Christmas with the Goldmans!

Christmas with the Goldman family is a fairly epic event. First, there is always a MASSIVE pot of cheese fondue (because Chinese Food is unoriginal). Second, we are a family of drunken puzzlers, and wine on Christmas day is quite free flowing. 

From my family to yours, I wish all of my readers a happy, healthy and joyous holiday season.

Table and kitchenscapes

Puzzling is serious business

Fish Thief

Weight Watchers puts a lot of stress on meal planning, and for the most part -- I do a decent job of it.  While I may not know exactly what I'm having for dinner every night, I keep multiple grain, protein and vegetable options on hand at all times.

One of my favorite protein options is individually sealed portions of fish (found in the frozen section). Its very easy to put a portion of fish into the refrigerator to defrost during the day, and sear it once I'm home and prepping dinner. However, there are plenty of times where I don't plan and defrost. Not to worry: I simply fill a container with cold water and submerge the sealed fish filet until it has thawed.

At least, that's what I did before I got Snoop Dogg.

Caught in the act!

For more of Snoop Dogg's adventures, check out my Instagram, Steph_Goldman with the hashtag, #SnoopDoggthecat.

Recipe: Spaghetti Caprese

This is a great solo week night dinner that's under 500 calories!

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. spaghetti
• 1 large diced heirloom tomato (seeds removed)
• 2 TBS fresh basil (chopped)
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 oz mozzarella, part skim (finely diced)
• 1/2 cup cannelloni beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1 1/2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
• fresh parsley (to taste)

To Make:

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
2. Toss cooked spaghetti with tomato, sliced basil, garlic, olive oil, and mozzarella. The goal is to get the mozzarella to soften just a bit.
3. Finish dish with cannelloni beans, drizzled with white balsamic vinegar and spring of fresh parsley (or more basil, if you prefer).

Servings: 1

Per Serving: 440 calories, 70 g carbs, 11 g fat, 23 g protein, 14 g fiber, 11 WW pts

Some Fun with Alton Brown

Chuck Norris jokes are a relatively common meme. But have you heard the ones about Food Network personality, Alton Brown?

My brother recently emailed links to 60 hysterical jokes about everyone's favorite gastronomical guru. The web pages can be found here and here, but I've decided to showcase the ones I liked best:

• Alton Brown grinds his own peppercorns. With his teeth.
• Alton Brown doesn't reduce sauces. He demoralizes sauces.
• Alton Brown's blender has four speeds: 'stir', 'mix', 'frappe', and 'plasmify'.
• Grown men have been known to weep for joy in the mere presence of Alton Brown's vinagrette. His hollandaise sauce can kill a man from sheer ecstacy at forty paces.
• Alton Brown's cakes don't rise. They ascend.
•  Alton Brown's show is called 'Good Eats', because 'Multiple Shuddering Mouthgasms' didn't play with the network's target demographic.
• Gordon Ramsay calls Alton Brown 'sir'.
• The Eskimos have fifty words for 'snow'. Alton Brown has fifty words for 'kosher salt'.

Recipe: Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings"

Saturday night is when I have my cheat meal. Actually, Saturday night is when I pay homage to one of the world's most perfect foods: Buffalo Wings. Needless to say, buffalo wings are some of my favorite foods. Under duress, I may admit to dreaming about them occasionally. Unfortunately, they aren't exactly the healthiest things out there. In fact, with each individual wing clocking in at 3 points, they may be closer to the "unhealthy" end of the spectrum than a lot of other foods -- especially the amount I'd ideally like to be eating!

The good news is, I found a substitution which will allow me to get that crispy buffalo kick I love.

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower
• Dash of hot sauce
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 cup water
• pinch salt substitute

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. Mix flour, water, salt, and dash of hot sauce into a small bowl.
3. Chop cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Dip pieces into batter until coated evenly, then place on a greased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until batter has hardened.
5. Once cauliflower has completed baking, brush pieces with your favorite hot sauce and continue to bake for a few more minutes, until cauliflower is crispy.
6. Remove from oven and enjoy!!

Serves: 4

Each Serving: 104 calories, 23 g carbs, 1 g fat, 4 g protein, 4 g fiber, 3 WW Pts

Progress on Weight Watchers

Since joining Weight Watchers in June 2013, I have lost:

• 18.4 pounds
• 3 Dress Sizes
• 0.7 inches off my thighs (each)
• 2 inches off my arms (each)
• 3.7 inches off my bust
• 3 inches off my waist
• 3.85 inches off my hips

I'm pretty pleased. Feel free to check out my breakdown of the program here. I'm a big supporter, so if you have any questions, let me know!

