Meals for one

Banana Boogie Bakery Vanilla Slice.

Posted by Gary

You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe if you don’t care for my rambling palaver.

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Click the link here if you want to read about the Banana Boogie Bakery vanilla slice.

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

My week was busy. Thursday was Anzac Day. Kathleen and I went for a drive. We took a look at Windy Point Lookout.

Windy Point Lookout
Windy Point Lookout

What have I been watching?

Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space 9

I’ve now finished watching Star Trek: Voyager (VOY). It’s been an enjoyable rewatch. I will finish Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (DS9) soon. I will start watching Enterprise (ENT).

I’ve also started watching Bosch and there are Star Trek connections. Jeri Ryan from VOY and Linda Park from ENT.

I’ll share more on Bosch in another post.

National Rugby League

This has been a ripper season for footy. The Dolphins and Brisbane Broncos are in the top 8, and I’m happy. I enjoy having a decent TV with free-to-air access to watch live NRL footy.

I am looking forward to the State of Origin series to begin this year. The Queensland Maroons have a depleted side this season with many players injured. The “away” game this year is in Melbourne.

Four corners

Uncovering the Ozempic and Mounjaro black market

If you have the time, I recommend watching this. The drugs were designed to help patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The drugs have gained favour with people who are clinically obese. The mechanism of action slows the stomach (the organ and not the vague description some people use to describe their abdomen).

The drugs have serious adverse reactions, such as gastroparesis. It is not surprising that medical practitioners who advocate for low-carbohydrate, healthy-fat eating prefer a lifestyle change to bring T2DM into remission and to remedy clinical obesity.

Banana Boogie Bakery Vanilla Slice

Vanilla slice from Banana Boogie Bakery Belair

Did I eat a Banana Boogie Bakery vanilla slice?

Yes, I did.

Aren’t I low carbohydrate, healthy fat eating?

Yes, I am.

Is the vanilla slice low in carbohydrates and healthy fat?

No, it isn’t.

Why did you eat the vanilla slice?

It was Anzac Day, and Kathleen and I went for a drive. I wanted to do something special with Kathleen. When I cook, it’s usually biased toward my way of eating. I wanted to do something together with Kathleen.

What was the vanilla slice like?

It was good. It reminded me of the vanilla slice from the Gumnut Patisserie in Bowral. The custard pastry interface had notes of caramel, and the vanilla flavour was well balanced with the sweetness. The mouthfeel of the custard and pastry combined well. The icing was not excessively sweet.

Would you eat another one?

Maybe. If I want to do something special with Kathleen again, I might go for one of the other vanilla slice options.

Were there any after-effects worth noting?

A couple of hours after eating the vanilla slice, we drove into the city, and I started getting an anterior compartment cramp in my right leg. Not long after, my left leg had a similar cramp. The pain was moderate, and the cramping persisted for about an hour. It made walking uncomfortable. When I weighed myself the following morning, I was 2.0 kg heavier. I assumed it was retained water.

Vanilla slice from Banana Boogie Bakery Belair

What have I been eating?

An animal-based diet means great leftover meals. Because my local supermarket doesn’t have a great meat selection, I’ve been buying beef short ribs from Baa Moo Oink.

Leftover rib meat is on par with leftover cold lamb shoulder. The protein and fat content of the rib meat is perfect.

The method I use for heating the rib meat is simple. I cut the cold meat into one cubic centimetre pieces and put them into a frypan. I then add about 100 mL of water and turn on the heat. As the water simmers, the meat softens, and the muscle fibres separate. The fat is released as the meat breaks down, and the water evaporates. I’m left with a soft, tender, and moist bowl of meat. I often finish with butter and pure cream to improve the mouthfeel.

The leftover cooking liquor is an added benefit of cooking with a pressure cooker or slow cooker. I keep it in the refrigerator, and when it’s cold, I lift the solid fat off and put it into a container for later use. I then use a tablespoon or two of the jellied meat broth and make a hot drink with boiling water.

