It’s funny how quickly we replace old routines with new ones. Things to fill the void, nourish the soul and soothe the spirit. And only in doing so are we able to provoke new thoughts and expand our ideals to an elevated state of awareness.

Once a week now I sit at the local sushi bar where the chef’s are friendly and the food is not only an artistic endeavor but an oral explosion of scrumptious delights. Each time I order my favorites because let's face it, when a girl finds something she really likes it serves her well to stick with it.

• One avocado sesame seed salad
• 4 pieces of salmon sashimi cut into 8 small slices
• One spicy tuna roll also in 8 pieces

The presentation is so splendid that I almost don’t want to eat for fear of destroying the artists work. It would be akin to smearing soiled hands on a wet oil painting. But alas after admiring the sublime attention to detail I let myself give in to the juicy temptations, getting my weeks worth of omega 3’s all in one delectable sitting.

The sashimi is served in a lit martini glass (today the color is blue) over a bed of ice and a heaping mound of shredded white radish (daikon) and a purple orchid for me to take home or wear in my hair should an exotic mood strike me. I no longer have to voice my special request for a side of eel sauce and crunchy tempura flakes for my dipping and dripping pleasure. They just arrive on their own now, like magic.

I often stop eating for a few seconds to scribble down loose thoughts and ideas on any available paper because the words come so freely here where everything feels colorful and inspired.

The waitress is overly attentive, hovering over my shoulder waiting to fulfill my every need. Filling up my water glass when it’s still 3/4 full and swooping in to scoop up plates and sauces that I’m not anywhere near ready to part with. I think it annoys her that I like to hold onto my salad throughout the meal, picking at it and adding things along the way.

She keeps coming over to check if the bowl is empty yet, but each time she looks it becomes more full. I am not a salad / appetizer / dinner type girl, in that order. I want it all at once so I can take my time alternating bites and mixing different combinations of texture and taste. She starts talking in Japanese to one of the other waiters in a tone that suggests she is poking fun at my eating habits, simply because they do not conform with the structure that she has grown accustomed to.

And then it hits me like an Oprah Winfrey “light bulb moment,” that I am a much happier person operating this way. Not having a set day to day routine or structured environment to go to. Where everything is so plotted out and planned that you forget to want and live in the moment. To think and dream, to touch and taste, to get to this place where your head is actually clear enough to sort out the dramas of the day and focus on the things that really matter.

I realize that I am someone who feels more alive, useful, and productive in the world while living outside of the box and writing outside of the lines. Like now on a paper napkin or an a la carte menu when everything is unplanned, unscripted, and raw like sushi.

Posted by Lori in Food at 12:39 AM permalink Comments (4)

nir•va•na - Pronunciation [nir-vah-nuh]
–noun
a place or state characterized by freedom from or oblivion to pain, worry, and the external world.

That is the only word I can use to describe the new Turkey Hill limited edition, Junior Mints Ice Cream. It’s a creamy mint-flavored ice cream swirled with rich fudge and loaded with miniature Junior Mints. The most interesting thing about the flavor is how the mint, which is already cool and refreshing in its candy form, combines with the coldness of the ice cream to become even more refreshing. With a sweltering July in full bloom, I hope you get to check this one out a grocery store near you. Make sure you do it soon. Like most good things in life, the Turkey Hill limited editions never last.

So yum.

Posted by Lori in Food at 12:12 AM permalink Comments (2)

Guess what I made for dinner tonight?

Beer Battered Bullheads...Yum. I must admit there is something extra satisfying about eating something that you actually preyed upon and caught. There is a sort of carnal element to it.

Here are my tasty pink catfish fillets, cleaning courtesy of dad. I don't clean the fish or take them off the hook. I just catch them and eat them....

