4th Jul 2009
Neil and I went to see the film, “Food Inc.” yesterday and I have to say my head is still spinning from the information in that film. I have been preaching for two years about eating healthy and the one thing I didn’t count on is that the tomato I told you to buy to make my tomato and onion salad may have NO nutritional value. You might as well be eating cardboard.
I knew food had been altered to produce more of it but I didn’t know the cost of that - and by that I mean the nutritional cost - not monetary. Although if what you eat is worthless the medical costs down the line will be enormous.
I’m from Mississippi where there are markets on every corner so you can buy food that’s been grown naturally in a garden - but living in Burbank, CA now it is different. Of course there are farmer’s markets on the weekends but if you miss one what do you do? Well, I googled organic food and to my shock and shame - we have a Whole Foods Grocery right down the street that I didn’t even know existed. We’ve lived in Burbank almost 5 years and I didn’t know this. Whole Foods sells standard grocery food, but they have an enormous selection of natural and organic. Neil just called me from there and said the ribs for our Fourth of July cookout later today are $12.99 per pound. He asked me if we should do that? I told him the only way organic food will come in line with the cheap, mass-produced, genetically engineered, antibiotically charged meat we currently buy is to quit buying it. We’ll just eat less meat, but I can’t wait to taste it. I remember tomatoes from my father’s garden, so juicy and red and the skin was super thin - just to pick one off the vine and eat it was like heaven. The tomatoes from the grocery we usually frequent could be used as tennis balls they are so hard and tasteless.
I’ll let you know how are barbecue goes. Take care and eat well - AND KNOW WHAT YOU EAT AND WHERE IT COMES FROM. And if you get a chance to see Food Inc. GO!
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27th Jun 2009
SO SORRY I’VE BEEN OUT OF TOUCH!
I’ve been working hard to develop more recipes to share with you! And I’ve got some DOOZIES!!! We’ll have a DVD soon with my TOP TEN FAVORITE SNACK RECIPES. I’ll show you how to cook them all - what fun it was to make too!
I’m taking a break here right now and my husband Neil and I are in Santa Monica visiting with my brother Louie and sister in law Sonya and what a wonderful time we’re having. We’re on the beach!
Lots of inspiration for new recipes! And good times visiting with my family.
More later!
And don’t forget Grill It With Bobby Flay - July 19th on the Food Network!
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27th May 2009
I have an air date for my episode of Grill It! Set your DVR or TiVo! And check your local listings for a time! I’m going to get Neil, my husband, to watch it first and then if I do okay - I’ll watch it! HA! Fingers crossed!
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14th May 2009
WOW! Do I feel great! I love dieting again! I had forgotten some of the dishes I used to eat when I was strictly losing weight and there’s nothing like an old favorite food to bring you back to life. I made my Creole Chicken Pie and I’m having that tonight! And guess what? I joined CURVES! I’m actually gonna get off my lazy butt and exercise. That’s always been a sore subject for me but I went for my orientation last night and I actually think I can do it. I was so sore I was shaking last night but I’m going back again today and feel very good about it. I’m just incredibly out of shape and since I lost weight there’s no excuse not to take it to the next level.
And I’ve already lost my vacation weight - now I have to lose the fve pounds I gained during Christmas.
I make no more promise to myself than that - but I would like to lose five more after that - but no promise - just onward and upward. I’ve really been EATING GREAT AND LOSING WEIGHT! Who knew - I can practice what I preach!
Stay tuned!
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11th May 2009
I’ve been on vacation for two weeks. Neil and I went to the Grand Canyon and guess what? Turns out my stomach is the other Grand Canyon! I’m sorry to say I left no biscuit unturned (or unbuttered) YIKES! So yes, I did gain a few pounds. The good news is yesterday I decided I needed to create my own diet plan - so made lists of my favorites and got a ball park idea of what to have everyday for the next seven days (I want it to be nutritionally sound as well as delicious - and EASY!), made a grocery list, shopped, came home and cooked and I’m off to the races.
