Diet Advice Gone Wrong
When I was a young teen in the early ’70s, I can remember coming to breakfast one morning and my father was sitting at the end of the table crabbing about his breakfast.
My father had eaten the same thing for breakfast for decades. Two poached eggs, 2 pieces of toast slathered with butter, and on many occasions, a couple of pieces of bacon.
Now he sat there staring at a bowl of cereal.
I guess he must have had a physical. His doctor told him to quit eating eggs and suggested that he have cereal instead. So my father was staring down at a bowl of Cornflakes. He was not excited.
My father never had a weight problem. Maybe his cholesterol was rising. That would explain the doctor of the day telling him to quit eating eggs. It was all over the news: Eating fat causes cholesterol to rise. So stop eating fat. Stop eating eggs.
If you are anywhere near my age, you are going to find this video link very interesting. It’s a retrospective done by the NY Times on what was happening in the medical field as it relates to food, and how the advice we were given was very, very wrong. And if you’re younger, this is a great history lesson and a warning that sometimes the experts don’t really know with any confidence what is actually the best advice.
My father was never a big dessert guy. He only ate dessert on holidays, and even then he probably didn’t finish his. Interesting thing is, as the years of eating cereal for breakfast passed, my father’s interest in sugar increased. He was now hooked on carbohydrates. His cereal of choice became Frosted Flakes. And even later, I was witness on more than one occasion when he sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar on top of his Frosted Flakes.
That’s when he gained weight. And became a borderline diabetic.
So much for the advice he got.
The Sweet Smell of Garlic
The first time I tasted roasted, whole garlic was in a restaurant called Bistro 110. This was about 1983. My best friend had ordered it for us to share.
I sat stunned, staring at it when it arrived at the table.
The waiter set down a plate that had a whole bulb of garlic on it. The top was cut off and there was olive oil drizzled over it. Bread pieces came with it. The smell was divine, but it looked like a sloppy mess to eat and I didn’t have a clue where to start.
My friend Michele realized, that even as a foodie, I had no clue what to do.
“You just eat it like this,” she said as she demonstrated taking her fork and using a prong to pull out one clove of the warm, soft garlic and spread it across a piece of French bread.
I caught on, but I still wrinkled up my nose.
My only experience with garlic was in things like lasagna. I knew how pungent garlic could be if you used too much. I made that mistake once.
I had visions of putting a bite of that in my mouth and getting a fiery garlic flavor that would be overwhelming. Almost hot even.
I bucked up and dug in because Michele was way ahead of me already and she wasn’t even reaching for her water glass, so I thought it must be okay.
My first bite was quite a surprise. The squishy garlic was no longer pungent. It had taken on a smooth texture and aroma. Almost sweet. I didn’t even feel like I was going to get bad breath from it. It had a whole new flavor profile after being roasted in oil.
I’ve been a fan ever since.
With this offering, I’m going to relate an assortment of things I have learned about garlic over the years.
Elephant Garlic: This is easy and says it all in the name. In your store, you’ll usually find two kinds of garlic. The regular size and then near it you might find elephant garlic. Elephant garlic is much bigger. It’s also milder (even raw) than regular garlic. If I am going to caramelize garlic I usually buy elephant garlic (more on caramelizing it later).
Scapes: Scapes are the blossoms that form above ground when you grow garlic. You might find those in fancy, gourmet stores. They taste more like scallions and fancy restaurants will use them to garnish soups and salads. They are really pretty. When grown longer they can even be put on display in a vase.
When to use fresh garlic: My purist friends will say it’s important to use fresh garlic at all times. I just don’t have time to peel fresh garlic every time and anytime I do it makes my fingernails smell like garlic for a few days. I’m not giving up on my manicures so sometimes I don’t peel garlic. Last night I got my husband to do it. If the dish you are going to cook involves really bright, fresh ingredients, use fresh garlic for sure. You’ll notice the difference.
When to use jar garlic: In grocery stores, you’ll find minced garlic and chopped garlic in jars. I use that pretty often. You choose your preference based on whether you want to see chunks or if you want it to blend into the sauce smoothly. If I am making something heavier like a lasagna I see no reason not to use garlic from a jar. One teaspoon of jar garlic will mimic one large clove.
When to use powdered garlic: My opinion on this has changed. I used to save powdered garlic only for things like quick garlic bread. Then I watched my friend James cook. James is a chef. He lived in Italy for 12 years and specializes in Italian cooking at his restaurant, Pisolino in Chicago. James gets out his big jar of powdered garlic and pours it into just about anything on his stove. I was shocked. I thought he’d fall into the purist category. Nope. So now I’ve taken up using powdered garlic in things like soups. It’s so easy.
Roasted Garlic: I’m going to give you the recipe for roasted garlic but I will also describe it here, too. It’s that simple. Just cut off the fuzzy top of the garlic down far enough that you’ll be able to see the cut side of most of the cloves nestled in the wrapper. I cut down about an inch from the top. Use a sharp knife or if you slip you might slice yourself.
Get out a square of aluminum foil and place the garlic flatter side down on the foil. Drizzle 1 or 2 Tbl of extra virgin olive oil over the top and wrap the garlic in the foil like a pouch. I place it in another dish in case any oil oozes out. I don’t want that on the bottom of my oven, burning.
Then roast the garlic for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. And voila. You can check to make sure it’s done by poking it with a sharp paring knife. If the knife slides in easily the garlic will be soft to eat. It’s ready. Let it cool a bit so you don’t burn your mouth. If you want to keep the carbs down, serve it with seed crackers instead of bread.
Caramelized Garlic: When I caramelize garlic I try to use elephant garlic. All I do is peel it and cut the large cloves into one-inch chunks. I put it in a small oven-proof pan and drizzle a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil over the top and roast that in my oven, uncovered, for about 30 – 40 minutes. With this one, I am leaving it in there until it begins to brown on the edges. That makes it even milder. You can serve this just like you do with the regular garlic or if I am going decadent I might pop the whole amount into a large batch of mashed potatoes. The caramelized garlic will break up and spread throughout the potatoes. The olive oil is the substitute for butter and all you need is salt and if you like it, pepper. I have served this to rave reviews at big dinner parties. Caramelized garlic is so smooth in taste it almost adds a sweetness to the dish. Your garlic-loving friends and family will love it.
Garlic is also easy to grow in your garden. I’ve never done it. I don’t go through that much garlic but if you do, you should consider growing it yourself. Here’s a link about it that I found quite interesting and really easy to follow.
https://happydiyhome.com/growing-garlic/
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Roasted Garlic
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) Recipe.
This is a super-easy way to roast garlic. Once roasted, garlic no longer tastes hot and pungent. It mellows as it roasts and can even be made into a spread. You could also add some of this roasted garlic to a batch of cooked green beans or asparagus for a nice flavor combo.
Ingredients:
- 1 bulb of regular garlic
- 1 – 2 Tbl of olive oil
Directions:
Just cut off the fuzzy top of the garlic down far enough that you’ll be able to see the cut side of most of the cloves nestled in the wrapper. I cut down about an inch from the top. Use a sharp knife or if you slip you might slice yourself.
