(Food) Adventures in New York City

Sometimes, it’s a wonderful thing to take a vacation from everything and just be able to do exactly what you want.

This weekend, I had that opportunity and I have to say it was perfect.

I spent the weekend in New York with my friend, Saz. We haven’t been on a trip together in years and after being friends for 20 years, we figured it was time again.

So, off to Manhattan we went.

The beauty of going back to a place you’ve been to before is that, most likely, the touristy stuff is out of your system. That was true in our case. While it’s nifty to see the Empire State Building and Times Square, we didn’t feel obligated to go up to the top of the building, see the Statue of Liberty or take a tour in one of those buses with the open tops.

Instead, we did exactly what we wanted which, I find, is the best way to experience a city.

We both arrived late Friday morning and we spent the first part of our day wandering towards NYU, stopping for New York pizza for lunch and enjoying a beautiful spring day. Then we decided to get half-price tickets to a show since we both like Broadway and it seemed like a good idea.

We had trouble deciding on which tickets to get. Saz and I are both fans of musicals and there were several we were open to seeing. There was also a play we’d both heard about that had Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth, Jason Patric, Brian Cox and Jim Gaffigan in it. It was called That Championship Season and was supposed to be good. Since the show was closing two days later, we finally reasoned that tickets to that would be our best option since casts like that don’t come along too often whereas musicals are always around.

Well, I think that maybe a musical would have been our best bet. While it was interested to see the actors live, it wasn’t a very good play. For one thing, there were two intermissions which was weird because the play wasn’t even two hours long. Also, while it was nice to see the actors working so hard to be stage actors, I felt a little tired to see how hard they were working. In all honesty, I felt like I was back in college watching actors try to be very serious and show their craft instead of, you know, just acting. It was a little painful at times. Also, there was a portrait of who I think might have been Teddy Roosevelt over the fireplace that was part of the set and I couldn’t help wonder through the entire play why they had a picture of Ricky Gervais hanging up because from our seats, eleven rows back, it REALLY looked like Ricky Gervais. Also, the play was rather…boring. It was all talk. At one point, I started actually hoping someone would die. Then, as things got a little duller, I started to fantasize that Kiefer Sutherland would morph back into Jack Bauer, grab one of the hunting rifles they had as props and liven things up.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I saw the play. I would always have wondered. I think Saz enjoyed it a little more than I did because she’s a little more forgiving.
Our next day, we had another low-key start. We did some shopping which is always a lovely way to spend the day. We did head over to where the World Trade Centre had been because there was a store we wanted to go to there but, also, having last been to NYC when the Twin Towers had been there, it felt right to go back. The site is under construction and it’s nice to see a new building going up.

During a break from our shopping trip, Saz and I discussed other things we could do in the city. At one point, we thought we might try to see another show on Sunday. Then we started talking about food since, you know, I’m a bit of a foodie. We finally came to the conclusion that we’d rather pay the money we’d have spent on theatre tickets on good food so, within minutes, we had a Sunday lunch reservation at Tom Colicchio’s restaurant, Colicchio and Sons, and a dinner reservation for the following night for Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. As I’ve previously blogged, we already had reservations for that night at Babbo, Mario Batali’s restaurant.

I could probably blog for weeks about Babbo, honestly. It’s an unassuming little place, close to NYU. It’s crowded when you go in. It’s busy. You need reservations at least month before. Many a group was politely turned away by the concierge while we waited for our table.

When we finally sat down, the service began. It was flawless. We ordered the traditional tasting menu with the wine pairings and each course was introduced and the wine pairing explained. There were separate people to replace silverware, wine glasses and scrape crumbs between each course.

Then there was the food. As a Mario Batali groupie, I was expecting good food. Instead, I got great. Really great. Quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

Here’s the menu for the foodies out there:

Course 1- Copa with Pickled Chili and Meyer Lemon
Course 2- Pappardelle with morels and thyme
Course 3- Duck Tortelli with “Sugo Finto”
Course 4- Pork Tenderloin with Asparagus, Cipolline and Grilled Lemon Vinaigrette
Course 5- Coach Farm’s Finest goat cheese with Fennel Honey
Course 6- Toasted Sesame Panna Cotta
Course 7- Salame di Cioccolato with brandied cherries
Course 8- “Torta di Orzo” with Malted Milk and Honey Gelato

Each course wasn’t huge- it was just enough to make you want more until the next course came along and wowed you. I’d be hard pressed to pick a favourite although the fresh made pappardelle with morels and thyme might one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tasted. However, the pork tenderloin and the panna cotta course might give it a run for its money.

