Did She Die? No! She was Lazy!

I figured that if I waited until tomorrow to update, then it would have been exactly 2 full, Holiday-filled and gut-busting months since my last update. So, I wanted to nip my procrastination in the bud!
Well, at least the procrastination of updating.

My apologies, dear readers. You're probably wondering why it took me so long to come back to this dusty keyboard, and bang out a couple cool ideas.
Honestly... it's hard looking in the mirror, and pointing out your flaws. And even harder when you have to make it entertaining for other people to read. Like you lovely people out there, wandering the interwebs.
So! I may be a month late with starting my New Year's Resolutions (or Reallocation of Energy's, as I call them), but at least I'm starting them, and this little blog is keeping me honest.


Oh, Christmas presents? Yeah, lemme fill you in a little on what you guys missed out during the holiday season.
I got a bread machine. And it's pretty. :D
I got snowboarding gear, a snowboard rental, and went out once so far. I fell a bunch. :( Mah bum hurts, but it was good exercise.

I had a Yule party between Christmas and New Years, complete with a little ritual. The outcome was a great success, and a nice bonding experience for myself, Art, and our friend Lew, since we're all Asatru, and led the little ceremony. :)
My weight is right back where I started, meaning i gained like 10 pounds back during the holidays. :(
I Will overcome that hurdle!


Hope that's enough filler arc for ya. Now, onto the main event.


Recently, I rummaged through my garage (which has shelving units that double as extra pantry space and cooking appliance storage) and cleaned off a shelf all for myself. Over the past few weeks, I've gone shopping and collected a few great ingredients that I need to put to delicious use.

I have some dried quinoa, dried black beans, brown rice, mild green chiles, and more fat-free refried beans, to name a few things on those shelves from memory.
I'm half-way tempted to do some kind of detox diet, and start fresh, but I did a little research, and there is no quick-fix with a detox, and it can last up to 4 weeks to do it correctly, before coming back to a normal food assortment.

And quite frankly... I'm a college kid. I'm lucky if I eat correctly 2 days in a row, let alone limit my nutritional intake for 28 days in a row.

so! Back to that alluring idea of $7-a-day organic eating!
If I watch for coupons, I can make shopping at Whole Foods much easier, and it really is my best choice for Organic grocery shopping that's close to home.

Alton Brown, the ever inspiring geeky hunk of love that he is, made a change to his diet and lost 50 pounds in 9 months. I don't want to shed that much ugly fat, but his approach is something I can live with.
(The following is my interpretation of his material, from his show Good Eats. I don't own this it's his intellectual property, and all that stuff.)
The best thing you can do for your body is to have a food assortment high in nutrients, and lower in energy (or calorie) density.

So, there are certain foods you should eat Daily.
Foods like:
Fruits, Leafy Greens, Nuts, Carrots, and Green Tea.

There are certain foods that should be eaten 3x A Week, at least.
Foods like:
Oily Fish, Yogurt, Broccoli, Sweet Potato, and Avocado.

Now, here comes the Will power. There are certain foods that should not be eaten more than 1x A Week.
Foods like:
Red Meat, Pasta, Alcohol, and all Desserts.

Then, the hard part, foods that should not be eaten at all, or 0x A week.
These foods are:
Fast Food, Soda (except club soda), Processed Meals, Condensed Soups, and "Diet" Anything (Anything with artificial sweeteners).

I'll do my best to stick to these guide lines, but I need to go get some sweet potatoes, fresh broccoli, and avocados before I can get this kick-started.


As for news on the Recipe Side of the Story, I made Brussels Sprouts the other day. And they were tasty. Then again, anything with the right seasonings, kielbasa, and some caramelized onions will be tasty.
Recipes that I've made up along the years, or anything I've edited or revised from any of my many sources, will soon be compiled in my very own cookbook. I might even bind some of them, and sell copies. But that won't be until the summer. I'm still in my research phase. :)

I think that's all for now. And Hopefully I can be a better little duckie and update every week, maybe twice a week, to keep you posted on my culinary adventures, and use this as inspiration to shed some un-wanted pounds.

Until then, I bid you Good Eating,
And Remember Kids:
A Role Model, like Alton Brown, is sometimes all the inspiration you need.
And it doesn't hurt that I think he's hot.