Almost a week into 2011, and of course, if you’re sticking to your plans to lose weight in 2011, there’s an important leap to be made.

Did you start yet?

If you haven’t, why?

Is it because you’re afraid of “diets” and “diet food”?

Think for a moment though.

Think of a Cheeto. The cheesy-stuff that isn’t really cheese. The corn chip that is just a puff of something that doesn’t really resemble corn. The flavor infusion that sticks to your fingers more than it sticks to your chip. The orange goo that glues to your teeth and doesn’t come out.

Did that really capture your taste buds?

Think about a meal at your local restaurant. You order the big hamburger, fries and a soda. The hamburger is huge, with lettuce, maybe some ketchup and cheese and a sugary bun. The fries are made of sugar and what was once potato, and then dipped in oil. The sugary soda.

The heart burn.

The bloating.

The lethargy.

What if you ate the same things, or nearly the same thing, and you had a healthier version?

That’s what I thought.

OK, really, is a Nutrisystem burger the same as a real hamburger? No. It’s not. It’s prepackaged so you can use it quickly instead of going out to buy a burger.

But understand, it’s a stepping stone. If you get used to eating at home instead of going out, later maybe you’ll take the next step and make yourself a real, sensible burger.

A homemade burger will cost you less money and will save you hundreds of calories. Drink water and eat a few home baked potato wedges and a big salad… that’s MORE food and still fewer calories than before.

Nutrisystem is the stepping stone for many people, myself included.

Personally, I love to make a huge salad and have a little chocolate bar from Nutrisystem for lunch. It’s one of my favorite meals because it’s a little healthy and feels a little naughty because of the chocolate bar. But this bar is healthy for you!

Or making a Chinese stir fry with tofu and some broccoli and sauce. Better than the Chinese restaurants and fewer calories.

Take a few months, replace everything that you crave with a healthier version of it, and you’ll see pounds melt.

People always ask me, “Does it work?” Of course it does! Any time you replace high calories with low calories, it works. Nutrisystem is just one version. It’s my choice of course. It may not be yours, but try it out, maybe you’ll like it, too.

I wish to thank Nutrisystem for sending all the many yummy foods listed here and in previous posts. Learn more about Nutrisystem at their website, on Facebook or through Twitter. I highly recommend signing up for Nutrisystem. The website is free to join so you can learn all about it before making a commitment.

Hi cooks and foodies!

Would anyone happen to know about baking with those silicone inserts?

I find that when I bake with mine, the baked goods come out with a funny taste.

The first time I did it, I thought I did something to the batter. Maybe I didn’t rinse the soap out of the bowl or off the mixing spoon.

Now I’ve tried it a few times, and it has the same strange taste, leaving on my muffins and so forth.

Is anyone else having this problem? I’m about to ditch them for traditional metal.

If you get a weird taste when it comes to silicone items you bake with, raise your hand.

I’ve got a math test that was moved to Friday. The flexibility of college is weird. It’s totally unrealistic to actual work… and yet at times it’s a small mimic of it.

Top Ten Best Tasting Nutrisystem Items

Panel of one here, but tell me your favs or non-favs.

No particular order.

Flame-broiled Beef Patty – Hamburger night. Forget McD’s or BurgerK’s. Heck, wrap that patty into your own condiments and stuff into your mouth.

Double Chocolate Chip Muffin – Chocolate muffin for breakfast. Considering it was chocolate muffins that helped me gain part of this, it should only be fair they help shed a few… and be yummy and good for me at the same time.

Nutriflakes – I love cereal, and this tastes good to me. Especially with banana.

Fudge Graham Lunch Bar – Chocolate after a salad. Satisfies your sweet cravings.

Chicken Salad – For some reason, this on Melba toast is actually very nice. It’s different from my usual favorite chicken salads, but the difference might make it good.

Chocolate Brownie – Top it with a tablespoon of Fat Free Cool Whip. Just like an ice cream sammie.

Sliced Beef and Potato Wedges – Some times I miss potatoes, and this is one of the few items that has potatoes in it. Plus, tastes great.

Pancakes – Blueberry or plain, (what happened to the chocolate chip ones) but they are great for breakfast. Find some good tasting sugar free syrup though. Might take some hunting.

Mashed Potatoes – This is a lunch menu item for Nutrisystem, and it, again, kills my need for something mashed-potato like.

Mint Crisp Bar – This is probably my ultimate favorite. Tastes like Girl Scout cookies to me, the thin mints. I would buy this separately as a snack item after I’m finished.

I wish to thank Nutrisystem for sending all the many yummy foods listed here and in previous posts. Learn more about Nutrisystem at their website, on Facebook or through Twitter. I highly recommend signing up for Nutrisystem. The website is free to join so you can learn all about it before making a commitment.

What I love most that it isn’t a diet. You can eat what you love, you just make better choices about what you eat.