Bone in ribeye steak from Baa Moo Oink. Cooked in a water bath for 3 hours at 57 °C and seared on a Weber Q+.
Scotch fillet steak. Pan-fried in butter.
Leftover beef short rib meat.
Chucke steak and speck
Bone in ribeye steak from Baa Moo Oink. Cooked in a water bath for 3 hours at 57 °C and seared on a Weber Q+.
Leftover beef short rib meat and coffee
Bone in ribeye steak from Baa Moo Oink. Cooked in a water bath for 3 hours at 57 °C and seared on a Weber Q+.
Chucke steak and speck
Bone in ribeye steak from Baa Moo Oink. Cooked in a water bath for 3 hours at 57 °C and seared on a Weber Q+.
Scotch fillet steak. Pan-fried in butter.
Scotch fillet steak. Pan-fried in butter.
Bone in ribeye steak from Baa Moo Oink. Cooked in a water bath for 3 hours at 57 °C and seared on a Weber Q+.
Leftover beef short rib meat and hot beef broth
Leftover beef short rib meat and coffee

Recipe

I had some beef chuck and speck cooked in the pressure cooker tonight.

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker.
  • Carbon steel frypan.

Ingredients

  • Chuck steak.
  • Speck
  • Meat broth.
Chuck steak and speck

Instructions

  1. Dice the beef and pork and put the meat into the pressure cooker.
  2. Add the meat broth.
  3. Cook under pressure for 1 hour.
  4. Open the lid and remove the mixed meat with a slotted spoon when the pressure equilibrates with atmospheric pressure.
  5. Sieve the cooking liquor and refrigerate the broth.
  6. Transfer the meat to a frypan and turn on the heat.
  7. Gently cook with a little butter and cream.
  8. Transfer the meat to a dinner plate.
  9. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the meat will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger.
  10. If you’re eating a low-carbohydrate diet, meat and plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
  11. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
  12. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this meat won’t be suitable.
  13. Always give thanks to the Lord.
  14. Eat with whatever implements you prefer. I used a spoon.
Chucke steak and speck
Chucke steak and speck
Chucke steak and speck

Thoughts on the meal

The more I eat meat, the more I like it and the more I’m enjoying this way of eating. The speck was a good addition to the chuck. It gave the dish a nice smoky flavour.

There are sufficient leftovers for a few meals this week.

Final thoughts

  • Do you occasionally deviate from routines like a diet?
  • Have you watched the TV show “Bosch”? What did you think?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Slow chuck steak

Posted by Gary

You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe if you don’t care for my rambling palaver.

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Flowers from Kathleen

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

It’s taking me some effort to get used to Australian central time. With daylight saving, Adelaide is 30 minutes ahead of Brisbane and 30 minutes behind with standard time. It feels weird when I speak or send messages with family in Brisbane.

When I lived in Darwin, I could ignore the change in daylight saving because it was not adopted by Queensland (the greatest state in the federation) nor the Northern Territory (the greatest territory in the federation).

Carbon Steel

I haven’t been cooking much of interest lately. When I’ve been home, I’ve been cooking beef steaks (various cuts), lamb chops, beef mince, and beef short ribs. Breakfasts have been eggs. Mostly scrambled and sometimes fried.

For anything pan-fried, I’ve been using my carbon steel frypan. It’s a Matfer 30 cm diameter frypan.

Before moving to Adelaide, I had seasoned it in preparation for the move and accidentally left it on a hot electric ring for about 45 minutes. I’d been outside and hadn’t noticed the smoke. When the frypan cooled, I noted the surface had a peculiar feel. It wasn’t sticky, nor was it smooth. It felt like I was dragging my finger across emery paper. I wondered what the surface composition was. I speculated what may have happened to the steel surface under prolonged heat. I knew the feel of the surface was unlikely to be problematic because the oven methods for seasoning have the frypan smoking for more than an hour. The difference, however, is that the metal would never exceed 250 °C. On an electric ring, the surface temperature would be higher. I wondered if the heat may have caused a reaction to the pan’s surface. I packed it and hoped the pan would not rust while I was in packing and moving mode.

When I arrived in Adelaide and unpacked the frypan, I was happy to see it had not rusted. I put it away and used a small stainless-steel frypan for the first few weeks while getting used to my kitchen and gas cooker.

