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May 31, 2008
I Fought the Box and the Box Won
Ouch. On Wednesday night I stepped on a cardboard box in the kitchen and fell smack on the floor, catching myself on my face. So now my lip is all swollen and I've been in pretty intense pain for two days. It's hard to talk, which is kinda a problem in my job. Between that and some very bad news that a close family member just got, I've been distracted and not blogging... sorry all. Hopefully I will be back to normal soon... or I may be on strike on Thursday. We'll see...
Posted by april at 4:04 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 27, 2008
Interesting Article on "Diet Disconnects"
Posted by april at 5:19 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 26, 2008
Twin Empowerment
I've often said that I see organizing nurses and blogging about CR as parallel tracks. By organizing nurses, I help individual people improve their own lives, their family's standard of living, and the quality of care that their patients get in the hospital. On the larger scale, as we build a movement of health care workers, we can take back health care from the corporate interests who are more concerned with making money off the patients and put the decision making in the hands of the people who actually care about human beings. It's empowerment on the small scale, leading to empowerment on the larger scale. And in the end, it makes the difference between life and death for a lot of people.
CRON is a very empowering way of life. It's about taking control of your health, defying a food environment that is toxic to humans, and doing what makes you feel good, even when it means swimming upstream in a world of Krispy Kremes and extra value heart attack meals (more cholesterol and saturated fat for your dollar! Yippie!) It takes hard work and discipline. It's not easy. You have to be willing to be different, to defer gratification, and to believe that your health is worth more than the brief pleasure of eating whatever you "want," whenever it's in front of you. Real, hardcore CR isn't for everyone, in fact it isn't for most. Just like union organizing isn't a profession that most normal people would choose, hardcore CR is for those with unusual goals and an unusual willingness to be weird. But the principles of CRON can be applied by anyone to lose weight, be healthier, and enjoy life more.
So my "real" life and my side life, my CR practice and blog, are very different on the surface, but they're largely about the same thing: empowerment. That's what I've always said anyhow. But it's rare that it actually works that way in practice. On a daily basis I fight work-related stress that makes it hard to stick to CR, even though CR itself helps me deal with stress. I go to meetings where nurses are eating tons of extremely unhealthy foods, even as we're talking about how they won't have the physical strength to do the hard work of nursing past sixty. A lot of the time it feels like organizing nurses and practicing CR are about as opposite as can be.
Until in one of those moments that Shawn Colvin would describe as "Sometimes the beauty of life hits light lightening washing everything clear," I got to catch up with Annie at our annual union all-state meeting.
Annie, whose name I picked because she is a younger version of Anna in many ways, was the person who called us the first time to organize the older of the twins. She did some very important organizing during the campaign, even though she had just had the second of her children and was out on leave until well into the campaign, and she was even more critical to the contract negotiations, which she helped to lead even though she was a) working b) teaching c) raising two very small children. Now she is co-president of the local. We hadn't gotten to talk in a long time, since right after the contract was settled at the older twin I left town entirely to do the contract in Scranton, leaving the older twin in the very capable hands of Asparagus-Phobe, who is quite good at his job, in spite of his bizarre quirk of being afraid of asparagus.
Shortly before we settled the contract, I'd had a brief chat with Annie about CR and the blog. She was thinking of losing some weight now that she's done having babies, so I preached the gospel of eggwhites and the high protein breakfast, and gave her the address of the blog. I wasn't sure if she'd had any use for the info, and I hadn't seen her in months. But sure enough, at the House of Delegates, it was quite obvious that she'd lost a lot of weight. Right around 30 pounds! She looked great: thinner, healthier, and happier too. Of course I was pretty overwhelmed when she said she'd been following the blog and trying some of my recipes.
You see, I know this stuff works, but in the day to day grind of trying to get through life, fighting the bosses at the hospitals, fighting the urge to give up and devour the giant tower of cheese that smirks at me for hours throughout negotiations in Scranton, as well as trying to help nurses gain a voice on the job in a world that is carefully constructed to prevent workers from having power, I sometimes forget that empowerment, real, lasting empowerment, is possible. To be confronted with an example of twin empowerment: nurse empowerment and food empowerment, all in one, was one of the most proud moments of what has been a year of pretty tremendous successes.
We have a date to go shopping at the Ann Taylor outlet when we reach our goal weights.
It was especially funny to go around introducing Annie to the blog characters she didn't know. She knows Edward and Susie, but she'd never met Lisa or Danny California, or Luke or Christine. It just goes to show... you never know who's reading.
Like Anna, Annie had no way of knowing that her revelation of twin empowerment hit me at a particularly meaningful time. While it's been a year of tremendous career success, it's been a very hard year on me personally, and I'd just spent the previous few days feeling rather in the depths of despair. Those terrible feelings of worthlessness that we all have sometimes were spending a lot of time circling around my mind like vultures checking out a fresh carcass. The last six months were especially hard, and it would seem that I would make so much progress, getting most of the pieces of life working together just right, only to be smacked down by some unexpected horror. That conversation with Annie, and the knowledge that something I'd done had helped someone in a way I didn't realize, threw me a lifeline at a time when I needed it most.
The next day I gave my annual report to the House of Delegates, and Edward always says that I should be less dramatic but I'm always really dramatic. I can't help it... organizing is dramatic! There is real heroism as real nurses confront their fear and their boss and wrestle power away from the capitalist system to protect their patients and their families and their co-workers... what I do is actually exciting! I very happily reported on the twin victories to an enthusiastic audience of nurses who eagerly welcomed their new sisters to the union. Then I got to make Edward turn beet red and nearly pass out by publicly thanking him for all his work. He got a standing ovation. He looked like he was going to kill me, but he can't kill me because he can't figure out how to run the union without me. Hehehe.
Now the twins are off at school, both with excellent contracts, with their local leadership learning and growing and becoming independent. I am very proud of my twins. And at least one nurse is enjoying the fruits of the other kind of empowerment, the kind of empowerment that you can have even if you can't get a majority of your co-workers to vote for it, which is the power to control your own weight and health. Damn, it's been a good year!