This is not to say that everything else wasn’t fabulous. It’s like comparing a BMW to a Mercades: Both are excellent and have their merits but they’re not the same car and they can’t really be compared.

he wine pairings were perfect and each glass was enough sips to make you appreciate the pairing without being too much.

In short, if I could hug Mario Batali, I would do it right now for creating food that made me stop, think and truly appreciate how things are composed and presented. There’s a reason while he has the renown he has and I’m very, very thrilled that his food tasted as wonderful as I expected. When you’ve seen as many episodes of Iron Chef America as I have, there’s a certain level of expectancy and hope and I am very happy that Babbo exceeded my expectations.

Like I said, I could probably write a novella about Babbo but, well, I’m not sure anyone but me would read it.

After Babbo, we were too happy and keyed up to go back to the hotel. We wandered over to Bleeker Street to a music club a friend of Saz’s had recommended. The band that was playing when we arrived were very good- very Long Beach, California type of music. Unfortunately, they ended an a funk band took over.

I’m not a huge fan of funk. This band were good but they’re one of those bands that believes in jamming which means their songs went on and on and on. I think one of them lasted over ten minutes.

We left and headed back, exhausted, full and very happy.

On our last day, we headed over to Chelsea to have brunch at Colicchio and Sons. We were a little disappointed that they only had a brunch menu rather than their full lunch but it was pretty good stuff. I had a ricotta frittata with caramelized onions, arugula and honey. It was tasty but, well, it wasn’t Babbo. We ate in the Tap Room which is the more relaxed area of the restaurant. Maybe if we’d have gone in the dining room we’d have been more wowed. This is not to say it wasn’t good food. Saz had a burger that she said was one of the best she’d had. It…just wasn’t Babbo. It’s really like apples and oranges though and to compare the two really isn’t fair. Babbo is a special occasion, very very rare sort of experience. Colicchio and Sons is a place you go for a high quality lunch and a really good beer.

We spent the rest of that afternoon exploring the fabulous Chelsea Market and laying in Hudson River Park, drinking Prosecco and enjoying the beautiful day.

When we finally got up and moving again, we headed to Eataly- the Italian marketplace/eating place that was set up by Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, Joe Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti.

Eataly made me wish I had a kitchen, right then and there. It is a store filled with ever Italian ingredient you can imagine. Within the store, there are areas that serve food, all made from the same ingredients you can buy. There are meats, cheeses, produces, pastas, olive oils….aisle and aisles of them. While I could have spent a fortune, I restrained myself. The practicality of air travel is that it’s not practical for transporting fresh ingredients home and keeping them fresh. Still, I wandered, fondled a few ingredients and generally felt like I’d found my mothership.

During all this time, Saz was very patient. She enjoys good food but isn’t as into cooking as me. However, she indulged my foodie love with patience and laughing at how I couldn’t help but fawn over the mushrooms and 25 year-old aged balsamic that was being sold for $220.

We finally left Eataly with a t-shirt and a need for fresh air. We headed back to the hotel, took a break and then got ready for Mesa Grill.

Mesa Grill is not the same as Babbo. It’s much more relaxed. It’s a lot bigger or seems that way. It was very, very good.

I have to admit, I’m a fan of Bobby Flay so eating at his restaurant gave me a bit of the same thrill as eating at Babbo. Mesa Grill is southwestern in flavours. I decided that I wanted to be daring and finally try rabbit. Until I became a foodie, like so many people, I viewed eating rabbit as eating Thumper the bunny. Then I learned to appreciate food and now try to separate cartoon cuteness with the tastiness of meat.

The rabbit was cascabel chile crusted and came with toasted cous cous, fava beans, smoked red pepper sauce and queso blanco. It was, in short, absolutely delicious. It was almost a cross between pork and chicken. Saz had the green chilli cioppino which she, too, loved.

Our final review of Mesa Grill is that it was tasty. It still wasn’t Babbo but we didn’t expect it to be. Mesa Grill is more of a regular type of place, somewhere you’d go to get a craving fix. It was fabulous food but very approachable. Like with Mario Batali, I’ve seen Bobby cook on Iron Chef America and it was awesome to try some of the food I’ve seen him make. It was delicious.

