Props Vol. 4

"Props!" is a reoccurring feature on this site that will basically consist of a short list of things that are cool, things that are awesome, things that are recommended, and things that rule. I, therefore, will be giving mad "props" to everything on the list.

1. Saturday Looks Good To Me. I've written about this band many times before, but mostly in terms of 'I saw them for the Xth time and it was awesome' or 'I can believe they aren't more popular.' Well, now I've decided I don't want them to be more popular. I want them to stay the same. I want to not have to worry about getting into their shows, and not worry about having room to dance about. I like buying limited run records directly from the bandleader, and not be afraid to talk to him. I like the people I meet at their shows, and I like that I never get tired of them. I like their songs, and if the rest of the world doesn't, that's their problem.

2. Seared Shrimp. Growing up in a very small town meant any seafood I'd eat at home would be that which our family caught ourselves, meaning fried fish and fried fish only, with occasionally deep-fried and beer-battered fish and sometimes, if we were lucky, frozen breaded shrimp, also deep fried. I began making salmon and tilapia a few years ago, but largely shied away from the more expensive seafood, fearing I'd fuck it up and waste a bunch of money. Well, seared shrimp is easy as balls, aside from the hassle of peeling them. Recipe here. Serve with pasta.

3. Over the air HDTV. My dependable ten-year-old 20" TV died during the NFL playoffs, and I did some research and bought an LCD HDTV two days later. While my choice of TV may be debatable (A few things disappoint me), the fact that I have watched the rest of the playoffs, many many many college basketball games, the Office, and fucking alligators eating antelopes on PBS in High Def all using a $10 cheap antenna is fricking sweet. I may cave and get cable next fall (Damn you, Big Ten Network!), but I said that last summer as well. Granted, having to occasionally get off the couch to adjust rabbit ears is akin to powering your car with your feet, Flintstones-style.

4. Brick. While Netflix has mostly afforded me the luxury of catching up on TV-shows on DVD (Fucking THE WIRE is as good as they say and deserves its own mention), it also has allowed me the chance to watch movies that I ordinarily wouldn't have the time or energy to seek out from a video store. I've caught up on a few old classics and have been unafraid to test out movies I haven't heard too much about. I had heard relatively little about Brick, other that it was described as a neo-noir and generally got positive reviews. I picked a night spent alone to watch it, and I was so impressed that I watched all of the DVD special features and then started the movie over again with director's commentary turned on. I don't want to give much away, not that the plot is the most important thing (and is pretty confusing at first), but it is basically The Maltese Falcon set in a high school, complete with antiquated gumshoe slang and all the stock characters from the genre. I also have decided that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the best actor around who is younger than me.

5. Proxy Servers. My previous complaints about work internet filters have finally been answered, thanks to websites that access forbidden websites for me. No youtube, but at least I can check daily the roster of The Racing Sausages, my head-to-head fantasy baseball team, currently in first place after one week.

6. Children of Men. Another movie. This one just came out on DVD as well, and I have purchased and watched already. But the real fireworks came when I saw this in a theater a couple months ago. I don't usually go for the bleak, post-apocalyptic thing, but this one completely held my attention for nearly two hours, with some moments so intense (not to mention technically amazing and real-feeling) that I nearly forgot to breathe. Probably best on decent home theatre set-up (the DVD looked good but I don't have any sound system), but definitely worth checking out. Watchability factor is high as well, due to the fact that the movie doesn't hit you over the head with exposition, and prefers to use background imagery to fill in the backstory. I wouldn't classify it as an 'ACTION' movie, but if it were it would be the smartest action movie I've ever seen, and probably was my most satisfying trip to the movie theater in my lifetime.

7. A Spicy Falafel Sandwich and a Large Lentil Soup from Sultan's Market, Chicago. Once again, the small-town factor affects culinary matters, as middle eastern food is something I completely ignored until the last few years. I did go a few times to the mideast restaurant on 55th street (I think) in Hyde Park when I lived there, but nothing compares to having an insanely cheap place (the above costs $6 total) for take-out within a couple blocks from my apartment. My stomach did briefly protest to the strange new combinations of ingredients, not to mention eating an entire meal without any meat that didn't involve pasta, but the taming power of hummus has prevailed.

8. Sexy Librarians. I don't think any explanation is necessary, though I will say that some people's idea of a S.L is to stick a Playboy Playmate in cat-eye glasses. This is not what I have in mind. While the term does refer to particular aesthetic features, ideally it would involve a high level of literacy as well, and I'd like to think I can beat at least a vast majority of Playmates at Scrabble.

