Back in the Saddle Again

Greetings Earthlings!

Today started like this:

About damn time. That's right, It's back to Weight Watchers with me. I had huge success with WW in middle school, and again after the freshman 15. And I'm bacccckkkkkk. Between sixth and seventh grade I lost about thirty pounds. Thirty pounds!  Most sixth graders only weigh thirty pounds, right? (I have a really hard time judging kids' ages...)

After my first year of college (read: binge drinking, cafeteria, no mommy) I lost twenty pounds over summer. The only problem was I wasn't done growing and maturing so my habits didn't stick. I didn't know what it meant to cook for myself or what healthy living meant. I really didn't know how crucial fueling your body right and exercising is to your longevity.

My philosophy is that we were given this one body and we only have one lifetime to treat it right. Don't get me wrong, I have done many many terrible things to my body (including starving it with diet root beer and carrot sticks then binging on cookies the next day for an entire summer in high school).  I still occasionally do terrible things to my body like eating processed food and drinking too much diet coke. However I now have the maturity and sensibility to understand that when I eat pure, whole foods I feel better! When I exercise, my head is in the right place and I sleep better at night.

My goals are to relearn healthy habits, especially in terms of portion control. I don't think I will ever look at food purely as fuel... I see cooking and food presentation as an art, really. My relationship with food is a little abnormal, and I know I have room for improvement. I already have healthy food habits and decent exercise habits, but it's time to hone in on them, put my nose to the grindstone and drop the extra pounds I'm carrying around. I dug through old family pics this morning to find some of me at my chunkiest in the last ten years. Trust me, some were a lot worse, but so much that I refused to even look twice at them.

Don't mind Leah, my sister, in the right picture. She must have been in a Posh Spice phase. Ps my momma is a lifetime weight watcher and she looks nothing like this anymore. She's svelte and buff as shit these days (she's my inspiration!). These pics are circa 2004/2005, right in the midst of the freshman 15. I don't want to go back there.

Remember when I mentioned mascarpone cheese the other day? Let me follow through with a promise! Now you're probably thinking, HOLD IT THERE SISTER, I thought you were on a diet?! The great thing about WW (weight watchers) is that nothing is "off-limits", you just have to budget for it. And my dad took care of all the leftovers for me, so really, the best tip is to have a human garbage disposal in your home to eliminate any temptations for overeating. 

Ginger and Fig Mascarpone with Puff Pastry

adapted from Fig and Gingered Mascarpone Napoleons, Gourmet, 2001

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. Mascarpone cheese
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp candied ginger, diced
• 1 large or 2 small fresh figs, stems removed and chopped 
• Puff pastry cookies
• Pretty fig, sliced for topping cookies

Directions

• Mix together mascarpone, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, candied ginger and chopped figs

• Chill in fridge for 20-30 minutes at least
• When ready, dollop 1-2 tbsp of cream on top of cookie and a slice or two of fig, like below

If you stopped reading this a bit ago because you don't like figs, I understand. Texture is gross. Replace figs in the recipe with nectarines, peaches, plums, strawberries, or mango. Also the sugar could be easily replaced with agave or honey to taste if you are watching your sugar intake. It's probably a better choice anyway!

That's what I love about cooking. You can never be wrong. If it tastes good to you, then it's good.

Here's something that's never good:

The number of bruises on my body. 

Moving totally wrecked me. Always does. Gotta stop moving so much. Good thing unemployment is so low-impact. (Bitter).

 And on that note, Monster.com awaits me.