World-famous Virus Expert gets the Virus. Read his story.
Years ago, my niece packed up her hopes, her dreams and a suitcase full of clothes and flew from Wisconsin to London, England. She had been accepted at a prestigious college with a strange name. People in the medical field are familiar with this place but I was not. It’s called The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Her dream was to get an advanced degree from the school and help find a cure for malaria. Even at a younger age I can remember her doing fund raisers to raise money to buy mosquito netting so the children in far-off lands would not suffer from malaria. She was a determined young woman.
While attending the school my niece not only gained her advanced degree, she also gained a husband. They now live in the Boston area with two young girls. They are both scientists working in the medical field. Lots of specialized labs are located in and round Boston so they have made that area their home. We are proud.
Fast forward to present day. A couple of weeks ago I was watching TV and they mentioned a famous virologist who had contracted COVID-19. They said he is the Director of The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Of course, my ears perked up. I emailed my niece and asked if she had heard about this man getting the virus. She said she had, and she attached the article that I am sharing with you today.
This is the most riveting story of what it’s like to get the COVID-19 virus, how scary it is, what it does to ravage a person’s body and how if you survive a bad bout of it, how it will change your life forever.
If I could have my wish and everyone on the planet would read this, I don’t think we’d have any trouble getting people to wear their mask when out in public.
Please read and pass this along to others.
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Coronavirus Has Brought Back Carbs!
This, straight from Food Network Magazine. I was reading my copy the other day and I came across this little article and was not surprised. Not ONE bit.
The coronavirus outbreak has proven what we’ve suspected for a while. We turn to carbs in a crisis. Sales of yeast were more than 300 percent higher in March 2020 compared to March 2019 (according to Nielsen) and foodnetwork.com saw the biggest boost in recipe searches for homemade bread, banana bread, and pizza dough. Companies have also seen spikes in demand for childhood favorites like Entenmann’s doughnuts, Pop Tarts, Ritz and Triscuits. Goldfish sales have jumped 23%.
This is no shock. Some of those who are furloughed have little to do besides binge on Netflix. They want to do something besides sit around watching TV, so they are heading to the kitchen. And it makes sense. Many people eat to relieve stress or to get that "comfort" feeling. Unfortunately, when you are driven to eat based on emotions, you're not always picky about what goes in your mouth. Some people are eating junk. Other people are just opening the refrigerator and going after the leftovers. Still others are trying to get creative and make something from scratch. Some have children to occupy so why not start letting them help in the kitchen?
I’ll admit it. I love comfort food. And I got sucked into the banana bread craze, too. I spent three weeks working to perfect a low carb banana bread recipe. Why I craved banana bread is anyone’s guess. Probably has to do with a childhood memory and stress relief.
Since Plan Z is a big supporter of making your own food, I’m happy people are back in the kitchen doing something besides baking a frozen pizza. They might not be making great choices by baking bread, but I bet their kitchen smells divine. Now if we could only get more people to realize that comfort food doesn't have to contain sugar and starch. Plan Z recipes are proof that there are a lot of delicious meals you can make that will help you lose weight and get healthy.
Want to relieve stress? Stabillizing your blood pressure, lowering your A1C and staying out of the emergency room are great for stress relief, too.
Cheers,
The History of Memorial Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWn2RPr-GhE
I love a little learning about the history of holidays. Here are some interesting tidbits about Memorial Day.
Enjoy your long weekend and remember those important to you who served our country.
Stay safe.
How I Construct a Pandemic Menu
I used to shop like I’m French. So what does that mean?
Well, the French shop daily not weekly like us Americans. That way they get the freshest food. Oftentimes they go to more than one shop, too. They might go to a meat market, a vegetable shop and then the bakery.
My way of shopping like the French used to be like this: I decide by about 2:30 in the afternoon what I am hungry for and then I take a break from my day and run to the grocery store to buy the fixin’s for the meal I'm going to make that night. Because I'm only buying for one meal my list is short and it doesn't take me very long. Now, because of the risk of exposure, I am going to the store a lot less often. I am shopping about every 7 – 10 days.
I thought you might be interested in how I put together my menu and my grocery list. I am still buying fresh food but because some of it might not be eaten for even a week, I have had to resort to freezing some items. The items I freeze are things like ground beef. That sort of thing freezes and thaws without much deterioration. The delicate items like fresh fish I make early in my week so they don’t have to be frozen. So what I eat when does matter.