Last week, I scrubbed the carbon steel frypan with steel wool and seasoned it again.

When I bought the frypan a couple of years ago, I followed the instructions when I initially seasoned it with vegetable oil, potato peels, and coarse salt. Before adopting a low-carbohydrate healthy fat diet, I continued to use vegetable oil to maintain the frypan’s surface. I needed to try something else because I now avoid vegetable and seed oils.

When viewing YouTube videos on the subject, most people warned that using animal fats was a problem because the fat would spoil. The thought of rancid fat puts a lot of people off. Seed oils like canola and rice bran oil are popular. The problem is that physical and chemical alteration is necessary to extend seed oils’ expiration times and preserve the fat from spoiling. This processing can involve solvents and other chemical treatments.

Because I’m using this pan daily, I used beef fat to season the pan. When cooking eggs in butter, I’ll wipe out the frypan with a cloth, and the butter residue will remain.

So far, I’ve not had any problems with the frypan. I don’t sense that the non-stick layer from seasoning with animal-based fats spoils. I only use butter or fat from beef, lamb, pork, or chicken.

When I’ve finished cooking, I use a cloth or kitchen paper to wipe off all the excess fat, and I wait for the frypan to cool before heating to a smoking temperature.

The frypan is looking nicely seasoned.

This is a photograph of my Matfer carbon steel frypan. It's been seasoned using animal products rather than plant products.
Seasoned Matfer carbon steel frypan

A jingle for Yummy Lummy

I was listening to a technology podcast during the week, and the host used artificial intelligence (a large language model) to create a jingle for his podcast.

I used Microsoft Copilot to create this jingle.

(Verse 1)

Come on over to Yummy Lummy, where the flavours bloom,

Home-cooked meals and tasty treats, served in every room.

From the heart of our kitchen, to your dining delight,

Yummy Lummy’s got the recipes, to make your day so bright!

(Chorus)

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Lummy, a feast for your tummy,

Savour the flavour, feel the love; oh, isn’t it so yummy?

From breakfast to dinner, and every snack in between,

Yummy Lummy’s the food blog, that’s the best you’ve ever seen!

(Verse 2)

Discover new dishes, or classic ones renewed,

With Yummy Lummy’s guidance, you’ll become a master food dude!

So come join the journey, let’s explore the culinary scene,

With Yummy Lummy’s food blog, you’ll see what we mean!

(Chorus)

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Lummy, a feast for your tummy,

Savour the flavour, feel the love; oh, isn’t it so yummy?

From breakfast to dinner, and every snack in between,

Yummy Lummy’s the food blog, that’s the best you’ve ever seen!

(Outro)

So here’s to good eating, and here’s to good cheer,

With Yummy Lummy’s food blog, the best food is right here!

Recipe

Tonight, I slowly cooked a 600-gram piece of beef chuck. I bought it at $AUD21/kilogram. Used the pressure cooker a couple of weeks ago.

Equipment

  • Slow cooker.
  • Carbon steel frypan.

Ingredients

  • Beef chuck steak.
  • Meat broth from previous meals (it contains beef, lamb, pork, chicken juices and beef, lamb, pork, chicken fat).
  • Salt

Instructions

  1. Remove the meat from the packaging.
  2. Place the meat and broth into a slow cooker.
  3. Cook the meat for eight hours.
  4. Remove the meat and sear it in a carbon steel frypan.
  5. Pour the remaining meat broth into the pressure cooker.
  6. Cook at high pressure for 15 minutes to effectively kill any microorganisms.
  7. Keep the disinfected cooking liquor in the refrigerator.
  8. Serve the steak on a plate.
  9. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the steak will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. You can pick up the steak and bite into it. This minimises washing.
  10. If you’re eating a low-carbohydrate diet, steak and plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
  11. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
  12. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this steak won’t be suitable.
  13. Always give thanks to the Lord.
  14. Eat with whatever implements you prefer. I used a fork.
Slowly cooked beef chuck steak (grass-fed Australian beef)

Kathleen’s meal

Kathleen asked me to make her something with laksa flavours.

