I meant to post this earlier.
Most of the time, I kept a food journal online, but I also made a paper one for travel, or when I wouldn't have a computer around all the time. I got a small 3-subject notebook and, using Calorie Count, write calorie values per quantity for some common foods on the covers and dividers (where they would be easy to find. You could also devote a few of the front pages for this, though). I left space so I could add more as I found I needed them.
That's the starch page. I had Fruit, Vegetables, Starch, Meat, Dairy, Other (condiments, olives, etc.), and Snacks/Meals. I rounded up the calorie values to the nearest 5, both to err on the side of caution and to make it easier to add them up.
Most of the time, I kept a food journal online, but I also made a paper one for travel, or when I wouldn't have a computer around all the time. I got a small 3-subject notebook and, using Calorie Count, write calorie values per quantity for some common foods on the covers and dividers (where they would be easy to find. You could also devote a few of the front pages for this, though). I left space so I could add more as I found I needed them.
That's the starch page. I had Fruit, Vegetables, Starch, Meat, Dairy, Other (condiments, olives, etc.), and Snacks/Meals. I rounded up the calorie values to the nearest 5, both to err on the side of caution and to make it easier to add them up.
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I ended up running and ridiculous number of errands today. I had coupons that were about to expire, that I wanted to use. I needed a new pair of black flat shoes and Mom gave me her $10 off coupon at DSW (I got a pair of plain Bass loafers on clearance, totaling $19. There were two pairs of Sofftspots I really, really, wanted but couldn't justify since my car will need tires soon, so I was good and fled the store before I did anything stupid). They're boring shoes, though; I didn't take a picture.
I had a 20% coupon for Charlotte's Saddlery and went out to check the Breyers. They were turning over their inventory and didn't have much, but I did get the new Stablemate set. I only want about four of the horses but I'll resell the others. They're all very nice.
I got the green fabric I need for McCall's 4966 (1975). I don't know why I love this so much; it's such a meek little print. It's exactly what I had in mind for version C, though. How often do you find exactly the fabric you wanted? I always seem to picture something that's totally out of fashion and impossible to get.
I also found, on clearance, a light-green-and-yellow pinstripe. Not the kind of thing I normally get but it seemed like a nice change from the dark colors I usually choose, without being garish. And it was dirt cheap. Dirt cheap is nice.
I actually cooked dinner tonight. Ironically, it didn't come from any of the zillion cookbooks I got, but it was fun to cook again, and nice to eat something we wouldn't ordinarily have made. Chicken and sausage gumbo, with rice, of course. (The Gumbo Pages are awesome, by the way.)
I cut the recipe more or less in half, using three large chicken breasts, and 1/3 cup each oil and flour for the roux. I didn't even burn it. Hooray! It gave me an excuse to haul out the iron Dutch oven, too, which doesn't see enough use otherwise.
I had a 20% coupon for Charlotte's Saddlery and went out to check the Breyers. They were turning over their inventory and didn't have much, but I did get the new Stablemate set. I only want about four of the horses but I'll resell the others. They're all very nice.
I got the green fabric I need for McCall's 4966 (1975). I don't know why I love this so much; it's such a meek little print. It's exactly what I had in mind for version C, though. How often do you find exactly the fabric you wanted? I always seem to picture something that's totally out of fashion and impossible to get.
I also found, on clearance, a light-green-and-yellow pinstripe. Not the kind of thing I normally get but it seemed like a nice change from the dark colors I usually choose, without being garish. And it was dirt cheap. Dirt cheap is nice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I actually cooked dinner tonight. Ironically, it didn't come from any of the zillion cookbooks I got, but it was fun to cook again, and nice to eat something we wouldn't ordinarily have made. Chicken and sausage gumbo, with rice, of course. (The Gumbo Pages are awesome, by the way.)
I cut the recipe more or less in half, using three large chicken breasts, and 1/3 cup each oil and flour for the roux. I didn't even burn it. Hooray! It gave me an excuse to haul out the iron Dutch oven, too, which doesn't see enough use otherwise.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
I checked out Fannie's Last Supper from the library but didn't think in time to get a copy of the Fannie Farmer cookbook to have on hand for comparison. Doh! The library didn't have it, and neither did Half-Price Books. They did, however, have clearance sales. At both places. Softcover books $1 or $2 each.
I need to learn to stay away from Half-Price Books. That place is like crack.
I found a nice variety of things, from mainstream to oddball. I love oddball myself but community cookbooks tend to be repetitive and I've had to slow down on those. I did find the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. It's probably not the kind of thing I would normally use, but it was $1. Worth a try.
I found a nice variety of things, from mainstream to oddball. I love oddball myself but community cookbooks tend to be repetitive and I've had to slow down on those. I did find the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. It's probably not the kind of thing I would normally use, but it was $1. Worth a try.
Ditto the Enchanted Broccoli Forest. I have an uneasy feeling about Mollie Katzen, based on nothing at all rational, but the least I can do is give this a whirl, right?
I can't eat Amish cooking on a regular basis, and I'll never need recipes for 50 pounds of beef salami, but, man, can those Amish gals bake. Holy cow.
This one looks like one of those 1980's-aspirational cookbooks (published in 1984), aimed at middle-class women trying hard to do something impressive. But I don't have much in the way of seafood recipes, and this didn't look very repetitive.
This one gets the award for the best-organized cookbook ever. Mennonite women can apparently cook like nobody else (there's even a blog about it) . . .
. . . and they can organize, too. Check this out: Ingredients on the left, procedure on the right, neatly divided into steps. Move over, Mrs. Beeton.
I fell off the wagon and got another community cookbook. Mostly because it had a cabbage recipe I wanted. (Ignore the old price tag.)
This one has too many sweet bread recipes, but I think it might have the same awesome pumpkin biscuit recipe that was in a similar pumpkin cookbook I borrowed once from a friend, and deeply regretted not Xeroxing. I tried to find another copy but couldn't.
More quirky. Dr. Parkhill, D.D., is apparently convinced that honey is one of nature's miracle foods. I find it amusing that this slightly-religious little book calls itself "the sugarless cookbook."
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