Torture

[cjsmith]

Yesterday's free lunch: pasta in assorted sauces, with bread and butter.
Today: someone brought in Krispy Kremes and left them by the microwave.

I don't for one minute think other people should have to change what they're doing for my comfort, but my God, I never knew how AWFUL this sort of thing could be. I am getting a major education here.

edit: AND there's an Enforced Fun at the office tomorrow! Guess what we're having! Pizza and ice cream! I think I feel an attack of bubonic plague coming on. *eyeroll*

Comments

Re: it sucks, it really sucks

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

What I clearly need to do is learn how to use herbs and spices in the kitchen. I'm having a really hard time with the "I LIKE what I AM eating" thing; almost every pre-prepared food is illegal, and I am just not a cook. With my spare time, I would be happier if I could fix that.

I can have pretty much any nuts, and yes, I can have sprouts. I don't know if I can have nut/seed milks, but I can ask in a little under two weeks. Sadly, I detest mushrooms. :-) Also broccoli - extremely bitter to me. But I adore spinach in just about any form. And there are sauces that don't use sugar and starch, at least if you're willing to make them yourself. I wonder if people ever put pesto on spinach.

Re: it sucks, it really sucks

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

maybe you could start a couple of new threads with some questions. I'm not sure which angles you could use help with (if any), but I'm positive your LJ brain will offer what it can.

I'm trying to narrow down the variables -- so far I have something like this :
--list of allowed foods (add as many as possible -- it is still a very long list even with the restrictions)

important variables:
--considered edible or yummy by you?
--preparation required? (little, lots, none, etc)
--easy to store/carry (that is, it would be great if there are a few foods that you can easily carry in your car/purse/desk and eat happily whenever, and keep around in quantity without fuss. I use canned corn, for example, which I think you can't eat at all. Stores for ages...)
--caloric density -- I know you didn't bring this up, but I think of it right away.... Clearly you can get full eating steak and eggs, but it is VERY hard to get full eating low-starch veggies and no sugar. Thus, frozen spinach is great (in terms of easy and yummy) but won't be likely to get you full (which may make a pizza being consumed by others more painful than it might be, for example). Spinach with chopped peanuts is closer to filling. Or spinach and steak.

A couple other thoughts:
--the resturaunt research, which you have brought up as an area to explore. (And you don't need more than a few items to buy at a couple of places. Eating at the same places can be easy and convenient.) Lots of places have their menus online of course. And some places are more used to being asked about ingredients. (Hobbees leaps to mind.) Places like Taco Bell have the ingredients in food available (online or in books). (Taco Bell is very used to requests for "modified versions" of things, BTW.)
--it occurs to me now that there is a sub-genre of resturaunts that prepare food while asking you about whether to include each ingredient. Burrito Real (I think @ Rengstorff and Middlefield?) is a great example -- Fresh Choice is similar (although you make the salad instead of them, similar level of control). There is another "fresh mex" place by 101 @ rengstorff that also does this (sorry not thinking of name).
--there MIGHT be some similar project about the forms and storage of food.. but this may or may not be helpful, depending on how much of your "yummy" list is/isn't easy to store and carry around.....e.g. if steak is one of the few filling and desirable foods, you may want to work out how to cook/store steak in quantity, how to keep it frozen at work in convenient portions, what condiments to have on hand to eat it with, etc. Whereas if you are allowed to eat canned garbanzo beans and you love them, this is already easy to store....)
--also POSSIBLY there may (or may not) be similar projects about finding a brand or type of something to buy. E.g. I think salsa is "close" to allowable, but much of it is made with sugar (I think?) Anyway, if that's true, then finding a single kind to buy could be helpful. Same thing, clearly, for pizza. Finding ONE pizza place with no-sugar-sauce might be helpful (although I'm not clear you can eat the dough, actually). For prepared foods the non-sugar and non-grain would be very limiting, thus if you can find JUST A FEW prepared foods that are okay, it may help. (The packaged Indian foods at TJ's seem worth checking?) Your comment about sauces is certainly a case in point..... finding just a FEW that you like and can easily buy would be good, yes?

It occurs to me that it might be as useful to research a specific store -- e.g. Whole Foods or TJs -- read lots of labels for a few hours, and hopefully emerge with a list of a FEW prepared foods and dressings you can eat and buy over and over. (TJ's tends to stop carrying things for reasons I don't know.)

Finally, if you have a bit of spare time to research, there must be yahoo groups (or other kinds) about the diet you are eating (although I'll bet there is LOTS of disagreement on what is allowed?)

Re: it sucks, it really sucks

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Re: pesto on spinach -- try it out. I started putting refried beans and salsa on baked potatoes many years ago at a time when a baked potato WITHOUT butter seemed like a scary idea to me. I have eaten salsa on baked potatoes for so many years now, I forget it is not "standard". Perhaps pesto is a good sauce for many things? (Salsa is a decent salad dressing, and can be further modified as salad dressing with other things added and by blending).

Re: it sucks, it really sucks

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

What I clearly need to do is learn how to use herbs and spices in the kitchen.

get thee to Penzeys, post haste!

Mural of Flavor is a good "this dish needs *something* but not salt" seasoning. Sunny Paris smells "purple" to me, and is heavenly on eggs. Sandwich Sprinkle is a salt-included seasoning that's another good "this dish needs something" seasoning.

Re: it sucks, it really sucks

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

Their "Old World" seasoning is really good, too. My mother used to put Season-All on everything that she cooked, and this approximates the taste while being *better.*

[jtidwell.livejournal.com]

Can you eat, or do you like, avocados? I find that they're a good complement to meats and veggies, in the right dishes. I found this out when I had to be dairy-free and soy-free for the better part of a year. I also went to rice milk and nut milks in a big way, but many of them have sugar added, so watch the labels carefully.

Hmmmm. Some ideas off the top of my head for sugarless flavorings...

* Oils: extra-virgin olive, sesame, flax seed (for omega-3s), nut oils. All of these are for room-temperature use; when cooked, they lose their volatile-compound goodness.
* Vinegars: balsamic, cider, rice, champagne (beyond the standard white and red vinegars). I adore unfiltered cider vinegar; it's flavorful and less acidic than some of the others.
* Citrus: orange, lemon, lime juices. Orange oil packs an enormous punch, too!
* Interesting peppers. Get thee hence to Penzey's and pick up some multicolor peppercorn mixes and a good grinder! I also keep on hand powdered chipotle (smoky), ancho (mellower), cayenne, red pepper flakes, white pepper, and adobo paste.
* Kosher salt. Somehow it just tastes better. Sea salt is marginally better, but way more expensive.
* Brined things. Pickles, olives, capers, pimiento peppers, chile peppers, etc.
* "Green" herbs of the usual varieties: parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, dill, tarragon, mint, bay leaves, etc.
* Pungent spices that I associate with Indian cooking: cumin, ginger, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, mustard powder, garam masala.
* Cinnamon. You'd be surprised at how many savory dishes I put this into...
* Garlic.
* Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, other prepared condiments.
* Nuts and seeds. Sesame seeds, pecans, walnuts, pine nuts, and sliced almonds get used heavily in this house.
* Pungent cheeses: feta, Parmesan, Romano, asiago.

With these, you have the ingredients for a combinatorial explosion of salad dressings, marinades, and general mixes for anything involving vegetables and/or meat. Taste and experiment!