Why Diet Matters More than Exercise for Weight Loss
If you want to lose weight, diet and exercise are both important. However, that doesn’t mean they’re equally important. This video explains why changing your diet has a bigger effect on your weight loss than exercise.
As we’ve discussed at length before, most of the calories you burn in a given day are spent just keeping you alive. While you can burn calories through exercise, you don’t burn that much. The video above explains that running for 20 minutes only burns around 200 calories or so. Whereas an average 20 oz. bottle of Coke contains 260 calories. If you could choose to get rid of 200 calories by working out for a half hour, or drinking water with dinner, which do you think would be easier?
The video goes on to explain that exercise is by no means bad. There are plenty of other health benefits to exercise that have nothing to do with weight loss. However, if your goal is to lose weight, quantifying how much you’re eating in a given day will be a better first step than hitting the gym after that burger.
Sugar: Hiding in Plain Sight
It’s funny how trends change.
In the 1950’s, you could not watch a movie without seeing just about every character in it smoking a cigarette. In the 1960’s, most sales were done over a 3 martini lunch. Very few now. That’s pretty much frowned upon.
Most trend changes like these are precipitated by a group of adults who decide something is “bad” and decide to change it. But for the long run, for the change to stick, you have to get it in the heads of kids.
Case in point:
In my own family there are a couple of stories. I recall my brother and sister-in-law telling us one night about how their kids came home from school to announce smoking was “bad.” Their parents didn’t smoke (well, at least not by then anyway), but others in the family did. My parents both smoked for decades until my mother got mouth cancer and my father came down with emphysema. They quit immediately. All of us around them benefited from their quitting the “bad” behavior of smoking. Now, you rarely see any character smoke in a movie. If you do, it’s usually the “bad guy.”
A couple of years pass. The same kids are a bit older. They come home this time and announce to their parents that drinking alcohol is “bad.” Hm. They must have gotten another lesson in school. So how did my brother and his wife handle this one? They quit drinking around the kids. They might have a cocktail after the youngsters were in bed but they went years like this; until the kids were older and understood that there is a version of drinking that can be done responsibly. Even the beer companies now use “drink responsibly” in their advertising. And TV commercials selling booze are gone.
I’m trying to start a new trend (along with several medical professionals). I want to make sugar the next “bad” thing. I’d like to see the kids of this generation come home and tell their parents that sugar is bad. How do we do it? With video productions like this one. I’d love it if you would watch the 4 minute video (above). Then think about how you can pass it along.
Do you have children? Show it to them.
Do you have adult children who have their own kids? Give it to them to show to their kids, or better yet, invite the grandkids over and watch it all as a group and discuss it. Kids in 6th, 5th or even 4th grade ought to be able to follow along with this and absorb the lessons.
Are you on the PTA? Get the Board to watch this and see where it can be shown next.
Are you involved in the curriculum at school? Can you get a showing of it at your community school?
Are you part of the YMCA or other social club in town? Would it be appropriate to show there?
Do you own a company? Supervise any group? Or have meetings where this can be an interesting topic of conversation?
You get my drift. I’d like this to be shown EVERYWHERE possible and start the conversation. Change the trend. Sugar is bad.
Cheers,
Roasted Italian Onions
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
These onions are easy to make and sooooo good! They taste so sweet and decadent. Using little Cipollini onions makes them authentic Italian-- but you could use wedges of Vidalia onions too and have similar results. The Cipollini onions require an extra step to blanch them and peel. With Vidalia all you’ll have to do is peel and slice into wedges.
Ingredients:
12 medium Cipollini onions (or Vidalia)
- 1 tsp of garlic powder (with no fillers) or to taste
- 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
- 4 Tbl of ghee (do not use regular butter or it will burn) Find ghee near the shortening and oils in your grocery store. This is a shelf-stable version of clarified butter.
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
How to blanch Cipollini onions: Place the onions in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Then drop them in an ice bath so they cool off quickly. You don’t want to cook them. Then peel.
Take your onions and cut off the bottom so they lay flat or if you are using wedges, just put them in your pan. A 9 X 9” pan will hold them all.
Sprinkle with the garlic powder and the Italian seasoning.
Melt your ghee and then drizzle it over the onions.
Season with sea salt and pepper
Roast at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes. Check at 20 minutes to see how they are browning. The time needed depends on how big your onions are. You want them to have a pretty brown on the edges, and you want some of the ghee to still be in the bottom of the pan. Keep in mind that your onions will shrink a bit while they roast too.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Order This...Not That
When you’re on a diet, or just living a low carb lifestyle, you can’t expect to cook every meal and never go out to eat. That’s not fair. You have to be able to go out and not sabotage your progress. The trick is in what you order. I checked out the menus at three popular restaurants and have outlined some advice on what choices to make. Don't worry, you can still eat well and not gain weight.