Food Finale: Tuesday

Well, this was the last day of recording my food and alcohol consumption. Today was another pretty normal day, save for the beers and snacks, which were a result of getting out of work 45 minutes early and choosing to go to bar instead of home. Dinner was almost exclusively from Trader Joe's, which doesn't represent my normal eating habits.

Food:

Two S’mores-flavored Pop Tarts
One cup green tea
One smoked turkey lunchmeat sandwich with yellow mustard on Whole Wheat bread
One fat free Key Lime Yogurt
One kiwi
One small leftover salad featuring spinach and mushrooms and some other weird things
Medium-sized bowl of popcorn
Very small bowl of kettle chips
One salmon patty (baked in toaster over) on a whole wheat bun with spicy mustard AND salsa.
Small serving of homemade apple sauce
Small serving of penne with eggplant and mushrooms (from frozen package)
A few Reece’s Pieces

Alcohol:

Two bottles of Miller Genuine Draft
Two Bourbons on the rocks

****

So, what have I learned? Nothing. My lunches are boring (though a usual weekly sample would have some over-priced cafeteria food or some other work lunch out) and I can make a decent dinner if I have the time and energy. I also drink too much. It should also be noted that for the entire week I was eating dinner with M, so I didn't have a chance to be on my own and lazy. Overall though, hopefully I can avoid laziness and eat more vegetables and all of these things.

I do apologize for wasting everyone's time. The exercise was largely self-indulgent and should have been done privately. If you have comments, feel free to leave them. Non-food related posting shall resume tomorrow.

Food: Monday

Another boring food day, as I had 'the usual' for lunch and leftovers again for dinner. Complete lack of vegetables is disturbing. Beginning today I have switched to a new kind of bread; one without any weird preservatives or, apparently, taste. Also, our endless supply of "Curry Beef" has finally been exhausted, so look for something new for dinner tomorrow.

Food:

One smoked turkey lunchmeat sandwich with yellow mustard on Whole Wheat bread
One fat free Black Cherry Yogurt
One apple
One kiwi
3 oz baby carrots
Two individually wrapped packs of Keebler club crackers and cheese
One Nature Valley ‘Sweet n Salty Nut: Cashew’ snack bar
One large bowl of “Curry Beef” with white rice
16 oz glass of Low Sodium V-8
One small piece of chocolate shaped like a race car.
A few Reece's Pieces.

Alcohol:

Two Sidecars.

Food: Sunday

Today was a lazy day, leftovers for dinner plus whatever else I could find for lunch. In retrospect, I probably could have done without that last drink.

Food:

16 oz glass of orange juice
One bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats with 1% milk
4 oz of apple juice
Large romaine lettuce salad, with one tomato, feta cheese, and Newman’s Own Light Raspberry Walnut dressing
One cob of corn, with ICBINB and salt
One large bowl of “Curry Beef” with rice
Four “mini” whole wheat pita pockets with Chipotle Pepper Hummus

Alcohol:

Two Caipirinhas
Two Bourbons on the rocks

Food: Saturday

Okay, any chance of this experiment accurately resembling what my typical diet is can be thrown out the window right now. This morning we went grocery shopping at 'Trader Joes' for the first time, buying a ton of things that possibly are healthy. Maybe if I keep writing down my food intake, even if it's not to be published for as many as 9 people to peruse, I will eat so healthy that I'll live forever. Today, however, we made crockpot full of meat.

Food:

20 oz glass of orange juice (from concentrate)
One Kiwi
One large blueberry-raspberry bran muffin with ICBINB
Eight Pieces ‘Low-Fat’ California Roll from Trader Joes with Wasabi and Ginger
3 oz Safeway Frozen Stir Fry vegetables microwaved and lightly salted.
Two large servings of “Curry Beef”: beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes w/ Curry seasoning and hot sauce, made in crock pot.
Two servings of plain white rice

Alcohol:

½ bottle of wine: Charles Shaw Shiraz

Food: Friday

Today was a bit of an anomaly, as we went out for dinner. I was stuffed afterwards. Crab Cake Tater Tots are the best thing ever.

