Day Twenty-Eight: Indulgence!

Another weekend without too much humidity, another hike on the north side of Hong Kong island. Today I went out with the healthy friend and her charming kids. I was surprised at how well the 5-year-old held up on some of the rocky uphills and downhills, but we got all that out of the way at the beginning, and finished on flat paved paths around Tai Tam Dam. Here's a picture one of the kids took of us:


Afterward, I ate at her place: a large green salad with no dressing, some lemon pepper chicken, and some whole grain fiber-y crackers with a chickpea/celery/dill spread. I wasn't able to weigh anything, but I'm pretty sure I was actually under gram allowance on all of it. There's no way I managed more than 50g of the crackers.

But that played into the plan to indulge tonight. I know I've admitted to craving convenience, but I also didn't trust any given restaurant meal to be perfect and exactly what I wanted, so we indulged at home. Like Nathaly, Ramiro, and Tara, we got married around labor day weekend and Monday will be our 8th anniversary. So we cooked a special dinner together.

Do you see the way the ice frosts the side of the shaker?

First, Luke made Tanqueray martinis. I savored half of mine, plus all three salty, deliciously alcoholic olives. Then, we made chicken breasts seasoned with thyme, lemon zest, a handful of just-grated parmesan, and covered with a thin layer of prosciutto. Also a little salt and pepper. When you pan fry the chicken, prosciutto side down, it crisps up like luxury bacon.

Then I had the rest of my carb grams from lunch (wild rice mixed with butter and salt), and some roasted broccoli that was 100% PCP-compliant. It was a truly indulgent meal:

Portion sizes not out of control, and that was definitely enough meat.

I have to say, everything was as delicious and enjoyable as I expected. Pig and salt: everything I remembered them to be. It just took less to make me satisfied (and that was about twice the veg and half the carbs that I would have had pre-PCP). I'm calling this a very successful indulgence. When's the next one?