The first thing I do is choose my menu. I might search the Plan Z diet site for inspiration. I might clip things out of magazines, or I might go through my collection of cookbooks looking for ideas. For each night I try to choose a different ethnicity and I choose recipes that are easy to make. I am very busy with work (unlike some folks who are furloughed and have more spare time). So, on one day I might decide it will be Italian, the next American, the third Mexican and so on. I try to choose recipes that are a mix of proteins: beef, chicken, fish/seafood etc. I like to mix things up. For meals on weekends I can choose some of the more complicated dishes. This past weekend I made a St. Louis rib recipe that cooked for almost six hours. I accompanied that with a caramelized onion tart. Those onions take about 45 minutes to make. Those are not simple and quick recipes.
I actually write down what I am going to make for the entire week. I tear those pages out of my notebook and keep them in the corner of my kitchen. As the week progresses, I cross them off the list so I can easily see what’s left to make. Once I have my menu, I make my grocery list. I pull out each recipe and I write the ingredients I need to buy on a notebook page. I never go to the grocery store without a list. I find that to be a recipe for weight gain disaster. If the list is long, I write the items in a notebook and take that along rather than just a piece of paper. I find it a lot easier to check things off the list with something stiff holding the list on the shelf cart.
If you look at my grocery list, you’ll see some items marked “W”.
That means I will be buying those items from Whole Foods. They are specialty items I am not likely to find in the cheaper grocery store where I buy the rest of the food. Going to two stores in Chattanooga is fairly easy. The city is pretty small, and the stores are less than 10 minutes apart. I check each item off the list as I go through the aisles. This keeps me focused. I come home. I unpack the groceries. I make the food each night after work.
For the lunch meal it’s usually leftovers from some other night or maybe just a cheese platter to snack on. Breakfast is usually a protein smoothie made with homemade yogurt (I bought a yogurt maker by Lavele...really awesome) or an apple with peanut butter. Simple meals during a time of pandemic.
I am finding it rewarding to put in the homework time up front on my menu and then execute. I hope this gives you some ideas you can use to make the grocery experience more satisfying during this tough time.
Cheers,
Underlying Conditions
We are all susceptible to getting COVID-19, but some of us are more vulnerable than others. Here’s the list from the CDC (Center for Disease Control). Based upon available information to date, those at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 include:
- People 65 years and older
- People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
- People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
- People who have serious heart conditions
- People who are immunocompromised (many conditions can cause a person to be immunocompromised, including cancer treatment, smoking, bone marrow or organ transplantation, immune deficiencies, poorly controlled HIV or AIDS, and prolonged use of corticosteroids and other immune weakening medications)
- People with severe obesity (Body Mass Index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
- People with diabetes
- People with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis
- People with liver disease
As you read the list do you or any of your loved ones come to mind? These are what are called underlying conditions. These are things that increase the chance that you might not live through a case of COVID-19.
I was lucky, I lived through my battle with COVID-19. Maybe my case was not all that severe. That might be true. I do know I coughed so hard that I almost fell off the couch I was laying on at the time. I just could not quit coughing to the point I’d start choking and gasping for air. My nephew, a United Airlines pilot, had COVID-19 and coughed so hard he bulged a disc in his back. This disease is no joke. It’s not just a flu.
So how many of the conditions on the list apply to you? That’s what we all have to think about. I look at that list and see nothing that applies to me. 10 years ago that would not have been the case. I had a BMI over 40 (Quickly calculate your BMI here.). I was on blood pressure meds, too. That can’t help (although, I don’t see it on the list).
Some of the things on this list are conditions that you can't do anything to avoid. Others are preventable. Some, like obesity, are reversible. If you are suffering from obesity, it is in your best interest to get down to a healthy weight and stay there. Knowing what we do about COVID-19, losing weight and getting healthier might just save your life.
We're not talking about becoming model-thin, but getting to a weight where you're no longer high risk. I’m the first person to admit I still have weight to lose. But getting off 70 pounds with Plan Z got me in a position where I am a lot healthier and I don’t take any meds. I thank my lucky stars I got health back. I eat better now. I used to eat very little and I still gained weight. I’d max out at just 750 calories a day. Doctors thought it was crazy that I was gaining weight. But I figured it out. All I was eating was carbs. I was counting calories instead of grams of carbs. I had it all wrong.
Now, I eat three meals a day. I probably consume over 2000 calories a day but I don’t eat a lot of carbs. I eat mostly protein, healthy fats and vegetables. Do I ever eat a potato? Sure. I’m not that militant about what I eat. I eat an occasional piece of bread. I don’t think I could eat a whole cupcake at this point though. The sugar makes me too dizzy.
I saw a meme the other day that went like this:
At first, that’s funny. It’s clever. But it’s not funny at all.
What action will you decide to take?
