Turkey Lasagna

I made my own tomato sauce, layered with zucchini and fresh spinach. I used ricotta and cotija cheeses and leftover turkey meat.

Turkey Soup with Collards

Stock from my buttery turkey bones + tons of garlic, onion and turmeric. Ribbons of collards, some turkey breast hunks. Red pepper flakes.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Thanksgiving Leftovers Salad

After Thanksgiving Breakfast

I wanted something with a sharper taste after all that richness of my buttery turkey. I made an omelet with tons of green onions as the only ingredient and served it over some nice bitter arugula.

Diabetes Cases Already Out of Control

and more to come. These projections are so scary and so sad. Please protect yourself and your loved ones from processed foods that cause insulin spikes. This stuff is truly evil.

Do You Watch The Biggest Loser?

I've never watched the whole program because when I tried, all I saw was that yelling trainer going off on someone. This article in the New York Times discusses the dangerously fast weight loss methods they use and the secrecy they demand of the contestants.

Beef Bok Choi Stirfry with Mango

Quick meal, mostly from Trader Joe's, served over arugula. Spicy flavors tempered by sweet mango. Thanks, Nandor. He made this with Spice World Garlic Herb Sensation Grinder, Spice World Chipotle Flakes, Spicely Ancho, and white kampot peppercorns.

More for Thanksgiving

I love Mark Bittman. I'm totally making #1, so easy.

Do You Like Green Beans?

This article by a vegetarian who doesn't want any green beans at Thanksgiving made me laugh. Does your family do that disgusting casserole thing?

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Crushed Almonds

I'm too sick to do a whole Thanksgiving for you guys this weekend, but I tried a few things. The Brussels were great with nuts, also rosemary and olive oil. I added the crushed nuts once the vegetables were almost roasted. I want to try Brussels with Brazil nuts. Pecans or walnuts seem doable too.
I'd try Kalyn's Kitchen for good recipes that won't overload your blood sugar this Thanksgiving. Of course Kalyn uses artificial sweeteners, but many times they can be left out. As always, allrecipes.com has that "enter your ingredients" feature that I enjoy when I need ideas.

Thai Curry Turkey Thighs

I cracked Long Pepper from Frontier Natural foods over my turkey thighs. The longer black peppercorns are sweeter and spicier than the round ones, which goes nicely with a Thai curry. I used Spicely brand Thai curry with extra cayenne and turmeric, also both from Spicely. I cut up a large shallot and some garlic and added coconut oil to the pan. I started off three large thighs, covered, in a warm oven of about 450 degrees, then after 30 minutes turned it down to 200 and removed the cover for about another hour. This recipe made quite a bit of nice sauce.

Classic Combination - Bison with Broccoli

Plenty of garlic and hot sauce, served over salad. This is a very quick meal to make anytime.

Thanks for Breakfast, Nandor

I was lucky enough to be treated to breakfast made by Mr. Nandor this morning. He made an egg dish with onions, pasture butter, zucchini, greens. He topped it with Pinconning Cheese House mild cheddar and some fantastically spicy salsa verde from the Latin market by Monte Alban on Santa Monica. The lady makes it daily and it has no salt added, no weird ingredients.

The Holidays and Meal Workouts

Holiday food and celebration is so tied up with tradition and emotion that many people I know just throw their food resolutions to the wayside. It is possible to enjoy family, friends, food and tradition without going crazy and without losing sight of your very important goals.

For me, the hurry, stress and demands of the season actually make it even more crucial that I stick to my guns. If I don't, I end up feeling even worse than I would if I cheated during another time of year. Everyone around me would feel it too, and I don't want that.

Choose your special occasions very carefully. Even though events come fast and thick in Nov and Dec, not all of them qualify as special occasions. I read one woman's strategy simply to enjoy one treat on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve while sticking to her plan the rest of the time. After all, there are plenty of suitable food items associated with the holidays. Make an effort to choose them.

I will be posting many fantastic holiday recipes and suggestions here. Most of them will be high in healthy fats to keep us satisfied and smiling, and lessen the temptations of processed foods and refined carbohydrates.

Make sure you turn off the TV and get enough sleep, preferably while it is dark out. Exposure to light in winter will most certainly trigger carbohydrate cravings, which can lead to binging quicker than a wink.

Nandor's Veal Goulash

You can make this with lamb or beef, too. The tougher (cheaper) cuts work best - ask the butcher for stew meat. Nandor used chunks of veal shank and some pieces of veal bone for flavor. First sautee white onions until almost soft, then add more paprika than you think you'd ever need. Stir well, then turn up the heat to add the meat to brown it. Add your tomatoes. Of course fresh is best - we were lucky to find some nice soft tomatoes at the Brentwood Farmers Market. Then just turn it down and let it simmer until delectable.
I ate mine over arugula and Nandor had some with spelt pasta.

Sunday Preparations

I shopped for the week. Cleaned and prepped my jicama, celery, radishes (above) and cucumbers. I made red cabbage slaw, spicy buttery chicken legs, stocked the fridge with greens like arugula, maiche and spinach.
Those radishes taste very similar to round red ones, but without as much of a bite. Perhaps they're the same thing, only more mature...? Anybody know?

