Recently in Food Category

I went on vacation last week and at the start of the vacation I got a horoscope that read "The next 30 days will be an adventure." That's always advantageous when you're on vacation, I guess, and so I was excited. And it's come true. In spades.

When I left for vacation I was considering a change in career. I've been kind of burned out on programming and computers in general, and then something cool happened that I can't share fully yet, but someone called me about an opportunity and just that brief contact rekindled a lot of feelings I hadn't had in a while. I wish I could share more, but I can't. Not yet anyway.

So while that was playing out, I had a blast in Ocean City. We went swimming, I rode the tilt-a-whirl with my kids and niece until I was certain I was going to hurl, ate myself silly, totally fell off my diet (and still lost weight! French Fries FTW!), and just had a wonderful time.

Came back, found out that that opportunity that rekindled my interest wasn't going to happen, and was sad, but still happy because I felt renewed.

I picked up with my diet and I lost even more weight, coming in below 300lbs for the first time in forever. I finally am at the point where I need to start shopping for more clothes.

Then I get a call and I'm offered the position of coach for my kids' soccer team and accept. I'm nervous as all get out and excited about the opportunity and can't wait, so I've been working on getting myself ready for that, and then yesterday I got a phone call.

The "someone" has a new opportunity and wants to talk to me.

It's only been 15 days and it's been a whirlwind already. I can't wait to see if it continues.

Life is great.

MSNBC is running with a story about Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the UK, urging families there to not waste food, in part to save money, and also to help feed the hungry around the world. These words from the PM come as he's taken part in the 34th G8 Summit in Tokyo, Japan that was primarily about the global food crisis.

The interesting thing about statements from Gordon Brown, and from the other leaders at G8, is that they were fed a six-course lunch and an eight-course dinner, including increasingly rare items like caviar and salmon. The British press was quick to excoriate Brown, especially because he's stated that solving the problems of world hunger and rising food prices are priorities of his.

I don't know that it's fair to pour all of the blame on Brown. I doubt he planned the menu or had any input into it whatsoever, but I agree that it smacks of hypocrisy for the leaders of these nations to urge restraint while eating

If you're interested in more reading, Wikipedia has an in-depth article on the rising cost of food around the world. The NY Times has an article about the vanishing salmon population.

As a foodie, one of the things that I personally worry about is how best to balance the desire for great food with the overall impact on the environment and the future. The interesting thing is that people like Alice Waters, and the Slow Foods movement have made it cool to eat local and sustainable in ways that weren't a few years ago, which is great. I hope that their way of looking at things continues to spread because we're facing a terrible dichotomy in food. The decent foods, the truly good for you foods, like eggs, lean meats, produce, the non-processed foods, are the ones getting more expensive. The foods that continue to remain cheap and accessible (increasingly) to people around the world are the junk foods, the processed foods, the unhealthy foods that have contributed so much to our other "food crisis": obesity.

I've had three questions rattling around in my head the last two weeks.

1. If Bill Gates came to you today and offered to underwrite your education and living expenses no questions asked for as long as you needed, where would you go, what would you learn, and why?
2. If you could be taught to make one dish/food/cuisine perfectly every time, what would it be?
3. If tomorrow you were facing execution, what would you want your last meal to be?

I've been troubled with these questions, not because I don't know how to answer them. It's because I do have the answers, I'm just not sure I want to speak them out loud. But I'm not doing myself any favors by dodging them, and I'm just going to continue being tormented if I keep avoiding, so...here are the answers.

1. If Bill Gates came to you today and offered to underwrite your education and living expenses no questions asked for as long as you needed, where would you go, what would you learn, and why?
   I would go to one of three places: Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, The Culinary Institute of America in New York, or the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. I want to study cooking. Why? It brings me so much joy. I am happiest in a kitchen, amidst the clatter and chaos and rush of preparing meals for people. I love the look of joy on someone's face when I've made them happy with the food I created. I cherish the sounds of joy when they're eating and the food is a delight. I love the construction, the act of making, the creation of a dish. I pour over cookbooks and read different ways to make things. I just finished "A Cook's Tour" last week and now I'm reading "The Making of a Chef". I love to eat, I love to try new foods, I love to try new combinations of spices. I am thrilled when I try to make a dish and it comes out right. Even if I fail and it comes out interesting.

   And while I try to get into the kitchen as often as I can to cook, I feel like a rank amateur, a poseur who knows almost nothing. I feel clumsy and unskilled, and I want to know more. I want to do more. I want to take the next step up from where I am now.
   



2. If you could be taught to make one dish/food/cuisine perfectly every time, what would it be?
   
   
   French Food. I want to learn how to make French Food perfectly. I know that some of you might be surprised given my complete adoration of Indian food and Thai food, or how I will gladly walk to Chinatown any day in any kind of weather to eat authentic dim sum at the Ocean Harbor, but I admire French Food.

   I like that the French, more than a lot of European nations created a culture of food, not just an industry of food, but a true art of cooking. A lot of other cultures seemed to treat food as an afterthought, just fuel for the day. The French turned it into something to be studied, to be written about, to be argued over, pontificated on, to be something perfected, because there is a beauty to perfect food.

