The Clean Plate Ranger

Americans are fat. We all know that we are bordering on obesity. We've heard the statistics over and over again. On average, Americans are 23 lbs over their ideal body weight. The fact is that American's are becoming more accepting of a larger sized self. The older I get, the harder it becomes to loose "that 10 nagging pounds", and I've finally discovered why.

Because my parents drilled into my head, at a very young and impressionable age, to eat everything on my plate.

I don't blame them, really, because their parents drilled the same thing into them. In fact, if we are looking to place the blame, we can blame World Wars 1 and 2. As a result of World War 1, our government created the "Clean Plate Club" because of the limited amount of food in the country. The Clean Plate Club, first established in 1917, was a movement that began after Congress passed the Food and Fuel Control Act . The act enabled President Woodrow Wilson the power to regulate the distribution of food, which was becoming scarce. Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover as the head of this task and his job was to make sure that the precious food Americans had didn't go to waste.

Hoover targeted small, school aged children, with the Clean Plate Club pledge:

 “At table I’ll not leave a scrap of food upon my plate. And I’ll not eat between meals, but for supper time I’ll wait.”

And so it began a generation of Americans who were taught never to waste food. That generation were our parents parents, who then raised our parents to believe in the same pledge. Then along came the Great Depression and World War 2 and once again food in America was scarce. The Clean Plate Club was re-established in schools across the country and another generation reinforced the importance of never wasting food. They taught their children and so on and you see where I'm going with this?

Flash forward into the future, and here we are Super Sizing everything and eating whatever and whenever we want to, yet we still fell the need to never let it go to waste. Old habits die hard, and Americans continue to overindulge and take home "doggie bags" so that not a scrap goes to waste. I noticed that when a large plate of food is put before me I immediately feel a pang of guilt, like I need to finish it and if I don't I've committed a crime of some sort.

And we wonder why we are 23 lbs. over our ideal body weight? Go figure.

The Breakfast Club

What is it about Sunday mornings that screams, "HUGE, FATTY, ARTERY CLOGGING, BREAKFAST"? And if there is a day to pig out on breakfast, Sunday is the one. That photo above is an actual shot of my breakfast yesterday.


And I ate the whole thing.


And now I hate myself. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.

It all started innocently enough. I met my brother-in-law and the kids for breakfast at a great diner/restaurant called The Breakfast Club. The long line snaked outside the door should have been a tip that I was in for a culinary treat. My BIL got there first so we already had a table, and we got right in. No waiting. In my mind, I was going to go with my standard Sunday morning breakfast indulgence: One egg, cheese omelet, a slice or two of bacon and some fruit, but once I looked around I knew this was no standard breakfast joint.

The delightful scent of cooked breakfast meats, mixed with fresh ground coffee was enough to tempt even the strictest of dieters. I looked at the menu, and saw that just about anything your breakfast-loving heart desired could be whipped up. My nephews enthusiastically recommended the steak tips with eggs and home fries, or pancakes, or French Toast....or whatever you so desired. It was then that I knew I was not getting out of there being calorie conscious.

I thought about breakfast sausage...I though about actually eating toast....I though about drinking freshly squeezed orange juice...and I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for broke. Nothing has tasted so good in a long time. You see, normally I splurge at dinner time. I reserve my two splurge meals a week for fantastic dinners out with My Guy, so having a splurge at breakfast was a new and exciting change. I enthusiastically plowed through half of my meal, when my brain informed me that was just about all I could handle, so I put down my fork. As we sat there talking, laughing and enjoying the morning, I would occasionally take another bite. The next thing I know, I'm squirting ketchup on my plate and salting up the home fries like no body's business. Who had I become???

Like the name says, for that brief moment I had become a Breakfast Clubber and I left there feeling happy and satisfied for the entire day. I am surely paying for it today, as my shocked system is on an overload of saturated fats, but it was worth it. And all day today I have a chorus of Simple Minds background music playing in my head..."Don't you forget about me".....

I won't. I promise.

I Never Met A Slice Of Pizza I Didn't Love

What is it about pizza that sends me into a complete Pavlovian frenzy whenever I see it?? That delectable, gooey, cheesy, oily, doughy, sensation that pleases the taste buds and produces in me, a most predatory instinct, pizza is my ultimate chioce for comfort food.

And here's the thing: When I see it, I just HAVE to have it.
I could have just finished an entire gourmet Thanksgiving feast, but if there's a fresh cooked pie in the house, bring it on baby...

And I like it thin.
with pepperoni
and grated parmasean cheese
and oregano
and black pepper
and a big glass of iced tea.(I don't drink soda)

I even like crappy pizza. Heck I'll nibble on a oven baked frozen pizza if it's in front of me, even if it's sub-par. It's pizza after all. I love New York style pizza, the kind that the slice is so thin and so big that you could feed and entire family of five with one slice.
Greasy? Hell yes! And I don't blot the slice. That's for amateurs. I just load on the grated cheese and let that sop up all the greasy goodness.

Try as I might, I wish I was capable of experimenting with my pizza toppings. But I cannot. Unless I am sharing a pie with someone else, I gotta have pepperoni. That's all, just pepperoni. I've had chicken, spinach, feta, hamburger, mushroom, pepper, onion, and just about anything else one can imagine. But my heart belongs to the Roni.

So here's a little Daily Dandy ode to Pizza:

Pizza Pie, I love it a lot.
I'll eat it cold, I'll eat it hot.

Both in a train and in a car,
Pizza is the best, by far.

