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Chicken Thigh Week – Wednesday

Weds 3/22

The Anti-Bunko meeting last night was a rousing success. Seven showed up and five of us ordered zero sides. Two ordered tots with their burgers. I guess it takes some people a longer time to learn why their jeans no longer fit.

I’m not sure if it was last night’s burger or busyness at work but I wasn’t hungry this morning. I didn’t notice any signs of hunger til around 10:30 AM. So while I may describe my meals as most people would, the times are definitely not the typical meal times. This turned out to be a good day to practice how to Eat Only When Hungry.

We should add eating only when hungry to this post Five healthy habits net more healthy years — Malheur County Health Department and make it Six Healthy Habits.

On Wednesdays the local store changes their weekly ad. I pulled the ad up online and to my surprise found boneless chicken thighs for $1.99/lb!

Chicken Thigh Week! An excuse to get out of the house!

But I was disappointed.

Avoid purchasing chicken if the package has excess liquid sitting in it. The excess liquid usually results from the conventional method of immersing chickens in water to chill them to an appropriate temperature. These liquids are expelled by the chicken once it is in the tray, which weakens the flavor and results in a mushy texture.

Guide on the different types of industrial chicken https://www.watermelon.market/post/guide-on-the-different-types-of-industrial-chicken

I did not buy any cheap chicken thighs BUT I did find one package of the $2.99/lb not as cheap chicken thighs. Now I have plenty of chicken thighs both boneless and bone-in.

So far my meals for today:

Breakfast – Raisin bran, soy milk banana at 10:30 AM

Lunch – cup of soup from the pot I never got around to freezing portions at 1:30 PM

Second Lunch – 2 roast chicken wraps with organic greens and hot honey coarse mustard at 3:00 PM.

It’s “dinner time” now and I’m not hungry.

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Eat Only When Hungry

Retrain yourself to recognize feelings of hunger and respect them. Eat when you feel them and stop when they stop. Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. This approach starts with eating breakfast, planning snacks, or eating only part of your lunch and saving the rest for a snack later on in the afternoon. Eat regular meals but don’t eat by the clock.

Eating When You’re Hungry versus Eating on Schedule — https://www.dummies.com/article/body-mind-spirit/physical-health-well-being/diet-nutrition/general-diet-nutrition/eating-when-youre-hungry-versus-eating-on-schedule-202578/

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Five healthy habits net more healthy years — Malheur County Health Department

Are healthy habits worth cultivating? One recent study and a previous similar study suggest healthy habits may help people tack on years of life and sidestep serious illnesses, such as diabetes and cancer.  Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that five low-risk lifestyle habits are critical for a longer life expectancy. The more of […]

Five healthy habits net more healthy years — Malheur County Health Department
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Chicken Thigh Week – Tuesday

Tuesday 3/21

Well, it was a good plan until it wasn’t. No boneless chicken thighs at the store, the bone-in thighs I bought need to be frozen and I refuse to drive around town looking for chicken thighs. Tonight is a night out with the guys so there will be no cooking tonight. Several of us meet monthly to go out for a burger and a beer. This started many years ago when our significant others gathered monthly for bunko (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunco). Rather than sit at home separately we started our own monthly get together. We call this monthly gathering Anti-Bunko.

“The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said Robert Waldinger, director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”

Good genes are nice, but joy is better — https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/

Today’s meals consisted of the following:

Breakfast – Greek Yogurt Pancakes, banana, scoop of full fat Greek yogurt. I try to Eat More Protein at Breakfast but some days are better than others.

Lunch – Semi-Organic Vegan Split Pea Soup, see yesterday’s post Chicken Thigh Week – Monday. I’ve got a whole pot of this stuff. PB&J.

Snack – Apple

Appetizer – green salad, marinated artichoke hearts (at home before going out)

Dinner – Burger, no cheese, no fries and beer.

Did you know more Protein for Older Adults is important?

I guess Anti-Bunko night with burgers and good company is a good thing.

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Chicken Thigh Week – Monday

Monday 3/20

A faithful reader of my blogs mentioned a 7 day meal plan would be nice to have. Initially I thought that was a good idea. But when I sat down to create a 7 day meal plan I realized I never know what I’m making to eat until I see what looks good at the store. I probably go grocery shopping 3-4 times a week. I’ve been working from home since 2006. Food shopping gives me an excuse to get out of the house.

