"Could you be 'good' for 3 days, for a whole week so you could chow down on this colossal insane burger?"
The phrases "cheat day" and "sinful" have been cropping up on Food Network and Cooking Channel lately.
Robert Irvine has a whole show devoted to the concept: Cheat Day USA. The opening episode makes several stops where in Denver "a barbecue sandwich is taken to new heights with hickory-smoked beef, pork and sausage, slathered with homemade creamy cheese sauce and topped with beer-battered onion rings."
Yum and Yummer, Food Paradise, and a Food Network special also had episodes devoted to a cheat day.
Of course, Guy Fieri had a Cheat Day episode on one of his many reality shows.
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The concept of a cheat day isn't new. The Catholics do this during Lent where Sundays become cheat days in that you can indulge in whatever you gave up — for 24 hours.
We're not even upset over the idea of a cheat day. Your humble narrator used Saturday nights to make a special dinner during the height of the pandemic and looked forward to that during the week.
If you truly have been good on those other days, really good, that should be part of your reward. Splitting your French fries with a friend. Adding extra vegetables to your salad. Cutting bacon in half so you feel like you ate 2 slices when there was one slice cut in 2. Building in consistency on good days can make that a pattern instead of viewing it through the lens of 3-6 "good days."
Okay, so you aren't that good on your "good days." You still want the reward. You are human after all.
The problem isn't where you set your standard on those "good days"; the issue is your standard on the cheat days.
I've seen most of these segments. They remind us of most of what is on Food Paradise. I want to host a show where we point out 1-2 (sometimes 5) items that shouldn't be on said food item.
If you have too many things on your burger, you might as well have a portobello mushroom or veggie burger instead of a burger. Yes, food on TV needs to be ridiculous.
A burger should have 2, maybe 3 items at the most. Smaller, more subtle flavors in the mix. A slow onion jam on a burger is wonderful though maybe not indulgent. Blue cheese contributes more flavor than a more flavorless cheese. Crumbled bacon instead of 3 barely cooked strips. Still indulgent but a nice treat.
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"Damnit. I've been good all week. I should be able to celebrate the way I want." Yes, you should. You don't want to measure out celebration or happiness.
The barbecue sandwich from Denver has 3 different kinds of meat. Will you appreciate all the different types of meat on your sandwich? The "homemade creamy cheese sauce" sounds like calories without much flavor. That can be indulgent but not useful to truly be indulgent.
As someone who has ordered French fries and onion rings at the same time, I get the temptation of fried foods. The beer-battered onion rings might be helpful if a substitute for French fries.
If your celebration food has better quality and flavor without tons of layers, you can really appreciate the taste that goes into a cheat day item. Use those calories for maximum flavor. You deserve the best for a cheat day.
Bone marrow done at home: a most unusual breakfast
This doesn't look as glamorous as the picture at the top of the column. I took this picture but that isn't the reason. This is bone marrow on sourdough toast from my latest birthday. 2 ingredients: bone marrow and toasted sourdough bread.
Plenty of flavor and fat. Great mouth feel. Calories? Have no clue what I ate in that meal. This was indulgence. I had to do a bit of work but not that much work.
This might be the best meal I have this year. Should finish in the top 5 or 10. This wouldn't make the cut on those food television shows because the dish isn't "outrageous" and doesn't photograph well. There is certainly no third or fourth rate cheese in the dish.
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This grilled mac and cheese sandwich from Panera is described as OTT (over the top). We would agree. Maybe you will beg for this sandwich.
If the whole good day/cheat day yo-yo isn't working for you, ask yourself if you can do better on your good days. Add some lower-calorie flavor to your good days. Add some higher quality food to your cheat day.
Perhaps you will respond better to a more even wavelength than the ones you get now where your highs are too high and lows are too low.
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"We eat with our eyes," television says to us. We don't. "Television wouldn't lie to us." It does. All the time.
Bigger isn't better. More ingredients piled on top are not better. Think of food more like a charcuterie board than a Dagwood type sandwich.
photo credits: Cheat Day USA/Cooking Channel; me
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