I'll order it North, I'll try it South
and never, ever burn my mouth.

So since I've told you, with pizza how I roll,
I'll thank you much and now shut my pie hole.


*I must be Pre Menstrual, because this is what came out of the creative process today

Hello Lover...

I stumbled across a new love yesterday and yes, it's food related. (any of you in the over 40 set know that really, all that's left to look forward to after 40 is food and sporadic sex)

But this???...yeah I could really get into this place. Boloco, inspired burritos is a burrito lover's heaven headquartered right here in Boston. BO(Boston)LO (Local)CO (Company) serves up inspired burritos or wraps with the freshest ingredients for that fatty in all of us. Not only are their wraps finger lickin good, but the restaurant itself is a complete homage to the city that inspired it.

Bright colored art work by a local artist of simple local areas are hung throughout the restaurant. I found myself walking around observing the art as if I were in NYC's MOMA while waiting for my order. The challenge? To see how many of these local downtown areas one could identify. It was a blast. Then it was on to my food.

Hello Lover....
My weapon of choice?
THE CAJUN...roasted corn salsa, cajun spices, black beans, sour cream, lime rice (flour tortilla)
Then I added...grilled chicken and just the perfect amount of guacamole.
Then they ask if you want a small or a large. Are you kidding me?? I don't do anything small.

Simply put, it was a little slice of heaven. As I was devouring my inspired burrito, I read a letter from the founding partners posted on a large board by the front door. Basically what it said was, hey, we care about you and we want you to come back, or some shit like that. Either way, it completely enhanced my entire Boloco experience. A quick check on their website boloco.com, and I found what they call "straighttalk".

"Years ago, we made a choice to be different; to push the boundaries of what a restaurant can be. Inspired by our customers, we tried new things. Some of them worked, some of them didn’t. These successes, and failures, have made us who we are today.You see, we aren’t perfect and would never claim to be. The reality is that we make mistakes, lots of them. But we don’t let mistakes get us down. Instead, we use them to teach us and motivate us to be better. Better leaders. Better workers. Better people. Why? Because we actually do care about giving our guests exactly what they want – yesterday, today, and tomorrow -and we believe that with creativity, attention, and passion, our work will lead to an experience that brings customers back by the dozens, by the hundreds, by the thousands…and, maybe one day, by the millions. We’ll see. "

My experience was nothing short of perfection. Great food, quality, and great atmosphere. I am now a BoLoco groupie!!! This company has it going on! Check out their website, as their business model has a fresh and hip vibe that is infectious. BoLoco to go is ingenious. You can text your order, then call when you arrive and they will send out an employee to your car with your order. Boloco now has 17 locations throughout MA and New England.

I suggest you keep an eye out on your local downtown, because I predict it won't be long before BoLoco's start popping up all over the country. Let's hope they continue with the same dedication to freshness and quality as they expand.

And I'm left with just got one question...is it lunch time yet?

The Gluttony Of Chinese Eating

Why is it that when ordering Chinese food you end up ordering wayyyy more than you need? What is it about Chinese that turns you into a gluttonous pig who has to devour every thing? When we eat Chinese it's almost like the last supper, as everyone needs to order their favorite dishes and spoons far more food onto their plates than they should.

Let's say you go to your favorite steak house. Do you ever end up ordering 5 or 6 appetizers and then 3 or 4 main dishes? Not likely. What about Italian? Do you ever end up with numerous entrees and box the rest to take home? It's more likely that where ever you eat, besides Chinese, you possibly order one appetizer, one entree and if you don't finish it, you take the rest home. Right? So why do we cram fork-fulls of Chinese into our mouths like the apocalypse is about to descend upon us? Then, after the bountiful banquet of Chinese has been consumed, we leave the restaurant, with stomach's fully distressed, to go home and feel the need for something more to eat a mere 2 to 3 hours later. What gives?

I have my favorites at the Chinese restaurant, and I guess I would feel a sense of loss of I did not consume a small amount of each dish when I am eating Chinese. For instance, I love egg roll, and I have to have some Crab Rangoon and steamed vegetarian dumplings. But then those chicken fingers and chicken wings look awfully good, so I have to try those also. My Guy loves beef terriaki on a stick and my son loves Peking Ravioli, so I need to taste a little of those too. Boneless spareribs for my daughter, and those are just the appetizers! Then comes the main entrees. The kids love chicken lo mein and General Gau Chicken with fried rice, then I have to have my spicy string beans and chicken and shrimp dish as well as a sizzling beef with onions dish and what the hell; lets get the shrimp with lobster sauce and try the basil chicken special!

You see where this is headed?
I'm feeling sick all over again. The worst part is, that after all that gluttony, we take home the left overs, but no one wants to touch them because we made such pigs out of ourselves the night before. After a feast like that I have just about had my fill of Chinese for at least a few days.

Then someone mentions the restaurant's wonderful lunch buffet and my Chinese wheels start turning. Could I do it all over again? I guess I could just have a little bit, because it's nothing like dinner. At lunch you have the option of ordering a lunch plate, complete with 2 to 3 delicacies suited to your tastes. No biggie right? The other option is the "all you can eat" buffet which, of course, has an endless supply of everyone's favorites, with no limit on your servings or their size and if I go for that option I can get more of my favorites.

And so it begins again.
The gluttony of Chinese eating. I am almost ashamed to tell you that I am seriously considering having some right now.

I just have one question for you.

How many of you are going to the local Chinese restaurant for lunch today after reading this?