- 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
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
Honey Soy Marinade
- 3/4 C soy sauce
- 2/3 C honey
- Juice of one lime
- Garlic, onion, ginger powders ( be bold, go for it)
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.
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.
30 Vegan Soup Recipes – The First Mess (just another electronic sticky note)
Memo to Self: Still winter. I’m getting tired of chicken soup. I need to try some new soup recipes. Now where did I put that electronic sticky note reminder?
Right here – https://thefirstmess.com/2021/01/16/vegan-soup-recipes/
Are Americans Trying to Eat Healthy?
Are Americans Trying to Eat Healthy? — https://www.statista.com/chart/16796/us-interest-in-healthy-food/
Yikes!
Ten Random Thoughts – February 2023
- I’ve had one of those nasty “Non-Covid Illnesses” for half of the month. This explains my paucity of posts.
- On the bright side, I’ve lost five pounds.
- There is much truth to Tiny Humans as Potent Disease Vectors.
- I’ve made and eaten lots of soup this month.
- The whiskey stock has not been touched.
- Beer on the other hand has been quite valuable in keeping my throat moist.
- Reheating leftover brussel sprouts in the microwave will make them explode.
- The Boss has this Non-Covid Illness too. This is the first time in years we have been sick simultaneously. Togetherness.
- With little motivation to do much of anything I’ve read and/or finished six books so far this month. I may have not started a book in the same month I finished the book but this is better explained in a post on ADD.
- My Chicken Meatloaf was Tiny Taste Tester Approved. It’s a nine year old post.
OK, back to my throat medicine.
How to Thrive in Retirement
1. Do not smoke or, if you do, quit.
Functional Longevity: What Use Is Retirement If You Can’t Move and Think? — https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/functional-longevity-in-retirement/
2. Maintain a healthy body weight to avoid diabetes, hypertension,and elevated lipids.
3. Eat a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables, minimize red meat,and drink lots of water.
4. Participate in aerobic exercise for an hour several times a week.
5. Use body weight and functional exercises to maintain muscle mass.
6. Stretch and do functional movement exercises or yoga to maintain flexibility.
7. Develop an anti-stress regimen such as meditation or “forest bathing.”
8. Maintain social connections.
9. Optimize cognition through lifelong reading and learning.
10. Get adequate sleep and practice good oral hygiene.
When people think about retirement the first thing that typically comes to mind is the financial aspect. This list is a reminder to focus on the non-financial aspects of retirement as essential elements of your plans too. I plan on using this list as a personal report card, a regular and routine check up of how I’m doing and what needs improvement. I’ve given myself passing grades for 9/10.
#4 – improvement needed.
Understanding Your Body’s Defended Fat Mass
Jastreboff’s research focuses on novel anti-obesity medications, specifically nutrient stimulated hormone therapeutics. She believes that a critical need in the field is to better understand obesity pathophysiology, especially how the body signals to the brain how much fat an individual should carry to store sufficient energy to function optimally; this is called the defended fat mass… Jastreboff cites the environment as a cause of obesity, specifically what she and other scientists call the obesogenic environment. “It’s not just the food, it’s not just the fact that we lead fairly sedentary lives,” Jastreboff explained. “It’s the stress, it’s the lack of sleep, it’s the circadian rhythm disruption, it’s things in our obesogenic environment that have led to this elevated defended fat mass on a population level.”
Yale Endocrinology Obesity Medicine: Approaching Obesity as a Complex, Chronic Disease — https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/yale-endocrinology-obesity-medicine-approaching-obesity-as-a-complex-chronic-disease/
You can now add your body’s defended fat mass to your personal list of reasons why you just can’t lose weight.
I must to go now. Super Bowl pig out starts soon and I have to adjust my defended fat mass set point.
Chick-fil-A Tests Fried Cauliflower Sandwiches!
It kind of looks like chicken – https://carolinas.eater.com/2023/2/9/23592586/chick-fil-a-tests-fried-cauliflower-sandwich
