The Next Hundred Pounds

CORNICOPIA

You've gotta be kidding me.

When Eric showed up on Monday, he had several presents for me. First, he had this gorgeous pair of earrings, in celebration of our tenth wedding anniversary.

But he also pulled this out of the suitcase:

This is what he pulled out of the garden right before coming to see me. In November. A week before Thanksgiving. From a garden which has been completely neglected since at least September, which is the last time I was home. Those are four different kinds of peppers and some white eggplant. Hurrah for Texas "produce until the first frost" growing season!

We need to be eating lots of veggies, after the meals we've had the last two days. Despite my resolution to celebrate sensibly, we had two pretty indulgent meals. Tonight, I sauteed one of those peppers with some onions and garlic, seared some cubed tofu;  then added a bag of frozen ochra and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. I put it all in a casserole dish, topped with a little part-skim mozzarella, and baked it until the cheese melted. It was pretty good but is missing some herbs. I only have basic seasonings here. Wonder what would be good with this?

Also,it seems I'll need to be making stuffed peppers sometime this week, or incorporate them into our Thanksgiving menu! It's going to be tricky doing all the cooking around my schedule and with limited facilities, and I confess that we did discuss just buying a premade meal from Whole Foods or going out. I can't bring myself to do it --- I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner! So, our plans are made and, rehearsal schedule permitting, we intend to do the Big Shopping Trip first thing tomorrow morning. Here's our menu:

Roasted Cranberry Sauce with Herbed Candied Walnuts
Carmelized Shallot Mashed Potatoes
Fennel Gratin with Pecorino Romano and Lemon
Haricots Verts with Walnuts and Dried Cherries
Mom's Cornbread Dressing (my own veggie version using no-chicken broth and seitan)
Sweet Potato Biscuits
Pumpkin Pie with Brown Sugar Walnut Topping
Bourbon Molasses Ice Cream

We'll streamline some of these recipes by using less fat and sugar than called for, and using healthier fats where appropriate. Anything that calls for cheese gets a sprinkle for flavor, not a thick coating. And we also streamline by using smaller plates and making sure that most space is dedicated to the veggies. It's still an extravagant meal. (I admit, looking over it again I think I should probably cut out the sweet potato biscuits ... they are a big holiday favorite, but we don't need that many carbs and I can do them at Christmas). It's a fun challenge to go over the recipes and see where you can improve by substituting a healthier ingredient, cutting back on the less healthy ones, and still finding maximum good taste and texture.

For my Happy Healthy Holiday Challenge, I've been doing a pretty good job of maintaining serenity and focus. I've been doing some thinking about a couple of areas of my life where unnecessary stress and conflict leak in, and have begun to detach myself from them. I'm also thinking about other areas that are also stressors, but more complicated (it's more like having to untangle oneself than detach!) and am weighing their benefits against the amount of stress they cause. Just because something's a lot of trouble doesn't mean it's not worth it, but it has to be evaluated.

I could be doing better in the workout department this week; although we did do quite a lot of walking the other day at (and to and from) the delightful Shedd Aquarium.

I love watching the jellies!

Today is an on-call day -- there's a matinee of Ballo, which means I have to be at the theater until my scene is done; and then I get to do the afternoon Mikado rehearsal. Fun! But I probably won't make it to the gym again. With Eric here for just a short whlie, it's hard to leave him. The other challenge is the temptation to eat out too much and make this into a vacaction. It's a strong urge and I have to keep reminding myself that I can NOT take a vacation from eating properly --- at least not for more than one meal once in a while. It really is a slippery slope! Once you've had that one over-the-top meal the temptation is much greater to continue with "just a little" extra treat here and there, and before you know it you're back where you started. So NO FOOD VACATIONS, at least not for the rest of the week. I want to enjoy T-Day!

COCKY

I have gotten way too cocky about eating while here in Indianola. First, most of these people haven't seen me for five years, when I weighed over three hundred pounds, and so I've been getting lots of flattery about how amazing I look now. It has gone straight to my head ... or worse, to my stomach. I think I can eat chips and stuff at our get- togethers, I think I can have a little of this here and a little of that there. But that stuff adds up to POUNDS. There has been just too much slip-sliding away of the techniques I learned and used to lose weight.

Two of the slimmest, healthiest girls in the cast are SO careful about what they eat. We three talk about it whenever we're together. One of them (who doesn't need to lose an ounce) very carefully counts her Weight Watchers points, and is teaching herself how to cook this summer. I was briefly tempted to try the point system, but ultimately, it just feels too much like a diet to me, too much like one of the things on my "not willing to do" list. However, it's a very good lesson for me that these two hotties, who are in such good shape, are so conscious of what they eat. When I was fat, my perception was that skinny people didn't have to worry about it at all, and it's just not true. Also, five extra pounds on a small frame is like ten or fifteen on a bigger one --- it really shows up.

I have, however, been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with my workout regimen. It's not as hardcore as I would like it to be, partially due to the schedule and the weather, but at the very least I get in my Power 90 every day, and since moving up to the next level and adding abs in every day instead of every other day, it's plenty challenging. Also, I walk everywhere. If I want a coffee, I walk half a mile over to the town square. I walk all over campus. This is not saying much, since the town and campus are quite small, but thanks to my Garmin Forerunner I've determined that from my apartment to the music building or the theater is about a quarter mile, and you know, those add up. Especially when you're walking them several times a day. Once the rehearsal schedule eases up a bit (i.e. once the shows are up and running, as opposed to being rehearsed simutaneously), I will have a little more time.

The last time I was here, in 2005, I took long walks all over town. This time, I am running. I prefer my trails at home, but Indianola is a very pretty town, with some lovely, well-kept homes, and I enjoy running the sidewalks and looking at the houses, imagining a completely different life. Plus, where else are you going to have to re-route your run so as not to disturb the bunnies?

Bun-bun!

One of my routes takes me past the country club, which means going down a long, slow hill and consequently, back up again. I always groan inwardly but when something about a workout challenges me or makes me reluctant, I force myself to do it. At some point, perhaps by the end of the summer, that hill won't make me groan.

It may not look like much, but believe me, this is a little piece of a very long, challenging hill.

Shrooms!

In the meanwhile, to deal with the lazy/cocky eating, I have started to write response cards again, something I have not done in a very long time:

If I want to be in the
BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE
by the end of the summer

(and I do)

I CANNOT CONTINUE TO EAT
UNPLANNED FOOD.

Now, I just have to start carrying it around with me like I used to, and reading it before I put anything in my mouth.

I'm really enjoying the rehearsal process (I usually do). The scheduling can be a little challenging, but when you are rehearsing three operas simutaneously, plus scenes programs for the apprentices, and when you have this many people, scheduling is INCREDIBLY complicated. It's ridiculously complicated for my own program, Spotlight on  Opera, and we have maybe a quarter of the personnel that DMMO does. Typically, we get our schedule for the next day around 5 or 6 p.m. the day before -- so you see, you can't do much planning in advance. Then, you have to plan around whatever is on the schedule. For example, if I am going to have an important orchestra rehearsal in the evening, I might not want to tire myself out during the day. Or if I have a 10 a.m. staging, I need to be in the practice room by 9 to warm up, and that means I'm probably not going to be able to get a workout in in the morning.

A standard day might be a staging or musical rehearsal from 10 -12:30, a lunch break, another session from 1:30 - 4:30 or 5; dinner break, and another from 7 - 10. Most of these rehearsals are with piano and are not on the main stage; however, when we get into Production Week, that's when we'll be on the stage every night and start getting into costume, wigs, and makeup. We usually get three or four rehearsals with the orchestra. The first of these is called the Sitzprobe, or Sitz for short. And despite the fact that this sounds like something that would happen to you at the proctologist's office, it literally means "sit-try". It's the first time the singers work with the orchestra, and at DMMO, it's a bit unusual because it's also the first time the orchestra rehearses together. Usually they have at least one or two read-throughs without the singers, first.

