2008: The Best Version of Myself

Not really :D

America's Test Kithchen-the cooking show on PBS that's affliated with Cooks Illustrated magazine (my favorite cooking magazine) they'r ekind of the consumer reports of cooking -

Adding a panade (a paste of bread and milk paste) to the ground beef creates burgers that are juicy and tender even when well-done. For a burger that cooks up flat, press the center of each patty down with your fingertips before grilling. Serve the burgers on your favorite buns or rolls. For cheeseburgers, follow the optional instructions below.

Serves 4 1 large slice high-quality white sandwich bread , crust removed and discarded, bread chopped into 1/4-inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons whole milk
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 medium clove garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons steak sauce , such as A-1
1 1/2 pounds 90 percent lean
Vegetable oil for cooking grate
6 ounces cheese , sliced, (optional)
4 hamburger buns or rolls

1. Using large chimney starter, ignite 6 quarts charcoal (about 100 briquettes) and burn until covered with thin coating of light gray ash, about 20 minutes. Empty coals into grill; build modified two-level fire by arranging coals to cover half of grill. Position cooking grate over coals, cover grill, and heat grate for 5 minutes; scrape grate clean with grill brush. Grill is ready when coals are medium-hot (you can hold your hand 2 inches above grate for 3 to 4 seconds).

2. Meanwhile, mash bread and milk in large bowl with fork until homogeneous (you should have about 1/4 cup). Stir in salt, pepper, garlic, and steak sauce.

3. Break up beef into small pieces over bread mixture. Using fork or hands, lightly mix together until mixture forms cohesive mass. Divide meat into 4 equal portions. Gently toss one portion of meat back and forth between hands to form loose ball. Gently flatten into 3/4-inch-thick patty that measures about 4 1/2 inches in diameter. Press center of patty down with fingertips until it is about 1/2 inch thick, creating a slight depression in each patty. Repeat with remaining portions of meat.

5. Lightly dip wad of paper towels in vegetable oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Grill burgers on hot side of grill, uncovered, until well seared on first side, 2 to 4 minutes. Using wide metal spatula, flip burgers and continue grilling, about 3 minutes for medium-well or 4 minutes for well-done. Distribute equal portions of cheese (if using) on burgers about 2 minutes before they reach desired doneness, covering burgers with disposable aluminum pan to melt cheese. While burgers grill, toast buns on cooler side of grill, rotating buns as necessary to toast evenly. Serve burgers on toasted buns


Now I will never eat a well done burger - i will risk disease for it - but these burgers were nice and juicey... :D
 
So do you use Evoo as an oil substitute for everything? Baking, etc? I haven't looked near the salad dressings... I will try that next!

I never use oil, but I needed some the other day when I made Fiber One muffins. The recipe called for vegetable oil... could Evoo be used in place of veggie oil when baking?

I buy the extra lean burger patties and grill them. They aren't too bad! :) Only 160 calories a patty!
 
So do you use Evoo as an oil substitute for everything? Baking, etc? I haven't looked near the salad dressings... I will try that next!

I never use oil, but I needed some the other day when I made some Fiber One muffins. It called for "vegetable oil"... could Evoo be used in place of veggie oil when baking?

extra virgin olive oil is not worth the expense using it in baking -if you're oging to cook iwht it -straight olive oil is fine -BUT... it's a little heavy and full flavored for baking you're better off with canola or a vegetable oil..
 
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So do you use Evoo as an oil substitute for everything? Baking, etc? I haven't looked near the salad dressings... I will try that next!

I don't use it for baking... only for pan frying things (unless a recipe calls for a specific oil). To use olive oil in large amounts is way too costly like Mal said. And for baking I think the OO would change the taste of it, and possible texture... although in my mind I can't decide if it would be too dry or too wet. (looked at Mal's second post so I'm assuming too wet)

Also when you get to the oils there will be Olive Oil and then Extra Virgin Olive Oil... evoo is more expensive but I've had both, and while I'm sure there's a difference the one that matters to me most is the price unless someone else is buying:)
 
for oil substitutes in baking you can use apple sauce (read labels and make sure it's apples only no added sugar), or strained baby prunes (especilaly good in chocolate cake) or a low fat yogurt...
 
EVOO - especially cold pressed - which is the first pressing of the olive oil -is not worth the expense of using it in cooking, cooking will change the flavor of it... for pan sauteeing, plain old olive oil is fine - at this point the processors have used heat to get the remaininng oil out so heat doesn't disturb the flavor...

::me is an oil snob::
 
you betcha... some times - depending on the recipe it might be a little dryer than if you haad used oil - but the texture doesnt change... and youdon't get an apple taste either.
 
Speaking of taste... the other reason I like to use olive oil when sautee-ing or cooking anything is because other oils leave their flavors behind. If you're making chicken parm, olive oil is the way to go... if you're trying to make fried chicken don't use it because it won't taste the same (consult Alton Brown on that one)... basically use olive oil for cooking when you need less than a quarter cup or are making a salad dressing.

