Corn... Food of the Week.

Corn.  The forbidden veggie on soooo many diets.  Why?  Because it's sweet,  because it's starchy, and because some people just don't know any better.

The corn haters out there... need to get something straight... Corn is good for us.  Yes, it's a grain, and a veggie and the debate goes on and on... but really... it comes down to one thing... It's full of fiber and acts as "nature's broom".

Years ago, I came across a friends notebook full of jokes and one liners... and one entire page was dedicated to
(I'll be nice and not be too graphic here...) Poo. That's not the word it used... and it described all the different types of Poo, in a hilariously creative way... and one stuck in my mind... It said... "Corn Poo... no explanation needed"... and I got it instantly...Stay with me... don't click away yet... I won't stay on this subject much longer...
What it meant was... Corn... ever wonder how you can chew it, and chew it, and chew it for days... and in the end... it still looks like it came out whole? Okay, I 'm done... put the barf bag away...

The reason it does that is the hull... it's indigestible.  THAT is the broom part.  THAT is why it is so much better to eat whole grains and not the stripped way grains... the HULL is what is cleaning the lining of our intestines and taking away bad things with it...

Corn is starchy like bread, and it's gotten a really bad wrap with many diets because of it... but it is a GOOD CARB... it's natural... it's real... it tastes good without having to do anything to it... it can be eaten raw, cooked, steamed, boiled, bbq'd, popped, fried, etc...

Here's my favorite way to cook corn... I never boil my veggies... ever...

Get some corn on the cob... with the husks still one, preferably, and clean the silks off... but keep the husks intact...

mix together in a bowl...

1/2 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

bbq seasoning mix

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp granulated garlic

1 clove fresh crushed garlic

Brush the mixture on the corn and BBQ the corn with the husks around the seasoned cob...

The husks will get all blackened and charred... and the corn will steam and get all yummy inside...

Enjoy!!!  No butter necessary!!!

I also add corn to every soup I can... every stir fry, every taco meat mixture... basically to almost everything I eat...  I love it's sweetness, and it's ability to make my body think it's eaten bread.

It's quite a filler upper.

I buy it by the 5lb bag frozen... and keep it handy for all applications...

Corn... Food of the week... A misunderstood, often vilifed food... but a good one to eat...

Food of the Week...Onions

Not a day goes by... that I don't use an onion... somehow... somewhere... in my cooking.

They are the perfect start to almost any dish... raw or cooked...

Full of cancer fighting compounds... they also help to stave off infection and viruses...

People tend to have a Love/Hate relationship with onions... they either love em or hate em... not in between.

Almost any onion can be made milder and sweeter by cooking it.  I LOVE the Red/Purple onions... they have a great bite and a gorgeous color.  Vidalias, when in season, are another fave... they are so sweet, you can almost bite into them like an apple...almost...

Every pot of soup, stir fry, pasta sauce, salad, taco mixture, meatball, burger, you name it... starts out with chopped or sliced onion...saute'd in my house...  Add garlic... and the aroma is sheer heaven... and it permeates the neighborhood.  My neighbors always tell  me they can smell my cooking from the street.

One of my MOST favorite recipes is an Apricot Chicken dish... that is divine, and it features an onion sauce that is OUT OF THIS WORLD... I made the recipe up all by myself when I was just starting out cooking from scratch... when I needed to "use what I had"... and it's become a family favorite...
I call it Alex Chicken... because it's my Alex's favorite dish...

Here's what you'll need...

10 chicken thighs, skin removed and all visible fat trimmed off

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 - 3/4 cup Apricot Pineapple Jam/marmalade

1 cup any kind of wine you like or 1 cup beef broth if you don't do wine

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 tsp butter

Put a little olive oil into a screaming hot frying pan, and sear those chicken thighs until golden brown and the juices run clear...

Remove chicken and set aside...

Reserve drippings (there won't be much... if you defatted)

Throw in onions and saute until translucent and almost browning

Add wine/broth

Add jam
Add butter

Stir and simmer to thicken sauce...