I like to have all my ingredients ready and lined up before I start cooking. Here we have all the essentials:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Egg Mixture (Egg, Budweiser, minced onions)
Flour Mixture (Flour, bread crumbs, salt and pepper)
Whole Wheat Cous Cous w/ veggies (for a side)

and a scant 8 minutes later..... Voila! Beer Battered Bullheads.

They were quite tasty too.

If you are interested here is the recipe for Beer Battered Catfish:

3 lb. catfish
¼ cup Italian bread crumbs (or cornmeal)
¼ cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 12-ounce beer
¼ cup minced onion
Olive Oil (enough to coat and fry)
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium mixing bowl blend flour, breadcrumbs, salt, and pepper together. In a separate medium mixing bowl beat egg well, add beer and minced onions, mix well. Cut the catfish into 2 inch cubes or strips. Heat the oil. Roll the catfish into the flour mixture, then dip into the beer-egg mixture, then back into the flour mixture. Place flour and dipped catfish into the deep-fry, cook until golden brown.

I wish I knew how to make Bullhead sushi, with rice vinegar, wasabi, avacado, and brown rice. I'm sure it could be done.

Posted by Lori in Food at 09:52 PM permalink Comments (1)

After years of trying and making valiant attempts I have decided to accept the fact that I am just not a salad girl. I like meat and potatoes. I need to eat some form of pasta a few times a week. I like hearty foods especially when I exercise because my body needs the fuel to power me through my days and nights. I’ve learned that I have to succumb to my voracious appetite and unyielding indulgences from time to time without feeling guilty.

So how do I manage all this and remain at a normal weight for my size and frame? A lot of people ask, especially those who have seen me eat. So here it is. Here is what I do and don't do….

Most days of the week I try to not eat carbs
On the days when I must eat carbs I try to make them good healthy whole grain carbs. The exception to this is when I eat sushi during the week; I can do sashimi but enjoy my sushi more with rice. Brown rice sushi is awesome but not many places make it.
I avoid anything with sugar. I substitute Splenda whenever possible in recipes and coffee. The exception to the no sugar rule is birthday cake and natural sugars from fruit (bananas, apples).
I rarely drink soda or alcohol. 85% of the time I opt for water or juice.
I will only drink juices that are low sugar (under 10g) and I avoid high fructose sugar juices like orange juice and other juices that contain upwards of 30g's of sugar.
I throw out most of these rules on the weekends and let myself eat and drink whatever I want, within reason.

I am a creature of habit. Breakfast is either low fat cottage cheese with turkey bacon or whole grain oatmeal. On weekends I make French toast (with whole wheat or rye bread) or a breakfast sandwich, or Trader Joes Triple Berry O’s.
Sunday nights I make some type of roast or spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday is a large taco salad with no peppers and no black olives
Friday is sushi day with salmon and spicy tuna. Tempura flakes on the side because I like to sprinkle them on my fusion rolls. Especially when there is a nice thick brown layer of sweet eel sauce on top of my little fishies…mmmm. The tempura flakes are a cheat but they are so small and worth it that I make the allowance…plus Friday is kick off to the weekend.

I avoid things with trans fat and things that are overly processed. I stick to all natural ingredients 90% of the time.
I choose whole wheat over "enriched wheat" "unbromelated wheat" and other impure whole wheat "blends"
I avoid refined carbohydrates.
I cook whenever possible versus eating out so I can control the ingredients I’m putting into my body.

Whenever I fall off of my plan and my jeans start to fit too tight I give up all carbs and sugars for 2 weeks to reset my metabolism and glycemic levels back into place. I make sure I eat every 4-6 hours to keep the engines churning properly. That’s right I EAT every 4-6 hours when I want to lose a couple inches. I have learned that it's better to eat more than less so I force 3 square meals a day even if I'm not hungry. I stagger my meals and "graze" throughout the day with 3 snacks in between. The key is you have to make sure the things you eat are good things and that the portions you ingest are normal serving sizes.

