Words Fail Me ...

Touchdown Jesus is Fail

Is there any part of this story that isn't humerous?

Low-Fat Bread Machine Bread

I got a bread machine for Christmas ... and I am beginning to think that it is not a coincidence that I've been having weight management problems since then.  I've been counting each 1 oz slice of the recipe I was using as one point, according to the generic Weight watchers standard.  I worked out the actual points the other day - it was 5 points a slice!  Figure 2-3 slices a day, and I've been eating a "stealth" 8-12 points a day.

Looked around on the internet, and the only book I could find was The Best Low-Fat, No-Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook Ever.  I ordered it from the library, and quite franky the recipies all looked gross.  Instead of honey or sugar, most of her recipies use ... prunes.  I like prunes, but I don't like sweet bread at all.  Still, as I had no other options that I could see, I chose a beer bread with 83 calories an oz as the least disgusting looking and gave it a try.

It was delicious.  Despite being sweetened with prunes, it tasted earthy and wheaty, not sweet, with a lovely chewy texture.  Since I was already two days late on returning the book to the library, I haven't had a chance to try any of the other recipes, but I have ordered it online and can't wait to see how her other disgusting-looking creations taste.  I am really exited about this - I didn't want to go back to preservative-full, flavorless store bread, but I just couldn't see how I could stay at a reasonable weight when every ounce of bread I ate had more than 200 calories in it.  I love the internet!

Cheating on Eating Sustainably

I love the convenience of steaming vegetables in a bag that I plucked right out of the freezer.  But I feel guilty every time I do it.  I know there's nothing good about encasing your vegetables in plastic and running microwave power over them.  I know that it's 100 times better for me to get stuff from the farmer's market and quick-steam it over the stove.  Not to mention half the price.  But I confess that I steam veggies-in-a-bag probably twice a week.

I am also addicted to Weight Watcher's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.  In addition to being the most expensive ice cream in my grocery store on a per ounce basis, it's a pile of completely non-nutritive crap.  But such tasty non-nutritive crap that I eat it almost every day.  Sometimes twice a day.

I'm so committed to the local and sustainable food movement that I live and work on a farm.  But even I am seduced by the convenience and packaging of industrial food.  I tip my hat to people in big cities who are fellow travelers in the cause - the huge time commitment required makes them as much heroes of the local food movement as the farmers from whom they buy their produce.

Summer Garden

Here's today's harvest from the summer garden*:

Add some tomatoes I bought from a roadside stand yesterday and

Yum!

*This is actually from my parents' garden.  But I think it should count as mine too since I turned over the bed and planted the plants :)