Olive Garden
When you are working to keep your carbohydrate intake under 20% of your daily total, you want to keep your choices as low carb as you can. Keep your mitts off those breadsticks. They taste great, but they are awful for you. Eat a nice, big salad. Then choose a low carb entrée:
Garlic Rosemary Chicken = 29 g
Baked Tilapia with Shrimp = 12 g
Herb Grilled Salmon = 8 g
Stuffed Chicken Marsala = 33 g
(The chicken marsala is about as high up as I’d go. No more carbs than that in one meal for me. The marsala wine is where most of the carbs are coming from in this one. This would be a splurge, so I’d make sure my breakfast and lunch were really low carb.)
Now look at some of the BAD choices:
Eggplant Parmesan = 113 g
Five Cheese Ziti = 103 g
Fettuccini Alfredo = 92 g
Most people would take a look at Eggplant Parmesan and think, “It’s vegetables. It must be a safe choice.” Nope.
Until you become adept at estimating the number of carbs in a meal you can check things out online. Because of the pressure to serve “healthy” meals, all of these places have their menus online. Google the restaurant with the words “nutritional information” and you'll find it. Oddly and ironically, they think it’s all about counting calories. It’s the carbohydrate counting that you should focus on to make good choices.
Next, let’s check in on Outback Steakhouse.
It's easy to eat low carb in a steakhouse. Many of the entrees will work. At these places it’s the sides and appetizers that will kill the deal. Outback offers many low carb entrée choices. Here are a few:
½ lb of Snow Crab = 2 g
12 oz Grilled Sirloin with Grilled Shrimp =16 g
½ order of Baby Back Ribs = 19 g
Braised Short Ribs = 15 g
Plain Grilled Chicken on the Barbie = 0 g
A Beef Filet and Grilled Shrimp = 6 g
It’s hearty eating, and all of them are very reasonable choices if you want to maintain your weight. But look at what happens when you order what you think might be innocent sides and appetizers.
4 Coconut Shrimp Appetizer = 29 g
A Bloomin Onion = 20 g
Baked Potato with Everything = 50 g
So if you are ordering the Baked Potato with everything be sure you are sharing it with a table full of people and keep your portion small. The sour cream, butter and cheese on the potato aren’t the problem. It’s the potato! If they are serving a French Onion soup, order that for your appetizer and then get the grilled asparagus or another veggie to go with that steak.
Everybody Loves TGI Friday's…right? So let’s see what they offer.
In the appetizer category, order the Siracha Buffalo Wings at 3 grams of carbs. Don’t order the Thai Peanut Wings. Those have 85 grams of carbs. Thinking Pretzel with Beer Cheese sauce? Think again. That’s a whopping 61 gram of carbs. The Bacon Stuffed Jalapenos are a better choice at 14 grams of carbs.
Want a salad for lunch? I know people who think if lettuce is involved it has to be good for you, no matter what else is in the mix. Think again. The Friday’s Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad has 38 grams of carbs. On the other hand, the Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad has a mere 9 grams of carbs.
The featured entrees these days are made with Jack Daniels. It’s not the booze that’s high carb but all the sugar they use in the sauce. The Jack Daniel’s Rack of Ribs comes in at a whopping 175 grams of carbs! That’s twice as many carbs as most men can eat in an entire day and have any hope of maintaining their weight. Bourbon Barrel Mahi Mahi, even with the liquor added comes in at just 4 grams of carbs. What a difference!
So there you have it. Do a little homework before you head to the restaurant and you’ll know how to make good choices. The longer you live a low carb lifestyle the easier this gets. Promise.
If only restaurants would offer low carb dessert options! Since most don’t, I’m offering you a dessert today. Enjoy it when you get home from the restaurant.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Meaty Jambalaya
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.
Jambalaya is normally a rice-centric dish that is chock-full of carbs. I redesigned this dish so you can fit some rice into your life without blowing your diet. Just don’t make this a weekly favorite. Maybe 4 times a year, tops. This will also transport well for lunches at the office or makes a fine addition to a buffet or pot luck.
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients:
- 4 pieces of bacon cut into ½” strips
- 5 chicken tenders cut into one inch pieces
- 1 Tbl of olive oil
- 2 ribs of celery cut into large dice
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- ½ red bell pepper, diced
- ½ green bell pepper, diced
- 4 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will work)
- 1 tsp of black pepper
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp of cayenne (or to taste)
- 4 cups of chicken broth
- 15 oz of canned, diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup of tomato paste
- 1 slice of breakfast ham cut into large dice (find it by the bacon) about 5” in diameter
- 4, 5” andouille sausages (pre-cooked), cut into 1” pieces
- 1-½ – 2 cups of uncooked white rice
Instructions:
In a large Dutch Oven, cook the bacon until crisp. Add the chicken and increase heat to medium high. Cook about 4 minutes. Then, using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and the bacon bits. Set them on a plate to rest.