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring the chicken back into the sauce and simmer another few minutes...

Make some mashed Sweet Potatoes or some Brown Rice or Cous Cous and some

lovely Green Beans... and EAT UP!!!

The sauce is AWESOME over rice or couscous and as a gravy over the potatoes...

It's even good the next day cold...

Enjoy!!!

Onions... they are a great thing!!!

Food of the Week... Carrots!

The carrot.

The food of rabbits.

Good for the eyes.

Bugs Bunny's picture is splattered on almost every bag of them.

When most people see a carrot... they immediately think of... "diet food".

They are seen as something to eat OTHER than the food that one really WANTS to eat.

I'm here to change that thinking.

I love me some carrots.

First of all... look at that color.  When I keep preaching to "eat your colors"... this vibrant veggie is definitely in the mix.  You can cook a carrot any which way, and it will be great.

Or DON'T cook it, and it is equally as great.

Did you know that orange isn't the only color carrots come in?  Stop by any good Farmer's Market and you'll see an array of GORGEOUS carrots. Purple, red, yellow, white... yep... I'm not fibbing!

See?

Don't be afraid to try them.  It's pretty cool to eat a purple carrot.  In my book, any food that is purple is awesome... I always buy purple potatoes from Trader Joes...

My favorite recipes for carrots...

Saute'd Carrots

10 peeled and diagonally sliced carrots

1 sliced onion

1 screaming hot pan with a little olive oil in it

Throw in the onions and carrots and saute until a little carmelized. At this point, you can add frozen peas and heat through, or frozen corn, or cabbage.

Then I add seasonings... salt, pepper, Worcestrshire sauce (dash) and a dash of soy sauce.

Or any steak seasoning or rub you like!

OR...

Carrot/Raisin Salad

Shred up in a food processor as many carrots as you want salad for...

Grab a couple of hands full of raisins

Cut up a Granny Smith apple into tiny bits (optional)

Dressing... A TINY BIT of mayo

OR

 My fave... mix together

1/4 cup orange juice

1 dash soy sauce

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 cut up green onion

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs preservative free dry soup mix...

and pour it over the carrots and raisins... YUM!!!

I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE roasted carrots...

Line a baking sheet with a lip, with foil...

peel and cut a bunch of carrots or pour out a bag of baby carrots into a bowl

season with salt, pepper, olive oil

toss them around to coat...

pour into the baking sheet and roast them at 425 for about 10-15 minutes...

and enjoy the lovely, warm sweetness... with your favorite roast or as a snack...

I also grate carrot into my turkey burgers, into meatballs, into breads, over salads, and on sandwiches... for added color, crunch and nutrition.

I buy them by the 5 lb bag.

Carrots... the food of the week...

Enjoy! and eat your ORANGE!

Food of the Week... Cheese

Cheese. Formaggio. Queso. However you say it… Most everyone likes it… some even LOVE it. I know people that put cheese on absolutely everything they eat… I mean everything…


I have a love/hate relationship with cheese… I LOVE good, ripe, flavorful cheese… the really good stuff… not that junk that has plastic film protecting it from the other cheese slices… (don’t get mad… I told you I’m a total food snob) BUT… cheese doesn’t like me… It makes my entire body swell up.. from all the salt. On this eating plan, the Let’s Do Lunch plan, cheese and all dairy are not advisable, and I have loved how I feel so much less swelled and uncomfortable, that I stay away from it altogether… except for Pecorino Romano grated on my salads… that’s the deal breaker… so I indulge in that… but nothing else…

IF you love cheese, and want to be more healthy, and possibly lose some weight… and NOT eating cheese is deal breaker for you… there are some healthier varieties out there…but be prepared… good food, unfortunately, comes with a higher price at the check out counter.

