Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

Options
1…13511352135413561357…1580

Replies

  • RunningOnWontons
    RunningOnWontons Posts: 138 Member
    Options
    Nikion901 wrote: »

    Yep - ate that herring and potato as a little girl in Germany, and we always had smoked sausages of all kinds around. Also goose liver pate ... which I saw but kept myself from buying because I had liver in my meal plan recently. One of my favorite childhood memories was when our village would all gather for the annual harvest ... we butchered and made preserved meat ... canned, smoked, salted, ... and all sorts of sausages. It would be a big turnout with everyone working together and having a grand pot-luck time. We kids would run around with a piece of porker ear or tail and be happy as could be while our parents and the older kids did all the work. ... But now I'm down memory lane and a 5 year old all over again ... with the village heading to the woods for the annual mushroom foraging, or nut picking, or berry picking ... all big events of community get together.

    Wow, I so loved reading this. What beautiful memories.

    And to add on to what you and @birgitkwood were saying about herring...I am wondering if my love of it is somehow due to my heritage, too. (Mixed German/Scandinavian here). Not too many folks are into pickled fish here...but I like it, as I do most anything from the sea.

    A specialty where I currently live is fried shad roe. Every early spring, the shad run up rivers to spawn, and they are caught for their eggs...which we fry in bacon grease. Very rich, and a bit of an acquired taste. But I think any kind of regional food that's connected with one's family history or childhood memories is an important thing worth preserving.

  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    edited May 2017
    Options
    RunningOnWontons wrote: »
    Nikion901 wrote: »

    Yep - ate that herring and potato as a little girl in Germany, and we always had smoked sausages of all kinds around. Also goose liver pate ... which I saw but kept myself from buying because I had liver in my meal plan recently. One of my favorite childhood memories was when our village would all gather for the annual harvest ... we butchered and made preserved meat ... canned, smoked, salted, ... and all sorts of sausages. It would be a big turnout with everyone working together and having a grand pot-luck time. We kids would run around with a piece of porker ear or tail and be happy as could be while our parents and the older kids did all the work. ... But now I'm down memory lane and a 5 year old all over again ... with the village heading to the woods for the annual mushroom foraging, or nut picking, or berry picking ... all big events of community get together.

    Wow, I so loved reading this. What beautiful memories.

    And to add on to what you and @birgitkwood were saying about herring...I am wondering if my love of it is somehow due to my heritage, too. (Mixed German/Scandinavian here). Not too many folks are into pickled fish here...but I like it, as I do most anything from the sea.

    A specialty where I currently live is fried shad roe. Every early spring, the shad run up rivers to spawn, and they are caught for their eggs...which we fry in bacon grease. Very rich, and a bit of an acquired taste. But I think any kind of regional food that's connected with one's family history or childhood memories is an important thing worth preserving.

    @RunningOnWontons ... I think if you are of almost ANY European descent, especially if you are a close generation to the immigration, then you were brought up on as many of the dishes of your heritage as could be made with the ingredients available here ... and therefore have a love for that food. I'm an immigrant myself, having come to America at about age 7. I also like the pickled herring ... it is one I can purchase in jars and don't have to make at home.

    Now that you mention Shad Roe ... I love fish roe ... back in the days when you were able to buy a whole fish fresh at the butchers, or caught it yourself ... the fried roe was the delicasy everyone at the table would mouth water over!

    Edit this ... butchers did not sell fish ... I meant fish monger. We used to have all sorts of fresh fish available at the fish store, right next to the butcher shop but that stopped along about 1960.
  • birgitkwood
    birgitkwood Posts: 486 Member
    Options
    @Nikion901 - do you know about, or eat poached "spiegel carp?" It's a fresh water fish that our local fish monger here gets his hands on one in a very blue moon. In the "old country" it's the fish often used to make gefilte fish. My family, when available, eats it for holiday "eve" meals (Christmas eve, NY eve). Fish guy filets the fish, being careful to leave head and scales intact (that required multiple conversations of training the fish guy :D ). Mom poaches the chunks of fish in a pot of water with vinegar and various spices. It's served with salt boiled parsley potatoes, along with melted butter and whipped cream and horseradish. Yeah... not a vitamin to be had in the entire meal. Unless you count the cucumber salad we usually serve with it, or the pflaumen kuchen (plum cake) for dessert . Utterly delicious! (I soooo want that now). I've never been quite able to develop the taste, but picking the head of the fish apart is considered a particular delicacy. The cheekbone of the fish is oval shaped and dime sized, and it's typically cleaned carefully and kept in your wallet for good luck. I still have such a bone in my wallet from when I was a kid - the original owner of that cheekbone must've been our celebratory dinner more than 50 yrs ago.

