Red Wine Vinegar Chicken

Posted: July 27, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: chicken, garlic, red wine vinegar, tomatoes | 3 Comments

This is the worst picture of the best dish you will ever eat. To top it off it is easy to make. Don’t be shocked by the amount of vinegar, just go with it. The acid breaks down the chicken and gives it a tang that is addicting. You can make it with the skin on if you are a person who does not have to watch your figure, but honestly this version is so good you won’t even miss the skin.

10 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

10 minced garlic cloves

1 cup of red wine vinegar

1/2 cup of chicken stock

1 can of chopped tomatoes

Handful of fresh thyme- tied with a kitchen string

4 bay leaves

Salt & pepper

Pam

Heat a Dutch oven on the stove on medium high heat. (That’s a heavy cast iron pan with a tall straight sides and a lid. I use a Le Cruset.) Spray the inside of the pot with Pam and add half the chicken thighs in one layer.

Cook for about 4 minutes; you just want them to get a little color. Flip them over and repeat on the other side. Remove those thighs from the pan and keep on a plate on the side. The chicken is not cooked through yet. Spray the pot with more Pam and cook the other half of the chicken the same way.

After you have cooked all the chicken and it is out of the pot, add the garlic to the pan and cook for one minute, stirring often. Add your vinegar, keeping your face away from the pot when you do it so you don’t choke on the acidic cloud you will create. Add the tomatoes, stock, herbs and chicken back in the pot.

Cover and bring the contents to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot the best you can, leaving everything else in there. Bring the liquid back up to a boil and reduce the sauce with the lid off. I like to mash it all down with a potato masher to break up the tomatoes. It will take about 15 minutes to reduce it to a sauce like consistency.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

It’s Hot…Let’s Run?

Posted: July 26, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Empower, sport, Tom | Leave a comment

Let’s face it, global warming is here today and it’s been here for the last couple of months. This morning while walking my dog it was already 91 degrees with a “feels like” temp of 101 according to the “weather bug” on my phone. I wish that I could input my weight and activity level to come up with a real “feels like” temp.

Shay Shay, our chocolate labradoodle is not much on hot weather. She stares at me as I drag her down the street with a look that says, “For god’s sake, why did we leave the air conditioning?” She certainly does not subscribe to the phrase the “dog days of summer.”

While walking the dog, trying to get in a little exercise before the weather wins claim on the outdoors I was passed by at least 4 different women, two on bikes and two on foot who have not heard that the Olympic trails are over. There might have been more who passed me, but I did blink once or twice.

One woman ran by me so fast that the hair on her ponytail slapped me in the face and almost cut my old dry skin. Of course she said a big ‘ole hello as she sprinted by. Another, well-past-the-middle aged woman rode her bike up the long hill of my street standing up while peddling, passing a car that was going in the same direction at the 25 mile per hour speed limit.

God Bless these Amazonian athletes who are unfazed by heat or hormones. I am not one of these women. Sport for me is taking a good friend’s quarters at Mah Jongg. Perhaps throw in a little badminton or my new found game of Pe’tanque, the French version of Boulles. I like a game that you can play with an iced tea in your hand.

Before any of you write me about the benefits of exercise let me tell you that I know. I spend my time working out with my friend Amy under the eagle eye of our trainer Tom at Empower.

I have been through three different gyms with Tom and he is just who I need to keep me laughing even as my face is turning white, which he told me on Monday was just the precursor to throwing up from working out too hard. I told him that I already knew I was about to throw up unless I stopped trying to lift my body off the ground with one arm.

The great thing is Tom knows I don’t run and never will, so he finds other ways to keep me moving. My new favorite is boxing. Getting to hit someone with out my mother screaming at me from the other room to stop is a childhood dream come true.

As the Olympics are just about to over take the world’s attention I know many people may be inspired to go out and try a new sport. I think I will pay extra attention to archery. Being good at standing still is a bonus in that sport.

Too Many Tomatoes Summer Soup

Posted: July 25, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: carrots, onions, pesto, soup, tomato | 3 Comments

My first disclaimer is that I don’t have too many tomatoes despite the beautiful plants I have. There are a bunch of stupid squirrels who come and eat a bite out of each tomato and after deciding they don’t like that one they move on to the next one to see if it is better. UGH!! My next recipe might be low fat squirrel stew if I could just catch one.

Anyway, this is an easy soup that is good hot or cold. It really is easy if you have a stick blender. You can use a regular blender or food processor, but go to Target and get a stick blender and you will have so much less washing up to do because of it.

I am going to give you the recipe in a ratio so you can make any amount you want. The base recipe is enough for about two servings so at least double it.

1 big yellow onion – peeled and quartered

2 Tomatoes – stemmed and quartered

2 Carrots – peeled

1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock

1 T. Pesto

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400º. Line a jelly roll pan with foil and spray with pam. Put the onions and the carrots on the foil and place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes to the pan and continue cooking in the oven for 45 more minutes.

Dump all the vegetables from the pan into a stockpot and add the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Using a stick blender, whirl everything up until pureed or pour everything in a blend and let it do its thing. Add the pesto and salt and pepper to taste. Summer in a cup and hardly a calorie in sight.

The $4.99 Full Body Lift

Posted: July 24, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Duct tape, Full body lift | Leave a comment

Yesterday on Good Morning America I saw a feature on a $25 face lift in a Jar called the Bungee Lift. It only works on women who have enough long hair to make some really tight tiny braids by their face and then attach them to a small bungee cord that goes under their hair in the back. Voila, few crows feet.

$25 for a mini face left may sound like a steal, but I can go one better than that and give you a whole body lift for $4.99 with no cutting, dieting or exercising.

Many middle-aged and older women complain about their legs sagging above their knees. Some people I know, and I am not going to name you, have a tummy that droops down ever so slightly in the front. If you have breasts, and you know who you are if you do, you might be unhappy about the direction they are pointing. Lastly, is your rear quarters the penthouse, and by that I mean top floor, version, or the sub-basement type?

If you resemble any of the aforementioned descriptions then I have the solution for you. Just follow these cheep and easy, and no I’m not calling you cheep and easy, steps.

Buy a roll of Duct tape. Now that it comes in so many shades and patterns I suggest flesh colored for this exercise.
Get naked.
Unroll a little tape leaving it attached to the roll and stick the sticky side on the, excuse my description, flab right above your knee with the roll facing up your body.
Gently begin to unwind the Duct tape attaching it to your skin and pulling up at the same time. Lift any belly fat up before sticking the tape on.
Continue to the optional breast area. Once again, lifting the bosom to a desired, perhaps once familiar place and then attaching the tape to it. If cleavage is desired tape around the outside of the breast rather than right up the middle.
Now here is the key, when you get to the shoulders make sure you get a good stick because the shoulders are the key super structure to hold all the rest of the parts up. Think of everything now being cantilevered off the shoulders.
Continue down the back, you may need assistance in this part, but lift the cheek up gently and attach the tape to the underside of the now J-lo like buttocks.
Cut the tape there.
Repeat on the other side.

I could put the Duct tape in a jar and charge you $50 for it, but some information is criminal to keep to myself.

Grilled Shrimp and Vegetable Salad

Posted: July 23, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: cherry tomatoes, corn, onions, peppers, pesto, Shrimp, Zucchini | Leave a comment

Glad I was able to get all my grilling done for this yummy salad before the thunderstorms came. This is a wonderful way to use any vegetable you like. I used as many different things from my garden as I could and it was delicious. I think it made enough to feed six people as a main course.

1 ½ lb. large peeled and deveined raw shrimp

1 T. olive oil

3 ears of corn

2 zucchini – sliced the long way into ½ planks

1 red onion sliced into ½ inch rounds

4 different peppers- one sweet green, 2 mild banana, one Anaheim and one Poblano- cut in half and seeded

1 c. cherry tomatoes- halved

1 lemon – halved

1 t. white wine vinegar

2 T. pesto base- recipe follows

Salt and Pepper

Heat the grill to high and spray with Pam. Put the corn, onions, peppers, zucchini and lemon cut side down on the grill. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the corn a quarter turn and flip the peppers. Close the cover and cook another 3 minutes. Once the zucchini and onions get grill marks flip them. Turn the corn again.

The peppers will cook fastest. One they are soft, remove them. You don’t want to cook everything too much, just until soft.

The lemon will be the next thing to come off, then the zucchini, onions and last the corn. Let everything cool enough so you can handle it. After it has cooled chop the peppers, onions and zucchini into ½ inch chunks. Cut the corn off the cob and put it all in a bowl.

Turn the grill down to medium. Cover the shrimp in olive oil and place on grill in ne layer. As soon as you get them all down turn them over and cook for no more then a minute. They will get pink very quickly; as soon as each side is pink remove them. There is nothing worse than over cooked shrimp.

Squeeze the grilled lemon on the shrimp and add the pesto base to them. Toss them together with the grilled vegetables and add the cherry tomatoes and vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Pesto Base

When my garden is producing an over abundance of basil I make this base of a pesto sauce and freeze it. If I want to add pine nuts and Parmesan cheese I can thaw a puck of base and add those things. But I also like to have just the base to add to recipes that use basil and garlic.

3 cups of Basil leaves- packed

7 cloves of garlic

1 T. olive oil

Put the garlic in a cuisine art and pulse until minced. Add the basil and olive oil and pulse until paste like.

Foot Weight Loss Was Not My Goal

Posted: July 22, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: shoes | Leave a comment

I pray for you that you are a person who has remained the same sensible clothing size for many years. I am not. My closets contain an array of sizes in everything from outerwear to underwear. Of course it is not organized by size, which would make life easier, but none-the-less a range of about six to seven sizes exists under one roof. That is in everything except shoes.

For the most part all my shoes are the same size in both length and width. Thank goodness that there is one item I can pull out of my closet without having to go to the mirror and ask, “Can I wear this out of the house or does it look like I am wearing pajamas?” I say this after a friend of my daughter’s who was too polite to tell me, told her mother that I looked bigger in my big clothes now that I was smaller.