Get out a square of aluminum foil and place the garlic flat side down on the foil. Drizzle 1 or 2 Tbl of extra virgin olive oil over the cut top and wrap the garlic in the foil like a pouch. I place it in another dish in case any oil oozes out. You don’t want that on the bottom of your oven, burning.
Then roast the garlic for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. And voila. You can check to make sure it’s done by poking it with a sharp paring knife. If it slides easily the garlic will be soft to eat. It’s ready. Open the foil. You can take it out of the foil or leave it in. Your choice. Let it cool a bit so you don’t burn your mouth. Serve it with seed crackers to keep it very low carb. If it’s a splurge occasion you can serve this with small slices of French bread.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Enjoy the Super Bowl Without Gaining Weight
One of my favorite Super Bowl parties was one I called, "The Chili Championship."
Here’s how it works:
You set up a chili buffet with all the fixins. This works really well because people can get up from the TV viewing area and do self-service on the chili. At my previous Super Bowl parties, I served appetizers during the first half of the game and then served an entrée during half-time, with dessert at the end. That had me in a time crunch during the game. I didn’t get to watch football and I missed the Super Bowl commercials. With a chili buffet, I have a lot less work to do. Plus, everyone loves chili.
Chili tastes better the day after you make it, so you can prepare it ahead of time and reheat on game day. When you set up the buffet, the chili can be kept warm in crock pots, on the stove on a low simmer, or even in pans kept on warm in the oven. They’ll all work. Now, for the real bonus: Get others to bring chili.
Remember, if you are following CDC guidelines your party will max out at 10 people. So two or three chili options is plenty!
Choose a couple of friends or family members and have each one make a batch of chili. A batch that serves 10 is enough because people will sample more than one kind during the game. You might even have leftovers you can freeze or have folks take home. You can assign chili types so your guests don’t all show up with the same kind, or you can leave it to chance and let them bring whatever they want.
Think about it — there are SO many different kinds of chili. The chili base can be made from beef brisket or ground beef. Pork chili is popular in the south. Chicken chili is popular at my house. There are ‘white’ chilies made with chicken broth and cream. Many folks add beans to their chili. Some add macaroni, and others add corn. I don’t add these things anymore because they give the chili higher carbohydrate counts, but if someone brought it to a party, I’d have a bite or two. There are veggie chilies and of course, there are more levels of heat than you can count! That being said, not all chili has to be spicy. My favorite chili is really mild and tastes like comfort food.
I have a collection of small, pretty bowls that only hold about a cup. These are great for chili sampling. If you don’t have pottery bowls you can go to the party store and pick up some paper bowls. They have small and large ones that work perfectly. You can then recycle them and have less clean up. Super Bowl parties don’t have to be fancy affairs. On the side, have bowls of chopped white, yellow, or green onions, chopped tomato, sour cream, jalapenos, grated cheeses, Fritos, minced cilantro…you get the idea. You can even have bacon bits for those who think everything is better with bacon. Garnishes make the chili a custom affair for each individual.
Another fun thing is to have an assortment of hot sauces. My husband has a really funny story of the first time he tried Scorned Woman Hot Sauce. He hiccuped for about 30 minutes after he dipped into that one; it fried his taste buds. Not really so funny but when he tells the story, it is. He boasts about how he loves hot sauce and spicy food, but he’s never eaten that particular hot sauce a second time.
Of course, you can always have your guests vote for their favorite chili. You can give out prizes or have a grand prize ribbon. Let your chili imagination have as much fun as your guests. To get started with your Chili Championship inspirations I’m giving you two chili recipes. The poblano chili is very popular with Plan Z Dieters. This chili is flavorful, but not spicy. On the other hand, the Caribbean Chicken Chili is a SPICY one. You can adjust the recipe for a milder palate if you need to. That’s a Plan Z chili, too.
Beefy Chili with Roasted Poblano
Caribbean Chicken Chili
Who says a diet has to taste bad?
Enjoy the game. Enjoy the commercials.
Cheers,
How Fast Can You Lose Weight and Stay Healthy?
The question is: How fast can you lose weight and stay healthy?
I’m not sure anyone knows the answer for sure. In my experience with dieting, I’ve heard everything.
Those who say you can only lose 1 – 2 pounds a week and diet safely are using methodologies that generally can only produce 1 – 2 pounds of weight loss per week. That doesn’t mean that’s the only healthy pace at which you can lose weight.
Years ago I worked on two occasions with diet doctors that I often refer to as diet gurus. These gentlemen were MDs and tops in their field. They put me on extreme diets that were designed to help me lose weight quickly and safely. They put me on those diets with the goal of hitting a number on the scale. There was no regard for keeping my losing efforts down to a slow pace like 1 – 2 pounds a week.
One of these diets I did in the late ’80s. It was the same liquid diet that Oprah did. We happened to be on it at the same time. She lost 67 pounds. Remember the famous wagon of fat she brought on stage? On the same diet, I lost 52 pounds. I was on that diet for almost three months. The methodology for that diet was almost totally liquid. I drank shakes that came in a powdered form and I added water. I ate half of a banana or a handful of raspberries once a day. And I took fiber 3 times a day. That was it. No other food. Only water to drink.
I visited the doctor each week and they weighed me and took my blood pressure. Once every month they gave me a blood test. I stayed healthy (according to them) the whole time and the weight just poured off. Many would say that was crazy. I spent about $5000 on that effort.
When the diet was over I went back to counting calories and eating what I thought was a healthy diet. I, of course, gained it all back and more.
On the other diet, I took two drugs and cut my portions. I followed a food list they gave me and stuck to it like glue. I checked in at the clinic each week. The doctors there decided my metabolism was shot. They could not figure out why I only ate 700 calories a day and had such a horrible time losing weight. I took those drugs for 18 months and lost a total of 13 pounds. They decided I was one of their failures. Two years later they came looking for me to do tests on my heart because one of the drugs was causing heart failure in some patients. That was scary. These guys were the top in their field and still didn’t have a perfect answer.
In both of these cases, I was “cut loose” after the diet. No education beyond calories in/calories out and, of course, exercise. We all know that. It’s just that it’s not a correct answer either.
In case number one I learned that extreme liquid dieting isn’t a long-term answer. In case number two, I learned that cutting calories down to starvation level isn’t an answer either. During both diets, I exercised with a trainer so that wasn’t the secret.
Today I want to introduce you to one of Plan Z’s dieting success stories. This guy’s real name is Josh but everyone calls him Biggie.
Biggie has dieted with Plan Z on and off for a few years. He’s lost over 276 pounds and the interesting thing is he’s lost the weight in almost exactly 275 days of dieting. He goes into reduction mode for 50 days at a time. Then, in-between, he applies the knowledge we taught him on how to maintain his weight. He goes into the maintenance phase of the diet for six weeks or longer and then decides when he wants to go back into losing mode.
Biggie’s not finished losing weight. He started with us at over 500 pounds. He’s made super progress and he’s proud. We are proud of him, too.
Biggie was facing bariatric surgery. His doctors had told him that he was actually too big for the surgery. He had to lose over 100 pounds before he could even qualify for the surgery. He was only 25 years old and was facing an early death if he didn’t find a solution. That’s when we met him. No other diet he ever tried worked for him but he was going to give it one last try. He tried Plan Z.
Now Biggie won’t be getting bariatric surgery. He’s found a way to lose weight and keep it off so he can keep losing and continuing to get healthier. He can ride roller coasters now. He can walk long distances without having to stop and rest. He eats things he loves and gets all the satisfaction he needs from his food. His blood pressure is normal now. He sleeps like a baby. His doctor is amazed.
So Biggie loses weight at a pace of about a pound a day. Some days less, some days more. This has proven to be a safe pace for him. Most of our dieters aren’t as big as Biggie. The average Plan Z dieter loses 31 pounds in 50 days.
If you want to read more about Biggie and hear it from his perspective click here. My hope is that if you or someone you know has a weight issue, they can be inspired by Biggie’s story. Biggie inspires me, for sure.
Cheeseburger Casserole
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe
Servings: serves 4-6. Can easily be doubled and baked in a 9 " x 13 ” pan.
I found this recipe online. I didn’t have to do much to make it Zola. It tastes very much like a cheeseburger. The way to make it exciting though is to make sure you pile on the toppings that you like on your burger. You can feed the whole family with this and no one will miss the bun.
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of ground beef
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1 tsp of onion powder
- 6 pieces of bacon cooked and chopped (optional. If you are in a hurry you can skip this step)
- 4 eggs
- 3 oz of tomato paste
- ½ cup of heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste.
- 8 oz of grated cheddar
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the ground beef with the garlic and onion powders.
Scatter on the bacon bits if you are using them. Layer on the other half of the cooked beef. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, tomato paste, cream, salt, and pepper until well combined. Stir half of the cheese into the mixture.
Pour this egg mixture over the beef mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until it begins to brown on top. Let sit ten minutes before you cut into it so it can firm up and keep you from burning your mouth.
Ideas for on top or on the side:
- raw onion rings
- oven baked shallot rings
- chopped tomato
- pickles
- jalapeno slices
- sautéed mushrooms
- maybe some coleslaw on top or on the side
- a squirt of mustard or ketchup
You get the idea. Just dress it up like a burger to make it more exciting and individualized. This way the conservative can go plain and the creative can go wild.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
A CDC Thanksgiving
My husband and I have decided we will be following CDC guidelines for our Thanksgiving this year. I’m hoping this will be the only year we have to do this, but we can make the sacrifice. Another year will come.
I have gotten creative. I hope you like some of my ideas. It might be too late to use them this Thanksgiving, but the December holidays are right around the corner, and New Year’s festivities are right after that.
I saw a short list of celebration guidelines early last week that gave 4 bullet points to follow. If you go to the CDC site right now you get ALL KINDS of detailed advice. It’s clear people are looking for guidance and the CDC is trying to get as creative as possible. I’m just going to comment on the short list.
CDC Guideline #1: Only celebrate with those you live with on a daily basis. If you feel you can’t keep it to that number, max it out at 10.
A lot of people are taking this recommendation to heart. Statistics show that 47% of people have decided not to travel for Thanksgiving. That's what we're doing. Our household is two adults and two cats. It will just be the two of us for dinner this year. That got me thinking, if I made the usual dinner with a turkey and several sides, along with a couple of desserts, we’d be drowning in food! We’d never be able to eat it all and the leftovers would have to be frozen or given to others.
I came up with my first idea and began implementing it last week. I decided we’d sort of enjoy our meal in “courses” served over several days. Each dish would be served as part of a weeknight or weekend meal and we’d savor the flavors of each dish as that day came along. The dishes would not all be served with turkey, some with chicken, beef, or even other entrees. It’s different, but so far it’s working.
Last week I served the sweet potatoes with the butter pecan crust. I gave you that recipe but here it is again. It tasted just like Thanksgiving. It just came two weeks before the big day. I served it with a simple roasted chicken. We each got a big helping and there were enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Divine.
This weekend my husband said he had a hankering for dressing/stuffing. I made one from his childhood memories. He enjoyed it with gravy (me, not so much.) But I checked dressing off the list. You can see, I’m just working my way around the plate. Tonight, we will be enjoying two items. One is an appetizer I might serve at Thanksgiving. It’s leek rings. All you do is make onion rings but use leeks instead. Sort of a gourmet onion ring. I’d normally serve them while folks are watching football. Then with our steak, we will be having creamed Yukon Gold Fingerlings. Super simple. Just boil up small potatoes (skin on), drain, and put back in the pan. Add some butter and get out your masher or a fork. These are purposely lumpy mashed potatoes. Sometimes I add a bit of cream while I mash them up. My husband insists on mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. Yet, this week I’ll likely make two desserts. I have plans for a lower carb chocolate cheesecake and I’ll pick up a pumpkin pie from a good bakery. I want to support them during these tough times.
So, we spread all of the items that would be on the buffet over a three week period. Hassle-free cooking and all the special flavors just spread out.
CDC Guideline #2: Have one person assigned to cook the food. That person should be wearing a mask at all times.
Well, that’s easy. I don’t know exactly what I will cook on the day, but I know a small turkey breast will be included. I’ll probably make it Cajun and serve it with lemon pepper cream gravy. I might break out the peas. I save peas for special occasions. I know my husband will want more mashed potatoes and I’ll still have cheesecake and/or pumpkin pie around. That’s plenty of food for two adults.
CDC Guideline #3: Have one person serve the food. That person should be wearing a mask too.
We won’t have an issue with this guideline either, but I love this idea. Instead of passing platters of food, it can all be set up in one area. One person wears a mask and handles all the utensils used to serve the food. People can keep their distance while waiting to get their food and then spread out to eat it. This might be one of those days when you eat with your plate on your lap instead of all sitting close at a table.
CDC Guideline #4: Use paper plates and utensils and just toss them when dinner is complete.
I hate this idea. We won’t have to do it for just the two of us, but I can see the logic the CDC is trying to get across. You won’t need to have a bunch of people in the kitchen trying to clean up. They won’t have to handle plates that have been held by other folks. The transmission rate is MUCH less likely if they can all just toss out their plate and utensils when they are done. I’d splurge and get the thicker plates or the ones that are like little cafeteria trays. At least they are sturdier. When I was a kid and graduated from drinking out of a plastic cup and was allowed to hold a real glass, I never wanted to look back. I even hate drinking out of plastic at sporting events. That’s just me.
This will be a Thanksgiving that will go down in the history books for folks all over the country. Do your duty to protect those you love and even those you haven’t met yet. It’s just one day… during one very crazy year. Keep in mind that when this all clears up you could do it again. If I can spread our fancy meal over three weeks, you might consider finding a day in the summer where you make a repeat of your usual Thanksgiving and serve it outside as a picnic. Maybe you grill your turkey. That’s the ticket!
Cheers and Thanksgiving blessings to you all,
Tea Breads
In my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook (written in the 1950s) they were generally categorized as Quick Breads and then further categorized as Tea Breads. I still have that cookbook. You can buy a First Edition online for $147. Mine is not a first edition but it’s special to me and I have saved it for decades.
I was raised on banana nut bread. There were always what I called “dead bananas” in the fruit bowl. My mom or I would whip up a batch of banana bread and in just over an hour we’d have a loaf that could feed all seven kids a nice slice as a treat or as a quick breakfast. We’d spread cold butter on top and let out yelps as we dug in.
