For the love of dresses

I didn't have an aha moment. No epiphany during a winded moment on the stairs. There wasn't a sobbing moment of realization that 'I deserved better'. I just got fat and one day, I didn't want to be anymore. *Disclaimer - At the time of this writing, I'm still fat.

You see, I like dresses. I like to dress up. And when I dress up, I want to feel amazing. Like, really amazing. You know, when you get that walk like you're in the slow motion part of a music video and Beyonce is playing in your mind? Like that amazing. And for a long time, I was there. I was feeling myself. 

But recently, I haven't felt comfortable. There's nothing worse than being uncomfortable in your clothes. I could buy some new clothes, but guys, I have some fly-as-fuck dresses. If anyone 'deserves better' it's my damn dresses. That's right spring floral swing dress, I'm doing this for you. Because damn, girl. 

So what is happening to the blog, you ask? I'm going to share recipes and share a little bit about the changes to my lifestyle. I can tell you already, I'm hungry. I've been hungry for days. But it isn't a stomach-growling, hateful, kill-someone-for-a-cookie kind of hunger. It's more like a pushy, annoying little gnawing. I just pretend it's my stomach gurgling all that fat it's burning and that helps.

In true weight loss montage fashion, let's start with clearing out all the 'bad' foods from the kitchen. Turns out, our kitchen is chock full of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, whole grains, lean meat....WTF? With the exception of Oreo thins (because I'm human, damn it), we don't have a lot of processed food in our house. We love to cook and the fresher the ingredients the better. But upon closer inspection, portion control was the enemy. Too much of a good thing. 

We also found that some of our favorite 'light snacks' were super high in fat, salt, and served up ridiculous calorie counts. For example, we love these little whole grain breakfast biscuits. They're lovely with coffee and full of fiber. Turns out, they're also full of crap! While the ingredient list is not alarming, those tiny biscuits packed almost 300 calories in a serving. And we were having them daily as a mid-morning snack! So those are gone. 

Here's another perfect example; sausage and peppers. 

We use turkey sausage because we don't eat much pork or red meat in our house. So how could we have been going so wrong? Well, boys and girls, it turns out those turkey sausages still pack a whole mess of calories. 160 each, to be exact. So instead of eating three sausages, which is what I'm inclined to do because they are DELICIOUS, I opted for one and a half. I sautéed the peppers and onions on high heat with only a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to get that char I love so dearly. It was wonderful and I could have and would have eaten about twice as much. For now, this'll have to do. 

 

Seriously?!

Where the hell have I been?! Long story short, I installed some new virus protection software on my computer and somehow lost EVERYTHING on my computer - photos, recipes...everything. So devastating. After many attempts to retrieve my information, I am giving in and starting from scratch.

So please bear with me as I get back up and running. In the meantime, check out this amazing tabbouleh recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Thug Kitchen.

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew

With this winter being dominated by blizzards and single digit temperatures, hubby and I have been craving warm and hearty meals to stave off the bitter cold. So we turned to the most hearty items in our pantry; sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and carrots.

Once we made this stew we could not stop eating it. We started making variations and ultimately had this for lunch and/or dinner 5 times in one week. It is so versatile. You could probably make hundreds of variations on this stew and never get tired of it. So get started!

 

In a large pot, heat oil. Saute garlic and onion until soft. Add turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, and chickpeas and simmer for 35 minutes. Stir in kale and remover from heat. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with couscous and garnish with cilantro and greek yogurt.  It's time to eat!

The End of Boring Breakfast

I'm not a regular at Williams-Sonoma but I bought something there recently and now I am getting catalogs. That's all good with me. It's nice to look through and dream of a day when I can spend $25 on a spoon and not feel bad about it. (That day will never happen.)

However, one of these catalogs featured their winter mail order treats and sitting there taunting my tastebuds was a perfect waffle topped with bacon and caramelized apples. And I died. Naturally, I had to make it. My stomach would not let me move on with my life until I tried it.

And once I tried it, I could not believe I had been eating REGULAR waffles my whole life. My whole damn life!

Now, theirs may look prettier than mine, but I'm sure mine is better - right? I made my favorite rice waffles, threw the apples in a skillet with 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar, and made some bacon. Then I made a waffle ladder to heaven and my life was changed forever. Go try this right now. It's time to eat!

Lamb Flatbread with Pine Nuts

Every year my husband and I buy ourselves some new cookbooks at Christmas. This year we bought The Big Book of Breakfast and Jerusalem. While The Big Book of Breakfast is delightful and has some great ideas to spice up your breakfast routine, Jerusalem blows it away.

Written by two men from different parts of the city, Jerusalem is packed with lovely stories, rich history, and stunning photos. In fact, the first time I cracked it open I sat and read it like a normal book. It is full of colorful stories that provide a peek into two very different cultures and all of the ways those cultures combine in a kaleidoscope of culinary joy.

It was impossibly difficult to choose which recipe to try first. So I just chose based on what ingredients were readily available. The great thing is that so many of the ingredients were already in my pantry - chickpeas, paprika, couscous. Once I got started, inspiration swept through me. The flavors and textures were just fantastic.

Now my goal is to make every recipe in this book before the year is over (it's a big book). This recipe is a variation on the Stuffed Eggplant recipe in the book. We didn't have eggplant but we did have some delicious flatbread. We made the stuffing, with a few little tweaks, and piled it on top of the flatbread which had been smeared with tahini. I served it with some chopped cucumber that I tossed with a little salt, lemon and parsley. I could eat this every day. Seriously.

In a large, deep skillet heat oil and saute onion, garlic, a pinch of salt, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon until onion is soft and spices are fragrant. Add lamb, parsley, tomato paste, pine nuts, lemon juice and sugar. Cook until lamb is browned. Serve on flatbread with tahini. You could also add some rice or couscous for some extra texture.