Now they’ve created a new book called Eat! Move! Play! Weight Watcher’s new book actually has some great ideas about making the lifestyle change. Here’s some tips that I particularly love from the book’s section:

How to Make Healthier Choices

Instead of: Grabbing fast food or take-out when you’re rushed and don’t have time to cook dinner

Try: Picking up a rotisserie chicken and cooking frozen veggies you’ve been keeping on hand

Instead of: Indulging the munchies when your child is frustrated, upset, or otherwise out of sorts

Try: Suggesting that you go out and toss a ball or play croquet or badminton to blow off steam

Instead of: Letting bedtime arrive when it’s convenient for everyone or your kids are simply too exhausted to keep going

Try: Establishing a clear bedtime and introducing a consistent sleepytime routine with a bath, reading a story, or listening to calming music together

I really need to focus on the part about not just hopping out to dinner or to a fast food place because no one feels like cooking. You could just as easily go to your local deli and grab a cooked chicken and salad in just the same amount of time as grabbing a fast food dinner.

Here’s a sample recipe that I’ll share from the book.

Mexican Chicken Chili

Serves 10

Prep 30 minutes

Cook 1 hour 45 minutes

6 bone-in skinless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chili powder

3 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in puree

1 (12-ounce) bottle beer or 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1.       Combine the chicken and enough water to cover in a large, heavy pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Drain the chicken, reserving the cooking liquid. Cool the chicken, remove and discard the bones, and coarsely shred the meat.

2.       Meanwhile, place the same pot over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, brown sugar, cocoa powder, oregano, and coriander and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, beer, salt, and 3 1/2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer; reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 hour.

3.       Add the beans. Simmer, uncovered, until the chili thickens, about 30 minutes. Add the shredded chicken and simmer until heated through.
Per serving (1 1/2 cups): 239 Cal, 6 g Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 44 mg Chol, 488 mg Sod, 26 g Carb, 8 g Fib, 22 g Prot, 103 mg Calc.

Reprinted from the book Weight Watchers Eat! Move! Play! With permission from John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Weight Watchers Apple Pie Ala Mode Yogurt

This had an excellent apple and cinnamon flavor blend, with the mild tang of yogurt that you come to expect from Weight Watchers. Very smooth, very delicious. I think the Ala Mode is that vanilla flavor so it’s more like ice cream with bits of apple flavor throughout.

Weight Watchers Blueberry Pie Yogurt

Now, I should say that unless it’s blueberry muffins or pancakes, I normally stay away from blueberry products because too many blueberries at a time ruins the flavor for me. This was better than normal blueberry yogurt, in my opinion. The blueberry was there but toned down. It’s not replacing my love of strawberry banana yogurt, but it’s a good flavor.

Weight Watchers Strawberry Smoothie

60 calories, 1 gram of fat,  less than 1 gram of fiber

This is my favorite out of the entire group that I’ve tried. Strawberry yogurt on a stick, really, but it’s great. It’s soft when I’m ready to eat it. Kind of melts quickly so you have to eat fast.

I like the softness though. And the bits of strawberry throughout it is a real winner for me. Most certainly a frozen strawberry smoothie. I like the extremely low calories, and for your point counters, only 1 point for this bar. And it’s a good sized bar, too.

Last but not least, another ice cream delight:

Weight Watchers Dark Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream Bar

80 calories 4.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber

I love chocolate, and this is a good dark chocolate. The raspberry was very flavorful, almost too much for me but others may like raspberry more than I do. I like that it has more fiber. Love the fiber.

Here’s the new news from Weight Watchers. Guess who has joined the team?

Jennifer Hudson! What a great person to be joining Weight Watchers and showing support.

By the way, following Weight Watchers yet? You should be. They share very healthy recipes and news, which I love.

Apparently, this acceptance of food stamps at Whole Foods is specifically geared toward the younger urban types who need a government subsidy to survive on a regular basis with their current lifestyle. For many people, they feel that this is a serious issue with a loophole in a government system, especially since many families in need currently survive off of their use of food stamps. Many of these young and hip food stamp users feel that their diet has improved dramatically from now being able to use food stamps at Whole Foods for items like freshly squeezed juice, organic honey, and soy products.

As it turns out, over 38 million Americans are currently using food stamps, which include single parents, the elderly, and working-class individuals. Still, many recent changes have been made to the food stamp program so that the restrictions have been lessened, and adults who don’t have dependents can actually collect food stamps. This opens a portal to younger single adults to become eligible for the use of food stamps to subsidize their current income. Supporters of this action feel that many younger professionals who are in college or recently graduated have to struggle with unemployment just like anyone else and are forced to live frugally.

Employees of some of these upscale grocery stores in urban areas, like Whole Foods, have also seen an increase in the use of food stamps recently as unemployment rates have risen. More and more people are using these food stamps to purchase organic foods, as surprising as that may be.