I heard somewhere (I think it was on Oprah) the key is to never eat when you're hungry and never eat when you're full. The idea is you should constantly be eating the right things throughout the day so you never feel ravenously hungry. And on the flip side you should stop eating before you feel too full. Keeping it on a nice even keel is the way to go.

I know a lot of people who skip meals. They do so either because their schedule is too hectic to stop and eat something or maybe they are purposely skipping meals thinking if they don't eat as many it will be less calories consumed and less weight they will gain. It seems logical so I can understand why people think that. But it’s actually very wrong and going that way actually has the opposite effect, not eating enough causes you to gain or maintain. The human body is an amazing machine, that’s why. It has built in survival mechanisms that help sustain us through major disasters like drought and famine. What actually happens if your body doesn't get enough nourishment when you start missing meals? It will go into starvation mode sending messages to the brain that are like, “Uh oh body isn’t getting enough food better take some action and start storing fat instead of burning it, we might need it later.” On the flipside, when your body is getting a regular supply of food every 4-6 hours, it actually increases your metabolism which works to burn fat and calories at a higher rate. That burn process is further accelerated when you exercise.

Another thing I see at the gym all the time is women on the same stair climber or recumbent bike for the same ½ hour 5 times a week from 6:00 – 6:30 and then they are done. Those are the same gals in the locker room kvetching about their regular sweat sessions wondering why they never lose weight, only maintain and their body never changes.

It’s that awesome human body again. Cardio is great for the largest muscle in the body, the heart. But cardio alone won't improve your overall muscle tone or shape. When combined with weight lifting though….it will! Lifting weights on a regular basis is another thing you can do to speed up your metabolism on an extended basis even after your workout sessions have ended. When you lift weights a couple times a week, your body will actually burn calories in your sleep! Awesome. And I’m not even talking about heavy weight lifting. Ladies even a couple sets of 10 pound dumbbells or resistance exercises done regularly will have this effect.

Now try as hard as I might, I am definitely not perfect. I know what to do and I try to stick to it most of the time. Lo, there are a number of obstacles that I battle on a regular basis. These are the ones I am hoping to get feedback tips and advice from my readers on how to manage the pitfalls, set backs, and triggers.

Obstacles
Comfort foods = STARCHES
All my favorite things are white and starchy; mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, you get the drift. I come from a long line of comfort eaters.
I do find workarounds whenever possible (make sweet potatoes and mash them, use whole wheat pasta in mac & cheese, use Barilla plus in my slump) but they never taste as good and there are always times (mostly on weekends) when I go for the gusto with the good stuff.

Pizza Goldfish Crackers – I can (and do) eat one bag per sitting and I cannot bring myself to not buy them in the store. If I see them I have to have them. It's a $1.99 for one of the best tastes in the world.

Funks – I'm prone to the occasional funk from time to time when I just sort of check out on all things social and environmental and yes even dietary. When this occurs it usually involves the couch, sweatpants, unwashed hair, and saying fuck it to a lot of my normal good eating and exercising habits. There is a usually a trigger which could be a goal I have long struggled to achieve and then for whatever turn of events it doesn’t happen or I get derailed from the plan I had for myself. Then comes the little voice in my head that says I worked so hard and sacrificed so much to get jack so what is the point of following the rules or playing the game if it doesn’t get me where I want to be? When I get to this point of no return it usually escalates into rules being thrown out of the window and walking on a ledge of reason that I can’t talk myself down from. Next I start doing things I would not normally do like buying packs of cigarettes (even though I don't smoke), hitting McDonalds drive through for a QP with cheese and extra large fry….and a lot of other various and sundry rebellious acts. Thankfully these funks don’t happen too often and I snap out of them before too long.

Thin mint Girl Scout cookies – enough said

Portion control – Okay according to a box of spaghetti a serving size is one cup of pasta. I want to know what no-appetite miscreant at the FDA ever made this determination. A normal serving size of pasta for me is half a box. Period.