She meant it in the nicest possible way, but it points out that I have to tackle the giant job of cleaning out all my closets and arranging my clothes by size. I am certainly not going to go out and buy any clothes for this hopefully temporary interim size, and I certainly must have a few things to wear from my last time on the way up to this weight. After my practically pants-on-the-floor trip to Texas I did find a couple of pairs of white pants in my closet that were the next two sizes down. The good news-bad news is that one of them is already too big and the smaller pair is just a little tight across the tummy. Why can’t I lose weight in perfect size increments?

For the most part, it does not really matter if I look like I might walk out of my skirt when I am just driving Carter back and forth to the barn, tending my garden or writing my blog. But this week I had an important meeting where I had to look somewhat professional, even in the 100-degree heat. I scoured the guest room closet and discovered a linen outfit that fit to a “T”. Just a little pressing and I was set to go. I grabbed a pair of cute squared toe flats and jumped in the car, barefoot for the drive to the meeting.

I got there just in time, slipping my feet into my shoes before running into the office building for the meeting. To my horror, just as I entered the conference room and walked forward to shake hands with my host I walked completely out of my shoes, leaving them by the door as the rest of me continued onward. I made some kind of joke that I thought we were holding a Japanese meeting as I retrieved my footwear.

So here I am doing everything possible to slim down my hips and thighs and what do I get…skinnier feet.

Smoked Pork Chop with Cherry Mustard Sauce

Posted: July 21, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cherry, mustard, smoked pork chops | Leave a comment

Smoked pork chops are a meat which is already cooked, and if you can’t find them you can use a ham steak, but they are worth searching out. I get mine at the Durham Farmers market from Fickle Creek Farm. I shouldn’t tell you that because now I may never be able to get them again.

Smoked Pork Chops

Sauce

2/3 c. white wine or apple juice

4 T. good mustard- like Dijon – I used Swedish

3 T. dried cherries – you could also use cranberries – minced

1 T. fig preserves – or any jam like apricot or grape

1 t. honey

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

A couple of red pepper flakes — up to ¼ t. if you like it spicy

Put the wine in a saucepan and put on medium high heat and reduce by almost a half. Add the mustard and whisk together continuing to cook for one minute. Add the minced cherries, preserves, honey and Worcestershire sauce and cook another 2 minutes. Add the pepper flakes and remove the sauce from the heat. You can do this sauce in advance.

I like to grill the smoked pork chops, but you can also pan fry them. You are just heating them up.

With the grill on medium high I cook them until they have good grill marks and then flip them over.

When the chops are cooked put them on a plate and spoon sauce over the top and serve.

Potentially the World’s Greatest Invention

Posted: July 20, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: greatest invention, human dehumidifier | Leave a comment

Right now before you read any farther I want to alert you that I have copy righted this idea because it has the potential to be bigger than any device you are reading this on.

I am not a scientist, doctor, nor engineer, but I think that during this hottest of all summers I might have stumbled on to a world changing new product idea — The Human Dehumidifier!

As I was emptying my garage dehumidifier’s 2-gallon tank for the second time in a day it dawned on me, “this sucker is damn heavy.” I went to weigh it and it was 17 pounds. I know the human body is mostly water. According the always correct and very reliable Internet a body is between 45 and 79% water. And everyone says when he or she starts a diet that those first 5 pounds are just water weight.

Well if we don’t need the first five pounds of water, how about sucking out about twenty or thirty pounds with the help of a machine like the one in my garage? It’s such a brilliant idea I can’t believe no one has thought of it before.

It’s almost too fabulous and I can see how certain companies would be particularly unhappy if this machine existed, like all the weight loss businesses, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and Nutria system. They have made billions on having a constant stream of heavy people in need of ongoing and expensive services to help them loose weight.

If fat people could just plug themselves into The Human Dehumidifier and suck out all that excess water that’s really making them fat then why diet? Plus size clothing makers and retailers would also find this machine eating into their market share, as would the manufactures of elastic and Spanx.

But on the other hand certain businesses would find The Human Dehumidifier a huge asset. Imagine how McDonalds could market Double Quarter Pounders with Cheese. “Come on in and enjoy your burger while hooked up to our complimentary Mc Water Removal machine. For every half pound in one half pound comes out.”

So for all you engineer, doctor, science types, get to work. I gave you the idea now give me the machine.

Curried Mango and Chicken Salad

Posted: July 19, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: chicken, chicken salad, curry, mango | Leave a comment

As a child, my sister Margaret would get stuck eating the same thing everyday. One whole year she had the same conversation with me everyday.

“Dana, what are we having for dinner?”

It did not matter what I replied, from burgers to spaghetti she would then say… “No thanks, I think I will just have cheese broccoli.” Which she made herself with a package of frozen broccoli and some sort of processed cheese, Velveeta being her favorite.

Sometime in her teenage years Margaret’s dish of choice became chicken salad, which lasted a very long time. I remember having a conversation with her sometime in her twenties about her idea for a chicken salad restaurant and if I thought it was viable.

Now I too have always loved chicken salad, but consider it a special occasion treat because I just don’t eat that much mayonnaise for thigh giggling reasons.

The sad part is that chicken salad is so easy to make these days if you use a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Since I am going to a ladies potluck tonight I decided it was a good day to make a healthy chicken salad. Too bad my sister is not here to eat it.

1 store bought rotisserie chicken

2 mangos – cubed

½ red onion- finely chopped

1 hot pepper minced

35 basil leaves- chiffonade – that means cut in tiny ribbons

Dressing

1 T. low fat mayonnaise

2/3 cup of fat free Greek yogurt

1 T. ketchup

1t. curry powder

1 t. lemon juice

2 packets of Splenda

1 t. salt

Pepper

Pull the meat off the chicken in shreds making sure you don’t get any of the skin. Put it in a large bowl and add the other ingredients down to the basil. Mix the dressing in a separate bowl and pour over the chicken mixture and gently stir it all together. It is better to get it refrigerate for at least an hour.

Things That Made Me Mad Today and Why Do They Make Me Want Cheese?

Posted: July 18, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cheese, mad | 1 Comment

For the most part I had a pretty good day. I had my first one-on-one meeting as the new Board Chair of the Food Bank with our CEO, Peter, which was very positive. I won some great hands in Mah Jongg. Was able to move Carter hither and yon to riding camp were she is a counselor, a friend’s house and a baby sitting job all while fitting in an annual exam at the Vet’s for Shay Shay and a visit to the dog groomer.

I ate my regular high protein Special-K with raspberries for breakfast and the “Dana Lange salad” at the club for lunch so I was on track for an excellent day of healthy eating.

Despite all this positive news just a few little things can really throw a wrench in a day and make me want to eat a huge hunk of fresh mozzarella. Why is that?

I know that when I describe these very little things that made me so MAD, you will begin to question my sanity. That is of course unless you have greatly fluctuating estrogen levels, which might actually be the cause of my “rage and crave.”

The first incident was the discovery that all but one of my sweet potato plants that I had been lovingly cultivating in my garden for two months had been stripped of all their leaves by some plant loving varmint that I would like to catch and boil in a pot in the back yard, Fatal Attraction style. There on the brown dry earth of the garden were long vines with naked stems sticking off of them.

The second incident came just a half an hour later and was even more insignificant, but seemed to push me right to the edge. While printing out all of Carter’s back to school lists for supplies and books an error message come up on my computer announcing the need for me to physically get off my butt and go downstairs to the printer to attend to it’s needs. I assumed it was out of paper or was jammed up in some way, but nooooo! The message on the minute little screen I have to find reading glasses to decipher read, “Pink cartridge ink out of date.” Are you F#*&ing kidding me? HP already only puts 14 pages worth of ink in any of the 5 different color inks you must buy, but now you mean I have not printed enough Pink S#*t to use my ink up in the allotted 47 days before it goes bad. Who ever heard of ink going bad? This was a new low.

My body immediately said, “Give me cheese.” I went to the kitchen, but I stopped. I was able to keep my hand away from the refrigerator door. Instead I went back to the computer and started writing this blog. God taught me two lessons. One, I don’t have to let hormones, or my lack of control of them push me over the edge into a formage filled world and two there is always a diet lesson everyday as long as your eyes are open and need something to blog about.

You-Just-Thought-You-Hated-Okra Okra

Posted: July 17, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: Okra | 2 Comments

I grew up a Yankee child of southern parents. It was not until I went to boarding school did I learn that I actually had a Southern accent despite living in Connecticut from the age of 4. My father taught me how to cook the way his mother had taught him so I was good at making things liked stewed tomatoes and fried chicken.

One purely southern thing my parents loved to eat was Okra, which was completely foreign in the northern climate. The only place they could find it was in the freezer section of the Village Market. Now frozen vegetables were a staple of our 1970’s kitchen. I actually thought that all vegetables grew in little frozen squares. Many frozen vegetables were okay, but not Okra. It becomes slimy when cooked, a texture none of the kids in my family could abide.

It was not until I ate fresh Okra that I discovered the difference and learned to love it. This recipe is so simple and healthy and not at all slimy.

As much fresh Okra as you can get your hands on (It is at the Durham farmer’s Market now through September)

Salt

Ground Coriander

Pam

Cut the big end off the okra and through it away. Then cut each pod into ½ in disks.

Heat a skillet on Med. high heat on the stove and spray with Pam. Put the okra in the pan and let it heat up for about 2 minutes before stirring it. Stir it and continue cooking for about 7 minutes total. You want the okra to start to get a little brown. As it browns sprinkle coriander all over it. Salt before serving.

A regular serving would be about 5 pods per person, make double. If you live someplace you can’t get Okra come visit.

Never Eat Alone

Posted: July 16, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: eat alone | 3 Comments

The other day I was waiting in the car outside Tutti Fruiti while Carter ran in to get her self a yogurt. I had the perfect parking spot to watch the people coming and going from Only Burger.

For those of you who are not from Durham, Only Burger is a hamburger stand, which, you guessed it, only sells burgers, fries and onion rings. With the exception of maybe a diet root beer there is hardly anything sold there that would qualify as low calorie, but boy everything they do make is really delicious, as my old brain remembers from so far back.

