Camy Tang's Blog, page 132
May 3, 2012
Bacon on a stick!
(Speaking of piggies ...)
Read this article about how Camden Yards baseball stadium serves a hunk of bacon on a stick. Yummo!
But even more than that, I’m drooling over the crab cake burger and the crab mac-n-cheese dog! Holy cow!
Captain Caffeine smokes his own bacon and it’s AWESOME! So much better than store bought, meaty and it doesn’t shrink like store bacon.
Now aren’t you craving BACON???
Read this article about how Camden Yards baseball stadium serves a hunk of bacon on a stick. Yummo!
But even more than that, I’m drooling over the crab cake burger and the crab mac-n-cheese dog! Holy cow!
Captain Caffeine smokes his own bacon and it’s AWESOME! So much better than store bought, meaty and it doesn’t shrink like store bacon.
Now aren’t you craving BACON???
Bento Guessing - Piggies
Yum, just in time for lunch! Here’s another bento box from the batch of pics my mom sent to me. (What’s a bento box and why am I doing this? Click here.)
I have to admit, this bento box is adorable and it looks like it actually wasn’t that much work. The box shape is sooooo cute and it’s PINK!
The piggies are made from hard-boiled eggs, and then I think they soak the eggs in soy sauce for an hour or so to give it that brownish color on the surface of the egg white. I’m pretty sure the ears and legs are just mushroom pieces, but I’m not sure how they did the snout.
I like that this bento has lots of little veggies in it and a slice of kiwi. :) And that orange and white flowerlike thingy I’m pretty sure is bought, not homemade. It looks like the sweet bean paste “cakes” we used to get for Japanese holidays.
I think this would have been cute but morbid if they included some marinated grilled pork (char siu) in the box. :)
Stomach problems from lemons?
I’ve been drinking water with the juice from half a lemon for dinner the past few nights, partly because it’s good for bloating and I’ve got my, er, time of the month, and partly because I just like the taste of it.
But tonight I’ve had an acidic stomach and while it’s not quite queasy, it’s uncomfortable. I’m starting to suspect the lemon juice.
Has anyone had any acidic stomach problems from lemon juice?
But tonight I’ve had an acidic stomach and while it’s not quite queasy, it’s uncomfortable. I’m starting to suspect the lemon juice.
Has anyone had any acidic stomach problems from lemon juice?
May 2, 2012
I am a bad aunt
So here’s what happened at Christmas:
Captain Caffeine and I ordered our nieces’ and nephew’s gifts well before Christmas but because postage takes longer in December, we had the gifts mailed to where we would be staying over Christmas rather than to our house. We figured it would be safer than waiting to see if we’d get them in time before traveling.
However, when I was doing the ordering, I made the mistake of having the gifts sent to MY name rather than the name of the person whose house we were staying at.
Needless to say, the gifts were returned as “undeliverable” because the post office said that “Camy Tang” does not live at that address. Which I totally don’t get because we get mail addressed to other people at our address ALL the time.
And so we showed up at Christmas and had no gifts for our nieces and nephew. Bad aunty and uncle.
So now I am making sure we got refunded for the gifts that were returned as “undeliverable” and I’m reordering them to send them to our nieces and nephew. Five months late. I think that’s almost worse than not showing up with presents at Christmas.
Captain Caffeine and I ordered our nieces’ and nephew’s gifts well before Christmas but because postage takes longer in December, we had the gifts mailed to where we would be staying over Christmas rather than to our house. We figured it would be safer than waiting to see if we’d get them in time before traveling.
However, when I was doing the ordering, I made the mistake of having the gifts sent to MY name rather than the name of the person whose house we were staying at.
Needless to say, the gifts were returned as “undeliverable” because the post office said that “Camy Tang” does not live at that address. Which I totally don’t get because we get mail addressed to other people at our address ALL the time.
And so we showed up at Christmas and had no gifts for our nieces and nephew. Bad aunty and uncle.
So now I am making sure we got refunded for the gifts that were returned as “undeliverable” and I’m reordering them to send them to our nieces and nephew. Five months late. I think that’s almost worse than not showing up with presents at Christmas.
Breakfast-hater
I admit it, I’m a breakfast hater. I have never liked it because I have always woken up with a slightly queasy stomach. My family has a history of acidic stomachs, so my genes might have something to do with it. (I used to live off of TUMS and Zantac and just got tired of needing to take something every day for a queasiness that lasts only 60-90 minutes.)
I have tried forcing myself to eat a large breakfast, especially because most research shows that people who eat breakfast tend to be more successful at losing weight. But forcing myself to eat made me so sick I’d usually either skip or postpone lunch, both of which are bad.
When I read this article on quick and healthy breakfast ideas, I expected the usual stuff like a smoothie or egg white veggie omelet (which are listed). But I was also pleasantly surprised to see a few ideas I hadn’t read before, like making waffles, freezing them, and toasting them in the morning. For some reason I hadn’t thought of doing that, although I have tried freezing pancakes and microwaving them (yuck).
The casserole idea wasn’t entirely new, because I used to sometimes have dinner leftovers for breakfast when I was living at home, but for some reason it sparked the idea of making a breakfast casserole or a veggie frittata, which I hadn’t tried before. There are lots of unusual breakfast casseroles I think I’d like to try, and they don’t have to be just eggs and sausage ones.
Any breakfast ideas you have for me?
I have tried forcing myself to eat a large breakfast, especially because most research shows that people who eat breakfast tend to be more successful at losing weight. But forcing myself to eat made me so sick I’d usually either skip or postpone lunch, both of which are bad.
When I read this article on quick and healthy breakfast ideas, I expected the usual stuff like a smoothie or egg white veggie omelet (which are listed). But I was also pleasantly surprised to see a few ideas I hadn’t read before, like making waffles, freezing them, and toasting them in the morning. For some reason I hadn’t thought of doing that, although I have tried freezing pancakes and microwaving them (yuck).