That was pretty much the end of our NYC adventure. Three days goes fast, particularly when you measure it in food. Saz and I had made a pact when we arrived that we wouldn’t feel bad if we ate non-healthy food. Saz has been exercising and dieting since last year and has managed to lose 60 pounds. She looks great. She’s also been trying to eat well. Me, I’ve lost 15 pounds and try very hard not to eat too badly.

This weekend, we ignored our health-eating inclinations. It was worth every calorie. Granted, it means I’ll be eating lots of healthy stuff for a while but when you’re presented with heaven-on-a-plate like we were at Babbo, life is too short to care about fat grams and calories.

I was sad to come home though it’s nice to be reunited with the pups. They missed me and I missed them. I had a great time in New York. I had a great time with Saz.

However, as is the case with all good vacations, they must come to an end. So, here I am, back to reality and back to work a couple of pounds heavier and a few cares lighter.

It was worth every penny and every moment. How often do you get to say that?

Happy Wednesday!

The Power of Positive...Peeing and Other Small Pleasures

I’ve decided to continue my positivity and not spend any time today complaining about it being a Monday and a stormy one at that.

We did, for a brief moment, lose power at work but, alas, it came back on. This is not to say that I sit at work hoping the power will go out like I did at my last job but there’s a certain level of excitement that such things add to the work day. It’s the power of the unexpected, a little ‘present’ that life throws at you.

Since our power didn’t actually go out, I missed out on today’s present. Still, it made me realize that life is full of little tiny gifts that we don’t stop and properly appreciate. Thus, in honour of my attempt to stay positive and not focus on negative things, I’ve decided that today’s blog will be a blog lauding the things that make life just a little bit better.

My first one is a little, uh, odd. Also, by some standards it’s not very ‘proper.’ It is, however, very necessary to life. I’m talking about having a very, very full bladder and being able to alleviate the problem in a timely fashion.

I told you it sounds odd. It’s also not very ladylike to discuss urination. However, if you’ve ever really, really, REALLY needed to go but you’re not close to a toilet, you might understand how finding a toilet at the very last second when you feel like your bladder is literally going to explode can feel like a gift.

Trust me on this. It’s happened to me. I’ve witnessed it happening to others. Case in point, my friend Saz and I once took a trip to Los Angeles. We decided to go explore Mulholland drive up in the hills. We got lost. About ten minutes into the drive, Saz realized she really had needed to go. Long story short, we were lost. There are no restaurants, gas stations or any places to stop and go to the loo. When it was to the point where Saz was literally in pain, we finally found a Burger King. To the day, I believe Saz holds that Burger King with fondness in her heart. For my part, I felt awful that I’d made her wait that long.

I hope Saz doesn’t mind me sharing her story in my blog. I’ve had several Mulholland Drive moments myself since then and each time, I find myself whispering “sorry, Saz,” to myself because of the torture she suffered. However, whenever you finally, FINALLY get to relieve your poor, aching bladder, it’s seriously one of the best sensations in the world. If you don’t believe me, try it sometime. It really puts your priorities in order. Nothing else matters once that seal is broken and you absolutely, positively HAVE to relieve your bladder. All you can think about is finding a toilet.

This is an odd and slightly crude thing to blog about, I know. However, I think it does illustrate my point that sometimes it’s the small things that get the most appreciation when they happen.

It’s the same with sneezing, honestly. If you need to sneeze but it won’t come out, it’s very, very irritating. You can stare at a light and try to trigger the sneeze but if it won’t come, it suddenly becomes one of the Most. Irritating. Feelings. Ever.

And then….it happens. The sneeze comes and a tiny, insignificant reaction becomes the best feeling in the world. No longer do you have that twitchy feeling in the space between your nose and eyeball. The sneeze is done, it’s out and you can go back to your life without even remembering it happened.

But it did. It’s another small thing to appreciate.

Want another one? How about spending the day surrounded by noise and chaos. In my case, it’s Thanksgiving at my parents. The day passes in a whirl of trying to get everything ready before people start arriving. When they come, my parents decent sized farmhouse becomes one of the smallest places in the world. The kids are running around, the dogs are whimpering because four young children seem to have multiplied and there is nothing but noise, trying to get the dinner on the table while trying not to step on cowering dogs and trying not to spill the gravy jug on your nieces head because she’s obliviously chattering away to you without realizing you’re doing something…else.

And then, the food is eaten, the dishes done, the people have finally left, the TV off and….

…there is quiet. Blessed quiet that can only be appreciated after hours of loud laughter, squealing, running and barking.