I cooked a laksa-flavoured pumpkin soup with coconut cream. I added some sprouts, coriander (cilantro for North Americans), and spring onions (scallions for North Americans).

Pumpkin soup with laksa flavours

Thoughts on the meal

The steak was tender and flavoursome. I have no complaints.

Final thoughts

  • Do you cook with carbon steel cookware?
  • Do you like the Yummy Lummy jingle?
  • Would you prefer my steak or Kathleen’s soup?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Fast chuck steak

Posted by Gary

You can skip the introduction and jump to the recipe if you don’t care for my rambling palaver.

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Henley Beach at sunset. Walking on the sand with my injured foot went well.

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week.

I started work again this week. I worked from home most days. My employer’s office is in the central business district. I went into the office during the week and was impressed by the accommodations.

Kathleen likes the Adelaide CBD, so working in the city will give me the occasional opportunity to explore a little when there is time.

What have I been watching?

Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space 9

I’m now in the seventh and final season of both shows. It is about an order of magnitude better watching these shows in high definition on a larger and newer TV monitor.

National Rugby League

Having a new TV monitor with an antenna that works also means I can watch the games featuring the Dolphins and Brisbane Broncos while sitting back in a comfortable lounge.

On Friday evening, I watched the Brisbane Broncos defeat the North Queensland Cowboys in a thrilling game. On Saturday evening, I watched the Dolphins defeat the Gold Coast Titans. It has been a good weekend for footy. My four favourite teams are the Dolphins, Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys, and the Gold Coast Titans (in that order).

The game on Friday evening was broadcast on free-to-air TV. I like that in Adelaide, in peak viewing time for children, gambling advertising is restricted. I didn’t mind my screen being static with a notification, and the program was being censored while the offending material was being broadcast. On Saturday night, the game was broadcast via Kayo, which had no restrictions.

On Friday night, the NRL telecast a fitting tribute to Carl Webb, who died last year after a recent diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Webb played for both the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys. He was also a Former Origin Great (FOG) for the Mighty XXXX Maroons. He was also selected for the Australian Kangaroos team in 2008 but did not play in the Indigenous All Stars. From 2024 on, the Carl Webb Medal will be awarded to the best player in the first game of every season that the Broncos and Cowboys play. The Broncos’ Pat Carrigan won this year’s medal.

The Weber Q+

I cooked chicken maryland pieces on Sunday night in the Weber Q+. The chicken turned out well. The skin was crispy, and the flesh was moist and tender. Usually about $AUD8/kg.

Chicken maryland pieces cooked in the Weber Q+
Chicken maryland with avocado and olives
Kathleen added tabouli. Thanks Kathleen for sharing your photograph.

Recipe

I’ve seen a resurgence in people eating chuck steak in my Facebook groups. Many people cook the steak for between 48 and 72 hours in a water bath, while others cook the meat in a slow cooker for between 6 and 8 hours.

Chuck beef at about $AUD17/kg is cheaper than scotch fillet steak, which ranges from $AUD40 to $AUD60/kg. For comparison, regular minced beef is usually sold for about $AUD11/kg. When stocked in my local supermarket, beef short rib sells for about $AUD24/kg.

I think an animal-based diet would be too expensive for anyone without an income.

I thought I’d try my trusty pressure cooker tonight. I may experiment over the next few weeks and try a slowly cooked chuck and a long water bath version.

Equipment

  • Pressure cooker.
  • Gas torch.

Ingredients

  • Chuck steaks.
  • Meat broth (leftover from earlier meals).
  • Salt
Chuck steak

Instructions

  1. Season the meat with salt and put it into the pressure cooker.
  2. Add about a cup of meat stock.
  3. Seal the pressure cooker and cook the meat for 45 minutes.
  4. Remove the meat and pat the surface dry.
  5. Sear the surface with a gas torch.
  6. If you’re following a meat-only diet, just the steak will be more than sufficient to satisfy your hunger. You can pick up the steak and just bite into it. This minimises washing.
  7. If you’re low-carbohydrate eating, the steak and plant-based foods like avocado, leafy green leaves, olives, and tomatoes are a good combination.
  8. If you’re not concerned with carbohydrates, fill your boots.
  9. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, this steak won’t be suitable.
  10. Always give thanks to the Lord.
  11. Eat with whatever implements you prefer. I used a fork.
Chuck steak

Thoughts on the meal

As a relatively cheap cut of meat, this was fine. The meat is reduced in size because most of the fat is rendered into the broth. The small portion was sufficient to satisfy me.