This morning I had brand cereal and skim milk for breakfast. I made carrot and artichoke soup yesterday (topped with fat free shredded cheddar cheese and crispy chunks of turkey bacon) for lunch today and I brought an apple (with Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cream cheese) and 100 calorie popcorn for a snack. Tonight I will have a shrimp, broccoli and cheese burrito and I should have enough calories left over for another snack - probably my new favorite milk shake which is half pineapple and half strawberry! This sounds great and I feel VERY motivated. I love all my recipes and some of them I have not eaten in a while. I also made 8 servings of my Chicken Creole Pie yesterday. I froze them all because I don’t know which night I’ll want that.
This is where the rubber meets the rode. I saw Kirsty Ally on Oprah last week and she had gained all her weight back. I do not want to go there and this is how I’ll find out if I have what it takes to keep from doing just that. Stay tuned. I’ll write more often and let you know how I’m doing.
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23rd Apr 2009
They say that’s where beauty can be found. Well, it’s also how others see our bodies.
I just got back from buying some fat free popcorn at the convenience store next to my office. The guy who rang me up looked at it, made an ugly face and said, “This is no good. You should get the butter popcorn.” I told him that the butter has twice as many calories and he told me, “You look good. You don’t have to worry about that. Get the butter.”
Of course he doesn’t know me from Adam and I could have just said that I didn’t want the butter popcorn, but for some reason I felt compelled to tell him that I lost 60 pounds two years ago and I don’t want to gain it back. He first looked surprised and then said, “Then you have it under control. Go get the butter.”
Now the old Kitty would have felt so good about what he just said (him thinking that I am not overweight so can eat anything) I would have rewarded myself by getting the butter popcorn. I might have even thrown in a candy bar for good measure.. but the new Kitty really doesn’t want to gain all my weight back. So I told him that, to which he still persisted “This is no good. Get the butter”
So I left - with my fat free popcorn. This guy will never get it.
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16th Apr 2009
That’s why I did some of the things I did in my overweight life. Just for show..
I was standing behind an overweight man in the grocery yesterday (he was at least 400 pounds) and as he checked in his groceries I wished I could have spoken to him and given him my hand in friendship. He was buying all kinds of salad stuff and diet drinks - and this was all he was buying. This is the kind of purchase you make when you’re desperate and want to starve the weight off - which of course never works - at least not for very long.
He was breathing so hard he sounded like he’d been running before he got there but it was probably just that his heart cannot take standing up that long and carrying that much weight. What he purchased was not satisfying food at all but when you’re desperate you’ll try anything.
One way to get people to stop worrying about you is to let them think you’re finally doing something about your weight. I can’t tell you how many times I joined a gym or purchased exercise equipment - I even asked my husband to build me a swimming pool so that I’d lose weight. And I broadcast all of this each time I did it. It’s like “Look you guys and see me now. I’m going to do it this time. I promise.” Of course none of that worked. The strength to handle your food demons only comes from within you - no pool or jump rope will do.
So as I stood behind the nice man I wondered if he was going to eat all this salad stuff or was he going to drive straight to the fast food drive thru window on his way home. He got to feel good about buying what most people consider diet food. And when I did this same thing (before I was a RFP) I felt like a million bucks - I knew I was going to do it - this time. So, I’ve done this same exact thing for show - a zillion times.
If you are out there and you relate to this, just know that losing weight is like anything else that’s very hard to do. You might try and fail a few thousand times - but it’s that one time you get it right that counts. And you CAN do it. You truly can.. so never stop trying and forget about what anyone else thinks. Only YOU matter to you.
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12th Apr 2009
My Bad!
I thought that something like Lasagna was so high in calories that it was completely out of reach to make in a low fat and calorie way - so I didn’t even try.
So this weekend is Easter weekend and I wanted to prepare something special for Neil and me. I got a wild hair on the way home from work Friday that I wanted to try Lasagna and stopped by the grocery to pick up what I hoped I needed. But unlike what I normally would buy (ground beef, sausage, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese and regular Lasagna noodles), I picked up Jenny’O Lean Italian Turkey Sausage, reduced fat shredded mozzarella and ricotta and whole wheat Lasagna noodles. To my complete surprise my new low calorie recipe turned out DELICIOUS and only 350 calories for a really nice sized serving.
