Hanging out on Christmas morning.

         I'm getting ready to go to a friend's house for a Christmas dinner on what is the only Christmas I have seen in over 20 years that is not white!  The difference a year (or month) makes.  Last year we struggeled with the coldest winter in history, now it's raining and 45F.  I am proud to say that I had to leave my car on a charger all night.  I hadn't driven it since Thanksgiving and the battery ran down.  What can I say, golf season is over ski season has yet to begin, I've had no use for the car.
        It's Christmas day and I was thinking of food because I was making some of my "Breakfast Cookies."  It's a recipe I found on the King Arthur website a while back.  It's a great cookie, basically a natural peanut butter cookie dough used to glue a pile of trail mix together.  I like them better than the commercial granola or Clif bars. My friend, Richard Tool had made some and said they were awful "heavy."  He is right, I have taken to substituting a couple of ingredients.

 I replaced butter with canola oil

. 

 and eggs with egg whites.

 It serves to drop the fat and pump up the protein a bit.   

       Speaking of lightening up on the menu I saw this article on line.  It wasn't real news to me, I've been in the business, but I have always been amazed that I could eat $8-9 of crap at a fast food place, have it equal 1500-2000 calories and find myself hungry again in an hour or two.  I have always gravitated to restaurants which don't over feed.   In the business, most people strive for larger portions to provide the image of better "value."  Increasing the calories and perceived value usually means increasing the amount of processed sugar in the meal (drinks!).   Sugar is cheap compared to protein and makes people feel satiated.  I like Steak 'N Shake for burgers because they really don't over stuff you and their burgers are ordered with all the veggies I like from the get go.  Most of it is not really great food, but staying away from the drinks is a big plus.  You can eat reasonably well if you look carefully at what you order.  When I am stuck with Mickey D, I order a Deluxe Quarter Pounder without mayo (eliminates 100 calories of fat) and a cup of coffee.  That's about 500 calories, the warm drink helps make you feel full and the only thing truly poisonous is the enriched flour in the bread.
     I hope everybody is having a Merry Chistmas, I'm on my way to 2-3,000 calories of real food.
Enjoy!