The casserole idea wasn’t entirely new, because I used to sometimes have dinner leftovers for breakfast when I was living at home, but for some reason it sparked the idea of making a breakfast casserole or a veggie frittata, which I hadn’t tried before. There are lots of unusual breakfast casseroles I think I’d like to try, and they don’t have to be just eggs and sausage ones.
Any breakfast ideas you have for me?
May 1, 2012
Trade Secrets from the SparkPeople Coaches
I really liked this article about the lifestyles of the SparkPeople coaches. It’s interview-style and pretty insightful because these are not super-skinny, athletic people who get up at 4 a.m. to exercise for three hours every day.
I was actually surprised a lot of them exercise after work--it makes me feel better that I tend to exercise in the afternoon and early evening, too. I’ve lately been exercising just before my tea time, which is around 5 p.m.
I think I am going to try to exercise every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes on the exercise bike. I can totally do that, and I know little things add up.
I was actually surprised a lot of them exercise after work--it makes me feel better that I tend to exercise in the afternoon and early evening, too. I’ve lately been exercising just before my tea time, which is around 5 p.m.
I think I am going to try to exercise every day, even if it’s only 10 minutes on the exercise bike. I can totally do that, and I know little things add up.
Eeewwwwww!
My dog licked my toes. Twice!
Then, while I was paralyzed by grossness, she licked ME!
YUCK!
Then, while I was paralyzed by grossness, she licked ME!
YUCK!
The challenge of the fish and chips
I had been doing decently at keeping to my new calorie range, but then we had Bible study night.
Our Bible study group has parents with young children, and my husband and I rope one or two of the youth group kids to babysit during the Bible study. To thank them, we typically take them out to dinner after the study.
This past week, my husband wanted to go to fish and chips, which is where he had taken one of the babysitters before and they had really enjoyed it. I didn’t want to say no because this dinner is a thank you to our babysitter.
I ordered one fish fillet and fries, and then a cup of water. I ate VERY slowly and made sure to drink TWO sips of water for every bite of food. I went back to get more water three times, which also lengthened the time it took me to eat. I also tried to talk a lot or stopped eating for a few minutes while I was listening to the two of them talk.
I’m so proud of myself because I only ate the one fish fillet and six strips of fries. That’s it! My meal was only about 350 calories.
I did sob a bit as I passed the rest of my fries to my husband to finish for me, but I reminded myself that I’d rather not enjoy those fries if they were only going to stick to my bum.
Our Bible study group has parents with young children, and my husband and I rope one or two of the youth group kids to babysit during the Bible study. To thank them, we typically take them out to dinner after the study.
This past week, my husband wanted to go to fish and chips, which is where he had taken one of the babysitters before and they had really enjoyed it. I didn’t want to say no because this dinner is a thank you to our babysitter.
I ordered one fish fillet and fries, and then a cup of water. I ate VERY slowly and made sure to drink TWO sips of water for every bite of food. I went back to get more water three times, which also lengthened the time it took me to eat. I also tried to talk a lot or stopped eating for a few minutes while I was listening to the two of them talk.
I’m so proud of myself because I only ate the one fish fillet and six strips of fries. That’s it! My meal was only about 350 calories.
I did sob a bit as I passed the rest of my fries to my husband to finish for me, but I reminded myself that I’d rather not enjoy those fries if they were only going to stick to my bum.
April 30, 2012
Relearning how to eat
I know that sounds weird but I’ve discovered it’s totally true. For the past couple days I’ve been closely monitoring how I eat.
I hadn’t realized before I started this monitoring that I tend to eat whatever food I see. If there is a bag of almonds on the kitchen counter and I go into the kitchen to get some tea, I’ll eat an almond or two without even thinking about it. Isn’t that awful???
So now that I’m trying to keep within my calorie range per day, I’m paying stricter attention to what I put in my mouth. Stopping the random grazing is not as hard as exercising self-discipline during mealtimes.
I’ve always loved the book French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano because she teaches you how to be more thoughtful about eating--how to enjoy eating as pleasure without eating large portions. I had fallen out of that habit, so I started reading the book again to help me limit my portion sizes at mealtimes.
I won’t say my mealtimes have been easy, but they haven’t been horrifically difficult, either. I’ve been eating more soups even though the weather is getting hotter because I can eat a larger portion of soup with less calories.
I’ve also been consciously eating much slower, and drinking water in between spoonfuls. Eating the soup slowly has been helping me get over the fact I’m eating a smaller portion of food than I’m used to.
So far I’ve been doing good at keeping to my calorie range, so I hope I can keep this up!
I hadn’t realized before I started this monitoring that I tend to eat whatever food I see. If there is a bag of almonds on the kitchen counter and I go into the kitchen to get some tea, I’ll eat an almond or two without even thinking about it. Isn’t that awful???
So now that I’m trying to keep within my calorie range per day, I’m paying stricter attention to what I put in my mouth. Stopping the random grazing is not as hard as exercising self-discipline during mealtimes.
I’ve always loved the book French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano because she teaches you how to be more thoughtful about eating--how to enjoy eating as pleasure without eating large portions. I had fallen out of that habit, so I started reading the book again to help me limit my portion sizes at mealtimes.
I won’t say my mealtimes have been easy, but they haven’t been horrifically difficult, either. I’ve been eating more soups even though the weather is getting hotter because I can eat a larger portion of soup with less calories.
I’ve also been consciously eating much slower, and drinking water in between spoonfuls. Eating the soup slowly has been helping me get over the fact I’m eating a smaller portion of food than I’m used to.
So far I’ve been doing good at keeping to my calorie range, so I hope I can keep this up!
