Encounters of the Dinner Kind

Baked fish and vegetables were on the menu at my grandmother's house yesterday. I was excited since I miss the ritual of Sunday dinner with g'ma and company. In fact, it's hard to turn down my aunt's food even when it's fried fish, french fries and hushpuppies.

I quickly realized that the extra fine green beans and mushrooms were slick with oil.

The tilapia was extremely tasty and I inquired about the flavors. My aunt had used Old Bay Seasoning and told me that the recipe was in the paper on the table.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broiled-Tilapia-Parmesan/Detail.aspx

No wonder the tilapia was tasty; it had butter and mayonnaise on its flesh.

There's a chance that I could be under eating in proportion to the amount of exercise that I've been doing and I was hoping that the butter and mayo would do no harm.

I actually managed to move the scale, an anticlimactic event after all of the anticipation. I'm a pound lighter. Usually, I drop weight in two pound increments. So, the scale should move again soon.

I went swimming today which is such a reward after the j-o-b on Monday. I swam 20 laps in about sixty minutes. The kids from the MO School from the Blind were there and two swimmers collided again.

One of the teachers is taking a boot camp mentality to the max. I felt sorry for Mikey because the teacher was all over his case. Mikey did I tell you to stop? Mikey go back. Mikey do this. Mikey do that. Neither Mikey nor the teacher looked like they were enjoying themselves and as Shannon, one of my former swim teachers said, swimming should not be stressful.

Dining Out

Nothing inspires more fear than dining out these days. If I don't know the nutrition facts of what I'm eating, it's just a nail biting moment. Lack of available nutrition facts is one reason that I have not been out to a restaurant in a very long time. In some cases, available nutrition facts have made me steer clear of particular restaurants.

There have been perks to cooking at home. Most food tastes much fresher and the flavors more intricate than fast food. I made a pizza using a Boboli whole wheat crust, a fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella and, yes, fresh basil. I sprinkled about a tablespoon of olive oil and some parmesan over that and I almost reached nirvana. The pizza was so simple and so good.

I'm still holding onto a Hollyberry cookie that someone shared with me during the holidays because I can't find the stats on it. So, it was with reservations (no pun intended) that I went out to eat with friends. I think we made a good choice of restaurants by going to Yemanja Brasil.

http://www.brazildining.com/home.htm

I didn't touch the bread basket even though I love that orange, oily spread with herbs that accompanies it. I also declined the delectable yucca fries.

I went back and forth about whether or not to get the vegetarian risotto (with brown rice) or the risotto with shredded chicken. In the end, I went for the vegetarian risotto which came with a salad or soup. I decided on the carrot soup which I figured wouldn't be too lethal. It was my first time trying carrot soup and it was delicious. I was never impressed with soups before but my tastes buds have changed and since I've been cooking at home, I love nothing more than to make a good soup on Sunday; not only is it a good meal but it's a time-saver too. With the regimen that I've been keeping up, I don't want to worry about scrounging around for a meal after a workout.

Of course, I later looked up a recipe for carrot soup and the only thing that I was wary about was the butter in the recipe but since I had swam about 18 laps earlier in the day, I figured that the butter would not do too much damage.

Guess what I'm now craving? Mmmm, carrot soup.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/curried-carrot-soup?autonomy_kw=carrot+soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eating-well/curried-carrot-soup-recipe/index.html