The quiet makes the chaos good. I like seeing my family all together but halfway through trying to figure out where everyone will sit, watching my nephew chow down on his Oscar Meyer wieners instead of the turkey that’s been cooking all day, the urge for quiet comes over me and when it finally arrives well….that’s another gift. I wouldn’t swap the chaos and confusion for the world because that in itself is a gift but that quiet…well, that’s far more unexpected and comes when it’s most needed.

Then there’s the food itself. If you’re on a diet and you’re trying to be good, treats become much more meaningful. Having one piece of chocolate after four weeks of not eating any is far more rewarding than eating five pieces every day. Splurging and eating a big slice of cheese pizza is a lovely thing to do if you haven’t had anything but Lean Cuisine pizza for a month or two.

I could go on and on. I suppose really what it comes down to is that old cliché (and Cinderella song): You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Whether it’s the need to relieve your bladder, the ability to sneeze, the quiet and tranquility of a calm day or whatever food item you’ve forbidden yourself, when you do finally get it back, it’s that much more special.

Thus, I think once in a while, we should acknowledge the everyday things in life and stop to appreciate how much they bring to your life without you realizing it. I’m not talking about big things like food, clothing, shelter…I’m talking about things like toilet paper, deodorant and underwear. Certainly, we could get by without them but they make our life much more pleasant with their very existence.

Sometimes, you just have to stop and think about the things in life that we take for granted because they’re part of our everyday life. We don’t think of them as gifts because they just seem so tiny. Yet, try not being able to find a toilet on a long and winding drive and you’ve had two large cokes. You’ll see what I mean.

Although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It does, however, make you appreciate something you don’t usually consider much.

That’s all I’m saying.

Happy Tuesday!

Positive Affirmations

I like realizations in life because sometimes they’re affirmations.

Affirmations are good for us because they make us feel like whatever it is we’re doing, no matter how small, is the right thing. For me, I had one of those small ones today. It came when my coworker were running an errand for the office and we got stuck behind a giant truck. This was a McDonald’s truck. This would not be a bad thing except the enormous photograph of McDonalds French fries that dominated the entire rear of the truck.

Let me explain.

Since the new year, I made a vow to myself that I’d drop the extra 15 pounds that I’d allowed myself to gain during the past few months.

So far, I’m down by seven pounds and I really didn’t have to do much at all. As I’ve said before, I’ve been blessed to be a huge fan of vegetables. I’ve always centred the majority of my meals around vegetables when I cook. I find veggies to be a gift in life- there are so many types out there and so many things to do with each type that were it not for my fondness for meat, I could easily be a vegetarian. Unfortunately, while I do prefer veggies, I have a certain fondness for bacon, chicken and other carnivourous fodder. I also adore fish which I would still be able to eat if I were a vegetarian. Of course, I’ve never understood that because I’d think fish were as much a live creature as, say, a chicken but who am I to argue?

Anyway, the point is that it’s been easy for me to switch to a healthier eating plan. All I had to do is adjust how much I ate and when I ate it and I’ve been able to lose weight without much deprivation at all. I still get to eat things like cheese and bacon, I just do so in moderation. Instead of pouring cheese onto everything, I consider what else I’m eating with the cheese to decide if it’s worth the nutritional black marks or not for that day’s eating. I have a fabulous website that I use that lets me log what I’m eating and then it estimates the nutritional content of that food. It makes me responsible for what I eat and how much I eat. I love that. I know how many calories I’m supposed to have in a day and so I can see how I’m doing.

I like having that discipline. I find that it makes food rewards fun. If I’m doing well for the day and I’ve eaten primarily healthy, low fat stuff then I can have a glass of wine in the evening or a piece of chocolate or even some cheese with my dinner. It’s actually a much nicer way of eating than letting myself cram my face full of whatever I feel like eating at that moment.