Perhaps this year will bring more victories on both scores... as I go harder core with my CR, as we organize more nurses, and perhaps, dare I hope, that a new administration will bring some glimmer of progress on the national health care agenda. Nurse empowerment, food empowerment, and national health care empowerment? Triplets?
Wait, triplets???!!! Who said anything about triplets? The twins nearly killed me! Triplets???
What victories will I have to report at the next House of Delegates? Stay tuned...
But seriously... TRIPLETS???
Posted by april at 5:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Fun Portabella Mushroom "Burgers" for Memorial Day
On national holidays I like to make MR CR-friendly versions of traditional holiday dishes. This all started the Labor Day after he moved in, back in 2005, when I made Quorn dogs wrapped in Trader Joe's low carb tortillas with fat free singles rolled in, for the ultimate cheese dog. This morning, as I was listening to NPR, I heard a piece about vegetarian grilling, reminding me of how good the portabella mushroom is as a meaty tasting meat substitute. So I made a version of the traditional cheeseburger, two versions actually, with portabellas.
Traditional portabella burger:
Portabella cap
Quorn grounds
Spicy brown mustard
napa cabbage leaves
tomato
scallions
Walden Farms Thousand Island dressing
pickle relish
fat free cheddar single
olive oil
Pre-cook the Quorn grounds, then stuff them into the hollow of the portabella cap. Layer mustard, napa, tomato, scallions, the Walden Farms (special sauce!) and pickle relish. Microwave for one minute, top with cheddar slice, microwave for another minute or until cheese is melted. Top with olive oil only after removing from heat.
MR thought this tasted remarkably like a burger. Complete with special sauce, a la Big Mac.
I also made an Italian-esque portabella burger, into which I stuffed Quorn grounds, capers, tomato, napa, basil, oregano, garlic powder, and topped with fat free mozzarella. Added olive oil upon removing from the microwave. He liked this one as well, though I think he liked the traditional burger best.
On the side I served Cauliflower Spicy Fries, which were cauliflower chunks cooked in lime juice with chili powder, garlic powder, no-salt, paprika, and pepper. MR made his Walden Farms coleslaw and ate a sugar-free jello parfait on the side.
I also bought us some sugar free lemonade, which I really like but MR likes less.
So that was the Memorial Day lunch feast. And that was just lunch... stay tuned for dinner!
Posted by april at 11:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 25, 2008
Stuff Them Squash
Another yummy stuffed squash dish:
268 gram giant squash, halved and hollowed out with a tablespoon
2 tbsps fat free sour cream
50 grams shiitake mushrooms, diced and pre-cooked in the microwave for 2 mins
1 oz (28 g) fat free mozzarella
1 tsp olive oil
paprika, cumin, garlic, and chili powders
Dash of half salt.
Dots of Chipoltle Tabasco
Mix the squash innards with the sour cream and the shiitakes. Add garlic powder, chili, and cumin to taste. Stuff into the hollowed out squash halves. Add dash of salt. Cover with paprika. Top with mozzarella. Microwave 2 mins or until cheese is melting. Dot with Tabasco and top with olive oil. Serve immediately.
Posted by april at 9:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Another Reason to Do CR...
[WARNING: Whiny, self-indulgent post ahead. You may be better off making my squash pizzas.]
I just discovered that NPR's Ari Shapiro, who is one of my favorite NPR reporters (yes, I do listen to NPR. Yes, I did vote for Obama. Yes, I hate Dunkin Donuts coffee.) graduated from Yale in 2000. I graduated from Yale in 1996. I am four years older than the NPR announcer. Where is Daniel Shore when you need him?
I am feeling old. I always liked getting older, until this year when I started to feel like I was rapidly aging but not getting any wiser. Usually, when I feel this way, I call Anna and she cheers me up. I think that the impact of spending almost 24/7 with three young, beautiful, stylish organizers who (though they manage to hide it well) are pretty convinced that I'm over the hill, is starting to get to me. Back when it was just me and Edward (who is twelve years older than I) I always felt young. In fact, I was annoyed at how young I felt at times, battling the twin problems of being both young and female. Now I get a ton of respect. Now I miss being cute.
Obviously it's the chronic stress talking.
MR is convinced that I am beautiful and slim and youthful and nearly perfect in every way (especially now that I've gotten very good about keeping up with washing the catfood cans for recycling.) He is wonderful that way. But all you girls out there know how it is when you have those days when you just don't feel as attractive as you maybe once did. Shallow, yes, I'm sure. I should care about nothing other than my one true love and the vast number of nurses I've organized. But I am shallow... I want to be one of the cute ones!
I think I need to find someone in his fifties who thinks I am young and beautiful to flirt with. Not to do anything with... I am quite well set on that score, thank you. Just to flirt with. Any takers?
I was whining last week at six in the morning to Asparagus-Phobe (the guy I work with who is afraid of asparagus) that no one ever hits on me anymore. Another of our co-workers, who really is one of the most beautiful women I know, had just suffered through a dude trying to pick her up at the Dunkin Donuts at 6 am. "Well, April, you're kind of an imposing character." I suppose that's true. Asparagus-Phobe gets hit on all the time. He is a successful single male in his early forties who looks younger than he is and has a good job. This sort of thing doesn't work for women. It was always a big negative for me, in my twenties, that I had a great job and a successful career. That's why I mostly dated older men. They could handle the fact that their girlfriend had her own money, and cared about something other than going out and getting wasted. Now don't get me wrong: I am a huge fan of going out and getting wasted... though I don't do it much anymore. But I was a VERY SERIOUS PERSON in my twenties. Very, very serious.
I'm really lucky that I found MR. It's amazing that someone out there is willing to put up with my hours, my inattention to housekeeping at times, my preoccupation with organizing, and the little dramas that seem to be constantly erupting amongst my closest friends, and still love me and not run screaming out the door. And he thinks I'm cute, even in my Hello Kitty t-shirt and gym pants.