Because DMMO is a summer festival and part of its mission is to educate young singers, the entire company is invited to the Sitz. It's a dressy occasion (although the orchestra NEVER dresses up ... the singers almost always do). So I dolled up appropriately:

 

After the Sitz we had a big company party, which featured a great deal of really, really good cheese. I, um, did not do so well (although I had prepared for it by eating lightly earlier in the day, and doing my workout). Then yesterday, I had six hours of rehearsal and was exhausted at the end of the day. However, I made myself do my cardio workout and 200 crunches. Fierce. It would have been fiercer had I not had an indulgent dinner out with both my husbands (my stage husband and my real one!).

But you know, life goes on. I am aware of what I'm doing and how to get back on track. I am not going to beat myself up. Instead, I got up and did a three mile run this morning, and in a few minutes, I'll go do my weight lifting  and crunches. I've planned light meals for the day, including lots of goodies from the garden, which Eric brought when he came back on Tuesday.

Imagine all that going through the security scan at the airport ...

We'll make a squash casserole later!

GERMS AND SQUASH CASSEROLE. YUM!

Home at last (however briefly) and I am exhausted. I seem to have brought home a germy little souvenir, most likely something picked up on the subway, and I am just hoping it will go full-blown and get itself over with before I have to take off for Des Moines.

Yesterday, the last day of my trip, time was short, so I knew if I wanted to get any exercise in at all it would have to be combined with errands. So, I suited up and ran down West End to Columbus Circle (which meant going up a very big hill at the end) to Whole Foods, to get a nice salad to take on the plane for lunch. (I fear I did not do so well with my eating during my trip, just a few too many indulgences, and I'm feeling sluggish and fat as a result).  It was rainy and cold, and by the time I got to 59th Street, my arms and legs were blotchy red --- mmm, pretty! --- but it didn't really matter. I got my coffee, breakfast, and salad, and walked back at a fast pace. I draw the line at running with hot coffee in hand, and I needed my coffee. So it wasn't much of a workout, but throw in a lot of extra walking, plus schlepping my heavy suitcase down three flights of stairs, and it was better than nothing.

I had a great vocal workout with my coach --- for you civvies out there, here's a mini lesson in singing semantics: in the world of classical music, a vocal coach and a voice teacher are two very different things. A voice teacher is a singer who teaches vocal technique; i.e., the mechanics of how to sing. A vocal coach is a pianist (sometimes also a conductor, and may or may not actually be a singer; often not) who is particularly well-versed in vocal music and all that entails: proper diction in several languages, musical style, performance practice, and so on.A singer goes to a voice teacher to learn how to sing and to a coach to refine repertoire. We now return to your regularly scheduled blog.

After my musical workout, I raced to the airport, and yadda yadda yadda, home. On the plane I got the first inklings of throat distress. So here I am now, at the end of Wednesday, and there is definitely something coming on. Boo.

Tired as I am, and feeling a little under the weather, workout is not happening today, no matter how much I need one. And I do need one. I feel fat, as previously mentioned, and I want to eat everything under the sun. Bleagh. But this cannot e. Earlier this afternoon, as I tried fruitlessly to nap (visions of the frozen yogurt place dancing in my head, the ELVs telling me how soothing it would be to my raw throat), I briefly thought, "Maybe this is it. The beginning of the Downward Spiral. Back into fatness."

And then I thought, "Naw. Don't be ridiculous. You're just having a hard day."

So I got up, and I went and made squash casserole for dinner. Voila.

CINDY'S SOUTHERN SQUASH CASSEROLE

1 large sweet onion (Texas 1015, Vidalia, etc.), cut into strips
1 gigantic mutant yellow squash, or 2 normal ones, cut into strips
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 4 oz. can fire-roasted, diced Hatch green chiles (your choice of heat; I used mild)
1/2 cup Muir Glen diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can black beans
3/4 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup almond milk, or your choice of milk

Optional: 1/2 cup reduced fat crackers, such as Wheat Thins, crushed
1/2 cup low fat, part skim mozzarella cheese

Sautee the onions in a little canola oil spray until brown; add squash and continue to brown. Add garlic, tomatoes, and chiles and stir well.

