I successfully poached an egg for the first time today. No vinegar or silicone cups - dropped the egg into simmering water and pulled it out 3.5 minutes later. It had firm whites and a runny yolk; delicious!

Ever since I changed my diet and eliminated most snacking, I've been finding it hard to healthily consume enough calories in a day to meet my goal. Probably need to add more protein - too much rice and potato right now. I'll keep you updated on any further developments.

Easiest five stars I've ever given to a thread

Thanks, mbb!

Restaurants are difficult to attend while watching calories, because 1. they usually don't have calories listed and so the whole experience is a caloric black box, and 2. most places use so much butter in every meal that it messes with the estimates in my head. Fish is usually a safe bet, but pastas, grains, and red meat are the danger items.

I'll be visiting a German restaurant today, truly a gut-busting trap; I'll update you on how I fared!

If I start "preparing" eggs for breakfast, they become scrambled or omelettes, with seasoning.
I can do poached and overeasy (more like overmedium), but I leave that to professionals. ;)

Here's an instructional video that might help you out on your quest:

D2fcZ9YzG0Q

But seriously... I never could get into counting calories. I can barely eat anything and gain weight.
I'm much more about tracking weight over time, and trying to keep active, keep my metabolism up.

I wish you all the best, here... whatever works for you!

I appreciate the support, Mxy. And great video, this Jimmy Kimmel fella might make a name for himself yet.

A lot of people hate calorie counting (probably part of why the keto diet is so popular nowadays), but it's been great for me. It used to be that I'd end the day having grazed on enough sugary garbage to gum up multiple gas tanks, but now I realize how little that stuff satisfied my stomach. A bit more meat and more filling starches help me avoid snacking and still taste great. I guess I'm lucky in that "eat less, exercise more" works so well for me, when I've seen other people work seemingly twice as hard to no benefit.

Also, why did no one ever tell me how tasty fried perch is? I'm getting the feeling I'm going to have to learn how to cook fish at some point.

My dad LOVES fried perch! Man, I wish I had said something sooner!

Microwaved "baked" potatoes may be better overall than the traditional oven-cooked type. The inside is just as good either way, and it's ready in practically a tenth of the time. I found that microwaving it without flipping it halfway through causes the bottom of the potato to thicken, which helps make up for the skin not being crispy like a proper baked potato.

I like it when laziness isn't synonymous with compromise!

I like it when laziness isn't synonymous with compromise!

Don't we all, Mr. Oobir, don't we all..

I bet "DrRay" doesn't even own a microwave. FRAUD.

I bet "DrRay" doesn't even own a microwave. FRAUD.

Ridiculous! He’s a DOCTOR. smh

I splurged and got some sole fillets to fry. They were very good, even if the egg I used as part of the batter acted less like a binding for the flour and more like a layer of scrambled eggs surrounding the fish. (I like scrambled eggs!)

I finally tried guacamole today. It's better than it looks! It made a great topping for a black bean burger in a lettuce wrap, too. Now that I think of it, this was also my first time doing the lettuce-instead-of-bread thing. Also acceptable!

Man, this is such a great thread.

I ate a baked potato a few weeks ago and it made me feel sick for hours, stomach discomfort and nausea. Didn't want to eat another one after that. Well, I ate one yesterday, and...it made me feel sick, same as before. I guess that's the last bapo I'll eat for the foreseeable future.

Has it happened with other potatoes? Or just baked? Can you still eat fries?

^ Always asking the questions on the rest of our minds.

I think it's just baked, I have eaten fries recently and I had stew with potatoes last week. I don't know what happened, I liked them until I suddenly didn't.

Phew.

I now own a persimmon, will update when I figure out what to do with it.

Update: I ate it. It's kind of generically fruity and sweet, like the juice in a cup of mixed fruit or whatever. Maybe it needed to ripen first? I don't know.

I hate hate haaaaate recipes that list the number of calories per "serving" and don't say how big a serving is. That's useless information! Please be more precise!