Add the oil to the pan. Put in the celery, onion and bell peppers. Cook until wilted. Stir. About 3 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, Italian seasoning, black and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook for one minute. Add broth, tomatoes and paste. Stir. Return the chicken and bacon to the pan along with the ham bits. Quickly saute the sausage pieces in a separate pan so they get a little brown on all edges. Then add them to the pot, too. Put on a low simmer. Add the rice. Stir it all up. Put the cover on the pot. Cook at a simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the rice is done. Turn off and let the dish sit for 10 more minutes with the cover on to completely cook the rice. Open and use a large spoon to fluff it all up. Serve in bowls.
You can always put some hot sauce on the table for those who really like their food spicy. This had plenty of flavor and heat for me.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
To Lose Weight, Eating Less Is Far More Important than Exercising More
JUNE 15, 2015
Aaron E. Carroll
THE NEW HEALTH CARE
One of my family’s favorite shows is “The Biggest Loser.” Although some viewers don’t appreciate how it pushes people so hard to lose weight, the show probably inspires some overweight people to regain control of their lives.
But one of the most frustrating parts of the show, at least for me, is its overwhelming emphasis on exercise. Because when it comes to reaching a healthy weight, what you don’t eat is much, much more important.
Think about it this way: If an overweight man is consuming 1,000 more calories than he is burning and wants to be in energy balance, he can do it by exercising. But exercise consumes far fewer calories than many people think. Thirty minutes of jogging or swimming laps might burn off 350 calories. Many people, fat or fit, can’t keep up a strenuous 30-minute exercise regimen, day in and day out. They might exercise a few times a week, if that.
Or they could achieve the same calorie reduction by eliminating two 16-ounce sodas each day.
Proclamations that people need to be more active are ubiquitous in the media. The importance of exercise for proper weight management is reinforced when people bemoan the loss of gym class in schools as a cause of the obesity epidemic. Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move program places the focus on exercise as a critical component in combating excess weight and obesity.
Exercise has many benefits, but there are problems with relying on it to control weight. First, it’s just not true that Americans, in general, aren’t listening to calls for more activity. From 2001 to 2009, the percentage of people who were sufficiently physically active increased. But so did the percentage of Americans who were obese. The former did not prevent the latter.
Studies confirm this finding. A 2011 meta-analysis, a study of studies, looked at the relationship between physical activity and fat mass in children, and found that being active is probably not the key determinant in whether a child is at an unhealthy weight. In the adult population, interventional studies have difficulty showing that a physically active person is less likely to gain excess weight than a sedentary person. Further, studies of energy balance, and there are many of them, show that total energy expenditure and physical activity levels in developing and industrialized countries are similar, making activity and exercise unlikely to be the cause of differing obesity rates.
Moreover, exercise increases one’s appetite. After all, when you burn off calories being active, your body will often signal you to replace them. Research confirms this. A 2012 systematic review of studies that looked at how people complied with exercise programs showed that over time, people wound up burning less energy with exercise than predicted and also increasing their caloric intake.
Other metabolic changes can negate the expected weight loss benefits of exercise over the long term. When you lose weight, metabolism often slows. Many people believe that exercise can counter or even reverse that trend. Research, however, shows that the resting metabolic rate in all dieters slows significantly, regardless of whether they exercise. This is why weight loss, which might seem easy when you start, becomes harder over time.
This isn’t to say that exercise plays no role. There are many studies that show that adding exercise to diets can be beneficial. A 1999 review identified three key meta-analyses and other randomized controlled trials that found statistically significant, but overall small, increases in weight loss with exercise.
A meta-analysis published last year found that, in the long term, behavioral weight management programs that combine exercise with diet can lead to more sustained weight loss (three to four pounds) over a year than diet alone. Over a six-month period, though, adding exercise made no difference. Another systematic review from last fall found similar results, with diet plus exercise performing better than diet alone, but without much of an absolute difference.
All of these interventions included dietary changes, and the added weight-loss benefit from activity was small. Far too many people, though, can manage to find an hour or more in their day to drive to the gym, exercise and then clean up afterward — but complain that there’s just no time to cook or prepare a healthful, home-cooked meal. If they would spend just half the time they do exercising trying to make a difference in the kitchen, they’d most likely see much better results.
Many people think of dieting as a drastic and rigid change, with a high risk of putting the pounds back on. What is more likely to succeed is gradual change, made in a much more sustainable way. I also don’t mean to make it seem that weight loss with diet is easy and exercise is hard. They’re both hard. The challenge of a slowing metabolism, and the desire to eat more, occurs in both cases, although dietary change still works better than exercise.
But I can’t say this enough: Exercise has a big upside for health beyond potential weight loss. Many studies and reviews detail how physical activity can improve outcomes in musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, pulmonary diseases, neurological diseases and depression. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges declared it a “miracle cure” recently, and while I’m usually loath to use that term for anything in medicine, a fairly large evidence base corroborates that exercise improves outcomes in many domains.
But that huge upside doesn’t seem to necessarily apply to weight loss. The data just don’t support it. Unfortunately, exercise seems to excite us much more than eating less does. After all, as a friend said to me recently, “The Biggest Loser” would be really boring if it were shot after shot of contestants just not overeating.
