food

i like food better than cars/my food never breaks down on the highway
i like food better than cars/my food ain’t rusted all to shit
– NSQ

Snackomatic

Here’s my current A-1 go-to power-snack. Everything organic, if you can find/afford it:

  • 1 whole cucumber, washed (not peeled) and medium-chopped
  • 1/4 cup raw almonds
  • 3 tablespoons non-fat plain yogurt
  • 1 shake cayenne
  • 3 shakes chili
  • 1 shake cinnamon
  • 1 shake ground coriander
  • 1 shake salt
  • 1 squirt cold-pressed flaxseed oil

Toss/mix in a bowl and eat. Protein, beneficial oil, vegetables, and the benefits of chili. Yum!

I’ve been making variations of this soup for years. I used to include meat, but seldom do anymore; it just doesn’t seem to need it. Likewise, I used to use added fat in the form of oil or butter, but that has also fallen by the wayside. With a slow-cooker or crock-pot, this is dead easy.

1 medium yellow onion, small chopped
1 head garlic, peeled and diced
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can corn, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can baked beans (the tomatoey-saucy kind, or pork’n'beans)
chili powder, cayenne powder, tabasco/vinegar, cumin, salt, pepper

I used to fry the onion and garlic at higher heat with butter or oil, but now I just sweat them dry in the slow cooker until translucent; a little salt helps get the moisture out of the onions. After that, I just dump all the cans in. I drain/rinse the corn, garbanzo beans, and red/kidney beans. The black beans go in straight; the black gunk in the can adds a certain low-brow excitement.
On top of that, hit it hard with the chili. Hard! Like 2-3 tablespoons, maybe more.. Don’t be shy; chili is mild enough, and this is for flavour, not heat. Spike it up with a few hard shakes of cayenne. Be more cautious here; taste frequently as you go, and be aware that the cayenne heat will build as the brew stews. Don’t forget the salt and pepper; easy now, keep seasoning as you brew, as you can always add more later, but can’t take it away.
If the mix seems too dry, put in a can of water. Now here’s the “secret”; you need a little acidity. I add a dash of vinegar, or a couple shots of Tabasco (which is really just pepper-flavoured vinegar). This plays against the sugars of the onions, corn, and baked beans.
Now get it all to bubble once or twice (plop ploorp!), then drop the temp to looooow and brew as long as you can stand to.

It’s been about a month now, and I’ve been sticking to it. The new diet, that is. Maybe diet is the wrong word; it’s more like feeding scheme. I’ve been oh-so-good at procrastination all these years, certainly in the area of diet and exercise. I’m still procrastinating about going to see the (recommended to me by a friend) nutritionist, but at least I’ve somehow managed to make some solid and radical shifts in the way I eat.

First off, the cold-turkey stuff. No more added fats; butter, oil, cream, etc., excepting a little cold flax oil on a salad now and then. No more bread and pasta; actually, I’m aiming for no more wheat at all, at least no more gluten. No more fruit juice. No more starches; no potatoes, no rice.
My dairy intake is now limited to non-fat organic plain yoghurt, and the very rare serving of cheese. Now that I’ve been training myself to see fruit as sugar, and sugar as massive low-quality caloric intake, I’m pretty much right off of fruit. I’m trying to get in a few servings of fruit per week, but always combined with a protein. For fruit, I’ve been sticking to dried mulberries, blueberries (very few!), and apples.

Now, for what I have been eating. Raw veggies; these are “free”. I prefer “crunchy” over leafy or mushy; I must be eating 10 raw cucumbers a week, along with cauliflower, grape tomatoes, carrots, and fennel. During this period, I have discovered that I am indeed allergic to celery. I’ve also become a fool for raw organic almonds. I’m not (yet) a vegetarian, but I’m seeing more easily how I could become one. I’ve stocked my freezer/fridge with boneless/skinless chicken breasts and trimmed lean pork loin chops, pre-cut into 1/2-size portions and individually wrapped/frozen.
Alone with what I don’t eat, and what I do eat, I’ve been paying much attention to when I eat. My (largely successful) goal has been to eat 5-7 times each day. I am learning to keep food with me at all times; the moment I begin to feel the least big hungry, or feel my energy dropping, I’ll drink a glass of water and eat a dozen almonds, a cucumber, or a carrot. Even better, I’m trying to make myself eat before I feel any hunger, regularly every 2-3 hours.

Naturally, I’m eating out much much less these days. When I do, I’m scanning the menu for health. So far, the one real “cheat” I allow myself is sushi; it’s too expensive to bulk up on, and I figure good sushi is not such a bad indulgence.

Still, there are those times… Craving bread has been the worst. Not just bread, but dough. I’d give most anything for a consequence-free pizza. Bagels. Bagels with cream cheese. Huge sandwiches. Uhg. It’s in these moments that I’m finding myself most-tested… And so, as I am right this moment, I can be occasionally found eating my fill, bulking up, eating, chewing, and swallowing just for the feel of it. Today’s weapon of choice? Air-puffed millet, dry out of the sack. Yeah, not so indulgent after all, but it stuffs my face just fine.

I’m starting with an Asian Pear or two. A few thin slices of Abruzzese, then into the cheeses. While we wait for the cheese to come up to room temperature, let’s get to the beer.

Tonight I’m re-visiting “The Gnome” with a bottle of spiced Belgian golden ale; the fine La Chouffe. I’ve had this beer before, and while these light ales are not my usual first choice, this is definately the best of the breed, and a better accompaniment to the cheeses at hand than, say, the Mc Chouffe bitter or Houblon Chouffe I.P.A. that were also tempting me.

Taleggio is out first cheese of the night. Ah, a sip of beautiful light ale, touched with spice, followed by a nibble of tangy, salty cheese. Also on the plate, warming and softening even more quickly, is the other cheese: Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog. This second cheese appears more intimidating, but is creamier, with a sweeter nose; a dessert cheese, if you will.

Almost through that first glass of La Chouffe; 8% beer sneaks up fast, and soon I’ll be mellowarm and happy at the end of the day. :)

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