Foodmomiac

How an evil boss opened my world...

My first job out of college was HORRIBLE. I was still in New York, living in my mom's apartment, and I found a job with a small literary PR firm in Brooklyn. It sounded great. The owner of the firm was a Vassar grad like myself, and I loved being able to reverse commute. While everyone else was headed into Manhattan stuffed into subway cars like sardines, I sat comfortably in an open seat, reading books until the subway stopped in Park Slope and I walked two blocks to work.

The firm wasn't in an office building. It was in the basement of the owner's house. She was a mean-spirited, chain-smoking agoraphobic, and if she didn't want to leave her house, NO ONE would leave her house. We were stuck in that basement all day long, and only permitted to leave for lunch hour if we asked her ahead of time (and she sometimes said "No!"). For lunch, she had her housekeeper come downstairs and cook for us, and we had no say over what she prepared, or how she prepared it. For example, Barbara (the boss) would only eat her meat very rare, so when we had burgers, we all had to eat them rare, with raw onions.

I only worked for Barbara for a couple of months, and even though they were awful, I did get a few things out of my time there:

• Rare burgers with raw onion are actually very delicious.
• My first client was the author who wrote "The Woman's Guide to Online Services." This was my first introduction to social networking, and the clear descriptions in that book opened up a whole new world to me. I credit that book with the career path on which I landed.
• I discovered Saveur Magazine. Saveur's first issue came out while I was working for Barbara, and like any good PR person, she subscribed right away. I was hooked the moment I saw the cover. Gorgeous full-color photography, amazing recipes, first-hand accounts of how food can change a persons life. This magazine remains my favorite. If you haven't read it before, you must pick up a copy, and do it right away, because the current issue (pictured above) is phenomenal. It is all about breakfast. As I've said before, I'm not much of a breakfast person, but this issue made me realize why. I think I just live in the wrong country! If I lived in Singapore, China or Turkey, I would eat breakfast all day, every day.

A Winning (Vegetarian) Recipe - Vegetable Curry!

Warning: this is a long story kept long.

On Saturday, Michael and I used our au pair for some morning babysitting (instead of the usual evening babysitting) so that we could buy me a new car. This was awesome in terms of the vehicle (Saturn Vue Hybrid), but sucky in terms of date night. In an effort to keep our Saturday night somewhat exciting, we decided to take the kids out for Korean BBQ. We have tried a few different Korean BBQ places since moving to Chicago, and they were fine. Just... fine. None of them held a candle to our favorite NY place; Kang Suh. Until now. I did a little bit of online research and came up with San Soo Gap San. It was amazing. We left reeking of charcoal smoke and raw garlic. Both kids were totally happy with their food, as were the adults. Four stars from me. A picture:

Anyway,it was great, but VERY meat heavy. We ate enough red meat to last a month. So, when it came to Sunday night dinner, we were meated out. I searched around online a bit and came up with this recipe for Vegetable Curry. I made changes OF COURSE, which are all incorporated below, but it was excellent. Everyone loved it, which is a rarity. And it was incredibly healthy. One more benefit is that it is a great use of autumn vegetables.

Vegetable Curry

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 small onions, minced
2 tablespoons flour
1 can coconut milk
2/3 box of chicken broth (you can and probably should use vegetable broth - I just didn't have it on hand)
2 heaping tablespoons curry powder
4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into smallish cubes
1 handful of baby carrots, cut into small discs (you can use regular, but we always have the babies because of school lunches)
1 small head of cauliflower, broken into smallish florets
1 can chickpeas, drained
plain yogurt (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil. Add onions. Saute for about three minutes, or until softened. Add flour and combine well. Add coconut milk, broth and curry powder. Stir well to combine. Add veggies, turn heat to low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes. Serve over basmati rice with plain yogurt as a garnish. (If you are vegan, leave out the yogurt, for obvious reasons.)

Hannah Winner and 30 Day Shred Update

And the winner is....

Jill!!

Since there were only five entries, I asked one of my colleagues to pick a number between one and five. Very scientific!

Jill, I know what street you are on (Jill used to be my neighbor!!), but please email me the exact address, and I'll send out the card.