I love leftovers. Last night I roasted four chicken thighs with the idea there would be leftovers to toss into a quesadilla or chicken salad, or any of a number of dishes you can make with leftover cooked chicken.

I ate them all (they were small).

Back to the 7 day meal plan. Since I’ve never planned for shopping and making meals for 7 days straight I thought I’d simply document my meals for the week. Hopefully this will help with my Writer’s Block so I can write another chapter of The Future Best Seller. This also provides a glimpse into my current dietary habits (which are far different than the 370 pound me).

Breakfast – Strawberries, banana and full fat Greek yogurt.

Lunch – I made Semi-Organic Vegan Split Pea Soup for lunch but didn’t have it for lunch. Instead I had a baked potato with butter, salt, pepper and a salad topped with marinated artichoke hearts. Yes, I made this one up today with apologies to Martha Rose Shulman. My Garlic Vinaigrette pays homage to Martha’s recipe.

Snack – Peanut butter. Yes, peanut butter.

Dinner – Breaded Chicken Cutlet (thigh, of course), egg fried rice, salad.

I went back to the store that advertised boneless chicken thighs for $2.99/lb. Still no boneless thighs. And no bone-in chicken thighs either. But since I bought some bone-in the other day it’s still Chicken Thigh Week.

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Garlic Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 T red wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp coarse honey mustard
  • pinch red pepper flakes
  • Oregano or basil or both (dried, pinch)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
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Chicken Thigh Week (vegans/vegetarians avert your eyes)

The Truth Machine read 169.8 up from 167.4 in just 24 hours. It still amazes me how sensitive I am to what I eat. Yesterday we tried a new breakfast place and I probably ate 3x what I normally eat at the midday break. The uptick in weight was expected given the quantity and salty/fattiness of my bowl which consisted of three eggs, fried potatoes, cheese, and veggies. There was a giant biscuit with butter on the side. I also finished The Boss’ giant biscuit, potatoes and one slice of her bacon. There you go. Do I know how to gain weight or what?

Welcome to Chicken Thigh Week. The local store advertised boneless chicken thighs for $2.99/lb which translated (for me) into time to stock up. But when I got to the store there were no boneless thighs. They sold out. Bone-in chicken thighs were $1.49/lb so I picked up a package with the full intent to de-bone them at home. When I got home I discovered a package of bone-in thighs in the freezer. Now I have over five pounds of chicken thighs. Now we have Chicken Thigh Week!

Tonight a simple roast chicken.

I defrosted what I found in the freezer to use the older package first. Smple oven roasted honey soy chicken. My second surprise was discovering my Honey Soy and/or Maple Marinade recipe is ancient and needs updating. So here’s my latest greatest version of Honey Soy Marinade using pantry and and spice rack items.

Marinate the chicken thighs for two hours minimum. Roast on a rack at 400 degrees F for 35-45 minutes. Don’t worry about overcooking, especially the large pieces. They are chicken thighs.

Nutrition info here https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/172388/nutrients

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A Chronic and Multi-Factorial Disease

In Mexico, more than 80 million children, teenagers and adults live with overweight or obesity (55% of children from 0 to 11 years, 44% of teenagers and 74% of adults, from a total of 126 million inhabitants). This means that most Mexican people live with abnormal or excessive body fat that may impair their health.

Verónica Vázquez Velázquez, PhD, Co-founder and President of Obesidades — https://www.drsharma.ca/

Note: the link above takes you to a blog and the quoted article is several spots down, so scroll down.

Our neighbor to the South appears to have the same obesogenic environment we have here in the US.

Just because the odds are stacked against us does not mean we give up the fight. Start with small, everyday decisions that over time stack the odds in your favor. Make better choices about the foods you eat.

My typical breakfast is Greek yogurt and fruit. A snack was a few crackers and walnuts. A few weeks ago temptation arose when I least expected it. For lunch I debated between a double cheeseburger or a slice of gourmet pizza from the new restaurant downtown. But before I succumbed to temptation I chose instead to try the new bakery and bought a loaf of fresh honey wheat bread. Lunch ended up being a PB&J.

Make better choices every day.

Postscript

I had pizza yesterday. I gained two pounds in less than a day.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com

AND I ATE CAKE…

Take Home Lesson:

There are times when the right choice involves more than just making the right food choices. Choose flexibility over rigidity. It’s always good to be a kid again even if for just one day.

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