What’s A Food Blogger To Do?

Green Market Haul

Lately I have been a pretty sorry excuse for a food blogger, sorry about that, I have several excuses, busy, it’s too hot to cook but honestly I think that I feel lost, not terribly motivated and a bit forlorn because I have gained weight. I love food, cooking it, eating it, shopping for it and blogging about it. Taking photo’s of what I prepare (when they are good) makes me happy. Unfortunately, the food I make ends up in my mouth at least a good portion of it, some gets farmed out to friends and family and even charity but what ends up in me has caused me to gain weight. I wish I were the person that could eat whatever they want and never gain an ounce but thats not me, I wish I could happily exist on salads and low fat food and no sugar, but thats not me either. There has to be a balance and I have not found that yet. I’m also not an exercise fanatic, sure I walk every day, walking Percy doesn’t really count because thats not much exercise, he is very slow. The heat has also taken it’s toll, making me lethargic, I just don’t want to be outside it’s too uncomfortable. After some soul searching and a glance in the mirror I decided to try to find my balance and watch what I eat, the reason for this post is that over the next few weeks you will not be seeing anything remotely fattening, no cakes or pies or bread or heavy calorie laden meals. I have to do it for me and I am challenging myself to come up with some great recipes that will help me, if you all have something you love comment and provide the link to your recipe. Will it make me happy, not really, I would rather eat what I want,  but if I slim down a bit maybe I will feel better about myself. I will still be posting recipes but until I find a balance in my eating I am staying away from the foods I love namely sweets, bread, rice and pasta. The photo’s you see I posted on the Food52 app for “not recipes” I will be posting these over the next few weeks, they are simple and delicious and fit into my diet.

I have always fought to keep my weight down, I tend to yo yo. Years ago I saw a nutritionist who put me on phen phen, I was not dramatically overweight and just wanted to lose about 20 lbs. Well let me tell you that stuff works, I had no ill effects, I took a very low dosage about a quarter of what the Doc prescribed and the weight came off, too much really. People were actually telling me I need to gain weight, that felt good no one ever said that to me before. I was on it for a year and then the bottom dropped out, they took one of the phen’s off the market because some people had heart related complications. He put me on other meds that I didn’t like, they didn’t work and made me feel bad so I slowly gained weight. To this day I still have not gained back all of the weight I lost I have gained a good portion back though. A few years ago I tried South Beach and was very successful losing a lot of weight and I really liked the low carb and low sugar diet, I never really felt hungry and the weight melted off.  When I started competitive cooking on Food 52 and Whole foods, and blogging about it I  gained back most of what I lost on the South Beach plan.

strawberry buttermilk smoothie

I have to try again and if I cook the food I like then I gain weight. I am active, I work, I walk, I am constantly doing something but evidently not enough to mitigate the amount of calories I consume. I recently tried weight watchers, I really don’t like counting points or weighing food, the thing is I know how much I should be eating, I know my portions are too big. Portion control is key along with making the right choices.

Sorry to bore you with all this but I wanted to lay it all out and explain why you may not see much from me for the next few weeks. The Holidays are coming, I can hardly believe it, and I can’t afford to allow the usual holiday weight gain to happen on top of what I have gained over the years. As you age your metabolism slows down, at least for some of us, and all of that needs to be taken into consideration when deciding what goes on your plate and into your mouth.

Here is a light, quick and delicious stir fry that I am making tonight. I use skirt or flank steak cut into strips it cooks up in no time and is tasty and satisfying without being heavy. Tonight I will have it without the rice just broccoli.

Beef and Pepper stir fry

1lb flank or skirt steak cut into strips

bell pepper, I used rainbow colors, orange, red, yellow. cut into strips

1 medium onion sliced thinly

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp minced ginger

corn starch for dusting the meat

soy sauce

salt and pepper if needed

Coat pan or wok with a little oil, add the onion and sauté just until softened, add the garlic and ginger, now add the peppers and continue to saute until all the vegetables are cooked through. Remove from pan, add a little more oil if needed and saute the beef just until browned, put the onion and peppers back in the pan, add a little soy sauce, add salt and pepper if needed. Serve over rice or with vegetable like broccoli and I added some quick pickled radish.The broccoli is steamed then drizzled with soy sauce and toasted sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds.