I lost 60 pounds with Noom

Fruit!

Sensible breakfast

Portion size matters

Treats are part of the plan

Salad!

Budget for dessert!

In week 26 of Noom I hit my goal of burning 60 pounds of excess weight. Noom is an integrated weight loss app that incorporates daily articles, weigh-ins, food logging, daily steps goals, exercise logging, and social support with a group of Noomers who started around the same time, a group coach, and a personal goal specialist.

Most people on the program have a goal of losing one to two pounds a week. I went all-in with the program and have burned off 60 pounds. What drew me to Noom was that it was grounded in science and focused on long term sustainability. You are not on a diet you are focusing on modifying your diet to maintain a modest calorie deficit. Many lessons focus on hunger and the factors that contribute to the sense of fullness and all of the emotions and triggers around eating. Importantly, there is nothing that is off the diet, though you may decide that there are foods that "aren't worth the calories" for you. It's about choices and building better habits.

Adjust my shopping. More fruit, veggies, whole grains
For most of my life, 200 pounds was my hard upper limit that I would make sure never to cross. Then various factors conspired and I took my eye off the ball for a few years and blew right through that limit. For a while, I struggled to stay even, but every couple of years more weight would come on and I would settle into a new normal. When I hit 235 it was like a switch flipped and I was ready to commit to doing what it took, and I found Noom which was just the right approach for me.

I've logged over five hundred meals in a row, walked 9K steps most days, plus one other active activity: weights, yoga, biking, gardening.... I am feeling fit. Working towards a goal of doing three handstand push-ups.

I've developed a new relationship with food and hunger.

I am more aware of the triggers within me, and in my environment, and developed tools to respond to them more mindfully and healthfully.

It has helped to focus on limits while avoiding the sense of deprivation. Nothing is "off the menu", though there are some things I've decided just aren't worth the calories.

Failed attempt 1 at Peach Nirvana

I am working on developing a recipe for "Peach Nirvana" as a sort of cobbler for a science fiction story my wife and I are writing. Long story. At least so far, but we aren't done writing it yet. The cook in the story makes a cobbler for the crew that is a hit.

My first attempt was to adapt the Lemon Wedges over Shortbread recipe with the peach syrup and peaches in place of the lemon juice and zest. I cut the sugar in half since there is a lot of sweetness in the syrup and peaches and none of the sour of the lemon to contend with.

Little known fact, peaches are bigger and juicier than shavings of lemon zest. Word.

FAIL

But there were some lessons learned.

Never give up. Never surrender. 

Lemon wedges on shortbread

Wanted to bring a little something to a party and realized I hadn't had lemon squares in a long while. Dug around for a recipe, and didn't see anything familiar, so I decided to try the one from The New Best Recipe Cookbook.

It was quite rich but very flavorful with good balance between the filling and the crust.

Halloween Graveyard Cake

What is more thematic for Halloween than a graveyard cake? I started with a recipe Sharon found at Spooky Graveyard Cake and their recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting, though I used 1/2 tsp almond extract, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and two drops of orange essence.  For the actual cake, I used this one bowl chocolate cake recipe.

Tasting as you go

I was just making chocolate pudding and hazelnut cookies. And I noticed something. 

Noticing things is an interesting aspect of cooking. I have heard that it is good to taste as you go: ingredients, mixes, etc. So you can adjust seasonings, and also so you can gather data about what things taste like at various stages. Then is something goes wrong you might be able to fix it before it is too late. 

Back to the pudding. So I was all done sieving the cooked pudding and folding in the butter and vanilla when I tasted the spatula. Wow, it was bitter. That was the moment when I realized how odd it was that the recipe didn't call for sugar. Out comes the cook book and low and behold I missed the 2/3 cup of sugar. 

This far in, all I could do was fold in the sugar and hope that there was enough residual heat that it could still mix in and not be gritty. Tasted again and this was more like I remembered. 

If I were to write a cookbook, I would demand of the publisher that ingredient lists do not span pages. This is one thing I appreciate about the GOOD EATS: The Early Years book I am working though. They have very nice page layout for the recipes. No Flipping back and forth from one page to the next. 

French bread pudding

I got this recipe from my good friend Dawn who says it is a combination of ones she found in The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Book of Desserts and one from a Better Homes & Gardens recipe.

Bread Pudding recipe needed

I had some fantastic bread pudding last night. If you have a recipe that you like for bread pudding that you are willing to share, please do so in the comments. It seems like there is a tremendous variety of approaches to bread pudding so I am interested in doing some exploring of the space of possibilities. So even if you don't have a favorite recipe, what do you think makes a good bread pudding?

The one I had last night tasted like a combination of boiled custard and french toast and was really delightful, light, moist, and comforting. Seemed like an excellent summer desert or decadent breakfast. I suspect that later in the year when things turn cold again, it would be nice to have something a little more substantial. Maybe with some dried cranberries and more spices and a little denser.

Some recipes on line I may explore:

• Wikibooks: has a straightforward recipe that looks a little dry in the photo
• Pioneer Woman: Bread Puddding with sourdough bread cubes and pecan topping and a Whiskey Cream Sauce
• There look to be a lot of recipes at Betty Crocker
• Traditional recipes for amish bread pudding, and english bread and butter pudding

Any thoughts welcome ...

Chocolate Pudding from scratch

Pudding didn't used to come from a box.

I like chocolate.
I like eggs, and have a steady supply.
I like cream.

Let us combine these to make pudding, but what to do with the leftover whites ...?

The almond cookies use egg whites.
This pudding uses egg yolks.
A match made, well, in the kitchen.