As I was people watching, I noticed a trend. The largest people coming out of the store were coming out alone, all carrying full bags of you know what. The skinniest people were coming out empty handed, having presumably consumed their meal inside.

I watched as one person (whom I did not know so I am almost certain it is not you) walked out with a full bag and got in her car and ate her meal there. The outdoor tables were free so if she had wanted she could have had a seat under the cool night stars, or she could have gone home, but the burgers could not wait.

The scene reminded me of a food rule I made last time I lost a significant amount of weight, which I have stuck to – No eating in the car (disclaimer, unless you are on a road trip and are eating with the rest of your family, late to your destination.)

Since your primary reason for being in the car is to drive somewhere, eating becomes a mindless secondary task, which might be dangerous, especially for your hips.

As I watched this woman eat what appeared to be all the offerings Only Burger had, a new rule came to mind. If possible, never eat alone. I doubt that if she had chosen to eat her meal in public, at a table, even by herself, she might have only chosen either the fries or onion rings and not both, as was the case that night.

The best possible world is to have a companion to share your meal with. First, you might not put too much on your plate to begin with out of sheer embarrassment and second, you probably would take more time to consume your food because perhaps you would have a conversation during your meal.

Now I know there are exceptions, like for people in solitary confinement, or those with horrific communicable diseases, but for me I am going to try and follow this new rule, so if you are lonely at lunchtime, give me a call. There is always room at my table and it is so much more fun to eat less with someone.

Pecan, Fennel and Squash Cake

Posted: July 15, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: cake, fennel seeds, pecans, squash, vegetarian | Leave a comment

This is not a diet recipe, but I figure you need a little treat and I still have too much squash. I have made a ton of zucchini breads that are filling my freezer and being given away to everyone with a new baby or relative visiting. I can’t remember where I got this idea for a cake but I know I read a recipe somewhere that inspired this one. What is the difference between a zucchini bread and squash cake. I am not a baker by trade, but breads are usually made with oil and cakes with butter.

I baked this one as a loaf and had too much batter so I baked this little ramekin cake. I had one bite to make sure it was good. I gave the rest to Russ who asked me if it had a lot of sour cream in it because it was so moist. That was the squash. It really does make a good cake.

6 cups of grated squash- I used zucchini and yellow squash

1 cup of pecans – toasted and chopped

2 t. fennel seeds

1 ¼ cups of butter

1 ½ cups of sugar

5 eggs

2 cups of flour

2 t. vanilla

½ t. salt

2 t. baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Grate the squash in the cuisineart and put in a colander and let drain for a half an hour. Squish all the water you can out of it.

In a mixer put the butter and the sugar and beat together on med, high until if gets fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and continue beating. Add the flour, baking soda and salt and just mix it enough to incorporate it.

Take the bowl out of the mixer and add the squash, pecans and fennel and just fold it all together.

Spray Pam in a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for about 1 hour.

The Benefit of Coasting

Posted: July 14, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: coasting | 2 Comments

Coasting (kohst-ing) – verb – to continue to move or advance after effort has ceased; keep going on acquired momentum.

I am a big believer in coasting. When the price of gas soared a few years ago I made it a game to see how much better millage I could get out of each gallon by safely coasting whenever possible. I would watch the stop light up ahead and if the odds were good it would be red by the time I reached it I would just take my foot off the gas and coast on up. I increased my gas efficiency by at least ten percent.

After driving this way for a while I started to notice how, with a little planning, I often would not need to use the gas, nor the brakes because I was not just speeding up to have to stop all of a sudden. When I ride in a car now with a non-coaster I have to work really hard not to point out not only how much gas they are wasting and brakes they are wearing out, but how scary it is to drive really fast right up behind someone and then have to jam on the breaks because the non-coaster in front was stopping suddenly. If you know me you know I am fairly unsuccessful at not pointing that out, especially when I let loose a “this-is-not-how-I-planned-to-die-scream.”

Changing driving habits is very similar to changing eating habits. I have become somewhat of a coaster when it comes to eating these days. I try to eat just enough to keep the hunger pangs away. If I think I am hungry before a real honest to god mealtime, I drink a big glass of iced tea or water to see if I can keep coasting until the time I should eat. If I continue to be hungry I push it just a half hour more. Usually I get involved with something else and keep what I call brain hunger at bay. You see I am sure at this point in my privileged life I don’t know what real hunger is and I have boredom hunger.

Now the thing about coasting is you have got to build up momentum at some point in order to be able to coast. As a child there was nothing more satisfying than after peddling my bike really hard on the upside of a hill I got to coast with legs splayed out, no feet on the peddles, on the down side.

The benefit of coasting is that you are still making forward progress without constantly expending energy and that has to help you go farther in the long run. So in the heat of the summer I want to encourage you to find good places to coast and take advantage of energy you have already expended to get just a little farther for free.

Key to Sales Success

Posted: July 13, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Last night I was lying in bed, watching TV, needle pointing a Christmas ornament. Right now I would like to claim that needle pointing a Christmas ornament in July would help you lose weight. If you call right now, I will send you a complete weight loss kit and you are sure to drop the pounds if you follow the simple instructions inside. This for just $249.95 plus shipping and handling. Don’t wait, call now, kits are limited.

How can I make this claim? There are a very limited number of foods you can eat while actively needlepointing and most of them are lollipops. I know this must sound a little familiar to anyone who watches at least one hour of TV a week because I am overwhelmed with the number of ads for non-food items that make weight loss claims as their number one sales proposition.

Perhaps you have seen the Ashley Furniture commercial for mattresses that claim that if you get a new mattress from them you will lose weight. Brilliant. All you have to do is sleep more and lose weight. Sure, just like with needlepointing if you are asleep you are not eating. That is of course as long as you are not taking Ambien, which has been linked to Night Eating Syndrome (NES which is also amazingly related to Restless Leg Syndrome, and I just thought they made that one up.)

Sketchers got is a butt load of trouble for claiming that their Shape-up sneakers which had an curved bottom would help you lose more by wearing them. Sketchers settled their lawsuit for $40 million, but you know they made so much more than that on the shoes that making a dubious weight loss claim was worth the risk.

There are weight loss creams, patches, and Wi-games, which have all sold billions just because they appealed to our lazy nature to lose weight fast and without any pain. All I can say is buyer beware.

But if you are interested I have a few new products besides the needlepoint kits that can certainly help you if dropping those stubborn lbs is your goal. Just send me your money, lots of it, it really doesn’t matter what I send you back. It will work as well as all the other products advertised on TV.

The Healthy is Hidden in it Chili

Posted: July 12, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: beef, chili, onions, peppers, tomatoes, Zucchini | 2 Comments

Chili is a great way to make not just a low fat dish, but one that has a lot of veggies that you would not even know are in there that add fiber and bulk without adding many calories.

3 onions chopped

5 cloves of garlic minced

2 lbs of 96 % ground beef or ground turkey breast

1 Green pepper chopped

5 cups of shredded squash (I used 2 zucchini and 1 yellow squash)

2 shredded Carrots

3 hot green peppers chopped

½ cup Chili powder

2 T. ground Cumin

1 T. smoked Paprika

2 15 oz. cans of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup of liquid – wine, beer, chicken broth or water

1 can of red kidney beans

9 packets of Splenda

1 T. Red wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Pam

In a large stockpot on a medium high heat, spray with Pam and add onions and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes stirring every once in a while. Add the meat and chop it up with a spoon as you cook it until it is browned. Add all the peppers, squash and carrots. Stir and cook for another 3 minutes. Add all the spices and the canned tomatoes. Add the liquid and bring boil and simmer for 20 minutes making sure

there is a little liquid in the pot. Add the beans, Splenda and vinegar and cook a few more minutes.

Cooking As Sport

Posted: July 11, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: cooking, sports | 4 Comments

As I child I was never very good at sports. I swam on the club swim team and could ice skate on our pond, but other than that I did not participate in any organized teams. It just was not the thing to do in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The thought of my mother driving me to an after school activity or worse yet, watching a game where I sat on the bench was just unheard of, which was really too bad since my mother loves to watch sports

The good news was my youngest sister Janet was a real jock and by the time she came along my mother had more time to take her hither and yon to tennis, basketball and skiing. It was also more satisfying for my mother because Janet was a superior athlete to watch with pride.

I was born about 30 years too soon because now a days cooking has become competitive. Think about how many TV show there are with cooking competitions on them, Chopped, Top Chef, Cupcake Wars, Iron Chef, The Next Food Network Star and on and on. When one of these shows is on in our kitchen my daughter often says, “Mom, you should be on that show.” What nirvana that is for a mother to hear from her 13 year old.

Cooking has become akin to a sport. Chefs are almost super heroes. Bobby Flay is today’s Joe Namath. The best thing is that to be a great cook you do not have to be born with any particular genetic advantage. Being tall or strong does not help you produce a better soufflé.

The best part about being a good cook is it is the one skill you will use everyday of your whole life. Before I was married my friends used to say that whomever I married was going to be very lucky because I could cook. Amazingly enough my husband asked me to marry him before I ever cooked him a single meal. In fact he proposed in the parking lot of the ACME supermarket as we were going in to buy groceries for dinner.

Although it was not the most traditional place to be proposed to, it was probably the most appropriate for me and he did not even know it. I can report that after I said yes, I asked him if we should at least tell the produce manager in the hopes of getting a celebratory free tomato.

So if you are not a great sportsman, nor a great cook, just wait a few years. Something new will emerge as the next competitive activity. For all you great laundry folders, your day is coming.

Vegetable Frittata

Posted: July 10, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: cheese, eggs, frittata, onions, vegetables | Leave a comment

This is not an original idea for a recipe, but it is such a good things to know how to make I am writing my own version of this Spanish classic. It is also very healthy and good for any time of the day.

1 onion chopped (I like lots of onion so I use a big one)

1 ½ cups other chopped veggies – for this one I used Zucchini and green pepper. You can use leftover cooked veggies or raw. Asparagus, artichokes, red or green peppers, squash, cooked potatoes, green beans, spinach, broccoli or any creative combinations you can think of will work.