Saying "Goodbye" to my WW Meetings for 5 Months

Goodness, it has been QUITE a while since my last post. I am truly sorry, dear readers, for my absence. My situation changed quite a bit.

Just before Christmas, the CEO of my company asked me to transfer to our Israel offices for 5 months to work for the firm's clients from that locale. It was a tremendous opportunity, and I took it.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. Booking flights, finding an apartment in Israel, sorting out work responsibilities, moving OUT of my current apartment, saying goodbye to everyone. My diet and exercise regiment suffered.

Eventually the days wound down to my last WW meeting, which had become a pretty stable and integral part of my life since the summer. Weight Watchers is an international company, with locations around the globe, but I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with meetings with a more insane schedule, so I had switched my membership over to solely online.

Now in an ideal world, I would've come into this last WW meeting completely confident and ready to tackle this new international adventure with all my weight-loss and healthy lifestyle tricks by my side --- everything that the last few months had taught me. There'd be a great loss on the scale, which would be this fantastic harbinger (SAT Vocab word, y'all) of all the fitness/weight loss success that I'd have in Tel Aviv.......

Yeah, that didn't quite happen.

 My weight was up, and not by .2 pounds, either. And it was tough. The move to Israel was already feeling like an uphill battle --- I don't know many people in the country, I don't speak the language, and I need to be a functioning employee --- and now I need to really concentrate on my weight loss goals.

But putting additional pressure on myself to get "there" by a certain point isn't the way to do it.

Weight loss and the commitment to a healthier lifestyle is ongoing process, and it's not easy. There's give and take, and ups and downs. The most important motivation is remembering why you started the journey at all.

I know I did, but you'll have to keep reading to see my Israel updates!

National Peanut Butter Day

January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day! Peanut butter has long been looked upon negatively as a high-fat, high calorie option -- but it's actually a healthy fat and good source of protein when eaten in moderation. So in celebration of the wonderful invention that is peanut butter, I have compiled the following tidbits of information:

• It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
• By law, any product labeled "peanut butter" in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts
• Two peanut farmers have been elected president of the USA - Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter
• Astronaut Allen B. Sheppard brought a peanut with him to the moon
• Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth
• The average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products each year
• Peanut butter is consumed in 90 percent of USA households
• Women and children prefer creamy, while most men opt for chunky
• People living on the East Coast prefer creamy peanut butter, while those on the West Coast prefer the crunchy style
• Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter
• Peanuts have more protein, niacin, folate and phytosterols than any nut
• Peanuts are naturally cholesterol-free

Demon Butternut Squash Soup

I had a horrifying kitchen experience last night. I've dubbed it the "Demon Soup Story".

My dear readers, if anyone EVER makes you butternut squash soup, know that they care about you IMMENSELY. Why, you ask?

Because butternut squashes are asshole vegetables. 

To make creamy butternut squash soup in a relatively short amount of time, one needs to cut the squash into small-ish chunks that cook quickly. THIS IS AN INSANELY LABOR INTENSIVE PROCESS THAT WILL RESULT IN PAIN AND HAND CRAMPS FOR THE CHEF. I'm talking about sawing through this LOG of a vegetable. Oh, and then you've gotta peel it, bulges and all, and then seed it. 

Then, once all the veggies have softened, the chef has to blend batches of the mixture until it is smooth. Now, this seems simple. But, when 100% of the soup is in the pot, and 60% is blended, and 40% is still chunky...... finding the chunky parts to blend ain't. easy. 

FINALLY, at this point in the cooking process, your chef will have to reheat the now fully blended butternut squash soup so that it is the perfect temperature when their loved ones eat it. So he or she will heat the soup on the stove, adjusting seasoning if need be ----- until the asshole butternut squash will refuse to die a culinary death and instead "SPIT" at the poor chef as it starts to boil. 

Now, one might say, why not reheat the soup in the microwave at this point to save some time and aggravation? 

NO. Just. NO. After this poor, downtrodden chef has spent HOURS sawing through squash and no-doubt dealing with blender difficulties, there is NO DAMN WAY that he or she will do something as sacrilegious as putting the soup in the microwave. 

So, long story short, having someone make you butternut squash from scratch (and I mean, cutting up the vegetable and not cheating and using that pre-cut nonsense) is truly the culinary equivalent of someone buying you diamonds, a car, or a yacht and needs to be appreciated. 

The end.

P.S. Mom: You are a butternut squash soup making warrior. I have succumbed to defeat, but your recipe is amazing. I will simply wait til you make it from now on.