PMS. When I crave all of the above. When I want to eat everything because it tastes good and I have some unfulfilled emotional need for 3 days out of the month when my hormones demand things of me that I’m just not strong enough to fight.

Age. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you will. The older you get the more your metabolism slows down and gravity works against you. Sad but true. It makes all of the above pitfalls that much more damaging and all of the good habits all the more challenging to stick to.

Thoughts?

Posted by Lori in Food at 10:11 PM permalink Comments (3)

Do you ever read the back of Snapple caps? I do. Regularly.

I thought Snapple Cap "Real fact" #109 would be of interest to my fellow foodies out there.

I bet you didn’t know………

“Smelling bananas and / or apples can help you lose weight”

I don't know how or why this is.... but if it’s on the back of my Snapple cap, I believe it.

Posted by Lori in Food at 08:05 PM permalink Comments (1)

Why is it that every time I cook pork tenderloin it ends up looking like a severed penis?

Normally I can have a laugh and still manage to enjoy my dinner but this one came out of the oven looking exceptionally perverse and just......very wrong.

After an hour of pan roasting at 425, I could not even bring myself to eat it. I ended up having a small meatless salad for dinner. It was all my stomach could handle after the sickening display. So into the garbage Mr. porky went. I felt guilty throwing away food when there are starving children in the world.

But seriously, could you eat this thing?

Posted by Lori in Food at 07:57 PM permalink Comments (18)

All snake theory and pelvic congestion matters to the side….I’m concerned that I’ve developed a bewildering and dangerous addiction to Jujyfruits and Mike and Ikes candy among other things. It seems that lately my body is perpetually craving these fruity sweets. Last week it was a box of Dark Chocolates from Godiva. Odd these phases I go through and I can’t seem to get enough of them. Not sure what it is but I actually feel like my stomach is a bottomless pit that needs to be constantly filled and filled and can never be satiated. When I eat pasta I never make the recommended serving size of 1 cup. I never understood how one measely little cup of spaghetti is supposed to be enough to whet any appetite. When I make pasta, I cook half the box (thats like 3 or 4 cups) and add some type of meat to the sauce and I eat it all in one sitting. My own brothers even marvel at how much pasta and other foods I'm able to consume. I eat until I can’t move. It’s scary. I don’t know how it is that I don’t weigh a lot more and I’m always surprised when I look in the mirror and see that I don’t look as large as I feel. In my head I am a pudgy little fat girl because that’s how I feel after I gorge on disproportionate sized meals. I eat the way an alcoholic drinks. Their will to drink more and more is stronger than their common sense to stop at a certain point. Something deep inside of them pushes them to test the limits. I think that’s what I do with food. It’s a good thing that I have a major aversion to vomiting or I would probably be a raging bulimic by now.

Labor Day weekend is full of traditions. The local radio station counts down the top 100 rock songs of all time [Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven is always #1]. The Jerry Lewis Telethon, Princess Diana tributes and my brother’s birthday and annual Labor Day party that lasts for 3 days..... Needless to say food was bountiful this weekend and I didn’t have to do any of the cooking which makes it even more delicious. There were cheeseburgers, hot dogs, sausage and peppers, potato salad, macaroni salad with peas, pasta salad with veggies, shrimp salad, tuna salad, salads with Hellmann’s and salads with Miracle Whip. There were chips and dips, grilled roast beef and deep fried turkeys. Corn on the cob, meatballs, baked beans, sauerkraut, Mexican dishes, Italian dishes, cookies, cakes, donuts, and on and on and on and then when I came home I was still hungry so I ate some more. That’s when I started in on the Pizza Goldfish, popcorn, wheat thins, extra sharp cheddar, apple slices, more cheeseburgers, more chips, raspberry ice cream, more Mike and Ikes, more JujyFruit which I’m actually snacking on now as I type.

Time to hit the gym, hard.