7 eggs beaten

½ cup of shredded cheese – I used a mixture of Parmesan, Jarlsberg and Gruyere

Pam

Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400º

You need a 12-inch skillet that can be put in the oven (that means it does not have plastic handles). Put skillet over a medium high heat and spray with Pam. Add onions to pan and cook for 3 minutes. If you are using raw peppers add them at the same time. Add any other raw veggies after the onions are partially cooked. Cook until veggies for another 3 minutes. Salt and Pepper the veggies. If you are using pre-cooked veggies add them now and get them warmed up.

Beat the eggs and add salt and pepper to them. Spray a little more Pam in the skillet with the vegetables, making sure the bottom gets lubricated and spreading out the vegetables evenly across the bottom of the pan. Turn heat on medium and pour the eggs into the skillet. Do not stir anything and let the eggs cook for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the still runny eggs and put whole skillet in the hot oven.

Continue cooking in the oven for another 5 minutes. The eggs may puff up a little.

Can be eaten hot or cold.

I Must Have Been a Thin Farmer in Another Life

Posted: July 9, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: farmer | Leave a comment

What in the world makes me believe that I was a thin farmer in another life? Well, the thin part is just wishful thinking, but my hunger patterns follow those of a farmer. I am not a nighttime eater, nor am I a real snacker. My hungriest time of the day is 4:00 in the afternoon. Twenty-first century eating patterns are just not good for me. Making a late dinner my biggest and often most social meal of the day is just not satisfying to me and surely contributes to extra pounds.

Let’s consider the life of a farmer 100 years ago, like so many of my kin. A farmer got up early, ate a little something, went out and worked. When the hottest part of the day came and the loved one in the house had spent all morning preparing a big meal, mostly of the things they raised, like stewed chicken, pickled watermelon rind, stewed tomatoes and snap beans, the farmer would come in and take a break and eat their largest meal of the day.

After a little rest, said farmer would return to work. At the end of the day after a small supper and I mean small, like some clabbered milk (that’s like yogurt to old southern cooks) and a peach the farmer would fall in to bed dead tired.

This spring I made a renewed commitment to my vegetable garden. It involved digging out 10 yards (That is almost a full dump truck for those of you unfamiliar with how big a yard is) of old unproductive dirt from the gardens beside my driveway and replaced it with 10 yards of new compost. That meant digging out and shoveling in was required. By far the best free exercise program around.

This was the perfect year to do it because it turned out we had the most glorious spring I have ever seen in Durham. Planting and weeding were not such horrible chores and the rain helped with watering. As has been previously discussed, I became a one-person squash factory and thus far have harvested over 300 pounds of both zucchini and yellow squash and that is not because I let them grow too big.

My frugality and attachment to something I grew means that I have to try and eat my harvest. Thank goodness I only grow healthy vegetables and don’t have cows from which I could make cheese; that would be a weight-gaining farming situation.

In the spirit or my farming heritage I am going to try the farm meal plan and eat my larger meal in the middle of the day to see if the 4:00 hungries disappear and have supper instead of dinner as my evening meal. I will report later how this plan works. For now, I am going out to the garden to pick my dinner.

Not Just for Bridge Luncheon Tomato Aspic

Posted: July 8, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: tomato aspic | 2 Comments

Cooking is not my mother’s favorite thing. But there are a couple of dishes she has mastered because they make excellent menu items for bridge day. One is her tomato aspic. As a child I refused to even try anything called aspic. It was not until I actually learned to play bridge that I tried my mother’s tomato treat that I learned how much I loved it.

2 packages sugar free lemon Jell-O

1 envelope knox unflavored gelatin

4 cups of V-8 (I use hot and spicy, but if you don’t like things too hot use regular) – divided. Half hot and half cold

2 T. Worchester sauce

1 T. lemon juice

1 cup chopped veggie of your choice- celery, green peppers, red onions

½ cup sliced olives

1 T. horseradish

Sauce

½ cup fat free sour cream

½ cup Greek Yogurt

2 T. horseradish

In a saucepan heat 2 cups of the v-8 to almost boiling. Put Jell-O powder and knox gelatin in a bowl and pour hot V-8 over it and stir until dissolved. Add the Worchester sauce, lemon juice and lemon juice. Add the cold 2 cups of V-8, the veggies, olives and horseradish. Mix together and pour into a 9 x 9 pan. Put in the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

Make sauce by mixing together the sour cream, yogurt and horseradish.

Grilled Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Grilled Figs and Balsamic Reduction

Posted: July 7, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: balsamic reduction, figs, grilled, lamb | Leave a comment

This picture in no way conveys how yummy and easy this main course is.

1 leg of lamb – with the bone removed, which is called butterflied. It is often sold rolled back up with netting holding it together and wrapped in plastic. After removing it from the plastic just cut the netting off

Marinade

4 T. olive oil

8 cloves of garlic – minced

Enough chopped fresh herbs to make ½ a cup – I used oregano, rosemary and thyme

Salt and pepper

10 fresh figs – they are in season and so yummy

1 cup of good quality balsamic vinegar

Juice of a lemon

At least one hour, I did 6 hours before you need to start cooking mix up the olive oil, herbs and garlic. Spread the leg of lamb out and slather half the marinade on the meat and salt and pepper it. Flip it over on a platter or container large enough to hold it spread out and slather the other side with the remaining marinade. Salt and Pepper and cover it. If you are only going to marinate it for one hour you can leave it on the counter, otherwise put it in the refrigerator. You want to take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking so the meat can come up to room temperature.

Balsamic reduction

This can be made in advance.

Put vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to boil and reduce to simmer. You want to reduce the vinegar by ¾, which will take about half an hour.

Grilled figs

This too can be done in advance

Cut the figs in half the long ways. Spray Pam on a medium hot grill and place the figs cut side down. Grill for about 4 minutes with the lid down. Flip over to the skin side, close the lid and grill for another 4 minutes.

Grilling the lamb

Heat the grill on high and turn it down to medium high. Place the lamb fully spread out with the fat side up to start. Close the lid. The oil and fat will make the fire grow big so don’t go far from the grill. You want to grill one side for about 10 minutes. If the fire has gotten too high, move the lamb to one side of the grill and turn off the burner on that side. Don’t let it get too charred.

Once you have done one side, flip it over and cook the other side for 10 minutes. Watch for big flames again. Use a meat thermometer getting the lamb to 125º internal temp. With a butterflied leg of lab there is going to be some thicker and thinner parts so check multiple places. Don’t cook it until the fattest part is 125º unless you like really well done meat.

When the average thickest place is the right temp remove the lamb from the fire and place on a platter and cover it tightly with foil and let the meat rest for 15 minutes.

After resting slice the lamb and squeeze lemon juice over it, place figs on top and drizzle the balsamic reduction.

After you taste it you will want to kiss me.

I’m Fat Because I Can’t Fly

Posted: July 6, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bird, fly | Leave a comment

While at my friend Jan’s house in Texas I had a lot of time to watch the millions of sea birds that live on the gulf because her house is right on water. All day giant pelicans and ring necked gulls would fly over her deck. Every once in a while you would here a big splash as a pelican would dive bomb into the water to gulp up a mouth full of food.

As I watched it occurred to me that those birds only job was to look for, catch and eat food. Once in a while they make new birds, but how much time could that take? They never go to the movies or have to wait in line at the DMV and outside of an annoying mate they don’t have a boss.

I’m sure I’m over simplifying things, so before all you ornithologist write me to report the complicated social order of birds and that they live in highly sophisticated groups, just stop and really boil it down. What the hell does a bird do 90% of their time? Look for food.

That is the problem with humans now. We hardly have to spend any time looking for food. It is all around us. Now we do have to come up with money to buy it and some of us actually grow it and cook it, but if you have money you can have food.

Trying to eat less food and more healthy food is making me much more like a bird. I spend almost all my time looking for, growing, cooking or eating better for me food. Now I also spend time photographing it, writing about it and reading about it. The main bird characteristic I am not doing is I am not getting lots of exercise flying around trying to find it. If only I could fly? I might be as light as a sparrow.

Roast Corn with Deconstructed Pesto

Posted: July 5, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: corn, Parmesan Cheese, pesto | Leave a comment

The last few years pine nuts have been way out of sight price wise. I don’t know if the whole Italian economy was propped up on pine nut futures, but I felt that $40 a pound was just too much to pay. So today when I noticed that my basil crop was in need of a good harvesting I decided to make half a pesto.

What is half a Pesto? I just wanted to chop the Basil with very little olive oil and lots of garlic. My thinking behind this is I can use that as a base and add what ever I want at the time of using it. Tonight I roasted corn on the grill and spread the partial pesto on each ear and then sprinkled Parmesan over each ear. The only part of traditional pesto that was left out were the pine nuts. We did not miss them a bit.

2 T. olive oil

150 basil leaves

7 cloves of Garlic

Put the oil and the garlic in the cuisineart and pulse until the garlic is minced. Add the basil and run the machine until the basil is finely minced. This will make about a cup of Pesto Base. Keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze it in for up to a year.

1 T. of Parmesan Cheese for each ear of corn

Corn – You may want more than one ear per person

Heat the grill on high. Husk corn, and wet the ear. Place on grill and closed lid. Cook for 8 mins. Until grill marks start to blacken the kernels. Roll the corn ¼ turn and close the lid and cook another 3 minutes. Repeat until the whole ear has been rotated all the way around.

When you remove the corn from the grill, brush with the pesto base and sprinkle cheese all over and enjoy!

What Did You Want Independence From?

Posted: July 4, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 5 Comments

If you are American — Happy Independence day. According to the stats on my blog there are a good number of you readers from Canada, The UK, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, The Cayman Islands, Cyprus and various other places. I’m not sure who you all are, but welcome to the U.S. Independence day, lovingly known as the 4th of July — or the 4th for short.

