Day 8

Last night we didn't eat burritos. We had burgers instead. The key with our diet program is reducing the amount of fat in meats that we eat. So for beef, it has to be 96% fat free. So there is the dilemma of making burgers and keeping them together without all the needed fat. What I do, is add an egg. That usually helps. But like I said yesterday, you really need to use a lot of herbs and spices. That's what I did with the burgers. I used garlic, Worcestershire, sumac (which I really love, it adds an earthy sweetness to a dish), pepper, and parsley. They came out really good. You can't use normal buns. You pretty much have to use double fiber bread. It works. I didn't give Baylee any, because she is not much of a beef eater, and I'm not gonna make her, when she tries pretty much everything else that I make her (time off for good behavior). The burger and bread is the whole meal. No fries or any other side. Sometimes its tough when you want all this other stuff, but I know the outcome, so its worth it.
Tonight, roasted chicken and garlic and lemon sauteed broccoli and cauliflower. It doesn't sound all that exciting, but with the proper use of herbs, it will be very good. I'll tell you how much my family likes it tomorrow.
One thing I like about not having a job right now is being the first face Chloe sees when she wakes up from her naps and she has the biggest tooth grin I've ever seen. That makes my day everyday!
I'm excited that the weather looks like it will cooperate for the weekend for us to go hiking! I love seeing what God has created in all its natural beauty!
I'm a little nervous, Baylee has CRCT (well, whatever its called for private schools) this week. She needs to do well in order to make it to the fourth grade. She has been struggling a little this year. Its a new school, and new expectations. I really want her to do great!

Day 5, 6, & 7

I've missed a few days and I need to catch up, so here goes.
Friday, I didn't cook the paperdelle and tenderloin. I decided that my family wouldn't eat it because it was deer. They are pretty particular about things like that. Plus, it's the weekend! We eat out. We had pizza and it was good. Baylee stayed with us Friday night! She usually goes to her grandparents for the weekend, so it was great having her there. We played Final Fantasy XIII of course and lots of fun!
What I didn't tell you Friday is that I am going to get to work at the Masters the whole week! That's gonna be a lot of fun. I'll get to cook and be in an environment that makes me happy! Who knows, maybe something else will come from it too!
Saturday we went hiking up at John's Mountain to see Keown Falls. With all the rain we've had, the fall were very pretty! There was enough rock cut out over the years that you could go back behind the falls of both of them. That was really cool! It was such a beautiful day, sun shining, warm, and got to spend it with my family. Could it have been any better? After that, we went to RAK Outfitters and I bought a new hat, went out to eat, and ended the day with my wife hanging out at home. It was a really great day.
Yesterday, we went to church, and it was a great service. Went out to eat after wards and pigged out! Since we are starting a new diet program today. Came home and took a nap. Just another great lazy day!
Today we are starting Thrive!, which is a diet/lifestyle change. Its really a great program. We did it before and I felt great, but after my car accident, things kind of rolled down hill, and I fell off the program. That was in January. We started back today. The biggest thing is trying to figure out how to cook the style I know and it fit the program's requirements.
Tonight we are having burritos. You can have them, but you can't have re-fried beans or rice or pretty much anything else with them. The tortillas must be loaded with fiber. Its a high protein/fiber and low sugar diet. You just have to use a lot of spices and herbs, they are free for the diet. So we'll see how it goes. I'll definitely keep you posted.

Day 4

We already talked about last night's food. Again really good!
Chloe did a little bit better last night. She stayed in her crib. I found out why she is probably not sleeping. I had to take her to the doctor to get shots. Dr. Hale said that since she has decided to wait to have teeth come in for so long, there are quite a few coming in at once, so the next couple of weeks will be like this (fun!). She was a real trooper when it came to getting her shots. She cried for a minute, but it was one of those where it took her breath away, her eyes were really big and she was looking at me the whole time. I almost starting balling. Carla made me go by myself because she couldn't handle it. I don't think its fair I have to do it by myself either. After wards, she was laughing again and was just fine. Great, great baby.
Today is another stellar day! The yard needs mowed, but I don't want to do it just yet, maybe tomorrow or next weekend.
Tonight, I'll shred the tenderloin and toss it in beef stock, the tomatoes, pasta and spinach at the end. Haven't decided what herbs I'm gonna use yet, but I'll let you know.
On another note, Baylee has become addicted with watching me play Final Fantasy XIII. She asks all the time, "can you play your game?". She got out of school early today and has already asked if I could play my game. Its hard to play it right now with NCAA March Madness going on. Luckily I have the March Madness app for my phone. So we'll see. I probably will just for her of course.