When I was older and on my own, that banana bread fed me on more occasions than I care to admit. While I ran our training company, my husband was on the road a LOT. He traveled from city to city conducting seminars. When I was bored in the evenings, I might whip up a loaf of banana bread while I watched the news or a sitcom. At least I felt I was being productive. My favorite part was taking that bread to the office the next morning and knowing our employees would feast on it.
Mark, our top salesperson, got into the act, too. Turned out, he liked making banana bread. He started to bring his in and we formulated an informal contest of sorts. We’d see who could make the craziest banana bread. The whole premise was to change up the ingredients. When I was a kid you had plain banana bread, or you had banana nut bread. And not just any nuts. NOOOO. They had to be walnuts chopped just right, not too small, and not too big. Mark and I went nuts alright. We put in all kinds of nuts. Pecans, macadamia. Nothing was off-limits. Sometimes there were no nuts. Chocolate chips stepped in (My husband loved that.). He’d put a nice, thick slice in the toaster oven on weekends and crisp it up. Then he’d slather butter and then peanut butter on top and make his way through his banana bread with a cup of coffee. He had to eat that with a fork! Mark and I tried other seasonings too. Banana cinnamon is nice. You name it, we tried it. No one kept a voting schedule. Mark and I were friendly competitors.
Tea breads don’t have to be just banana though. In just that one Betty Crocker cookbook there are recipes for all kinds of tea breads. And lots of nut versions (all walnut, of course). Imagine things like apricot nut bread, date nut bread, orange nut bread, prune nut bread, cranberry cheese bread, and even pumpkin bread.
Pumpkin Bread brings me to today. Everyone loves (it seems) the taste of pumpkin. Even Starbucks releases their pumpkin-flavored coffees a little earlier each year. It’s sort of like when Costco has Christmas toys on display in September!
I am offering a lower-carb pumpkin bread today that can also be made as a sweet potato bread version. Why not!? If you can make sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, why not a tea bread made with sweet potato puree? Pumpkin’s cousin.
Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Bread
Now that I’ve been perfecting lower-carb tea breads I don’t feel so guilty having a slice. Besides, they are small.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
The Vegetable That Tastes Like Candy
Talk about a maligned and shunned vegetable! I’ve been walking by this golden beauty in my grocery store for decades. I thought they just looked like massively large peanuts.
We ate acorn squash in my family. We didn’t venture past the big green acorn to try out other options. I’ve totally missed the flavor and health benefits of this beautiful vegetable for way too long. Now I’m a huge fan.
Butternut Squash. Let’s start with a little history lesson:
Butternut squash is a winter squash. Zucchini and yellow zucchini would be summer varieties. The ones with the harder shells on them are winter squashes. They are easy to recognize in the produce department.
All squashes have their ancestry in North America. Over 10,000 years ago the Indians were planting squash. They were part of what they called the “Three Sisters” – maize (corn), beans, and then squash. The Native Americans prized their squash because it had such a nice shelf-life and would travel well if necessary.
The benefits of butternut squash go way beyond a nice hard shell. The innards are full of health benefits, too. The flesh is full of vitamins A and C. The seeds are packed with protein and heart-healthy fats. So don’t just roast pumpkin seeds this year. Save some of the ones from the butternut squash! The seeds are smaller and more tender than the cousin from the pumpkin.
Butternut squash is an amazingly healthy vegetable. It’s got antioxidants in it.
Antioxidants help prevent cancer. It’s got properties in it that will help prevent arthritis and can reduce your chances of lung cancer. It’s also good for your eyes because it has lutein in it. Imagine your squash can help you keep from developing cataracts and age-related macular degeneration which can lead to blindness. All that from a vegetable. The power is packed in that huge peanut-shaped wonder with the flesh-colored skin.
This squash will even help with constipation or other digestive problems. It’s chock-full of fiber and has 30% fewer carbs than potatoes. I’m going to try to convince you to serve this at your holiday table this year instead of potatoes. Butternut squash is versatile, too. You can roast it; which is my favorite because that’s what brings out the sweetness. You can puree it, put it in soups and stews, you can bake it, or even boil it.
Prepping a butternut squash can be a bit intimidating. That might be part of why I didn’t try one sooner. I know from experience how hard an acorn squash can be to cut. The butternut looks like it would be hard as a rock. But don’t let that deter you. With a bit of care and practice and you’ll be an ace at it.
The first thing you need is a sharp knife. My Dad would tell you that in order to cook ANYTHING the first thing you need is a sharp knife. He’d contend that a sharp knife is a lot safer than a dull one. Chefs would agree. When I worked in restaurants as a young foodie, I noticed the knife sharpening company came every Sunday night. They took the knives away and left us with a whole set of super-sharp ones. The knives never went more than a week without being sharpened. Keep that in mind when you think of your home knives. I take mine at least once a quarter to be professionally sharpened. I can tell when they need it. Just try cutting a tomato. If the knife doesn’t slide right through…you are in need of sharpening.
But I digress.
Here’s how I prep a butternut squash for roasting. I take my knife and cut off each end. About an inch of clearance will do it. Hold firmly with one hand and slide the knife down through the squash. If the knife gets stuck I carefully raise the squash with the knife hooked to it and tap the squash with a knife inserted onto my cutting board. That extra force gets the knife to go through. Keep your other hand out of the way. Or use it to hold the other end of the squash. Then I peel it. I just use a vegetable peeler. Be sure to throw the peels in the compost or garbage. Garbage disposals don’t like those peels. I promise you that.
Then I cut the squash in half across to make two smaller chunks. Now I have flat sides so things get easier. Lift the one piece up on its side and cut through. If there are seeds, scrape them and the stringy parts out. If I am roasting cubes I just cut the rest into rings and I can easily cut into cubes.
If I am making fries I just cut long pieces. And If I am making the gratin I am looking for slices that are a bit bigger. They might not be shaped exactly like potato slices, but no matter.
You are ready to roast.
Cheers,
My Favorite Time
My Favorite Time
Fall is my favorite season of the year. Hands down. Nothing can beat it. Nothing even comes close. I am loving this year’s fall – immensely.
What do I love about fall?
First off, I love the temperature. I don’t like 80-85 degrees of hot, sunny and humid. I like 65-70 degrees with clear and crisp skies. I tell people it’s because of my heritage. I have an Irish heritage. I’ll never forget driving around a curve in Ireland and seeing the beach as we came around. It was June. The kids were playing on the beach but they had long pants on with rolled up cuffs. They had long sleeves on their shirts. This protection kept them from getting sunburned. It was plenty warm, but they chose to keep their clothes on. I get fried in the sun. I don’t even get much of a tan, so it’s just not worth the risk. I am waiting for white and pasty to become fashionable again; just like it was in 1900. I hope this trend catches up to us soon.
I’m a fan of green and lush but I am a bigger fan of leaves changing color; even if it means they must fall from the trees. I go out for drives just to look at the bright vistas. The upper, central part of the US is a perfect place to see autumn colors. You don’t have to go to New England. We have it all right here.
