bacon grease

Today’s work conversation started out as a debate over the use of bacon grease in grits. This caused quite the uproar amongst some of my co-workers. I chose to stay out of this one and observe, take it all in if you will.

Now my background with Grits is…well me and Grits don’t have much of a history. I can count on both hands how many times I’ve actually eaten them. Truth be told, I don’t really care for them. They are the one piece of “Southern Cooking” I could really do without. See, I’m from the Midwest. Minnesota to be exact. Grits isn’t really something I can say is a big part of Midwestern culture. And while I can say Midwesterners love their Bacon (as well as the rest of the Piggy), I can’t say that Bacon grease is used much (if at all). I can’t recall a time growing up when my Mom or Grandma tossed some Bacon grease into anything they were cooking.

I guess I have a lot more to learn about Southern culture and cuisine. I’ve been living in the South since 2003. But you won’t catch me adding Bacon grease to anything anytime soon.

I like my arteries blockage-free and I think I’ll keep them that way, haha.

and then he used air quotes!?

so originally i had this grand plan for this blog. just like the rest of them. livejournal, myspace, twitter, facebook (okay well not so much FB), etc. etc. i start things and don't finish them. the story of my life. i wouldn't say i'm a "quitter" maybe more like a "puts things on the back burner", that sounds better...then again..i did quit brownies, i didn't even make it to girl scouts. meaning, i never got to sell cookies "professionally".....heh.

anyway!

i had planned to use this as my diet blog, hence the random recipes. but in my quest of living better, eating more healthy, shedding those ungodly pounds and my ultimate quest of living forever, this blog was treated more and more like the red-headed step-child.

but i'm back! no more blogging about dieting, because really who wants to read about that?


lets write and read about fun stuff! granted, my life is pretty mundane. i work 8am to 5pm, monday thru friday, in a lovely grey half cubicle, with some pretty crazy individuals (i say crazy in a good way) and some batshit crazy people that make my cringe (i guess every office has those).

i have a preschooler about to turn 5! i'm going to school and hopefully someday, i might actually graduate with a degree or 15. we'll see if i can stick with my major this time around. i think i finally found the one thing i know i can do, the one thing that will allow me to enjoy what im doing and make a difference. we'll discuss that topic at a later time.

so....fall has finally reached the commonwealth. there's a slight chill in the air, the sweaters are coming out, more rain than sunshine and the most important...the pumpkin spice latte is back at sbux. exciting, right? well i thought so.

stay tuned for more pointless ramblings.

wake-up call.

Yesterday was the first time since I was pregnant with my son that my weight has drastically held me back. We made the voyage to Virginia Beach yesterday to attend the "Chalk the Walk" and Artsplosian festival on the Boardwalk.

We parked in a lot on 33rd St. and had to walk to 17th St. No biggie I thought. I love walking.

My body, however, did not appreciate that what-so-ever. I made it about 5 blocks and then the pain started. I wasn't walking at a fast pace, but I couldn't catch my breath. I found myself getting dizzy and feeling like I was going to vomit. So I took a minute and sat down. For the rest of the walk, I could walk maybe a block or two and then have to sit again. I was embarassed, sad and angry.

It didn't stop there. The walk back was worse. I couldn't even make it back to the car. 3 blocks left and I called it quits. I just couldn't do it.

My body just cannot handle this extra weight and now I know, I really need to get going.

I guess this was the wake-up call I needed.

salads!

My friend Erika posted this link up on Facebook and I about died of hunger when I saw the delicious salads. And after skimming through the article I think I've found the perfect way to make sure I get enough fruit and vegetables in my diet. Just cut 'em up and toss them into a salad!


101 Simple Salads for the Seasons

a recipe from ms. defoe

• 1 cabbage
• 1 napa cabbage
• 1/2 red cabbage
• 1 red pepper
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 bunches of green onions
• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped/toasted almonds.
• cracked black pepper
• salt
• garlic powder
• 1 lime
• soy sauce
• rice wine vinegar
• sriracha chili sauce
• sesame oil
  

Slice everything like, you know, slaw and put in a giant bowl.

add lots of cracked pepper, some salt, garlic powder, juice of one lime....

the rest of the sauce is soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha chili sauce and some sesame oil. like a few splashes of soy sauce, maybe 1/4 cup of rice vinegar, squirts of chili sauce depending on your heat tolerance and maybe 2-3 teaspoons of sesame oil for flavor. sometimes i make it with ginger, too, which is good, but we didn't have any on hand.

then you mix that all up a lot and then let it sit in your fridge for 20 minutes, then you mix it up again and eat it until you cannot possibly eat more. s'good.

and it begins...

Since I haven't actually "officially" started my new diet, I figured I would start out with a few posts throwing out my background and history with my weight issues.

Looking back, I think if I remember correctly my weight problems started around the third grade. For as long as I can remember, my Father has never really been in the picture. And even though my Mother was always present, she's wasn't really "available". Throughout my childhood my Father made appearances here and there when he wasn't serving time in Prison. I think that missing those two vital sources of love and adoration, I turned to what would make me feel good...food.

After sorting through my memory and remember grade school pictures. I think I was always a little bigger than other kids my age. With the exception of Kindergarten. In 1st grade there was definitely some weight starting to pack on, a little more in 2nd grade and by 3rd, I was definitely "the fat kid." With my Dad not being in the picture, my Mom moved us around a lot. If I remember correctly, I had attended 10 grade schools before 5th grade. Knowing what I know now, the extra stress of being the child of a non-present single parent and changing schools so often, its no wonder I chose food to comfort me.

Through the years the weight continued to pack itself on. And I was forever dubbed "the fat girl." And as we all know, kids can be pretty cruel when you're not the skinniest or the prettiest. Needless to say, school was always pretty rough for me. Many times I came home from school crying because of the hurtful things that were said to me and about me. I remember one year in particular. I was in 7th grade and I think I cried every single day that year. I was called names relentlessly by classmates. Both in my grade and above me. Even just thinking about it now, it makes me want to cry. You name it, I was called it. The worst being "whale". In 8th grade I was dumped by my two best friends. They didn't want to be friends with a fatty anymore, so they ditched me to save themselves any further embarrassment.

Around 9th grade, the teasing started to sort of disappear. I had lost some weight at that point, but I was going through my "goth" phases which had started the year before. So now rather than tease me about my weight, they tossed in comments about my clothing and musical tastes. This is also around the time that guys finally started to notice me. Not the guys I was interested in though. In fact, it was the guys who had spent the past couple of years tormenting me, were now the ones trying to make-out with me in the baseball dugouts after school.

For the rest of my high school days I seemed to maintain the same weight and even through my first bout of college. I can't recall any drastic weight gains or losses. I was definitely still "thick".

And that's it for now....stay tuned for 2003 and beyond, when the weight really started packing on. Pregnancy, death, depression, etc.