The Naughty List

While I'm thinking about all the changes I'm going to have to make over the next year, I can't help but think of the food I love...a little too much. I have found that I LIKE a lot of healthy foods, so at least that's okay, but I LOVE a lot of not-so-healthy food. And, usually, I'm loving on this food in too-large of portions.  Like, Buca's is apparently "family style" or something....


1. Coffee. Honestly, on my weight loss trail, I'm glad I don't have to boot coffee.  Coffee has almost 0 calories and I just drink it black. Every morning. About 4-6 cups. I go to Alterra every few weeks and get whatever their signature blend is at the time (just finished off Turkey Trot, now onto Snow Day). Sure, everyone can tell me what caffeine does to my body over time, yada yada. I love coffee. I'm not willing to give it up. And I rarely rarely drink soda. So there.

2. Potato Chips. I don't need dip. Krunchers Jalepeno chips are, by a landslide, my favorite potato chip, but I love a good Ruffle or Lay as well. The problem is I don't eat just a potato chip. I eat many.

3. Pasta. Should I just make this one carbs in general?? Every year for my birthday, I request spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread. I love love love pasta. This love developed early on in my life, but really blossomed when my parents' next door neighbor, who is a caterer, taught me how to MAKE pasta. Real, delicious, fresh pasta. It took us all day to make some fettucini noodles, butternut squash ravioli, and gnocchi, but it was the best pasta I've ever had. Good pasta makes the dish.

4. Hamburgers. Specifically cheeseburgers...with all the works. About a year ago, I started thinking of doing a blog and almost started one on finding the best burger in Milwaukee. That's how much I love burgers. A good, medium cooked hunk of meat with thick drippy cheddar (or pepper jack) cheese, jalepenos, mushrooms, onions, and bacon between two freshly baked soft, but perhaps a little crispy on the outside buns. Top it off with ketchup and mustard (and sometimes mayo) and I'm allllllll set. Some sort of special fry on the side? Sweet potato? Truffle? Garlic parmesan? Waffle? I don't discriminate and I'll eat myself sick.

 A cheeseburger from Krol's in Green Bay. Very non-assuming. But there is a pat of butter under 

         the top of the bun. Are you disgusted yet? I'll have you know this was even a 

little too much for me! 

5. Wine. Patrick and I, I guess, consider ourselves winos. We went to Napa Valley in the spring and had far too good of a time. Make no mistake, I know that my palette is not incredibly discerning, and I wouldn't know a "good" bottle of wine if it smacked me on the head. I enjoy my "2-buck-chuck" as much as whatever beautiful bottle my parents have opened from their cellar. Right now I know I like wine. I like dryer wine. I usually prefer red, but not always. And I'm not entirely sure how pairings work.

    Patrick, smelling the aromas of oak! and dark fruits! and the cows of the

nearby pasture while the grapes hung on the vine! 

6. Cheese. Pretty standard in the Dairy State. Love me some good cheddar with the aforementioned glass of wine. I love trying out different hard cheeses with fun new fruit combinations. I also love soft cheese (read: Brie), especially when it's baked into a puff pastry with some sort of jam involved....Also, I love cottage cheese.

7. New things. This is definitely a vice at times, but it may also be a good thing (a virtue?). I can't not try something new. Perhaps it's because my mother operated under the condition that you had to eat what she made or be hungry. Now, I think we all know by now I am not the type of person who would ever let herself go hungry (is this genetic? maybe I should go hungry once!), so I usually ate what was in front of me. And, as my mother is an excellent cook, I was rarely disappointed. This has made me willing to try things and subsequently eat all of it. Which is good sometimes and bad other times. Like at the state fair. An oreo? Breaded in a sweet delicious dough? Deep fried? Then sprinkled with powdered sugar? Sounds awesome. I will try a whole bag, thanks. Some might think, "Ew, deep fried oreos? Does she try anything that does not involve oil and or butter?" Well, I would tell you that it's my ability to try new things that has made me love oysters (and any seafood).

Now that I've spoken to all the naughty foods that I love, I'll be the first to admit I don't want to give them up. And Weight Watchers assures me I don't have to give them all up. I can have them in moderation (a very foreign concept to me). So this year will definitely test my will-power and I believe my vice of trying new things will come in handy. Apparently there are healthy versions of things I love out there. Except wine. I'm not sure there's a substitute for that....Apparently there's something out there called a "serving size"?