Doesn't this look absolutely awesome!

Doesn't that look like a wonderful way to end a Monday?

I've been AWOL.  Sorry!  Life interfered.  I didn't remember to weigh in on Friday or Saturday.  Therefore, I do not have an update on that front.  Groceries for the week ... I hadn't been grocery shopping since August!  I had purchased much protein (meats) and had veggies in the freezer.  Publix offered a coupon this past weekend:  spend $50 on groceries and receive a $50 gas card for $40.  That was incentive enough!  I bought mostly staples: condiments, tuna, etc.  I eeked in with $52.00 in groceries.  Plus the gas card!  Plus plus ... I walked to and from the grocery store.

I was invited out to dinner Sunday evening.  As a result, I didn't do my normal cooking on Sunday.  I wasn't going to eat any of the entree on Sunday so I opted to cook later in the week.  I might be cooking individual entrees this week.

Sunday dinner was: salmon topped with soft goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon butter plus sautéed spinach as my side.  Monday ... oh my! ... Monday was delicious.  I'd splurged on a ribeye steak over the weekend.  I cooked it stove-top on Monday.  I added a garlic tomato butter sauce to it.  It was lip smackin' yummy!  How good does that steak above (and below!) look?   And the sauce ... 5 wing flaps!  I melted butter in the pan.  While it was melting, I dried and then seasoned (Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt) the steak.  When the butter was melted and the pan hot, I put the steak in it - listen for that sizzle! I let it cook for 4-5 minutes each side.  I like it a lot on the pink side!

It makes my mouth water just looking at it!

No nutritional information for this.  

Carbs are killing you! An infographic

Two and a half years ago I came across a very informative infographic.  I don't recall where I first saw it.  It's hosted here.  I'm reposting it on my blog.  This infographic really explains, with pictures, how carbs (not fat), make us fat.  The infographic includes attribution to Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes, which is a useful explanatory read.

Zippy Chicken

Happy Tuesday!  Last night I promised a 5 wing flap recipe.  Here it is!  As I mentioned, I started with Linda's Seoul Chicken.  This chicken is absolutely delicious - and oh-so-moist!  There's some zip to the flavor - hence my name for it.  And OMG - the skin just crisps up.  It melted in my mouth.

Look how brown-n-crispy that chicken skin is!  Yummy!

Zippy Chicken

6-8 chicken thighs, skin on (I used boneless)
Sauce
5 tablespoons Tamari sauce (gluten-free soy sauce)
6 drops liquid Splenda
1/8 teaspoon Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
5 tablespoons water Xanthan Gum, optional

Place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag.  Mix the sauce ingredients, except the Xanthan gum, in a small bowl.  Pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken.  Close the bag and knead gently to coat all of the chicken pieces.  Place the bag in a shallow pan, just in case the bag leaks.  Put the bag in the refrigerator and marinate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over occasionally.

Put the thighs, skin side up, in a baking pan.  I used a deep dish cookie sheet (of sorts).  You could use a 9x13 pan.  You definitely want a tall lip on the pan.  Add the sauce from the bag on top of the chicken.  Bake at 425º for 30 minutes until the meat is done.  Remove the chicken from the baking pan to a serving platter and keep warm.

Pour the remaining juices into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and lightly sprinkle the Xanthan Gum over the liquid while whisking briskly.  Caution - do not to let it get too thick.  Stop before you think it's thick enough or you'll get glue.  Serve the sauce over chicken. Don't want to go to that much extra effort?  Pour the pan juices straight from the cooking pan  over the chicken.

Nutritional information for the entire sauce recipe, including Xanthan Gum, ONLY:

Carbs:  8.1g (16%)

Protein:  10.0g (20%)

Fat: 13.7g (64%)

Calories:  188

Nutritional info for the chicken:

Check your chicken's label.

Update!

Hi!  Happy Monday!!  Normally, I'd have cooked up a good-sized entree yesterday and it would last most, if not all, of the week.  That didn't happen this week.  Let's back up.  I was supposed to be out of town all weekend for a Leadership Retreat, leaving Friday and returning on Sunday afternoon.  Life happened (death in the family) and I stayed in town Friday and Saturday.  As part of the Leadership Retreat there was to be a 2.5-hour organizational board meeting on Sunday.  I drove down there (3.5 hours) on Sunday morning, attended the meeting, and drove back home that afternoon.  I skipped square dancing because I was exhausted (to put it mildly).  I got home about 4p.m. and was zonked out by 4:15p.m.  No cooking that day!  Thankfully I had food left from the weekend.  My sister had VERY thoughtfully picked me up a bunless burger from Red Robin on Saturday.  I had that for dinner on Sunday.  Other than that and a little bit of deli meat and cheese driving to Palm Beach, I didn't eat on Sunday.

