A Year of Real Food

Hooray, Hooray, it’s the 10th of May!

May 102013

… outdoor screwing starts tod….. oh wait. That was last week! As usual, I’m so behind on my seasonal fornication rituals.

Finally, and almost fully, the specific stress I’d been having in my work life is over. Hooray, indeed! So yes. Off the wagon I fell, here and there. I’m not going to beat myself up for being lazy or allowing unhealthy but deilicious food to be shovelled into my gaping maw as a comfort now and then – but I do feel I fell short of my commitment to myself. My pride and my guts have paid the price.

Also, I needed to concentrate a little on quitting smoking… AGAIN. Yes, I slipped, as far as my health goes, in more ways than one. And seeing as I consider smoking the morer of two evils, dealing with that took a front seat to my diet. But, so far so good on that issue, cravings and habits are gone now… SO! Other things that also start NOW, besides all of that naked frolicking in the streets: Continue reading »

What I Learned from Mrs. Garrett, and also, Hi Again!

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Mar 042013

Holy crap people, it’s been over a month since I posted. A short month, granted, but monthy nonetheless. And why? You may ask?

Stress. A very stressy work situation has been zapping me not only of creative energy and motivation, but of all other types of energy and motivation. Like those required for cooking. And shopping. And anything other than collapsing on various beds and couches at the end of a stressful day. This is the kind of stress that leads a normally pretty stoic, fairly detached business lady into the private accessible bathroom to cry for a few minutes. So you know, I kind of want to check out after that. And maybe eat a cheesecake. Factory. Continue reading »

Sunday Rundown 3/4, or, All Bets Are Off When Sick

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Jan 282013

Not TOTALLY off. Considering I had strep throat and flu-like sickness that coincided for more than a week, I didn’t do that bad. Sure, I didn’t cook for 5 days, but I didn’t fall completely off the wagon. Yay me!

But before I get to that, please everyone, watch the documentary Fat Head. It is available on Netflix and Hulu and other places. It’s a little hokey but is a good introduction into how/why the conventional wisdom about nutrition is wrong and WRONG. Like ethically and morally. Like I want to hurt people because they have hurt the world. If you were like me when you watched Supersize Me and thought, “he could have just as easily LOST WEIGHT by eating at McDonald’s every day”…. then this movie is for YOU. (or maybe more so if you thought the opposite!)

This week’s rundown will consist of the Bullet Points of Bad (and not so bad), starting with the week before last, or what I call EBP (Era Before the Plague): Continue reading »

I Make Good Chili — but Suck at Contests!

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Jan 192013

DAMMIT! I need to pay attention.

Last month I entered a Paleo chili contest on RobbWolf.com. I put some work into it – trying new things and testing my recipe several times. Then after I submitted, I kinda forgot about it… and just today realized that the voting ended YESTERDAY! I didn’t even vote for my own! Nor post it anywhere to get friends to vote for me! What the hell?

Still though, I feel kind of special to have my own recipe post on RobbWolf.com – even with zero votes, and probably zero views. Except mine. I AM DUM.

Maybe you, dear reader, would like to try my chili. It’s super nutritious and healthy and delicious. My fiance eats entire things of it in one sitting. Continue reading »

Sunday Rundown 2

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Jan 162013

What’s that you say? It’s Tuesday? Oh crap. 2 weeks in and I’m forgetting things already. This Sunday review business might prove to be a tad boring (for all of us) anyway, and perhaps that theory is supported by the fact that I forgot to do it.

Not better than popcorn.

Also, the Golden Globes were on! It’s, like, 8 hours long, so I had to pick my battles. I love TV and movies, you know. So it follows that I love to see the TV shows and movies that I love get rewarded for their awesomeness. Usually the ‘powers that be’ are better at recognizing the good television than they are the good movies. To wit; Girls and Homeland. Both brilliant. Argo and Les Miserables? Enh… sure.

AND I WATCHED IT ALL WITHOUT POPCORN. You will gasp and faint at my feat of strength! I ate a dinner of the Chicken Tajine I posted last week, and then munched on banana chips from the farmer’s market. I goddamn love those banana chips. But I digress. Continue reading »

The Sensual Allure of the Mystical Orient

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Jan 112013

Jesus Christ I love Asian food.

I went to China a couple of years ago. Guess what: in China, they don’t eat Chinese food. At least not as we know it. The food I ate in Hong Kong was much closer to the Chinese food you get in these parts, but on the mainland, it was a lot of whole fish in broth and chicken feet. A LOT of chicken feet. I tried it all though. I ate eggs with clear solid whites and neon green yolks, I ate sheets of pork fat, I ate duck faces and frog butts. I ate things that remain mysterious. And while terrified most of the time, I kind of liked it. Continue reading »

Sunday Rundown 1

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Jan 072013

I didn’t take this. I don’t know that woman. I do not claim she’s a douchebag.

Sunday is my hunt & gather day. Well, actually, it’s my shop and prep day. But I do feel a little like killing defenseless creatures when I’m at the farmer’s market. And by defenseless creatures, I mean douchebag LA parents and their offspring.

But I digress. I’m thinkin’ that each Sunday I will present a summary of my previous week, and how I’m preparing for the next. And maybe a grade for the week, so I can average them eventually. Part of that whole accountability thing I need for myself. So suck it up, buttercup. Continue reading »

The 20%

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Jan 052013

I wrote last time about wanting a B+ average on this thing, or somewhere around 90%. One of my secret Paleo boyfriends, Chris Kresser, just wrote a great article on the 80/20 rule, with which I heartily agree.

So yeah, there are exceptions to every rule. Also, I’m no saint. There is middle ground and compromise in every deal, even those made with yourself. Previously I outlined the basics of what I will endeavor to eat or not eat in the coming year. Now it’s time to talk about the exceptions to the rules, or other things not particularly noted. Continue reading »

Day 1.

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Jan 012013

Ahhhahahaha… no. I’m not going to post a blow-by-blow or bite-by-bite raking of the minutia every day this year. But, the first day is important. Especially when it’s New Year’s Day and my Year of Real Food officially starts.

A year from now you may wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb

It was seeing that quote in someone’s newsfeed or Pinterest board or something that started me on this thing. It really hit home. What if I had already been doing this for a year? Where would I be? Would I be off my blood pressure medication? What size jeans would I be sporting? Would my nails be longer and stronger? Could I shoot laser beams out of my eyes to defeat my enemies and fight crime? A year from now, I hope to know all of those things. Continue reading »

What is NOT Real Food?

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Dec 272012

Holy crud, that is a buttload of crap.

You’ll remember how I defined real food in the previous post as stuff that I could probably eat pretty much as-is from the earth. Now we get to the other stuff. The stuff that has to be processed for us to just tolerate it (see grains, legumes and oils) and the stuff that is processed to be hyper-palatable or convenient.

The “don’ts” list is far more extensive than the dos. In any grocery store, the processed foods outnumber the whole foods by something like 20-1. I’m totally making that number up. But think about it… the fresh stuff lines a couple outside walls of the store (produce, meat, eggs), and the ENTIRE REST of the store is full of stuff in bags, cans, bottles, wrappers, jars, jugs and boxes. Now, not ALL of that stuff is terrible for you. But below is the macro-view of what I will be avoiding.

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