Posted by Lori in Food at 09:39 PM permalink Comments (1)

I went wine tasting this weekend at a local vineyard, a scant 10 minutes away from my house in the beautiful New England countryside.

I tasted many wines, whites, reds, peach, cider. My favorite white was the Chardonnay which is barrel fermented and aged in French oak with fresh apple and ripe melon flavors. Mmmm. Then there was the barrel-aged red Cabernet Franc. I love a smooth cab. This one was full-bodied red with concentrated black currant; dried fig and spice. Very earthy and rich. Would go really well with a grilled London Broil or tenderloin, I think.

I was very fond of the semi-sweet red known as “picnic” wine, bursting with bright raspberry, blackberry, and plum fruit. The vineyard recommended drinking with picnic basket fried chicken, pulled pork, and a classic burger or a good dog. I also discovered when I got home that it goes rather well with my homemade foot cheese pizza too....

I didn’t think I was buzzed because I ate lunch right before the festival and snacked on bread, cheese, and fruit while there. I must have been a wee bit tipsy though, because I didn’t realize I drove home in 2nd gear until I pulled into my driveway. That, and I just had to spellcheck veneyard.

Posted by Lori in Food at 07:43 PM permalink Comments (3)

I never eat it in the fall, winter, or spring. Only summer. I ‘spose in addition to my texture, taste, color, smell, and ingredient issues with food, I also have a temperature thing. I can only eat ice cream when it’s HOT HOT HOT. Except for my birthday in January, then I make the exception for Carvel ice cream cake with the chocolate crumbles and blue gel icing. Yum.

The way I see it, that gives me the next 2 summer months to eat ice cream to my hearts content. My favorites are Carvel cherry dip in a wafer cone and soft serve vanilla with mixed sprinkles. For hard serve, I like pistachio (but it has to be green) and bubblegum flavor, raspberry, and strawberry. Generally speaking, I like all the hard flavors that come in the color pink. Hmmmmm.

The best selection I’ve yet to find at the grocery store has got to be Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked. Which if you didn't know is chocolate & vanilla swirled together with big chunks of fudge brownies & gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough twisted into one delicious frozen medely of arguably the best cold munchie food ever.

Ahhhhh, but I wonder what other tasty treats await my sampling? I’d sure hate to think there is something else out there that I might be missing. I spent a good portion of my weekend just thinking about ice cream and all the flavors I've yet to try. So on this hot summer day, I am opening the Blog up to recommendations.

Pray tell, what is your favorite flavor?

Posted by Lori in Food at 07:21 AM permalink Comments (10) | TrackBack (0) |

I’ve found the cure to just about anything that ails me is a hot bowl of Slump. Nestled high atop a mound of steaming shells holding gently pockets of home made meat sauce simmered to perfection sprinkled with some fresh ground pepper and lightly grated foot cheese. It’s better than any pill or foreign substance you can imbibe for comfort or escape. To eat all that is wrong in the world and somehow make it right again. I prefer to make my own food because I can control the ingredients, textures, tastes, colors, and smells.

I alternate my Slump recipe ever so slightly for Summer Slump versus Winter Slump to make it a little lighter in the warmer weather. Growing up, my brother told me I should never eat eggs. Why not? “Because chickens don’t piss.” “You should never drink water either.” Why not? “Because fish f*ck in it. I haven’t eaten a hot dog since the early 80’s when he told me they were made from lips and assholes. My big brother messed me up good. To this day, I can’t bring myself to eat an egg. My steaks have to be medium rare and I can’t eat hamburgers, only cheeseburgers. I find the hamburgers too dry. All of my meats have to be juicy and tender. I like white pork but I haven’t been able to eat the pink Ham ever since I saw Babe.