Another funny story about how I am no longer cute: I was at the gym this morning working out and noticed that a lot of guys were checking me out in a rather more interested way than usual. I was quite certain that this could not be attributed to any attractiveness on my part... I had my hair up, hadn't showered, was looking like a big dork. As one is wont to at the gym. Anyhow, I puzzled at this attention. Then I realized: I was wearing a tank top with a GIANT Hello Kitty on it. Not only was there a Hello Kitty, but Hello Kitty was wearing a giant pink bow in her hair, and the bow was affixed to the shirt in plastic from the outside, so it stands out from the shirt. It was a Mothers' Day gift from my mom, who knows that I love the Hello. That explains why folks were curious indeed.
Ari Shapiro is younger than I am. By a lot. Wow. I could handle it when I discovered that the salesgirls at Express were younger than I was. I could deal with it when nurses started to be younger than I was. I could even handle it when I hired someone who was born in 1980, a year in which I distinctly remember wandering around a Hallmark store in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, contemplating the fact that a) Reagan was evil incarnate b) someday I would be friends with people who were being born RIGHT NOW!
But Ari Shapiro is younger than I am. He started at Yale the year after I finished. I was in North Carolina knocking on doors of workers who didn't want the union because the white workers thought the union was just for the black workers, and Ari Shapiro was hanging out on Old Campus having a great time. Younger than I am. Et tu, Ari? Please just tell me that you weren't in a singing group.
So onto CR... if I'm going to be older than Ari Shapiro, I may as well look younger than I am. So I must do CR. And I am working out like crazy because it relieves stress and makes me feel better. Lifting weights. Lifting weights dramatically improves my self-esteem almost instantly. I want to maintain the strength and flexibility I have now for the long term, and I know i can do that if I continue to work out and do CR.
What if Ari Shapiro discovers CR and looks younger than I do for the rest of our lives? What then?
At least Ira Glass is older than I am. I think.
[Post-script: MR says, "Ari Shapiro is my absolute favorite NPR broadcaster. He is a genius."
This coming from a man who listens to NPR, the BBC, and the CBC approximately 16 hours a day. Apparently, we are the Ari Shapiro fan club. Should we make up t-shirts?]
Posted by april at 8:30 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
May 24, 2008
The Return of the Giant Yellow Squash
It's that time of year.... when the squash is really, really big.
So big you could make a pizza out of it.
So I did!
I'm sure I've posted some variation of this before but I put together large squash disks topped with the new Walden Farms bruschetta topping (which is amazingly delicious) and fat free mozzarella. Microwaved for two minutes, and then topped with slices of black olives and olive oil. Side dish (huge) of cauliflower with Quorn, eggwhites, shiitakes, lemon, Garlic Tabasco, garlic, oregano, and basil. With flax and olive oils.
Tomorrow: stuffed veggies!
Posted by april at 6:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2008
Commitment
"I'm not gonna write you a love song."
-- Sara Bareilles, "Love Song"
"As long as Niagra falls
As long as Gibraltar stands
Till hell freezes over..."
-- Chicago, "Niagra Falls"
So we are headed into a strike.
Well, it seems most likely that we are headed into a strike. Our second largest local, our best contract in the state, and the administration is a bit tired of employing the best paid nurses in the state. Some of the hardest working nurses in the state, to be sure, but because they have fought long and hard for thirty years to maintain and build on their excellent standards, they have some of the best wages and benefits in the state.
Administration has some concessions on the table. We, the collective we, which is the nurses and the staff they've hired to support them through thick and thin, will not take concessions. We've learned that there is a way to set the standard for nurses, to make nursing a profession that smart, dedicated people come to and stay in, to the benefit of the patient. The patient who, I remind you, could be you or me or our loved one. In the hospital bed, dependent on the nurse for live-saving care.
I am tired. I am existentially weary. The twins, the twins' contract campaigns, Scranton just now concluded, so much blood left on the field. Now I have to rally again to do it again and do it well. I made a ton of calls over the weekend... Susie was happy, it's been her primary project for a few months now... but I felt so tired, so much like I couldn't do it.
Years of chronic stress are starting to show. A few days ago I felt like I looked old and ugly and like a has-been. I was a pretty girl. I was a great organizer. Some days I feel like I'm some sort of shell of that. All the negative energy being absorbed, and all the disappointed expectations of people close to me. I have a few wrinkles that I didn't use to have. I'm just way too tired.
Then about two days ago I thought I was pretty again.
It was weird. I'm fairly sure it's the direct result of a) one decent night's sleep b) eating a lot of brewers yeast and flax oil. Shiny coat, etc.
Back in 2005 when I took a little break from my organizing work, I was frustrated because I was waiting for the nurses to be ready to organize. I thought, silly me, that because I was ready, they would be ready. What I've learned in the meantime is that it's not about me. I can't control the objective conditions on the ground, and I can't control anyone else. I can do the work the right way, every day, and know that we'll be ready when the time comes. Because the time will come. We're not going anywhere.
So everything I needed to know about love I learned from organizing. How to do the work. How to expect it to be difficult. How to take the blame. How to keep going no matter how much it hurts.
And by God it hurts. Today Edward was asking me about it, in another context, and I said, "Picking up the phone, night after night, for thirteen years, talking to workers, it's hard." I dare anyone to try it. The workers download their frustrations and fears and anger and disappointment onto you, and where do you download it? Onto your co-workers? Onto your boss? Maybe so. I've done all of the above.
The pain of those who work for a living and are so disrespected by their employer and the capitalist system is so real, so raw, that those of us who put ourselves in the line of fire absorb so much that it's hard to keep going from day to day. It's no wonder we lash out at each other from time to time. I call it "worker avoidance behavior." Susie can spot it a mile away. "Dude, that's worker avoidance behavior," she'll say.
