Eating Intuitively

For many years, I enjoyed a dish at Easter I thought to be called “Pizzaguine”.  That’s how I heard it, and that’s how I expected to see it in writing.  No such luck.

So, after an exhaustive search on the internet, I found out that the dish was actually probably “pizza chiena”.  Some people might called it Easter pie, pizza rustica, carnival pie, etc.  Whatever you call it, it is basically meat, cheese and eggs in a nice crust.

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I figured out the name, but the other trick is determining which recipe is the right one.  Unfortunately, there are so many recipes, because “pizza chiena” means different things in different families.  Secondly, the nature of the recipe is that it has traditionally used leftover meats. 

With this information in mind, a friend and I set out to try to replicate the recipe we both know and love.  Remarkably, she and I had very similar ideas of what the dish should be.  Rather than slicing the meat, we would cut it into chunks.  Instead of layering the eggs and cheese mixture with the meats, we would mix it all together.  We even had similar ideas about the meat.

Tonight was the night to make the “pizza chiena”.  We ended up with four versions.  We used pie dough, pastry dough, and homemade dough for the crusts.  We used basically the same egg and cheese base with some “base” meats.  Each version was enhanced with variations of sharp and mild meats and cheeses. 

Here are most of the ingredients I used.  I need to get the recipe from my friend, then I’ll fill in the details.

• ricotta cheese
• mozzarella cheese
• parmesan cheese
• eggs
• mortadella
• ham
• capicola
• salami
• prosciutto

It’s not healthy eating, but it sure is delicious.  Have you made “pizza chiena”?  What is your recipe?  Do you call it something else?

Breakfast:  Lowfat Granola Cereal; Yogurt, nonfat; Raisins; Bread, rye; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Ham, low-fat; Mandarin Oranges

Lunch:  Chicken and Pasta in Cacciatore Sauce; Cabbage, raw; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  Chicken Pasta Parmesan; Brussel Sprouts, cooked; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Pasta, cooked al dente

Dessert:  Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar

Drinks:  Crystal Light; diet soda

Exercise:  none today.

Pedometer:  ?

Happy Passover.  Although I am not Jewish, I did have the opportunity to observe Passover, and, thus, enjoy some delicious food.   I am still following the NutriSystem Select plan, but holidays are important days, and food is a big part of the holidays.

EatingIntuitively.com is a paid affiliate of Nutrisystem, Inc.

I did not take any pictures of the foods I ate tonight, but I am happy to share with you what I ate.  Hopefully, you can appreciate all of the great food.  I won’t bother to count the calories.  I’ll do that for tomorrow’s food.

• Boiled Egg
• Matzoh – unleavened bread, much like crackers, great with margerine or charoses
• Charoses – a mixture of apple, nuts, wine and cinnamon; chopped very finely; if I liked apples, I would enjoy this more
• Gefilte Fish – people seem to love or hate Gefilte Fish; ground fish shaped into oblong patties; I like them with horseradish and without any extra ”soup” in the jar.
• Vegetable Soup – simple vegetable soup; a little creamy; tasty, too.
• Brisket – I love brisket.  It’s tender and delicious usually with a nice tomato sauce.
• Turkey - Both dark and white was served.  I went for mostly dark meat.  It’s my favorite.  I had a little dark meat, too.
• Vegetable Kugel – sliced/chopped/ground vegetables with egg, oil and/or flour; I know carrots were in tonight’s recipe.  I’m not sure what else. 
• Potato Kugel – potatoes (grated?) with egg, oil and/or flour.  I really like potatoes like this, especially with nice brown crust.
• Fresh Vegetables  – cucumbers, carrots, peppers and cherry tomatoes.  I had the tomatoes.
• Wine – Concord Grape wine.  It is sweet and delicious.

Now that I list it out, it is a bunch of food.  I’m still not going to count the calories.

I’m celebrating Easter on Sunday, and I plan to eat “Pizza Chiena”.  My grandparents used to prepare it at Easter time.  It’s a tradition.  However, the recipes vary greatly.

I have settled on a base version of the recipe, and I plan to make a few variations.  Hopefully, the consistency will be what I remember.  If not, I’ll make adjustments.

Exercise is missing from my holiday plan, and I am not sure yet how to make it up. 

Which holiday(s) are you celebrating?  Which foods do you associate with the Passover or Easter holiday?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  As far as holidays go, this was a good day for me.  I wore green for the little bit of Irish in me, but I did not eat anything special on the holiday.  I avoided corned beef and cabbage, boiled potatoes, shepherd’s pie, green beer, and more. 

While there are some fattening foods to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day, it’s not really a big day for candy, chocolate, and other indulgences.  People, at least those in my office, did not bring anything special to work like they did for Christmas and Halloween. 

EatingIntuitively.com is a paid affiliate of Nutrisystem, Inc.

Restaurants, other than Irish pubs, don’t really embrace the holiday either, with the exception of McDonald’s.  I do recall them promoting their Shamrock Shake.  Other than that, there is not a big push to promote foods for St. Patrick’s Day. 

So many holidays are centered around food, and you can easily associate certain foods with them.  St. Patrick’s day is no exception.  Even a somber holiday like Memorial Day is associated with barbecues and picnics.  Perhaps Veterans Day is the only holiday not associated with certain foods or a celebration centered around food.

What are your favorite holiday foods?  Are there different foods associated with each holiday you celebrate?  Do you agree that Veterans Day is not associated with any particular food?  What others are there?

Breakfast:  Cranberry Orange Pastry; Egg; Banana; Crackers, wholegrain; Morning Coffee

Morning Snack:  Chicken Breast; Banana

Lunch:  Pasta with Beef; Mushrooms, raw; FF Dressing

Afternoon Snack:  Zesty Herb Snack Mix

Dinner:  BBQ Sauce over Beef, Beans and Rice; Mandarin Oranges; Oil, canola, olive, peanut, safflower; Rice, brown, cooked; Bok Choy (Dole)

Dessert:  Golden Pound Cake

Drinks:  Crystal Light; water

Exercise:  30 minutes on the recumbent bike at 138 bpm.  That brings me to 33.33% of my weekly exercise goal.

Pedometer:  ?