15
votes
What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
Kinda less fun one than I would normally comment:
I mean prep every Sunday. Bang out 4-5 lunches for the week to make the work days easier. This week I knocked it out with a really simple lunch:
I also bake a loaf of bread pretty much every week. Last week I didn't have enough flour, so I scaled the recipe. Then I realized I didn't have any flour for kneading. Assuming the bread wasn't going to be great anyway, I used some rough cornmeal to flour my counter. Well, I messed up because it might be the best loaf of bread I've ever made and I just know I'll never accurately recreate it.
My wife and son have been watching cooking challenge TV shows, so this past weekend my son challenged me to a cook-off. He picked a special ingredient and choose lemon, so we both made a main dish and dessert that featured lemon.
My son made:
I made:
My wife and daughter were the judges. They judged us on both together.
I lost. I think it was mostly because of the pie. It was close on the main dishes, but his little lava cake gnocchi things were very good. I've paid for worse desserts.
Edit: Here's a pic of the tacos, pasta, and delicious chocolate dessert.
How old is your son (if you don't mind my asking)? I'm only asking because those sound like pretty complicated dishes to make, so if they're really young that's even more impressive! :P
My boy is 10 - he's always been interested in cooking and he's the sort of guy that loves to lend a hand whenever he can, so he likes to watch me cook and join in. He also enjoys a lot of the same stuff that we enjoy on YouTube, so he ends up in places like "How to cook that" with Ann Reardon, or Mythical Kitchen watching them cook something. He's got a good head for cooking too - his vision for both his dishes sounded more "interesting" than "good" when he explained them to me, but they were great and I've had worse dishes in nice restaurants.
Probably the one notable thing is that I did grill all of the steak, though we seasoned it together.
Hah, that's awesome, and even with you doing the grilling that is definitely still very impressive for his age! My nephew (11yo) helps out occasionally when we cook too, but he's not nearly as interested in cooking as your son clearly is. He would much rather be playing video games or working on some crafts than help us cook. :P
p.s. Speaking of YouTube, have you shown your son any Sorted Food videos yet? It's easily my favorite food related channel. They don't do many proper recipes, but it is super fun and reasonably kid friendly. :)
Oh, that's a great recommendation! Thank you, I will share some of these with him. And I'm not actually subbed to them, so I'll add them to my own list as well, thank you!
O_o I thought we were YouTube clones of each other... but this clearly proves otherwise!!
You should definitely show your son some of their Pass-it-on Recipe Relay Challenge videos. I bet he would love those... and it's something you may even be able to do with your family at home too. :)
Tonight I did pan fried Atlantic salmon. I sauteed some onions in my cast iron skillet, then added the salmon and did about four minutes per side, seasoned liberally with salt and pepper, with a few of the unused lemons from the previous meal squeezed on top. Served with mashed potatoes and some broiled broccoli with crushed garlic on top.
It was pretty good. I don't usually do fish, but I would do this again.
I've never been a good baker (despite being a food scientist), but I am determined to change that by first learning how to make shokupan (Japanese milk bread). I made four attempts last weekend, each better than the last but still not perfect, and I am excited for more this weekend. This time, larger batches so my stand mixer can properly develop the gluten, and later salt and butter additions and longer use of the paddle before the hook for the same reason.
I figured I should probably get more experience here since I now work for one of the more influential baking ingredient manufacturers in the world.
Ooh, nice. I love shokupan! It's by far the best "white" bread out there, IMO. Although I am a horrible baker too, so have never and probably will never attempt it myself. I have just had it at a few restaurants/bakeries over the years. :P
Do you have any pics of your results so far? I'm kinda curious to see your progression if you do have pics. :)
No pics, sorry. The first one I thought I over-mixed so I discarded it. The next few started small and got bigger and collapsed less and less, but never set up in their proper yama mountains. The last one slumped a bit, but still made a delicious grilled sausage sandwich. I need to make bigger batches, I think that's the main thing - the gluten just can't develop in small batches with this type of mixer.