Yet we keep going. I find strength in my co-workers, and in MR. In knowing that we've won in the past and we will again. In the victories along the way: the older of the twins, and the moment when Annie said, "It was like in one minute it went from them having us under their thumb to us having the power. And nothing is going to be the same again." When I called Anna at work to tell her we had won, and I talked to her best friend, Dana, and Dana put the word back into the PACU (that's nurse talk for recovery room) and I heard Anna screaming in the background, "We won!!! We won!!!" And eleven years of her life of fighting to win the union were finally ended in a victory. On Friday night she had her arm around me at the contract victory party, and I thought I could just stay here forever, here in the place where we won.
But I can't. I have to go on fighting. And so I am back home in Philly, where poor MR has to deal with my meltdowns, on the verge of a strike, exhausted to the core but committed. Too stretched, too stressed, but too dedicated to quit.
Cause you see, like CR, I've tried it the other way. I've tried to do something else, or to do this thing with less intensity, and I've found that nothing makes me feel more alive than being in the firm embrace of the work I love, that I've dedicated my life to. I never feel more real than when I am up against a deadline, be it a strike or an election, and I never feel more whole than when I am moving in perfect synergy with Edward and Susie and my co-workers making the magic happen that we have come to call empowerment.
Yeah, it's hard. It requires a lot of self-discipline. And it constantly reminds me of all the ways i which I have failed. More calls I could have made... better decisions I could have made... it's like CR that way, I'm constantly comparing myself to someone who is better. And I am constantly coming up short. My staff is very good at pointing out ways in which I could be better, believe me. Even the fact that I need to write about it is considered a weakness. I should be able to just deal with everything myself, without mobilizing my community of virtual friends for support.
I don't have an answer today. I guess I'm making progress on healthy stress reduction. I know I'm losing weight, increasing lean body mass, etc. But I am real, a real girl, not a recording on the phone, not the ideal CR girl you might imagine who lives in a cage and never confronts the real world. I am as Billy Joel would say undeniably real, and I sometimes have the extra body fat to prove it.
This life is hard, but it's worth living. For as long as I can. That's why I don't give up.
Posted by april at 6:03 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Broccoli and Asparagus with Fresh Ginger and Basil
Here's another pick-yer-own-protein dish that I threw together this morning for MR to eat for dinner tonight. I should be home for dinner, but between the very likely possibility that I will be stuck at the office till minutes before feeding time and the vague hope that if I can get away early I will try out the new Cardio-Pilates class at my gym (doesn't that sound like my idea of paradise? Cardio and Pilates all in one!) I figured I'd better make dinner in advance. I did it with Quorn tenders and eggwhites, but this dish would be excellent with chicken, turkey, shrimp, scallops, tofu, whatever. Not salmon. Why? Because salmon is gross and smells like cat breath after a delicious dinner.
The basic idea is that you take a whole whack of broccoli (I used just under 300 grams), a whole lot of asparagus (same), chop it up, cook your protein source with 30 grams diced fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce, and a whole lot of fresh basil. Three shakes of garlic powder. Add the veggies after the protein is cooked so that they're just lightly steamed. Top with olive or flax oil after removing from heat.
This is one that I think benefits from being left to sit all day, as the flavors can soak into the veggies and meld together. I'm glad it's sitting all day, and MR can heat it up right before dinner even if I walk in the door just as he's starting to eat.
Posted by april at 7:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Turkey Stir Fry With Broccoli and Cauliflower
On Sunday night I made our one meat dish per month, this time with turkey. We stir-fried turkey breast with cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, lemon, and a ton of fresh basil. It was much more vegetable matter than turkey, and turned out to be both huge and delicious.
Now that I'm used to cooking CR-friendly, it seems a lot less stressful than trying to put together a meal that has a starch, dessert, etc. I don't have to waste time boiling pasta or making rice, I just put everything on veggies, which cook quickly. I suppose there's a lot more chopping, but after a day of hard work attempting to organize the American worker, it's rather relaxing to wield a large kitchen knife.
We're on the verge of yet another crisis, this time a very likely strike at our second largest hospital, so I'm back to working seven days a week. That one week when I didn't work crazy hours sure was nice though.
Last night we had a phone bank till late at the office, and Edward went out and got dinner for everyone. Pizzas, really good veggie pizzas. I put together about a slice and a half from half slices of three different kinds: broccoli and olive, eggplant mozzarella, and peppers and onions. I do love pizza, it's nice to have every once in awhile. I'll take 300 calories off my day today to make sure I'm still on track for the week.
It looks like this weekend I may actually take three days off in a row! It's the holiday weekend here, and this group of nurses will definitely be spending time with their families and not wanting us to call them. That means lots of healthy cooking and eating, and exercise too. I'm back to exercising a whole lot. It's so important for stress reduction that I feel like I have to. Chronic stress is a huge issue for me, and I have to find healthy ways to cope with it. Exercise and meditation, as well as vegging out and reading non-work related books, really helps. Spending quiet time at home with MR and the cats helps too.
It seems like it's been crunch time for three years... maybe because it has been, and I am existentially weary, but still feeling pretty happy and ready for a new fight. I just hope that all this stress hasn't already aged me too much. I feel like it has, but MR says I look healthier now than I have in a long time. Must do more Pilates. It's like a combination of meditation and exercise, all in one!
Posted by april at 5:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2008
Facts About Childhood Obesity
Posted by april at 2:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 18, 2008
Tomato Basil Stuffed Mushrooms
More stuffed mushrooms!
4 White mushrooms, large, stems removed
100 grams tomatoes, diced
5 g fresh basil
Garlic powder
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) fat free ricotta
1 oz/28 g fat free mozzarella
1 teaspoon olive oil
Finely chop the basil and put it in the hollow of the mushrooms. Add the tomatoes. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Take a tablespoon of fat free ricotta and mold it carefully on top of the stuffed mushrooms. Divide the fat free mozzarella four ways and carefully mold it on top of the FFR. Microwave for two minutes, or until cheese is melting. Remove from heat and divide the tbsp of olive oil amongst the mushrooms. Serve immediately.