Meanwhile, combine 1/4 cup of frozen corn, almond milk, and cornstarch in a food processor; process until smooth. Add this mixture, black beans, and the remaining corn to the squash mixture and stir well.

Transfer the mixture to a Pyrex dish. Top with cracker crumbs and/or cheese, if using. Bake in a 400F oven until thoroughly heated and the top is bubbly, about 30 minutes.

We enjoyed ours with the first cucumber of the season, picked minutes before and still warm from the sun. Yum!

NEW YORK VEGAN EATIN'

Whew, I am tired. And my Garmin is mocking me. It beeps at me a lot and tells me that I suck -- yes, it does! It tells me how far behind I am on what it thinks must be my training. I have to learn how to program this thing.

I had another nice run through Central Park, in the beautiful, cool spring morning. It really is gorgeous. The run was snail-paced, even slower than my 10K, but I ran for over an hour and enjoyed it. 

I also ate vegan today! Not really on purpose, that's just how it turned out. I had lunch at PeaceFood Cafe, which was good but with excruciatingly slow service and high prices for what they serve ($10.95 for a panini, nothin' but a panini ... too much). At least it was tasty. I had the pan-seard french horn mushroom panini with sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, artichoke aioli, mint and basil pasta, on their homemade foccacia bread. It was good but could have used some vegan cheese (but you pay $3.50 to add cheese. THREE FIFTY) and maybe a side of cole slaw or something. I also had a slice of espresso cake, which was a tad dry. Too pricey, wouldn't go back.

Then I met my friend Robin for dinner at Cafe Blossom, which was fabulous ... although the service was also awfully slow and wine by the glass was prohibitively expensive. I had the seitan marsala, and it was all I could do not to lick the plate. Sauteed kale, roasted fennel, yukon gold mashed potatoes, mushrooms, pan sauce, and thin slices of seitan ... it was the yum.

It was quite a busy day, including two coachings, a private consultation, and an interview, so I did not get my Power 90 sculpt done, but tomorrow morning I will either run or do the cardio before I head out to my last coaching. And when I get home, I'll have some cooking to do. Eric sent me pics of today's haul from the garden. It's been busy in my absence:

 

How do ya like them zukes? ! And now, it's past my bedtime. Coaching and long day of travel tomorrow. Buona sera!

HOW DOTH MY GARDEN GROW?

Ah, spring in Texas. And summer in Texas. And fall in Texas. And early winter in Texas.

We have one of the longest growing seasons in the country. I've had tomatoes on the vine until Thanksgiving. This year, I planted early, because I will be gone all summer and quite literally unable to enjoy the fruits of my labor, unless my husband is good enough to bring some when he comes to visit. And this year, thanks to the selection at the nursery when I had time to go, is mostly going to be squash in its various glorious forms.

How my garden doth grow

I planted zucchini, white pattypan, and yellowneck squash, both crook and straight. I planted several kinds of bell peppers, cauliflower, eggplant, basil, cilantro, and cucumbers. The green beans are coming back as volunteers. I'll be curious to see whether the chard and okra do.

 

Soon-to-be pattypan squash

Yellow crookneck squash

Giant zucchinis lurk in the depths ...

But today, the first zukes and yellow squash were ready to pick. I took one crookneck and two zukes, one of which weighed in at 1.7 pounds.

See? I wasn't kidding.

And with them, I made a delicious veggie lasagna, the recipe for which I will now share with you:

CINDY'S GARDEN VEGGIE LASAGNA

1 giant zucchini or 2 ordinary ones, thinly sliced in long strips
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup of mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 28 oz. can Muir Glen Organic Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes (or use fresh)
1 package chicken or Italian sausage-style seitan (I used chicken, but wish I had sausage)
Fresh basil to taste
1/2 cup low-fat part-skim mozzarella cheese

Sautee the onions, mushrooms, and garlic in a little olive oil until browned and fragrant. Add the seitan and heat. Meanwhile, pour 1/3 of the tomatoes in the bottom of a glass baking pan. Layer with strips of zucchini. Pour 1/3 of the seitan mixture over. Repeat until pan is full. Tear basil leaves into strips and sprinkle over top. Cover top with mozzarella cheese.  Bake at 350 F until zuke is tender, about 30 minutes.