Good cheese has very few ingredients. Those few ingredients change the flavor of the cheese with TIME. Time makes for good cheese… not fillers, not flavorings, and certainly not coloring. Did you know that cheddar cheese is WHITE??? Yeah… WE here in the U.S. add the coloring… WHY? I HAVE NO IDEA! Ugh! Also… there is no such thing as Fat Free cheese… Oh… I know it’s out there… and it does exist… but really… after they take all the good stuff out, add in all the sugar, fillers and chemicals to make it “fat free”… it’s not CHEESE anymore… it’s one molecule away from plastic…in my book. If you are going to have cheese… make it good, made from whole, real ingredients… in small amounts… your body knows what to do with it… it’ll TASTE like cheese, and don’t you deserve real food? Oh… and that shredded stuff in a bag? Do you really want to know how all that cheese stays so separated? Let’s just say that you should grate your own cheese, and leave it at that…

Some good cheeses, that have good calcium, little ingredients, and are moderately lower in calories than most are… FRESH mozzarella (NOT that stuff in the shrink wrapped ball with all the lunch meats), neufchatel (cream cheese), Parmigiana Reggiano, Pecorino Romano (a good one is sold at Costco), Swiss, and Provolone. Cheddar, Head, and EZ cheese (oh, boy… don’t get me started on that one) ARE higher in fat, and tend to have a lot of “other” ingredients in them. Nacho Cheese.. .in a can… NOT CHEESE AT ALL! Just stand in line at the ER while eating it… it’ll save a trip.


Me, I’m off Dairy altogether… but my family enjoys a slice in their sandwiches now and then. NOW… and THEN… are the operative words. Cheese shouldn’t be an everyday food for anyone… me included. It’s loaded with salt… which is precisely why when I used to eat it, in any amount, I lost my ankles, and my rings wouldn’t come off…

Crumble up your favorite cheese in 1 oz increments over a salad or over a soup. Place a lovely slice over your morning eggs or on a piece of awesome whole grain toast. Keep it at one ounce per serving for your waistline, and your heart.

What does NOT constitute cheese? I touched on this earlier.. but allow me to expound… If it comes with a lid, and it’s in an aluminum can, and you have to press a nozzle to let it squirt out… IT. IS. NOT. CHEESE. It is a combination of a bunch of congealed goo, pressure packed into a canister…like silly string. I dare you to read the ingredients of a bottle. Cheese should not come in a bottle… or in a can, and it shouldn’t pour out of anything unless you melted it yourself… on your stove.

Last week, I went shopping for our local Little Leagues Snack Bar with the new Snack Bar Mgr… and we had to purchase the Nacho Cheese in bags, for the Nacho Machine. It doesn’t have to be refrigerated, and it’s shelf life was 5 years from now. THAT. IS. NOT. CHEESE. And I will pump my kids stomachs if they think they are going to ever order another order of nachos again…I should have been arrested for putting that junk in the cart… I was queasy. It’s not right…

If we learn to view cheese as a food enhancer, rather than the main dish or component of a meal, we will be healthier in the long run. If you can stay away from it altogether… and not miss it… you won’t be giving up on calcium… eat broccoli for your calcium… or a host of other veggies with loads of calcium in them…


Fermented cheeses tend to be better for our tummies than new cheeses…since most of the digestion is done right on the cheese… and if you choose a strong flavored cheese, you’ll eat less of it.

Pair it up with fruit whenever you can… grapes, tomatoes, apples… since cheese can be binding… if you know what I mean… and the fruit will help combat that before it becomes a problem…

So… enjoy a little cheese now and then… you don’t have to give up your favorite foods to lose weight… just eat them in tiny morsels… and live well!

What to do with a Costco Chicken...

Don’t you just love Costoc’s rotisserie chicken? I do. It’s inexpensive, additive free, and it just tastes sooo yummy!


When I’m short on time, and I know I won’t be able to prepare any chicken ahead of time during my prep… I buy two Costco chickens…

I make…

Chicken Fajitas, tacos, stir fries, soup, stock from the bones, cacciatore and a host of other things as well…

It is a very versatile product… and I like how big they are. As soon as I get them home, I skin them, and pull every morsel of meat off the bone and put it into a large freezer bag, take the air out and place it in my fridge… Viola! Insta-meat! I don’t bother with my freezer for this… it lasts an entire week in the fridge, and since I have 5 to prepare meals for… it doesn’t last long anyway…

A favorite recipe around here is…

1 torn up Costco chicken

2 red bell peppers, sliced

2 onions, sliced

8 mushrooms, sliced

2 cups frozen corn

cumin

taco seasoning

salt

pepper

Saute up the onions, mushrooms, corn and pepper until golden… add cumin, taco seasoning, salt, pepper and chicken… stir to combine…
Eat this at lunchtime…

For bread eaters… serve over spanish BROWN rice or in tortillas.