Posted by april at 9:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Love Is Not Without Pain
In a fit of "I'm home, I'm home!" enthusiasm after spending most of the week on the road, I ran into the kitchen, where he as pruning mustard greens, came up behind him, and threw my arms around him saying, "I'm so glad I'm with you!" [This was not meant in any way as a slight to my past lovers or friends, for the record.]
Unfortunately, in the process of this passionate embrace, I banged my nose into his shoulder blade. He's really, really skinny. Ouch.
One small pain in the nose... one great love... on balance, it's worth it.
But I'll be more careful next time.
Posted by april at 9:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 16, 2008
Happy Anniversary Baby!
Well, today is the one year anniversary of the election victory at the older of the twins. Yea!!! It's my baby's birthday! I'm very proud of their progress... it was by no means an easy victory, either in the contract or in the election. Truly heroic efforts on the parts of the nurses there. I am a very, very proud mommy.
Now off to drive across the state, something I do rather frequently these days. Don't some nurses in Philly want to organize?
Posted by april at 6:29 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 14, 2008
CR On The Road: Garden Fare From The Olive Garden
Did you know that the Olive Garden has a calorie-controlled menu? Now it's probably not exact and you wouldn't want to eat pasta everyday, but when you're on the road to an unfamiliar place that has mostly just chain restaurants, you may as well go somewhere where you can know the calories. And as an unrepentant pasta lover, I have to admit that being able to eat a big pasta dish and still keep my calories under control is a major treat.
Olive Garden Garden Fare Menu -- read it here!
Little Lisa and I are leaving today for the west side of the state, where the main things that I enjoy are a) the Olive Garden b) the fact that Little Lisa also loves the Olive Garden c) the Marriott Courtyard where we stay is brand new and gives out free rubber duckies with every room. Yes, a free rubber ducky each time. I have decided, after becoming particularly entranced with my rubber ducky (who is dressed up like a king with a royal robe and crown and may be holding a scepter, or it could be a bottle of shampoo, in keeping with the bath theme) that I am going to become a Person Who Collects Rubber Duckies. Because we all need a hobby... Edward has been telling me for years that I should cultivate some interest other than work, CR, and wine. So now I have a hobby. I have an interest. I am interested in Rubber Duckies.
What is the world coming to? I ask you.
Posted by april at 7:31 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Quick and Easy Hunger Busters
I've noticed that certain foods, very low calorie foods, seem to make hunger vanish. It's quite amazing really... I can be very hungry at about 10 am, have a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese, and like magic, my hunger vanishes. Here are my favorite quick hunger busters:
Laughing Cow Light cheese wedge, 35 calories
Slice of fat-free cheddar singles, 30 calories
Grape tomatoes, 27 calories per hundred grams
Cucumber, with peel, 15 calories per hundred grams (usually with a little No-Salt)
Pepperoncini, hot peppers in vinegar, 10 calories per 31 grams
Fat free cream cheese, two tablespoons, 30 calories
Fat free sour cream, two tablespoons, 20 calories
Salsa, most varieties, 15 - 25 calories for two tablespoons
Combinations of these also work brilliantly to combat unwanted hunger. For instance, I find a handful of grape tomatoes plus a Laughing Cow Light or a slice of fat-free cheddar really knocks out hunger, for a couple of hours.
What do all these things have in common? For me, I think it's the salty taste. I am a reformed/ing salt addict, and just a tiny bit of salt makes me feel like I'm satisfied. Something about lowfat and nonfat dairy is incredibly satisfying too... have others found that? Among the biggest innovations in my diet when I started CR was the inclusion of a whole lot of nonfat and lowfat dairy products. Makes all the difference!
Posted by april at 9:24 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 13, 2008
Caper Stuffed Mushrooms
This is definitely the dish I will take with me next time I'm called upon to provide appetizers at a function. You could vary it in a lot of ways too, but I did it quite simply as a side dish to dinner last night.
Big, white stuffing mushrooms, stems removed.
Stuff with capers, tomato, garlic powder, oregano.
Cover with fat free mozzarella.
Microwave two minutes. Remove from heat and top with 1 tsp olive oil.
This would also be great with olives, artichokes, or any powerful tasting veggie.
Eat with fork and knife or fingers!
Posted by april at 11:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 12, 2008
Makes Fat Cells Self-Destruct!
That was a headline I read on a magazine at the grocery store. It was advertising some antioxident supplement. In case you are wondering, this sort of thing does not work. And even if it did... would you want your fat cells self-destructing? What then? It sounds like the urban legend about what happens if you eat a lot of pop rocks and drink a Coke.
In other news, I've discovered that people like it when blog content changes a lot. Almost no matter what it changes to. Think about it: you check in on your favorite blogs. New content: you experience a little rush of excitement! No new content: there's a let down, a moment of sadness as you realize that you're stuck reading the comments. If you check in on a blog enough and there's no change, you stop checking as often. I find I actively get annoyed when there's no change in my favorite blogs, especially the ones that are more like professional bloggers, not just friends of mine (whom I tend to have more sympathy for when life prevents posting.) I also really like it when people post links to other people's blog entries, or to various medical studies, or whatever. Mary has done that a lot lately. It gives me more things to read without having to look for them.
In conclusion, I've decided to post more often, even if it's just stupid stuff. At least you can't be sad that I'm not posting. It also cuts down on the number of friends and family inquiring as to whether or not I might be dead.
Posted by april at 4:53 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 11, 2008
More Stuffed Stuff!
I do love to stuff stuff.
Today's lunch:
Stuffed Yellow Squash:
Hollow out a yellow squash (I use a measuring spoon to do this.) Mix the innards of the squash with 50 g grape tomatoes, halved or quartered, and 2 tablespoons fat free sour cream, plus garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder. Put the mixture right back into the hollowed out squash, and top with little driplets of Smoked Chipoltle Tabasco. Then microwave for just a minute. If I'd thought of it before I put it into COM, I'd have used some fat free mozzarella on top, but too late now. Top with a teaspoon of olive oil. And that's just one of the dishes.