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Five Last Minute Ways to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo
These are things you can put together in a jiffy to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. By the way if you don’t speak Spanish… Cinco de Mayo just means May 5th. It’s a day to celebrate when the Mexicans beat Napoleon’s army in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
1. Are you a beer drinker? Pick up a Mexican beer. Corona Premier beer has just 2.6 grams of carbs. That’s delightful!
2. Make my husband’s favorite. Frito Chili Pie. Whip up a batch of my latest Lockdown Chili. Chili comes together really fast. Then when you serve it put a layer of Fritos in the bottom of the bowl and voila. Frito Chili Pie.
3. Shop a Mexican grocery store. If you have one in your town step inside and pick up some great fixins. Mexican grocery stores are usually small businesses. They could really use the support. This is also where you can count on finding ripe avocados.
4. Make guacamole with those fresh avocados.
5. Fire up the mariachi music. If you have little kids at home and they are getting squirrely from being cooped up, make a dance party out of it!
Enjoy the holiday.
Salud!
It Started with A Cough
My symptoms started March 6th. The coughing. I coughed almost constantly for the first three days. First thing I did was check my supply of cold pills and started taking them. I also downed Robitussen DM with great enthusiasm. The cough medicine soothed my throat temporarily, but nothing stopped the coughing. The hacking. My lungs did not burn. They just felt full. My breathing was pretty shallow. I sequestered myself in the den. I wanted my husband to get some sleep. I didn’t get more than a wink.
By the second night I thought about going to the ER. I thought about it really hard but decided to tough it out. This was so early on in the pandemic that COVID-19 didn’t really hit my radar.
I just kept thinking about the fact that if I had a cold why wasn’t my nose running? I had no snot at all. I had no fever but the shivering was relentless. For two days I stayed under quilts and just shook; wondering when it would stop. Instead of a fever, I did have waves of warmth that went up and down my neck. Those felt more like hot flashes then a constant temperature.
I was exhausted and not just because I got no sleep. I was just dragging. I’d shuffle around my apartment with my bed pillow under my arm. I did manage to watch a movie one day, but I’m surprised my husband could hear it over my coughing.
Sunday, I started investigating urgent care clinics. By Monday I went to a walk-in clinic. It took less than five seconds of listening to my lungs for the nurse practitioner to declare that I had an acute respiratory infection. He prescribed steroids and antibiotics. (We have to remember there was no coronavirus advancing curve at that point. The discussion was still about what was happening in China, Italy and maybe a little about Washington state). I dutifully took the antibiotics and the steroids, but they basically did nothing. I had a false sense that I was getting better because I didn’t cough quite as much. I started sleeping in the bedroom again. The most scary part was waking up in the middle of the night choking. I was choking and gasping for air. I had to sit up in bed to get control of my breathing but then it would calm down.
I asked the clinic for more steroids and antibiotics when mine ran out. They told me, “No more drugs. Just hydrate a lot, sleep a lot, and ride this out."
I tried to go to work a few times. I stayed away from everyone, but it didn’t last long. Thank goodness for Jessica. She held the fort down and carried on without me. For the first five or six days I had no sense of appetite or smell. The thought of eating anything warm made me nauseous. I survived on a few little peanut butter sandwiches made with one piece of low carb bread. And ice water. Lots of ice water. Then the weird headaches started. With the first one I thought I was having a stroke. I was really scared. It started behind my left ear with a pulsating throb. It felt like my carotid artery had a clog. I could feel this painful cluster trying to work its way up my head. I had to lay down. That’s when I REALLY considered an ambulance. I was chicken though. Enough days had passed that the news was starting to build, and I was afraid to go to the ER. After about an hour the really scary pain passed. The cluster of pain had moved above my left eyebrow. I had suffered for years from migraines and I knew this was not that kind of pain. This was different. It happened again on Saturday and the next Sunday.
Monday, I called my doctor in Chicago and got an emergency appointment for telemedicine (I have not found a doctor in Chattanooga yet and my Chicago doctor knows me well). He spent 30 minutes asking me questions and going over my symptoms. I ended up telling the story to him much the same way I am telling you. My doctor has been treating lots of people who have COVID-19 in Chicago. Most of those cases he is treating with telemedicine too. At the end of our conversations he said, “I am more than 95% sure you had COVID-19."
Bringing you up to date... My coughing has mostly subsided. I have a short burst of cough probably 20-30 times a day. I sound sort of like a little barking dog. My heart flutters some days. The doc said that was pretty common too. He also said most folks are taking 6 or more weeks to get over this. I’m six weeks in. I found out this morning that they are doing testing here now. I called the Hamilton County Health Department. I’d like to get an antibody test to know for sure that I’ve had it. They don’t have those yet.
