Who knew? Spices add flavor…

We have had to stock our kitchen with new things.  I was not a great spice user before and now these new recipes call for lots of spices. Did you know that if you cook enough, spices stay fresh?  What a concept.  We replaced the spices left from when we lived in Lincoln Park – that was only 28 years ago.  We have also stocked up on different can goods than before.  The no salt or low fat added varieties of things we would normally have had.  This does make going to the grocery store a bit more of an adventure.  It can take much longer to find the no salt added or low fat varieties in the store and we have not always been successful in finding them.  I will say that the products we have used have been tasty.  We were warned that fat free mayonnaise is just gross and to stay away from it.  It has been a bit of a shift to go from butter to  “I can’t believe it’s not butter LIGHT”.  I have found that when used as part of a recipe it is fine.   There is also more fresh produce in our house than before.  While fruits are not unlimited for Silent Sam, he does get to have some.  On Weight Watchers, I get to have unlimited fruit so we have plenty of apples, oranges, and pears around.  Also, we now have salad items and fresh vegetables.  We have even branched into summer squash and zucchini for stir fry vegetables.  While this might be a “duh” moment for you, it was not for me.  I just never thought about it.  Okay, to be honest, I could not have told you what a summer squash looked like.  In case you don’t know, it is a yellow zucchini.

I have also been going to our local Sara Lee outlet.  WHAT???  How can you do that?  Calm down.  The Sara Lee outlet also stocks Market Day items.  Market Day is a food provider that normally sells through schools as a fund raiser.  Why do I shop there?  Market Day items are portion controlled.  The “ChicNSteaks” are small chicken breast portions that are the right size – not the huge ones that you buy in the grocery store.  They also stock small steaks and seafood.  I absolutely could die for the seasoned salmon.  The main reason I shop at Sara Lee/Market Day is really the portion control.  That is one of the biggest things for us.  We really have found that we are full at the end of a meal and it is nowhere near the amount of food that we would eat before.   

Are you wondering if this is working?   Ooops, out of time - tune in tomorrow boys and girls.

Thanks for reading!