Glad you mentioned that. When you're cutting back, you should never cut out protein. I was reading the other day at Web MD or somewhere, and they claimed the two very best meat proteins were from cattle and chicken, and fat doesn't matter, because you only get 3 oz at one meal, and if you omit both white flour and sugar from your plate, you get an extra 2 ounces. You havta reward yourself some way, and the iron in beef is good for the production of hemoglobin, which is a backbone of a red blood corpuscle that builds calorie-defeating muscles.
Just sayin' dieting isn't all bad if you know how to beat the system with good flavors you love. And your T-bone steaks look wonderful.
That reminds me, I was looking up Holland the other day on another thread, and this thread made me look to see if there were some tricks the Holland Dutch use slipping in something good from the oven that would assist those of us with a sweet tooth we'd like to have pulled but are afraid to ask the dentist.
Anyhow, I found a recipe source for people who visit Holland and want authentic Holland food. I found 2 things--ultra thin waffles with carmel smeared inside, and apple pie that is made without sugar because you use triple the number of apples, cook them slightly in water until the water boils, then slide the partly-cooked apples, and stack them between light powderings of cinnamon, cardamon, and a dash of nutmeg. Then roll out a thin, butter-based dough very thin crust for a 10-inch pie plate, with fork holes at 1/2" intervals so steam can escape without tearing up the crust, just before you start stacking high your apples slices and spice shakings. Then roll out a 14" round thin as possible from your pie dough, cover the 3" stack of thin-sliced spiced unsweetened apples and flute the top and bottom layers of thin crust, using a drop of water where it's too dry to seal it good. The only 1 thing you need to remember is to use the type of apple that is picked sweet but doesn't turn to applesauce like summer apples do. When you start cutting out sugar from your diet, it doesn't have to be fatal. Just buy more good apples like Granny Smith or Gala, and there's a couple of other new apples I can't recall the names of that are sweet but don't lose their form and turn to applesauce in a pie. (patooie!) Cut 2 inch slices when the baking is done. Without sugar added, an hour might be okay, but if you break down and use even 1/4 cup of sugar, watch the baking time because sugar burns and can ruin the best pie ever.
One other trick I figured out is that I can't tell the difference between using 3/4 of a cup of sugar and using 1/4 cup of sugar to sweeten a pumpkin pie, if you are using the Libby's pie recipe (my favorite because of spice perfection in the recipe). And if it's a little unsweet to those who have a more desperate love for things of the sweet tooth, if you make the slightest effort to enjoy the taste of cancer-fighting, disease-resistant and happy-heart-making pumpkin pie, you're on your way to beating adult-onset diabetes, if it runs in your family, even by one parent who didn't get the disease until he or she turned 60. You will also aid and abet your weight loss program by learning to eat real unsweetened fruits that are picked well, and pumpkins with no green veins on them when you buy them fresh at the store at this time of year.
The great thing about eating smart is that you should remember--if the food is in the basic 4 (and sugar is definitely not there), you will start appreciating the flavor of the plant if you do not kill it with salt, flour, and sugar. Also, if you start grinding oatmeal into flour, keep in mind it is your heart's best friend, and if you bought your wife a Kitchen Aid mixer, there is a grinder attachment that fits all Kitchen Aid products (unless they changed), which I doubt seriously. But. Ya never know, so read before buying add-ons to a great long-lasting, guaranteed fully, product that is made in America.
(at least, I hope it's still being made here.)