Aaron E. Carroll is a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. He blogs on health research and policy at The Incidental Economist, and you can follow him on Twitter at @aaronecarroll.
The Resolution to Exercise
The idea of making New Year’s resolutions dates back over 4000 years. Whether you believe in making resolutions or not, January seems to be a time when people embark on the effort to change their ways.
For some, that means starting an exercise regimen.
For many, the first inclination is to get out and run. Go jogging.
I say, bad idea.
I did that and I have the bursitis to show for it. Jogging is a high impact exercise. The pounding of your joints on pavement, or even a treadmill, is going to catch up with your body.
I don’t recommend high impact exercise. My husband, the ex-marathon runner, can tell you all the years of jogging he did were not his best plan either. He knows that now. Any kind of high impact exercise will eventually wear out your joints. His knees wore out. Then, his back started hurting. For others it might be ankles or hips.
Sports medicine clinics make a lot of money off of joint replacements. Stands to reason. Sports Medicine is code for “orthopedic surgeon.” So I don’t recommend treadmills unless you are only going to walk or do very high intensity sprinting for very short (1-minute or so) bursts. No jumping rope, bouncing around doing aerobics or anything else that can potentially injure your joints. If you have been seriously overweight for too long, you probably already have joint damage from carrying the weight around. Don’t make it worse.
So here are some ideas for lighter exercise that can do a great job of toning you up without the bodily damage that high impact exercise offers.
If you want Michelle Obama’s arms you are going to have to get out some light weights or elastic bands to tone up. I have arms that many women refer to as “bat wings.” It’s going to take me time to get them to tone up. This will not happen overnight. If you want that popular dip in your arms that men and women both wish for, you’re going to have to get out weights.
What other exercise do I recommend? Things like Pilates, yoga, swimming and weight lifting. Done correctly, none of those will injure your joints, but they will build muscle. You can really work up a sweat doing Pilates or yoga if you get to the point where you can do the difficult moves. These are not exercise routines for wimps. On the other hand both Pilates and yoga have levels that are easy and enjoyable. I do yoga and weight lifting every week.
You don't need to exercise in order to lose weight. That's what Plan Z is for (our dieters lose an average of 31 pounds in 50 days without exercise). When you exercise, what you really want to do over time is strengthen your core, increase flexibility and build bone density and muscle mass. You don’t want to become that slumped-over elderly person. You don’t want to need one of those chairs that pushes you out of it. The more you build your core the stronger your whole mid-section will be. That will keep your posture in good shape and keep you from having things like an achy back. Flexibility is important at any age but even more as you age. Tying your shoes can be an aerobic event when you are fat. I know. But tying your shoes and keeping your independence to bend down and pick things up, chase after grandchildren or even your own children are important too. Both Pilates and yoga will help. So many of us have desk jobs these days we have to do something to help stay flexible. I ache like crazy sometimes after a yoga session. It’s not because it was difficult to do but it’s because I used muscles I don’t use at other points during the week, or I twisted in ways I don’t twist when doing my work. These are the good aches.
You want to exercise to keep your heart strong and improve your lung capacity. You do need to move fast enough or train hard enough to work your heart a bit so it gets stronger. Our VP of Anger Management and others recommend programs like the ones described in a book called Body by Science by Doug McGuff, MD or the P.A.C.E Program by Dr. Al Sears. Check out both of those for ideas on how to exercise safely and effectively.
For weightlifting, our absolute favorite way to do it is a program called Super Slow. It’s not available in all markets and it’s not cheap. You do Super Slow with a trainer who monitors all of your activity. I got to the point where I could leg press over 500 pounds and bench press over 160. That’s more weight than a lot of guys work with. But you have to do that with supervision. The great part is it only takes one workout per week. My husband has done this for over 10 years now and he’s in better physical shape than he was when he was an All-American high jumper. He’s buff for a guy over 60 years old and he doesn’t obsess over being in the gym. You can try to do it yourself by reading a book called The Power of 10.
If that’s not an option for you, consider another weight program of some kind. Remember to be careful in keeping good form so you don’t hurt yourself. It can be a good idea to work with a trainer to watch your form and keep you safe. Urge them to read the books we recommend so they can help you implement a plan.
Choose your exercise plan wisely and get the benefits that will last a lifetime.
Cheers,
Enjoy!
Spicy Spinach Chicken Casserole Bowl
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.
This dish comes together super-fast. As you transition to Z3.5 you can add a few noodles, but honestly, when I make it again I feel the noodles don’t add that much. It will be really tasty without them. You choose. You can also double this recipe and serve it on a buffet or at a potluck.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 8 chicken tenders cut into bite sized (1”) pieces
- 1 cup of shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
- 10 oz of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained (if necessary)
- 1 cup of cooked noodles (I used macaroni)
- ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2-3/4 cup of cream. You can use ½ cup if not using noodles. If you add noodles you’ll need more liquid.