Mmmm! Smells divine. Healthy, inexpensive, and delicious.

Today, I did Pilates class and my Power 90 Cardio/Abs DVD. Tomorrow, I run and lift. My arms are truly getting mighty, and I know my core is strong. Lots of areas still need work, though. I'm going to look into specialized exercises for the problem areas during the summer (hello, triceps). One of these days, I'll be doing Crossfit --- that's my aspiration!

HAIL'S BELLS AND RIPPING ON RIP

A couple of nights ago, we had a hellacious storm: thunder, lightning, heavy rains, high winds, and golf-ball sized hail. About 9 p.m., it was coming down hard and the wind was blowing the rain and the hail sideways. One of our upstairs windows got bashed in, and the cars, air conditioning unit, and gutter downspouts all look like a gang of angry elves went at them with tiny baseball bats.

The angry elves apparently aren't fans of veggies, either, because they also went after my garden. Povero giardino!

The green beans and okra were undaunted; everything else was pretty much daunted. However, I spent the morning cleaning up and staking things, and now not only does it look a little better, but I have room for doing some mid-summer planting.

Meanwhile, I still have piles of zucchini, okra, and green beans to deal with. Last night I cooked them up with some Bhindi Masala, a delicious combination of Indian spices. They were so good that we ate the whole bowl! I'll definitely be doing that again.

I'm still under Scale Amnesty and frankly am a little scared to see what the damage may be, but I am faithfully exercising. The hailstorm and consequential dealings with the insurance company and contractors (which are far from over) put a temporary kink in my plans to try out my community center's fitness classes, but I'm not giving up. In the meantime,
I am eyeing a routine from a book I got as a birthday present.

My friend Janice, always a thoughtful gift-giver, sent me a copy of The Engine 2 Diet. This is a book by pro athlete-turned-firefighter-turned-voracious-vegan Rip Esselstyn. Seriously, the dude's name is Rip; and he is ripped, and he is on a mission to see that you become ripped, too. He is an Austin firefighter, the son and grandson of doctors, he pals around with the likes of Lance Armstrong, and he converted his entire station to a "plant-based" diet. Rip cleverly does not use the loaded word "vegan" to describe his diet; he always refers to it as "plant-based". I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book right now and it can be summed up thusly:

ANIMALS BAD.
PLANTS GOOD.

The diet is, essentially this: no animal products of any kind (no milk, cheese, honey, butter,yogurt, meat). No processed or refined foods (anything packaged or canned must have less than 25% of its calories from fat, no more mg of sodium per serving than calories, and no refined sugars). No oils except maybe a little bit of cooking spray. You get your fat from food in its natural form --- olives, nuts, avocado, etc. Whole grains. Veggies and fruits as close to their natural form as possible, and preferably fresh.

Quite honestly, if I were still fat and were thumbing through books down at the Barnes and Noble, looking for a way to lose weight and keep it off ... this would be a huge turnoff. Not because Rip doesn't have good ideas, even if he is maybe a little too rah-rah in your face about the whole plant- based thing (he really really really really does not want you to eat any product that comes from animals, like, ever again). My own journey has convinced me that eating mostly plants is the way to go. The problem with this book, from my personal standpoint, is that most people would have to have the dedication of a professional athlete (or have one cheerleading you on a daily basis) to embrace the concept as it is presented. I don't think the actual diet is laid out as clearly as it could have been (it's discussed throroughly in various chapters, but there's never just a page that outlines the basic principals).

Which is too bad, because I think the diet, while not for everyone, is sound, and I'm totally gonna try it. The recipes look good, I like the dietary principles which concentrate on fresh foods and very little oil, and the exercise program is very similar to what I was doing with Doris (who I miss terribly!).