    My mother grew up in a little village just outside of Hamburg, Germany (the village is now incorporated into the City). Her grandparents operated the village smokehouse - a thatch covered cottage with a dirt floor covered by sawdust, and straw mattresses. The villagers would butcher their livestock, or catch their fish, or make their cheeses and sausages, and bring them to my great-grandparents to smoke and preserve for the year. Hence my family has a long and dearly held affinity with all foods smoked :D

    My family immigrated from Hamburg in 1967 when I was twelve. I'm probably 99.5 pct assimilated American now, but it's conversations like this one that makes me miss the food of my youth. Except maybe I'd throw in a REAL salad :p
  • bapcarrier
    bapcarrier Posts: 211 Member
    edited May 2017
    Options
    @birgitkwood and @Nikion901 it is so interesting to hear your stories of foods from your childhood and homeland! I envy you, I have always felt like I was missing something when my friends would talk about "the old country" or where their parents or grandparents had been born, or when they had come to the US, etc. and all the ethnic dishes they knew how to prepare. That led me to investigating our family genealogy and most of my ancestors are from Germany but they came here in the 1700 and 1800 hundreds, plus two of my grandparents were brought up in orphanages so they never learned any family history much less the foods. (My mother had no idea her she was even of German decent!) My maternal great, great, great grandparents migrated from Germany in the 1840's and I can trace my 5th Great Grandmother's birth to 1749 in Stone Arabia, Montgomery County, New York! The settlers of Stone Arabia were German, so although I haven't confirmed it yet I believe her parents were too, plus her surname is Bader, a German surname. "The original pateentees were, with one or two exceptions, of German ancestry coming from the Rhine Valley in Switzerland and Germany."
    Quote from: EARLY STONE ARABIA, By Andrew L. Dillenbeck, Paper read before the New York State Historical Association at Canajoharie on the historical tour of September 24, 1931.
    Paternal great grandfather from Hamburg and reported to have sailed with Cook on his voyage around the world before settling in New York state.
    Although I don't have any first hand knowledge of my ancestors it was very enlightening researching my family history in the US (lots and lots of history there) and also learning that most of my family was originally from Germany: Baden, Hamburg, Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg, etc. :smiley:
  • birgitkwood
    birgitkwood Posts: 486 Member
    Options
    Hah @bapcarrier - I now live in Montgomery County, only a few miles from Stone Arabia :D . Interestingly, I'd never even heard of the Palatine migration until I moved to this region. Glad your were able to find so much info on your heritage - kinda keeps us grounded, doesn't it?
  • bapcarrier
    bapcarrier Posts: 211 Member
    edited May 2017
    Options
    @birgitkwood What a small world! :smiley: I grew up in Oneida County, NY in a very Welsh community. I had no idea at the time that my ancestors also played a large part in the settlement of the area. :)
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    Options
    @bapcarrier abd @birgitkwood ... small world indeed. That Palatine migration brought the roots of both my sister's and my ownhusband's maternal ancesters to America. And, my husbands father's roots are from the Welsh that originally settle in Canada before coming down to Oneida County! In the 1850's one lad moved to Pennsylvania to log wood and married into a family that colonized the area in what is now Cameron County.
  • campfirequeen1
    campfirequeen1 Posts: 317 Member
    Options
    Name: Holly
    Age: 68
    Height: 5'3"

    Start Weight (April 22): 264
    Goal Weight (July 1): 254
    (I have two vacations and two holidays in this time frame. If I meet the first goal prior to the end, I will rechallenge myself then)

    Weigh in week of:
    1. April 26 - 259
    2. May 3 -260.2
    3. May 10 -262
    4. May 17 - no weigh in
    5. May 24 -
    6. May 31 -
    7. June 7 -
    8. June 14 -
    9. June 21 -
    10. June 28 -
    Final weight: Saturday, July 1 -

    Weight -/+ this week: +1.8
    Weight -/+ total: -2.