Food:

Two S’mores-flavored Pop Tarts
Two Cup Green Tea
One smoked turkey lunchmeat sandwich with yellow mustard on 100% Whole grain bread
One Strawberry Flavored Yogurt
One apple
One Kiwi
One generous handful dried apricots
½ Order of Crab Cake Tater Tots from Blue Line Club Car Restaurant
One house salad with Italian dressing from B.L.C.C.
8 oz Yellow Fin Blackened Tuna with Cajun Spices from BLCC
One small portion mashed potatoes from BLCC
One small portion steamed broccoli from BLCC

Alcohol:

One 22 oz bottle of Fat Tire Ale
Approx One Shot of Brandy

Food: Thursday

So, usually I eat two sandwiches for lunch, so maybe this whole full-disclosure thing has gotten to me. But, as I mentioned before, that NYT article kind of spooked me too, so I've been being more self-conscious for the last couple weeks. Yesterday I was starving when I left work, but after dinner I felt no need to snack. Anyway, here's Thursday's food (listed in mostly chronological order, save for the green tea, one cup of which I had in the morning in order to warm up after being stuck outside waiting for the train for 40 minutes, and the other when I arrived home, just before I started cooking dinner.):

Food:

One individually wrapped pack of Keebler club crackers and cheese
One Nature Valley ‘Sweet n Salty Nut: Cashew’ snack bar
Two cups green tea
One smoked turkey lunchmeat sandwich with yellow mustard on 100% Whole grain bread
One apricot-mango flavored yogurt
One apple
½ of an orange (it was gross)
One handful raisins
8 oz venison steak, cut into small pieces, dredged in flour, and fried in vegetable oil, served with ketchup
10 oz Safeway Frozen Stir Fry vegetables (asparagus, beans, carrots, squash, mushrooms, onions, celery, cauliflower), microwaved and lightly salted.
One piece 100% Whole grain bread, topped with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Light.

Alcohol:

One Sidecar
One Bourbon on the rocks.

Food: Should Your Children be Eating It?

A little less than two weekends ago I came across an essay called 'Unhappy Meals' in the NYT Sunday Magazine. (It is no longer available for free at the NYT website, but now you can find it here.) It is very long but worth reading; if you are illiterate there is a basic summary at the end.

When it comes to food I'm generally semi-healthy, at least compared to the national average: I rarely buy snacks, I try to eat balanced meals, I look at the 'nutritional info' of just about everything I buy. Sure, there are days which a frozen pizza or can of Chunky Soup is the majority of my dinner, (not to mention the constant heavy consumption of alcohol), but by and large I don't do too badly. There is room for improvement, more fresh veggies would be welcome, and I consume too many processed foods. The aforementioned article kind of scared me, however. I mean, I may eat my lunch sandwiches on 100% Whole Grain Bread, but it is bread that has about 50 ingredients I can't pronounce and has been made in a factory by bread-making robots as opposed to by a jolly baker with a mustache.

I've always thought that it is increasingly difficult to eat healthily, or to be healthier in general, a) the poorer you are, and b) the lazier you are. While my salary isn't giant by any means, I don't have whiny kids to support, and generally can buy what I want (though I am always looking for sales; I don't think I've ever purchased meat that wasn't on sale). As far a laziness goes, well, obviously some of that is in play. Some of it is laziness in cooking, though usually I try to make a game effort. More of the laziness should be attributed to my shopping habits, which are rather infrequent. There isn't a grocery store (besides Aldi's) within walking distance, which means there isn't a shopping trip consisting of picking up a few things for dinner, there are only infrequent shopping trips to the Dominick's nearly two miles away consisting of filling a shopping cart to the top and spending $100-$175 dollars (depending on alcohol purchases). When our food supply begins to dwindle, or at least the exciting things we bought at the store are gone, and we are left with some frozen meat in the freezer and whatever else has been sitting in cupboards for the last six months things get a bit harder, and I'd like to think that, if the Aldi's was replaced by a locally grown produce market, I'd be eating a lot healthier.

Anyway, in order to waste everyone's time, I've decided to document my eating habits for the next week. I will be honest, and I'll try not to let my full disclosure influence any of my food or alcohol enjoyment (though I may hesitate when drinking vermouth straight from the bottle at 2 am). I'll try to include everything except water (which I usually drink about 24-40 oz of a day during the work week, and usually slightly less on weekends) because it is not worth mentioning. I'm not going to be overly precise, but still as accurate as possible.

Because I have a good memory, and in order to get this week over with a day earlier, I'll begin by listing yesterday's consumption. I've included 'Drink' with Food, but kept Alcohol separate. I'm not sure why.

So, here goes:

Wednesday, Feb. 7
Food:
Two servings of peaches & cream instant oatmeal
One cup green tea
Two individually wrapped packs of Keebler club crackers and cheese
One smoked turkey lunchmeat sandwich with Miracle Whip Light on 100% Whole grain bread
One low fat Strawberry-Banana Yogurt
One kiwi
One apple
One handful of dried apricots
Approx. 4 oz Low Sodium V8
About a dozen sesame-flavored crackers topped liberally with Brie cheese
One Falafel sandwich (spicy) from Sultan’s Market
One Large Bowl of Lentil Soup from Sultan’s Market

Alcohol:
Two sidecars (brandy, triple sec, and lime juice)