Add Guacamole and salsa to liven it up…

Enjoy!!!

Cabbage... Food of the Week.

I love this stuff… raw, cooked, baked, broiled, you name a way to eat it… and I probably have…


I recently found out that a lady I know has been fighting a terrible battle with breast cancer. I started looking up foods I could make for her to help combat it’s recurrence once she is better, (she asked me to) and I noticed on all my searches… that cabbage, namely the Cruciferous Family of veggies came up every. single. time. Turns out… it is a POWERHOUSE of cancer fighting… the Superman of vegetables. I’m not kidding… it’s literally written up that in 70 percent of 100 studies, cabbage consumption was associated with lower cancer risk.

I eat a LOT of cabbage. A WHOLE LOT. Always have. I eat it raw too… yes, even when I wasn’t eating right… cabbage was a mainstay in my fridge. I buy it in huge 5 lbs bags, preshredded, but have learned that buying it whole is better for me… so I am finishing up my bag and will switch to heads of it next week.

I use it in every stirfry, I mix it with every green salad, and I love the purple cabbage too. It can be stuffed, bbq’d, broiled, shaved, sliced, diced, tossed and steamed…
It gets sweet when cooked… but has more cancer fighting ability when eaten raw…

I make a Peasant Pasta with it…for my hubby and kids…

1 whole cabbage sliced thinly

1 whole onion, sliced thinly

olive oil

salt

pepper

Heat your pan up until it screaming hot… and add the onions… then the cabbage to the hot oil and saute until wilted… salt and pepper to taste

While that’s cooking, boil up some pasta ( about one pound of short, tube pasta like Penne)…

Drain pasta, and add it to the cabbage and onion “sauce”… top with grated hard cheese… and enjoy

Stuffed Veggies Boats...

Yum… and can I just say YUM!!!


I love stuffed everything… mushrooms, cabbage, peppers.. you name it… I’m a fan of stuffing it… LOL! BUT!!! a lot of the ingredients in traditional stuffed foods are no-no’s on the LDL plan… so I did a little change here and there, and think I came up with some tasty alternatives…

First, gather your “boats”… the things you want to stuff…

Either cut them in half and scoop out a little of the pulp or cut the top off, and stand it up… KEEP THE SCOOPED BITS…

Then saute up a chopped onion, 3 cloves chopped garlic, some green onion, the pulp of the veggie boat, some chopped mushrooms, a handful of grated Parmigiana or Romano cheese, a little water or chicken stock, salt, pepper and (if you allow yourself brown rice, use it…) otherwise leave it out, and a tiny bit (2 oz) of feta cheese crumbles (or not) and get it all cooked up and bubbly and yummy.

Sprinkle in about a tsp of cumin, and if you like things spicy, some cayenne or red pepper flakes, and stir it into the mixture until well blended.

Stuff the mixture into each vessel, and sprinkle a tiny bit of the grated low fat cheese on top… Bake in a baking dish at 400 for about 15 minutes or until the top gets crusty…

Enjoy!!!

Flax for the memories...

I have no idea why I wrote that title… maybe I was channeling Bob Hope and his “Thanks for the Memories” song… but bear with me… it worked in my mind…

Flax… have you heard of it? It’s my new favorite food. It’s a tiny, tiny little seed, with a POWERFUL punch. The best thing about it? IT TASTES GREAT!

I do wish we would name our foods with pretty names. Flax seems like its good for you, therefore, it MUST taste awful! Why couldn’t it be named… oh….Moonbeam seed… or Livewell kernel… but… alas… Flax is short and sweet… less to type.

