A scrambled egg kind of day!

Scrambled eggs with bacon and milk was what was on tap for a cloudy Thursday in August. Even as I had reached a good weight for my age and height, I remained a bit conservative when it came to food.

The nutritional side of the meal came in at 380 calories with protein at 26 grams and the carbs at a mere 5! This meal tastes great while also being a low carb - high protein dieters dream!

Hiedies restaurant in Taneyville!

Taneyville Mo. - As the number of restaurants continued to shrink due to the virus, I found myself exploring new venues that were further afield.

A friend of mine opined that Hiedies located off Hwy 76 in Taneyville might be something for me to try. Their breakfast menu had one or two offerings that I found interesting;

At left, I noticed that they offered a 'Country Platter' that looked similar to an item offered by the now closed Long Horn Family Dining. With coffee, I was guessing that this meal-a-deal would come in at about ten dollars. That fit my budget and so I planned to stop there in the near future and to give them a try. I'll publish an update here when I do.

Ore-Ida Golden Hash Brown Patties!

For some strange reason, I had developed a hankering for some hash browns for my breakfast, and after a bit of searching at the local grocery store, I was able to locate a package of Ore-Ida hash brown patties in the frozen food section. 

When combined with a side of scrambled egg and some jellied toast, I had made myself what amounted to a pretty decent repast. (And yes, that brown stuff on the hash browns is A1 sauce - Something I'd encourage everyone to try at least once).

The hash browns can be prepared in a number of ways, but I chose doing them in my toaster oven set to 425 degrees for 15 minutes. The end result was very tasty.

Next week I plan to prepare fried applesauce on the grill! Do stay tuned!

A happy sort of breakfast!

As I was currently beginning the 16th day of a semi Adkins diet (semi, as I was still eating what I wanted, but applied the name Adkins to it anyway), I thought to throw together a low carb breakfast that could at least smile up to me!

A great Adkins styled breakfast!

A simple omelet stuffed with a cut up slice of Cotto salami, a cup of milk and two bacon strips is about as Akinish a breakfast as you can get!

Note the super low carbs and high protein levels. I like to start out with a meal like this and then switch over to a combo of meat and fruit for my lunch. Dinners are generally on the meager side with a focus on nuts and a little fruit!

Steak, potatoes, toast and an egg!

Were I to strictly follow the path of 'good nutrition for old people', I expect I'd be a bit crazy by now. (Don't answer that)! Good health aside, a man's gotta indulge himself once in a while.

Thus it was, on a very cold late November morning, I decided to 'stoke my internal batteries' by throwing together a breakfast that I'd really enjoy for a change. A steak and eggs sort of meal, if you get my drift. And, just so as to stay somewhat sane, I made sure to keep the gram weights as reasonable as possible.

Ingredients:

Breakfast steak    50 grams

Egg   45g  grams

Toast 26 grams

Fried potatoes   56  grams

Milk    100 grams

Total meal = 277 grams

By my figuring, this meal came in at about 390 calories. And, while it was abusive in terms of sodium, cholesterol and carbohydrate levels, I didn't really mind as I don't have this sort of breakfast every day.

The real benefit of starting a day off like this is the good feelings you get and the positive attitude thus generated.

Steak and eggs!

The title above was somewhat misleading. My version of this popular meal also contains fried potatoes and OJ making it not that diet minded! Also, there was only one egg consumed!

Whenever you have meat and eggs together on one plate for breakfast, you are talking a high protein slug of food to begin your day. Add in the fried potatoes and that's a also definite carbo-slammer. So, this is not something for the man or woman who is trying to shed some pounds. That said, it could be a good meal for a young athlete who was trying to bulk up a bit.

The meat I often choose was a cut of top sirloin, a thick hunk of meat that grills up really well. It's sort of like a second class filet mignon.

[Whenever I 'grill' up meat like this inside, I often use two pieces of equipment; a convection tabletop oven and a small Foreman grill. I first heat up the Foreman and cook the steak for just a minute before transferring it to the oven set on broil. That part of the cooking process usually is for about three minutes on a side. When done correctly you get the grill marks, yet have a just barely done interior]!

The fried potatoes consisted of one small Russet that had been peeled and then thickly sliced in to 'dollar' shaped pieces. These were quick cooked in hot oil, then removed to a paper towel and the sprinkled with a salt substitute.

If everything is done in a smooth fashion, the whole cooking process takes only about ten minutes!

Egg on toast with home fries!

One of my very large pleasures in life has been the many egg on toast with a side of home fries styled meal-a-deals I've eaten over the years. And, sure, there are a lot of people who might view such a meal with a jaundiced eye. High cholesterol and two 'whites', namely the bread and the potatoes. Both dietary no-nos for individuals trying to stay slim and trim.

OK, so I make amends by not eating this stuff each and every morning. But, let me tell you that there are some redeeming qualities....

Note that the spreadsheet I threw together is 'mostly' correct. Where it falls down is in the reporting of the fried potatoes with perhaps too high levels of salt. My best guess concerning the fried potatoes is that it is close, while the salt level may be a tad high as I used salt substitute. Lastly, I like A1 Sauce on my potatoes. Try it and see what you think!

What's with the potatoes, bread and gravy!

What started out as an impulse buy at a local grocery store has quickly bloomed into an ongoing catastrophe as what had been a successful diet effort had turned way south!

I bought a single packet of brown gravy after it caught my eye in the herb isle of my local grocery store. I'd been primed for this as I'd also purchased some biscuits earlier in the the day. A quick nutritional look informed me that this was not a really bad idea. I mean 70 calories was no biggie. And for the first couple of breakfast encounters, I did faithfully adhere to just one biscuit and 6 grams of gravy... That was a few days ago...