A friend from OK texted me yesterday to let me know she and her beau are in town.  So I had lunch with them today!  I had a really moist and delicious stuffed cheddar burger.  It was REALLY yummy.

For dinner I made Linda's Seoul Chicken, modified slightly.  Come back tomorrow for the recipe as I made it.  Spoiler:  5 wing flaps!

I did weigh myself on Friday.  Here are the visuals from my week.

Legend:

C = carbs in grams

T = total calories

C = percentage of calories from carbs

P = percentage of calories from protein

F = percentage of calories from fat

A = percentage of calories from alcohol

E = effective (net) carbs in grams

M = number of meals

D = amount of water drunk

W = weight

Update!

Happy day-after-Hump Day!  I haven't cooked all week.  :-(  Between the spareribs I cooked on Sunday and leftover ribs from the week before, I haven't needed to cook.  My breakfasts and lunches were Rev Roll sandwiches.  I made one with ham salad (using canned ham).  I made one ... well, two ... with mozzarella cheese.  How yummy does that sound?  Warm cheese sandwiches.  Yum yum!  Today I just fixed up some simple tuna salad.  

And I realized that I'm spoiled when it comes to tuna.  For 2-3 years I've eaten only tuna canned in olive oil.  Now, for cost savings, I've switched back tuna canned in water.  Not the pre-drained kind in the foil packet, but actually canned.  I have to 'fess up ... I'm not a fan of the canned-in-water variety.  A) It doesn't drain well.  B) It tastes bland.  If I see my preferred brand on sale (Genova Tonno tuna canned in olive oil).  Even on Amazon the Genovo is easily twice as expenses as the other stuff.

I'll be at a retreat this weekend soooooo ... not sure how much time I'll have to update.  Maybe I'll post pics of what I choose to eat.  That would help keep me on track!

Sunday - big entree day!

Happy Sunday!  I slept in this morning.  And my dog, Chase, let me. He's such a good dog.  It was glorious!  Of course, I didn't go to sleep until after 2 a.m., so does it still count as sleeping in?  lol

Today's recipe is ... wait for it ... Oven-Baked White BBQ Pork Spareribs!  When I was growing up in Cali, BBQ meant putting the meat on the grill outside, usually with a red bbq sauce.  My dad made up his own sauce:  ketchup, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and, I think, a little bit of soy sauce.  That's what we used when we grilled outside.  For slow cooker bbq, my stepmom used her own sauce, which contained a good helping of brown sugar.  As I recall, my dad hated that sugary sauce.  I loved it.  No surprise ... it was sweet!

When I moved to Florida, I was confronted with several types of BBQ sauce.  That's when I discovered that BBQ in the south is somewhat of a hot topic.  Listen to this song for a summary of the types of BBQ (tomato-based, mustard-based, vinegar-based, etc.) and where they are popular.  According to that song, "grilling", not "BBQ" means cooking out on the grill, while "BBQ" is a style of cooking.  That's a bit of specificity in language; semantics where one specific name becomes the common term.  It's akin to the general usage of "Kleenex" to mean "tissues" or "Xerox" to mean "copies."

Back to what I cooked today.  I bought two slabs of pork spareribs last week when they were on sale for $1.99/#.  As I said before, that was too good of a deal to pass up.  The first slab I cooked up with a homemade tomato-based sauce.  Today I made a mayonnaise-based bbq sauce for the second slab of ribs.  I just finished off 3 off the ribs.  They are all kinds of lip-smackin', 5 wing flaps, of yumminess!  There is a very little bit of tang and kick to the sauce.  It has layers and depth.

Ribs right out of the oven

 

A plate of yumminess ready to eat!

Juicy ribs plated to be eaten!

Oven-Baked White BBQ Pork Spareribs

1 slab of ribs

White BBQ Sauce

White BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/4 cup of water (if you want a thicker sauce, decrease amount of water)

2T apple cider vinegar

1/2t lemon juice (I used bottled)

1/2t prepared Horseradish

1/2t Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt

1/8t paprika

1/8t ground garlic

1 drop liquid Splenda

Preheat the oven to 325F.  Remove slab of ribs from packaging.  Put them meat-side down on a foil lined pan with a lip.  Using a knife, lift up the thin membrane that covered the backside of the ribs.  Remove the membrane - using a paper towel to grip it as you pull it up makes it easier.  NOTE:  I've never done this step before but read that the membrane becomes tough.  I'm not sure it really made a difference.  Then liberally salt both sides with Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt.  Cover the ribs, meat-side down, with foil.  Bake at 325F for 30 minutes.  Flip the ribs.  Bake another 30 minutes.  

