the dead...and any type of jam band tune along with funky bluesy stuff.

As for mandolins, I've always had a deep fear. For cucumber salads, okay, I'll have my husband crank away at it, but otherwise I'll depend on good ol' knife skills. I've watched too many chef shows with a race to the emergency room that leaves me chewing my nails. Luckily I'm a burner not a cutter. They say you're one or the other.

I'm in situations all the time at work where I'm stuck and I can't depend on my packed lunch or heading out. You just can't explain to your boss that you don't want to eat the pizza and brownies provided at the meeting and you must depart for 1/2 hour. My boss actually knows I don't eat the regular office fare and generally apologizes on the side as he pops his "surprise!" Joe Suit from downtown is treating us to a meeting during your lunch hour, don't forget to thank him when he gets here!! I keep stuff in the fridge so I can pick at the pizza tops during the meeting, then dash upstairs after and slurp down chili between then and the end of the day. Gotta love that a coffee mug functions as a bowl. Out meetings and all day ones are tougher though. It's good you were able to bring something at all.

[Chris55]

There's nothing like a mandolin for making slaw or slicing a pile of potatoes for scalloped potatoes (which I don't do very often any more ). I don't like wasting anything, but when I use the mandolin, I use the little toothed holder that comes with it, and I actually throw away the end of the veggie instead of trying to slice every last bit. It kills me, but I either eat the end (cukes or carrots) or toss it (onions/potatoes). I like my fingers right where they are!

[Slipknot]

Many moons ago, I worked at nights in a pizza joint. I ran the sandwich counter and grill, and one of my responsibilities was cleaning the deli slicer every shift. For sheer bloodletting potential, that enormous and rapidly circulating blade made the mandolin look like a cap gun in a border war. If I could get the kind of thin slice I want out of an onion, I wouldn't have bought the thing.

The angel food was my birthday cake. I waved it off on the actual night, but had to circle back or risk insulting DW. Desserts are her bailiwick.

I'm not sure if I'm a burner or a cutter. I'll have to consider this. I'm thinking burner on first pass.

[lakegran72]

Just stopped by get my morning portion of wisdom and giggles ( and thank you for that). you never disappoint.

[Slipknot]

More minor fowls - maybe it's because I've been cooped up, or maybe I've just fallen in the pecking order - whatever it is, I went a bit off plan on the poultry. It comes down to not really wanting to give it up, and at least my transgressions didn't involve frosting. Yet.

DD had a birthday party at 6:00PM last night and I had a haircut scheduled for 7:00, so it was SB fast food for dinner - a rotisserie chicken. Whoever invented those deserves some kind of award.

B: Two eggs scrambled with onions, scallions, garlic, red pepper and Canadian bacon; refried black beans; 1% milk
L: A chicken wing; Antipasto salad (is there a pro-pasto salad?); diet coke
S: String cheese
D: Rotisserie chicken leg, dark meat but not skin; sauteed squashes redux; ww bread with smart balance; 1% milk
S: Babybel

On the way out to lunch, I realized I forgot my morning snack. That's how solid breakfast is and it's why I'm changing around my bean configuration - I had refried pintos today. Beans for breakfast keeps me very zen all morning; I don't even think about food most times until noon. Today is a little different story, but that's shovelling for you.

[chefk]

Sure, it's when you go back for more pasto after dinner. Actually Post-pasto

[buttercups]

Happy Friday Slipknot!

After all of your talk about mandolins, I went and got one!! Just a small one, but it is lovely! When I got home from work, my husband said maybe we should go out and get dinner because he was starving, but I almost started crying because I really wanted to use my new kitchen toy! So I won, I got to slice up onions happily! Nice and thin! Thanks for the idea!

[Chris55]

Way too many chicken jokes, Chris! But I agree about the rotisserie chickens - brilliant development in terms of saving time and eating something healthy. They're only $5 at Sam's Club - almost not worth cooking one yourself. Good leftover, too, if you can keep the family from eating the whole thing.

[Slipknot]

Post hoc ergo pasto hoc.

I finally had an excuse to slice an onion thin and the mandolin made my knife skills look less than mad. And, yo, I got mad skillz. I'm loving me some deadly slicer atm. New gadgets rule. Everyone reading this should drop at least $20 on their kitchen now.

Some Neolithic hunter-gatherer no doubt invented the Rotis Chick (as we've taken to calling it here at Slipknot manor. Yup, we've relied on its convenience for many moons) by, well, shoving a stick where a stick was never shoved, and then fire and all that. We'll never know because they didn't bother to write stuff down back then. But it's only been within the past decade that technology has given us the means to cook, handle, and distribute the things at the mass production level, unless I just flat-out missed them in the prepared foods aisle. I'm pretty sure it's a recent thing, and that landing on the moon was a prerequisite.