My diet

I am on a diet. Again.

I have a lot of weight to lose. Maybe 30 pounds. I have a personal trainer with whom I spend two (expensive) hours each week. I generally eat well - heathful, smartly, etc. I keep a food and activity diary. I work out a lot. I am healthy, but I am fatter than I would like. When I was 30, I weighed between 113-118. I wore a 2-4. Now, not so much.

I have tried doing the Perricone diet straight, but it was costing me about $200/week from Whole Foods. And that's just my food, without any purchases for the Mr. Sure, I could have purchased food from the supermarket, or I could have purchased less expensive, more hormone and antibiotically filled turkey, etc.

I have done straight calorie counting. I have done the Zone.

After spending Thanksgiving with my extremely skinny mother, and seeing pictures of myself from 5 years ago, when I was skinnier than she is, I have rededicated myself. Again.

I used to aim for 1400 calories/day, but I have actually gained weight eating that amount of calories and working out. I weigh everything and use myfooddiary.com for calculations, so I know I am not making estimate errors. Plus, I work out with a hrm.

I will not be following my mother in her diet of light yogurt and dry cereal, but I need to do something.

New Cookbook

My friend Jules E. D. Shepard has just released her first cookbook for sale at Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten Free Eating.

I ordered it immediately, and I am looking forward to seeing it. Jules has a great perspective on Celiac disease, and she is, by far, the best cook I know. We spent many, many nights our third year going from the gym to her kitchen, watching as she cooked and baked for those of us who had never done much of either.

Night Tea - Serene - Rishi

Rishi Serene is my night tea of choice.

In speaking with my friends, the one tea everyone had as a child was "sleepytime." Serene lacks the minty character I remember, though I have not had it in years. Serene is floral, with a deep Sun yellow color, and a hint of mint at the finish.

Serene is a blend of 100% Organic chamomile, 100% Organic lemon myrtle, 100% Organic jasmine flowers, 100% Organic peppermint, 100% Organic lavender and jasmine flowers.

212° for 4–5 minutes. Rishi says 1 tbs per 8 oz.

Hojicha - Republic of Tea

An excellent, mellow afternoon or postprandial tea.

The flavor and aroma is roasted with a hint of wood, and a good bit of smokiness.

Per cup, slightly more than 1 tsp at 180º for 3 minutes.

Chai Blends

I used to drink 1 tsp of Cardamon Cinnamon blended with a PG tips pyramid as my morning chai.

I would steep 2 tsp of Cardamon Cinnamon with 2 tea bags at 212º for 5 minutes, then remove the bag and continue steeping the Cardamon Cinnamon for additional 2-5 minutes.

(I have also prepared it with Rooibos in place of the black tea.)

I would add milk and splenda to the pot and drink it all day.

Now, I am blending the Cardamon CInnamon into Adagio's Mambo, which is Yunnan and Wuyi.

Best Ti Kuan Yin - Rishi

I have been making comparison pots of Ti Kuan Yin from Adagio and Rishi. Rishi clearly wins, although Adagio is a delicious tea.

They are both coppery/iron-y in flavor with floral (orchid, mostly) notes.

Rishi has a richer color. I prepare it following their instructions (190º for 4 minutes) and increase steeping time by 30 seconds for each subsequent infusion.

Adagio instructs brewing at 212º for 5 minutes. I have brewed it that way, and the Rishi way. I prefer the Rishi preparation.

My reorder will be Rishi.

Black Tea - Apple Cantata / Cinnamon - Adagio

I was extremely underwhelmed by Adagio's Apple Cantata. It lacked discernable color and flavor when I made it alone, so it sat in the back of the tea pantry. This afternoon, I mixed 1 tsp of Apple Cantata with 1 tsp of Cinnamon (212º for 5 minutes). It was very good.

The Cinnamon is a blend of cinnamon stick and black tea with a full flavor, but not too spicy. It rounds out the apple flavor and the blend tastes a little like the Cinnamon Apple teas from Celestial Seasonings and Bigelow (with the obvious exceptions of being caffeinated and with a subtler flavor.

I will make it again.

Iced TeaS

I have been experimenting with iced tea.

The requirements are simple: green tea, some flavor, relatively easy.

I like minty flavor in my iced tea. I am passionate about the flavor of the Hibiscus Mint tea at Austin Java, mixed with everything else. I also love the mint flavor in Sweetleaf Tea's Green Tea & MInt bottled tea, although it is WAY too sweet.

I have been brewing my own Moroccan Mint tea (Rishi OG Jade Fire and Rishi OG Peppermint). In a pinch, I have used Adagio's gunpowder and peppermint, but the quality is just not the same.

The Mister hates minty flavor, as I have only recently discovered.

His preference is fruity or lemony. For him, I have made a blend of Adagio's Blood Orange and Dragonwell. I brew the Blood Orange (180º for 7 min) and Dragonwell (180º for 3 min) separately and then blend them together. He loved it, so he will be getting more of it. To me, it's a little kool-aid-y.