New Recipe for January

One of my resolutions is to try a new recipe every month.  Last week, I made something I have been meaning to try for ages - homemade miso soup.  I love miso soup.  It doesn't have many calories and in winter, it is hot and comforting.  To control the salt, I used a low sodium sweet miso and a low sodium tamari sauce.  Here are the ingredients:

 

They include two kinds of sea veggies - kombu for making a dashi which is Japanese broth and wakame to add with the tofu to the broth.  To make a dashi, one brings a piece of kombu and 5 cups of  water to a boil. Take it off the heat, discard the kombu and pour the hot water over 1/2 cup of bonito flakes.  Let that steep for 10 minutes and strain. 

 

Then dissolve 3 tablespoons of miso in the broth, add green onions, tofu and wakame and simmer.  If it is too bland, add a few tablespoons of tamari.  It is that easy, low calorie and really satisfying.

 

 

 

 

Just Kick Me...

I have been on the zone diet for a week and have lost 4 1/2 pounds.  It has been fairly painless thus far.  Menus have consisted of smothered omelets, health drinks, Icelandic yogurt and fruit mostly for breakfast, a big old salad for lunch, and a meat and veggie dinner.  No flour. No booze. 1 cookie on Tues. and even an Indian meal out last Saturday.  I think portion control is making a big difference - I have been good about controlling the serving size.  Of course, limited carbs helps with that since I am a carboholic and have no bottom to my carb rubbish pit.  So next time I blog that I have gained 4 pounds, please just kick me and remind me of how painless it would be to go on a diet for one week (before it is 12 pounds and requires 2 months of dieting).

A Fuhrman Recipe for you...

I made this recipe for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  I really like it!  It's super easy and totally adaptable.  You could put just about any nut, dried fruit, choc chips(!!) in these cookies (more like a muffin, really) and it would be delicious.  This is my current go-to snack when I'm craving junk.  Not low in calories but healthy and filling so definitely helps.  Wouldn't really work in the Zone, though.  Too many carbs.  

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Jennifer Shmoo

Serves: 12

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

4 medium ripe bananas

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/3 cup raisins or currants

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spray with nonstick spray.

Use a high-powered blender to process the oats into flour. Pour the oat flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Put the bananas into the blender and blend until completely smooth. Add to the oat mixture along with the sunflower seeds and raisins or currants, and mix until well combined.

Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to place spoonfuls of the cookie dough on the baking sheet. Dip the scoop in water to keep the dough from sticking. Use lightly moistened fingers to flatten each cookie down slightly. Bake 15 minutes.

Cool cookies on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. Makes about 24 cookies.

Per Serving:

CALORIES 115; PROTEIN 3g; CARBOHYDRATES 22g; TOTAL FAT 2.7g; SATURATED FAT 0.4g; SODIUM 106mg; FIBER 2.9g; BETA-CAROTENE 11ug; VITAMIN C 4mg; CALCIUM 9mg; IRON 3.7mg; FOLATE 15ug; MAGNESIUM 22mg; ZINC 0.2mg; SELENIUM 2ug

Hiking goal

 My hiking goal for 2016 is to hike more than 2 miles 3 times a week.  I know your real hikers are laughing because 2 miles is a walk not a hike.  But to my lard ass, it is still a lot of work.

His Lordship and I did some nice hikes (walks) last week.  Poor man - I hold him back so.  He has to take these mincey little steps and listen to me groan every time I tweak my knee.  His marriage prison sentence has been a long one!

We took some lovely pictures.  The first was of Red Rocks open space on a lovely sunny winter morning.   This is how it looked.

 

Our second hike was to the Lizard Rock trail in the lost creek wilderness.  It was stunning and we had it all to ourselves.  We hiked out and back about 7 miles.  The ice spikes on our shoes were lifesavers.

His Lordship on the trail.  We had to walk under this huge rock.

 

I hope you are getting outside to enjoy some fun and fitness this winter.

Resolutions and the start of a booze free month...

 I have written resolutions pertaining to many aspects of my life.  A few that concern this blog are those in the realms of exercise and culinary.

Culinary

·         Learn to make Kombucha
·         Try 1 new healthy recipe a month – ½ from Furhman
·         Post at least 2x a month in Twisted Sister – especially June –Dec.
·         Try 1 new fruit/veggie every month

Exercise/Weight

·         Lose 12 pounds
·         Don’t gain it back again by Dec.
·         Hike more than 2 miles 3x a week – Set a trail/mountain goal every month to work toward
·         Keep an exercise calendar/log
·         Yoga and/or pilates 5x a week
·         Take yoga teacher training
·         Work out with weights 3x a week

These are ambitious goals and I have tried to include a few references to the bad holiday months when everything falls apart and becomes about discount Halloween candy and baked goods.

Today I started my diet on my quest to lose 12 pounds.  My current weight is 136 and I hope to get down to 124 - I can subtract small numbers anyway.  I have also started a booze free month beginning on Tuesday January 12th.  I will have no drinks until February 13th.  Then I will make his Lordship treat me to a Valentines dinner in celebration of my self control.  Wish me luck.

 

Sardines

I have tried sardines for years.  I could never really wrap my brain around liking the chalky, fishy, yucky taste.  That was until I met Wild Planet sardines.  These little suckers are just yummy.  Packed in olive oil,  they are really high quality sardines and the difference is noticeable.  Plus, look at the back of the box.  What a super food!  Packed with omega 3's and coq 10, they are doing my heart a world of good. They make a great snack or protein source if you are planning to go back on the zone diet like old fatty me!

Healthy alternative to soda

His Lordship loves soda but he knows it's bad for him.  A couple of years ago, he purchased a soda stream so that he could make his own.

 

 

 

But uggh - the ingredient profiles on those soda stream flavors are revolting. Here's the ingredients for the diet cranberry :
 Water, Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Sweeteners (Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose (SPLENDA® brand)), Sodium Benzoate, Caramel Coloring, Red No.40, Red No.3, Blue No.1).
I encouraged him throw them out but he kept 3.

However, he has not used them and has no way to make soda.
The solution is to concoct a homemade soda syrup.  Knowing how much he loves ginger, tonight I made a syrup from honey, ginger and an orange.

I peeled the ginger, cut it small, and cooked it down with 1/2 a bottle of honey, the juice and pulp of 1 large oranges and 4 cups of water.  Peeling ginger is easy - just use a spoon to scrape off the skin.

I cooked it till the water reduce by 1/2 and then blended the whole thing in the vitamix on high until liquified.

 I will store it in glass bottles in the fridge.  It is concentrated so his Lordship dilutes it to taste with carbonated water from his soda stream. 

 

The ingredient profile here is simple.  It may look like vomit but it tastes great.

Sorry to anyone who checked us out yesterday looking for incestuous S&M porn. I know it must have been a disappointment.