I’m particular about my deli meats and cheeses too. I’ll always opt for the roast beef first but only if it’s rare and only a quarter pound to a shot because if you keep it more than 2 days it starts to turn brown and loses the pink. Turkey is next but I can’t have the orange pepper jack stuff. It has to be roasted turkey breast or honey turkey but it’s tricky to find honey turkey that isn’t smoked. I hate smoked. For cheeses, I always go with Land O’ Lakes white or yellow sliced thin – if it’s too thick I can’t eat it, it tastes different at varying degrees of thickness. I swear that it does…and I could never oh Dear Lord NEVER eat processed cheese from the prepackaged individual wrapped slices. Eeeek! That’s a whole other level of multi issued texture, flavor, and ingredient conflicts that are just very very wrong to my palate. I can however devour an entire can of easy cheese squirted into funny shapes on Wheat Thin crackers in one sitting.

For condiments I like mustard but only the dark golden mustards, I can’t eat the bright yellows. Mayonnaise is good which is weird because it’s really just egg whites but it has to be Hellmans, it can’t be Cains and definitely not Miracle Whip. Blech.

I love sushi but I can only eat the kind that’s orange or red and not too slimy. I devour the rolls with sesame seeds on the outside but I can’t eat the rolls with the orange tobika on the outside. If even one orange flake of it spills onto my plate, I am done. Even looking at Roe on other peoples plates makes me nauseous. The thought of one of those little orange bait like eggs popping in someone’s mouth is more than I can handle.

Mashed potatoes are my favorite but they have to be totally mashed or whipped, they can’t have any lumps. Even one lump will kill it for me.

I can’t eat a pickle because the texture is too slimy but I love the taste so I buy jars of pickles and only use the juice to flavor things and then throw away the pickles. Nothing makes me happier than a grilled cheese sandwich cut in half with fresh squeezed pickle juice onto the part where the bread separates from the cheese. I also like pickle juice squirted on any of your diner-type fare....cheesburgers, potato chips, and fries...but only if they're cooked well done. Mmmmm.

I won’t drink beer but I’ll drink wine. My reds have to be sweet and fruity, I can’t drink dry. I favor whites that are more robust and full bodied. My vodka drinks can’t be Smirnoff or even Grey Goose, they have to be Stoli, only Stoli and my Madras' can’t be too orange or too red in color, it has to be pink or I’ll send it back.

I prefer Kraft macaroni and cheese to Prince but the best is the Kraft deluxe in the aluminum package. I can’t eat tuna from cans anymore because all I taste is metal; it has to be the kind in the package.

I won’t eat milk chocolate or white chocolate, only dark chocolate..and I don’t care what anyone says, the Blue M & M’s DO taste different. The blue die tastes like poison and my body rejects them. What’s even more concerning and a lifelong mystery is why the small can of Spaghettios and Meatballs have a different texture than the Spaghettios in the bigger can. The meatballs in the small can are always hard no matter how long you cook them. They never get soft and chewy like the meatballs in the bigger can. Why?

Posted by Lori in Food at 08:53 PM permalink Comments (6) | TrackBack (0) |

I had the best meal for dinner tonight, it was simple yet satisfying. Two little eye round steaks seasoned and marinated the night before with garlic pepper salt and Kikoman’s Teriyaki Baste and Glaze grilled to medium rare – 5 minutes on each side. A green side salad with crumbled goat cheese and broken turkey bacon flakes on top. Sprayed with those new salad spritzers in red wine flavor. Yummmmmm. Doesn’t sound like much but it met all of my work week menu requirements: Cheap. Easy. Tasty. Juicy. Hmmm, reminds me of my last……..oh, nevermind.

Posted by Lori in Food at 12:56 AM permalink Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) |

Today is the day I can eat Carbs again! It’s been a long 2 weeks of detoxing off the white stuff. I did have to cheat once on Friday when I was out with coworkers to celebrate a long painful project reaching fruition and my boss insisted that I drink. You can’t refuse the boss. Well, long story short it was either eat carbs or vomit so I made the executive decision to consume carbs (and sugar in my margarita) in an attempt to soak up the alcohol. It worked and I didn't feel too guilty because I'm only 2 lbs away from my goal weight.