I enjoyed my steak with a small piece of King Island blue cheese and butter. Kathleen also had some tabouli with her steak.

Final thoughts

  • How do you feel about gambling advertising during televised sports?
  • Are you eating cheaper cuts of meat as the cost of living increases?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

Henley Beach

Preparing for another break

Posted by Gary

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Dear Reader,

Introduction

I hope you’ve had a good week. Mine was busy. Work was mostly back-to-back meetings, and I’ve been cleaning at home a lot.

I’m taking leave from work for the next two weeks. I may not post next weekend. I’ve got a lot happening, so stay tuned if you’re interested.

I’ll be spending time with Kathleen, so it’s going to be wonderful.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

Apart from some paraesthesia and stiffness, the foot and ankle are okay. I’ve been doing some walking, and I feel that my foot, ankle, and knee will improve as I continue to walk.

Over the next two weeks, I’ll be on my feet a lot, so I’m hoping all goes well with the foot (as well as the knee).

What have I been watching?

Masters of the Air

Masters of the Air is an Apple Original show about the crews flying the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress platform in World War II. The miniseries is based on the 2007 book by Donald L. Miller and follows the actions of the 100th Bomb Group, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber unit in the Eighth Air Force in eastern England during World War II.  

What have I been listening to?

Change your diet, change your mind.

I’ve started to get into this book by Georgia Ede. I like how she explains psychiatry in the context of neurology. The author can explain the anatomy and physiology of the brain and then speculate on its relationship with psychiatric disease. (Ede, 2024)

The book emphasises how what we eat affects our mental health and wellbeing. This book connects naturally with other books I’ve been reading about human nutrition and metabolic health.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, narrated by Ralph Cosham

“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis is a satirical novel written as letters from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter. Their goal is to lead a recent Christian convert, the “Patient,” away from faith and toward damnation.

Through Screwtape’s advice, Lewis explores how demons exploit human weaknesses like pride, vanity, and anger. The “letters” offer a perspective on faith and the subtle ways temptations can lead us astray. (Lewis, 2009)

Recipe — or not

In preparation for two weeks away, I’m eating out my refrigerator, so I don’t have a recipe to share today.

My meals have been the routine meals I mentioned last week, namely, eggs, butter, minced beef, and steak.

Photographs

Poached farmed New Zealand Pacific salmon. In my opinion it tastes better and flakes better than Atlantic salmon.
Sardines cooked with Poachers Pantry bacon
Eggs scrambled in butter
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese
Leftover New Zealand Pacific salmon with scrambled eggs in butter.
A facsimile of human rotavirus electron photomicrograph made by Dr Joanne Wolters nee Cassels (1987)
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese
Pork rashers
Scotch fillet steak
Coffee at Stella’s by the Lake
Minced beef and some cheddar cheese

Final thoughts

  • Do you eat everything in your refrigerator when you prepare to go away?
  • Do you have a fascination for the tools used for war?
  • Have you read “The Screwtape Letters”? What did you think?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.

References

Ede, G. (2024). Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind: A Food-First Plan to Optimize Your Mental Health. Hodder & Stoughton.

Lewis, C. S. (2009). Screwtape letters. Turtleback Books.

Beef mince

Posted by Gary

If you’re not seeing new posts each week, I suggest refreshing your browser and clearing your browser’s browser cache regularly.

If you continue having problems, message me via the blog’s contact page.

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve had a good week.

My week has been busy with work. I loved spending time with Kathleen in Adelaide and on Kangaroo Island. I did need to return to work.

How is the foot?

What’s happened this week?

