Thursday, November 4, 2010

Welcome to my life!

After running a restaurant with my wonderful husband Kelly for 2 1/2 years, I decided it was finally time to put my education to work and start a blog (you are welcome Mom and Dad!).  This blog will be just for me!  I'll talk about all the things that drive me crazy in the restaurant world, the things I love, the tricks I've learned and about how I manage the rest of my life while I work 80 hours a week.  And believe me, I do have a life...sometimes it's just hard to track down.  So...I vote let's just jump right in!

As a woman in the culinary field, I am constantly worrying about my weight.  Losing weight isn't brain surgery but once you realize I'm around food (and fabulous food at that) 24/7 my struggle becomes much more of a travesty.  I began culinary school at 160 lbs. and have watched my weight climb to an astounding 195 lbs.  None of my clothes fit and my husband is now only 8 pounds heavier than me.  Sooooo not okay.  I'm excited to say that I have finally decided to do something about it!  I've tried everything and nothing seems to work with my lifestyle.  I mean eating dinner at 10 p.m. is just not the best way to shed some pounds.  And who can say no to homemade truffles or pasta or mashed potatoes???  I'm guessing that most of you don't have husbands who say "I made your favorite mac and cheese from scratch."  How do you say no to that???  Needless to say counting my Weight Watchers points was just not working (I should point out here that it has worked twice in the past...once for 50 lbs and another time for 25 lbs).  One dose of mashed potatoes smothered in beurre blanc and my daily points went right out the window.  After having my cholesterol checked and realizing that I weigh as much as I should when I am 9 months pregnant I decided it was time to do something.

Late one night, as I clicked through the channels, I saw Marie Osmond droning on about all the great food you get to eat on Nutrisystem.  The reason I actually stopped was her hair but that is another matter for a different blog.  As I saw all the success stories I started to think...a program where I just add in fruits and veggies (readily available at the restaurant) and have all the rest of my meals planned for me just might actually work.  If I could simplify my food choices down to cottage cheese or yogurt, an apple or some pineapple, asparagus or broccoli?  By golly, this diet might actually work with my crazy schedule.  So I ordered it.

I am proud to say that I was right.  It is easy.  I don't want to eat the restaurant food because I have paid over $300 for the food waiting for me at home.  To date I have lost 14 pounds and have about 25 more to go.  I'm feeling much healthier and having a lot more energy.  I'm even starting to fit back into some of my clothes.  I'll admit the food is hit or miss...I love the frozen meals and all of the pastas but when they describe the pizza in the commercial it's the ONE frozen pizza you get every two weeks that's about the size of a small salad plate.  And when does microwave pizza ever really get all cheesy and melty like that???  The other pizzas they offer are merely chewy bread with tomato sauce and a sprinkling of cheese.  Good for a night when you come home at 11 p.m. and could care less if you eat or not.  Otherwise I'm not sure how I would feel about them.

This system seems to be working for me but the real test will be once the food stops coming.  At that point, I plan to make skinny versions of all of our favorite items at Adelea's.  I've already been working on the Butternut Squash Soup.  We finish the soup with a healthy dose of heavy cream that adds roughly a billion grams of fat to an otherwise healthy soup.  It got me thinking...why not substitute the heavy cream for fat free half and half?  Well folks, it worked.  The soup is still luscious and reminds me of all the things I love about Fall.  Here is the skinny recipe so you can enjoy it this weekend.  And you can freeze this in small batches (before you add the half and half) to pull out whenever you need a little comfort soup.  Just heat it up, add the half and half and you've got yourself a warm bowl of heaven.

 

Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients 2 butternut squash, halved lengthwise, seeded
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups diced onion
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups canned chicken broth
1/2 cup fat free half and half 
Salt and Pepper to taste

2 apples, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Spray baking sheet with Pam and place squash, cut side down, on baking sheet and bake until very soft, about 45 minutes. Let cool and remove squash with a spoon. Set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Sauté carrots for 5 minutes and then add onion and celery until soft, about 3 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and sauté until soft, about 1 minute. Add chicken broth and squash and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and place soup in small batches in a blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot and add fat free half and half and salt and pepper to taste. For caramelized apples, melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan and sauté apples until tender, about 10 mintues. Add as topping to soup.


    

1 comment:

  1. I love reading your blog! Good for you. Your education in literature/language is evident. Your blog is funny, informative and wonderful for all of us who can empathize with your struggles. I can't wait to have a kitchen so I can make your wonderful soup recipe (with fat free half and half of course!) I miss living in Salado, but we should be back by the end of December. Love you, Barbara

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