There are times that it is hard. I find that if I have a day that doesn’t go well, I’m hungry. I want to fill that emotional hole in me with food even though I’m technically not hungry. I think half the battle is recognizing if I am actually hungry or if I’m just thinking about eating because I’m watching TV and it seems like the thing to do. Of course, there are days that I am really hungry. These are generally the days when I’ve been super healthy. Fortunately, if I’ve eaten a low amount of fat and calories for the day, it usually means I can have a healthy-ish snack and not suffer the consequences on my thighs or hips.
The only really hard time is when I’m subjected to temptation. At my job, we have a lot of business lunches with our consultants. This is our way of saying “Thank you for working for us” as well as to stay in touch with them. These lunches are nice but they’re always at a restaurant where healthy eating is not always easy. Compounded with this is the fact that I’m faced with a menu full of pictures of items that are not healthy but are, in fact, absolutely delicious. It’s so easy to listen to that voice in my head that says, “You’re craving bacon, cheese, hamburger goodness with a side of salty French-fries”.
The voice in my head is usually right. If I’m given a picture of a juicy hamburger when I haven’t had one in ages and I really, really want one, of course I’m going to crave the bloody thing. It’s a law of nature: we crave what we shouldn’t have.
Since I started my attempt to lose weight, it’s become very easy to talk myself out the hamburger. At first, it wasn’t. It’s much easier to cheat when you first start something- (“Oh, go on…order it! You can start over again tomorrow.” ). The longer you persevere, the easier it gets because you’ve come a certain distance and you don’t want to undo the good you’ve been doing.

There are times when I do go ahead and order the hamburger. It’s part of that reward system. If I let myself have it once in a while, I’m far less apt to say, “screw it! I want bad food now!”

There comes a place when you realize you’ve turned that corner and trying to eat well 95% of the time is as natural as eating itself.

Thus comes my affirmation.

McDonalds french fries have always been a weakness of mine. Generally when I crave something, it’s savoury, rather than sweet. I want something salty. McDonalds french fries? Perfect salty snack food. Two months ago, I would have seen that picture of the french fries on the back of the truck and instantly, my taste buds would have been kicking into sense-memory mode. I would have been able to taste them and smell them in my imagination. I would instantly have wanted those french fries and found a way to get them.

Two months later…not so much. I could still smell them and taste them in my imagination but internally, I simply shrugged and said, “eh, I’d rather have the brussel sprouts roasted with bacon that I’m planning for dinner tonight.”

I liked that feeling. Granted, there’s bacon involved in my dinner but it’s only three slices and combined with the Brussels and the fennel I plan on also roasting, I have a pretty darned tasty meal there with very little badness except for the bacon.

The more important thing is that I’d rather have that than Mcdonalds. That was my affirmation that all the work I’ve done in trying to lose some extra weight and improve my overall health is sticking. Also, I’m enjoying it. It involve creativity, planning and research but those are three things I enjoy very much anyway.

I have to say, I would never have thought a giant picture of french fries would seem like a life affirming thing but that’s probably why it was such a nice moment.

The unexpected things always are.

Thanks, as always for reading and have a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Food Musings

Have you ever noticed when you can’t have something, it’s all you seem to want in the world?

In my case, at the moment, it’s bad food. Since the new year, I’ve been working on being healthy and trying to lose a little weight. Since I’ve finally had to acknowledge that the days of having a super fast metabolism that lets me eat pizza with French fries and cheese sauce for lunch and not gain an ounce are gone, I now have to watch what I eat.

Also, now I’ve learned the glorious ways of The Food Network and what it is to really cook, I confess that I cringe at the idea of pizza and French fries with cheese sauce. Separate, they’re ok. Together?...What was I thinking???!

Still, food is different in our youth, I think. Unless you’re born knowing that you love food and want to spend your life cooking it and appreciating it, food is a learning process. This is why, as a child, I preferred things like fishfingers and chips and frozen pizza over more exotic things like, say, beef casserole or meat pie. I think there are two types of children: The picky eaters and those that will eat everything. My nephew who will be eight this year is a picky eater. He eats Oscar Meyer Weiners, cheese puffs, cheese and a few other very select things. My niece, on the other hand, will eat almost anything.

I was a picky eater. I didn’t like very many things at all. I wouldn’t eat mashed potatoes. I didn’t like ‘gravy’ dinners. I didn’t like anything remotely different so Chinese food was out. I used to think lasagna smelled like vomit. You get the idea.

I stayed a picky eater all through high school. I remember in my last years of high school, I went on dates to exotic places like The Olive Garden (don’t mock- in high school in Indiana, that is exotic). I would order fettucine alfredo because it was ‘safe’. There was no scary tomato sauce or meat or weird vegetables in it, it was simple.

Then, in college, something changed. I hung out with a group of friends that liked Chinese food and Mexican and seafood. Our dining hall offered things to eat I’d never tried and since it was ‘all you can eat’, I started to try new things.

From then onwards, I was no longer a picky eater. I don’t even know the moment of revelation where I realized that I was now eating ‘different’ food. It just happened. I don’t know if it’s because, in college, I was always hungry because I was quite active and busy or because I was just exposed to more. It’s hard to say but I do know that that time period in my life changed my food habits.

