After reviewing some of my eats the last couple days, I am realizing my weight gain has everything to do with what I am eating. Saturday for lunch Tony and I went ot Nozumi for their calamari fries. Holy cow, I dream about these fries – lightly battered and then mixed with a shaved vinegar slaw with spicy dipping sauce.
I stole that picture from Google images since I accidentally erased the pictures I took. š While that in and of itself isn’t too bad, we also had huge sea scallops that were served over crab risotto – and then I thought “I’ll get the spicy chicken bento box!” Um, yeah – it comes with miso soup, tempura shrimp and veggies and spicy chicken – I did eat my greens on the plate – I love the radish dressing that comes on Asian salads.
Then Saturday night was ribs. Oh, and yesterday at lunch for twinfest? I ate tortilla chips, fresh veggies dipped in a dill sauce, and had 1 1/2 slices of sausage and pepperoni deep dish pizza.
It’s so funny, but growing up I hated deep dish pizza. The first thing I would do is take a fork and scrape off all the chunky tomatoes. Now I realize it makes the pizza.
Oh, and I made fried chicken last night! Not just any fried chicken. It was Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc Fried Chicken Kit I got from Williams-Sonoma in the discount bin. It only cost me $3.75, and Tony and I agreed it was about the best damn fried chicken we’ve ever had at home.
But I have to warn you, there is some planning involved in making this fried chicken. First off, it comes with a brining spice pack. You need to boil that and let it cool for 2 hours before adding the chicken for a 12 hour soak.
Then yesterday morning, you drain and rinse the chicken, pat it dry, and leave it in the fridge another 8 hours. The package said to let the chicken sit out for 2 hours before frying, but I left it out for only an hour – I am not sure what another hour sitting out would have done?
Then dunk the chicken in buttermilk, then into the prepackaged coating mix – it made it clear NOT to shake off any of the excess coating. I also fried it at a much lower temperature – 330 degrees. I cooked the dark meat for 14 minutes, and the white meat for 12 minutes.
The outside was super crunchy, the chicken was so tender and flavorful from the brine – perfection. And guess what? Tony will actually eat these leftover! š
Let’s just say I am happy the kit came with two mixes so we can make it again – just not this week. I think I’ll be staying away from deep dish pizza, ribs and fried chicken for a while. Why does tasty food always have to have so many calories?!
I am off to the gym to swim – gotta work off my weekend eats!
Question of the Day: What’s your favorite – deep dish or thin crust??
Make it a great day!
Oh wow, my mouth just literally began to drool when I saw that fried chicken. That looks amazing!
Favorite Pizza? Pizza. Deep dish, thin crust, pita pizza, bagel bites…if it’s pizza I love it. š
I like homemade, sort of regular thickness the most, but when I’m making pizza for my myself I do super thin so I get “more” Thanks for the congrats on Freshly Pressed – my little blog is blowin’ up the last two days!
That chicken looks fabulous. The last time I had anything by Keller it was in his restaurant and it wasn’t bargain bin–what a lucky find! Brining chicken (and pork) makes a huge difference and so easy to do with preplanning.
That chicken looks fantastic! I realize that my .4 loss this week had to do with food choices. I am definitely making better choices this week.
You are killing me with all of this great food! Here I sit sipping on yet another smoothie!
I prefer a thin crust pizza! That fried chicken looks amazing. I heart my moms fried chicken and it’s the only one I eat but that only happens every few years since we don’t leave nearby.
I would say if you cut out a lot of that high fat food you will see a weight loss in your near future! I found that as I got closer to my goal weight there was less room in my diet for foods like that.
The less you weigh the less calories you need and the less “wiggle” room you have. I end up bulking up my food plan with more healthy low calorie foods, healthier versions of fried food -using oven fried methods for chicken, fries and such.
I am sure you will find the right balance of the foods you enjoy and getting the weight loss you desire.