I don’t want to be all “100% DietBlog!”, but this is a useful list of WW points values for generic foods. The author’s got a couple other lists for restaurants too.

Happy Easter! We celebrated in true blasphemous fashion by eating The Easter Bunny. Seriously. I had been hesitant – “Will it have a face?” I asked – but in the end the smells won me over. It was really good. (Big thanks to Rodd’s grandma for getting us a La Creuset casserole.) It actually reminded me a lot of chicken, but in a good way. We also had lots of taters (precious), and salad and veg and bread and everything good. And now I need to sleep for 24 hours to process all these carbs.

Oh, and I tried the egg mold Jigglers again, and they didn’t work again. They always break in half. I suck.

Note to self: If the Deep-Fried Feast ever goes ahead, be sure to include Beer-Battered Asparagus as a starter. That looks yum!

The Snook is the resident Italian cooking expert, but since I have Fridays off and he doesn’t, I figured it was my turn to treat him to a nice dinner of risotto. So I found a recipe for Asparagus Risotto and headed to the shops. I decided to add a bit of protein with chicken breast but otherwise I pretty much stuck to the recipe as written. The Snook was dubious about the addition of cream and rosemary but he became a convert in the end. It was delicious. I was worried that I’d added too much broth and it was too soupy, but ultimately it glommed together just right into the perfect melange of blessed, blessed carbs. Yum. Highly recommended.

Vegetarian Survey: A friend of mine is working on a project to write a business plan for a vegetarian food store. She distributed this survey around here at work and I offered to post it on the ‘Net for her. Please take a second to post your responses in the comments. It’ll only take a second and I know she’d appreciate it! It’s technically only for Australians, but you international types can play along too, I guess.

Meatless Meals Eaters – Research Questionnaire

This survey is designed to explore the habits and purchasing intentions of frequent and sporadic eaters of meatless meals. Thank you for participating.

1) Which of these statements best describes your meat eating habits?
a. I do not eat meat.
b. I eat meatless meals at least 4 times per week.
c. I eat meatless meals at least 2 times per week.
d. I eat meat in every meal. (answer question 6 only)

2) What are your reasons for eating meatless meals? >> Select all that apply
a. Health and/or wellbeing reasons
b. Ethical reasons (animal rights, the environment, etc)
c. Religious reasons
d. Other: ____________________________________

3) Have you ever purchased frozen/refrigerated meatless meal or meat substitute (vegetarian nuggets, soy sausages, etc)?
a. Yes, more than once, and I plan to purchase it again in the next 6 months.
b. Yes, once, and I plan to purchase it again in the next 6 months.
c. Yes, once, but I do not plan to purchase it again anytime soon.
d. No, but I intend to purchase it in the next 6 months. >> go to question 5
e. No, and I do not intend to purchase it anytime soon. >> go to question 5

4) Where have you purchased frozen/refrigerated meatless meal or meat substitute? >> Select all that apply
a. Convenience stores (7-Eleven, petrol station stores, etc)
b. Supermarkets
c. Health food stores
d. Other: ________________________________

5. Where do you eat meatless meals? >> Select all that apply
a. At home
b. At work
c. In restaurants or cafes
d. In fast-food outlets
e. Other: ________________________________

6) In 12 months you expect to be eating meatless meals:
a. More often than today.
b. As often as today.
c. Less often than today.

7) How often do you have quick meals (pastries, pizza, sandwich, etc, with or without meat) at convenience stores?
a. At least once a fortnight
b. At least once a month
c. Once every two months
d. Rarely
e. Never

8) Have you ever purchased food from a health food stores?
a. Yes, more than once, and I plan to purchase again in the next 6 months.
b. Yes, once, and I plan to purchase again in the next 6 months.
c. Yes, once, but I do not plan to purchase again anytime soon.
d. No, but I intend to purchase in the next 6 months.
e. No, and I do not intend to purchase anytime soon.

Your gender: a. Male b. Female
Your age group: a. 18-24 b. 25-34 c. 35-44 d. 45-54 e. 55+
Your residential postcode: ______________

As you can see from the photos below, the Snook and I have been makin’ pickles. Specifically, we’re making sun dills. My mom used to make them when I was a kid and I loved them, so a few months ago we planted cucumber seeds in the garden. As with everything else we planted, they went berserk. Last weekend the Snook noticed that I had three big fat ripe ones. Here you can see the before and after shots. Now we just need to leave the jar in the sun for a couple days and I’ll be eating ice cold fresh pickles by Monday!

Also, we tried out a great new sausage and bean stew for dinner tonight. It’s sorta like a cross between chili and gourmet beanie weenies. It’s not exactly the most Atkins-friendly dish but it’s an awesome winter warmer. (Why we made it in the height of Indian summer is a mystery even to me.) It even involved fennel, which I didn’t think I liked.

This recipe is courtesy of my friend Kiri, with a few small adjustments by the Snook and myself…

Sausage and Bean Stew
4 thick Italian style sausages
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large bulb of fennel, trimmed and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
400g tin chopped tomatoes
440g can canellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 small sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
Shaved parmesan

Place sausages in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for two minutes, then drain well. When cool, cut on the diagonal into 2cm pieces.

Heat olive oil in a heavy-based flameproof casserole, add sausage pieces and cook over medium-high heat until browned, then drain on absorbent paper. Reduce heat to low-medium, then add onion, garlic, fennel and chilli to pan and cook stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until soft and then stir in tomato paste and cook for another five minutes. Add tomato, beans, stock and rosemary, cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir in sausage pieces and parsley and season to taste. (Pull out the rosemary.) Serve topped with parmesan with a crusty bread on the side.

Note: The Snook felt that this was a little too much chili, so next time we’ll probably use about half that much. If you’re scared of fennel (like I was), don’t sweat it. The strong licorice-ness really mellows out in the cooking and it ends up complimenting the spiciness nicely. (Incidentally, the fennel was labelled “aniseed” in my greengrocer in case you have trouble finding it.)