Best to Keep a Routine for Mealtimes - new research

This one may feel intuitive to many, but it seems that eating around the same time and number of times each day is correlated with good health outcomes.

Oatmeal pancake with fresh apricots

This is made with Bob's Red Mill Extra Thick oats, about a cup, because I like the hearty chewiness.  First you soak the oats in a bit of water.  Depending on your taste, you could use buttermilk, milk, yogurt, etc. for the soaking, and you can vary the time soaked and amount of soaking liquid to get a softer pancake.  You could even stick the oats in the food processor or grinder to make oat flour.  Then add two eggs and some cinnamon and whisk well to incorporate.

The cake pictured is cooked in a combo of coconut oil (2 parts) and olive oil (1 part).  Butter is great for this too.  Fry it on medium high for a crispy edge. Since this is for myself on a hurried weekday morning, I dump the whole thing in a big pan, and just before I flip it, cut into four pieces to make sure there are lots of crispy edges.  If I was making it for kids, I would make smaller cakes.

Sprouted Kamut

Tried foods I don't normally buy this week: sprouted kamut, yellow bell pepper and heirloom zucchini. The kamut went in a daikon salad with lemon and oil, chili powder and parsley. The delicious flavorful zucchini at the same price as the other squash went in an egg bake with the rest of the huge pepper and some broccoli.

Weekly Prep - Zucchini Frittata

Got 20 minutes? Then you have breakfast for four days. I made a frittata by sauteeing onions, baby broccoli and a ton of sweet tender baby zucchini, then adding my lightly beaten eggs, topped with raw baby Swiss cheese. This frittata is seasoned mainly with Spice World's Mexican Seasoning, plus a bit of chili powder and black pepper. I simply cooked this one covered on the stovetop.

Delicious Friday Breakfast

Eggs, salmon, pea pods, hot sesame oil, butter, onions, all over 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.

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.

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.

Hearty Breakfast

Turkey fat, Irish butter and olive oil sautee of onions, green zucchini, baby broccoli, some leftover bison crumbles. We used ancho, habanero and chipotle. We mixed our farm fresh eggs with a bit of Organic Pastures whole raw milk, and then we sprinkled peppercorn goat cheese on the top. This took less than 10 minutes, but even if you're not great in the kitchen, it wouldn't take much longer. You could have breakfast for four days ready in 20 minutes. Of course, the great thing about egg dishes is their versatility. Ingredients and seasonings are almost unlimited.

Two pics - one in the pan, one over greens.

Nandor's Bedtime Snack

Nandor has special needs as he's trying to keep muscle on, so he has to eat over and over again. Right before bed he had about 3/4 cup of Fage 2%, 1.25 cups of frozen apricots, hemp seed, walnuts, and raw honey from the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Awesome Breakfast

Caramelized red and white onions, broccoli, onions, eggs, and lots and lots of cheese. Don't forget the avocado.

Christmas Eggs

Red chard has a natural saltiness that makes it fabulous with eggs. Red pepper and zucchini are the green and red accompaniments. We used Spice World taco seasoning, a continuation of my obsession with ancho.

Eggs and Edamame

It might seem like a weird combination, but it is quite tasty. This was made with pasture butter from Organic Valley, green onions, black pepper. The edamame was Whole Foods brand frozen organic. As usual, the eggs were from the West LA Farmers Market.

Cost to Eat Clean in West LA, Part II

Continuing to cook and prep for this week, I headed to:

Whole Foods Brentwood
4 servings whole milk yogurt - Voskos
8 pack Mary's Organic chicken thighs
total: $12.65

West LA Farmers Market
3 dozen eggs - $10.00
3 heads broccoli, 6 cucumbers, 2 white onions, 1 head garlic, 1 large bunch Swiss chard - $12.40
I really like the naturally salty taste of Swiss chard with eggs. I washed and cut it for the next two days' breakfast.

Weekly Meal Prep Sunday July 26

I decided to use mustard seed on my chicken pieces this week, so I had to find something else for the egg salad. Tomatillos looked nice, so I roasted them in chili powders and olive oil and made a sauce in the blender. I set some aside to go on my eggs. After it cooled, I mixed the rest with sour cream to make egg salad, which made a nice variation on my favorite food. I warn you: it isn't beautiful.
As for the chicken pieces, I marinated them overnight in lemons garlic and torpedo onion, elongated purple outside white inside usually sold with sprouts on. I used mustard, turmeric, cayenne and Garlic Herb Sensation from Spice World.
As usual, I stocked myself with eggs salad greens cucumbers broccoli celery onions garlic horseradish yogurt cheese, etc. washed and/or prepped it for the week. Nandor got a very neat variety of cucumber.

Breakfast Out - Swingers Santa Monica

I met Lucas and his son Stanley for breakfast at Swingers in Santa Monica (Lincoln and Broadway). I tend to think of it as an OK place for clean eaters, but I haven't been in a while. Their menu hasn't changed much. I looked it over and there are plenty of options for clean eaters. I used to love their turkey sausage, but I didn't try it this time.
I had an omelette with spinach, mushroom and Swiss cheese, large tasty tomatoes on the side. It came out looking plain, but tasted pretty good, not too salty. I'm glad to report it wasn't dripping in mystery fats. I had Tazo green tea. Lucas had a breakfast burrito and Stan had fruit and cottage cheese, and they were happy.
The bill was reasonable and the service was very, very good.

Grilled Rack of Lamb this Morning

I teach fitness class on Wednesday nights, so I often take the time to cook in the morning. The rack was marinated in lemon juice, rosemary and red pepper flakes. I will have some with my eggs to get that meat power going for class tonight.

healthy happy fast meals introduction

I've been having a lot of luck at the farmers markets lately. Fresh summer food is so nice. For breakfast this morning I had broccoli onions and eggs from the West LA Farmers Market along with mild cheddar cheese from Pinconning Cheese House in Pinconning, MI. I used Spice World Garlic and Herb Sensation and some ground black pepper, all cooked in extra virgin olive oil.