The fourth is traditionally celebrated with families, picnics and fireworks. Since our child is observing the day at sleep-away-camp Russ and I did what is surely 432nd on the list of traditional 4th celebrations and cleaned out the garage. Since we are not Jewish it probably should be considered our day of atonement.

Two years ago my mother walked into my garage in order to get into the house and on the way she casually said, “You should move.”

“Move, why should I move? I love my house.”

“Yeah, but your garage is a disaster.”

“Oh,” I replied, “I don’t need to move. I just need to clean out the garage.”

What I did not tell her was that I needed to clean out the attic, my office, the toy cabinets in the playroom, the gift closet in the guest room, my closet and dresser, Carter’s whole room, including the closet, every place that we hang coats which is two closets and one bathroom, and the craft shower. Yes, the shower in my office bathroom is where I store overflow crafting materials. I feel as if it is Russ’ responsibility to clean out his office, but I should do the gift wrap closet which is in his office.

When I read back this extensive list of what needs to be cleaned out I am reconsidering moving as the catalyst to get this all done.

But I digress. Today I am celebrating one small independence — that of too much clutter my mother can see when she walks in my garage. Granted that does not sound like much of an accomplishment, but please consider what went into my being able to claim that.

1. Russ had to get our best builder, Joe, to come over and design and build a four cabinet system with a 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood as a counter to serve as a giant laundry folding table and storage unit for the garage.

2. Joe had to leave his 20 foot trailer at our house so we had a way of disposing of anything that required going to the dump.

3. Since it was just under 100 degrees today, we had to get up early and touch 80% of the stuff in one half of the garage and decide if it went to Goodwill, got recycled, went to the dump or was allowed to be restored in a more appropriate place.

This last step took over seven hours and filled half the dump trailer and my whole Land Cruiser with Goodwill items.

At this point I can report that the garage is 50% cleaned up, but looks more like 75% due to the pre-existing cabinets hiding a few things I did not get to today.

I liken this whole process to losing weight. First, is is harder to do than you think. Second, it will take longer than you want. Third, once you you complete it you have to have a system to keep it the new way.

Just like my weight loss plan, I am taking the cleaning out every part of my house that no one sees one step at a time.

In celebration of July 4th I want independence from too much junk that I don’t even know I have. What about you?

Advice for dieting travelers

Posted: July 3, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Travel | 3 Comments

Pack a belt. Ok, if you are thinking that is lame advice let me relate to you my story.

Since this is a trip that involves flying,I did my best to think strategically about exactly what I needed in the way of clothes so that I could fit everything I needed for a five day trip in my roll-a-board suitcase and one large purse. No one else was flying with me so I did not have the possibility of adding an extra pair of shoes or a hair dryer into a family members bag.

The roll-a-board five-day-plan only works when flying someplace with warm weather so no bulky coats or sweaters are needed. Lord knows it certainly is warm enough almost everywhere in the US right now.

I usually help myself by wearing all my most bulky clothes on the plane so they are not taking up valuable bag space. This trip that was not possible because my most bulky item was my bathing suit, what with it’s giant built in padded bra, full-torso-spanx-like-stretchy-inner-nude-liner, the patterned body hugging suit that covers the liner and the giant flowing, practically knee length, dress-like outer suit. So as not to scare the traveling public, I packed that and opted to wear the second most bulky item, a giant molded bra that sets off every security monitor the TSA ever invented.

For the most part my packing was dead on. I wore everything I brought, except a white linen skirt. When I went to dress this morning for my return flight I looked at my clothes to determine what was clean enough and what was needed to be worn because it would not fit in my suitcase and nothing went with the white linen skirt. I only had one green tunic blouse as a top and paired with the skirt the outfit made me look like a sister-wife with a little better haircut and lipstick.

I should not care what I look like when I am getting on a southwest flight between Houston and RDU, but even I could not bring myself to wear that combination. It did not help that my bulkiest shoes are a pair of Dansko clog-like sneakers which are sure to be best sellers in the sister-wife community once they discover them.

So I pulled out my next cleanest pair of white pants, No problem. A cute outfit with the green tunic and foot-happy sneakers. So I thought, until I took two steps and my pants practically fell to the ground. Quickly I went from potential Utah loving Mormon to the whitest-middle-aged-woman-hip-hop-artist with my drawers not covering one bit of my underpants in the back.

Just days ago these pants had fit adequately, but my strict living and great diet supportive friend Jan had shrunk my butt just a little more than anticipated in five days. A belt would have solved the problem, but no, that extra item of clothing was not considered in my absolutely-nothing-more-than-I-need packing plan. So two giant safety pins and three inches of gathering the waist later I was off, with pants securely in place. That was until I reached security and between the giant molded bra with its metal super structure and the giant safety pins, the TSA agent patting me down was sure I could assemble some sort of weapon from all these parts. Thank goodness she was a large woman herself and when I explained the pants falling down situation she smiled and said,”That’s a problem I would like to have.”

Next trip I’m not going to take my chances on having such an understanding TSA agent and I’m going to go on and horrify the rest of the flying public and wear my bathing suit.

Tiki Island Shrimp

Posted: July 2, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: Shrimp, sriracha | 1 Comment

Today I am at my friend Jan McCallum’s house in Tiki Island Texas, on the gulf coast. We had a pound of beautiful shrimp to cook for dinner. So we made up this recipe which was yummy and good for you.

1 lb. shrimp – peeled
2 T. Fat free Greek Yogurt
2 T. Sriracha sauce – garlic chili sauce
2 cloves of garlic – minced
1T. Sherry
1t. Grated ginger
2 T. Cilantro – chopped
Juice of a lime

Mix all the ingredients adding the shrimp last. Marinate in refrigerator for one hour. Heat a non-stick skillet on high and add the shrimp and the marinade. Cook quickly on high just until the shrimp turn pink. For large shrimp it should only take about 3 minutes.

What The Plan?

Posted: July 1, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Plan, planning | Leave a comment

Any one who has ever ridden in a car with me knows that my pet peeve is people who don’t use their turn signals. Not that the driver ahead of me can hear what I’m saying, but I usually scream something like, “Turn signals are not an optional item on cars for a reason.”

It is not that the person who was just too lazy or inconsiderate to let the rest of the world know where they going that really bothers me, well a little of that, but I am a person who likes to know the plan. Not just my plan, but the plan of the perfect stranger who is driving in front of me too.

I recognize that this might be genetic, “the planning gene” because I have birthed a planner. One of Carter’s early multi-word sentences was, “What’s the plan?” And if I had kept statistics on everything she has ever said in her 13 years, “What’s the plan?” could easily be in the top three most repeated phrases right behind, “What’s for breakfast?” and “What’s for dinner?”

When I had my first job out of college selling mail opening and extracting machines I had a boss who used to say, “Fail to plan and you plan to fail.” He never gave Benjamin Franklin the credit for the original quote, “Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail.”

That boss was not teaching me anything I didn’t already know. I love planning. I love lists. I love them even more now that my middle-age brain can’t remember what I was looking for that made me go to the garage.

Dieting for someone who loves food as much as I do is really all about planning and sticking to the plan. Even if you are a planner, being someone who follows a plan is a whole other animal.

So here are a few of the things I do to plan my work and work my plan. First I eat the same thing for breakfast 99% of the time. This way I don’t have to think about it when I get up. I know that I am going to have 3/4 of a cup of High Protein Special K with a 1/2 a cup of skim milk and 3/4 of a cup of berries. See, there is variety, it could be raspberries, the top choice, black, blue or strawberries, or perhaps even a sliced peach, which for this exercise I will call a peach-berry. My friend Jan, whom I am visiting right now, even knows this and bought my cereal before I arrived.

The second tip is that I always look at restaurant menus online before I go. It is much easier to plan my whole days meals if I have an idea what I am going to order and not be tempted by a special at the last minute. Now, I have been known to chose a really good special as long as it is healthier than my previous choice.

I also plan my exercise and have a commitment to go to my trainer with a friend. Knowing that she is planning on me being there with her helps me keep my commitment.

Whatever you are trying to accomplish start with a plan. Eleanor Roosevelt put is simply, “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

Why Skinny People Live Longer

Posted: June 30, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: live longer, Skinny | Leave a comment

This past week I had my annual exam, you know the one you dread. You might think I dread it for the awkward small talk you have with your doctor while their head is in a place you can’t see or the drawing of blood which leaves a bruise on your arm which makes the grocery clerk think your husband beats you, no. I dread the part where I have my clothes on and am sitting in my doc’s office and we have to discuss “my weight.”

I know I have a good doctor because we always discuss “my weight”, no matter how much both of us hate it. The real problem is that years ago I did get down to a really good weight so he says to me, “I know you can do it, because you did it before.”

Since my check up three different friends have confessed to me they have “middle-aged check-upitis” too, all because they do not or did not want to have the weight discussion with their doctors. One friend even said she has not had a check up in three years because she wanted to lose weight before going in to see the doctor. That plan back fired because she ran into her Doctor out socially and he told her there she had to lose weight and get in for her check up.

Now, I have never had a doctor even raise his voice to me about my weight, but that is what is happening in my own head. Every person who needs to lose weight already knows it, but it is your doctors job to say it out loud.

So here is my theory why skinny people live longer…. Without having the dread of the stepping on the scale at the doctor’s office they are more likely to get their annual exams and catch potential illnesses before they go too far.

Also, skinny people often exercise to the point that they wear their knee joints out prematurely. This often interferes with their ability to work out which they actually like to do, so they seek out more medical attention than just their yearly physical. I am amazed how many people find life threatening heart problems when they go to get their pre-op exams. If it weren’t for their crazy need to run 13 miles a day they might have died of a heart attack while waiting in line at the DMV.

I also don’t know one skinny person who attributes odd pains to gas. If something in their middle is not feeling right it certainly is not due to something they ate. That pain is worth exploring and not waiting until the Mexican food you had yesterday has had it’s way with you.

So we all know that losing weight is good for your health, but maybe pretending you are skinny, at least in your mind, and getting your annual check-up is the best way to live a longer life.

Diet Jeopardy

Posted: June 29, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

In the spirit of Alex Trebeck…

“What is 22.”

