Daily Weight Control Shrimp and Grits
Unwanted weight is easy to acquire. Daily, people are bombarded with TV ads about food products. You can walk down the street in any community and find an endless number of restaurants to go. We are fortunate in this country (United States) to have an abundance of food available. This is both a blessing and a curse. We are tracking this information as a research piece. It is meant to be an historical document. This weight control journal allows us to balance food abundance with weight control. We keep a weight control journal to track the amount of calories we eat each day. We do not deny ourselves any foods to eat; we just attempt to control the amount.
Health experts tell you not to weigh yourself every day, but we do so because it works for us. We use the Tanita scale to weight ourselves every day. It is made by Tanita Corporation of Tokyo, Japan. You program the electronic scale with your height, age, and level of activity. You may see your weight in pounds or kilograms. It also gives you the percentage of fat and how many calories you may eat to maintain your current weight. We like this scale because it gives you the reading to the nearest tenth. This particular model allows you to program four people. You may choose a model that will fulfill your household needs.
The "Good Cook" electronic scale is what we use to weigh our food. You can get the weight of the food in pounds. It will read it out in 1/8 ounce increments. In addition, the scale allows you to switch to get a reading of the food weight in 2 gram increments.
Today: Friday Date: July 11, Year: 2008
Last Month's Total Calories: 21,540
Last month's Start Weight
Female: 126.8 Male: 159.4
Weight for Today
Female: 126.6 Male: 159.8
Fat Percentage
Female: 36.6 Male: 28.5
Breakfast Total Calories: Subtotal: 285
1 Entenmann's Iced
Donut 250
1 Slice of Bacon 35
Mid-Day Meal Total Calories: Subtotal: 420
110 grams Shrimp 70
1/8 cup Grits 65
1/2 ounce of Velveeta
Cheese 40
1/4 ounce Freshly Grated
Parmigiano Reggiano
Cheese 30
200 grams Spinach 55
2 Sandies Cookies 160
Evening Meal Total Calories: Subtotal: 340
3 Slices Oven Roasted
Turkey 40
1 Buttermilk Biscuit 180
4 Almonds 20
7 grams of Butter 50
17 grams Honey 50
Daily Total Calories: 1,045 Total Meal Cost:$28.15*
Additional Information:
Shrimp and grits has been considered a basic breakfast for fishermen and families for decades during the shrimp season (May through December) in the Low Country of South Carolina and particularly Charleston. Simply called "breakfast shrimp," the dish consisted of a pot of grits with shrimp cooked in a little bacon grease or butter. This dish has been dressed up and taken out on the town to the fanciest restaurants during the past decade. It is not just for breakfast anymore; it is also served for brunch, lunch, and dinner.
In 1976, South Carolina declared grits the official state food:
" Whereas, throughout its history, the South has relished its grits, making them a symbol of its diet, its customs, its humor, and its hospitality, and whereas, every community in the State of south Carolina used to be the site of a grist mill and every local economy in the State used to be dependent on its product; and whereas, grits has been a part of the life of every South Carolinian of whatever race, background, gender, and income; and whereas, grits could very well play a vital role in the future of not only this State, but also the world, if as The Charleston News and Courier proclaimed in 1952: 'An inexpensive, simple, and thoroughly digestible food, [grits] should be made popular throughout the world. given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about. A man full of [grits] is a man of peace."
Shrimp and grits is a Charleston, South Carolina, famous recipe. This area of South Carolina is called the low country. We first had this dish on a visit to a downtown Charleston restaurant. We have adjusted the recipe to suit our taste. Our recipe is different from the traditional dish. We blacken our shrimp with our own mixture of blackening spices and herbs. By adding blackened shrimp and Freshly Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, it has got the spicy taste we enjoy.
Below are two traditional recipes:
Creamy Grits with Shrimp Recipe
1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined*
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups hot stock (shrimp, chicken, or vegetable)
1/4 cup butter
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup stone-ground grits**
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Salt and black pepper to taste
6 bacon slices
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped green or red bell pepper
* Add add flavor, place the shells of the shrimp in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over low heat approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the broth, discarding shells. Add shrimp broth to hot stock.
** If using quick-cooking grits (not instant, reduce cream to 1/2 cup and reduce stock to 1 cup.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine cream water, and hot stock; bring to a gentle boil. Add butter salt, and pepper. Slowly add grits, stirring constantly (so that the grits do not settle to the bottom and scorch), until all are added; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (be careful not to scorch mixture), or until the grits are tender.
NOTE: Grits should have absorbed all of the liquid and become soft and should have the same consistency as oatmeal (moist, not dry). If the grits become too thick, add warm stock or water to thin. remove from heat.
Sprinkle shrimp with lemon juice, salt, and pepper; set aside. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon until brown but not crisp. Remove from heat and pat dry with paper towels; set aside. Coarsely chop bacon when cool. Reserve 4 tablespoons bacon grease in the frying pan. Add onion, garlic, and green or red bell pepper; saute 10 minutes or until the onion is transparent. Add shrimp mixture and bacon; saute 5 to 7 minutes or until shrimp are opaque in center (cut to test). Remove from heat.
To serve, spoon hot grits onto individual serving plates and top with shrimp mixture.
Makes 4 servings.
Another traditional recipe for shrimp and grits:
INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
* 3/4 cup yellow stone-ground grits
* 3 cups milk
* 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
* 1 teaspoon butter
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Stir in the grits, and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until silky, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until tender, then toss in shrimp. Season with salt and pepper, and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until shrimp turn pink. Stir shrimp mixture into grits, and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot.
Nutritional Information
Lowcountry Shrimp and Grits
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 389
* Total Fat: 13.5g
* Cholesterol: 190mg
* Sodium: 416mg
* Total Carbs: 33.4g
* Dietary Fiber: 1g
* Protein: 31.7g
We hope you enjoy shrimp and grits; we certainly do.
Research from:
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/GritsHistory.htm
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lowcountry-Shrimp-and-Grits
* We have determined that based on grocery buying habits one Calorie cost us .01347 cents. This is doubled for two people.
We have noticed that the cost of food has been consistently rising. The cost per item is an average of $4.00. If you count the number of items in your grocery basket and multiply by 4 you will be very close to the final bill you will pay.
Month to Date Total Calories: 10,515 Month to Date Total Cost : $283.26
DISCLAIMER:
This is a daily weight control system that we have used since 1999. This is not a diet system, but a weight control journal. We do take vitamins, but will not list them for they may not be appropriate for all individuals wishing to start their own weight control journal. To loose weight, the ideal calorie count is 850 calories per day for our weight and height as well as our activity level. This has been determined from previous years of experience. All calorie counts and weights are approximate.
It's important to drink enough water each day. We drink a minimum of eight, 8 ounce glasses of water per day to keep our body healthy. In addition, salt is not used in our cooking process, with the except of rice and pasta. This helps to keep our blood pressure down as well as reducing the retention of water in our body.
BEFORE STARTING A WEIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM, PLEASE TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR.
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