I went to an outpatient appointment on Friday. The orthopædic trainee has told me I can wear sturdy shoes on my feet and ambulate more.

I asked when I could walk around without shoes, and he said the maximum tendon repair strength should be achieved after about three months. This means in about three to four weeks.

I’ve now been discharged from outpatient care and can book appointments to see a physiotherapist.

Owl Statue

What have I been watching?

Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager

While I was in Adelaide visiting Kathleen, I watched Star Trek on her TV. Kathleen’s TV is newer than mine (I bought mine in 2007), and the picture quality is fantastic.

I’ll watch Star Trek on a new TV in a few weeks. Hint Hint 😉

What have I been listening to?

Monroe Doctrine Volume VIII

I previously wrote that Volume VII was meant to end the book. The authors claim that Volume VIII is the last in the series. I am about one-third of the way through this volume.

Spoiler alert

The US and coalition partners are confident in defeating China in World War III. The main concern is the post-war recovery and how to avoid a civil war erupting in a defeated China. India, which remained neutral in the conflict, is emerging as a post-war saviour for China, and the Indian leadership seems to be seeking to gain a significant economic and diplomatic advantage from this opportunity.

Of course, the Chinese artificial intelligence apparatus, viz., “Jade Dragon”, could turn the tables and tweak Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”. The result could be the rise of robots over humans, to end the book.

If you’re not familiar with Isaac Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics”, they are:

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey orders given by humans except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

All it would take is a change to the third law.

I highly recommend this book series if you enjoy science fiction and technical fiction incorporating warfighting.

Recipe?

I don’t have much for a recipe this week. I have more of a revelation.

Over the last week, after returning to Canberra after visiting Kathleen in Adelaide, my meals have been simple and consistent.

I’ve been eating eggs every morning and beef mince (AUD$11/kilogram) for lunch and many dinners. This would be about USD$7.80/pound in the US. If there are any readers from the US, please tell me if this is expensive or not. I think US residents would find USD$7.80 per pound of ground beef expensive.

I’ve noticed that I’m not craving variety or anything different. During the day, my thinking about food has become less, and I’ve been able to focus more on work tasks.

I know that in the past when I was eating carbohydrate-rich foods, I’d savour and crave the flavours, especially if there were complex flavour combinations. The sugar hooked me to derive pleasure from the sweetness, and the lack of satiety from carbohydrate-rich foods meant I thought I wanted more. I was always feeling hungry and unsatisfied.

I have more capacity to think about other things now.

Don’t get me wrong, I still get hungry, but from Monday to Friday, I don’t think about cooking anything more than eggs, beef mince, lamb chops, or thinly sliced steaks. I cooked some beef ribs in the pressure cooker last weekend, and I’ve been supplementing the mince with some rib meat, too. I know that beef short ribs are not cheap, but the meat goes a long way.

I’ll also still eat different food items occasionally, especially on weekends or when invited to a meal. There will also be variety when circumstances dictate that I can’t cook and prepare my meals. There will also be instances when I see something in the supermarket’s meat section or butcher shop and think, yep, I want that tonight.

I don’t know what this means for Yummy Lummy (the blog). It’s hard to justify a weekly update when I don’t have much to write about regarding recipes.

I don’t want to give up blogging. I like writing and the connection I have with some regular readers.

Photographs

Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Lamb chops
Minced beef, beef short rib, with cheese and avocado
Minced beef, beef short rib, and cheese
Poachers Pantry Bacon
Minced beef and bacon in a frypan
Minced beef, bacon, and cheese
Beef short rib meat with a bit of minced beef and cheese

Thoughts on the meals

I’ve already shared what I’m thinking. Perhaps I’ll stop wanting to photograph food and write about it. Somehow, I don’t think so.

Final thoughts

  • Do you ever feel like you need to change what you write about?
  • Do you spend much of your day thinking about meals?
  • When you’re not feeling hungry, can you focus on tasks better?

Disclaimer and comments

This post and other posts on this blog are not medical or health advice. I’m sharing my personal experiences from my lived experience. My opinions remain mine.

For health advice, see your regular medical practitioner. For diet advice, consult with appropriately registered professionals.