No Stupid Bowl Hangover -- Food or Otherwise

Happy post-football daze. No major indulgences to agonize over from last night.

Peridot, I made pistachio-covered cod actually, but now that you've mentioned salmon, I'm going to have to try that! (I found the cod recipe online just by googling around for easy fish dishes.)

We had a lot fun and of course I was happy with the outcome (Geaux Saints, as Lori says).

Seriously, it was fun to cook for my family and know that while I wasn't exactly counting every calorie, I had a handle on what I was eating and how much I was eating.

The bruschetta turned out to be the absolute best dish of the evening, which was great because it was the easiest to make.

Hope this isn't too boring, but here's what I did: first step is to cut a piece of french bread into small slices and toast them. Recipe says to brush each piece with olive oil before toasting, and I used a special garlic infused olive oil we bought upstate. It's delish. I dabbed with a very light hand to keep the calories down.

While those toasted, I took a can of diced organic tomatoes and threw it into a bowl with a bunch of fresh basil I had finely chopped. I had fresh olives I'd put out for finger snacks in the living room, and so the few that were left over I decided to chop up and throw in to the bruschetta. That added a TON of extra flavor. And a quick hit of lemon zest. The recipe also calls for 1/2 cup of olive oil, but it was plenty flavorful already and I didn't see the need to add more calories (or liquid, for that matter, it was already pretty drippy).

Then it was just a little pepper to taste and a little salt (didn't need much because of the olives). I put a half slice of basil on each piece of toasted bread, then a spoonful of the tomato mixture, and then when I had them all lined up on the plate, very quickly and lightly grated manchego cheese on the top. Not a lot, just a sprinkling.

It was sooo good. Luckily there were not many and so I didn't overindulge.

The fish turned out fine (again, light with pistachios, bread crumb and olive oil to keep a lid on calories), the asparagus is darn hard to time correctly so it doesn't overcook, and things went on from there. The cheese and pears, ummm, that was a medium success. Some people liked it, some people didn't. Kind of strong flavors.

Gym visit was necessary today, of course. Did my usual elliptical, wasn't as wiped out as yesterday, but still had to take a solid nap this afternoon. I so love a day off. Wish I had more of them!

Will udpate with some more exciting workout news shortly, once I get it all sorted out.

On another note, I have been worried of late because my beloved cat, a darling friend for 14 years, has been showing signs of a very bad stomach ailment. It's quite distressing, and I have to take him in for all kinds of tests tomorrow or Wednesday, as soon as the vet next has an open appointment.

Luckily here in NYC vets can make house calls, so I already had them come last week to draw blood and do preliminary tests. The results were not good, so he has to go in for an ultrasound.

That means I'm going to have to steel my nerves and grab him and shove him in his carrier. He's an old street cat I rescued when he was a baby and he's never fully socialized, so he handles these kinds of interventions even less happily than most cats. He really freaks out.

The last time we had to do this I ended up shaking and sweating and practically in tears from the strain of having to shove him in there. It was awful.

But it will be worth it, because I've decided that my cat is not seriously ill (as in stomach cancer, which the vet mentioned as a possibility) but has irritable bowel syndrome, which is not fun for him, but can be treated. So this next diagnostic is necessary and has to be done no matter how much he hates going to the vet. And I have to bring him.

And then we can start treating him for his non-cancer stomach illness, and he'll get better and it will all be fine.

That's what I'm telling myself, and it will hopefully turn out to be true.