Of course, college is also the time when it’s ok to eat junk food. It’s ok to have pizza several times a week or to eat an entire bag of Doritos and wash it down with Mountain Dew while you’re studying. It’s ok to run to the express area on campus and grab a Pizza Hut personal pan pizza and a bag of barbecue potato chips for lunch. There’s no one standing next to you saying, “Where are your veggies?” My eating habits weren’t that unhealthy though. I liked veggies and fruit so even with the junk food, I still got some nutrition in there.

But, even with the occasional injection of healthy eating, my college years were filled with the food that belongs to the young: pizza, hamburgers, tacos, Doritos, etc. This is not to say that older people don’t eat those foods but hopefully you know what I mean.

Nowadays, I don’t eat like that. It’s partly because I can’t eat like that and partly because I don’t want to eat like that. Now that I cook and like to expand my horizons as to my cooking techniques and habits, food is no longer just something I have to eat to keep going or because my stomach is rumbling. Food has become a pleasure to both eat and to cook. I’ll never be a chef because the idea of working in a kitchen being screamed at by a Gordon Ramsey wannabe makes me cringe but I do love to cook. It’s become one of the ways I unwind. I write. I read. I watch TV. I cook. These are the simple things in life that make me happy.

I like to buy things like fish spatulas and ricers. I will treat myself to a new Calphalon pan rather than a new pair of shoes. I will appreciate things like Maldon sea salt and Spanish sweet smoked paprika because they really do make food taste better.

Now, for me, the hard part is trying to balance my love of cooking and flavour with trying to lose some of the extra weight that the holidays and indulging in too much bad food have helped me gain. It’s not that hard, really. I tend to cook a lot of vegetables and vegetable based dishes anyway so as long as I’m in control of the food that I eat on a daily basis, it’s not hard to stay within my calorie/fat range for the day and still try to lose a little weight.

The hard part is that the minute I know that I can’t have something, I suddenly think I want it. Chocolate, for example. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. On occasion, there are times when I want chocolate more than anything but that’s not too often. So, when I plan to watch what I eat, it’s automatic that chocolate won’t figure in because I don’t eat much of it anyway.
So, of course, what happens? Yes…all I can think about is chocolate whether it’s those yummy Lindor Truffles (the red ones) with the melty milk goodness in the middle or a rich bite of Cadburys with it’s singular sweet flavour.

It’s not just chocolate. It’s things like bacon. I love bacon. Bacon is the meat that will always prevent me from being a vegetarian. Sometimes, you just need bacon. When you’re trying to eat healthy, bacon is not a huge part of your life. Sure, you can substitute turkey bacon but unless your taste buds are lifeless and dead, it’s NOT the same, regardless of what JennyO might say.

There are other things too: French fries, pizza and salty potato chips. I try not to eat them. It’s hard when suddenly your brain fixates on the idea of McDonald’s fries and you can almost smell them or, worse, you go downstairs at lunch and the lobby smells like fries.
It seems that the more I try to resist, the more my brain says, “oooh, go on! You deserve it!”

Sometimes I do. I’m not being so healthy that I’m denying myself everything. Complete denial leads to binges. It’s just that I have to balance the bad with the good so I have to ‘plan’ for the indulgences. If I want French fries for lunch, then I will have a salad with light dressing for dinner. That’s how it goes. It’s working out well so far. I just need to get my brain to cooperate with me a little more and try to get it to convince me that baby carrots ARE just as good a snack as potato chips (though I still think the TV ads that are promoting them that way really need to face reality- they are NOT the same) or that apples with honey are a much better TV snack than salt and vinegar potato chips.

It’s an ongoing process. It’s just interesting because before I was watching my food intake quite so much, I never craved bad food as much when I actually let myself have it often. I suppose it’s true: We always want what we can’t have.

Even though every now and again, it’s ok to cheat…just a little. Life’s more fun that way.

Happy Wednesday!

Weight Watchers vs. Real Food....

It's getting closer to the weekend. Isn't it sad how we wish time to pass so quickly during the work week? What I'm truly afraid of is that if I live to be 100, complete with all the wisdom I'd think I was due, I'm going to look back and say, "what the heck was I thinking, wishing time to fly so quickly!"

I don't. Not really. Just the time I have to spend at work. It's not even the time I want to pass...just the work. Am I a bad person for wanting this?