While the ribs bake, mix the sauce.  The sauce will be thin.

After the second 30 minutes in the oven, remove the ribs.  Turn the oven up to broil.  Apply the sauce to the ribs - both sides.  Pop the ribs, meat-side up, into the oven on the top shelf and broil for 5 minutes.  Remove and baste with more sauce.  Broil 5 more minutes.  When the ribs are nice and brown on top, remove.  Let rest 3 minutes or so; allow the juices to be reabsorbed into the meat.  Enjoy!

Nutritional value of sauce only:

Carbs: 4.9g (3%)

Protein: .7g (0%)

Fat: 72.1g (97%)

Calories:  738

Nutritional value of spareribs:

Check the packaging

Weekly status update

Whoops! It's been a bit over a week since my last status update.  I'm thrilled (THRILLED) to report that I'm down another pound!  I was a touch concerned because I had wine (Cupcake Moscato d'Asti) on a couple of nights.  The weekly numbers are below.  

Legend:
C = grams of carbs
T = total calories
C = percentage of calories from carbs
P = percentage of calories from protein
F = percentage of calories from fat
A = percentage of calories from alcohol
E = grams of effective carbs (total carbs - fiber)
M = number of meals that day
D = amount of water intake
W = weight

Thank you for following along my flight with me!

Oven BBQ Pork Spareribs

Howdy!  I worked from my home office today so I was able to cook up some delicious spareribs.  These are pretty yummy - if I do say so myself.  I had a sweven (vision) of them darkening up like normal bbq does in the oven.  Then I realized that there's no sugar to caramelize.  These are 4 wing flaps of yumminess anyway.

Oven BBQ Pork Spareribs

1 Slab of pork spareribs (mine was 3.5#)
Homemade BBQ sauce

Put a slab of ribs, meat side down, on shallow, foil covered pan.  Brush with sauce.  Bake in oven at 350F for 1.5 hours.  Baste and flip.  Bake at 250F for 1.5 hours, basting every 10-15 minutes.  Watch the time - govt. says it's okay to cook until center hits 145F.  Let rest for 3 minutes.  Then chow down.

Homemade BBQ Sauce
1 14.5oz can Italian diced tomatoes
1/3 can water
2T Tamari (gluten-free soy) sauce
2T Worcestershire sauce
2T Steak sauce
1T spicy mustard
1T Balsamic Vinegar
2t liquid smoke
4 drops liquid Splenda

Put it all into the blender.  Mix together.  Makes 24 ounces.

Nutritional information for entire recipe of sauce:

Carbs:  57.70g (81%)
Protein:  11.16g (16%)
Fat:  1.32g (3%)
Calories:  281

Nutritional information for spareribs:  check packaging of your ribs!

Ham with Mustard Tamari (soy) Sauce

Happy Tuesday!  I was a very productive gal today.  This is a big deal because ... I woke up exhausted this morning.  After seven hours of sleep ... I felt like I'd barely gotten 3 hours.  I finally woke up after about 3 hours at the office.  Then this afternoon, during my productivity, I sat too long in one position.   Pain from my right rib in back down into my hip and then the outside of my thigh.  I could feel a little pain below the knee but for the most part it ended at the knee.  The pain was severe enough that I didn't square dance tonight.  Bummer!  Seriously, I was disappointed that I didn't feel okay to dance.  I've spent some time this evening researching how to relieve sciatic pain.  Apparently there are two types of pain:  true sciatica pain caused by the nerve being "pinched" by the disc and piriformis caused by the muscle tightening around or touching the nerve.  I'm going to try stretching and see if that helps.

On to the more fun stuff!  I baked a ham on Sunday.  I know!  It's Tuesday and there's no recipe posted yet.  Bad me!  I love  (love, love, love!) ham, especially smoked picnic ham.  So this gets 5 wing flaps even without the sauce.  I made a Mustard Tamari (wheat-free soy) Sauce.  The sauce is finger-licking yummy.  The juice from the fresh ginger added a whole 'nother dimension to the sauce.  Don't skip the notes at the end. 

Finished ham.  Look how shiny!

Smoked Picnic Ham  with Mustard Tamari Sauce

1 Smoked picnic ham (mine was 8#)

1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
3 tablespoons Tamari sauce
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
4 drops Splenda
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons juice from fresh ginger (I was trying for grated ginger but all I got was juice so I went with it)

Sauce:  stir all ingredients together.  Baste ham with it.

Start with a smoked picnic ham.  Place it in a pan with a lip (I used a 9x13 glass baking dish lined with foil).  Bake, covered with foil, at 325F for 20 minutes per pound (follow instructions on outside of packaging).  