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a saute pan with olive oil spray. Put in your chicken chunks and cook on medium high until they get lightly browned and cooked through. Turn off and set aside.
Spray a 9” square oven-proof pan with your olive oil spray. Put in the spinach, pepper jack, cheddar, noodles and chicken along with the cream. Stir to mix it all up. Sprinkle on the parmesan and put it in your oven to cook 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbly. Let it cool down for 5 – 10 minutes before serving so you don’t burn your mouth.
Serve in a bowl or plate it.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Buttered Mushrooms
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
Dieter Rebecca first had this warm and rustic side dish while in Ireland on a road trip in 1994. These mushrooms where in every Irish B&B Dieter Rebecca visited. She loved the recipe so much she recreated it for Plan Z! Hope you enjoy.
Servings: Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced or your favorite variety
- 3 Tbs Butter
- 3 Tbs minced garlic, jarred is fine
- Salt to taste
Instructions:
Melt the butter in a saute pan and add the garlic. Let the garlic and butter meld for a minute then add the sliced mushrooms.
Simmer on medium heat until the mushrooms soften. It doesn't take long.
Thanks to Dieter Rebecca for this Irish-inspired side dish.
Add salt to taste before serving.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Cinnamon Cupcakes
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot) recipe.
Gluten free. Sugar free. And still a cupcake! You too can have dessert and not suffer the consequences. These are so healthy you could have one for breakfast! You can treat them like an offering of tea bread or jazz them up and make them fancy with frosting. Put in the amount of cinnamon dictated by your taste. 1 tsp was enough for me, but others want a stronger cinnamon flavor.
Ingredients:
- 7 eggs, lightly beaten (put them in the bowl and run the mixer on medium for about 15 seconds)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or the combo of coconut and almond
- 1 cup of coconut flour
- ½ cup of Swerve or ZSweet (look for it in stores or order on line)
- 1 Tbl of baking powder
- ½ tsp of grated sea salt
- ½ cup of butter, melted. Let it cool down for a bit before you pour it in your bowl.
- ½ tsp of liquid stevia extract. If you are baking for the “sweet crowd” you might want to put in a bit more but a little goes a long way!
- 1 -2 tsp of ground cinnamon
Instructions:
In your bowl you have mixed up the eggs to get them lightly beaten. Now add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 2 minutes. Stop it half way through to make sure you’ve scraped down the sides and don’t have batter stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
Get out your cupcake liners. You can make full-sized cupcakes or mini ones. I love the mini cuz people love to have two and their dessert is still smaller than a full-sized cupcake. Guilt-free.
Pour the batter 2/3rds of the way up. The cupcakes will rise some but not really high. Bake at 350 degrees. Mini cupcakes will be done at 10-12 minutes. Large cupcakes will bake 18-22 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure no batter is sticking.
Let cool and frost. I recommend the Fluffy Whipped Cream Frosting. BIG YUM.
Eat the day you make them, or store them in the refrigerator. Because of the butter content in the batter you might want to take them out of the refrigerator 15 – 30 minutes before you eat one. This allows them to soften up. They are a good treat right out of the fridge too.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
BBQ Bean Hash
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot) recipe.
When I was a kid my father traveled a lot. When he was gone, sometimes my mom would let us just fry up some hamburger meat and add a can of Campbell’s baked beans. We called it bean hash. I loved it.
This is a kicked up version with two options for amount of barbecue flavor and heat.
Ingredients:
- 5 pieces of bacon fried up crispy and diced
- 1 Tbl of olive oil
- 1 pound of ground beef
- ½ cup of chopped onion
- 15 oz of baked beans. I decided to try two different little cans of baked beans. Bush’s Brand makes several. Try to pick the less sugary ones.
- Barbecue sauce to taste. Choose one with low sugar. If sugar is toward the end of the list of ingredients you’ve made a good choice. Or make my barbecue sauce.
For Serving:
- Low carb biscuits (optional). Here’s one option or put “biscuits” in the recipe search bar and more options will pop up. The cheddar ones are great.
Instructions:
In a medium saute pan add your ground beef with the olive oil. Begin to cook the meat on medium. Add the onion and cook until no pink remains and the onion is cooked through.
Add your beans and the diced bacon. Heat just until all is hot. Depending on what beans you chose you might already have some barbecue flavor distributed throughout the dish.
So now I customize it when I serve it. I let people do their own thing. If you are doing the biscuits, you can put one in the bottom. Spoon the hash over the top. Then drizzle on some barbecue sauce and/or hot sauce. I like mine plain; more like childhood so I don’t put any extra sauce on it. My husband put about 2 Tbl of barbecue sauce on his and his usual dribbles of hot sauce. So his dish tasted quite a bit different than mine. To each his own… right?
Enjoy yours your way,
Cheers,
Fluffy Whipped Cream Frosting
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.