I think life would always be much easier if we didn't have to work. It would also be far less interesting and far less frustrating. Still, we need a way to pay our bills and feel like we have a purpose in life.

Ok, so I confess, I can't say my job makes me feel like I have a purpose. Yet it does pay the bills. And that...that is important too.

Nevertheless, I do think that if I didn't have a regular routine during my day, I'd soon get a little befuddled by life. For all of its negative days, my job does have its highlights.

For me, my favourite part of the day is lunch. I know, I know...this sounds rather sad. Yet since we've moved from our cruddy old building to our new State of the Art, High Tech Building, lunch has become more of an event than just something you partake in around noon every day.

Unlike our old building, our new building actually has a "kitchen". It's in quotation marks because there is no stove. As a self-declared "cook", I am snobbish to think that a kitchen needs a set of burners and an oven to be a real "kitchen". Therefore, I refer to our kitchen as "The Lunchroom."

The "Lunchroom" is nice. It has three tables with bench style seating. It has a big flat screen TV. I'd wow you by citing the size of the TV but, in all honesty, I have no idea how big it is. It's bigger than my TV at home. It's also flatter. That's all I can tell you.

We no longer have a cable box. As I might have mentioned, they seemed worried that we'd hijack the cable boxes so they hid them in our 'server' room- the same room that houses our computer serves and to which you need an access key to enter. I have no access key. Thus, I cannot enter it. I think that about 98% of our personnel is also unable to enter. When they first moved the cable boxes to the server room, they had the unfortunate experience of realizing it was actually quite impossible changing the channel with the remote control when the receiver box was nowhere within the vicinity. After a few protests (but no complaints!), they did realize it was a little futile to have two TV's that could not be controlled because the remote control's signal was not strong enough to reach the server room.

They finally installed 'eyes' on the TV's- receptors that allow us to change the channel in the lunchroom, even though the cable box is not present. Personally, as I mentioned before, I think I'd rather steal a flat screen TV than a cable box but it would be a bit pointless to lock the TV's up too.

Still, now we can change the channel which is vital to any good lunchroom experience. If I'm in there alone, I put it on the Food Network (duh!). However, if any males, whosoever, should be in the lunchroom, the TV is guaranteed to be on ESPN's "Sport's Center". If the girls get there before hand, it goes onto the Style Networks "What Not To Wear."

Honestly, I could care less. Since I'm not allowed to eat at my desk, I've taken to eating in the lunchroom. I've actually come to like it. There's a regular group of us that arrives at noon to microwave our lunches and we end up eating and socializing.

I admit, it's quite nice. It does make a brief escape. I like sitting with 'the regulars', discussing our lunches while they examine my weird 'Foodie' lunch and try to figure out what I'm eating. Today, it was penne with crimini and button mushrooms in white wine cream sauce. Tomorrow, it'll be mache salad with lardons and red pepper dressing.

Ok, so I admit, I quite enjoying stumping people. It's fun to eat. It's more fun to cook the food that will become the leftovers that will become my lunch.

I like my regular 'crowd'. We've actually sort of dubbed ourselves the 'anti-Weight Watchers.'.

I like that designation. You see...the New Year passed. With it, passed resolutions that involved weight loss and getting in shape.

This led to....Weight Watchers.

Now, as an aside, I respect the people who are trying to watch what they eat. I generally, overall, keep an eye on the amount of bad ingredients I use vs. good ones. While I tend to use a fair amount of extra-virgin olive oil and even the dreaded butter, the majority of the dishes I used rely on vegetables. As I mentioned yesterday, I've taken up yoga.

Thus, the moral of this story is that while Captain Monkeypants is a foodie who likes the good stuff, she also likes to keep a balance between health and taste.

However, the Weight Watchers are a challenge.

They've become a 'gang', you see. Once upon a time, there was one Weight Watcher. She was one of those poor souls that is constantly on a diet but genetically engineered so that no matter how many calories were deprived from her diet, she'd still never really lose much, even when she worked out constatantly. Then there were two Weight Watchers. They compared notes, swapped diet schedules and point counters.

Then there were three. Now there are five. They have taken to conversing in the kitchen while us "anti-Weight Watchers" eat our lunches. The sad fact of the matter is that people on diets become obsessed. They compare calories, protein, fat grams, sugar content and overall health of an item. When they find a fellow dieter, it's exciting for them and two become one. When one becomes five, as in the case of our Weight Watchers, it's a bit of a nightmare.