So, I am acting like I didn’t have it; just out of an abundance of caution. I wear my mask faithfully and I am still working from home in no hurry to get back to my offices. Since they don’t really know if you build up antibodies to stay disease-free for any period, I’m okay with this. I’m locked down and adapting. I just thought you might like to read a story from someone who’s had the experience I had. Assuming I did have it, I feel lucky to have had what could be considered a pretty mild case.
Cheers,
P. S. People ask me how I got it. I really have no clue but for now I’m blaming the handle on the grocery cart.
Animal Instinct
Our cats have this all figured out.
At first it was pretty clear that by being around all the time we had interrupted our cats’ usual routines. They were accustomed to us checking on their whereabouts, turning off the lights and heading off to work each morning. You never know what your cats do while you’re gone but evidence showed they took naps. Long naps.
They still take naps but some of their behavior has changed in light of our being locked down and staying home. Tattoo (the itty bitty kitty) has become super cuddly. She’s always been affectionate, but she’s ramped it up to a whole new level.
Here’s one example: Every time I get in bed, she hops right up with me. Several times during the night she will come up next to me and wants to get curled up in my armpit. If I’m not lying in a position where she can do that easily she will paw at my shoulder until I comply.
Then she takes it up a notch. She insists on putting both of her front paws at the bottom of my neck. After that she pokes her nose into the bottom of my jaw. She turns on the purring and settles in. She will stay like that for almost an hour. At that point I guess she feels like she has tucked me in, and she will wander off the bed and settle back in her fuzzy bed.
Titan (the big Bengal) has decided he wants to help and stand guard. Most every minute he’s stationed somewhere he can see me. Sometimes he even insists on sitting on the stool next to me. If I get up to do anything he hops right on my stool. I wish he could type. I could find projects for him. The other thing he does now is every time I walk past him he rolls over on his back to get a belly rub. It’s not like he’s never done that before. It’s just a consistent thing now. People talk about dogs who roll over to get their bellies rubbed. It’s not quite as common in cats. Mine is loving this frequent attention.
We did the big downsize so when we moved to Chattanooga a year ago we got a 1300 sq ft place. I no longer have a home office. These days my office is the kitchen counter. Thankfully my kitchen stools are pretty comfortable and so far my back is not barking at me.
I’ll look forward to going back to the office when the “all clear” is called, but I will miss my cats.
Cheers,
Exotic Egg Salad
This is great as a light lunch time meal and a great holiday recipe. The juxtaposition of the sweeter apricots with the curry has the exotic taste I was looking for.
Blueberry Lemon Tart (Three ways with other flavors)
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.
This is a lovely, light tart. Makes and elegant dessert for a party. You can also make this with other flavors, but lemon goes particularly well with blueberry.
Change up the fruits and the flavorings and this can be several desserts. Think strawberry with almond, or orange with raspberries.
Ingredients:
- A pie crust. You can cheat and use a processed pie crust and sometimes that’s just necessary to save time. Just follow the directions for baking on the back of the box. 9 minutes and you’ll have a nice crust to fill. Or use this healthier nut crust recipe
- 2 blocks of full fat cream cheese, softened (you can soften on the counter or zap it in your microwave for 20 seconds on high for each block). Be sure they are unwrapped and in a microwave-safe bowl.
- ¾ cup of granular sweetener. I use Swerve or ZSweet or Surkin brands (order online)
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbl of grated lemon peel --or if you don’t want to do fresh you can use the jar, dried peel. (if making another flavor you’ll use vanilla with almond or orange peel with orange option)
- 4 Tbl of fresh lemon juice (use OJ with the orange flavor and water with the almond option)
- 3 Tbl of spreadable fruit. This is like jelly, but you get less sugar using this. You can choose any flavor. I used blackberry on top of my blueberry option, but the most versatile flavor is to use apricot spreadable fruit.
- 3 Tbl of water
Instructions:
While your crust is baking you can make the filling.
With a mixer, blend the cream cheese and the sweetener until smooth. This will take about a minute. If your cream cheese is not soft, it will clog the mixer, but you can work to get that out and begin blending again.
Add the egg, lemon peel, and juice. Blend until fully fluffy. A minute more or so.
Go over to your crust and mound the filling to the middle. Then take a spatula and spread it toward the edges. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees until set.
Remove from the oven and let it cool about 30 minutes. You’ll then want to put it in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill. You’ll be adding the fruit right before serving.
