Defcon 4

Defcon 4.  My weight has ballooned since the cave baby joined us.  I've drawn a line in the sand, Barack H. Obama style.  It's a full on U.N. effort.

More cooking.  Less mac and fishticks.  No chemical weapons.

I am going to make a real effort to find simple, lower effort recipes that reheat well.  I kind of overdid it tonight in that department.  Here's what I cooked.

Turnip greens and water chestnuts.

Ingredients:
- Bacon
- Turnip Greens
- Water Chestnuts
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt, Pepper

Dice bacon nice and small.  Wash, wash, wash the greens. Roughly chop them.  Brown the bacon then add the greens and simmer on medium high for a couple of minutes.  Add water to cover and all the spices.  Cook until they are tender, then add water chestnuts and cook until they are heated.

Green Curry with Chicken Thighs and Sweet Potatoes.

Ingredients:
- 3 slices of bacon.
- 1 lb Chicken Thighs (1 inch cubes)
- 1.5 lbs Sweet Potatoes (peeled and cubed)
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cans coconut milk.
- 1 bottle of Thai Kitchen Green Curry Paste

Cook the bacon whole, in strips, then remove.  Brown the chicken chunks in the bacon grease then add the sweet potatoes and the onion.

Stir everything together and then add the coconut milk and curry paste.  Bring to a boil then lower temperature and cover to simmer the ingredients until the sweet potatoes are softish.

Crumble up some bacon and eat.

Honey Mustard Pig Ribs

Salt, Pepper, and garlic on the liberal as a nice dry rub.  In the oven at 400 degrees.  Once it's close to done hit it with some homemade honey mustard.  Throw under broiler until crispy.

Served with Brussels sprouts and jasmine rice.

4.22 Reboot

Lots has happened since my January grokfest.  Cave-baby is here (5 weeks now), I've gained a bit of weight back, though not as much as I lost.  I've been sticking to gluten free, but eating more rice, beans and corn.

What will this reboot look like.

Dairy: Using butter will be fine, so will occasional Greek yogurts and whatnot.
Rice, corn and beans.  Rice and corn very occasionally.  Hominy and beans are go in chillis and stews.

There will be a bigger focus on fiber and eating more quantity of plants in general.

This run will start tomorrow and last 2 weeks.  

Judgement "Free" Zone

Planet Fitness is a "Judgement Free Zone".  And yeah.  The judgement, totally free.  It's free right here, and you'll get my 2 cents to boot.

Free Judgement No. 1:
You're not gaining weight, endurance or any other measurable benefit while you're sitting on the work station.  Maybe you're chatting, checking your iPhone, or keeping your towel off the floor while you "hydrate".  Kick it into gear and do some dips, ab work, or curls.  Do something.  I've done my normal 20 minute workout and seen folks on the same workout bench they were on when I arrived.  I know it's only 10 bucks a month, but I bet your chair at home is more comfortable to sit on than the bench or dip station you're keeping down.

Free Judgement No. 2:
If you're the overweight guy or gal on the elliptical, you can back the tempo and still get a nice workout.  Promise.  Lift some weight and get strong.  If you do manage to lose weight, you'll want to hold onto some of that muscle you've earned just from the "weight bearing exercise" of being fat.  No lie, bigger women are less likely to get osteoporosis for this same reason.

Free Judgement No. 3:
What's up with the 4 funky ab stations no-one uses, and the 1 combo dip/abs station and the 1 assisted chin-up/dips station.

Free Judgement No. 4:
Your iPhone App sucks, why are you advertising it so heavily.

That's it for now guys.

Preparing for Cave Baby

Nesting is, I am happy to say, a very real phenomenon.

Tomie has become very suddenly and urgently involved in making the baby have a space to call his own when he gets here.

It's been wild, but Craigslist once again saved the day for us and got us a great deal on the crib (pictured)  as well as a changing table.

Cool stuff.

In the meantime... what have I been eating this month?

Well some healthy stuff like Pineapple-Pork Chops, brussel sprouts, chicken sausage and veggie kabobs...

And some not so healthy stuff like a gut-busting Whataburger featuring onion rings.

Yes, that's a lot of gluten.

Yes, I felt bad afterwards.

I also ate like 3 pieces of chocolate raspberry cake from our baby shower.

I totally paid for it, but it was a worth it.  It's nice to reaffirm your diet via self-destruction while totally savoring the greasy fried bread grease.

Thanks for Breakfast Jeff

Bacon and Eggs.

The eggs came from my buddy Jeff H's chickens.  They were nice and runny and had a good whack of beta carotene.

Not like those "wormy" store bought eggs as my great-uncle would say.

Also, fried up some Brussels Sprouts in the rest of the bacon grease with a quarter onion.

Great breakfast.

Chinese Buffet

All you can eat.  Raw fish and some oysters.  Eating out again has been fun.  Go February!