Pulp Kitchen

Well, it been quite some time since I’ve written.  It’s been a bit hectic with school, work, kickboxing, a birthday, and oh, almost chopping my finger off.  But even though I lost the blogging drive for a sort while, I feel back in the spirit.  I did in fact feel a little disappointed that I had not seen quicker weight loss results (I do live in the 21st century after all, I need immediate gratification dammit!).  And I did in fact fall into a familiar pattern of mentally saying “fuck it.”  But it was because my 33rd birthday was upon me, and I really wanted to splurge…. for 5 days.  Hmm.  Excessive?

Yes, I almost chopped the tip of my finger off.  And then I fainted.  I am officially a wuss.  I can’t even believe it.  I was chopping green onions and the blade slipped and cut through a good portion of finger and through nail.  I didn’t think it was that bad until I got to the sink and looked at it.  Then I felt the fear.  Derek says I went stark white and just like a true hero, he ran over and shuffled me to the bathroom where I lost consciousness for just a couple of seconds and had to lay on the bathroom floor for at least five minutes, towel wrapped finger in the air.  We decided the cut did not warrant a trip to the hospital and I’m thankful for that.  But I have a gnarly looking finger and had to miss kickboxing for this week in fear reopening the wound that bleed for a good 2 days.  I seriously need to sign up for a knife skills class.

Other than the chopping of the finger mishap, it was a great birthday week, filled with mac and cheese, Backspace’s bianca pizza, desserts, a trip to Whataburger (shame!), a noticeable lack of vegetables, and I finished it all off with an indulgent dinner tonight.  Frutti di Mare in a brandy cream sauce.  It’s everything I love: seafood, pasta, and cream sauce.  Amazing.  Truly.  I’ll post it sometime.  We had an equally as delicious appetizer, an heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese, torn basil, and drizzled with olive oil and aged balsamic.  My friend Stife, a talented backyard farmer, gave me a pound of gorgeous garden tomatoes.  Originally I was going to make my heirloom tomato soup, but the tomatoes were so good I had to keep them in their original state.  So what better way then to keep it simple.  It was perfect.

So, as I say goodby to my short little rebellion, I anticipate a renewed vigor in my weight-loss goal.  10 am kickboxing here I come.

So, one thing is becoming abundantly clear.  My original goal date of 60 days may have been a little implausible.  Well, implausible if I still want to eat the way I’ve been eating; healthy most of the time, splurge when need be.  Hmm.  Not sure how I feel about this.  Do I really want to diet, like really diet, like eat rice cakes and carrot sticks diet???  I don’t know.  Honestly, if I lost 10 pounds in 60 days, I’m okay with that.  If it takes me 4 months to lose the 20 pounds, I’m okay with that too.  The most important goal, to me, is that I keep a healthy lifestyle.  I want to consistently exercise and feel that energy and vitality after I leave the kickboxing gym.  And I want to not give in to every and any whim.  I don’t need to eat pizza every week.  I don’t need to eat the Mac and Cheese at work every time it’s available.  I don’t need a fatty cheeseburger all the time.  But considering how much time it took me to count calories at the beginning of this endeavor, I don’t know if I want to go that way.  I don’t want to be miserable.  But maybe I’ll kick up the workouts to 4-5 times a week, which will truthfully be hard to manage with work and school, but I’m gonna give it a shot.

On to the good stuff.  I made this beauty tonight for dinner.  The recipe is a Bon Appetit recipe I saw on their Facebook.  I was drawn to it because I thought the anise flavor from the fennel and Pernod would give it a really interesting flavor, and it did.  There’s not much to it, but as light as it is, it makes a perfect summertime dinner.  And who doesn’t love bay scallops!  I could eat them every single day.  For real.

Bay Scallops, Fennel, and Tomato Pasta (from Bon Appetit)

• 8 ounces linguine (or whole wheat spaghetti which is what I used)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced, plus 1 tablespoon fennel fonds
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced (or diced like I accidentally did)
• 1 pound bay scallops
• 1 6-ounce container cherry tomatoes, halved if large
• 1 tablespoon Pernod or other anise-flavored liqueur
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 wedges

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced fennel and onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until wilted but crisp-tender, about 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to medium bowl.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to skillet. Add scallops and sauté until just opaque in center, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl with fennel-onion mixture. Add tomatoes to skillet and sauté until heated through, about 2 minutes. Return fennel-onion mixture and scallops to skillet. Mix in Pernod.

Add drained pasta to skillet; toss to coat, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped parsley and 1 tablespoon fennel fronds. Transfer to large shallow bowl, sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, and serve with lemon wedges.

Took my first Communications test on Thursday, and I’m happy to say I got an A!  I don’t know how, but I’ve become this really studious person… and liking it.  I think it’s because I feel a sense of purpose, something to work towards.  I haven’t felt this good in a long time.  And I’m sure all the working out has contributed to that as well.  I went to kickboxing Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Today, Derek and I are hitting the gym.  And tomorrow we’re going to try to make it to a yoga class.  Lazy has left my vocabulary.

Yesterday was very strange day.  The night before, my allergies were terrible so I took some Benadryl.  We had to wake up super early for our civil court hearing (long story short: we bought a scooter, it was a piece of crap, we filed and won our Lemon Law case, we found out they have no real authority, we filed a civil lawsuit) and, I’m also very happy to say, we won our case per default judgement, and were awarded just about everything we asked for!  Now we have to go through the grueling process of actually getting our money.  But where many people would have given up, we have persevered and will not give up until those bastards pay us!  Anyway, I was in a Benadryl haze all day, which makes me even more spacey than usual.  This is what we ended up eating for the day.  Eggs and whole grain 1/2 muffin, some hummus and more muffin, sourdough loaf and brie, a little prosciutto, and pita chips.  That’s it.  And Derek and I were saying that we were gonna get drunk and watch hockey and movies… well, we each had 3 drinks and were asleep by 10, 8 in his case.  Pathetic! 

Today menu includes zucchini feta frittata, maybe a sandwich for lunch, and for dinner Sockeye salmon with a coconut sauce and roasted cauliflower couscous.  Yum.