Enchiladas, augmented

Trader Joe's black bean and corn enchiladas: 260 calories

Topped with 1/4 cup lite shredded mexican cheese blend: 80 calories
and 1 egg over easy: 70 calories

Once a Year

Once every year, on a particularly gloomy winter day, I make cheese fondue. This Sunday was the day.

1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Emmenthaler cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups white wine
It also should contain 2 oz. of kirsch, but we were out of kirsch, and this being North Carolina we couldn't go buy some, because it was Sunday and the liquor laws here are ridiculous.

Cubed pumpernickel bread and sliced apples for dipping.

Calories: I don't want to know.

We didn't eat the whole dish on Sunday night, so I used the leftovers on Monday. I made French onion soup, topped with the remaining cubed bread and fondue cheese, and used what was left of the un-cubed pumpernickel to make grilled Reuben sandwiches.

Bounty of the Season

Our family has an extraordinarily generous friend who sends us a box of Honeybell tangerines every year. It takes a certain amount of effort for a family of three to eat sixty-four tangerines before they go bad, so you'll be seeing a lot of these in the next couple of weeks.

Out to Lunch: Spice South

The wonders of a good Indian lunch buffet. This lunch at Spice South was a big splurge, calorie-wise. I'm not sure where I'd even start trying to calculate calories. But it was delicious. The great thing about Spice South is that they don't dumb down the spices for the lunch buffet - this stuff is serious. Also, in some Indian restaurants everything tastes kind of the same. These folks make each dish taste distinct.

Plate of vegetarian dishes:

Clockwise from the top there's green peas and carrots, potatoes in stew, okra and green peppers, a pappadam, and dry-cooked potatoes. 

Plate of chicken:

Clockwise from the top, tandoori chicken, curry chicken, naan, and chicken tikka masala.

And dessert:

Warm rice pudding with raisins and spices (predominantly cardamom).

A big meal, and a splurge, but I did try to keep it from becoming a total pig-out. I took small portions of each dish, did not eat rice (except for dessert), and only had one piece of naan.

As I always say to myself in this kind of situation, "All you can eat" doesn't have to mean "Eat all you can!"

Pizza night

One of the few things I can make that nobody complains about:

Pizza made with Trader Joe's dough, tomato sauce, and lite mozzarella, plus toppings.
A small pepperoni pizza for the kid, a larger vegetarian pizza for the grownups (with red bell pepper, onions, and black olives.) I had two slices of the vegetarian, approximately 200 calories each.

Back in gear for the New Year

The fancy food and wine have been consumed, the Christmas treats have been demolished, the dishes are (mostly) washed, and it's finally time to get back to normal.

1 egg over easy
2 tbsp. shredded lite Mexican cheese blend
2 tbsp. salsa
1 piece leftover corn bread (1/12 of pan)

195 calories

What are you doing New Year's?

We're staying in.

First course: Cauliflower soup with truffle oil

Second course: Beet salad with goat cheese, pecans, olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Main course: Filet mignon with baked potato, sauteed mushrooms, and braised carrots

There's still champagne and a chocolate raspberry cake from Whole Foods to come, but I don't think I'll be sufficiently coherent to post them.

So, Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night!