This frosting is light as a feather but it won’t break down like other whipped cream frostings because the cream cheese gives it an extra stability. You can make this in several flavors by using extracts. (See notes below.)
Serves: Frosts 12 full-sized cupcakes or a full 9" x 13" cake.
Ingredients:
- 8 oz of cream cheese, softened at room temperature (use full fat cream cheese)
- ½ cup of powdered Swerve. This is a sugar substitute that looks just like powdered sugar. You might have to order it online. It’s not in a lot of stores yet.
- 1 tsp of organic vanilla
- 1 tsp of almond extract
- 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
Instructions:
Combine the cream cheese, Swerve and the flavorings in your bowl using your mixer. Whip til smooth. Scrape down sides to make sure it all gets incorporated.
Then, SLOWLY add the cream in a light stream while the mixer is running. You can whip on medium until the cream forms a stiff peak. (Don’t overbeat or whipping cream will turn to butter). Scrape down the sides about half way through mixing. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how fluffy this frosting will turn out. Makes it really easy to decorate, too.
Flavor Variations:
With each flavor variation I suggest you use the vanilla and then add one other flavor.
- 1 tsp of lemon flavoring for lemon frosting (you can always add more if you want it more tart)
- 1 tsp of orange flavoring for orange frosting
- 1 tsp of coconut flavoring for a tropical frosting
- 1 tsp of ground cinnamon for cinnamon frosting
Or
- 2 Tbl of unsweetened cocoa for a robust cocoa-flavored frosting
You can experiment with combos like cinnamon- chocolate frosting but I’ll leave that bit of creativity up to you.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Shrimp de Jonghe with Zucchini Noodles
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
Shrimp de Jonghe is traditionally a decadent Italian appetizer that is buried in buttered bread crumbs. What I have done here is reenvision the appetizer as an entrée. I cut the bread crumbs way back and incorporated zucchini noodles instead of a pasta base. I bet you’ll never miss the pasta and you’ll have great fun using your spiralizer.
This dish is a great idea for company at the holidays. You can make a big batch very easily. I put in the green and red pepper bits to give it a bit more holiday color. In the Italian tradition of making shellfish on Christmas Eve, this will fit the bill perfectly.
Serves: 2 – 3 and can be doubled easily.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of butter
- 4 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will do)
- 1 pound of shrimp (peeled and deveined). You decide the size you like.
- ¾ cup of dry white wine
- ¼ tsp of grated black pepper
- A whisper of cayenne (optional)
- ½ cup of diced green bell pepper (optional)
- ½ cup of diced red bell pepper (optional)
- 1 Tbl of minced, fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbl of olive oil
- 3 cups of zucchini ‘noodles’ made with your spiralizer. You can make as many noodles as you’d like. You are not limited.
- ¼ cup of Panko bread crumbs
Instructions:
You’ll need two pans for this dish but don’t let that intimidate you. The dish comes together quickly and easily.
In a large saute pan, melt your butter. Add the garlic and stir. Add the shrimp. (The size you chose will determine cooking time. Medium shrimp will cook in 3 – 5 minutes). Just let them bubble in the butter on medium high. Turn them a couple of times so they get cooked through. When they are no longer opaque you can add your wine, spices and the peppers: black, cayenne, green and red. Let bubble for a few minutes so the sauce gets hot and the peppers loosen up a bit.
While this sauce is cooking you can work on your zucchini noodles, too. If you are not confident with doing both at the same time, just cook the shrimp and then turn them off and let them sit while you do the zucchini.
In a medium saute pan heat the olive oil and add the zucchini noodles. Just stir to heat them on medium high and cook them a bit. They won’t take more than a minute or two. Don’t overcook or they will fall apart. Even if they do, don’t fret. You’re burying them in sauce and shrimp anyway.
When the noodles are hot you can serve.
My option was to put the noodles in the bottom of an entrée bowl or on a plate for each person. Spoon the shrimp mixture over the noodles. Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese, the panko bread crumbs and the fresh parsley, and serve.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Fried Eggplant with Tomato Sauce
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
As a Z3 dish be careful not to overdo your bread/crunch during the day. This is definitely your crunch factor in your dinner.
Serves: 4-6, depending on if you use your portion as an entree or side dish
Ingredients:
- 4 Tbl of peanut oil. Peanut oil has what is called a higher flashpoint so it doesn't smoke when you use it to fry foods. It also tastes great.
- 1 large eggplant or 2 medium eggplant, sliced about 1/4-1/2" thick. You can peel it if you want but it's not necessary.
- 3 eggs beaten
- 1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 cup of grated or shredded parmesan
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
- Basil to shred (for garnish)
- 1 small jar of spaghetti sauce (find one with no sugar)
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a shallow bowl combine your bread crumbs, Parmesan, and garlic powder. Mix.
In another shallow bowl place your eggs. you are setting up a dipping station.