On another note a friend of mine was in town and wanted southern food so we went to this diner around the corner for brunch... he got the southern fried porkchops and I pulled a piece of the breading off to taste... it was canola oil through and through and it kind of grossed me out... it's an award winning diner and it's been on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, but I was aghast at the fact that it tasted grossly homemade.
 
if you hit the oil aisle -check out the vinegars too -there's lots of flavors to be had there as well

balsamic vinegar (especially those that are aged in oak barrels for 15 years..) it's exquisite on strawberries or on agreen salad.

white balsamic vinegar
champagne vinegar
cider vinegar

mmmm food glorious food :D
 
Humptag

I can't believe it's August already! Once September hits it's only a homestretch until Christmas and the new year. Somehow making it thru the first 7 months seems like the hurdle I needed to get over to feel a little comfier riding out the rest of the year.

The weekend was great (except for my eating :(). Jeff picked me up from work :beating: and took me to Dave & Busters for happy hour and power hour. I protested having drinks at first only having a diet coke and the captain because of the sugar and cals but then he ordered me a chocolate martini and well, I was pmsing and work has had me stressed to the max, so I drank it. And we had soooooo much fun playing video games. We chased down criminals in Chicago, then raced motorcylces thru Shanghai, cut around on speedboats, then shot the enemy out in the jungle... I never played video games growing up and the only system my parents ever owned (more for my dad than me) was a basic Nintendo system... the gray box with two controllers, but now I need to make up for lost time. I really want a Wii... actually I'd rather have the Tokyo motorcycle game right in my apartment, but i don't think it would fit:( So then we had another chocolate martini... and by this time I'm a little tipsy because my drinking is nil otherwise, and I'm having so much fun and things are going so fantastic with us lately (honestly feels like magic!!!!) that I drank the martini with full understanding that weightwise it was a bad decision but it was definitely worth having to burn it off later. After D&B we met up with a high school friend of mine who happened to be in town on personal business for drinks and dinner... now here is where I should have been shot... I ordered an LIT and then had wings and fries... in my defence I ate five wings (originally alotting myself only 3 but I also didn't want to throw out food) and ate half the fries and trashed the rest. Usually I'd chow down about 12 wings but they are weightloss sabatoge on a plate. I must say though that I don't regret Friday at all. Ate pretty tame the rest of the weekend... although we did go out for Bangladeshi food on Saturday and it was amazing.... but I ate half, didn't have any rice, and took the rest home (which Jeff ate for dinner last night). I was sitting there at the restaurant staring at this amazing food... I got what basically is butter chicken, but the spices were bursting out of the sauce.... totally at the front of each bite... to quote Rachel Ray... "delish". So I'm staring at the food thinking about it being wonderful and knowing that if I ate the rest I'd be full... not OMG full but tummy filled full and the idea of that was COMPLETELY UNAPPEALING. Candice vs the War on Food is 1-0. There have been days where all I wanted was to feel full. I would look forward to a cheat meal just to have that feeling in my stomach and alas, the thought of that feeling makes me nauseous now. And who ever thought that would happen? Not me! And it's so much easier now to note the difference between emotional eating and hunger. Plus with going to the gym I don't have the need to emotionally eat because exercise has been keeping me balanced. I'm actually a cranky bitch if I haven't been to the gym in three days. But one thing does come to mind that I'm a little worried about as we go into fall is that in summer I think most food seems unappealing and boring... not necessarily the dishes being served but just the idea of eating when it's hot out (and I live in the south... it gets hot) somedays it's the last thing I want to do. As the days grow colder and darker in the upcoming months I'm hoping to coast thru the wintertime funk of no sunlight and natural urge to pack on weight to keep warm.

Anyway some triumphs at the gym... we do some running during the first ten minutes of KB class and now I actually run past (!!!) the other people in the class. That is totally new. I'm no Olympian but I've always had a short stride which I think makes it harder to run. Also I did ten real push-ups yesterday. Granted I wasn't kissing the floor at any point... my push-ups are still pitiful but I managed to beat out 10-kind-of-bad-but-not-girly pushups. My squats are actually squats.... no more gettng yelled at to go lower :) Lunges aren't painful anymore... foremost I didn't realize until last week when i was with my trainer that my form was awful! Now that I've fixed the form they feel 110% better, but this week I have to do jumping lunges and I look like I'm just learning how to use my legs (think Bambi right out of the womb) which is embarrassing in a weight room full of men. Today I put on one of my usual pairs of jeans and they're definitely fitting better. The thighs felt great but I can't remember how they felt before today. I just know something is different. I didn't think they were tight before but maybe? My period was also a lot better than it's been. No cramping, amount of bleeding has gone down... just a much smoother ride letting me know that my body is getting healthier and healthier.

I'm looking forward to getting in two more weights sessions and two more KB classes this week. I want to nail that all out in the next three days as I hate going to the gym on Saturdays and usually am too lazy to go. Plus I like getting in two days of rest per week. It's a lot easier to get back to it Monday... just like work. No friends in town this weekend so I'm focusing on eating within my range and not sabatoging another weeks worth of money and effort. I must say the jeans really kicked motivation in the ass this morning.