Seriously, I don't mean to rip on Rip. This is good stuff. But like anything else, I will take the ideas that work for me and modify the rest. That, I have found, is the only way to make a diet sustainable for life.

SOAPBOX AND RECIPE OF THE WEEK

After they retired, my grandparents bought some land out in the country, and Grandmother always had about an acre garden. One of my fondest childhood memories is wandering through that garden, investigating the various crops, picking ripe vegetables, and sitting on the porch snapping green beans with Grandmother. Nothing smells or tastes like fresh vegetables that you’ve picked that morning. There is nothing in the best gourmet organic supermarket that can compare; no commercially grown food rivals what you can grow in your own backyard, or in pots on your porch.

And if you’ll allow me to step up on my soapbox for a moment, I think this is one of the things that’s wrong with the world, or at least with the U.S. So many people now grow up without knowing what food looks like, let alone tastes like, before it’s processed into oblivion --- no wonder our national nutrition is so awful.  So do yourself a favor this summer: if you have a yard, or a sunny spot where you can put a few containers, plant something. And if you can’t plant something, take a little extra time on the weekend and do your veggie shopping at a farmer’s market. Here are two links to help you find a local farmer’s market:

Agricultural Marketing Service

Local Harvest

If you’d like to try your hand at turning your thumb green, start with container gardening. Containers are easy to relocate and care for; you won’t need to weed; and you can control the soil type handily. Herbs grow extremely well in pots; they’re beautiful, fragrant, and very hardy, needing little care. And fresh herbs (pick ‘em first thing in the morning for the best flavor) add so much to your cooking!  Tomatoes and strawberries do extremely well in pots. There are miniature varieties of cucumbers that also are great container plants --- I grew some last summer and soon had more than I could eat or give away. Other plants that do well in containers include peppers, lettuces, squash, green beans, radishes, and green onions. Check out this website for more information about container vegetable gardening.

If you’ve got even a little space in your yard, you can grow quite a lot. I have a fairly small raised bed that I put in an otherwise useless side yard. I am a haphazard gardener; I plant whatever I think I’ll like and let it duke it out for space. What grows, grows. It works very well, mainly because I filled my bed with excellent soil and add a rich compost and more soil once a year. I have very few weeds and the yield is quite good for a garden of this size. Except for the annual relocation of marigolds, I have very little work to do, and can enjoy fresh veggies well into the late fall. But if you want to get all fancy about it, check out Square Foot Gardening.

My little garden is already starting to yield its bounty. This year I’ve planted yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, cucumbers, several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, fennel, and Swiss chard. I also have cherry tomatoes, red okra, and cukes coming back from last season; along with the Immortal Herb Corner (you can’t kill ‘em!). The squash, zucchini, and peppers are already setting fruit --- just in time for the grill! I like to sprinkle them with olive oil, salt and pepper. They need nothing else. But if you want to get fancy, try some herbs de Provence.

Summertime is pesto time. I love making (and eating) fresh pesto.  I make a lower-fat version simply by substituting water for some of the olive oil, and I don’t put cheese in mine, although some people do. I also don’t really measure; I just put stuff in until it looks like the right consistency. But for you, I’ll try to guessitmate:

FRESH PESTO

¾ cup pine nuts
1 bunch fresh basil
2 cloves of garlic (more or less depending on your taste; I like it fairly garlicky)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Water as needed
Salt as needed

Grind the pine nuts to a rough paste in a food processor. Add basil leaves and garlic; process until smooth. Leaving the processor running, slowly drizzle in olive oil, and then water until desired consistency is reached. Add a little salt) and adjust for taste(be conservative; as it sits the flavors will “marry” and become more intense).

One of my newest, most favorite uses for pesto is on grilled eggplant. If you don’t have a grill, you can just as easily do this in the oven.

GRILLED EGGPLANT

Slice an eggplant in ¼ inch thick slices, leaving the peel on. Brush both sides with pesto. Grill (or broil) until tender (1-2 minutes each side). Add a little more pesto and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Return to grill (or broiler) until melted.

Bon Appetit!