   Beyond that, the French have done this not just with the best cuts of meat, or the most palatable, but their whole art revolved around turning some of the strangest cuts of meat, the organ meats, the offal, hooves and tails, into something that's not only palatable, but something that could be celebrated. That's amazing to me. It's inspiring, and I'm constantly awe-struck by it.



3. If tomorrow you were facing execution, what would you want your last meal to be?

   That all being said, my last meal would be rouladen, the way my mother made it when I was a kid, pickled red cabbage, and her potato dumplings. I may idolize French food, but I still derive intense pleasure from German food. I have had near religious experiences in Germany, eating with family. And maybe that's part of where my appreciation for French food comes from.

   My mom is from the Alsace, which is the French/German border region, and so much of the food there crosses cultural lines as well. In the Alsace they don't drink much beer. It's wine country, the land is beautiful, the people are joyful, and the food speaks to that. Every time I go to Germany the food is a revelation, an apocalypse of sorts, the end of one way to thinking, and the beginning of a new way to look at food. When I think of Germany, I think, in large part, about the food. It is holy to me, and if I were to be facing my imminent demise, I would want to eat that food again. I would not only be comforted by it, but also I would feel Communion with God in it. And that's the crux of the issue for me. I have had experiences so powerful with food that I have wept with joy for being able to eat that dish at that moment. I have been transported to states and places by food that are truly indescribable, and if I could learn to harness that power, to give that to other people, I would be very happy.
   

I've never really spoken these thoughts or feelings out loud, and I feel stupid and silly and nervous for airing them, but they are what they are. Those are the thoughts I've been avoiding for a while now.

The problem now is I've answered them, but am I going to do anything with the answers? I don't know yet.

It's one thing to know where you want to go. It's another thing entirely to go there.

I'm having trouble crossing that 300lb mark, but I'm officially down 40lbs now. I've lost 12% of my gross body weight so far. That's huge. I'm still huge, but not as huge...

I'm still sticking with Atkins, because it's working. And please note that when I say Atkins I don't mean that I'm eating bacon by the ton. This is more of a vegetables and meats thing. Today I had meatloaf (breadcrumb free), green beans, red leaf lettuce salad from our garden, and water. I'm stuffed, and I feel great.

The one thing that's amused me so far is how great I feel at places like the pool, even though I'm fat, I'm not as ashamed to take off my shirt. From the outside that's got to look funny, right? "Why does that fat man look so happy to take his shirt off?" But when you consider it, and I do, I feel great about losing 40lbs.

My goal is to hit 215lbs, or a total loss of 37%. I don't know if I'll get below 215, but I've given myself two years to find out. One thing, however, I promise I won't subject you to any shirt off before and after pictures.

I won't say that "The Omnivore's Dilemma" (Wikipedia link | Amazon Link) was one of the most profound books I ever read but I did do what it intended to do: Made me rethink my and my family's relationship to food.

So with the land available to us, the desire, and the money, we decided to put in a bigger garden than we had last year. It turned out to be a two-day project, but I know it will be completely worth it. Given the rising costs of food, and oil, which is turned into fertilizer, and used to carry our produce from New Zealand, Chile, Mexico, etc, this is our chance to eat better and save some money.

Saturday

Saturday we spent the morning cleaning up the area for the garden. The first thing we had to do was clean up the stone, brick, and grout we had piled by the back property line from a previous remodel. It turned out to be over two tons of brick and stone that we loaded into a trailer and hauling to our local dump. Cost: $200 for disposal.

Once we had the area clear of the brick and stone we took the weedwacker across the entire area to find all of the stumps. After two hours of digging we had pulled 6 stumps out of the area and got them ready for a trip to the shrub dump.

After several trips through the 24x8 plot with the rototiller we were ready to plant, but too tired to do anything else. So we shopped instead. At Home Depot we got metal fencing, organic top soil, and organic garden food. We also picked up some additional plants in fiber pots so we don't have anything to throw away.

Sunday

The next morning we got up and tilled the land one more time, working in the compost I had from last year as well as the organic garden soil and garden food. While the kids worked with family to put in the plants, the rest of us installed the metal fencing. It was a pain to install, and still needs some tweaking, but it was a necessity. We're trying to be as organic as possible and that means not using chemicals, plus we live on a golf course, and I can't count the number of times I've had golfers walk through our tomato plants swinging their club looking for their golf balls, so as the final touch we hung on a sign on the golf course side of the garden that says "Invading Rabbits and Golfers Will Be Mulched". Hopefully the sign will not be seen as a provocation.

I'm very proud of our garden, and can't wait to start reaping its benefits, literally. Better yet, I'm looking forward to learning more about canning so we can have our fresh veggies for longer. It should be a good time.

It also doesn't seem like we're the only ones embarking on this. I talked with my friend Chris who also recently planted a garden with his girlfriend, and he pointed me to this article:
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/05/10/the-rise-of-suburban-farming/

In a sense we view this as our own Victory Garden. The originally concept of the Victory Garden was that individuals would plant their own gardens to allow the public food supply be directed to the troops overseas. In our case it's giving us a chance to "dig for victory" in an effort against global warming, in an effort to save money, in an effort to eat locally, in an effort to eat better. All of these things are important to us, and so we've done something about it.