Ginger Mango Stuffed Napa:
Take a leaf of napa cabbage. Put it on a plate. Take 140 g frozen mango chunks, 20 g fresh diced ginger, and a dash of cinnamon. Microwave. Put the mixture into the napa leaf, and add a few hazelnuts and 30 g avocado.
The giant "side" dish is going to be broccoli with eggwhites steamed in lemon juice with garlic and olive oil.
I don't really feel the need to have entree, side dishes, dessert, etc. I just like to put together dishes and serve them. Some are big, some are little, some are stuffed. All are fun. I'd like to do a chef's tasting menu, with little course after little course coming out, each one set down in front of the eater as the previous empty plate is whisked away. Anybody want to come over?
Posted by april at 10:15 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
The Whole Is Greater Than the Sum of the Parts It's Made Of
[Warning: this entry gets really silly at the end. If you can't handle it, go read Dr. Stacey.]
I happened to be on the phone with Danny California while I was cooking dinner last night.
"What do you think about putting together lemon (both juice and peel, diced) with fresh ginger, two kinds of squash, and shiitake mushrooms?"
He was all for it. Of course he is the king of mushroom obsession (the kind you eat, just to clarify) and he does a lot of sorta Asian fushion stir-fry type of dishes. I put the dish together in a little pot and served it over eggwhites (but you could serve it over pasta or rice or nothing) and it turned out great. MR added a dash of garlic powder, and I'll probably use fresh garlic next time I make it. I also thought it would be great to make with shrimp or scallops. The trick is to juice the lemon, put the juice in the bottom of the pot with just a bit of water, and then dice up the peel and the ginger very finely and stir them around for awhile before adding the veggies. Some people have allergies to uncooked shiitakes, so be sure to cook those well.
I've been cooking with a lot of fresh ginger this weekend. Yesterday I made a fairly classic broccoli dish with garlic, ginger, and low sodium soy sauce. Today with lunch I'm going to use some frozen mangoes and spike them up with ginger and do something to them... haven't decided what as of yet.
One of the things I love most about cooking is that you can create tastes that are so radically different from the taste of each ingredient alone. I like to blend just a few strong ingredients, not a list of twenty, but high quality, fresh stuff, and then let them talk to each other and decide what they're going to taste like.
I called Danny back after our conversation because I wanted to tell him, in more detail, how much I appreciate the work he did on the Scranton campaign. It was his first union campaign, and he passed every test with flying colors. The most important thing, I've figured out after watching numerous organizers crack up, freak out, and burn out or run screaming out the door, is the ability to hold it together under pressure. It doesn't matter how you manage to hold it together, you just have to do it. Some of us do it by reaching out to our co-workers for support. Some of us need more space and time alone when it's crunch time. Some of us stop eating, some of us eat too much. Most of us drink an extra glass of wine and feel pretty good if we cut ourselves off at that. Doesn't matter how or why you do it, only that you do it. He did it. Both of my young organizers, Danny and little Lisa, held together beautifully under pressure. There were so many moments when I was quietly very proud of them, and since the campaign I've taken time to congratulate both on their personal victories. It's funny because they both have such good instincts that it never occured to them to screw up the way most organizers would under the same circumstances. So I had to point out to them how they could have screwed up and didn't. "You don't have adequate information to understand how good you are," I said to Danny. Funny how I can make a compliment sound a bit condescending... didn't mean to, but it's true. Until you've trained a bunch of people, you don't know all the ways that people can fail.
I know I wouldn't be able to keep doing the work I do if it weren't for my co-workers. Edward, Susie, and now little Lisa and Danny C. They make it all bearable. Hmmmm... is that how you spell that word? It looks funny, like it involves a bear. The furry, growling eat you for supper kind of bear. Points to ponder. I'm sure MR's mom will know.
Point being, without my co-workers, I'd be like fresh ginger without garlic, lemon, and soy sauce. There. Now it's a blog about food. There you go. I wonder which one would be which. Danny is definitely the mushrooms, since he eats so many mushrooms that they probably make up a large percentage of his body by now. I think Susie is ginger: unusual, spicy, interesting, versitile, and something you have to have with your sushi. Edward: as much as he hates them, I'd have to say he's like eggwhites: pure protein, no fat, no frills, the thing that has made me stronger than I ever though I could be. Little Lisa could be the lemon: full of sunshine and a wonderful addition to just about any recipe, but with just a bit of a bite. She's beautiful and sweet, but she's no shrinking violet.
MR is a nut. Cause he has so much unsaturated fat.
I think I would like to be Nancy's Organic Cottage Cheese. Half protein, half carb, lots of calcium for building strong unions, and just a bit of a kick from the live cultures. Ridiculously expensive, recently liberated from Vermont, and healthy enough to eat every day. Low fat in it's natural state, but if you add a teaspoon of flax oil, you get quite the perfect dish. And don't forget to top with Texas Pete!
If you were a food, what would you be?
Posted by april at 6:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 7, 2008
First of Spring Recipes: Stuffed Napa Cabbage Leaves!
Anyone who has been reading for awhile knows that I simply adore stuffing vegetables. Another big theme with me is turning a CR-unfriendly food into a CR friendly food. Napa cabbage leaves, which are tough enough to be stuffed, are a great substitute for bread, and can even pretend to be pizza crusts. I've used them to make appetizers for parties before, since you can stuff them with quite a lot of food and still have a finger food that doesn't require fork and knife to eat.
Today, on a beautiful spring day, I'm stuffing napa cabbage leaves with a fun mixture that I made with Quorn, but that would also be quite delicious with chicken or tofu. I am marinating Quorn tenders and diced yellow squash in a sauce of cider vinegar, chili powder, garlic powder, a tiny drop of sucralose (you could use a tiny bit of Splenda) and fresh ground pepper, plus a bit of generic Louisiana hot sauce.