I have had the Lean Cuisine version of Lasagna and I figured they made it as low calorie as possible so how could I possibly compete with their version, which is all right but not something I would serve guests (that’s my test - if I’ll serve a dish to guests who come for dinner). Well, wait till I post this recipe (which will be this coming week). It is so close to the real deal and twice as big as the Lean Cuisine version, you will simply NOT believe it!
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2nd Apr 2009
Okay - I’ve had to finally post something new and get the heck over my experience with Bobby Flay. (Even as wonderful as it was) Time marches on…
I thought I’d post a couple of tips that I use in case they mean anything to you.
Do you eat bran cereal in the morning? If you do then you know that it’s not eggs benedict. It’s bran cereal - good for you, but not always delicious. Here’s a tip. Try sprinkling some ground cinnamon on top and then add a packet of sugar substitute before you pour skim milk over it. The cinnamon makes a huge difference and so does the sweetener. Those two items take plain cereal and turn it into a delicious, more special breakfast.
And here’s another one. My new favorite milk shake is a half and half combination of frozen strawberries and frozen pineapple. Go to the Strawberry Milkshake (just click here) recipe and as you make it just use equal parts of frozen pineapple and frozen strawberries - and you’ll be set. If you have any, try also adding a teaspoon of Vanilla Extract. This is so wonderful and very different and a welcome change for me who sometimes gets in the rut of eating the same thing time and again.
No word on my air date for Grill It - but I’ll post that soon. I have also sent my friend and web master Jim my Portion Perfect demo on how to make your own PP Plate. So that’s coming SOON!
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19th Mar 2009
I could hardly sleep the night before I was so excited. But I managed to get some sleep and felt very pumped when I got up and got dressed.
I work just north of Hollywood and Highland (which is where the Kodak Theatre and the Oscars are held) and since the address for the shoot was in West Hollywood, I asked to be picked up at my work address.
The driver assigned to me (Chris) got to my office early and since you never know about the traffic in LA I decided we should go. I guess we got to the absolutely beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the LA basin (you could see the ocean and it was a spectacular view) about 11:00am PT. The Grill It show is shooting two shows a day there and I was to be the second person of this particular day. When I got there Rae, the producer in charge of me, met me at the driveway and escorted me up to the house. We couldn’t go in because the guy grilling pork chops ahead of me - his show with Bobby was running overtime. So Rae and I chatted and hung out for a while. I’m not sure of the time when they wrapped that episode but it was an hour or so easy and then the crew broke for lunch. They had every kind of food you can imagine set up buffet style for everyone to eat. I saw no really low cal stuff so I got an egg roll and a water and sat and ate. (I don’t like to eat much before I do anything that has to do with performance anyway. It makes me sleepy.)
I think I had been there for two hours when the makeup gal and the wardrobe gal and I squared away my look. I had arrived with my makeup done and I was wearing the top I wanted to wear but when the wardrobe gal asked me about my pants I told her that I really wanted to wear the black ones that I brought. I couldn’t believe it but she let me - so I felt very good about my look. I thought about how just a few short years ago I would be stressing out about how fat I was going to look on TV. But not this time.
First we shot me saying how glad I was to be there and how excited I was to meet Bobby. I think I must have been too excited because the director told me to bring it down a notch or two. HA! Hey I get excited!
They took me to the set and Juliet, the “on set” producer in charge of me took me to the kitchen where they had a question about my grilled biscuit. Morgan, I think was her name, had prepared all of my recipes based on the recipes I had submitted and the biscuit for the grilled strawberry shortcake was very loose. She really wanted it to be right and so I took the dough and threw some flour on the table and then plopped the dough down on it and was able to make it work. Morgan was a real peach the whole day by the way. She was behind me at every turn making sure things were right. In the middle of me kneading the biscuit dough I heard someone say “Would you like to meet Kitty?” so I looked up and two feet in front of me was Bobby Flay. I know my mouth dropped open - and I said “Oh my gosh - Bobby Flay!” He thanked me for coming and we talked a minute or two (about what I can’t remember - too excited!) and then he said he’d see me soon and he left. How exciting to meet him before things got underway. And I had been working with the biscuit dough explaining how I make it so I was glad he saw me in action - cooking.