Heat your oi in a large saute pan. Dip the eggplant pieces into the egg mix and then into the bread crumb mix. Do them one at a time and then transfer them to the hot oil in the pan. you'll get them all in if the pan is large enough or do them in batches. Fry the one side to your crispy liking and then carefully turn it over with a spatula to fry the other side. Season with grated sea salt an pepper to your taste as you go.
As they are done you can set the eggplant on a cookie sheet that you're keeping warm in the oven. If there is going to be no delay in serving they will stay warm for a bit on a serving platter if you loosely drape them with aluminum foil. Don't seal the eggplant or the steam will release and make your dish soggy.
While you are frying the eggplant, all you need to do is heat spaghetti sauce in a sauce pan.
To plate:
Put a pool of spaghetti sauce on the plate. Cover with hot eggplant. Then sprinkle on mozzarella and basil strings and you're set to serve.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Turkey Fricassee
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
I found an inspirational recipe, online, submitted by a woman whose grandmother was from France. My goal was to come up with a new recipe for leftover turkey and doing something French sounded super yummy. I love to take the leftover turkey and transform it into something different. French comfort food. BIG YUM.
Servings: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbl of gravy flour. I use gravy flour because it’s smoother and thickens faster with using less.
- ¼ cup of butter
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- 1 Tbl of dried parsley
- 4 egg yolks, if you are worried about undercooked eggs, buy pasteurized eggs
- ¼ cup of lemon juice
- 4 cups of leftover turkey
- Grated sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
In a medium saute pan add the butter and melt. Then add the flour and stir in to make a paste. Add the cream and broth. Bring to a low boil while you stir with a whisk. Not long after this sauce begins to bubble you’ll see it begin to thicken. Once it’s thickened add the dried parsley and turn off the burner.
In a bowl put in the egg yolks and the lemon juice. Stir with a whisk or a fork to combine. You are now going to slowly add this to the sauce. Turn the sauce back on, but be sure to keep it low enough so it doesn’t begin to boil. If you put egg yolks into a boiling sauce you’ll get scrambled eggs as a result and what you want instead is a smooth, decadent sauce. Add the turkey. Season with grated sea salt and pepper to taste. Warm the sauce long enough to heat up the turkey and that will take care of any worries you might have about putting eggs in a sauce. The French don’t worry about it, and I’ve never had an issue. Just being extra careful.
Serving suggestions:
If you made mashed or smashed potatoes for your Thanksgiving, this is perfect served over the top. If you want to keep it lower carb you can serve it with a nice helping of roasted broccoli and you can also consider putting a handful of baby spinach under the turkey fricassee. The heat of the turkey mixture will wilt the spinach and you’ll have a lovely low-carb, comfort food entrée.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Gunk Gone
I love learning new things in the kitchen.
I have been cooking since I was six years old, so I have over a half-century of culinary learning under my belt (wow, that makes me feel old).
Most of the time I’m inventing new recipes, so I learn things about the ingredients and the processes related to cooking all the time. I find new ways to do things with similar ingredients. One day I’ll cook a French chicken dish and the next I’ll do a Cajun one. Or one day I’ll use a roasting application that I’ve never done before and then I might switch it up and poach something. I’ve been learning a lot in the last few years about low carb baking. That’s a whole different animal. It’s like going back to Home Ec again.
But there’s one thing I’ve never learned. And that’s how to get that gunk off of cookie sheets. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that brown-to-black gooey film that forms on cookie sheets. We know where it comes from. It’s that cooking spray. It’s usually fairly easy to scrub it off of the middle of the sheets where the cookies laid. But it’s the corners that get all gross. You can scrub and scrub. You can use steel wool or any new-fangled scrubbie pad, but it just doesn’t want to come off. I suppose if I had all day, the steel wool would eventually work but I also get frustrated when my cookie sheets get all scratched in the process.
So in steps Heloise. I’ve read her household hint column “Ask Heloise” for years. I read her mother’s column before her and maybe even her grandmother’s version. The name Heloise has been synonymous with household hints for more decades than I’ve been cooking in my kitchen. I’d just never seen a write-up on how Heloise suggests you clean that insidious gunk off of a cookie sheet...until now.
So here she comes to the rescue of those of us who no longer want to get so frustrated with that filth that we resort of tossing out our cookie sheets only to buy new ones and start the build-up process all over again.
And it’s easy.
Place paper towels across the surface of the offended cookie sheet. Mix 1 tsp. of ammonia with one cup of water. Pour that over the paper towels so it soaks in. Cover the cookie sheets with aluminum foil or plastic so the water doesn’t evaporate. Set the soaking cookie sheets aside, away from pets and children. Come back the next day and remove the layer of paper towels and scrub the gunk away with relative ease. A little brushing with soap and water, and voila. A clean cookie sheet.
So as you go into the baking season you’ve got another tool in your arsenal of cooking prowess and clean up. Here’s a low carb cookie recipe, too. My husband’s childhood favorite.
Snickerdoodles.
Low carb snickerdoodles.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Waldorf Salad
This is a Z3 (ZReboot) and Happy Healthy Holidays recipe.