Now, don't get me wrong: Captain Monkeypants is not against dieters. She could certainly stand to watch her own diet far more than she does now. Once upon a time, Captain Monkeypants was skinny. Then she became slender. She's currently hovering on curvy...on the cusp of being either flabby or moving back towards slender.

I'm not overweight by any doctor's scale but compared to the figure I had ten years ago, I've gained a lot of weight. The problem is, I'm ok with that. I want to be skinnier...who doesn't? Yet...I also like food. I'd rather enjoy what I eat than be miserable and have to count every calorie.

Which leads me back to our Weight Watchers.

They're not happy. It's obvious. On my birthday, they took me out for lunch. It was lovely of them. I enjoyed it. Yet listening to the Weight Watchers have to examine the menu and 'point it out' was exhausting. They couldn't read the menu and think "hey, that sounds good!" They had to manually calculate fat vs. calories vs. their point schedule.

It was no fun.

As I said, I understand it. I just can't do it. To me, it's pretty obvious that cappellini pomodoro is pretty safe. I mean, yes, it's pasta but it's angel hair. It's just flour-based pasta, fresh tomatoes, basil, pepper and a touch of olive oil. It's healthier than, say, fettucine alfredo which is usually egg-noodles, cream and cheese.

Yes, I'm a foodie. Yes, I know the ingredients that comprise many dishes. Yet does it really take a foodie to know that fresh tomatoes and basil vs. cheese and heavy cream is really a contest as far as healthier options go?

That being said, the Weight Watchers don't care about their instincts. Even though 100% of them know that fettucine Alfredo is bad, they still pull out their little guides to 'point it out'. Then they determine that, indeed, the cappellini pomodoro is MUCH better for them.

So they order it and act like they're happy even though they're looking at the non-Weight Watcher's fettucine Alfredo and wishing they ordered that instead.

I'm not lying. I've seen this at least a couple of times. I admire the Weight Watchers' resolve. It takes strength to resist the temptations of the food that makes us happy. Me, personally...I can't do it. I love the taste of half and half as the finishing element to a soup. I'm a cheese addict. There's not substitute for butter, as far as completing a flavour profile.

Thus, I'm doomed. I know this. Yet I also balance the bad stuff with the good, as I've said a few times.

What I don't appreciate is the Weight Watchers' need to "point" my lunch for me. I know they see what I'm eating in the lunchroom and compare it to their Smart Ones/Lean Cusine Frozen meal and wish they had my lunch instead. After all, I've eaten my share of Lean Cuisines. I know that while it might make me feel good to eat that cute little dish full of microwaved nutrients that has few calories and fewer grams of fat, an hour later, I'm going to be STARVING.

It's the way it works. It's the same thing I've said before about those 'healthy' lunches like Progresso Soups. Sure, they look healthy and say they're healthy but that's only if you only take a sip from the actual can of soup. If you eat the whole thing, you're apparently feeding at least two people and the healthiness is significantly reduced.

Which is why those Weight Watchers are to be found, all afternoon, rotating shifts at the popcorn machine, trying to find ways to fill the hole of hunger while not padding their thighs. Yes, they've taken to using the popcorn machine rather than the microwave because apparently the popcorn machine is healthier, even though it uses vegetable oil and they pile on the seasonings and salt.

What I'm really annoyed about is the need for the dieters to tell me how unhealthy my lunch is. That's just downright rude. Ok, so I know that eating my cream based pasta-sauce is not the same as eating steamed broccoli. Yet, I made it with fresh mushrooms and half-and-half. It might not be a Lean Cuisine but it's not that bad. I don't WANT to know how much fat is in it, how many calories I might be eating.

What I do want to know is "does it taste good reheated?". Yup, that's the extent of my "diet".

As I said before, I do respect when people are on diets. It's a challenge, an accomplishment. What I don't like is when that diet becomes an obsession to the point that they're clearly miserable and therefore finding pleasure in making non-dieters feel bad about what they're eating. I'm actually a pretty healthy eater. Just because my leftovers don't have a label regarding the calories and fat, doesn't mean I'm not trying. I do not appreciate knowing how many points everyone's lunches has, including mine. I really just want to eat my lunch and enjoy the taste. I like to sit with the coworkers I like and chat. That's what lunch is for me. When mathematics is involved, lunch loses its appeal.

Yet when the Weight Watchers invade the kitchen we're all doomed.

Still, it keeps things interesting. Even if I don't agree.

Happy Thursday.