Fudge Brownies from Scratch

Sharon encouraged me to try something new. She found a fudge brownie recipe in the King Arthur Cookie Companion Cookbook.

Winter Party Follow-up

Time to wrap up something from a couple months ago. I had all this lead up on this blog about getting ready for the winter party celebrating our house's centennial and then I never found that photos we had taken until just the other day. They were on "the other camera".

Two tones of caramel sauce

Continuing to work my way through Cooking for Geeks. There are "dry" and "wet" approaches to making caramel. This is a dry approach and I am a fan. 

Assemble the team:

• 1 part sugar,
• 1 part cream.

In this case, 1 cup of each. (Later I add a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract).

Start with just the sugar in a cold pan. Put over medium-high heat. DO NOT STIR -- until the edges have started melting. Then stir to blend the melted and unmelted sugars.

Once it is melted through you have a choice:

• Add the cream now
• Let the sugar darken some more

Or, none of the above. Divide into two batches and do both! Whenever you decide, add the cream slowly and stir to incorporate as you go. BE CAREFUL -- THIS STUFF IS HOT and STICKY -- a DANGEROUS combination. Add a pinch of salt and vanilla if you are so inclined (which I am).

Since you get different flavors developed at different temperatures I was aiming for a blended sauce.

What is an experiment without evaluating the results? An accident. So we sampled the light sauce, the dark sauce, and the blended sauce. Sharon liked the light sauce. I liked the blend best. They were all good. There was much more depth to the dark sauce.

Next time: I really like the blended sauce. I think I would divide the sugar and cream into 3/4 cup for the light sauce and 1/3 cup for the darker sauce and cook them in separate pans. I might not go quite as dark on the dark sauce. And I would warm the cream before adding it.

I dividing the blended caramel sauces in two containers so I could heat a small batch to serve without having heat the whole batch.

And for clean up, I just couldn't stand the thought of losing any of that great flavor stuck to the pan. So I deglazed the pans with milk, then drank the warm caramel milk.

Update 2/12/13: I just made this again using two pans and a 2:1 relation of light caramel and medium caramel and it worked out great!

Cinnamon bread tree

Sharon found a recipe for a festive looking cinnamon bread.

As written the recipe makes four trees each of which would serve 8-10.

I found this approach simpler than the more traditional cinnamon roll.

Ideas for a holiday party

Starting to plan for a holiday party. 
Here are some ideas Sharon found...

Hot spinach artichoke dip

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hot-spinach-artichoke-dip-recipe/index.html

Beef mole
http://theviewfromthegreatisland.blogspot.com/2012/11/beef-and-pumpkin-chili-mole.html

Whole menu
http://www.finecooking.com/menus/elegant-make-ahead-christmas-dinner-holiday-menu.aspx

Make-Ahead Christmas Recipes
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/make_ahead_christmas_recipes

Crispy Phyllo Spinach Tartlets -- done
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/crispy_phyllo_spinach_tartlets.html

Stuffed Chicken Thighs Braised in Tomato Sauce
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/stuffed_chicken_thighs.html
Tried this. Worked ok. Would be better served over something that could use the sauce. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables in Cheddar Crust
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_fall_vegetables_in_cheddar_crust.html

Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole
http://mavensprintablerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-ahead-sweet-potato-casserole.html

Apple Sausage Stuffing for Your Turkey
http://www.kitchenwitchmaven.com/2009/10/apple-sausage-stuffing-for-your-turkey.html
Tried this twice. Pay attention to not letting it burn on top (if cooking on the side).

Chocolate hazelnut snickerdoodles
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-hazelnut-snickerdoodle-cookies-recipe/index.html


Rainbow Tie-dye Christmas Wreath Bundt Cake
http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/rainbow-tie-dye-christmas-wreath-bundt-cake/

A Christmas Baking Tradition: Tree Breads -- done
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Colorful Swirl Cookies
http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/12/colorful-swirl-cookies.html

Festive Cabot Cheddar Tree
http://www.cabotcheese.coop/pages/recipes/recipe.php?id=194&catID=59

Reindeer Feed
http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2012/07/reindeer-food.html



Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-hazelnut-biscotti-recipe/index.html

Strawberry-Blueberry Crepes

Experimented with some crepes tonight.

For the filling I warmed some fresh strawberries in a little sugar with a Tbs each of sour cream, plain yogurt and port. I didn't quite have enough fruit, so I added some fresh blueberries.

For the batter I used

• 1/4 Cup each: whole wheat pastry flour, white whole wheat flour, 10-grain flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 Tbs port
• 1 Tbs melted butter
• 2 eggs

Mix dry then wet ingredients with a whisk (or a food processor). 

Snickerdoodle smack down

I looked up four recipes for Snickerdoodles. Two called for vanilla, the other two called for cream of tartar, one used whole wheat pastry flour and all butter, the others had butter and shortening. I grew up on the Betty Crocker recipe which was almost identical to the Cooks Illustrated.

Cobbler

I found a nice recipe for fruit cobbler in the Joy of Cooking. Three cups peeled, diced fruit, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 Tbs flour combined in a sauce pan. Heat until bubbling.

Meanwhile make a biscuit dough:
sift together 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsb salt
Cut in 3 Tbs butter,
Then 3/8 cup milk.
Need 8-10 times on lightly floured surface.

Pour fruit into 8x8 caserole, top with hunks of biscuit dough. Dot with 2 Tbs butter. Sprinkle 1 Tbs sugar all over. Dust with some salsa fina (ginger, cinnamon, grains of paradise, galangal).

Bake at 400º for 1/2 hour.
Serve with a goodly amount of vanilla ice cream.

For the fruit in this case I used two pears, two apples, and seven dried figs.