This will make a great side dish at your table; even your holiday table. And think of this as a way to use up leftover turkey. Make the salad. Add cut up leftover turkey and serve it over a bed of lettuce as an entrée offering. BIG YUM!
This version of Waldorf salad is fairly low carb. I accomplished this by changing up the normal proportions. You’ll notice it does have grapes and raisins, but fewer of them. Still gets the same raves. I like mine seasoned with sea salt and pepper, too.
Servings: Serves 10-12 as a side
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of cored, chopped apple. (2 large) (I used Granny Smith and Pink Lady. I also like to use Honeycrisp anytime I can get them. You can use your favorite apples). Don’t bother peeling your apples. This will give you more fiber and make for a more colorful salad. Be sure to wash your apples.
- 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
- 2 tsp of lemon juice
- 2 cups of diced celery
- About 10 grapes washed and quartered. This way it seems like you are using more than you are.
- 1 cup of chopped walnuts. You can get walnuts already chopped but I like mine in bigger chunks so I use whole and chop them myself.
- 1/4 cup of raisins
- 2 cups of chopped lettuce. You can use iceberg for crunch but it has no nutritional value. I went up a level and used butter lettuce.
Instructions:
In a bowl, mix your mayo and lemon juice. Then add the rest. Stir. This can be stored in the refrigerator before serving. Best served within 4 hours. Leftovers will still be good for a few days but might be a bit soggier.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Vanilla Cupcakes
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot) recipe.
Gluten free. Sugar free. And still a cupcake! You too can have dessert and not suffer the consequences. These are so healthy you could have one for breakfast!
Ingredients:
- 7 eggs, lightly beaten (put them in the bowl and run the mixer on medium for about 15 seconds)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, coconut milk or the combo of coconut and almond
- 1 cup of coconut flour
- ½ cup of Swerve or ZSweet (look for it in stores or order online)
- 1 Tbl of baking powder
- ½ tsp of grated sea salt
- ½ cup of butter, melted (let it cool down for a bit before you pour it in your bowl)
- ½ tsp of liquid stevia extract or to taste. If you are baking for the sweet crowd you might want to put in a bit more but a little goes a long way!
Instructions:
In your bowl you have mixed up the eggs to get them lightly beaten. Now add the rest of the ingredients and blend for 2 minutes. Stop it half way through to make sure you’ve scraped down the sides and don’t have batter stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
Get out your cupcake liners. You can make full-sized cupcakes or mini ones. I love the mini cuz people love to have two and their dessert is still smaller than a full-sized cupcake. Guilt-free.
Pour the batter 2/3rds of the way up. The cupcakes will rise some but not really high. Bake at 350 degrees. Mini cupcakes will be done at 10-12 minutes. Large cupcakes will bake 18-22 minutes. Check with a toothpick to make sure no batter is sticking.
Let cool and frost. I recommend the fluffy whipped cream frosting. BIG YUM.
Eat the day you make them, or store them in the refrigerator. Because of the butter content in the batter you might want to take them out of the refrigerator 15 – 30 minutes before you eat one. This allows them to soften up. They are a good treat right out of the fridge too.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe. We are so happy that Dieter Jessica came up with this cabbage recipe because this crunchy leafy vegetable is not one of Zola's favorites! Jessica made this meal on one of her first days of ZReduction. It was so delicious she wanted to share it with everyone. Enjoy!
Servings: Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 2lbs ground beef
- 1 large onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 small cabbage
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
- ½ cup water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Heat a pan on high. Add the beef and onion together, cooking the beef until it is no longer pink. Once the meat starts to brown add the garlic and cook for 1 additional minute. Lastly, add the remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer the cabbage mixture for 20-30 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.
Serve in a bowl. You can eat it just like a soup for a warm and hearty meal.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Burger and Egg
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe.
It’s all the rage in the big city. Have a runny egg on top of your burger. Well, you can do that in ZReduction too! I just ate mine and I’m stuffed!
Servings: Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 1, 4 oz burger patty
- 1 large egg
Other things to inspire you --on the side
- Tomato slices
- Raw or sautéed onion
- A salad
- 1 cup of veggies
- Salsa on top of your burger
- Iceberg lettuce under your burger
- Sautéed peppers on top
- A smear of prepared horseradish on your burger…
- 1 tsp of a condiment like mustard or ketchup; even bbq sauce and more…
Instructions:
Take a large saute pan and spray one side with olive oil. Put in your burger patty. Cook the one side til it has a nice sear. Maybe 3 minutes. Turn it over. Season as you like with sea salt and pepper. When the second side is almost done (maybe 2 minutes more for medium) spray the other side of the pan and crack in your egg. I cooked mine sunny-side up but you can turn it if you like or even cook the yolk through. Your choice. Season your egg and decide what you’d like on the side. Just follow the regular diet guidelines.
Quick lunch. Totally modern concept.
Enjoy!
Cheers,