    Sorry I missed the weigh in this week. I was actually back from my travels on Thursday but my fluid retention has been pretty bad and I haven't managed to get it down yet. Saturday was one granddaughters graduation party and the party was at an Italian restaurant, so you know the sodium was out of sight. Sunday brought the loss of my dear friends father and so weighing in wasn't on the list of things to do. I think just guessing by my daily weigh ins otherwise that I may be up about a pound. I'm going to try to do a full court press this week, even though the allergies are going full tilt from all the rain. I leave on my next travels on Friday so I need to make this a big loss week to counteract all that seafood I will consume over the weekend and next week!
  • cellosmiles
    cellosmiles Posts: 680 Member
    Options
    Wow....we have lost as much weight as a 1 small adult already :o

    Monday checkin - this weekend i am super tired. Working the farm has been extra hard on me....and silly me I agreed to work today as well so my family could enjoy the long weekend holiday :(

    I dont yet know how i will make it through the day. But i will do it....one egg at a time ;)

    (Ok that 1 was really funny :D - but for your info...i pick about 10,000 eggs a day on weekends....manually, and walk the barns...I do about 8km before days end without the dog walks)

    Ugh...off i go.
  • happygirlxxx
    happygirlxxx Posts: 301 Member
    Options
    Hi All,

    Sorry I am late with the weigh - in; I don't have a scale at the temp apartment and I didn't go to the gym until today ... I know too late for last week's results, but at least to keep me accountable.

    I have been enjoying the food and Prosecco way too much while in Milan ... I am surprised there is a loss, must be all the walking and the heat.

    Name: Ana
    Age: 41
    Height: 5'3"

    Start Weight (week of April 19): 188.3 lbs
    Goal Weight (week of June 28): 170 lbs

    Weigh in week of:
    (Weeks are listed by Wednesdays)
    1. April 26 - 183.4
    2. May 3 - 182.1
    3. May 10 - 181.0
    4. May 17 (*) - 177.8
    5. May 24 (*) -
    6. May 31 (*) -
    7. June 7 (*) -
    8. June 14 -
    9. June 21 -
    10. June 28 -
    Final weight: Saturday, July 1 -

    Weight -/+ this week: - 3.2
    Weight -/+ total: - 10.5

    (*) will be in Italy ... land of wine and gelato.
  • Nikion901
    Nikion901 Posts: 2,467 Member
    Options
    @happygirlxxx - (facetiously speaking) ... I am jealous that you got to visit wonderful Italy, see all those wonderful sights, eat all that local food and come home with a 3.2 pound weight loss!. Good Going Ana.

    @cellosmiles - Do you enjoy eating eggs, after handling 20,000 over a weekend? When I was growing up, I wanted to marry a farmer cause I love that kind of life ... but instead I married a city boy baker.

    @Fit4Life8 - welcome to the thread. We all have had those 'again' first days ... some of us have them weekly!

    @campfirequeen1 - condolences about your friends' dad. My foray last week into some of my favorite foods led to a foray into too many and I'm now like the fatted goose ... both from too much fat and too much salt! But today is a new day and an opportunity to get the ball rolling down hill again.

    @MermaidPrincessRach - good luck joining the Y, I hope you enjoy their pool. I have a membership at a local one here because I wanted to use their pool, even bought a new swimsuit and swimcap for it but still have not gone even once. There was always an excuse for not going.

    @sand86802 ... Happy Victoria Day! Let the summer begin!