So then the crew broke for lunch. I had already eaten my egg roll so took a few pictures and soaked everything in.
Then we began the Grill It Show.
I want to begin by saying that Bobby Flay is a complete and total gentlemen. My food didn’t always turn out like I cook it when I’m at my condo but he smiled and winked and gave it a thumbs up. If you are a fan of him in any way - just know that as much as you like him on screen - he is even nicer off screen. You know when you are in the presence of a star. Bobby Flay is a star - and I still can’t believe I am a part of his series “Grill It”.
So Rae, turned me over to Juliet, the producer in charge of me on the set. She took me to my cooking station and showed me what’s what. And I used to think I had some sense but March 17th at exactly 1:30 my good sense left me. HA! I have been on TV shoots and have even been the focus of a shoot, but this was pretty overwhelming. The person ahead of me had run so far over that I think there was a tad of anxiety that the day was about to get really long. I was told a certain camera to look at but there were many cameras and they all looked the same once the shoot got underway so I’m not sure if I ever looked at the right one. A suggestion to the crew would be to put a yellow (or some loud color) flag or marker on the top of the lens the guest is supposed to look at. But I think they are probably used to that, so I think it will be all right.
Bobby was getting his mic on and he looked at me and said, “How are your grilling skills?” I said, “Not nearly as good as yours”. He said, “Are you good?” and I said, “I think I’m pretty good.” I think he winked at me but that might be wishful thinking. HA!
So Bobby got behind his station and he introduced me. I ran on set and we were off to the races.
I did get a chance to ask Bobby a couple of good questions.
1. If you were on a desert island and you could only have one spice with you - what would it be? (You’ll have to watch for his answer)
2. What is your favorite meal to cook for your wife? (again you’ll have to watch)
3. What’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato? (another interesting answer)
And I asked him to show me how he makes that garlic paste with fresh garlic. Which I did on set.
At one point I told him about how my brother Louie had first introduced me to his “Throwdown” show. I told him he could throw me down anytime and he laughed (and so did some of the crew so not sure they can use that. HA!)
He made a shrimp dish that knocked the socks off of my shrimp dish, but I think my grilled salad was very good. I told him about losing 60 pounds two years ago and I think that floored him. We talked about cooking light and I told him I created these recipes to help me keep my weight off. He tasted my grilled strawberry shortcake and I felt a good reaction from that (meaning I think he really liked it as opposed to my shrimp which I could see with my own eyes were overcooked) I made my Sangria and we toasted. I had written a parody to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” titled, “Griller” and I sang it as part of my farewell to the camera - “Cause he’s the Griller - I’m here to say - no one fires up a grill like Bobby Flay - yes he’s the Griller - I want to learn, from the Master Chef himself creating perfect, perfect - burn!” . It was 4:50. And the day had flown by.
I brought the crew my laughing CD Laffy Laughing All the Way that I recorded a few years ago as a thank you gift and Louie’s good buddy Seth Kent from Winona, MS, who roasts and distributes Southern Aroma Coffee made me a “special Blend for Bobby Flay” so I wrapped it up in green paper and ribbon for St Patrick’s Day and asked Rae to give it to Bobby as a gift, so she did. I asked her if I could get a picture and I could see that she was a bit hesitant - it had been a long day for Bobby (and everyone - they were all SUPER nice but you can tell when people are tired) but Rae asked the director, Lauren (who was very encouraging) to see if I could take a photo. She went in and I could hear Bobby say “Of course!” So he came out and Rae took this great photo of us.
My driver (a different guy named Charles) was waiting for me at the end of the driveway and so I told Rae good-bye and off I went. I called Neil (my husband), my father L.V. Harrison in Winona, my boss Dave Bell in Australia and of course my brother Louie who is totally responsible for this entire day. I had not heard of Bobby Flay two years ago. Louie, who is a big fan told me that since I love to cook that I needed to check out his show “Throwdown”. The rest is history.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this day as much as I enjoyed living it. I love you all.
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