Creatively cooking with constraints.

So the diet has left me missing large meals. I am not starving by any means but I do get that "oh so very full" feeling and maybe that is a good thing. Many times I go past the osvf feeling and go straight to the "oh so very uncomfortable" feeling. So I have been experimenting with low cal ingredients to make a larger and satisfying meal. By experiment I mean I look around my kitchen say I like this, this and this. Now will they taste fine together. I tend to stick with variations on a theme. I like recipes yet I like to do my own thing. Today I am trying my hand at a baked pasta dish. I added some chicken and orange peppers and it turned out pretty good. It's pretty simple.

Ingredients:
1 small chicken breast
1/2 cup of pasta (whatever you want I like the spiral kind)
1/2 cup sauce (I improv mine with canned tomato's but you can use what you want)
1/4 cup grated cheese (I like cheddar)
1/4 an orange pepper
Spices (Your choice I used Sage, Basil, Ground Mustard, Majoram Leaves, Black pepper and oregano)

Bake the chicken breast, sprinkle sage, basil, ground mustard and marjoram on the chicken. It doesn't have to be fully done it will finish baking in the dish. When the chicken is well on it's way to being done take it out and dice it up into small piece and put into a small baking dish.

Boil the pasta till it just starts boiling it will finish cooking in the dish. Drain the pasta and add to the chicken. Dice the orange pepper and add it to the baking dish. Add about 2 spoon fulls of sauce over the chicken, pasta and peppers sprinkle a small amount of the cheese with that then add black pepper and oregano. Mix it all together in the dish then add the rest of the sauce over the top of everything a little more black pepper and oregano as well as the rest of your cheese.

Put in the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. It serves about two and is roughly 300 calories a serving (or 600 if you eat the whole thing) and very yummy.

I steam up about a hand full of veggies to go with and it makes for a good meal and pretty low cal and easy. I am sure every time I do this I will do it differently depending what is in my fridge. :)

I look at it this way it was easy and quick. Two things I like in my cooking. I like to get right to the eating.

Screw Flanders or Bon Appetit

Snow days

Though I love the snow days I would like to put in a request that they only occur on Mondays or Fridays. The reason being? It really throws my week off. When I get up the morning after a snow day I am confused because I feel like there should be another day of sleeping in. I do not function well in the mornings so throwing a curve ball like that really can mess with my head. The other reason is that all day today I kept thinking it was the beginning of the week because I had had a day off so recently. So yes nice to have but really messes with my head.

Not that it would take that much to do.

Some good news and some bad news.

Bad news: 5:45 am Every school in the area was either closed today or on a two hour delay. As I was getting up this morning I was hearing about slide off, car accidents and road closers all over the city. So the question arises why the hell did we come to school at the regular time. This seems idiotic to me. Not that I want to make up the time later on but I think it would be in the best interest of our students and parents to allow more time to get to school safely. But what do I know.

Good News: 6:00am I am at 220 which is 8 lbs less than where I was 4 weeks ago. I even splurged last night and bought some ice cream.

Bad News: 6:45am The roads are just awful. Upon leaving every stop light I have almost no traction. People are driving like idiots and I can't see lines on the roads. So I figure if I don't drive head on into traffic it shouldn't be a problem.

Good News: 7:00am The roads are terrible and the people are stupid but hey there are no school buses on the road. BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS HAVING SCHOOL!

Bad News: 7:20am Waiting in the line to get up the hill to get to school. Anyone else notice that I left at 6:45am and it usually takes 15 minutes for me to get to work.

Good News: 7:30am Still waiting line and I am not at school. So a little bit of an up shot.

Bad News: 7:45am I made it to school it started 10 minutes ago and the kids are bugging me.