So, as for what we planted:

• Basil


• Oregano


• Parsley


• Tomatoes


• Red Peppers


• Green Peppers


• Green Beans


• Broccoli


• Cucumber


• Peas


• Carrots


• Corn


• Watermelon


• Pumpkin

One other thing I wanted to note real quick while I'm thinking about my diet and how it's going...

I feel gross. Maybe I'm not eating the right kind of protein, and I'm getting too much fatty and processed foods, whatever. I feel gross. I'm happy I'm losing weight. I'm happy I'm getting healthier, but I've kind of lost the will to eat.

I'm hoping that I can get some better protein at the store and some more salads and round out my choices a little better. Because honestly, I feel like a sausage.

I'm on Atkins Day Nine, so second week of the "Induction" phase. I had a dream about Oreos last night. I actually woke up in a panic because I dreamt that I ate an entire tray of cookies in one sitting. I really miss chocolate. Really really miss chocolate.

Other than that, I'm doing great. I'm lifting weights and I'm down 15lbs total, so I feel good. I just wish my brain wouldn't taunt me while I sleep.

Today is my fourth day doing Atkins, so a little over a quarter done with Induction. I feel good today. I woke up early, I had a lot of energy, and felt really clear-headed for being up so early. I don't want to ascribe that to Atkins directly, because it could just be a function of doing something for myself and losing weight in general.

I've been hearing a lot of concerns from friends and colleagues about my health while on Atkins, so I'm going to schedule an appointment with my family doctor for next week. It's probably time for my yearly physical anyway.

Last night I was really jonesing for a dessert. I was going nuts thinking about all of the sweet junk food my wife's got stocked in the house, so I kept eating small portions of lunch meat until I wasn't in anyway hungry. This morning I had a twinge of craving for chocolate, but I'm okay.

I need to start exercising more regularly, but I don't have the space at home. It seems like every corner of my house is jammed with junk leading up to our neighborhood yard sale, and I cancelled our gym membership trying to save money. So I need a place to work out. I'd also love to find someone who'll work out with me and motivate me.

I'm down another pound today, so that's awesome.

All in all I feel great.

Three days into Atkins and I'm really craving an Oreo.

Or a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Or some ice cream.

Or anything with some chocolate in it.

Today's my second day of eating Atkins. I'm in what's known as the Induction Phase, which is an appropriate term, considering the overwhelming amount of protein and fat I'm encouraged to eat, I feel like I'm being inducted into a fraternity and this is all some sick prank. I'm still convinced at this point that Atkins really works by making you completely sick of eating for such a long time that you just give it up and go do something else that's interesting.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Let me check what I can have this week. Eggs? Eggs again? What the fuck. I'm going on a bike ride instead."

At least that's how it's been in my own head. I still have to go to Rite Aid and get some pee-strips to see if I'm in ketosis yet. That's another fun aspect of the diet. So why am I sticking with the diet if I'm bitching so much? Because I don't want to become a diabetic. I don't want to wake up at 40 and have my doctor tell me that I'll be dead in a year. I want to be able to ride roller coaster rides with my kids. I want to be able to run around with them, and coach them in sports. I want to look good again. I want to be healthy and live to see them have kids. I want to stop being embarrassed when I take my shirt off at the pool. I don't want my kids to call me fat any more. I don't want my kids to get teased about having a fat father, and I know it's going to happen.

So I'm weighing my food, reading labels, and eating heroic quantities of meat. I went to Giant today and tried to find a bunch of different ways to get protein in my diet and keep the carbs out. I waved good-bye to the naan and the pretzel bread. I promised the grapes and apples that I'd be back soon, and I even blew a kiss at the Oreos, because you know, we have this special relationship...

All in all, so far the hardest thing for me to adjust to has been cutting the milk from my coffee, and it hasn't been easy, but I didn't think it would be. It was easy to put the weight on, and it would be easy to continue doing nothing about it, at least for right now. I'm tired of easy. I want results. And I've already had them. I'm down three pounds so far, so I'm sticking with it.

[UPDATE]: As part of deeper research into ketosis, I came across a link on Wikipedia about Ketogenic Diets, which are a high-fat, high-protein diets used to control seizures, primarily in children. I'm on Trileptal for my seizures and it works really well, but it's nice to know that this diet can help add a layer of control.

If you're interested in tracking my progress, here's my food diary: http://www.thedailyplate.com/diary/who/MauriceReeves

We've been watching "How It's Made" on Discovery HD because my children are geeks (thank God) and it's absolutely fascinating to them. The episode we watched yesterday had how ham steaks are made. My son flat out refuses to eat ham now.

He watched the whole process and declared: "You can't eat pigs. They're people!"

Great.

While I'm talking about consumption, I wanted to point out that I'm tracking it at:
http://www.thedailyplate.com/diary/who/MauriceReeves

I'm proud of the fact that the last 3 days I've eaten less than 1600 calories.

I'm also flogging some dinners:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/20768964@N00/0An241