flemmings | (no subject)

Ah well. That wasn't so hard, was it? Insurance company charged a renewal fee which will come back to me when the new coverage starts. Forms are arriving by email. 'Sign them and send them back.' And I, with my new 'I don't care if it's a stupid question, I'm asking it anyway' attitude, asked her how you sign an email. 'Print it out, sign it, scan it and send it back. Or FAX it.' Mh. Did not point out her automatic assumption that if I have email, I must necessarily have a printer, a scanner, and/or a FAX machine. This is why I have trouble with the modern world.

However! I have discovered a delightful dessert that satisfies me and doesn't weigh in at 500 calories a serving. Fat-free Greek yoghurt and burnt almonds. Well, roasted almonds, but I failed to notice the burner was still on under the iron frying pan, so they were burnt. Still quite wonderful.

A year or two back my bro was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and promptly dropped thirty pounds. Given my aching knees and ankles, I thought I'd try his method, which is basically no alcohol and no pastries. I have a thing for wine which I begin to suspect is the kind of allergy that makes you crave the thing you're allergic to. Stopped drinking it and felt immensely better. The pastry craving OTOH is tough. Cake is one of Canada's four food groups and is why the fifteen pounds that dropped off me in the spring of 2011 came back at speed in the fall. My downfall is the almond croissants at the local cafe, the one with the marvellous lattes. So an almond-based substitute is a godsend. They can call it fat-free all they want, Greek yoghurt is plenty fat enough for me.

My other discovery is green beans, a vegetable I never had much use for. But fry them up in a little butter with mushrooms and sliced almonds and they become my dinner entree. I can't, alas, duplicate my mother's recipe that fries them with green onions for a smoky charred flavour, but no mind. That one requires rather more butter than I care to digest.

Anyway, in spite of backsliding on the croissant front (one a week, not two or three) but certainly aided by the walking to work uphill in the snow both ways, since one can't bicycle and the subway is... mh, full of people who don't know how to behave on a crowded subway-- this morning I had dropped the first ten of those 30 pounds. Go me.

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Mmm, I adore a good croissant! Only I like the plain ones. Carbs is my great downfall, too.

It used to be the plain ones for me-- which are excellent too, there-- but once I discovered the charm of almonds on the top, it was all over.

All the almond ones here include marzipan in the middle, which is too sweet for me. If it were just toasted on the top ... yum. Also, you know you can toast nuts in the microwave, yes?

I suppose there's marzipan in the middle of these, but it's not like any marzipan I've ever had-- more like an almond cream. No, I didn't know you could use the microwave. How long does it take? Oh, and how do you stop them from exploding?

Edited 2013-02-06 23:38 (UTC)

Cream is probably what it is, though some places it's a crumbly substance rather than a creamy one. I do a handful of whole nuts in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time till I'm happy with how toasted they are. It usually takes between 45 seconds and 1.5 minutes with some stirring so the edges don't burn, depending on how big my handful it. You'd have to be more careful with it if you're using sliced almonds.

I like green beans with some toasted almonds and a big squeeze of lemon juice tossed in just before eating. Don't put the lemon juice on early, it'll turn the beans grey.

I've been chopping my nuts prior to roasting, but if I can get the roast flavour all through, then roasting whole sounds good. I'd just have expected whole ones to explode. What level do you use? Medium?

My beans go grey with cooking. They're a very inferior kind.

No explosions so far. I'm the type that would rather burn them than wait, so I use full power. Medium would be much smarter and more controllable.