On what was otherwise a really nice weekend morning, I arose a tad hung over after having gone out on the town the evening before. (Actually it was more like a night of utter debauchery which also involved some power drinking... but, I digress).

So, there I was in the kitchen that morning, in my robe with my fly away hair making breakfast. I made up a nice omelet as had been planned, but then I began to add some potatoes and shredded bread – I thought 'Why Not?', at the time. Yes, I think that was definitely the moment that things began to unravel for me...

Later that same day, it came to me that I would really enjoy ordering a Big Mac and fries from the McDonald's that stood not three miles from my door. (In the back of my mind I could hear the 'diet meter' clicking away. Truthfully, the food was all it could be and more)!

Way too late into the diet game, I realized that once you fill up a previously shrunk down stomach, it more than willingly expands. And with that expansion come intensified hunger pains. Swell.

So it was, as the evening fell, I found myself seated in front of a large plate of Penne pasta as viewed from over a rather large tummy......

No wonder I have few friends left!

'Seriously man', a friend confided to me, while squinting at my latest post on his iPad. 'Who wants to look at what the hell you ate for breakfast'?

I didn't have a really good answer to that question, and so I sat quietly at the bar next to a man with a scowl on his wrinkled face. I could tell his he wasn't finished lambasting me.

'I mean, we all get it that you like to eat', he intoned piously while glancing at my ample waistline. 'But, for Christ sake, why can't you post something a little more interesting? I mean who the hell cares about a plate of eggs, corn, potatoes and some ripped up bread'?

I turned my head slowly to face him more squarely. 'Well, you forgot to mention the gravy. That was pretty good, yes'?

Taking a last gulp of beer the 'friend' got up in a huff and left the bar. I sat there and looked quietly at my beer before taking a big gulp.... And then, I smiled at the memory of a meal gone past, but not forgotten!

Left over steak, an egg and whatever~!

I had cooked up a sirloin steak the day before but had not eaten all of it, sooo the next day I exhumed what had become a piece of cold and gray looking meat from the fridge. I held it up to my bloodshot eyes for a closer inspection and then sighed. It was a Sunday morning, I was hungover and not even Portnoy would have found this cold slab of beef very interesting...

I had to face facts! Resurrecting a day old sirloin would more than likely tax even the most powerful priest. I looked again at that listless piece of beef. There was absolutely none of the 'moist tenderness' that I had enjoyed just 24 hours before.

The day before!

Well, never you mind, I thought sourly. I tossed the meat onto a plate and placed it into my microwave. (Even if I had little hope of a holy beef redemption, I felt I could at least heat that sucker up a little).

That done, I then focused on the three other breakfast courses; an egg, 1/2 baked potato (baked the day before) and a piece of bread, that was soon to be toast! Since I was using a convection cooking top, I knew from past experience that the egg and toast would cook about the same time (4 min). I set the Duxtop Induction unit to level two, sprayed a bit of Pam into a stainless steel frying pan and then added the egg (sunny side up) with a dash of water. This was covered with a lid and I then moved over to the toaster and nonchalantly sent my Lilly white slice of bread and brown slab of meat into my convection oven where it could both toast my brad and reheat my steak.The potato was nuked in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

 A couple minutes later, I nuked the steak remnant on high for about 80 seconds. (Just enough to warm it without drying it even more than it already was). I then assembled the meal you see above.

Epilogue: Why did I even post this nonsense? Well, my doctor told me that writing about stuff that no one would be interested in would help me come to better terms with my useless existence. And, you know what? It helped!

Subway serves breakfast??

You can call me old, even call me slow, but please never call me late for any meal!

I agree that I am a bit behind the times as a matter of age and the general laziness that comes with retirement. However, I so did not know that Subway is now serving breakfast! (At least in some locales). I haven't had the chance to check out the Subway in my area yet, but I will! In Forsyth MO, where I currently reside, there is a franchise just up the road from me. I've been there in years past, but really not very recently (the laziness thing). That, however, will change when I plan to go there early some morning and partake in what I hope is a good breakfast. (Actually, I plan to call ahead first to make sure they even have a breakfast).

Pictured above is the Steak, egg white and cheese offering that comes in at about 430 calories. I've no idea of what the cost might be, but I plan to post a followup with pictures just as soon as I can drag my overweight ass over there!

Update: I tried calling the Subway n Forsyth MO and it rang for a long time with no one answering. I'll give them another try in a couple of days.

A real beef stir fry!

Hey! It's what's for breakfast down here in SW MO! On this most bodacious Saturday (in late August, 2014 as the temps hit 100°F on a regular basis), I planned to fully enjoy what could soon be a vanishing taste sensation... a beef steak stir fry! (In the very near term, I figured that a good piece of meat would be beyond my meager financial status). To wit, I gathered to myself, about 2 ounces of cheap steak along with some home grown peppers, cherry tomatoes and onions. To this culinary soirée, I added just a touch of virgin olive oil to a small frying pan sitting over medium high heat. Everything was then sautéed for about four minutes! [While this meal was cooking, I also threw in a slice of bread to the toaster-roaster]. Towards the end of the cooking cycle, I also tossed in a dash of Oregano along with a couple of squirts of Worcestershire sauce, just to spice everything up! Wham bam, thank you ma'am, it was ready to go!

The Works breakfast at Charlie's!

Charlie's Ribs Steak and Ale in Forsyth MO. serves up a full  menu breakfast including the Works - a hearty breakfast offering that is still a good deal at $5.49 when I posted this in late April 2014. Sadly, I'm betting this meal, and others like it, will soon see price increases due to the rising cost of beef nationally!