Ah, if they were just small batches it makes sense you have no pics. In any case, I wish you luck in your bread-making endeavors. Please takes some pics if you do manage a successful full loaf though. I'd love to see it. :)
Not sure if it's the same kind of bread, but I've had success with King Arthur's recipe:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/japanese-milk-bread-recipe
Although I only did buns, they turned out fabulously.
As I've changed my food intake about a month ago, limiting myself to 800 kcal to get rid of some weight, I also started exploring new options. My family always made fun of vegetarian food - especially meat alternatives - for whatever reason. Nevertheless, I wanted to give it a try. What an experience.
Vegetarian food is amazing, I made some sausages, Cordon Bleu and many other things, and they often taste better than the meat version I am used to.
Also, looking into food with low kcal, I found cauliflower rice which is great as a rice alternative, Shirataki Noodles as an alternative to the usual noodles, and interestingly, gluten-free alternatives which seem to always have less kcal than the ones with gluten.
Incoming unsolicited advice, so I apologize in advance if it's unwelcome, and feel free to totally ignore this comment if you find it annoying. :)
Do you know your Basal Metabolic Rate (your body's 'at rest' kcal consumption)? Because unless your BMR is 1300kcal and you are 100% inactive throughout the day, an 800kcal diet is a pretty harsh restriction since anything more than a 500kcal deficit is considered potentially unhealthy (unless you're extremely careful with your macronutrient and vitamin/mineral intake).
E.g. My BMR is 1715kcal, so to lose weight I've been eating around 1200kcal a day baseline + whatever I burn in addition to that (tracked via my smart watch)... which on workout days ends up being about 1500-1700 kcal consumed daily. And keeping to that, I have lost 10lbs over the last month while still hitting my macro targets of 100g protein daily, <50g fat, and getting 75-100+% RDA in most vitamins/minerals (a really good multivitamin helps with that), and all without feeling like I've been starving myself at all.
p.s. You can check your BMR using this calculator:
https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html
How can I ever ignore such good advice and concerns! <3
Highly appreciated, thank you!
I am aware this is rather low, my doc gave me the same advice and shared the same concern, which is why I am getting check-ups from time to time and try to eat different meals which should cover most vitamins/minerals.
Sadly, with 1200 kcal, my weight stays the same - even though the calculators, including the one you linked, shows that I should eat around 1800 kcal. If I eat over 1200 kcal I slowly gain weight.
It's rather crazy, and I am not sure what exactly is the reason for this, other than not doing sports...
With about 800 kcal, I am getting a rather steady weight loss of about 1 kg every 1 or 1.5 weeks.
Fair enough, and yeah everyone's body and metabolism is different so you definitely gotta find what works for you. Despite the 800 kcal restriction it sounds like you're still doing things right by getting regular checkups, not losing too much weight too quickly, and keeping your nutrient intake in mind. So I'm genuinely glad to hear that. I wish you good luck and much success on your weight loss journey! :)
p.s. I would definitely still recommend asking your doc for advice on a good multivitamin for you to take, and any other supplements worth taking on such a restricted vegetarian diet though, if you're not already taking any. I was genuinely struggling to reach anywhere near the RDAs for most vitamins/minerals on my 1200-1700 kcal diet before including a few supplements (daily multi, fish oil, calcium, and magnesium supplements, in my case), so I can't even imagine trying to reach them on an 800 kcal vegetarian one! :P
Oh, hi Nankeru!
Everything you mentioned is really intriguing, honestly. I had no clue someone would legitimately have to get to such a limited caloric intake, but it looks like in your case you practically have no other option at the moment.
A few of the people who are very dear to me are dealing with a lot of health problems that may or may not be applicable to you, so just to be sure - I'd suggest looking into a good endocrinologist if you haven't already. E.g. Thyroid hormone levels, adrenal gland issues, steroid hormone levels, diabetes/insulin resistance, and more, can affect weight gain, and my loved ones ended up much better after they started getting medicated for those. Sadly one of them has "the entire package", but that should be very rare.