Servings are now measured in Oobirs. Whatever amount Oobir eats = one serving = one Oobir.

And they all have only 100 calories.

Oobirs are metric, while Lyffed is a goofy imperial measurement.

I'm eating a leftover chocolate rabbit, so what

I'm eating a leftover chocolate rabbit, so what

Not much different than a donut.

How have I never heard of coconut aminos before now? Basically a very low-sodium soy/teriyaki sauce. This is going to be great in my cooking!

I ate a baked potato a few weeks ago and it made me feel sick for hours, stomach discomfort and nausea. Didn't want to eat another one after that. Well, I ate one yesterday, and...it made me feel sick, same as before. I guess that's the last bapo I'll eat for the foreseeable future.

Update: Made a baked potato today, and it turns out I can eat them again. Phew, glad that nightmare is over!

Woohoo! We were all rooting for you.

Thanks! I'm feeling much better right now, I think constant dread has finally given way to numb awareness. Just being safe and trying to stay healthy - exercise has gone down significantly these past couple weeks so that needs to come back up. Everyone is feeling some level of stress right now, so I know none of us is alone.

Eat your protein, guys.

Eat your protein, guys.

Getting this tatted on my neck.

In the Currently Viewing thread, a post of mine about chocolate bars got me in the mood to order a few. Thanks to a web site mentioned in that post (chocosphere.com to be exact) I bought a few of the best bars available.

https://i.imgur.com/kqAi3OJ.jpg
(Just...don't look up the prices. I may have went overboard here.)

The first one up to bat is front and center in the photo - the Amedei Cru 70% Venezuelan Single Origin, produced in Italy. What an excellent chocolate bar! Smooth, pleasant flavor, none of the bitter chalkiness that is common with many dark chocolates I've had. The aftertaste was a simple cocoa flavor. Honestly, even if you're a milk chocolate-only type of person, you'd probably like this. My language for describing chocolate is a bit rudimentary, but the takeaway is all positive. Thumbs up!

Stay tuned for further coverage.

I was going to wait until tomorrow for the next one, but what the heck. Next up is the Bonnat 75% Trinité. It opens with a strong cocoa flavorthat quickly gives way to lovely citrus notes, with a short-lived aftertaste of coffee and chile. It’s not quite as smooth or pleasing as the Amedei, but definitely more complex and more like a classic dark chocolate. Also very good!

following

With the remains of the Bonnat and Amedei in the hands of one of my siblings, I'm free to move on to the Valrhona Noir Manjari 64%, a single-origin Madagascar chocolate. It's honestly a bit bland compared to the previous two. The packaging says it's "tangy and fruity," which I guess tracks, but the tangy-fruity part is a bit nondescript, I guess? Again, my lack of chocolate sophistication betrays me. Its best quality is the aftertaste, which lingers with a flavor like an excellent chocolate syrup. The bar is still very good, don't get me wrong, just a bit lacking comparatively.

Over halfway there! The next bar up is the Maraná 70% Single-Origin Peru. Maybe it's chocolate fatigue, but I'm finding it tough to think of much to say about this one other than, "It's like the Valrhona, but significantly more bitter." Similar fruity attack, the aftertaste isn't as good... I don't think I'll come back to this one. Hey, they can't all be winners. (Which is ironic here, since the Maraná's packaging boasts of its Amercias Gold award in the 2018 International Chocolate Awards.)

I'm going to put the reviews on hold for a couple of days to sort something out. You may have noticed that each review has been less positive than the one preceding it, and there are a couple possible explanations. It could be that I've tried too much chocolate in too little time and have thus burned out, but I think it may be due more to more literal temperature issues. Each of these bars recommends storage somewhere in the range of 60-65F, but I've had them sitting around in temps at least 10F higher than that. In either case, allowing them a little time to cool down seems a prudent move, and hopefully I'll be back at this shortly.

Sounds like a plan.