When the ham is 2/3 of the way done, take it out of the oven.    Remove the skin and top layer of fat.  Score the top with cross hatches.  Pour or brush some of the sauce onto the ham.   You want to get the sauce into the crevices you just made.  

Put the ham back into the oven at 225F until fully cooked.  Basted it every 10 minutes or so.  Remove from oven.  Let sit for a bit.  Save the juices for a later use.  Carve and eat your fill!

Notes:

1.  Most recipes say "put ham skin side down to start."  My ham has skin on all sides so that instruction is a FAIL for me.  I cook mine with the fattiest side up.  That way the melting fat seeps into the body of the ham.

2.  You can add the sauce at the beginning.  Your choice.  If you do, you might try poking holes into the ham so the sauce permeates the ham.

3.  I've never made a "glaze" - which I believe involved reducing the liquid to a thick and sticky liquid - so I stuck with what I know:  a sauce.  :-)  This sauce was finger-licking good.

Nutritional Information for the entire recipe of sauce:

Carbs:  10.33g (63%)

Protein:  6.14g (37%)

Fat:  .43g (0%)

Calories:  64

Nutritional Information for the ham:  see packaging on your ham.

Using leftovers for lunch

Hi!  Happy Labor Day!  I hope you are taking the day for some R&R.  I am!  I baked some Italian Rev Rolls this afternoon.  For those who don't know, Rev Rolls are short for "Diet Revolution Rolls" from the Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution book (1972).  He made his with cottage cheese. I make mine with mayo because I rarely have cottage cheese in the house.  Although ... cottage cheese sounds yummy right now.  Back to the topic at hand ... Rev Rolls can be sweet, savory, or plain.  They work fabulously as a vehicle for sandwiches.  I've seen them used in desserts.  Between the ham I baked last night and the Rev Rolls today, three guesses what I'm having for lunch and the first two don't count.  Yup!  Ham sandwich!  Doesn't that sound absolutely delish??? :-)

Rev Rolls store well in the fridge.  Store them in a zipper bag with wax or parchment paper between each role.  They will soften up a bit on the second day.  I don't think I've tried freezing them.  I eat mine within 3 days or so. 

6 finished Italian Rev Rolls - see the specs of Italian Seasoning?

Here's my recipe for Italian Rev Rolls.  Make sure to see the Notes (having to do with Cream of Tartar and yolks in the whites) at the bottom.

Italian Rev Roll

3 XL eggs, separated
3T mayo
1/2t Italian seasoning
1/2t Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt
1 drop liquid Splenda

Whip the egg whites until they are ultra stiff.  And I mean STIFF!

See how stiff they are?  There's a chunk sticking up towards the top of the bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the yolks, mayo, seasonings, and Splenda.

Fold the two mixtures together. Start by adding a little bit of the egg whites to the yolk mixture to lighten the yolk mixture. Then, in thirds, fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites.

Drop into 6 equally-sized rounds on a buttered (parchment paper lined) cookie sheet or a muffin-top pan.

Mixes folded together and put into a muffin top pan (these are a little runnier than normal).

Bake at 325F for 18-20 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

Nutritional Informational for the entire recipe:
Carbs:  1.34g (1%)
Protein:  21.89g (18%)
Fat:  44.30g (81%)
Calories:  526

Notes:

1.  You can use Cream of Tartar to help stiffen the egg whites. I usually do and didn't this time because I don't have any in the house.

2.  EVERY recipe I've seen on the web for whipping egg whites says something to the effect of "When whipping the egg whites, the bowl must be absolutely dry and clean or they won't whip up" And "Make sure that, when separating the egg, not even one speck of egg yolk is left in the whites or they won't whip up."  I call BS on both of those statements.  Why?

Because when I separated the eggs (the first time), I tried the plastic bottle technique (sucking the yolk back out of the bowl after cracking the egg into the bowl) and one of the yolks broke.  Unfortunately, I'd done what I know not to do - cracked the second egg into the bowl with the white of the first egg.  Oops.  I ended up making scrambled eggs using those two eggs because I hadn't eaten yet.  And I started over.

The second time, I used the same bowl - after washing it.  It was still a little damp when the egg whites landed in it.  Then I used the "pass the egg yolk back and forth between the shell halves" to separate the first egg.  The yolk broke!  I got most of the yolk out and continued with the second and third egg.  Normally, I'd have started over but I wanted to test the "not a speck of yolk" instruction.  Below is the picture of the egg whites before whipping.  As you can tell from the photo above, at least the little bit of yolk in the whites didn't matter.  Remember - I didn't use Cream of Tartar either.

Egg whites before whipping.  See the egg yolk in the south east corner of the bowl?