{"id":34,"date":"2008-10-04T13:36:55","date_gmt":"2008-10-04T18:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/?p=34"},"modified":"2008-10-04T13:37:45","modified_gmt":"2008-10-04T18:37:45","slug":"in-the-kitchen-with-the-wannabe-gourmet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/?p=34","title":{"rendered":"In the Kitchen with the Wannabe Gourmet"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style='text-align:left' class='yasr-auto-insert-visitor'><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/food-coffee7.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-35\" title=\"food-coffee7\" src=\"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/food-coffee7.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"131\" height=\"84\" \/><\/a>There are times when my mind wanders as to what would make a good breakfast; most of the time, I&#8217;m having a cup of steaming coffee and a Clif bar (Apricot or Blueberry Crisp are my two favourite at the moment). But there are days, like today, when I have to have something more &#8211; so I made waffle sticks and had frozen blueberries on the side.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>You see, I&#8217;m a loser &#8211; and I say that in the best way possible! I&#8217;ve dropped from over 280 down to around 210. I&#8217;ve managed to keep the weight off for over a year, all the while facing adversity of a bad economic enviornment, learning how to cook on my own (no, that&#8217;s NOT what has caused me to lose the weight! LOL), and being faced with situatoins where it&#8217;s hard to make good food choices. How did I do it, then? Portion control, and exercise. I learned that I didn&#8217;t have to have the whole cow to be satisfied. I learned that I could eat smaller portions, more frequently, and still have the things I love.<\/p>\n<p>My problem, however, is a serious food allergy. Sure, you&#8217;ve heard of the lactose intolerant, or the gluen or nut allergies &#8212; but mine is a bit more insiduous. I&#8217;m allergic to aspartame. Yes, that sweetener sold as NutraSweet that appears to be omnipresent in just about everything (I was disheartened when Light n Fit Yogurt by Dannon altered their formula from Splenda (Sucralose) back ot a blend which included aspartame.<\/p>\n<p>How bad is my allergy, and what is it, you ask? Aspartame causes immediate and severe depression in me. I start having suicidal thoughts, and nothing but time (or anger, for some strange reason) is able to get me out of it.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that I am able to have saccherine, sucralose, or good ol&#8217; sugar. With the amount of coffee and tea that I consume, saccherine has become my best friend. I&#8217;ve started drinking flavoured blends because it allows me to feel that I&#8217;ve been &#8216;naughty&#8217; when in fact, I have not!<\/p>\n<p>So, with that said, welcome to my kitchen. I try to lighten up recipes whereever I am able, without sacrificing taste.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_34\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"34\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are times when my mind wanders as to what would make a good breakfast; most of the time, I&#8217;m having a cup of steaming coffee and a Clif bar (Apricot or Blueberry Crisp are my two favourite at the moment). But there are days, like today, when I have &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/?p=34\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">In the Kitchen with the Wannabe Gourmet<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_34\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"34\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[19,224],"class_list":["post-34","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","tag-jonathan","tag-kitchen-babble"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":60,"today_views":0},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34\/revisions\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewannabegourmet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}