Oh and it looks like Jeff and I may be going to Guatemala over Labor Day to see some of the Mayan ruins, etc. I can't believe we've been together two years (Labor Day is "our" weekend). :D

:)
 
I think the reason I have half the energy to even smile today was that we got a $6 million job yesterday. We've been bidding on projects for almost five weeks now, scored one at the beginning, but needed another one and we go it. And it's probably the biggest of the ones we've bid. So now I can get back to working on the other projects I have. I was downright miserable yesterday until we got the news. I answered all three lines from the time I got in at 8 until the bid went at 3. We honestly went thru a ream of paper in our fax machine. It was nuts. And I was tired when i walked in the door even though i'd gotten 8 hours the night before and then to deal with hundreds of people and papers and phonecalls. I was about ready to cry until I found out we got the job. So we're bidding on one more tomorrow since most of it is already done, and it's a lot like the job we got a month ago, but then I can put away all that crazy shit and get down to some money making business. It really put a bounce in my step to know that after eight months we're going to have some steady work for awhile... maybe in February we'll need to put ourselves out there again but February is worlds away right now, and I've got 7 ongoing projects to keep me entertained.
 
you sound happy as all hell.

I have one friend in mind in particular, my friend Kate. I love Kate like she's the sister I never had. First friend I made in college, superior trumpet player. Kate is one of those girls whose disposition makes everyone love her. It's not sickening sweet... it's genuine, organic love for life, her family, her community, her friends and most importantly herself. Kate has her insecure days just like any other woman, but unless you were really close to her you'd never know. And I always wondered how she did it. Or how anyone who constantly seems that happy does it (granted she leads a very charmed life), but the key is that she feels good about herself. And I'm starting to feel great about myself too. I don't feel dowdy or yucky. I've been a little harder on myself lately because I am really having trouble seeing how big I really am but this time around I'm a little better about putting it out of my mind and checking back in at say, oh 30 pounds thinner:)

The gym this week has been fabulous. Wednesday I did my first double header... weights*(see funny story to follow) followed by a kick-ass KB class. Hugh teaches the 6:30 on Wednesdays and I find his more challenging than the others. I was wiped come 7:30. Went home, had dinner and ate some extra cals because I knew I needed to after 30 of extreme (at least for me) weights and then a hard class. Yesterdays class sucked. They had the women's Muai Thai intructor teach the 5:30. I'm rarely there at 5:30, but I left work early and made it there so I could get home early to make Jeff some brownies. I did not like her style at all. Every 30 seconds we were doing something different and it felt like this awkward rat race through 55 minutes of class. I think she could tell at the end I was not happy because one of my bigger flaws is showing my discontent when I am. She did two exercises I loved that we don't do in the other classes but otherwise, I don't really care to take another of her classes. And I hope she stays on the 5:30 schedule since I typically don't make those. Tonight is another weights night and then I'm going to hit the 6:30 class and be done with the gym for the week. I have the urge to go in tomorrow for a class but I need to sleep in and let my body get some really good rest.

*Funny story: Wednesday I'm lifting. And the routine she has me on is me at my max in those lifts. To other people I'm sure I look wimpy but c'est la vie. So this guy comes in and he's lifting next to me. He's pumping weights and I'm doing barbell squats hitting my ass on a bench each time I go down (I think this is my trainer's way of getting me to go deep enough). Now the weight room is covered in mirrors and I'm always watching my form. I notice that this guy positions himself on an upright bench slightly behind me, still pumping weights. I glance back in the mirror... it's not really a guy... some kid... my guess was 15 with a few quick glances, but definitely did not look like an adult. And I'm watching him in the mirror while he's watching my ASS go up and down... up and down. His eyes were moving with my ass. The only reason I giggled was because he was too young (and looked too innocent) to realize, that uh... i can see you watching me:)

I stayed at Jeff's last night and was glad to step on his scale this morning. I am 3 pounds down from the weekend, bringing my total to 8 pounds since I got the trainer. My tummy is starting to flatten out which makes me happy since I have that hanging tire around my mid-section. I've been worried that I'll end up with some flab but from what I can tell if things keep going the way they are the skin might shrink back as I lose weight. Right now I'm hovering around 187-188. The reason I was glad to weigh on Jeff's scale is because mine's a real fucker. It has me at 193, and since I got the thing it hasn't admitted to me losing any weight whatsoever. Luckily I know what I weigh on Jeff's scale. My waist is about 35.5 inches, and hips around 45.5 inches... so I'm down an inch there. I'm hoping to making it to 180 by Labor day... that's 7ish pounds in three weeks. I've been amazing at counting cals and it's served me well because I've been seeing results.

The weekend is upon me and I have no plans. Kind of nice actually since I have a tons of chores to get done. Jeff gets back from his mom's on Sunday and we're going to grill and play around in the pool. I'm really looking forward to that.

:)
 
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