Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

My PMS meter just hit a breaking point with this post.

Oh man, I've made so many dishes with booze in the past two years, from Guinness in chocolate cake to Bailey's in frosting to you-name-it in chocolate ganache. My favourite mixer is a baked good. But I think my all-time favourite is a simple bourbon whipped cream. You get the beautiful taste of bourbon that slightly sweetens the silky base of heavy cream. You can put it on absolutely anything. Or just eat it out of the mixing bowl, like I do.

Halloumi cheese. It has a high melting temperature, so you can grill it, fry it, put it in sandwiches, salads, or just eat it by itself. It's completely versatile and my most favourite item to bring to barbeques. I'm planning to use it for shish kebabs for my next gathering.

Jamie Oliver-no contest. Yes, he's cute, and his accent makes my knees go all wobbly. But he also hires teenagers to work in his restaurants so they can learn real skills to get them on track to a great career. He advocates better school lunches for British schools. He's against factory farming and urges people to buy free range meat and dairy. He's absolutely crazy over his wife and three daughters. And if that wasn't enough, he cooks simple, delicious, and accessible meals that anyone can make to encourage people to cook more at home. He's sexy both inside and out. I admire him so much.

Since I've moved out to Los Angeles it seems like sneaking food into a theater here hasn't been that big of a deal. The theater I usually go to is part of an outdoor mall area with several different food establishments surrounding it. We almost always go eat before we go to a movie, and if I have a diet coke from Rubio's in my hand as I go into the movie, no one seems to mind. So maybe it's a little different out here?

As for food, I've brought in a subway sandwich before, squished down in my not-so-large purse. And no, it wasn't a five dollar footlong.

This is so inspirational, and I'm proud of you listening to your body and not joining some sort of fad diet. That's the thing about the word "diet"-it seems to mean something temporary, and with most fad diets, they're supposed to be temporary. This is mostly because the body will shut down if you only feed it just one type of food or deprive it of a certain type of food (ie. The Atkin's diet, restricting the amount of carbs you eat).

Although you're calling this a diet, you're actually making a lifestyle change, which is not temporary. And you know your habits and body well enough that you're making this change through realistic goals that you know you can obtain. I believe portion control is the biggest problem with the typical American diet, and even adjusting this one aspect of how you eat can make a huge difference for your health.

So in short, you rock! And I appreciate you sharing this very personal journey with us.