eating & cooking update

Usually I save my food realizations for the end of the month weight loss progress post, but too many realizations to wait. 

I'll start with a small one first: I can't eat nuts anymore. Because a few nuts turns into ten handfuls. The Lays' slogan "betcha can't eat just one" definitely applies to me and cashews/pistachios/peanuts. So I just need to avoid them in the first place. 

The big realization was how the pasta journey went in reality. I gained five pounds in a week. Partly that was because of my youngest kid's birthday, and part of it is because I also can't just eat one portion of pasta. I'm much better when things are portioned out or I make one serving of something, then making a pot of pasta and only taking a serving. 

This tells me a few things. I'm definitely better off not going down the rabbit hole of learning to smoke my own meats. I can tell having an entire brisket on my counter would not end well for my health. 

The other thing that I learned is that while part of the fun of pasta journey was the pasta, the other fun part was the journey. I enjoyed the cooking, learning lessons, taking notes along the way, and collecting successful recipes for later use. So...pasta journey will still be ongoing, just at a much more sporadic pace. (My first attempt at cacio e pepe was a clumpy fail. I will be back to master this yet, but there's no hurry.)

And I'll start a new collection of Every Day Favorites. Healthy dishes that will help me stay on track with losing/maintaining a healthy weight while also being delicious. This way I can continue on a journey, adding dishes regularly. Which instead of slowing down my progress, will only help as I build a library of meals to turn to.