There’s no doubt I love my food. And just because I’ve decided to lose some weight, it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on tasty meals. My diet simply consists of fewer calories in than out…a slow but steady process that takes patience and willpower. But it’s safe, and it works. When you realize you didn’t gain weight by more than 2 pounds per week, you understand you can’t lose it any faster, either.
I’m limiting my calorie intake to about 1500 calories a day, based on my height, weight, and age. That requires that I weigh and measure everything I eat, and read every food label. A small kitchen scale is an absolute necessity.
Here’s an example of a delicious dinner I had and how it all broke down…
Raw tuna: 168 calories.
Avocado : 200 calories.
Jasmine rice: 105 calories.
Peanuts: 25 calories.
Sesame seeds: 20 calories.
Asian marinade, which consisted of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and Chinese chili garlic sauce: 110 calories.
Total: 628 calories.
I weighed and measured every bit of that meal to get those numbers. (By the way, I gave zero calories for the green onion I scattered on top.)
So, if I know I want to have that meal for dinner, I have to make sure that I don’t have too much food for breakfast or lunch…especially if I also want to have a cocktail in the evening!
The reason why so many people fail at diets is because they require discipline, and that is tougher than it sounds. If you don’t weigh and write down everything you eat every day, I guarantee you are underestimating how many calories you’ve consumed.
I used to write everything down on paper. Now I use an app called The Fitness Chef, that lets me plug in the numbers of everything I eat and have it right on my phone for reference. It’s great when I’m on the road or at a restaurant, because it also features a scanner that does a pretty darn good job of determining how many calories your plate has, simply by taking a photograph of it.
I don’t know why it took me so long to try this recipe. But this year, here in November, I’m still pulling tomatoes off my garden plants!
It’s a really simple process of slicing the tomatoes, seasoning them with salt and pepper, dusting them with flour, dipping them in egg, and then rolling them in some flavored breadcrumbs before frying.
Good news for those that need it all gluten-free! It can happen if you follow my instructions below.
Green tomatoes, sliced Salt and pepper All-purpose flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour) 2 eggs, beaten Seasoned breadcrumbs (I make them gluten-free…see below)
At first, I sliced my tomatoes at about 1/4″ thick, but I found that if I could make them just a bit thinner, they would come out even crispier.
I placed the tomatoes on a cutting board, and seasoned them with the salt and pepper.
I then set up my 3 bowls for adding the breading. In the first bowl, the all-purpose flour. (I like using the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour because it’s mostly rice flour and it makes the coating lighter.)
In the second bowl, I whisk a couple of eggs.
In the third bowl, I place my seasoned breadcrumbs. (You can buy Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, but I make my own by toasting a loaf of Udi GF bread, tossing the pieces into a blender to mill them down to a powder. I add oregano, basil, parsley, salt and pepper, granulated garlic and granulated onion, then whiz the blender for just a few seconds to combine everything. I place this in the third bowl.)
Then it’s time to do the one-handed method of dipping the tomato slices one-by-one into the egg, then dropping it into the breadcrumbs, where the other hand takes over to cover the tomato with a light layer of breadcrumb. Do the same for all the tomatoes.
Fry the tomatoes at 350° in an oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil, until golden.
Place the tomato slices on a wire rack to cool, seasoning them immediately out of the fryer with some sea salt.
On my recent trip, I stumbled upon two interesting historic sites.
In Wheeling, West Virginia, I made a quick detour to check out the Wheeling Suspension Bridge.
Completed in 1849, it was the first long-span wire cable bridge in the United States. And for a couple of years, it remained the longest suspension bridge in the world.
You can’t drive on it today, but you can walk up to it, and it’s pretty impressive. I caught a local riding his bike across it. I don’t know if I would do that!
And during my stay in Easton, MD, I decided to take a drive to the town of Oxford, which was not all that far away. Quaint and extremely quiet, it had its own spot of historic significance…
I know so many people that would rather take a plane from point A to point B. But I love getting behind the wheel of a car and driving. Reminds me of my childhood family trips.
And for me, traveling is not just about getting from one point to the other…It’s the journey along the way as well.
For this trip, I drove over 2300 miles…from Bristol, RI to Syracuse, NY, to Toledo, OH, to Evanston, IL, to Columbus, OH, to Frederick, MD, to Easton, MD, and back home again.