I have been adding Flax seed MEAL to almost every food I prepare for my family and myself. Yes, if you’ve taken bread home from my oven, or eaten my cookies, or have come over for dinner in the past 2 years… you, too, have eaten Flax seed meal. Bet you didn’t know you did!

Every bread loaf, bagel, baguette, breadstick, pizza crust, cookie, cake, bowl of cereal, and casserole I make, has added Flax seed meal in it… when I cook for friends and family.

It contains essential amino acids that are hard to find elsewhere, in such abundance. It has FIBER galore, and it’s GREAT for lowering cholesterol… and has been studied and shown to slow the growth of breast tumors in women and prostate cancer growth in men.

It’s important to eat it ground up. You can buy whole Flax seeds like I do, and grind them up nicely in a coffee grinder, batch for batch. Or you can buy it already ground up. Make sure to store any unused portion in the refrigerator because it’s chock full of wonderful good-for-you fatty acids that can go rancid quickly.

I love the Bob’s Red Mill variety, and I can find it at my local supermarket… and Trader Joes. All health food, or Whole Foods stores carry it.

Sneak it into foods… sprinkle it on cereal, add a tablespoon or two to your smoothie, add it to cookie dough, stir it into soups and stews… You’ll barely notice it’s there.

It’s a very small, economical way to add powerful nutrition to our day. Aren’t you worth the very best?

Eat your water... Fiber... A love story

Does your only source of fiber come out of a plastic container that you have to scoop out with a spoon and swirl in a cup of water… THEN DRINK IT?


Do you eat a piece of white bread and a granola bar all day, and think “I’ve got my fiber in today”?

This is gross… but I’m gonna say it anyway… Do you spend a LONG time on the “loo” waiting… and straining? Did you know that doing that means something? Wanna know what it means? It means eventually, you’re gonna get hemorroids if you keep straining like that… EEWWWWW!

But really, it means that you aren’t eating NEARLY enough fiber every day… AT ALL!

Fiber is UNdigestible, so it’s a great filler for your tummy. It helps us stay fuller, longer. It transports bad things from our bodies.

Ideally, when it’s time to “go”, you should literally sit down, and immediately “go”. No straining should be necessary, if you are getting enough fiber.

You know me.. I’m a food snob from way back… Good food is the basis of good nutrition… and the “bottled” stuff should only be used in severe instances, or in emergencies only.

When choosing bread, choose a dark, sugar free brand, with at LEAST 5 grams of fiber PER SLICE… Costco sells one… and before I started making my own bread… that’s what I bought, or make your own using sourdough starter, and double your benefits! Also… eat LOTS OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGGIES… they are loaded with fiber, and other phytochemicals that inhibit cancer growth, increase good cholesterol levels, and carry out all kinds of bad cooties from our environment and bad eating choices.


When eating each meal during a typical day… try this trick I use to “FILL UP”… I eat a piece of fruit BEFORE each meal. My favorites are an apple, or a slice of watermelon, or an orange. You’ll eat less, digest better, and won’t need to drink as much water.

Speaking of water… there’s a huge push for everyone to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. That’s great… BUT… I believe the reason they say those things is because of the typical American diet of fast food, cheetos, alcohol, white bread, cheeses, and fruit snacks in plastic packages. Come on… you know I’m right… I was guilty of it too… The truth is… if you eat enough fruits and veggies, YOU’LL HARDLY EVER GET THIRSTY! You’ll get enough water from them to quench any thirst… and remember… when you get thirsty, you’re about a 1/2 hour late in getting your water, on your way to mild dehydration.

I used to drink water by the trough all day… back when I was eating bread, and cheeses, and processed foods… now I RARELY get thirsty, and if I do drink something, it’s usually Rooibos or Green tea… something that is nourishing as well as thirst quenching.

What you ‘DRINK’ in your foods as as important as what you eat… choose water filled produce and not only will your taste buds do a little dance… but you’ll have less “jiggle” in the middle when you dance… soooo… EAT YOUR WATER, and chew your fiber!!!