Level 1 - Day 30

Good Info From An Article In The Paper

I just read an newspaper article entitled "Make Your Body Earn/Burn What It Eats".  It had some good information that I thought I'd pass along.  It started by saying that all calories are not created equal.  Some require more energy to digest, giving you a bigger bang for your buck.  Below are the tips:

1. Eat plenty of low-fat protein.  Digesting these foods requires the most calorie burn.  Just keep the choices healthy:  lean meats, eggs and low-fat dairy.
2. Go for chewy.  Your mouth will have to work harder:  choose whole fruits vs. fruit juice and toss extra beans or broccoli into soups or stir-fries.
3. Drink green tea.  Take advantage of a metabolism-revving substance in tea leaves.
4. Cook more.  Opening a package burns almost zero calories.

Here's our meals for the day:

Breakfast - The last of the multi-grain Cheerios and non-fat milk.

AM Snack - Fruit smoothie.

Lunch - Leftover grilled hamburgers from Sunday and a large salad.

PM Snack - Slice of pepper jack cheese.

Dinner - Chicken Drumsticks with Lemon Slices and Crispy Herbs (page 248 in Sexy Forever) and sauteed scallions and broccoli.

First, I have to say that this recipe didn't turn out quite like Suzanne said it would, but it was still good.  In my opinion, it was a waste of good herbs because they didn't crisp up, and that made them unpleasant to eat.  The recipe calls for 3 to 5 cups of loosely packed fresh herbs that you place on top of the chicken.

I added 6 wings (to the 12 drumsticks) for my mother, because she loves them and didn't want the drumsticks.  Next, you slice up 3 lemons and place them all over the chicken and along the sides.  I added a couple extra slices to account for the wings I added.

Then, bake at 350 degrees for 80 minutes.  When it came out, the lemons made so much juice it covered the chicken and made the herbs limp.  Nothing was crispy and we ended up throwing out the herbs.  I almost cried.

However, the chicken was very moist, but not what I was expecting.  I also think the lemons overpowered the herbs and didn't give them a chance to properly flavor the chicken.

As a personal note to those who know my mother, she was NOT Happy that her precious wings were soggy.  She likes them extremely browned and crispy.  I'll probably hear about it until the day she leaves.  Aarrggghhh!