Now I am happily moving into Phase 2 where I can reintroduce good carbs of the whole grain and whole oat variety, and cruise into "maintain" mode. My cupboards and pantry are now stocked with a nice hearty assortment of whole wheat pastas, oatmeal, breads, breadcrumbs, even whole wheat pancake mix. Thanks Aunt Jemima! And P.S. they are fabulous when you add in a little apple sauce and less milk.

Nicole asked for some South Beach friendly recipes so I have one to share with you today. I made this last night -- a little Italian to go with the Sopranos season opener:

South Beach Lasagna:

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
¼ cup onion
3 garlic cloves
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 8 oz can whole peeled tomatoes (mashed or blended)
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp splenda (to sweeten)
2 tbs parmasean cheese
1 box WHOLE WHEAT Lasagna noodles (I use Hodges)
1 lb lowfat cottage cheese
½ cup fat free ricotta
2 eggs
12 oz shredded mozzarella (skim low moisture)

In a skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add meat. Cook only until no pink remains. Drain fat. Return to pot. Add All tomato ingredients plus dry basil, oreg, salt, pepper, splenda, parmasean cheese. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat simmer slowly covered but crack to vent.

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. ***Tip – undercook noodles by a minute or two for easier layering. The rest will cook in the oven. Set noodles aside.

Mix cottage cheese and ricotta in a bowl with 2 eggs, salt, pepper, and parsley until blended. Set aside.

Preheat over to 350

When all ingredients are ready in a 13x9 in. baking pan (sprayed with Pam cooking spray)
layer as follows:

*3 lasagna noodles
*Cottage Cheese Mixture
*Mozzarella Cheese
*Meat Sauce
Repeat layering ending with noodles, cottage cheese and shredded cheese on top, sprinkle with parsley.

Cook 30 minutes covered, and the last 15 minutes uncovered. Let stand to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Mmmmmmm

Posted by Lori in Food at 07:08 AM permalink Comments (6)

Many of you have emailed, commented, or IM’ed asking for my Slump recipe. Wow, my brother would kill me if he knew I was blogging our secret family Slump recipe. Luckily for me, nobody in my immediate family reads my blog. Except for SL, and she keeps all my secrets.

Here it is:

Posted by Lori in Food at 01:30 AM permalink Comments (4)

How exactly is one expected to abide by all the rules and do the right thing when such Sweet Tempation exists in this world?

This my friends is what Pure Evil is made of:

Posted by Lori in Food at 09:34 PM permalink Comments (6)

It's a family tradition that dates back to the 1970's and Sunday nights of watching Creature Feature and making tents out of bed sheets to hide from the cheesy monsters. There was always Homemade pizza on hand.

The one comfort food that surpassed all others, Foot Cheese Pizza's. The secret is in letting the dough rise just long enough to be pliable but not so long that it gets tacky, then pounding it out with even palms and finger tips leveling about a 1/2 inch spread onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake @425 for 20 minutes and Voila! Thin-crust pizza is my favorite, and real pork-sausage for a topping. Parmesan cheeseand the tangy sauce is what makes Foot Cheese Pizza's the best munchie food ever. Yum!

My brother says that parmesan cheese smells like feet, forever coining the phrase Foot Cheese Pizza !

Posted by Lori in Food at 04:14 PM permalink Comments (4)

Here I am belly-up on the couch with Pugsley, about 5 lbs heavier, both of us in a triptophan-induced coma, stuffed like a bird....but BOY was it worth it!! Hope you all had a Great Thanksgiving.
I think I'll go explode now.

My Thanksgiving Turkey

Posted by Lori in Food at 06:26 PM permalink Comments (1)

A Thanksgiving Message from Lori and Pugsley:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Lori in Food at 04:07 PM permalink Comments (3)