Calories In/Calories Out? FALSE

More in depth reading re: what your calories are made of is more important than how many you get. The calories in/calories out model seems intuitively wrong to me. Included below is a reading list.

* Samaha FF, Iqbal N, Seshadri P, Chicano KL, Daily DA, McGrory J, Williams T, Williams M, Gracely EJ, Stern L. A low-carbohydrate as compared with a low-fat diet in severe obesity. N Eng J Med. 348:2074-2081, 2003.
* Sondike SB, Copperman N, Jacobson MS. Effects of a low-carbohydrate diet on weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors in overweight adolescents. J Pediatr. 142:253-258, 2003.
* Brehm BJ, Seely RJ, Daniels SR, D'Alessio DA. A randomized trial comparing a very low-carbohydrate diet and a calorie-restricted low-fat diet on body weight and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88:1617-1623, 2003.
* Foster GD, Wyatt HR, Hill JO, McGuckin BG, Brill C, Mohammed BS, Szapary PO, Rader DJ, Edman JS, Klein S. A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for obesity. N Eng J Med. 348:2082-2090, 2003.
* Yancy WS jr, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC. A randomized controlled trial of a low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet vs. a low-fat diet for obesity and hyperlipidemia. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;72:343S.
* Volek JS, Sharman MJ, G?mez AL, French DN, Rubin MR, Watson G, Sokmen B, Silvestre R, Judelson DA, Kraemer WJ. Comparison of an energy-restricted very low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet on weight loss, regional body composition and hormonal responses in overweight men and women. Int J Obes. (submitted)
* Goedecke JH, Christie C, Wilson G, et al. Metabolic adaptations to a high-fat diet in endurance cyclists. Metabolism 1999;48:1509-17.
* Bisschop, P.H., A.M. Pereira Arias, M.T. Ackermans, et al. The effects of carbohydrate variation in isocaloric diets on glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in healthy men. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 85:1963-1967, 2000.
* Yudkin, J. and M. Carey. The treatment of obesity by the "high-fat" diet. The inevitability of calories. Lancet. 2:939-941, 1960.
* Arase, K., J.S. Fisler, N.S. Shargill, D.A. York, and G.A. Bray. Intracerebroventricular infusions of 3-OHB and insulin in a rat model of dietary obesity. Am. J. Physiol. 255:R974-R981, 1988.

Workout Ladies, You Might Not Need Carbs

I'm reading about exciting research that suggests that women don't burn carbs like men do during exercise, people who want to lose weight shouldn't follow low fat diets, and people who want to lose fat and build muscle don't need to include carbs in their post-workout meals.

Some of these links are to commercial supplement websites, so don't forget that I still don't recommend supplements. I include them because they also include citations to real research. My love/hate relationship with the status of "modern science" continues.

Bison Ribeye Spinach Salad

I waited a little too long between meals, so even though I prefer my steak in one piece, I sliced up my Lindner bison ribeye to make it cook faster. I also grilled up some onions.

Pea Shoot Fritatta

Pea shoots cooked in pasture butter, eggs, plenty of pepper and red pepper flakes, plenty of sheeps' milk cheese. I love breakfast.

Ahi and Salad with Veggies

My dinner: Whole Foods mixed greens, Santa Monica Farmers Market yellow zucchini and broccoli, Trader Joe's frozen wild caught ahi. I put some cracked black pepper and Sichuan pepper from Frontier Natural Products on the fish. The veggies were cooked in raw organic coconut butter, something you'll hear me rave about in many posts from now on. Yes, Mom, I like my food burnt.

The Art of Freezing for Busy People

Continuing my love affair with Mark Bittman: a handy guide to freezing.

Spicely Thai Curry Chicken

Grilled on stovetop grill with Spicely Thai Curry blend, pepper and cayenne. Served over Poppa's picked fresh lettuce.

I did an oven-baked version that included turmeric and cooked in butter. It was so tasty I wanted to eat tomorrow's lunch too.

We found Spicely Thai Curry at Whole Foods Brentwood. If you can't find it, I've seen it available online.

Food Industry Hijinks ad infinitum

Coca Cola is up to something lately.

Your Footprint

Guess what? More reasons you should be eating your greens! Even their methods of production have the smallest environmental impact.

Spicy Pizza Stuffed Peppers

Continued obsession with stuffed peppers while on vacation in Michigan led to this! We seasoned the Jordan Valley Ranch ground bison with chipotle, pepper, plenty of onions, but forgot the garlic. We used Muenster and Swiss cheeses from the Pinconning Cheese House. The tomatoes are grown locally in Grandma Mary's garden. These were amazingly delicious and did not last long, although they are excellent for making in large batches and freezing for later.

Baked Persimmon Delight

First select Fuyu persimmons. Look for the ones that are yellow-orange in color, and firm to the touch. Persimmons are a fall/winter fruit so nuts such as hazelnuts, almonds, and walnuts go well with them, as do dried fruits like raisins and prunes.