“How much weight I have lost?”

“What is $558.25”

“How much money per pound is pledged?”

“What is 182”

“How many people, couples, families or companies are supporting me in the weight loss challenge?”

Regularly I am going to report my results on the first of the month, but I will not be near my regulation scales on July 1st, so today is the day to close out June.

That leaves me four more months to reach all my goals. I think that I am on track to lose 50 pounds by Nov. 1 and you can be sure I won’t be closing October out early. You can’t imagine how helpful it is to me to stay the course when I have all of you supporting, cheering or just plain watching me to see if I can do it.

My second goal of trying to raise $1,000 per each pound lost is by far the harder goal to reach. If you are reading this you probably already pledged something and I thank you for that. If you haven’t pledged, it is never too late. There are some benefits for you. Your donation to the Food Bank will be tax deductible, you will be included in the list of my supporters on the blog and you will have the satisfaction that you are feeding people who are hit the hardest by this economy and are truly thankful for you. I have met these people and it is humbling how appreciative they are for donors like you.

The best part is that The Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC will take every dollar you donate and turn it into $10 worth of food. What leverage that is, you help me eat less food while at the same time you help other people get to eat something.

I know the phrase win-win is over used, but this is a win-win-win.

So I have to do the dieting part and I hope that you are reading and enjoying the blog and the recipes. Any help you can give me by forwarding the blog to everyone you know would be appreciated. I don’t think I can get to the $1,000 goal by myself. I need you, your neighbor and your neighbor’s mother to join the campaign.

Thanks again and God bless each of you and your dog.

Who Shouldn’t Fly- And It’s Not Who You Think

Posted: June 28, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Last week Carter and I flew to NYC and tomorrow I am off to Texas. This frequency of air travel is reminiscent of my life before Carter was born and I flew over 100,000 miles a year, but that was pre-9/11. Thank goodness all this flying is not my normal life anymore.

Recently I have noted there are certain segments of the population that should never attempt to go anywhere via commercial airliners. First, hoarders. With most airlines allowing only one small carry-on before charging you outrageous fees to check a bag, a hoarder has a hell of a time deciding what not to bring home from a trip, what with all the sample size shampoos and lotions available at hotels and the half–eaten lunches, that are still perfectly good and deserve to be brought home to be eaten at a much later date, perhaps 5 or 6 years in the future.

The second segment is the technology non-savvy. I can’t even imagine how in the world someone who is not a computer whiz can even purchase a ticket on an airplane, let alone get a seat or a boarding pass.

The third group is the out of shape, at least if you don’t have a direct flight. Now a- days airlines don’t seem to give a hoot that they are selling tickets where passengers have to make a connection in less than 45 minutes. Heaven forbid you are seated in the back of the plane on your first leg, with a full flight of people who all carried on all their bags because they had to, and those bags are really heavy with stolen shampoos and lotions. So you are spending 25 minutes trying to get off the first plane parked at gate A24 only to discover that your next flight takes off from D99. As you deplane the “I can’t be any more bored with my job” gate agent’s helpful words are, “You better RUN.”

The fourth group, are the dieters. The good news is that airlines no longer serve you bad food that is also fattening. One might think that no food would be good for dieting, but not for six hours or more. And the TSA really frowns upon you trying to bring anything liquid or wrapped in foil through the security line, so none of the food the hoarders doggie bags are going to make it pass the screening machine. So you are left to try and hunt down something healthy, as you run between flights and if you are not technology savvy you are unable to pull a list off the internet of the food vendors available along your route between gates, even if you did have time to stop and buy something it is all more fattening than the horrible stuff they used to serve on the airplane back in the good ‘ole days.

Thai Slaw with Chicken and Peanuts

Posted: June 27, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: cabbage, chicken, peanuts, slaw, thai | 2 Comments

This is a really crunchy, satisfying summer salad. I like to add the dressing right before serving so it does not get soggy.

Slaw

6 cups of shredded Napa cabbage

2 cups of shredded red cabbage

10 green onions chopped – white and green parts

1 cup of shredded carrots

1 red pepper diced

½ cup red onion diced

½ cup chopped cilantro

1 pint cherry tomatoes halved

Dressing

1/3-cup fish sauce

1/3 rice wine vinegar

8 packets of Splenda

2 T. limejuice

1 T. Sesame oil

1 T. water

2 cloves of garlic – minced

2 T. fresh ginger – minced

2 dried red chilies – crushed or ½ t. red pepper flakes

3 half chicken breasts- grilled and shredded

6T. Chopped peanuts

Mix all the veggies together.

Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake up.

Add the chicken to the veggies and toss together with the dressing. Only pour about half the dressing on at once and see if you need more after tossing.

Put in individual bowls and sprinkle with a tablespoon of peanut on each bowl.

You can get at least 6 dinner size servings out of this.

You can use other vegetables, like diced cucumber, avocado, hot peppers, zucchini, green cabbage, Savoy cabbage, whatever you like.

Blackberry Mint Lime Cooler

Posted: June 26, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: blackberry, cooler, drink, lime, mint | Leave a comment

All my life I have always equated blackberries with summer in North Carolina. Growing up in Connecticut we did not have indigenous blackberries. But when we went to visit my paternal Grandparents at Hom-a-gen Farm, in Providence NC we had an over abundance of the sweet berries that grew wild in a huge thicket down the hill from a cow barn.

My grandmother, Granettes, loved blackberries and my Granddad loved anything free so I was often conscripted into climbing between the prickly brambles to pick the juicy ripe berries.

Granettes was a very good cook from whom I learned many tricks in the kitchen. She was not great at giving me recipes, but would describe at length how biscuit dough should feel between your fingers or how to tell that caramel icing for the 1-2-3-5 cake had been cooked the right amount without ever using a thermometer.

Blackberry cobbler was a huge favorite, especially with the Yankee Grandchildren because first it was a dessert, something we did not get often and second the blackberries were so fresh, those few we brought back in the bucket and not in our stomachs.

I will never forget the earful Granettes gave Granddad when a farm worker accidentally wiped out the whole blackberry patch with a bush hog. It was a sad summer without blackberries.

Yesterday, when I was writing about Friendly’s, a drink I used to get there in the summer came back to mind. It was a watermelon cooler. I think that at Friendly’s it was merely watermelon sherbet and soda water run together in the milkshake machine.

Since cobbler is not on my approved list of helpful weight-loss foods and I was thinking about that watermelon cooler I made up a yummy black berry drink.

½ cup fresh blackberries

2 T. fresh limejuice

2 packets of Splenda

4 mint leaves

1 cup of ice

10 oz. club soda

Put everything in a container that you can put a stick blender in, or in a blender and add about 1/3 of the club soda. Whirl up until the ice is crushed and the black berries are gone. Pour in a big glass and add the rest of the club soda. Tastes like summer to me.

Blueberry Basil Greek Yogurt Dessert

Posted: June 25, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: basil, blueberries, yogurt | 2 Comments

Growing up in Wilton, Connecticut we lived in what was considered the boonies. The closest grocery store was at least fifteen minutes away and there were no restaurants except for a Friendly’s ice cream shop. Actually, we lived equal distance between the Wilton Friendly’s and the Ridgefield Friendly’s, but we rarely got to visit them. My skinny mother did not believe in desserts. Except on Sunday nights after two of the three daughters had gone to bed. Well, actually she never believed in desserts, but my father had a way of breaking her down. After a weekend of hard 1970’s partying he would crave something sweet and she would succumb to his temptations.

So usually sometime around 9:30, while I was watching TV in the family room I would hear my father’s bright yellow VW Scirocco tear down our long gravel driveway like a rocket headed for Friendly’s. I would have to go to bed before he made the 45 minute round trip, arriving home with two half gallons of hand packed ice cream, one always Butter Pecan, my mother’s favorite and some chocolate concoction like Jamocha Almond Fudge for my father. My father, never one to live small, always gilded the lily with a pint of hot fudge sauce.

My sisters and I always found the evidence of the forbidden dessert on Monday morning when we opened the freezer to get a can of Minute Maid tangerine juice out of the freezer, but amazingly by the time we returned home from school the contraband dessert was AWOL. My mother’s guilt over having ice cream caused her to throw away the devil’s due.

Having spent the day at school hoping to get ice cream for our afternoon snack my sisters and I got good at making desserts from things people don’t usually consider dessert. Grapes, sour cream and brown sugar was a favorite, but cinnamon toast with a huge amount of butter soaked cinnamon sugar on top was practically on par with birthday cake.

Today’s recipe is something along the lines of a Carter girl dessert concoction. It’s simple, and actually quite good in the best of summer ways.

1 cup of fresh blueberries

4 Basil leaves –chiffonade

3 heaping tablespoons Greek Yogurt

½ t. honey

Sprinkle of crystallized Ginger

Mix it all together; eat pretending it is ice cream with hot fudge sauce.

What’s Left to Give up?

Posted: June 24, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I love watching weight loss stories on the news. First, people who are terrifically skinny, even in the camera-adds-ten-pounds world of TV are the ones doing the reporting. I am not sure that Robin Roberts or Diane Sawyer have ever had an issue with their weight.

Obviously, dieting stories are good for ratings, because they are constantly running them, but somehow more and more people are getting fat. If the stories were even somewhat helpful some part of the population would be getting thinner; perhaps the group who watched the news. But that does not seem to be the case.

My favorite reporting about weight control is when the anchor reports on the outright dangers of consuming one food or drink, such as sugar-laden sodas or 600 calorie Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino. No S**t. I have not had a drink with real sugar in it in at least 30 years. Oh, maybe I had a sip of real lemonade, but once I realize that liquid sugar had just gurgled down my throat, I throw down that cup and run. I would always rather eat my calories, than drink them any day.

Another liquid culprit often blamed for weight gain is alcohol. I have a friend, who shall remain nameless, announced to a group of women on a church retreat that she was not drinking wine that weekend, but instead was having vodka because she was on a diet.