    Monday Check-in ...
    I am a rolly-polly today with puffy face, fingers, feet and a Santa belly. My weight went up over 3 pounds from yesterdays weigh-in. This is a fluid build-up because I am also lung congested this morning. When I looked at my water count I realize I had half the water I normally do in a day ... probably because I was out visiting all day yesterday and only had 1 tall glass of water while away from home. Plus, I had a fast food sandwich for lunch on my way to the outing instead of cooking at home before hand. ... So this week will be an effort to get back on track.
  • campfirequeen1
    campfirequeen1 Posts: 317 Member
    Options
    @Nikion901 @birgitkwood and @bapcarrier - I loved learning about your heritage. I'm a serious ancestry and history buff. I also had a German aunt from Regensburg in the Black Forrest. I loved her native dishes for the most part, I'm not big on sauerkraut other than cooked with a great sausage and eaten on a kaiser roll or brochen rolls or the sour mushroom soup that my Czechoslovakian MIL always made at New Years Eve from mushrooms they foraged in a big park near Pittsburgh, PA. Her family immigrated when she was six to work in the Steel mills. Her husband's family did as well but he was born in the US. I just recently learned that his family changed their surname in order to get to come to the US, because he had been in some trouble back in the old country. He was a nice old guy and a model citizen, so that made up for his deception I think. I need to investigate what the original surname was, for the sake of my children.
    My father's family immigrated from France in the late 1600s or early 1700s to England, then to Martinique and finally Virginia. They were Huguenots from the southern part of France and escaped to England to avoid persecution for their faith. Jean Baptiste De la Chaumette is the earliest ancestor that we can find. He was probably in the British Army under William of Orange or William III, great protestant king of England and a few years later immigrated to the Island of Martinique, where he was a plantation owner, eventually ending up as a tobacco plantation owner in Virginia. From Virginia, my family moved to southern Mississippi and became part of a Creole community, so the culinary bent of my family was typically Creole/Southern and alas my addiction to those fabulous hardy foods!
  • cellosmiles
    cellosmiles Posts: 680 Member
    Options
    @Nikion901 yes i like to eat eggs. Its FREE <3 protein for me and i eat them for breakfast almost every weekday. On weekends when i have to wake up early....ive just been eating yogurt with a string cheese for snack.

    Variety is key....omlettes loaded with veggies...scrambled with cheese (sometimes bacon bits or sausage too)

    Im skipping others for now cause im not having wheat products for a while longer....but fried medium on toast, french toast, or eggs benedict is my fave :p

    My dogs like them too. Keeps their coats real shiny :) i cook a few extra to share o:)

    Good for lunch and dinner too...egg salad in lettuce wraps. Devilled eggs. Potato salad. Quiche with or without crust. Hard boiled in a salad.

    What a wonderful protein. B)
  • happygirlxxx
    happygirlxxx Posts: 301 Member
    Options
    @Nikion901 thank you! I am still in Italy for another 2 weeks ... so I better walk tons if I don't want the weight to suddenly come back.

    @cellosmiles I love eggs too and I have them everyday for breakfast ... this week I have not been able to have them as often and I feel something is missing!

    @MermaidPrincessRach I don't have a membership to the Y, but one of my closest friends does and she loves it .. besides de pool there are so many other activities that you can join ... plus the fact that you don't have to drive 40minutes its great! Use the time for something fun!

    I have loved reading everyones heritage stories ... I am quite a mix myself. My paternal grandparent was from Syria and my grandma French; but they met in Argentina and that is where my dad was born. On my mom's side she has Spanish, French and Peruvian Inca heritage. So when people meet me they hardly guess correctly where I am from LOL I don't look or sound Latina, but technically I am 100% one.
  • campfirequeen1
    campfirequeen1 Posts: 317 Member
    Options
    @320sycamore that graph is very striking! You have done such an awesome job! Mine has not done so well for the past month, I need to take lessons from you!
    I'm sure that many of us are a huge melting pot, when it comes to our ancestry, afterall that is what America is called, the Great Melting Pot. I haven't worked much on my mom's side of the family, and my great aunt on my dad's side did the bulk of the work on his paternal side so that she could become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, but she did it the old fashioned and difficult way, before computers and wonderful ancestry databases so many kudos to her!
    If anyone is interested I have another ancestry tidbit of great interest to me and I want to pursue it. My great grandmother on my mom's maternal side was a Choctaw Indian. Supposedly she hide in the Okatibbee Swamp when the federal agents came to take away the Choctaws of Southern Mississippi for the Trail of Tears March to Oklahoma. (And actually they had been promised in the treaty that they would have their homes moved to the Indian territory and they would be "transported".) When it was safe for her to come out, she stayed with a family who lived on the edge of the swamp and graciously took her in and they gave her the name of Harriet Jane Harrington. The Harringtons owned a grocery store and she worked there and supposedly that's where she met my great grandfather. I wish I knew more about her and her family. Was she the only one who hid? What happened to the rest of them? My mother didn't know the answers to most of my questions, perhaps her grandmother didn't like to speak of it, since we now know that upward of 6,000 of the approximate 17,000 Choctaws died on the way. It was one of the Choctaw Chiefs that coined the phrase "Trail of Tears and Death".

Categories