The importance of zero

Zero would be the number of trucks I saw on the road tonight. I have picked up an interesting habit from my father. You see my father use to in bad weather go driving in it by himself to see how bad the roads really were. So tonight I cleared the foot of snow off my car and got out of my parking lot to take a ride around the city. Actually I just started up toward work to see how it was. Seriously I have to say I am pretty amazed at how awful the streets still are. Admittedly I haven't been watching the weather all day nor have I been out but I don't remember seeing snow falling after 11am today. so why in that 8 hours are main thoroughfares of the city still atrocious? I am not aware that we will be getting any more snow over night. I was out for over an hour and I was up and down main arteries of the city and if they don't get crackin' on the streets soon tomorrows commute is going to be craptastic.

Praise Jebus

So here I am 5:30am and I don't have school today a true snow day with actual snow. The last one we had was because it was "too cold". Whatever we could have totally gone but I ain't knockin' a free day. I am especially not turning down a free day that was also a professional development day and a day that had a basketball game that night. Of all the days to cancel this might have been one of the best. The bad thing is, I was really in the right head space to deal with a day like today. Many times I just drag my feet and dread these types of meetings and the complete take over of my life with basketball games. But today, actually all week I had been fine with it.

I think a lot of this more agreeable demeanor has to do with the change in my eating. I have had more energy lately. One would think that eating less would leave me with less energy. Actually I think it has everything to do with I feel better about myself and therefore I am in a much better head space.In any case I am going to run with it while it lasts. I mean I have not had a dish in the sink for the last week because I come home and do dishes every night and when you don't have a dishwasher that is kind of impressive.

So now the question is what do I do with my day off. I think I will try going back to bed but I think that will be futile. Oh well I hope you all have a good day and Athena I keep watching and hoping you get a snow day as well.

6 in 4

So this diet is actually starting to show dividends. I weighed myself this morning and discovered that I am down a whopping 6lbs it hasn't been yet 4 weeks and last week was a bust because of being in DC So I feel I am making real progress. I don't seem to mind the less food aspect of it. I know that a lot of my eating is emotional and also because I have let my body and mind feel hungry all the time even when I don't need to eat. It's a tough transition but I feel like I am making real progress. If I can keep up this progress I could be at my goal weight by the end of the summer. Of course I have tried this before and it hasn't worked out the best. Any encouragement would be great. So far so good.

Yeah whatever.

All I have to say about men in the greater Indianapolis Area is that they need to pull their collected heads from their asses. I am so over stupid people and I am finding that most gay men in this city are complete fuctards. The minuscule number of non stupid men is small if nonexistent.

Nothing in particular brought about this revelation I am just sighing and remember some of the craptastic moments in my dating history. I have become so use to being on my own I have started wondering if I even want t change that. But that is for a whole other day of thinking for right now I am going to just go to bed.

New hobbies

So last year it was learning to knit and because I have learned to knit sometimes I feel I need to defend my honor and dignity. I feel there is nothing wrong with knitting, in fact it is fun and easy to do. But in the spirit of defending ones actions I have started fencing. No not selling stolen goods on the street but you know with a sword and stuff. I started last night and it was a lot of fun and I am not half bad. Not that I am ready at the moment for a snooty Frenchman to smack my face with a pair of gloves a defend myself, but within a few weeks hopefully I can spare without putting my eye out. :)

Kingsized Maestro

So me and diets are not friends. I tolerate them, however I am sure they want nothing to do with me. My body certainly does not care for them. Since I have decided to watch the calories my body has been fighting it. I have done a good job at keeping my intake lower. Granted I am sure there are times I could do better but I feel over all I am doing well. Now I do find that the weekends are the hardest to control. I don't keep the same schedule so my routine did not stay the same. I predict this is just how it is going to be. The drinking doesn't help I am sure. I do feel that if I can keep a tight rein during the week and loosen a bit on the weekends I will be fine. Unfortunately I feel my days of 2am runs to White Castle for fried cheese sticks may be over. Alas it will be fine. There are worse things I could give up.

I really shouldn't call this a diet this is a full on change of the way I eat. I just can't consume as much as I use to and I need to condition my body for that. As I enter the second week of this I go from moments where it has gotten easier and where it just feels worse. I am sure I will have it for a while. Or maybe I will chuck it all and purposely gain 65lbs to go on disability.