So, moving on to the 30 Day Shred. Today was my third day of Level Two. It's actually my twelfth day of doing the program (would be thirteen, but I skipped a day). I'm feeling good! Level Two is definitely WAY harder than Level One. I notice that the abs and cardio are more present throughout, so it's just tough for the entire twenty minutes. I need to get some new weights, and unless I want to start doing more laundry (which I don't), I need some more sports bras. I also think I need to start wearing sneakers. I do the Shred in my bedroom which has really thick carpet, but my calves are very sore from all of the jumping and I don't want to get injured.

You guys still sticking with the program? Noticing any differences? I feel a bit stronger, but I still can't button most of my jeans.

Omega-3s - The Silent Killers??

For a while now, I've been thinking that I'd like to do a weekly post about things that I find interesting in the food media. This includes blogs, of course, but also includes traditional media, like The New York Times.

An article in the Times on Wednesday has finally encouraged me to get something posted. I'm just so disturbed. Here's the piece.

The part that upset me was the discussion of Omega-3s. I love Omega-3s as much as the next guy, but some new food and drink items (including juice, milk, bread, yogurt) are being fortified with Omega-3s that are derived from Tilapia, Sardine and Anchovy. This is great if you are not a vegetarian. It's also great if you don't have a deathly food allergy to fish. Which I happen to have. When I eat fish, I go into anaphylactic shock, which means my throat begins to close. I've had this allergy my whole life (though if you click that link, you'll see that Yaelle might have cured me, but I'm too afraid to find out for sure). I'm used to reading ingredients lists on items like salad dressing and barbecue sauce. These are items that often contain fish (anchovies). I know to avoid Thai and Vietnamese food due to fish sauce. IT WOULD NEVER OCCUR TO ME TO CHECK THE INGREDIENTS LIST ON BREAD.

Does this freak anyone else out?

Do you need some more Hannah in your life?

Hannah Montana Bear
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

OK, I never do contests, but I'm a sucker when it comes to making my kids happy, so....

WE'RE HAVING A CONTEST!!

Build-A-Bear's agency sent me an email asking me if I'd like a free Hannah Montana Build-A-Bear. My answer was a very loud and unqualified, "Yes! Yes I do!"

Dylan is thrilled, though she pointed out that the Bear isn't REALLY Hannah Montana. She's just wearing her clothes. "Duh, Mom. She doesn't have long blond hair, Mom." Well, anyway, it's still cute, and now you can get one too!!

I have a $25 gift card to Build-A-Bear that I can send to one of my readers. Want it?

Here's what you need to do:

Write a post on your blog all about your kids and their TV habits and link to my site. Put the link to your post in my comments, and you are entered! If you don't have your own blog, write something in my comments. You have until Sunday to do this. I'll pick someone at random and will announce the winner on Monday. Good luck!

30 Day Shred and Random Stuff

I find it hard to believe, but I'm still doing the 30 Day Shred. Yesterday was Day 7 (Today, Day 8, hasn't happened yet - I just couldn't get up early). The hardest part is getting out of bed at 5:40 AM. Doing the actual exercises goes very quickly, so even when I'm at the point of total pain, it's OK, because Jillian (we're on a first name basis now) then switches to something else.

Here are some more of my thoughts:

- I understand the need for simplicity, but the use of only one set of weights seems kind of nutty to me. I mean, there is no way that the same weight I use for my shoulders is the weight I should be using for my chest and back (and biceps). I'm thinking of getting a few different weights and adjusting accordingly, because some of the exercises are too easy.
- Is Jillian wearing Michigan sweatpants in level one? If so, Go Blue!
- I'm planning on switching to Level Two on Saturday (after a full 10 days of Level One). I'm scared.

In other news, this week has been kind of wacky in our house because Michael had some traveling to do. Max is suddenly completely OBSESSED with Michael, so he spent much of the time whining for Daddy, and crying that he wasn't around. Dylan decided to flip out on the new au pair and start acting like a total B. She was literally taunting Tineke about her English language skills (which are actually quite amazing), and just being borderline cruel. Then, to top things off, she came home "sick" yesterday. Lucky for Dylan, the school called the house first (and not my office). I would have had her sent right back to the classroom since she wasn't vomiting and had no fever. Tineke didn't know to do that though, so Dylan got to come home and loaf all day. Anyway, Michael is back home and Dylan is being nice again, so hopefully things will even out a bit.