That's four leaves, set out in a little flower pattern on our pretty dishes courtesy of the parents of MR. On the side, I served a mixture of diced cucumber, green zucchini, and fresh flat leaf Italian parsley marinated in red wine vinegar with garlic and fresh squeezed lemon juice.
It's so nice to be home for a little while and to be able to cook again. We're finally having wonderful weather here, a little too warm for MR but I love it. I actually took a day off yesterday (gasp!) and though I did end up doing some work from home, I mostly relaxed. Took a two mile walk along the river (we have a lovely bike/pedestrian path). Scrubbed the kitchen floor. Today I'm going back to work but taking Pilates class first, and hopefully not working too late. Tomorrow and Thursday I think I think I think I am going to take off. Wow.
I even read a book yesterday. The Starvation Experiment, about Ancel Keys' experiment during WWII. More about that tomorrow. Brief preview: we are not starving. Those guys were starving.
Posted by april at 6:51 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 4, 2008
The "You Should Stop Losing Weight" Speech
Have you gotten the "You should stop losing weight!" speech? I sure have. Often from the same people who say, "You don't look skinny at all!" Go figure.
This interesting entry from Weighty Matters, a blog I often like, addresses the issue. Note that in the comments, a woman of 5' 2" who went from 230 pounds to 155 got the "You should stop losing weight!" speech! I can kinda see getting the speech at 105, but at 155? Wow.
When did you first get the "You should stop losing weight" speech? I think I started hearing it at around 125 (I too am 5' 2") At that point I wasn't exercising at all (so I wasn't carrying around much muscle mass) but I had lost from 137 to 123 from March 26, 2004 to June 7, 2004.
Everyone is invited to tell your stories. I hate it when people stop commenting. I get bored. So write something. You will be rewarded with more recipes.
In other news, I am suddenly so jealous of Marcus Broccoli, the recently resigned managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, because unless my Google search is misleading, his last name really is Broccoli. It must have been hard as a kid, but to be an adult with the last name of Broccoli would be so cool. I wonder if there is a Mrs. Broccoli. Not that I would leave MR for a man with a more vegetable-like last name, but still.
Perhaps both MR and I will change our last names to Broccoli. April Broccoli? April Cauliflower? April Parsnip?
Posted by april at 8:20 AM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
May 3, 2008
Presentation Isn't Everything, But It Isn't Nothing Either
"Are you all required to wear skirts?" asked, Anna, the blog name Anna, at the impromptu party we had after the last ratification vote on Wednesday. She was addressing little Lisa, but asking all of us organizers generally.
"Just me," said Danny California. That got a good laugh.
"I don't require them to wear skirts," I said, "But we do have to dress professionally."
That made sense to Anna. After all, it's our job to lead nurses in struggle to win a voice on their job. It isn't going to work if we look like children.
Presentation isn't everything, but it definitely isn't nothing either. It's important, how people look, how things look, how foods look. On an average weekday with MR (assuming I'm home, which these days I'm not all that often) I might make a big stew in a large pot and perhaps a side dish or ricotta and fruit parfait dessert, but nothing fancy. I like to come home and put on my yoga pants and a tank top or sweatshirt, depending on the weather. It's nice to get out of my grown up work clothes, and MR loves his voluminous vegetable dishes. But on weekends, when I have a little time (as opposed to the weekends lately when I've been running crazy because I'm still working most of the time in addition to getting all the housework done, or getting some of it done and complaining about the rest) it's fun to do a little more in the way of presentation.
For lunch this afternoon, I made MR some mushroom "pizzettes," with hollowed out white mushrooms stuffed with grape tomatoes, topped with basil, oregano, capers, and fat free mozarella. I placed them in a circle around the perimeter of a large glass round plate, and in the center I put a glass bowl filled with both yellow and green squash, mixed up with red wine vinegar, garlic and oregano. On the side I served a big bowl of cauliflower and broccoli with eggwhites (to bump up the protein) in lemon juice with garlic. Dessert was a megamuffin mixed into non-fat ricotta, with hazelnuts, and topped with flax oil. A teaspoon of olive oil topped the other two dishes. It was very pretty.
Tonight I am having even more fun with presentation. I sliced green zucchini and yellow squash into disks, and set them out on the beautiful white square plates that MR's parents gave us, in a chessboard-like pattern with four onen way and four across. Then I made little towers, alternating zucchini, squash, Laughing Cow light swiss cheese, nonfat ricotta, and fat free mozzarella. Then I toped the tiny towers with paprika and garlic. They really do look like an edible game board. Then on the side I'm serving a giant asparagus dish in lime with pepper, and a giant cauliflower dish with eggwhites in cider vinegar with chilis and hot sauce. Tons of volume, very pretty in our Christmas-present dishes. We may as well enjoy these moments we have together, to play with pretty veggies and pretty dishes!
Posted by april at 7:42 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
When I Stopped Cooking, People Started Looking
That was the slogan on one of the signs for a "Diet-to-Go" processed food diet plan at my gym. I finally got back to workout, after a week away in Harrisburg and Scranton. I actually have a ton of sympathy with those who don't have much time or interest in cooking, but I wish I could give people my quick and easy on the go healthy food, instead of these high salt, low volume, low quality diet frozen foods. Sure, I eat the occasional Lean Cuisine, but I don't make a quotidian diet of it. It's not that hard to eat healthy foods that are quick and easy to prepare... if you know how to do it. It's also cheaper than buying pre-made stuff. Oh well. If there's one thing you learn from being an organizer, it's that you can't save the world.
I have managed to cook Thursday night and Friday night, since I got back from Scranton, but nothing too exciting or complicated, as I've been working non-stop and when not working, I've been fast asleep. I was so far behind on sleep that I've had a nap every day. The upstairs cat is enjoying this... more time for Philo on my pillow.