I love the smell of the woods when the leaves are falling. I go on trails just to kick my way through the leaves. I don’t have to rake them. I can just enjoy the crunchy feeling under my feet. This is the perfect time for me to go in the woods too. For the most part, the biting bugs are gone. I am allergic to bug bites so summer bugs are more than just a nuisance to me. They are dangerous. If I get bitten, I get all inflamed and puffy. Sometimes I even run a low temperature. I’m overly itchy and miserable.
Invariably, on the way back from one of my adventures in the woods, I’ll stop off to buy pumpkins. I buy the big ones for Halloween but I also buy a few smaller ones and some gourds. I made a simple table display this year. Instead of a picture of today’s recipe I am showing a picture of the table display I made. It’s easy. Just get one, small pumpkin and put it in a large bowl. Surround it with gourds and baby pumpkins. Then go out in your yard to find an assortment of skinny, crooked sticks. One option is to look for a bush that needs a little trimming. Another option with kids or grandkids is to have them hunt for little sticks. Gather them up, take them in the house, trim them with scissors if necessary and stick them amongst your display. The sticks fill it out and give it an artsy, modern look. I’m happy with my display and it only took me five minutes.
My favorite pumpkins now are the “pimply” ones. Don’t you love those too? I hear they are just about impossible to carve for Halloween but I love all the colors they come in (even white!) and all the texture they have. I have those and mums on my porch at the moment. I just set up a display. Simple, no-fuss decorating for fall.
I love the food of fall. I many things with pumpkins. I go from pumpkin smoothies to pumpkin pie. I actually make my pies differently now. They have either an almond flour crust or no crust at all. I am going to experiment soon with a recipe I’m working on that has pumpkin pie on the bottom and a crunchy nut topping – sort of like a combo between pecan pie and pumpkin pie, with no sugar of course. That’s the trick.
Halloween is still my favorite holiday. We used to hold some massively fun Halloween parties. In the past, our parties would start around 8PM. I served 13 courses while people drank, danced and ate appetizers. Around 11PM or midnight I served the entrée, side dishes and desserts. All the while people danced to music provided by a DJ. It was always our biggest party of the year. People went all out with their costumes. It was a real fete. I’m thinking of bringing that party back. It was quite the production, but it was worth it.
Well, Halloween brings us to the end of October. It’s not the end of fall yet, but I can visualize it already...did I tell you how much I love fuzzy sweaters and leggings? Did I tell you how much I love curling up on the porch with a big blanket to read? Did I tell you how much I enjoy candlelight and fireplaces?
I love everything about fall.
Cheers,
We're Moving!
I have some important news to share, with mixed feelings.
After serious delays, our new office is finally complete and ready to move in. The timing is incredible/stressful/nutty. Moving into an office building during a pandemic leaves me with all kinds of thoughts, but let me explain how we got here and why this is happening now.
As I mentioned in previous posts, when we moved our Plan Z headquarters from Chicago, IL to Chattanooga, TN, my plan was to move into a completely renovated office building. This was in 2019. I worked with an architect and builder to design a small, spanking new office space in a freshly renovated building in one of the hippest areas in Chattanooga. The ZTeam was thrilled. At the time, we all thought we would be able to move in within a few months, so we boxed up the Chicago office and relocated to Chattanooga. Since the building was still being renovated when we moved down here, the builder put us in a temporary office space until our new office was ready.
Our temporary office left a lot to be desired. It looked like it was transported straight out of the 1980s. In all fairness, that building was being renovated, too, and since this was temporary space for us, they placed us on a floor that had NOT been renovated. Dusty brown carpet, bulky office furniture, windows that didn't open, fluorescent lighting, the works. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE Chattanooga, but the office was the pits! I tried to do what I could to perk things up, but, as those of you who work in older office buildings know, there is only so much one person can do. All that being said, we had fun there. The temporary office was in downtown Chattanooga, surrounded by coffee shops and restaurants, which was nice. We rented three offices right next to each other. I had an office, my husband's office was right next to mine (with a private connecting door that allowed us to go back and forth between spaces) and Jen and Jess shared an office. The rest of our staff works remotely anyway, so they all stayed right where they were.
We thought we would be there for six months. This was in the spring of 2019. Well, guess what? It's now October 2020 and we still haven't moved into our new office. The renovations exposed a lot of structural problems that had to be fixed. And then the basement flooded. And then COVID happened....Yikes. All in all, it's been a challenging time. For a while, we didn't even know if we could continue to operate. Plan Z is not a large company, but we've got a mighty crew. My employees rallied during this time. We are making it through and we didn't have to lay anyone off or cut back anyone's hours. I have our dieters to thank for that. I'm grateful for all of the support we've gotten from our customers, friends, and loyal readers during this time. Times like these remind me of how much I have to be thankful for.
I'm writing this post from my home. We've all been working remotely since March, so the silver lining is no more 1980s furniture and fluorescent lighting. The office renovations are almost complete, and we should be working from our new location in mid-October. I'm relieved and anxious. Anyone who has lived through a construction/renovation project knows how uncomfortable it is to live out of boxes for an extended period of time. I'm glad that's going to be over soon. On the other hand, we're in the middle of a pandemic. Ugh. Our new office is on the 2nd floor of a building that will be mostly empty, and at least we each have separate spaces in our new environment. Half of our folks will still be able to work remotely. That's a plus. When I designed the office back in 2019 I thought it would be open to the public, that's all changed now. But we'll still be able to connect with you over the phone. And one day, when this is all over, we'll be able to have office appointments again. And meet our dieters face-to-face. I look forward to that day.
In the meantime, we are packing up and getting ready for another big move. If everything goes according to plan, our office will only close on October 15th and 16th. Those are our tentative move dates. You'll still be able to call us at 800-255-9853 and ask questions. Just push the appropriate extension and your call will forward to our cell phones. *Our phones might be completely down for a short time on October 15th. In that case, you can reach me by cell at 773-501-5301.
We will process and ship orders through Tuesday, October 13th, and will resume shipping on Monday, October 19th. Until that date, I am extending our current sale pricing.
New customers can save 30% by clicking HERE.
Returning customers can save 30% on ZClub by clicking HERE.
If we can ship it to you, then we don't have to pack it (and unpack it) for the move. So everybody wins.
Gotta go, I've got loads to do.
Cheers,
A New Trend
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 (below). 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.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Creamed Orzo with Leeks and Parmesan
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe. Orzo is a wonderful, tiny pasta. I don’t eat pasta often but when I do I try to make it count. This is the most requested side dish recipe I get from dinner guests. We have had dinner parties where the entire table of guests will try to guess the mystery ingredient. Almost no one figures out it’s nutmeg. This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled to serve a crowd.
Watch your portion and watch your scale the next day. The good news is the cream and cheese in here help cut down the glycemic uptake so this is better for you than straight pasta.
Servings: A serving size is ½ cup as a side dish or this can doubled up as a vegetarian entrée.
Ingredients:
- 4 Tbl butter
- 2 large leeks, cleaned and sliced thinly. Cut the root end off the leek and remove outer ring of leaves. Then wash. Never use the green parts of the leek and don’t put them in the garbage disposal. Put them in the trash or compost them.