Naturally, I'm not a doctor, and none of these should be considered medical advice. I'm merely stating observations from folks in my life, which may or may not (and likely do not) apply to you, without knowing anything about you; you know yourself and your body better than anyone here.
That said, if you ever end up needing any more info about any of those, or just want to ask a question, feel free to send over a PM :3
Eating below 1200 calories a day can be pretty dangerous -- even if it's accomplishing your goals for weight loss, a diet that low in calories could be harming your long-term health more than being overweight would. A kg per week is also towards the upper end of what's healthy when it comes to the rate at which you lose weight -- a lower rate closer to half that is recommended and has been associated with lower rates of gaining the weight back when compared to people who lose weight more quickly.
Honestly though if you aren't losing weight when eating 1200 calories a day, I'd be more worried about other contributing factors than your weight. How has your stamina and mobility been? How about your mood and ability to focus? As Tildes' resident hypothyroidism-haver, I really do recommend getting at least screened for it. You can probably leverage your doctor's concern about your extreme low-calorie diet if they need some convincing to order the blood test (though idk if that's an issue where you are -- I just know it's a common problem in the US). In addition to being a huge factor when it comes to your weight, your thyroid hormone levels really influence a staggeringly huge number of systems in your body.
I got an electric kettle for Christmas and it's made oatmeal so much faster, so I've been making a lot of savory oatmeal for breakfast. 60 grams of oatmeal, 2 grams of mushroom bouillon granules, 20 grams of nutritional yeast, 30 grams of chia seeds, a healthy sprinkling of spicy curry, and then just a ton of water.
No one else in my house will even give it a go, but I love my breakfast broth.
I've been eating a lot of oatmeal lately too, since I'm trying to eat healthier and control my caloric intake. And since I'm working out every morning 5-6 days a week now, I also need the carbs and protein to help fuel that.
I've been making overnight oats instead of hot oatmeal though, which isn't technically "fast" since they require at least 2-4 hours of soaking before you can eat them... but they keep for several days in the fridge so I can make 3-4 of them at once during meal prep, they're extremely easy to make, and extremely convenient since I can just grab one from my fridge immediately after my workout and scarf it down.
Recipe:
(not vegan, sorry, but you can sub for dairy-free alternatives)
50g old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats, they get too mushy)
10g chia seeds (which is 114% omega-3 RDA... 30g is kinda nuts!! :P)
50g unsweetened 0% fat Greek yogurt
13g brown sugar (can also use honey or maple syrup or 0 cal sweetener, if you prefer)
1 cup 0% fat milk (I like mine looser, but you can go as low as 1/2 cup if you prefer a more pudding-like texture)
Nutrition % Daily Value
396 Calories
26.3g Protein
6g Fat 8%
0.9 Saturated 5%
1.8g Omega-3 114%
1.7g Omega-6 10%
0 Trans-fats
6.4mg Cholesterol 2%
59g Carbohydrate 21%
8.6g Dietary Fiber 31%
20.6g Total Sugars
12.6g Added Sugar 25%
0.2mg B1 18%
0.3mg B2 25%
1.1μg B12 46%
200IU Vitamin D 25%
plus many other vitamins at <15%
526.9mg Calcium 41%
0.3g Copper 35%
3.9mg Iron 22%
128mg Magnesium 31%
1.9mg Manganese 83%
550mg Phosphorus 79%
697mg Potassium 21%
28.4μg Selenium 52%
3.2mg Zinc 29%
And I usually also throw a handful of berries or a chopped up banana on it before I eat it. Then drink a protein powder shake alongside it so I hit 50g of protein for the meal. I'm trying to get at least 100g of protein a day because of the strength training 3x week.
I highly doubt overnight oats would work well with your savory recipe though. I suspect the yeast would basically turn it into bread dough by the morning. :P
Worse things have happened in my food experiments; I'll keep you posted!
Hah, I look forward to hearing the results! :P