Weekend Update (and more shredding)

Dylan Doing 30 Day Shred
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

Well, this weekend was the soggiest ever in Chicago, (seriously - we set a record for rain. It was awful.) so we spent a LOT of time inside. In terms of my exercise program, this was a good thing. It wasn't hard to find time to fit in my 20 minutes! On the weird side, it meant that I had company. Dylan and Max both got in on the action. Max mostly jumped around and did some really bizarre arm bends. Dylan, though (as you can see) got really obsessive about the whole thing. She put on a bikini (not sure on that one) and grabbed my yoga mat. She actually did both levels one and two on Saturday, but she didn't really do any of the exercises at full strength (except for the jumping jacks), so she's basically just a cheater. A very cute cheater.

This morning was day 5, and I'm feeling good. I'm going to order the DVD so I can move up to Level two on day 11 (day two won't be available On Demand after tomorrow), and I can really see myself sticking with this for 30 days.

So, on to non-exercise updates. Dylan went to a great creative writing class on Saturday at this place. She was invited by Jessi, one of our favorite babysitters and now a member of my team at work! In addition to her babysitting and social media-ing, Jessi also volunteers at 826 Chicago, and she knew that this particular class would be great for Dylie. She was right - it was wonderful, and Dylan spent two hours of our rainy Saturday working on a sequel to one of her favorite story books. So cool.

I also did some cooking this weekend. Last night we had roast chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. Yum.

Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Day Two

ow.

Um, yeah. I was a little full of myself yesterday. Today I can barely walk. Doing the level one program while sore from the day before? OW.

Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred - Day One

After reading rave reviews from some of my favorite bloggers, I decided to take the plunge, and yesterday I publicly declared (on Twitter) that I was going to start Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Today.

So, even though Michael kept pushing snooze, I forced myself out of bed at 5:40 and turned on the TV. I haven't yet purchased the DVD, but levels one and two (there are three levels total) are available right now for free on Comcast On Demand. The verdict?

I enjoyed myself! Her plan is based on the premise of 3-2-1. Three minutes of strength training, two minutes of cardio, one minute of abs. This series is repeated three times and is sandwiched by warm up and cool down/stretching segments. The total workout was only 20 minutes. By 6:15, I was outside walking the dogs.

The pain level was not as great as I expected, and I am NOT in shape. I was slightly sweaty, breathing heavily, and my legs felt weak when I was done. I think I'll jump up to level two pretty quickly. My legs (thighs, really) still feel kind of tired, and it's now 10:30am. I think the real test will come tomorrow and Saturday, since I know that muscle soreness often has delayed onset.

Finally, why am I doing this? A lot of people at work kind of rolled their eyes at me when I mentioned embarking on this 30 day program. I'm not overweight, and I don't think I'm fat. I'm a small person. That said, I can't button some of my favorite jeans, and that pisses me off. I don't necessarily want to lose weight, but I want to lose my belly pooch and have a more defined, more toned shape. I'd like to have a kick-ass body, not just a slim body. I want to be healthy.

On Twitter yesterday, a few people told me they were going to start the 30 day program along with me, and I hope some of my other blog readers will join too! Hopefully we can chat about this here in the comments. I think it will be fun. You in?

Easiest Grill Dish Ever - Potato Packets

Potato packets
Originally uploaded by Foodmomiac

We make this dish all the time, and it is so easy. If you don't do it already, you must try it.

Slice a bunch of potatoes very thinly. Slice an onion thinly as well. Take a big sheet of foil and spray it with olive oil (or brush some on if you don't have an olive oil sprayer). On ONE HALF of the foil, layer on potatoes, onions, salt, pepper and more olive oil. You can get crazy here with variations. The potatoes pictured above are made with white truffle salt and a red onion. I've added green and red peppers, and also garlic on occasion. Whatever you want goes. As you create the packet, it will look like this:

When you are done layering, fold the foil in half and pinch it closed so that no air can get in. It should look like this:

Cook over indirect heat on the grill for up to an hour.

When you unwrap the packet, be VERY careful. The steam inside gets crazy hot, and I've burnt myself a few times. You might want to even poke a few holes in the packet before unwrapping to prevent this.