- 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock (organic)
- 1 cup orzo cooked (tri-color or regular white is fine)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- dash of ground nutmeg (just a sprinkle across the top of the pan of pasta will do it)
- 4 Tbl grated Parmesan cheese (I have also made this with shredded cheddar and it was wonderful)
- handful of baby spinach (optional)
Instructions:
Get your pot of water boiling and start your orzo. While the orzo cooks, melt butter in a medium sauté pan. Add leeks and cook over medium heat until they are completely loose. Add chicken stock and simmer until the stock almost disappears.
Drain your orzo when it’s finished cooking. Add it to the leeks. Then at this point add cream to the sauté pan with the leek mixture. Heat thoroughly stirring often. You are looking for the cream to be absorbed most of the way and for the cream to thicken a bit. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. A sprinkling of each will do.
Just before serving, add the Parmesan and baby spinach and stir until it melts.
Note: If you are making this ahead, you can add the Parmesan and spinach right away. Chill. Then just reheat in the oven in a casserole. If the orzo looks a bit dry in the oven, you can add a little extra cream. Stir once while it is reheating in the oven. This usually takes about 30 minutes at 300 degrees to re-heat.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
How To Tell If Your Wine Is Corked
The other evening, my husband opened a bottle of red wine. He decanted it and then poured himself a glass. Then he promptly announced that he was going to pour it down the drain.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“This wine smells funny. It smells bad. Like rotten.”
So down it went. Glug. Glug. It was corked.
What is corked wine?
Well, let's start with what it isn't:
- It’s not the pieces of cork floating around your wine.
- It's not a wine cork covered in little white crystals. These crystals (tartrate) are a natural by-product of some types of wine and are totally harmless, btw.
- You can’t tell if a wine is corked from smelling the cork itself.
Corked wine is wine that is tainted with a compound called TCA (a molecule known as 2,4,6-trichloroanisole). It's formed when natural fungi (which reside in cork) come in contact with certain compounds found in bleaches and other winery sanitation products. If a winery uses infected corks, the wine becomes tainted.
Winefolly.com says about 2-3% of wine has cork taint (that's about one bottle in every 2 cases) and that a typical wine enthusiast can expect to encounter about 100 bottles of corked wine in their lifetime. Yikes! I'm not a heavy wine drinker, but I've been lucky. I have been ordering wine for about 4 decades now, and it’s only been a few times that I have sent one back in a restaurant or poured one down the drain at home.
If your first wine encounter is with a corked bottle, it can turn you off of wine forever. The good news is the chances of that happening are low. Below I'm going to tell you how to spot a corked wine, even if you are a wine “rookie.” I actually find this stuff quite interesting and hope you find some benefit from it, too.
How do I know if my wine is corked?
Jeremy Allen, a top sommelier in Hollywood, give some pointers:
"Does it smell like a wet dog? Or does it smell like a wet forest? A wet sponge? Does it smell like rotten poop, or precious world’s best poop? Does it smell like the Village Voice underneath that bus stop bench? Does it taste like a rusty old penny? Does it smell like a CORK? If it doesn’t offend you, no problem, drink it up. But if you have to question it, go ahead and question it. If you think it’s corked, it’s usually corked. The more bottles you pop, the more likely it is that you’re gonna get a bad one. By the way: If the cork breaks upon opening, or falls into the wine, it has no effect on whether or not the wine is “corked.” A dry cork that crumbles could be a clue that an older wine may have been exposed to air, and may possibly be less than prime, but that is a different matter.
"One reason “corked” is such a touchy area, is that people encounter things they don’t love in wines all the time, but have been intimidated into fearing that the flaws in a wine aren't really flaws at all. And in delicate social situations, questioning a wine or sending it back could make you feel pushy, picky, or twerpy.
"Say, the boss ordered it, and appears to love it—would you speak up and question her WINE EXPERTISE? Tough situation. There is no secret hand signal to the server for “My boss is drinking bad wine and I can’t take it, but I don’t want to not drink it—fix this please.” There is a lot of pressure on choosing, tasting, and sharing wine. Maybe it’s business, maybe it’s meeting the parents, maybe it’s just impressing a date with your sense of adventure (natural wine instinct), or comfort (fruit-forward guzzle). You don’t yet know who’s paying the bill, or what Emily’s mom and dad drink, or whether they have a cellar stocked with Harlan Estate or a fridge full of Barefoot Bubbly. But if it’s you that ordered it, and you that’s paying for it, PLEASE don’t hesitate to send it back, or at least ask one of us service staff to confirm. You are paying to enjoy yourself, and we are paid to make that easy for you, no matter what."
Is corked wine dangerous to your health?
Don't worry, drinking corked wine is not harmful to your health. Unfortunately, it does ruin the experience...and some wines are very expensive. Most importantly, if you think a wine is corked, don't try to suffer through and drink it. Drinking wine should be an enjoyable experience, so if it is not enjoyable, take a pass on that glass -- corked or not.
TIP: It’s harder to sniff out a corked red wine than a corked white wine.
If you want to avoid the possibility of running into a corked wine, you can stick to wines with screw tops. If your wine bottle used a screw cap or synthetic cork to form the seal, it can’t be corked. More and more fabulous wines are coming out with easy-to-open tops.
Corked wine is rare, but it happens. Now that you know about it, you'll be more aware if you happen to come across a corked bottle. Makes good cocktail party conversation, too. Or wine tasting conversation!
When in doubt, ask your wine sommelier for help. They're there to make sure you have a good experience. As I’ve gotten older, I’m much less intimidated by a sommelier. Now, I quite happily tell them what kind of wines I have come to like and I tell them the price range I want them to stick to. It’s amazing how creative they can be. Sometimes they even suggest something that doesn’t appear on their wine list, and I have been introduced to new wines this way. It expands my wine horizons.
Enjoy! May your next bottle of wine be the best bottle you've ever had!
Cheers,
The Spread
I think most of you already know that we live in Chattanooga, TN. We moved here from Chicago a year ago.
Recently the NY Times announced that Chattanooga was #2 in hot spot cities ready to explode with COVID-19. I could not believe it. I’m sort of a data driven person. I looked around my environment and could not relate to that prediction.
We live in a fairly small city. It’s peaceful here. There didn’t seem to be any pressure on the hospital capacity. For a long time, we couldn’t even get testing. Thankfully, it’s here now but no alarms have been sounding. The whole mask wearing thing has been very political here. Until two weeks ago, when they mandated masks, about 50% of people didn’t bother wearing one. Mask wearing has improved some. Our restaurants are open – even for indoor dining. Most events are canceled but our life as it is now has not been interrupted that much. The state is open. Most folks are still working from home, but some do go to the offices downtown. Construction never stopped and the buses are running with passengers.
So what’s the deal?
I went to the internet for information and the data I was seeking was right there, but I have never seen it featured on our local news. I hadn’t seen it on the national news either until yesterday, which prompted me to sit down and write this column. What I found locally is this. (Put on your seat belts and hold your nose). They have a way of detecting the spread of coronavirus that has not been widely discussed.
It’s all about the water. The Tennessee River runs through Chattanooga. The Tennessee Valley Authority is headquartered here. Water is widely studied here. The secret (Well, it’s not really a secret. It’s just not polite conversation for most folks.) is that they are testing the wastewater for coronavirus and they can readily detect the amount of danger any city is in for cases ramping up and getting out of control. They are testing what we flush down the toilet folks. Ew. Gross. I know. But look at this chart I found.