I put the cut up fruit and freshly ground nuts in ceramic bakeware already coated with butter in the oven set at 400 degrees.

2 Fuyu persimmons
1 Fuji apples
1 handful raw almonds and walnuts
½ - 1 inch piece Organic Valley’s Pasture Butter

The proportion of fruits and nuts are general, adjust according to taste, you can also add raw honey, cinnamon, or nutmeg.

Beginning to end times varies, but the treat will take approximately 20-30 minutes.

Fat and Cholesterol are not the Enemy

This post is to address client concerns about the amount of fat I recommend when it comes to eggs for breakfast. If you’re not allergic and you like them, I recommend an egg breakfast every day – and that’s whole eggs. They’re cheap, they can be adapted to many tastes and even textures, depending on how you cook them. For those of you who wake up two minutes before you have to be out the door, hard boiled eggs keep well for up to six days in my experience.
Eggs have everything you need to keep your blood sugar stable (helps you lose fat and stay in a good mood) in the morning.

This link sums it up pretty well.
http://stronglifts.com/cholesterol-saturated-fat-how-many-eggs-daily/

Favorite easy frittata recipe from allrecipes.com:

MINI FRITTATAS/EGG MUFFINS


Preheat oven to 375. This recipe makes 24 mini muffins or 12 larger ones. I use muffin cup liners (at any grocery store) for easy cleanup.

BASE:
8-10 large eggs, more if you’re using smaller eggs (my eggs are small because I get them right from the farmer)
½ cup milk or Greek yogurt (doesn’t separate when cooked like reg yogurt)

From here, you’re only constrained by your creativity. I’ve used finely chopped onions, chopped spinach and other greens, all different kinds of grated hard cheeses as well as ricotta. I did a Mexican-style recipe once with cumin cilantro and salsa. Broccoli works really well. Fresh herbs like parsley and chives go well too. It is best to sauté your herbs and veggies and let them cool down before incorporating them with the eggs, milk and cheese. Lightly beat the mixture with a fork.

Fill the cups almost to the top. Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on muffin size. The mixture should puff up in the middle. Don’t overcook them or they will be rubbery.

Easy ‘N Fast Chicken Vegetable Soup

1. A good stock is basic to any soup. Create stock with very little effort by using vegetable broth (Pacific Natural Foods) that is enhanced with freshly sautéed garlic, sweet Maui onions, shallots, and leeks.

2. Slice and dice celery, carrots, butternut squash, baby broccoli, and pasilla chile pepper into a stainless steel skillet with extra virgin olive oil and add the following spices: Salt Free Garlic Grinder (The Spice Hunter), Salt Free Cajun Creole Seasoning (The Spice Hunter), Cayenne Pepper (Spicely Organic), Turmeric (Spicely Organic), Guajillo Chile (Spicely Organic), Chipotle Pepper (The Spice Hunter), and kampot pepper (try using a mortar and pestle!). Seasonings and ingredients can be varied with personal taste and availability.

3. Use a mixing bowl to season one cut up chicken (or lesser pieces) with the following ingredients: hot sesame oil (Dynasty), extra virgin olive oil, Ancho Chile (Spicely Organic), Kampot Pepper, Habanero Chile (Spicely Organic), and Salt Free Chili Powder (Spicely Organic). Use a broiler or grill to expedite.

4. Add everything into a large stainless steel covered pot and there you go, “Easy ‘N Fast Chicken Vegetable Soup.”

5. Try adding fresh avocado, finely cut lacinato kale, parsley, cilantro, or even a little bit of freshly grated goat peppercorn cheese.

6. Beginning to end times vary depending your prep, culinary skills, and kitchen oven and stove (gas or electric), but the soup will take approximately 20-40 minutes.

My Brother is a Forager on the Big Island

chayote

Feeling Anxious about (fill in the blank)?

While vanity is certainly a strong motivator for me when it comes to keeping up with my meal workouts, the most important benefit I have gained from eating well is improved mental health. It makes all the difference in every area of my life. It is the reason I chose to try to help others - I know how much it can change your life for the better.

This is a really good article about how to eliminate stress-producing substances from your diet.

Stuffed Peppers Phase II

The first stuffed peppers were cheese bombs - all cheese. This time, I mixed in sauteed zucchini and broccoli, but I erred on the side of caution. They were delicious, but needed more cheese. I boiled the cleaned bell pepper halves for about five minutes, bathed them in cold water before stuffing them.

Processed Food = Higher Risk for Depression

Want to elevate your mood? Feel better by eating better - another study to add to the pile.

Soda's Bad - Did You Need a Reminder?

Article from yahoo on various health effects of soda.

My Weekend Lunch

I have a personal event coming up and I want to look my best. Fish and greens to the rescue. This time is was frozen wild cod filets from Trader Joe's. I have to admit I like the swordfish, albacore, rockfish and salmon better than the cod. I ate it with zucchini squash and Chinese broccoli.