A silent protest of Prop 8

After watching the Golden Globes last night and all the bad hair and there was lots of bad hair. For example Drew Barrymore looked like she came from a wind tunnel. She has had good hair in the past so I can't think that she liked it. Several Celebs had hair that was just frizzy and ill kept. Again I know these people can have good hair so I asked myself why is this a problem tonight. I think I have figured it out. The gay communities silent protest of Prop 8 was to allow their straight female friends out looking like that. I can hear it now. "So homo friend number one does my hair really look fine? I just don't know." "Drew it looks great you will be a trend setter everybody will be wearing their hair like that at the Oscars." All the while sending a message to America and the voters of California "This is what happens when you piss us off and alienate us. You only have yourselves to blame. How is going to do your hair and dress you if not us. And you have to look at it. Look at it!!!!!"

I like Amy Adams but seriously you are looking like Cynthia Nixon.

And the worst of this is the ass that ate New York.

Seriously who let her out with the back fat. I know she was just pregnant but she could have found something more flattering. Ok so if we homos don't take care of you who will. Actually we will let the lesbians dress you and do your hair.

Open letter to my stomach

Dear Stomach,

I know, I know , I know... but I am not going to give you more food. You have had your daily allotment and you will get no more. If you find this to be a problem please refer your concerns to the metabolism. Please be aware it has gone on vacation and I a have not been informed as to when it will be returning. The reason for this reduction of caloric intake is because the gut has been complaining of over population in the area. You should be aware of the suburban sprawl of the ass as well. Until this condition can be rectified we will continue with the rationing of food.

Thank you for your concerns, they have been taken into consideration. You will be included on the monthly weight report.

The Body

Fortress of Solitude

I must say large groups of teenage girls frighten me, but large group of teenage boys just make me shake my head and roll my eyes. Though I also have to say large social groups of adults work the same way. No matter how "enlightened" or educated the people are the still pretty much act like high school kids. This may explain my aversions to large social settings. Actually it saddens me that it has become increasingly harder to become a hermit in this world. I have recently given thoughts of how to sequester myself away from the world. Don't get me wrong I love my friends and want them around. It's really everyone else that could just go away and I would be happy. I mean, ok large groups are fine when there is a hostage situation the more people the greater my chances of survival. Also when speeding down the highway as long as one person is going faster I won't get pulled over. So yes large amounts of people can be good for some situations.

What I am about to say I already knew and have accepted but it still bothers me that more people then not are just plain stupid. Stupidity bothers me. I will give you ignorance, because if you don't know any better fine you can learn. It's those you are ignorant, know they can change it and refuse to. That to me is stupidity and so many people are just dumb. I have a brother like that. If the resolution to a problem does not present itself in the first five seconds, there is nothing to be done about it. He is also the type of person that will ask you where the butter is in the fridge and you say on the third shelf. He will look in the fridge not see it and say it's not there. However if he had just moved the milk to the side a half inch he would have found it. You know those people. Ugh they just piss me off. I look at it this way I am pretty much an idiot, I have to work hard to learn something and if I can do it a trained monkey could do it so many times people have no excuses.

And this along with a laundry list of reason is why I hate people.

Today's rank has been brought to you by the letter R and the number 6.

Me vs Food

So it has been awhile because well I have been busy and didn't really care to update. But alas I feel like I need to continue writing something every so often.

Anyway.

I have never been one to count my calories. I have decided over the past 4 days to actually track my calories after the first day where, I won't tell you what that number was, the number was way too high and that was a typical day. First let me just say I could have eaten scrap metal in my 20's and processed it through my system. No I eat a blueberry and it may sit in my system till I die. So since Sunday I have restricted my eating to only a certian number of calories and oh dear god I was so light headed Monday night. I have been good I am on my 3rd day and it's not that bad I am just more aware of it and not just a little appalled at my eating habits. I knew they were bad but dear god it was bad.