Starting in May in Chattanooga they were already looking for COVID-19 in wastewater. They didn’t find much of anything. By May 26, the official number of cases in Hamilton County (where Chattanooga is located) was 642. But the estimated number of cases based on wastewater detection was 12,500. No wonder the NY Times put Chattanooga on the “danger list”.
It’s now mid-July and as of today, the cases are up to 3939. Deaths are 39 and starting to rise. Because the hospitals are not screaming it looks to me like there are a whole lot of people walking around with COVID-19 that are asymptomatic. But alarmingly, the largest group testing positive now are in the age bracket of 21 – 30. There are 862 of them so far. So much for opening the bars and restaurants.
Yesterday I got more news. I was watching a news report on a big cable network and sure enough they featured this same story. They were talking about cities all over Europe who are studying wastewater to predict the spread of COVID-19. And they profess that this type of work has been going on for decades (regarding other viruses) and that it is accurate.
All during the lockdown we were not really in danger here. Now it appears we are, or at least, we could be. As a result, we are being extra careful. We wear our masks. We socially distance. We eat at home. We do everything at home. Check into the wastewater data in your neck of the country. What does it say?
P.S
If you're looking for more concrete data, check THIS out.
Sweet Dreams Tattoo
Our tiny kitty Tattoo had plenty of nicknames:
Tootie
Toots
Tootface
Little Itty-Bitty Kitty (she weighed in at less than 7 pounds full grown)
Little Orange Kitty
Gran-maw-maw (she was 20 years old)
Squirt
Ginkobilloba
I wrote a little while ago about how our little cross-eyed kitty had suddenly turned blind. She was having a hard time finding her litter. In fact, her world was shrinking fast as she tried to navigate her way anywhere. She had kidney disease and high blood pressure too. The kidney disease is what really took her.
Lots of older cats succumb to kidney disease. Tattoo hung in longer than normal. Most kitties quit eating when their creatine hits 5 or 6. Tattoo’s recent blood test showed her creatine was at 9.2. Her vet was amazed she was still eating. But we knew she was very sick even though she was not in pain. It was time. The reason I am writing today is to describe the most comforting, tasteful, peaceful euthanasia process I have ever experienced. Even in a time of COVID-19 when you have to stay in your car while your pet visits the vet, our vet made this as painless as possible for all of us. I’ll set the scene.
Instead of having to kiss her goodbye in the parking lot, all we had to do was wear masks and they let us in. They told us her room was ready. We walked into a far room that was very private. The lights were dim. There was quiet music playing. Candles were lit off to the side. In front of us, in the middle of the exam room floor lay a big puffy pillow about 3 feet in diameter and about 9 inches thick. It was draped in a somber purple-ish brown, velveteen fabric. There were two chairs for us to sit. No metal exam table to be seen. They don’t even use those for regular visits. All work is done down at pet height.
We set her in her cage on the floor and the vet (Dr. Katie) came in for a visit. She explained the first thing they would do is sedate Tattoo. They would bring her back after they gave her the meds and we could hold her while she fell asleep. We waited. The vet technician who had been Tattoo’s babysitter when we traveled brought her back. As she reached her out for me to take, I laughed and commented about how Tattoo doesn’t like to be held. Not true that day. Tattoo melted in my arms. She laid quietly. I patted her while she fell asleep. It took about five minutes. They left us alone for about 10 minutes so we could just be quiet with her.
Then the vet and another technician entered the room. The vet had the medication in her hands. I handed Tattoo off to the technician and she gently laid her on the big pillow. We were invited down onto the floor to be closer but we chose to sit in the chairs. In a time of social distancing we were sensitive to how close that would be. We had said our goodbyes at home so I didn’t feel like I had to crowd in. The vet gently spread her fur to find a vein in her back leg. She inserted the butterfly needle and began to administer the final medication. The technician gently stroked Tattoo during this process. The vet took her time injecting the fluid, but it took less than a minute. She checked her pulse a few times over the next minute or two and she announced that Tattoo had passed.
We were allowed to sit with her again for as long as we wanted. We didn’t hang out long. It was over. We had given them instructions to have her cremated so, they told us they’d take care of her after we left. We didn’t have to see her carted off. The last we saw her, she was “sleeping” peacefully on that big, puffy pillow.
Keep this in your files if you want. You might want to share this with your vet for them to pick up some ideas. Over the years my husband and I have had to have a half-dozen pets euthanized. The procedures were not all peaceful experiences. We had two particularly traumatic last days at the vet when the procedures they used, unfortunately, didn’t work the first time. None of them were set up as sensitively as this one. This was as good as it gets.
The Story of Potatoes Brabant
Potatoes Brabant are a New Orleans favorite. They call them New Orleans fries.
I have seen them seasoned several ways. I think each restaurant has their own signature version. The first time I came across them was in reading a Southern cookbook and looking for menu items for a dinner party. That was about 30 years ago. The ones I made the first time were dusted with Parmesan, sea salt and pepper. Those have been my favorite ever since. The trouble with traditional potatoes Brabant is they are a pain to make. I’ll lay out the traditional recipe that I followed here and then I’ll offer up my simple version made in the air fryer.
I use small, golden yellow potatoes, washed and unpeeled. You cut them into small cubes. Maybe a 1/2” across. A fistful will serve one person so, that might be two potatoes. Then you lightly boil them in water. You want to get them almost cooked, it takes less than 10 minutes, then drain them. Then heat peanut oil in a tall sauce pan and fry them in batches. Drain them on paper towels. Dust them with grated Parmesan cheese and add your sea salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
If you are making these and trying to coordinate a whole dinner party this can get pretty tricky. They are best served as soon as they come out of the fryer, so you have to move fast and everything else has to be ready.
I didn’t serve these very often at parties. And now you see why.
Potatoes Brabant- Air Fryer
Cheers,
My New Appliance
Well, I went and did it.
I broke down and bought an air fryer.
In the old days I bought every appliance known to man as soon as they hit the retail shelves. I wanted to be the first to break out my new “toys”. I quit that when I downsized from a huge kitchen with tons of cabinets and a massive pantry to a regular-sized apartment kitchen. You may not know this about me, but I have an aversion to covering my counter top with appliances. I prefer the coffee pot be the only appliance. That leaves room for my rack of knives, a produce bowl, a roll of paper towels and maybe a piece of art. I got the air fryer, but I still don’t have an InstaPot, a sous vide, or even a donut fryer. Truth be told, I’m afraid of pressure cookers. I still have nightmares from when I was a child.
So why did I get an air fryer?
A few reasons. I miss my convection oven. In the big house I had gas burners and two convection ovens. In this place I have a regular electric stove/oven that takes forever to heat up. I liked being able to get dinner on the table faster with a convection oven and I liked its crisper performance. Some days it seems wasteful turning on a big oven to just put in a meal for two.
The air fryer I got is Emeril Legasse’s Air Fryer 360. I am not here to endorse his air fryer/oven. I’m not even sure I am friends with it yet. So, stand by on that. I bought up which one I got because this one is bigger than most air fryers I have seen. You can cook a 4 lb chicken in this one on a rotisserie or even a small turkey. It’s a rectangle. Looks like a large toaster oven rather than an upright model like most air fryers. It’s not huge on my counter. I am getting used to it sitting there. I like to be able to bake in a smaller oven. Reminds me of an Easy Bake Oven from childhood. The first thing I baked were my Banana Peanut Butter Bars. They came out perfect.
What I hate so far about the oven is the noise. I know it’s convection so it has to circulate air and that will make noise. I just didn’t expect to have to turn up the TV to drown it out. That might end up being a deal breaker for me. I am trying to pretend that I live in Europe in a small apartment and this might very well be the only oven. I am working to figure out how to cook whole meals in this thing using more than one rack at a time. Truth be told I really don’t ever intend to fry chicken in this thing. I looked at Emeril’s recipe. It has six cups of corn flakes in it! YIKES. I might break down and make some chicken tenders some day as a treat. If I figure out a recipe I’ll let you know.
One other secret, I caved and made little fried potato cubes in it. They were fantastic.
Cheers,
P.S. It’s also easy to clean.
Mexican Food In Summer
What is it with summer and Mexican food? Seems like every cooking website has several Mexican recipes featured during summer. I checked out a few recently and every one of them featured a grilled taco of some kind. Most folks love tacos so I guess that makes sense.
My real theory is it has more to do with the climate in Mexico. It is always summer in Mexico. Even when it’s winter it feels like summer. The temps across the whole country range from 50 -90 degrees with an average humidity of 70%. That smacks of tropical across the board.
I think most folks have been to Mexico at least once. Once you’ve been there you can almost conjure up the Mexican atmosphere in your brain. The smells, the palm trees and beaches, drinks like margaritas and cold beer, and of course the food. The best taco I ever ate was a grilled fish taco in Cancun. I don’t really like Cancun that much, but the taco was amazing.
My favorite city in Mexico is San Miguel de Allende. I’m not a big fan of heat and humidity. San Miguel is up in the mountains at 5000 feet. It’s cool in the mornings, gets up to maybe 80-85 degrees during the day and by early evening it has cooled down again so if you’re dancing at some rooftop club, you’re not all sweaty. There are plenty of trees but no beach. No sand. The architecture is amazing though. Check out a few pics here:
I’m featuring three Mexican dishes I have come up with recently. They are all really easy to make; all part of a low carb lifestyle. They taste as good in the winter as they do in summer. They don’t all photograph well but much of the food served in Mexico is not all that pretty. It’s simple food with a pleasant, down-home feel. A pile of pinto beans will never look pretty but they taste great.
Try these:
And enjoy Summer.
Cheers,
The Munchies
Someone asked me the other day how I feel about late night snacking.
When I think about late night snacking that raises the question, “When is the best time to eat?”
Everyone wants to know if they should eat early. My first experience with that was back in the early 80’s when I used to jump around in front of my TV following the Jane Fonda exercise tapes. What a waste of time that was. I did that routine just about every day but it never helped me lose weight. Maybe it toned me a bit but I never peeled off the pounds. And Jane Fonda is the one that said never to eat after 6PM, or maybe it was 7PM. I forget. I never followed that advice anyway. By the time I got home from work, got done jumping around in front of the TV and got some time to make something for dinner it was way past 7PM anyway.
Her contention (and that of other so-called experts at the time) was that if you ate later you’d get fatter.
Other experts will tell you that eating breakfast is the most important because then you have more hours to burn off those calories. I always hated eating breakfast. Even as a kid, I’d rather run out the door and catch the bus to go to school without eating. My mother had to nail me to the chair and force Rice Krispies in me before I left. I wasn’t hungry in the morning so I never got any satisfaction out of that. As soon as I was old enough to make my own decisions I went back to not eating breakfast.
About a decade ago I started to force myself to eat something in the morning. I wanted to be thin so if they were right about eating in the morning, maybe I better buy into it. I had no trouble with it during the weekend. It was during the week when I hated eating in the morning. I just wanted to get to work. I’d eat a banana and a glass of skim milk. So there. That was breakfast. Didn’t seem to help and now I know that the banana was too high carb and the skim milk wasn’t doing me any favors either. And the Rice Krispies were a huge mistake.
It really doesn’t matter when you eat. Today’s science clearly shows that. Your body will burn calories even while you are sleeping. What matters is WHAT you eat, how large you are, how much activity you produce, your natural metabolic rate, and how much muscle mass you have.
The more muscle mass you have the more calories you will burn. But if you are larger you’ll burn more calories than a skinny person too. It just takes more energy for the larger person to even move around. If your activity level is low or your metabolism is slow you’ll burn fewer calories. If you eat more carbohydrates than your body needs your body will turn the excess into fat. So what you eat is important. Protein and vegetables are your best bets for what to eat.
It’s true that larger people who suffer from things like acid reflux are better off eating earlier so their digestion has a chance to empty the stomach before the person tries to lie down. And older people often find that if they eat earlier they sleep better.
Calories will burn while you are asleep. No doubt about that. And the more sleep the better. If you sleep less than six hours a night your body will be running at an energy deficit and that has been proven to affect how your body burns calories. So get a good night’s rest.
So to get back to the question about snacking at night. It really doesn’t matter when you eat. It’s what you eat and how much you eat during the entire day that matters. Instead of eating late at night you’re probably better off going to bed and getting a good night of rest; that is unless you are in a position to sleep later. In that case if you get the right amount of sleep it doesn’t matter if you eat late at night. So how’s that for giving you the run around? Does any of this make any sense?
Here’s the bottom line: Eat the right stuff and in the right quantity and quit worrying about what time you eat it.
When you're eating the right foods, your body know what to do with them, regardless of the time.
Cheers,
Tattoo's Blindness
Our kitty Tattoo turned 20 years old a month ago. That’s the equivalent of 96 in human years. Way to GO Tattoo!
About 10 days after she turned 20, she woke up blind. I took her to the emergency room vet. He thinks her blood pressure spiked in the night for some reason. He checked and found one retina totally detached and the other one is about 15% connected. He doesn’t think she can see a thing. Good thing we downsized from the huge house to a 1300 sq ft apartment. She has the place pretty well memorized and is adapting to her blindness pretty well. I am hopeful.
The vet and I had a heart-to-heart conversation though. I want to make sure Tattoo’s quality of life stays up as high as possible. I don’t believe in keeping her alive with science. She has lived a long, and healthy life. So, we decided to take her off of all of her meds except those that pertain to her eyes. She’s pretty terrified these days of taking meds because she can’t see what’s coming at her. As much as I try to keep her calm, it’s not working. She has even taken to eating a bit of dinner and then running as fast as a blind kitty can to hide behind the bed to avoid getting her medicine. It breaks my heart. We will be able to take Tattoo to the kitty eye doctor in July to see if she has any chance of regaining any of her eye sight.
Tattoo was a birthday gift for my husband 20 years ago. He picked her out of a box at 4 weeks old and we waited for her until she was old enough to come live with us. We are both filled with Tattoo stories. She did have one litter of kittens and has outlived them all so she’s definitely beaten the odds.
We are going to cherish our time left with Tattoo and just keep packing on the stories and the memories.
Wish us luck as we try to give her the best of her remaining time with us.
Cheers,