Since I gave up drinking in 1984, not for dietary reasons, but because I drank too much one night in Miami and lost my underpants. When I woke-up with the worst hangover on earth without those panties I swore I would never drink again until I found them. Suffice it to say I no longer have alcohol to give up to help lose weight.

Gluten is the new darling of foods-that-should-never-pass-your-lips, as is the anti-white-food group, white food being made up of white flour and sugar. So I too have given up sugar and most flour, except a little of that magic Wondra that makes pan-sautéed fish so good. But is that the answer? Probably not.

The latest report on the news that I actually think might be a winner is giving up your big plates. They say that if you use a smaller plate and fill it up, your brain thinks you actually ate more than if you used a big plate and put a smaller amount of food on it. So small plates it is. And thank god, because I am running out of things to give up.

Note to readers:

If you have been missing recipes, I have been away in NYC and taking Carter to Camp Cheerio so I have not been home to cook. Please send me messages of what you are craving so I can make up some new recipes for things you want to eat.

Foodie Torture?

Posted: June 23, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

When a Foodie dreams of nirvana, that dream is set in New York City. Every type of cuisine is available there, sometimes better than the original version. Italian, French, Afghan, Szechuan, New American, Old American, Raw Food, Jewish, Indian, both Southern and Northern, etc, etc, etc.

So what happens when a Foodie goes to New York, but has to ignore the cup cake shops on every corner, the baskets of croissants left casually under her nose at breakfast, the platters of artisanal cheeses offered at dessert or the pistachio gelato gleaming green in the window of the shop she was waiting in front of? What happens, what happens? Salads, tuna tartar and omelets happen. And thanks to the diversity that is New York, even eating the same foods multiple times never feels, or tastes repetitive.

The fabulous meals at the Modern and Atlantic grill were mirror images of each other in name only. Their own renditions were so different from each other that I felt as if my diet was as varied as the clothes on an Upper East Side socialite and a meat packing district drag queen.

The best find was the salad bar in Macy’s flagship store basement. There amongst the fresh made manicotti and the hot pastrami sandwiches was a huge bowl of peppery arugula. Thank god, a Foodie was so satisfied.

Teeny bopper diet

Posted: June 22, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I think that I might have stumbled upon a new diet while in NYC with Carter, my 13 year old daughter.

Its basis is in the overwhelming love a teenage girl can have for a young, barely discovered teen idle with all of two songs to his name. Say, someone named Austin Mahone perhaps.

If you and that daughter have to go stand in a line wrapping two blocks from the front of the line along with 2,000 other star struck girls with one bored parent in tow, there is no thought of food.

If, while standing in that non-moving line for an hour, lightening and thunder happening, followed by, you guessed it, torrential downpours — there is no thought of food while you huddle under a cheep street-vendor umbrella.

Once inside the mostly standing room only venue, the crowd of young girls, all equally in love with this teenaged
-boy chartreuse, begin to pulsate with excitement. Raising arms high in the air to fist pump to the music, bouncing in unison; clearly the best workout on earth.

At the end of the concert, the overwhelming excitement of having been so close to the next Elvis, creates such a rush of endorphins that the young teen does not even realize she had not eaten anything for the last seven hours.

Now, that is a diet. If only there was a middle-age woman version of this diet I would write the book and make a killing.

What to eat in NYC?

Posted: June 21, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My ipad won’t let me post because the hotel server is worried I might be pretending to be me. Really? Why would anyone be pretending to be me?

So writing a post on my phone is slow and it is almost 100 degrees here so I will make this short.

Carter and I are in the city for a little shopping and a concert of some kid I’ve never heard of. Finding restaurant compromises I think I can find something healthy and light and something a 13 year old wants is no easy feat. Especially when it is so hot I can’t convince her to walk more than 8 blocks.

So after finding some joy at century 21 Carter and I had some real Chinese in China town. I was thankful for green beans as the mainstay of my meal but I am sure the spicy garlic sauce they were bathed in had way more calories than I needed. How do I know? They were yummy delicious, the way only some kind of fat will do.

For dinner I won out with a trip to the bar at the modern. Before those of you who know I have up drinking 28 years ago fall off your bar stool, the Modern serves great food in the bar and you don’t have to have four courses.

When I looked at the menu I was in heaven. Food skinny, rich NewYork women would not just push around their plates. I had the upside down tuna tartare and an arugula and watercress salad.

The tuna, though good, was not as good as mine but very skinny because they put it on cucumber instead of avocado. The salad was delish. Mostly because it was made up of hundreds of tiny chopped vegetables that I did not have to cut up.

I’ll post the pictures as soon as this hotel realizes no one is trying to overtake this blog or I get back to NC, which ever comes first

What to eat in NYC?

Posted: June 21, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Watermelon Salad

Posted: June 20, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: feta, mint, watermelon | 2 Comments

It’s watermelon season so If you missed the June issue of Durham Magazine, here is my recipe from that issue.

6 cups of cubed watermelon

1/3 c. sliced Vidalia onion

3 oz. feta cheese cubed

25 mint leaves – sliced

1 T. olive oil

3 T. red wine vinegar

¼ t. red chili flakes

salt

Mix together gently and enjoy!

Ratatouille – Not Like The Movie – but served in an omlette

Posted: June 19, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: eggplant, ratatouille, red peppers, tomato, yellow squash, Zucchini | Leave a comment

When I was in college I lived off campus for two years with three roommates. We each had responsibility to cook dinner for the house Monday through Thursday whether you were going to be eating there or not. One of our roommates, Annie, was a vegetarian, so I was always searching for good ideas of what to make that we all would like as well as something that was inexpensive.

Ratatouille was a go to dish, but back then I made it with a ton of olive oil and served it covered in cheese. It was vegetarian, but certainly was not healthy. Since then I have discovered that both the oil and cheese were unnecessary to make a great dish.

Here is my much lighter version, which I used as the filling for an omelet.

1 large yellow onion diced

3 cloves of garlic minced

Pam

3 cups of diced eggplant

2 zucchini – diced

2 yellow squash – diced

1 red pepper – diced

1 15 oz. can chopped tomatoes (I have mentioned in previous recipes that fresh tomatoes are wasted on these cooked dishes, but if you are overwhelmed with fresh tomatoes go ahead and use them.)

30 fresh basil leaves chiffonade (That means finely cut)

Spray a big stockpot with Pam and place over Medium High heat. Add the onions and the garlic and cook, stirring every 30 seconds, until softened, about 5 minutes. Spray more Pam and add the eggplant. Cook the same way for another 5 minutes. Add all the other vegetables except the basil and cook another 5 minutes. Add basil and salt and pepper. Cook another five minutes.

Chicken Cutlets with Artichoke Hearts, Capers and Lemon

Posted: June 18, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: artichoke hearts, capers, chicken, lemon | 2 Comments

I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they just have more flavor than chicken breasts, but feel free to use either. I place the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap on a cutting board and using a meat mallet I pounded the chicken to about half an inch thick.

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs – pounded

3 T. Wondra – or all purpose flour

Salt and pepper

Pam

1 15 oz. can artichoke hearts- cut in half

1 lemon’s worth of juice and zest

2 T. capers

After pounding the chicken, sprinkle both sides with Wondra, or flour and salt and pepper.

Heat a non-stick fry pan on high heat and spray with Pam; turn the heat down just a little. Place only as much chicken in at a time so that the cutlets don’t touch each other. Cook on one side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip over and brown the next side.

Put the chicken in a shallow pan in a 300º oven to finish the cooking for about 15 minutes.

Once you have cooked all the chicken. Put the artichoke hearts, capers, lemons and lemon zest in the same fry pan without cleaning it out of any browned bits left from cooking the chicken.

Heat the artichoke hearts on medium high heat for about 5 minutes and pour over the chicken.

Variation to make a more brothy version:

Cook the chicken in a Dutch oven. After browning the chicken deglaze the pan with a cup of white wine. Add chicken back to the pan and add the artichoke hearts, lemon juice, zest capers and 1 cup of chicken broth. Bring pot to a boil and reduce to simmer cooking for 15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Tuna Tartare

Posted: June 17, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: avacado, siracha, tuna, wasabi | Leave a comment

This is a great spicy appetizer; if you can afford the calories serve it with good seeded crackers. I just eat if straight for dinner.

¾ pound of sashimi grade tuna steaks or medallions – cut into ¼ inch cubes

1 avocado – cubed

1 minced shallot

2 green onions chopped

2 T. soy sauce

1 t. wasabi

2 T. Siracha sauce (red chili garlic sauce)

1 t. sesame oil

12 t. lime juice

Mix soy sauce, wasabi, Siracha, sesame oil and lime juice together. Add all the other ingredients gently folding, not to mash the avocados.

Chill for at least a half an hour.

Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

Posted: June 16, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

I love to grill corn in the husk. It keeps it moist and develops the sugars when it caramelizes a little. It is easy. Pull back the husks leaving them attached and clean out the silks. Pull the husk back up and soak the ear with water. Grill on a medium high fire about 15 minutes turning it so all sides get the heat.

You can choose to cook the corn any way you like.

6 ears of corn- cooked and kernels cut off the cob

1 pint of cherry tomatoes- halved

1 shallot minced

25 basil leaved cut in thin strips (Chiffonade)

5 T. white wine vinegar

1T. Olive oil

5 Splenda packets

Salt and Pepper

Whisk together the vinegar, oil, Splenda salt and pepper in a bowl. Add everything else.

Have You Looked In The Mirror?

Posted: June 15, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: clothing, full length mirror, too tight, zipping | 1 Comment

The Bible has many lessons, but as adults we have learned that plenty of the verses can be used to contradict each other.

The great book says, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” (Mathew 7:1) But it also says a lot about judging, like “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31:9) So this is not a judgment, but more an overall observation.

This refection, from the Book of Dana, the third chapter entitled “What were they thinking?” comes today’s lesson: “Just because you can zip it up, does not mean you should be wearing it.”

The other day I went shopping in my closet looking for pants that I had not worn in a while. I found a pair of black cropped pants that had descended far down the pile, meaning I had not been able to wear them in quite some time, yet they were still in my main closet and not the closet of hope where I keep good clothes that are MUCH too small.