Getting back into it a bit, let's take a detour with the Michel Cluizel 47% Plantation La Laguna. Being a milk chocolate, this one isn't directly comparable with the others, but it does serve to remind us of the appeal of dark chocolate.

This is a perfectly pleasant bar, creamy and sweet with only a soft snap, and no bitter notes at any point from first bite to gently fading aftertaste. Nothing very complex, but nonetheless enjoyable. Reading the tasting notes on the packaging, though, might have you believe otherwise. It boasts of its "sweet notes of cappuccino and hot chocolate, mixed with hazelnuts and toasted bread," describing an experience a touch more intense than what I got. (Though looking at it again, hot chocolate and hazelnuts both taste like, well, chocolate, and toasted bread is about as neutral as food smells get.) Obviously, milk is going to dominate the flavor profile of milk chocolate, and this one was no different.

Compared to, say, the Bonnat, which was a play in three acts, this was a dramatic monologue with no intermission. Which is perfectly fine! Milk chocolate is delicious. But after several days of sampling dark chocolate, each with its own distinct crags and valleys, I can't help but find this one a bit flat.

Only one more to go!

Our sixth, and final, chocolate for consideration is the Domori 70% Criollo. I'm not sure if it was due to keeping this one at the correct temperature or pure coincidence, but this is a return to excellency. It has a satisfying snap to it, bordering on brittle so be wary of chocolate slivers breaking away. Much like the Amedei, it has a pleasant sweetness from start to finish, with a tart presence not unlike sour cherries. The packaging claims it has "notes of almond and toffee," and you know what? If I squint my brain hard enough, I can just about taste that. Another huge success, and a wonderful choice to conclude this journey.

My final rankings:

1. Amedei
2. Domori
3. Bonnat
4. Valrhona
5. Maraná

(Not ranked: Michel Cluizel, on account of being milk chocolate)

-Looking at the countries of origin for the cacao beans, both of the Venezuelan chocolates top the list. From my extensive reading on the topic (that is, that one web site I mentioned at the beginning of this whole thing), Venezuela produces some of the best chocolate in the world, and that tracks with my experience.
-Again, I can't rule out that my tastings were influenced by improper storage on my part; mea culpa for my inexperience.
-Bonnat had the nicest-looking chocolate bar of the bunch, and the most attractive packaging. Thumbs up for that.
-That's a lot of chocolate for one week, even if I didn't eat all of it.

Thanks for reading, Glan, Vinny, and Vinny's friend!

I read this too. I just don't have a lot to say about chocolate other than that domestic chocolate sucks.

Thx Mxy

(Another reason bought this stuff was I tried some dark chocolate from Kilwins a week or two ago, hated it, and had the urge to make up for that with good dark chocolate, so I am 100% with you there.)

How did you come upon the original article? In the quest for good dark chocolate info after the Kilwins incident?

Just linked to it by chance, I'd read it before and loved the methodical takedown.

LOL @ "the Kilwins incident"

I just had a sampler piece of Kilwins fudge today, as it turns out.

A bizarre thing I've noticed about my calorie intake that I don't understand. When I'm doing 1700/day (like right now, having gained 15 lbs in a year), it's not difficult to do. I'm hungry, sure, but it's easy to bear. But when I ramp up to 1800 to start getting to equilibrium, the hunger is almost too much to bear, like I'm up at night trying to force myself to ignore the hunger pangs and stick to the plan. I've done this a couple times and it happens consistently, and I don't know why an extra 100 calories would induce digestive panic. I'll check my diet closer this time to see if maybe I'm just eating junkier foods when the limit increases, but it's still weird.

He’s back !!!

Baked potatoes now and forever.

Cook completely/close to completely in the microwave (8-11 minutes), add oil and salt, 10 minutes in a 400-degree oven to crisp: perfection.

Baked potatoes now and forever.

Cook completely/close to completely in the microwave (8-11 minutes), add oil and salt, 10 minutes in a 400-degree oven to crisp: perfection.

Saved.