Today it's Saturday, and I'm cleaning the house, did the grocery shop, went to the gym, had a lovely meditation session, and I'm finally going to do some real cooking! Not sure yet what I'll make, but I'm definitely going to make my gazpacho for the first time this season. Instead of Clamato juice, which used to be my base, I'm going to use low sodium V-8 + clam juice, leftover from the canned clams that I use to make my clam chowder. That plus tarragon vinegar, horseradish, Tabasco, fresh lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, and a ton of pureed veggies makes for a delicious, high-nutrient food that I can eat all through the week.
More news and more recipes as I get to work cooking!
Posted by april at 9:31 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 1, 2008
Tell the Waitress I'll Come Back to Zanzibar
Well, it's over now, the contract and all in Scranton, and while I'll never be very far out of touch with these nurses, the intense period of my involvement is done. I am relieved but I am sad too. I am so attached to some of these nurses, more attached than I've gotten in years. Was it because they had lost twice and come back, against all odds and their better judgement, to win? Was it because their administration had taken away so much that they had to fight to get back? Was it just Anna (blog name Anna, that is, though I have gotten quite close to the real Anna) and her own moving story? Or was it a time and place when I had been on the verge of serious burnout and these folks convinced me to walk out on the wire again?
The last night of negotiations, I ate quite a few pieces of cheese. I usually solemnly swear not to take a bite from the cheese plate, because once you have one bite, it's hard to resist the others. But realizing that it was the last time I'd have the option for a long time, I decided to indulge. It was actually rather delicious. I put cheese on fruit instead of crackers. Stilton on honeydew... try it.
We won't be seeing Robert C. Ufberg, Attorney at Law, for a couple of years now. The contract is for 2.5 years. I think he will miss us. Negotiating with Edward, who is probably the only person he meets who is as smart as he is, must be simultaneously frustrating and fun for him. Bob Ufberg has been called a lot of things, but never a tower of cheese.
I am already fighting the next war. The next campaigns, the next things I have to do. I am already, mentally, fighting the next contract. I've been organizing, talking to workers every day, doing the real work on the front lines, since 1996. Yikes. No wonder I look old. If it weren't for CR, I'd look a lot worse. I've become emotionally involved with these Scranton nurses in a way that is now unusal for me. Of course I'm always emotionally involved, but it's usually more with the fight, the struggle for nurse empowerment, than with the particular people (though there's always one or two I get close to.) Here there are quite a few I am very close to. At first I thought it was just that Anna, and her story, were a symbol for me of all my and my mother's struggles, but as she got more involved and I got to know her personally, I realized that no, it's really Anna. And Diana. And Dana. And Rachel. And all of them.
So there will be another Scranton, more Scranton, Scranton Take Two, V2. Mission Impossible, rendered possible through the heroic efforts of some of the most amazing nurses who ever lived.
But for now, I need to re-group, re-focus, heal up the wounds that these campaigns make no matter how battle-hardened you are, focus on CR. I am lucky that my partner is totally fine with me being on the road, so he is happy to see me but not mad that I've been gone. I still have some weight to lose and some calories to cut. Scranton 2010 will no doubt find me older, thinner, a little crazier, with longer hair that I refuse to cut. I'm sure we will have fun. I can't believe how much I feel like I will miss Scranton for now. Soon I know I'll be immersed in a campaign that takes my mind off it. But for now it's lonely, the way my mother describes how she felt when she was no longer pregnant with me. You carry them around and they're such good company... and it hurts like hell, but suddenly they're their own independent person, and you don't have them as a part of you anymore.
We're having a victory party on May 16. The one year anniversary of the win at the older of the twins. It's a Friday night this year.
It won't be long before I'll be back in Scranton. I have a certain amount of time to prepare for it, and I am very good with deadlines. I love the way "deadline" includes the word "dead." Nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of death. Ask any nurse, or any CR practitioner.
Billy Joel pipes in from my Ipod:
Tell the waitress I'll come back to Zanzibar
I'll be hiding in the darkness with my beer...
I've got the old man's car
And I got a jazz guitar
I got a tab at Zanzibar, tonight
It's where I'll be.
Posted by april at 7:06 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May Day
Happy May Day!
Let's say... international workers' day, the one year of the day the nurse got fired last year, and the day after we settled the Scranton contract. If you had told me then that all that happened this year would happen, I would have:
a) fallen on the floor laughing
b) said, "Are you f*&Ng serious?"
c) briefly considered joining the French Foreign Legion
d) figured that in the end, I'd decide it was all worth it.
Let's see... two of the major characters in my life were not on my radar screen at all back then, though both were supporting actors in major dramas of my past, both, to one extent or another, playing the villian. And the two major characters of the year, the twins, were in no way sure bets, either for organizing wins or contract victories. Now the twins are away at school, and it feels like the first day of the rest of my life. I ate some brewers yeast soup, which seems appropriate.
The nurse who got fired has a better job than the one he got fired from, the twins have their union and great contracts, the leadership of those unions is growing and changing and makes me feel so proud to be an organizer. My staff is growing and changing and passing every test of their organizing skill with flying colors. Edward and I haven't killed each other, and as our president said at our annual assembly in introducing us, "Together, they are a formidable team." MR is fine, we've had our struggles, but we're very, very happy.
My cat continues to insist that he hasn't been fed in weeks, minutes after we feed him.
CR is CR and always will be and I'll write more about that later, but for now, happy May Day. Workers of the world unite. But beware of the cheese plate.
Posted by april at 3:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
You Can Stop the Perishing!
"By that time, as you can imagine, I was perishing of curiosity," I said to MR as I related the story of yesterday's very eventful day. I was waiting for a report from Edward on a meeting, but events kept preventing us from catching up.
"Now I'm perishing of curiosity!" said MR.
"You can't perish! Not after all the work you put into CR!"
"You can stop the perishing," he said.
"Isn't that kind of a running theme with you?"
Posted by april at 3:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack