A Bitter Sweet Start

So, as we venture closer to the start date of my mountainous task, I'm easing myself into eating in a more proper way.

I guess I should start it this way... I work at an amazing restaurant in the downtown core of Toronto. We have a state of the art kitchen and AMAZING people working in it.. one being the fantastic pastry chef, Kristen (who's cookies I am going to miss more than a war amp misses a limb - apologies to any war amp readers, but you really need to try her cookies: life wouldn't seem so bad). That being said, every day we are made a staff meal at 3pm sharp- at which point everyone races to the kitchen pass to grab some grub. One chinese angel is responsible for churning out all of our eats for the day- and often she will chime out "ALL YOU CAN EAT $9.99" when we all gather for our sensual food. Today, I took it upon myself to tell her about my South Beach Diet- and how she can make less of the carby stuff for me- I'll be fine with a salad everyday from now on. WELL, wouldn't you know; she wants to do South Beach with me! So, I filled her in on every detail- but she had one stipulation: being a chef, she often needs to try what she makes. With that, I may have quipped "Taste but don't swallow"- only later realizing not only did I sound grotesque, but I may have just lead the sous chef down a long road to bulimia. That would be an interesting blog unto itself.

Anyway, I'm so excited because NOW, I will have a delicious salad with avocados, cucumber, and assorted veggies everyday to keep on track. I just have to keep my sniffer plugged when I pass by the ever so tempting fries (which are remnant of the grilled cheese mentioned in the post prior).

Now, along with the diet- I find myself craving the ultimate summer tan. I have a history with self-tanner products. We go back farther than Ernie and Bert- well, almost. I've gone through orange palms, flaky orange alligator patches, and lets not forget the delightful aroma of the active product in ALL self tanners: DHA (which I think truly stands for "Downright HEINOUS Aroma"). A little tip my friends: if the bottle says "light fresh scent"- you need to interpret this phase with a different context. When you go into a bedroom that a teenager has lived in, and smell it after it's been doused with febreeze, it has a light fresh scent. However, the smell of a teen is a grower not a shower- and will leer it's smelly head within hours of being disguised. So, DON'T FALL FOR IT- If you're going to self tan, do it before bed... and don't invite anyone to that bed until the sheets are changed. If you're married; well why do you care anyway- I'm sure other parts of you have smelled worse.

In closing, I'm going to share one of the recipes I'm going to be preparing for the Monday start. I always find it hard to stomach breakfast food as I HATE eggs, but I found something that may mask the egginess of the dirty bastards. This recipe was provided by some chick on the internet named "Kalyn":

Breakfast Casserole with Spinach, Leeks, Cottage Cheese, and Goat Cheese
(Makes 4 large or six small servings, recipe created by Kalyn.)

1 leek, white and light green part only (or use green onion or red onion if you don't want to buy leeks)
2 tsp. olive oil
5-6 oz. baby spinach leaves, washed and dried if needed
10 eggs, lightly beaten
1-2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (or use any other all-purpose seasoning that tastes good with eggs)
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (Spike has salt, so I only used pepper)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, rinsed with cold water and drained well
3 oz. soft goat cheese, crumbled (the one I used had 7 grams of fat per ounce, could substitute low-fat cream cheese, Feta, or more cottage cheese for the goat cheese)

Cut a 3 0z. piece from a log of goat cheese and put in the freezer to chill while you prep other ingredients. Preheat oven to 375F/190C.

Measure 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, put in a fine strainer, and rinse with cold water. (If you prefer not to rinse the cottage cheese I think it would just make it a little creamier, but I always rinse.)

Cut off the root end and dark green part of the leek, then cut into fourths lengthwise and slice into thin pieces. Leeks are usually dirty, so I washed the sliced leeks in the salad spinner and spun dry.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan with tall sides, then add leeks and saute 3-4 minutes. Then add the spinach leaves and saute 3-4 minutes more. While vegetables are cooking, lightly beat the eggs with Spike Seasoning, salt and pepper. Remove the goat cheese from the freezer and crumble it as finely as you can.

Spray a 8" x 8" casserole dish with nonstick spray. Spread spinach/leek mixture in the bottom of the dish, then layer on cottage cheese and goat cheese. Pour egg mixture over, then use a fork to gently stir so the veggies and cheese are evenly distributed in the eggs.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until eggs are set and lightly browned. The casserole will puff up slightly as it bakes, but will settle down when it cools for a few minutes.

Cut into pieces and serve hot. I eat this with a dollop of low-fat sour cream.

We'll see if I can restrict myself to just a "dollop", Kalyn.


Thanks for reading guys, and until tomorrow.. Skinabee you later!