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I just hopped on the old scale to see if there’s been any change since last week. Yep, wow 174.2#

As you know, I have an iPhone. As I am certain you also know, I like wine and cooking. What do these have in common? Well, the bottom line is my waistline. Stay with me here. A like, ok love of wine and home cooked meals combined with an over 30 sluggish metabolism certainly don’t equate to abs of steel, rock or any other solid adjective. So in an attempt to shed a few and maybe even tack on a few more years in the process I installed an iPhone app called LoseIt. I really like the app because it makes calorie & carb counting easy. So far in the month since I really starting faithfully tracking food intake I have lost 7 pounds. Keeping track of what I eat is something I have always done anyway (being type 1 diabetic) however with this app it doesn’t leave it to guesswork and often times poor memory.
I started at 185 and my goal is to get down to 150 which is about what I weighed when my wife and I were dating. I have found it really amazing how much I was eating before. 2000 calories a day, hell probably more like 2400.
This was what we had for dinner last night and usually have at least 1-2 times a month. It’s basically an adaptation of a few recipes I’ve seen. Peppered lemon tilapia with green beans.
2 tilapia filets
1 lemon with 2 thin slices cut and set aside to place on top of the fried filets and the rest juiced.
1 can of French sliced green beans. Ground black pepper
3 tablespoons of butter.
An individual serving for this meal with a 10 ounce glass of chianti is only 503 calories. Hence the title.
Even if you aren’t a fan of fish you will probably like this as tilapia takes on the flavor of whatever it is fried or seasoned with.

The green beans just get heated up in a small pot.
For the tilapia place 1-1/2 tablespoons in the frying pan. The other 1-1/2 should be heated (microwave 15-20 seconds) in two small containers for pouring over the green beans and fish when done.
On medium to med-high heat place the two frozen tilapia filets in the frying pan with the butter. Generously season the top if the filets with ground pepper.
Fry for about 3-4 minutes* on the one side the flip. Again season the current side with pepper and allow to fry for another 3-4 minutes.* Pour the lemon juice into the pan and allow it to cook until it has reduced to a slight paste consistency. Flip once more. Season with more pepper if desired. After another 3-4 minutes* it should be thouroughly fried to an almost blackened appearance.

Place the fried filets and cooked, drained, greenbeans on plates. Place 1 lemon slice on top of each filet until you are ready to eat. Place the small dishes of melted butter on each plate. This can be poured over both the fish and beans or the fish can be dipped in it. (My wifes preference)

*Depending on the size and thickness of the filets you may need to add or reduce frying times. The filets cool rather quickly so I reccommend placing them on the plates immediately before serving.
Here are pictures of the entire process:

A recent speech by President Obama I feel applies to many children in the current generation:

“Our kids can’t all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States.”

Indeed.

You can’t say that my local grocer didn’t try to censor with plu labels.
Sadly they failed.

There is something incredible about wine, it’s basically juice, sugar, yeast and possibly citric acid and yeast nutrient depending on the type of wine you’re making and presto you have deliciousness. I really love that it is something I can make easily with plants I grow right in my own yard & garden. This is what I’ve made so far this summer:

This is 2 gallons of spearmint, 2 gallons of dandelion, 2 gallons of strawberry and 2 gallons of rhubarb wine.

That is the French translation for dandelion. Lately I have been drinking a couple mugs of dandelion & spearmint tea since I have no shortage of either and it is actually quite good. It turns out that dandelion leaves contain almost every vitamin and mineral a person needs, kind of the multivitamin of the plant world -they are very high in potassium. Basically I take four to six large washed dandelion leaves along with the same number of spearmint leaves, tear them up then let seep in hot water for 10-15 minutes. I have to say I’ve been feeling pretty darn good since I started drinking it. It supposedly stimulates the liver and kidneys. It is a diuretic so yes, you will pee more which the French name nicely implies.

Tonight my little wifey said to me that our bedroom has smelled to her like toast with jam. I had her smell my chest and arm pits to make sure she wasn’t mistaking it for my cologne or deodorant; she confirmed it wasn’t. I don’t smell toast with jam but then I don’t smell much of anything.

Back in March I posted about how I installed something called a PowerSave unit. This is supposed to help reduce the amount of electricity one uses each month by decreasing the amount of power that is drawn from the grid when a motor starts up and runs. Inductive loads. Well, I am thrilled to report that it really does work as advertised.
Here are the comparison’s of last year versus this year for April & May:

May 2009: 515 kWh
May 2008: 758 kWh
243 kWh reduction
$.117630/kWh
$28.58 Savings

April 2009: 840 kWh
April 2008: 935 kWh
95 kWh
$11.17 Savings