Day 3

So, yeah. Sorry about yesterday. It was pretty hectic.
Anyway, we had the dirrty Southern food. It was everything I hoped it would be. Nasty fried food. Chicken fried chicken with peppercorn gravy (used goat's milk), mashed potatoes with gravy, and fried okra. You can't get much more Southern than that. My wife loved it, I knew she would. I joke with her all the time about being Murray (its a county next to ours that is referred to as country/redneck)and this food is what they eat all the time. Don't get me wrong, it was great. But you can't eat it everyday. Baylee (8 year old) had a problem with the gravy on her chicken. She is in that OCD stage of nothing can touch. She has to rinse her fork before she eats something different. I know, we were all like that, I think.
Yesterday was 70 F and sunny, so I decided to change our house over to spring. So that's where all my time went yesterday. I'm so excited about it becoming warm and colorful again! I get so inspired with cooking from the changing seasons.
Last night for dinner, we had Chicken Carciofina! A very springy, light dish. You usually serve shrimp with that, but neither Baylee or Carla (my wife) like shrimp. You got to work with what you got. It's a dish of roasted red peppers, tomatoes, spinach (I didn't have any), white wine, vegetable stock, lemon juice, butter, and pasta. And of course, chicken. You sear off chicken and finish in the oven, mean time, in the pan used to sear chicken you add the peppers, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute until garlic is tender, add wine to deglaze and then add stock and lemon juice. Let that cook down to half and then add pasta and butter. The sauce should be buttery with a strong hint of lemon. You can use any pasta. I used a cheese tortellini (Baylee really loves that kind of pasta). They loved it!
Chloe didn't sleep again. I was up for even longer. She really needs to start sleeping again. It's killing me and Carla, mainly Carla.
I started prepping for dinner for tonight. Olive oil, lemon, garlic, and thyme poached tenderloin. It will be served with a light demi and papperdelle pasta. I think it will have spinach this time. It will need some color. I'm really excited about this one.

Day 2

Dinner turned out better than expected! Especially after I changed things up a bit. Instead of braising the cabbage in red wine, I used beer (in particular, Stella Artois-it gives the dish a nice brightness) and lemon juice. The cabbage was really good! The short ribs turned out quite nicely as well. I seared them off and then deglazed the pan with red wine, added the lamb Demi and covered the pan with aluminum foil and let it hang out in the oven at 200 F for a couple of hours. The pork tenderloin was exactly that, tender! I crusted it with hot harissa and then seared it off on my grill at 500 F. I then put it on the top rack, drop the temp to 250 F and cooked it until it registered 145 F. Instead of purple Peruvian potatoes, I used golden Yukon, they are more buttery and is perfect for what I did with them. I first blanched them in water, and then cooked them the rest of the way in goat's milk butter and thyme and then topped them with fresh Parmesan cheese. Freaking awesome! The whole family loved it.

This morning was pretty rough. My 9 month old daughter decided she was not going to sleep, so I had to stay up with her until she went back to sleep. This was at 5AM until 6AM. I don't know what the deal is, but she has been doing that for the past week, she won't sleep for more than a couple hours at a time. It's pretty rough.

Earlier today, I received an email from someone I was hoping to. She wrote that she would probably need me to help work at the Masters! Great opportunity. She owns a huge catering company and I can learn a lot from her. One of the things I want to do is start my own catering company.

So, yeah. Chloe (9 month old) has started crawling. My house is not ready for this. I have been running behind her grabbing things from her. I just spent the last hour rearranging and moving furniture to make it safer for her.

Tonite, I'm going straight dirty with the food. I'm from the south and every once in a while, I have to have "Southern" food. I'm making chicken fried chicken, fried okra and mashed potatoes, all topped with peppercorn gravy! Hmmmmm! If you've never had real Southern food, you really need to have some. Find someone who knows how to cook it and have a party. I'm really excited about it. My mouth is actually watering.

Me

I am a chef classically trained in the French techniques. I've love food all my life, but my wife was the one who pushed me into going to school and I thank her everyday.
In January, I lost my job. Didn't think it would happen to me, but it did. I live in an area where there are not many if any jobs in my field. I feel I might be losing my touch, so I really try to create wonderful technically sound food that are picture worthy and my family really enjoys.
Each day I will be writing about what I create, hopefully with pics, and some with recipes if you all would like that. It won't always be about food, its my life and food is a big part, so it will be here too, just not always.

Grilling Season

Today for dinner I am cooking a few things that I love. But I have to be careful. I have an 8 year old daughter who is just now starting to venture out into the the big palatial world. So I have to pick food she'll eat, but will tease her senses and her tummy. So for the first course, I am braising Napa cabbage in red wine and garlic and searing short ribs in a lamb demi sauce. The entree is a fire roasted pork tenderloin crusted with hot harissa and garlic, and it will be served with a duo puree of purple Peruvian potatoes and baby carrots. Everything should be safe for her, because nothing will be touching. My wife should love it, because most everything will be cooked pretty well done (bummer for me).
And I'm really excited about all this because I get to do it on my grill, yep, its grilling season! Can't wait to smell that smoke!
I'll let you know how everything turns out.