Diet Progress

It is so hard to change once regular diet after so many years of eating what you ate. I am the first to admit that empty carbs sweets and alcohol are my worst vices. I love breads, my chips, my burgers and fries, and of course my mixed drinks, especially my Jack Daniels Sours and Margaritas. And lately I have been brewing and bottling my own beer, so that was adding to my malaise.

Now of course these things are not terrible if you have them only ocassionally, but I had once again fallen into the habit of too much of a good thing. So we took a real hard look at our grocery purchases and started to shop healther; no white rice, potatoes, pasta or flour and more fruits, vegetables and leaner meats.

Now Linda has been into healthy eating longer than me and is in great shape. She works out often twice a day and is where she wants to be. I had been well under 300 about six years ago and it's crept back up in recent years. So I am changing my diet for the long haul. Yes I will have a drink from time to time, but I am not drinking any alcohol for three months. I am a month into that process and it's going well.

One thing for sure; the beer that I am aging in bottles will taste mighty fine - in moderation - when I go back to having a bottle! It actually has been easier than I thought. I am doing cardio twice a day for an hour total on my treadmill or stationary bike; I am lifting weights (to rehab by surgically repaired shoulder), and really have been watching my calories carefully.

So through September 1, when I started, I am down 15 pounds and feel really good. There are some great aids on the web to help. I am using www.calorieking.com as a great way to keep track of my exercise and what I eat. It is a great database for all kinds of foods, including restaurant chain fare.

I weigh in on Wednesday mornings and Sunday mornings. Can't wait to see what the results will be tomorrow. Now there are lots of hills and plateaus in this process and I know the body adjusts to fat burn quickly. It will be even more interesting to see how I adjust. I will keep you posted.

Pizza Beans

Okay this is a weird one I admit, but I was looking for a substitute for the dough that I consume in pizza every Friday night. It's a habit I need to break. This was very good and satisfied my pizza craving without all the fat, grease and empty carbs from white flour dough. It comes from Jeff Smith, one of my favorite TV chefs from yesteryear.

PIZZA PINTO BEANS

1/2 pound pinto beans, soaked and drained overnight (you can substitute canned)
1/2 pound boneless chicken tenders, sliced thin
1 cup yellow onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup of your favorite meatless sppaghetti sauce
Three or four slices Swiss cheese
1/2 cup lowfat shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dry oregano
Chopped basil leaves
salt and pepper

Cook the beans in 1 quart of water until tender, about an hour. Drain and pour into a cassarole dish. If using canned beans rinse off the juice and pour into the dish.

In a frying pan heat the oil and saute the onions, adding the garlic after the onions become clear.

Season the chicken with salt, pepper and oregano and add to the pan until lightly brown but not cooked through. Drain away the oil.

Layer slices of Swiss cheese across the beans and spread chicken and onion mixture on top of the cheese. Spread evenly and pour sauce over the cassarole contents.

Tear basil leaves and spread oover the cassarole before sprinkling the mozzarella on top. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Serve with a salad.

I estimate that this dish contains about 475 calories.

Diet

I don't believe in diets but I do believe in watching calories. Since my shoulder surgery I have put on pounds, some of which due to the lack of activity the recovery period force me into.

Dr. Ian Smith, of Celebrity Fit Club, has two books out on lifetyle eating changes, called Fat Smash. The diet works but it is tough, especially in its opening 9 days, when you have to avoid all fat, sugar, bread, white potatoes and rice, alcohol and meat.

I have lost 12 pounds since I started and am now in Phase II, which allows a little meat but again no alcohol. I'll keep you posted on my progress and will post a recipe or two from the diet.

Trombone Joke

So, good folks when you are a trombone player, your friends bombard you with all kinds of abuse, jokes and general snide comments denegrating a beautiful instrument. Here's the latest:

A musician went on vacation "to the islands, mon." When he got off the boat, he heard the drummers playing an island rhythm. He found it fascinating. However, after several hours, the sound of the drums became an annoyance, so at dinner, he asked the waiter, "when will the drums stop?"

The waiter went pale and stammered, "No. No. Drums not stop. Very bad when the drums stop."

After tossing and turning through the night, he called the front desk at 2 a.m. to ask when the drums would stop. "No. No. Drums not stop. Very bad when drums stop.", came the reply.

After a sleepless night, he was waiting at the front desk for the manager. He asked again, "When do the drums stop?"

Again came the reply, "No. No. Drums not stop. Very bad when drums stop."

Grabbing the manager by his shirt, the man screamed, "What happens that's so bad when the drums stop?!"

The manager winced and replied, "trombone solo."

Updates Coming

Sorry that I have been remiss in keeping my blog updates. It is already busy at work! I'll have some pics and updates this weekend. Promise!

The First Week of School

The first day of school is always an exciting day for parents, students and teachers. Parents can breathe again because the kids are out of the house during the day. Kids get to see old friends and make new ones, while of course showing off the new clothes, shoes, mp3 players and cell phones! And of course for teachers it's a return to doing what they love; why else would you work in a job that you are under paid in, yet demands constant updates to your education?

But enough of that for now! Opening day at my high school was busy but fun. I saw a lot of smiling faces and that is always a good sign. This was my 26th opening day and I must say it was the smoothest yet.

In fact the whole week went pretty well. We have some new internet technology designed to allow kids and parents to access their grades in realtime online; that launched well. Now the trick is for teachers to keep their grades up to date. Each class can now create a web page easier than ever, but there were some glitches with students accessing mine this week. I'll work with our IT department this week to fix this.

My performing groups are shaping up to be very good this year. Jazz band has plenty of returning players plus some strong new players. I do need a third trumpet but I have a five-sax front, four trombones and a full rhythm section, so it is almost a full big band. I'm still working hard on recruiting that trumpet. There are some players available.

I split my small choir into two parts, keeping the advanced kids in a group called Chorale. They will perform a wide variety of music this year, including barbershop quarter, swing choir, and English madrigal. Great voices in that group.

The younger group has potential but I will give these freshmen a year in high school choir to work on technique and music reading skills before introducing them to senior high school vocal music. There is plenty of talent in this group and I am pleased.

The funniest thing that happened this week was a problem a transfer student from Clark County Nevada had on his first day. He was caught smoking cigarettes on campus and was suspended immediately for the max, 9 days. Our school has a zero tolerance policy toward tobacco, alcohol and drugs. The student's parents stormed into the principal's office demanding to know why there wasn't a smokers lounge at our school. There was one in his former high school in Las Vegas.

The principal let them rant and then quietly pulled up state and federal law regarding smoking in a public educational institution and the law regarding underage smoking. He never said a word other than handing them copies of the law. Both parents huffed out of the school. Presumably back to their old school.

Oxtail Soup

I was watching The Neely's today on Food Network and saw that they were preparing an oxtail stew. Boy did that bring back some memories! My mom, always looking to provide a meal on a very tight budget, about once a month made a great oxtail soup. The meat was very cheap to buy and made a great compliment to a tomato based soup with garden vegetables. I don't know if she roasted the bones first or just cooked it with the stock. I'm going to do a little investigation and experiment with this soup at home first. What do oxtails taste like? My recollection that they had a beefy taste but they could be a little fatty. Maybe someone out in blogworld knows about this soup!