My trip from my home in Rhode Island, all the way out to see my daughter at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and then back again through Maryland, had its share of interesting sites.
Chinatown, Chicago
Logan Square, Chicago
Stepping into my first Trader Joe’s ever (I know, I know), in Evanston, IL. Honestly, I wasn’t blown away.
Don’t really want to know where this truck was headed.
There’s something about Asian noodle dishes that make them incredibly addictive. They’re great hot or cold, and easy to make at home. I store an arsenal of basic Asian ingredients in my pantry, so slapping this together is no effort at all. And if you don’t have Asian noodles around, chances are you’ve got a box of pasta, which works just as well.
Next time you’ve got a bunch of people coming over, cook a batch a few hours beforehand and let it come to room temperature. It’s great with anything, really. Grab a bag of frozen egg rolls or some potstickers, and you’ve got great munchies for your guests.
Adding boiled and chilled shrimp to these noodles makes it a cool meal. I usually double the sauce recipe when I do that.
If you need to go gluten-free, use GF pasta or rice noodles…and you can find gluten-free hoisin sauce in the Asian food section of many supermarkets.
4 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese chili garlic sauce (more, if you like it spicy!)
16 oz. package Chinese noodles or pasta
Combine the peanut butter, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. Set it aside. I keep my peanut butter in the fridge once the jar is open, so sometimes it’s a bit thick. So I just zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften it up.
Boil the noodles or pasta until al dente. Drain it and place it in a large bowl.
Mix the noodles with the sauce.
It’s easy to make this recipe a meal by adding meat and veggies, which is what I did recently.
I took about a pound of chicken breasts, and sliced them thin, into strips, placing them in a bowl. I added a little soy sauce (go gluten-free soy sauce if you need to…La Choy is the brand I use) and a little rice vinegar, and I let the chicken marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
Meanwhile, I chopped up some broccoli and blanched it in boiling water, just to cook it a little. I drained the water and set the broccoli aside.
I chopped some sugar snap peas on the bias, and set them aside. And I had a bag of mung bean sprouts purchased, ready to go.
This time, I used Udan noodles for this dish (by my daughter’s request) and I found a brand that simply needed to be microwaved for 90 seconds before using.
So once we were ready to eat, I put a little avocado oil in a hot pan and seared the chicken that was marinating, getting some nice caramelization on the meat. Toward the end, I threw in the snap peas and broccoli just to heat them up. I tossed it all into a large bowl.
I heated the Udon noodles in the microwave and tossed them in the bowl.
I added the bean sprouts to the bowl, and then a generous supply of the peanut sauce mixture, as above.
I really gave it all a good mix before serving it in bowls, with a garnish of fresh cilantro on top.
Krustai, also called Zagarėliai in Lithuanian (known as Chrusciki in Polish…and sometimes called Angel Wings), are basically strips of fried dough, sprinkled with powdered sugar. What makes them different than your basic funnel cake is that the recipe uses egg yolks to make the batter richer. They’re simple and absolutely delicious, especially if they’re served with homemade applesauce, the way my mom used to serve them to my daughter. (The recipe for that is at the bottom of this blog.)
The traditional recipe my mom and grandmother used for years featured vegetable shortening–good old Crisco–so I still use that, considering how rarely I make them. (It’s the only time I still use it!) But you can also fry them with the oil of your choice.
This recipe can be made gluten-free if you use your favorite one-to-one gluten-free flour. (I like KingArthur.) The dough has less elasticity (as all GF dough does) and they’re crumblier than regular Krustai after frying, but the taste is still delicious!
Gluten-free Krustai.
1 cup powdered sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon a pinch of salt
Combine the powdered sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Set it aside.
In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla and mix until combined. Slowly add about 1 1/2 cups of the flour, then add the sour cream. Add flour again, a 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until the dough forms. (You may need more or less than the 3 cups listed.) The dough should be soft, but not too sticky.
Move the dough to a clean work surface, dusting it with flour. Knead the dough a bit, adding flour to prevent it from getting too sticky. Cut the dough into several pieces to make it easier to work with.
The original recipe said to roll the dough out to about 1/8″ thick, and I have a rolling pin that can be set in increments. I found that 1/8″ of an inch, although absolutely delicious, was thicker than my mom’s recipe. So it’s up to you if you want to go thinner with the dough.
I set the rolling pin to 1/8″, but you can make them thinner if you like.
Once you’ve rolled the dough out into a sheet, cut it into 4-inch long, 1-inch wide pieces with a sharp knife or a pastry wheel. (I used a pizza cutter.) Traditionally, you make a slit in the center of each strip, and slip one end of the dough through the slit to get the desired “angel wing” form. I made a few of them that way, and then decided to leave the rest of them the way they are. (The gluten-free dough has much less elasticity than wheat dough.) Again, up to you.
Re-roll any unused dough scraps and add them to the next batch of dough.
In a sturdy pot, melt about 2/3’s of the can of vegetable shortening. Most vegetable shortening has a smoke point of about 360°, so I don’t let it get past 350°. Keep an eye on it, and use a thermometer! You don’t want the shortening to burn.
Once the shortening reaches about 325°, drop one piece of dough in the oil to see how it’s frying. If it immediately rises to the surface and sizzles, the fat is ready for frying.
I use 2 forks to flip the pastry once it gets golden brown on one side. Once the oil temperature is right, the frying process goes quickly so keep an eye on your Krustai and don’t let them burn!
I like to place the fried Krustai on a metal rack for a few minutes to drain the oil, before transferring them over to a plate.
These are the Krustai made with all-purpose flour. You can see how they’re more flexible, and how they puff up a bit more than the GF Krustai in the previous photo.
Gluten-free. Lighter in color, crispier, but still delicious!
Of course, it never hurts to have a helper in the kitchen!
Once they’ve had a moment to drip off excess oil and to cool a bit, dust the Krustai with the cinnamon sugar.
The Krustai are delicious just like this, but serving them with applesauce is a special treat. My daughter was lucky enough to get to know her grandmother, and one of the last things my mom ever cooked for her was Krustai with homemade applesauce. Her recipe was simple…
6 to 8 organic apples, different varieties 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 cup water
My mom always used a variety of apples. Some cook down more rapidly, other stay chunky. Others are sweet. Others, like Granny Smiths, are tart. Whatever the choices, use organic apples to avoid pesticides. (Apples are some of the most heavily sprayed fruits you can buy.)
Peel and core the apples, cutting them into 1/2″ cubes. Combine them with the other ingredients in a large saucepan, and put it over medium heat.
Cook the apples down to the consistency you like. (I like it chunky.) You might need to add a little more water. Store the applesauce in a sealed mason jar in the fridge.
I was here a couple of months ago for two nights and ate here both nights! The food is excellent. Really creative. And it’s a great place to chat with the locals, who are friendly and willing to share details about their town.
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin with a splash of tonic.
New Orleans style gulf shrimp with pasta, and a cream sauce. A bit spicy, and very tasty.
I’m posting this a few days before the weekend, so you can make your shopping list. Let’s face it: weekends are for ribs, and you can enjoy this recipe whatever the weather, because the ribs bake in the oven.
The balsamic vinegar I use in this recipe is not the super-expensive stuff that should only be drizzled on a fancy salad. I use the $9-a-bottle stuff that you can find in any supermarket. Good quality, and I try to find one from Modena, Italy, the world headquarters of balsamic vinegar.
3 lbs. pork ribs (I like the St. Louis cut)
4 cloves garlic, minced or through a press
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
Place the ribs in a roasting pan, cutting the racks in half if you need to, to make them fit.
In a bowl, combine the garlic, rosemary, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and salt, and then rub the mixture evenly all over the ribs.
Let the ribs marinate for an hour at room temperature or longer in the fridge.
Marinated ribs, ready for the oven.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and pre-heat it to 425. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the roasting pan with the ribs and cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil.
Roast the ribs until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
While the ribs are roasting, make the barbecue sauce…
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce (I like Frank’s)
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
Place the balsamic vinegar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook the vinegar until it is reduced by a third, about 8 minutes.
Whisk in the ketchup, apple cider vinegar, honey, mustard, molasses, Worcestershire, hot sauce and salt. Bring the sauce back to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer until it has thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
After baking, brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce.
Remove the ribs from the oven and transfer them to a baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil or parchment.
Increase the oven temperature to 450 .
Brush both sides of the ribs generously with the barbecue sauce and bake them uncovered for about 10 minutes, until the sauce is browned and sizzling.
My road trip continued today with a stop at Solomon Island, in Maryland. Just a gorgeous day on the water. I can see why people would love to live here.
Grabbed a Caesar salad with a crabcake for lunch, and continued onward.