I looked at the tag, two sizes smaller than the pair of khakis I was wearing. I let the current pair fall to the ground without even unzipping them and shimmied into the black crops. I zipped them up, no problem. Feeling triumphant I practically skipped to the full-length mirror and was thankful that it was close by. These pants were in no way appropriate for public viewing with me in them. And thus came the lesson, “Just because you can zip it up, does not mean you should be wearing it.”

As I went about my day, in a skirt that actually fit, I began to notice people or all sizes who apparently did not own a full length mirror or had assumed that the zipping of the clothes was all that was required to tell if they were appropriately dressed.

The first person I saw was a rather large woman in a sleeveless shirt that did not have arm holes big enough to allow her arms to fit out without looking like they were being squeezed out of a sausage casing. It was a hot day and I am sure her clothing choices were limited, but there was no way that enough blood was getting to her hands and fingers due to the constriction of the arm hole.

The next person I encountered was a teenage girl at the Harris Teeter Grocery who could not have been more than a size 6 in actual body, but she, in perhaps some denial, was wearing a pair of skinny jeans so small that were disabling. I say this with first hand knowledge because she dropped a lemon on the ground and was physically unable to bend over and pick it up. I watched as she leaned sideways against the display and tried to get the fruit before I actually bent over and picked it up for her and she sighed with great relief.

Even watching TV that night I thought that Divia, the statuesque Physicians Assistant on Royal Pains needed to discuss with wardrobe the size of her lime and white cropped pants that did her no favors when she turned around.

So the lesson of the day is an easy one. “Look in the mirror before you leave the house.” The best-dressed person is not wearing the most expensive clothes, but the ones that fit their body the best, no matter its size.

Green Onion-Ginger Sauce on Chicken

Posted: June 14, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: chicken, garlic, green onions | Leave a comment

My friend Dottie showed me her favorite recipe for a green onion and ginger sauce served with noodles. Since I have basically given up noodles I decided it might be good on chicken. I modified it by removing most of the oil since it was not needed for flavor.

10 green onions – both white and green parts chopped into ½ inch pieces

½ cup minced fresh ginger root

1 T. white wine vinegar

2 t. low sodium soy sauce

1 t. canola oil

Pinch of sea salt

Boneless, skinless Chicken cut up

Mix all the ingredients except the chicken and put them in a container in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Spray Pam in non-stick fry pan and cook the on medium high heat for a few minutes on each side. Spoon some sauce on chicken while still hot and eat!!

The sauce can be kept in refrigerator for a couple of days.

Peach Chutney

Posted: June 13, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: chutney, ginger, peach | Leave a comment

Chutney tends to be very high in calories because it uses a ton of sugar to balance out the tangy vinegar and hot from peppers. I tried making peach chutney with Splenda and it worked perfectly. No one could even tell the difference.

I served it on grilled pork tenderloin, which was a great match.

1/3-cup cider vinegar

10 packets of Splenda

½ medium Vidalia onion – diced

½ sweet red pepper- diced

1 jalapeno- seeded and diced finely

2 cloves of garlic grated

2 T. grated fresh ginger

Handful of raisins

Pinch of salt

3 large peaches- peeled and cut into small wedges

Put the vinegar and Splenda in a pot and Bring to boil. Add everything except the peaches and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the peaches and continue cooking for ten minutes.

Can be served warm or cold.

Green Bean, Cherry Tomato and Fennel Salad

Posted: June 12, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: fennel, feta, green beans, salad, tomoato | Leave a comment

1 lb green beans – stem end cut off and cut in thirds

1 pt. cherry tomatoes – halved

I large fennel bulb – shaved thinly

4 oz. feta cheese – crumbled

Dressing

1 shallot – minced

2 T. Dijon mustard

4 T. white balsamic vinegar

5 Splenda packets

1 t. olive oil

salt and pepper

Blanch the green beans for 3 mins. and then remove them quickly and put them in a bowl of ice water t stop the cooking. Add the tomatoes and fennel.

Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake up to mix. Pour over the vegetables right before serving. Sprinkle the feta on top.

Don’t put the dressing on too early because it will make the beans an ugly olive green rather than the bright green, but if you have leftovers it will keep fine, just not be as pretty.

Blackberry Lemon Frozen Chiffon

Posted: June 11, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: blackberry, chiffon, dessert, frozen, lemon | Leave a comment

Chiffon’s are something Betty Draper might have made if she cooked. It is a little like a dairy-less ice cream. But when I served this dessert last night Carter thought it looked like something out of Dr. Seuss beacuse of its strong purple color. I have cut out sugar from my diet, but still imbibe in man-made sweetness. If you have a moral opposition to Splenda throw caution to the wind and use sugar. The Splenda version has only about 25 calories per serving.

Makes 8 servings

Four cups Blackberries – you can use other berries, but I am unsure how blueberries will do

¼ cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

6 T. water

1 Cup Splenda for cooking –measures the same way as sugar.

Put the Black Berries in the Cuisineart and pulse until obliterated. Put a wire mesh sieve over a bowl and pour the blackberries into the sieve. Using the back of a big spoon push as mush liquid through the sieve as you can. It will take a little work. Throw away the skin and seeds left in the sieve.

Add the lemon juice to the berry juice.

Put the egg whites and the salt in a stand mixer and beat them on high just until they are frothy.

In a small saucepan put the water and the Splenda. Bring to a boil and while hot turn the stand mixer on high and pour the hot liquid in a thin stream into the egg whites. Beat until they are stiff.

Remove the mixing bowl from the stand and fold in the blackberry-lemon liquid.

Spoon into ramekins. Place them in the freezer for at least 6 hours.

Note: If you use sugar bring it to a boil with the water and boil it for 3 minutes without stirring

How Old Is That Meat In Your Freezer?

Posted: June 10, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Have you ever seen the TV show Hoarders on A & E TV? It basically takes people with a fairly serious mental illness and trades them help from professionals if they allow cameras to film how crazy they are. It is a somewhat disgusting show, but I watch it. The best thing I get from watching the show is the feeling that I must get up and clean something out of my house right away and I always have some area in my house that could use some serious purging.

There are a couple of traits I have noticed over the years that many of the hoarders have in common besides the obvious trouble with throwing much of anything away. One is that often have too many pets to remember and so when a cat goes missing amidst the piles of magazines and cabbage patch doll collections they don’t really miss it because one of the other 23 cats will keep the hoarder’s attention.

Another common trait is hoarders often have things in their freezers that have been there for decades. Each Hoarder considers the freezer some magic box that can arrest all decay from any food put inside. (I am not even going to discuss the contents of their refrigerators.)

If you have never worked in a commercial kitchen or taken a food safety course let me be the first to tell you that even food in the freezer has a “shelf life.” So get up right now and go open the freezer and throw at least three things away. Good items to start with are ice cream that is over two months old (if you have been able to keep ice cream that long, congratulations on your will power), bread or ground meet that is more than 3 months old, or here is one I hate, but bacon that is more than a month in the freezer needs to be disposed of.

I am guilty of filling my freezer full of food I have cooked too much of and then never gotten around to eating it. It does not help that I have a child who hates leftovers; I tell her she was born in the wrong family. I also have a freezer in the garage that tends to fill up with ice so I have to do a giant defrost and throw everything away all at once.

The TLC TV channel has a show called Extreme Couponing that practically celebrates hoarding just because these people have been able to get stuff for pennies on the dollar. There is no way that a family will ever be able to eat 700 boxes of hamburger helper before they die of a coronary.

So I am committing to be more mindful of what I already have and try and use it before I purchase something new. And if I find things that no one in my house is going to eat I am going to give it away while it is still good.

I’m going to the freezer now, and am thankful the garbage will be picked up in 36 hours. What about you?

Lemon Zucchini Latkes

Posted: June 9, 2012 | Author: dana lange | Filed under: Recipes | Tags: Latkes, lemon, smoked salmon, Zucchini | Leave a comment

My garden is spitting out squash like the Duggers do children, but nothing else is producing yet, so I am sorry for yet another Zucchini recipe. But you won’t be sorry if you make this one.

I was making Russ a loaf of Zucchini bread, but I grated too much zucchini and had to think of something to do with it. While looking at the shreds in the Cuisineart I thought it looked a lot like grated potato for Latkes. So here is the out come.

These can be used as a side dish or tomorrow I am going to re-warm them and put a dollop of Greek yogurt and a sliver of smoked salmon on them and serve them as an appetizer to my Cousin and his wife who are coming for dinner.

Makes 24 – 2-inch latkes

4 medium zucchini – grated

1 t. salt

Juice of one lemon and zest of half the lemon

1 shallot minced

3 T. Parmesan cheese

3 T. flour

1 egg and one egg white, beaten

Black pepper

Pam

Grate the Zucchini in the food processor and put into a colander and sprinkle with all the salt. Mix it together. Place colander over a bowl to catch the liquid that is going to drain out of the zucchini and let it sit for half an hour.

After draining hold colander under the running water in the sink for just a moment to rinse off a little salt. Put a paper towel on top of zucchini in the colander and press it down pushing as much water out of it as possible, turning the squash a couple of time.

In a large mixing bowl beat the egg and egg white together and add all of the ingredients except the pam.

Heat a non-stick fry pan on medium high. When it gets hot spray Pam in the pan. Drop spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture into small rounds and press them down a little. Cook for about one minute on the first side and then flip them and press down again and cook the second side about a minute.

I only do about 5 at a time so they are not crowded in the pan. You can keep them warm on a cooling rack set on a cookie sheet in a 250º oven if you want to serve them right away.

Or you can wrap them up and refrigerate them and reheat them on a cooling rack set on a cookie sheet in a 325º oven until they are warm – probably about 10 mins.

I used the Latkes as the base of an hors d’oeuvre. I put a dollop of Grreek yogurt and a sliver of smoked salmon on top they were great. Russ then ate the leftovers for breakfast and added capers making them even better

This fat lady plans to eat less so many hungry people can eat more (TM)

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