web-goddess

Tag: food

  • Atkins

    Crud. Not only did the Herald not publish my letter, they sent me a really stupid response too.

    My Letter:
    As an Atkins dieter myself (and twenty kilos lighter because of it), I’d like to say thanks for your great even-handed article. Unfortunately Mr. Matthews got one fact glaringly wrong – the Atkins plan does NOT instruct dieters to eliminate all carbs from their diets. This is impossible. Instead you are urged to reduce your daily intake of carbs to 20 grams for the first two weeks, after which you start increasing gradually. Atkins’s detractors (who rarely seem to have read his books) often imagine that we eat nothing but steak and eggs at every meal. Trust me; even at 20 grams you can still eat several cups of vegetables a day… You just can’t have them in the form of a salad sandwich.

    Their Reply:
    Many thanks for the information. The article came from a UK newspaper. The column accompanying it did make the point it was a low, rather than no-carb diet.

    How crappy is that? I was responding to this direct quote from the article: “To trigger this effect, Atkins dieters are instructed to begin by eliminating all carbohydrates from their diet, forcing their bodies to get energy by burning up fat reserves instead.” It clearly says “all”. That’s a MISTAKE, and it’s exactly the kind of MISINFORMATION that leads to knee-jerk negative reactions. Grrr. I might have to send them another message.

  • Moussaka

    I was feeling rather domestic-goddess-like tonight, so I had a quick squiz through the Atkins website to find a new low-carb recipe to try. I settled on Shortcut Moussaka, mostly because we had some baby eggplant in the fridge we needed to use up. It was great. I got to the butcher’s too late to get mince lamb so I had to substitute regular beef, but that didn’t seem to hurt. I was surprised at how well the whole thing sorta stuck together. I was expecting it to just be a big sloppy mess. Instead it came out in fairly well-defined chunks, like lasagna. Must’ve been the layers of cream cheese. Anyway, this one is highly recommended. (Especially for you newbies buckling under the Induction restrictions…)

  • Mackerelly

    Weight Watchers Recipe Cards from 1974. That’s seriously the funniest thing I’ve seen on the Web in a while. I’m going to be saying “Mackerelly” for days. (Link courtesy of Kim.)

  • Mac & Cheese

    For the most part, the Snook and I are so similar that I just kinda forget that we grew up in different countries. Every now and then, though, I make a startling discovery, like the fact that he’s never eaten Kraft Macaroni and Cheese before. How weird is that? Luckily the box my Aunt Deb sent me for Christmas made it through quarantine, so I was able to initiate him into the realm of crap budget pasta dishes tonight. It was just inconceivable to me that he’d never experienced the joys of elbow macaroni and day-glo orange cheese powder before. I’m happy to report that – though he initially thought it had a “strange aftertaste” – he quickly wolfed down his portion. Another bridge crossed…

  • Pancakes

    Ooh! I almost forgot it’s Shrove Tuesday. We’re not religious, but hey, any excuse for pancakes, right? I’m torn between making my good ol’ American thick-and-big-as-a-dinner-plate recipe and this crepe-style one from Delia Smith. Hmmm, maybe we’ll have both. It’s supposed to be a bit of a feast, right? Then it’s straight back to the low-carb, I promise.

  • Snook’s Low-Carb Blueberry-Banana-Flaxseed Muffins

    The Snook has been cruising various low-carb websites in search of recipes to emulate the high-carb stuff we’ve been missing. Yesterday he picked up lots of almond meal and ground flax seeds in preparation for doing some baking. We spotted some blueberries at the greengrocer and I flashed back to Max’s blueberry-banana muffins. Armed with an idea, the Snook took to the kitchen for some invention. The resulting muffins don’t look so great, but they taste pretty good and it’s nice to eat something “bread-y” again. We estimate they’ve got about 12 grams of carbs each, so you’d best avoid them if you’re doing Induction.

    Ingredients:

    • 5 tablespoons melted butter
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1/4 cup cream
    • 1/3 cup artificial sweetener (we use “Splenda”)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
    • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 cup flax seed meal
    • 1/4 cup soy flour
    • 1 small banana, mashed
    • 1/2 cup blueberries

    Preheat the oven to 375F.

    Beat the first three ingredients together, then add the sweetener and vanilla. In another bowl mix up all the dry ingredients. Then combine the wet and dry together and add the fruit. Now fill up your muffin cups and pop them in the oven. The Snook reckons they need to bake for 20-25 minutes, but test by poking them.

    He made six fairly big muffins out of this. They don’t rise a lot, so you can fill the cups up pretty full. The resulting muffins are dark brown and pretty dense, but the fruit makes them taste great. They’ve got lots of fiber too.

    Let us know if you make any yummy modifications!

  • A rare culinary success!

    Last night I tried my hand at one of the classics of American cuisine: the venerable meat loaf. And guess what? It turned out great! Well, it wasn’t the best looking thing ever, but it tasted good. I need to stick to the basics, I guess.

  • Bilbies, not bunnies

    Since it’s still Easter where most of y’all are…

    Bilbies, not bunnies!

  • Bennelong

    Wow. Snookums treated me to a night to remember. We got all dressed up and headed out for dinner, but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. When we got out of the cab at Circular Quay and started heading towards the Opera House, I guessed immediately. He had made reservations at the Bennelong Restaurant, which is actually in the small separate “shell”.  It was amazing. The food was so good. I had the beef tenderloin, he had the lamb. We had wonderful sunset views of the city skyline and the Harbour Bridge. We had wine and champagne and decadent desserts. I can’t recommend it enough. Afterwards we met up with Carrot, Major, and Steve at a bar in the city and spent a couple hours boozing it up with friends. What a night…

  • Kimchi

    Ask Yahoo answers the question, “What is kimchi and how is it made?” I’ve watched my mom, grandma, and aunts eat this stuff for as long as I can remember. It’s one of the things that I wish I liked more, just to feel a little closer to that part of my identity. If you’re thinking of trying it, though, you should know that it’s really hot. Really hot.