For a great selection of the Bunn commercial coffee maker, check out Bethany North’s website, The Coffee Bump

Photo by eL Bz

So my pans were dirty. I wanted tatertots. You can’t cook tatertots in the microwave.

You just can’t.

I just know.

Because I’ve tried. That’s how.

But did I want to wash a pan to cook tatertots in? Nope. Takes too long to heat the water, wash the pan and dry it. I’ve got a life, after all!

So I tried plan B. Which was to take tin foil (where I grew up, we called it tin foil, and yes, I know it’s made of aluminum) in a single sheet, place tatertots on the sheet, carefully move to the heated oven and sit it on the rack. When done, remove with pot holders to a plate.

Except when you hit the top of the oven with your arm. And then out of reaction you slam your wrist into the bottom of the oven.

Yeah. It hurt. Yeah. It was hot.

I’m not feeling a real burn yet. It’s more my wrist aches a bit from hitting the oven so hard. It got me thinking about burns though, so I looked it up.

Things I Didn’t Know About Treating Burns (For idiots who burn themselves)

1. Don’t use ice. Ever. Frostbite on top of a burn… not pretty.
2. Keep an aloe plant. My mom used to have one. Old reliable. Never had to buy aloe from the store.
3. The time to go to the hospital: Blisters underneath a blister, infection or black skin/hurts like doomsday.

Don’t get me wrong, I love cereal. It’s sweet and filling and I grew up on the stuff. I also know that by mid-morning, I’m usually hungry again, whereas the Chinese rarely eat snacks. They completely fill themselves three times a day, fueling their bodies as much as possible.

Chinese porridge is made from about three tablespoons of dried rice boiled and cooked in about 4 cups of water for a long time, usually about 50 minutes, until the rice is mushy and the porridge is thick. Topped with fish, bits of meat, or vegetables, while the base recipe is the same, the flavor can change with what you add to it.

Photo by indyz

Since my new favorite combination of flavors is the holy trinity of Chinese cooking, (spring onion, garlic and ginger), I plan to make this dish very soon. Since it takes quite a bit of time to let the congee cook, I have to wait for the weekend to attempt the recipe. I plan on stir frying the trinity, and perhaps topping with leftover bits of chicken or meat if it’s available.

For a simple Chinese recipe, it’s a staple tradition in the homes of many people across China and neighboring countries. Chinese porridge seems like an inexpensive, healthy dish and I hope to learn the secrets to making it taste great.

In the past, we would eat food to fuel our bodies and help us be strong. We would eat more when we needed more energy. Now, we eat much more and we get less nutrition and even less energy. It’s no wonder why Jamie is so passionate about this. It’s no wonder why TED and Chris Anderson is behind this. It’s no wonder why many Americans and people around the world are moved by this. I support it 110%.

Support Jamie by watching his Food Revolution. It’s on tonight at 9/8 central on ABC. Check your local listings for more information.

Do more to support Jamie Oliver by signing the petition. TED and others are supporting his efforts further by signing petitions, donating money, and volunteering their time. Sign Jamie Oliver’s Food revolution petition, support the efforts to save lives.

But don’t stop there. Join the discussion. Learn how to cook. Share what you know with other people. Grow a garden. Whatever it takes, small efforts make a huge difference.

I plan on offering more links and information about healthy cooking and gardening, tech that supports these efforts and much more in the future. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join me in the fight to save lives and to help America eat better.

The more I cook Chinese food, the more I love the holy trinity in Chinese cooking. Ginger, spring onion (scallions) and garlic. Three ingredients that makes all the difference in a wide variety of food. I love the things I can do with this combination. Rice is less boring. Meats and tofu taste better. Vegetables are a delight. Sauces are more flavorful. It’s a mixture of savory, tart, sweet, salty and pungent. It’s a taste that will begin to seep it’s way into more and more dishes in my kitchen.

Photo by greekgod

Now that I’ve learned about the trinity, I’m on to bigger things. Like perfecting the fine art of cooking a great noodle. My last stir fry noodle batch came out rather… icky. I wasn’t happy with the results, so I’ve got to dig out some noodle recipes.

By the way, if anyone knows how to make “Poor Man’s Noodles”, send over a recipe. I had some in a Thai restaurant and I haven’t found a duplicate recipe yet.

Chinese cooking has become more than an obsession. It is now becoming another edition to the wide range of cooking in my kitchen. Much like a roast and potatoes, or spaghetti dinners, a stir fry rice is another great weekday meal.

Photo by waggaway

I’m looking at investing in a good recipe book for all the new recipes I find on the Internet. I prefer not to drag my netbook into the kitchen with high amounts of wet things flying about, or the possibility of dropping it from the counter. The kitchen isn’t big enough ( I complain, yet the Chinese probably have less space than I do in their kitchens, how do they do it?) for a netbook to sit atop a microwave, a valuable space for a cutting board or a mixing bowl.

So much to learn…