Arrange your fruit on top of the tart. You might have to press it down a bit to get it to adhere. Careful. Heat the spreadable fruit and water, stir to incorporate until the fruit dissolves. With a pastry brush, dab the fruit mixture onto the berries. Cover the whole top and it will be nice and shiny. The topping will also help “glue” the berries together but expect when you cut this that it might not stay perfectly neat. Some berries might roll off. No issue.
Chill another few minutes to chill the topping or you can then keep it in the fridge until you serve it later.
If you have any leftovers, they taste great the next day. After 2 or 3 days the crust will start to get soggy. Cover leftovers with plastic wrap.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Exotic Egg Salad
This is a Z3 (ZReboot)and a Happy Healthy Holidays recipe.
Servings: Yields 2-3 cups
Ingredients:
- 6 eggs, hardboiled and peeled
- ¾ cup of mayonnaise
- ½ cup of diced English cucumber. I peel mine before dicing. English cucumbers are seedless and very convenient.
- ½ cup of diced dried apricots
- ½ tsp of curry powder (or to taste)
- ¼ tsp of grated sea salt
- ¼ tsp of black pepper
Optional:
- fresh herbs for garnish
Instructions:
Put the eggs in a bowl. Cut them up. I just use two knives and keep going after them to chop them up. I like my egg salad to have lumps. My mother used a pastry blender to chop up her egg salad. She liked it mushier than I do. You can use whatever method works best for your taste. Add the other ingredients and stir. If you like the taste of curry you can always add more. If you want just a hint of curry, you can use less. The juxtaposition of the sweeter apricots with the curry has the exotic taste I was looking for.
Garnish with fresh herbs.
Serving Suggestions:
You can make fancy little egg salad boats by serving this on endive leaves. You can make rolls of it with romaine lettuce. You can scoop it with Melba toasts or even toast up a piece of Naan and serve it on top. It’s just a matter how many carbohydrates your body can tolerate best.
Garnish with a bit of tomato like I did or even green onions, chive bits or parsley.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Beef Stew in a Dutch Oven
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.
I’m Irish, so beef stew was a staple in our family. Trouble is there are so many carbs in most beef stew recipes. Beyond the meat, all the other additions in most recipes are high carbohydrate. So with this recipe I have adjusted it to keep the carbs lower and introduce some other veggies that are lower carb to the mix. I did include carrots but I cut way back on the amount; leaving in just enough for color. I cut back the amount of potato and changed the type of potato. A small, C-size potato is lower carb than a fully grown russet. So follow these proportions and you can be happy eating beef stew and still maintain your weight at a stable level.
Servings: Serves 4, can be doubled easily.
Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 pounds of stew meat
- 2 Tbl of peanut oil
- 1/2 cup of celery chunks
- 1/2 cup of carrot cut into coin shapes
- 1-1/2 cups of organic beef broth
- 1-1/2 Tbl of tomato paste
- 1/2 Tbl of dried parsley flakes
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1 tsp of grated sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp of dried thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 5-7 C-sized potatoes (about 1" in diameter). Red or white will work fine. Cut in half.
- 1 cup of frozen pearl onions
- 1 cup of button mushrooms, if they are large ones cut in half or quarter them
- 2 Tbl of gravy flour mixed with 3 Tbl of water
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In batches, brown the stew meat in the peanut oil in your Dutch oven. I just brown two sides of the meat and take it out. Then add the second batch. This won’t take long on medium high. When you have all of the beef browned, add the carrots and all of the beef back into the pot.
Add the beef broth and the tomato paste. Stir it around to break up the tomato paste and get it distributed. Then add the seasonings and the bay leaf. Stir. Cover the pot and put it in your oven to roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven. (Use oven gloves). Open the top. Take out the bay leaf and toss it. Add the rest of the vegetables and the flour/water mixture. Stir to combine. Put the top back on and roast another 30 minutes until all of the veggies are done. Check to make sure the potatoes are cooked by poking one with a sharp knife. The potatoes will be tender and your gravy will be slightly thickened.
I serve beef stew in bowls.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Collagen Fruit Smoothie
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.
One of my favorite breakfasts these days. So easy and quick. Refreshing and filling. Collagen protein powder is not cheap but the health benefits are HUGE.
Ingredients:
-
- 1/3-1/2 cup of unsweetened pea milk. Ripple is a new one I buy. (Pea milk is the greatest! I love the flavor and texture in a smoothie. Really smooth. If I don’t have pea milk, I use unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk. Those both work too).
- 1 scoop (2 Tbl) of the collagen protein powder. There will be a scoop in the jar. They say 2 scoops. I go with one)
- 1/3 cup of berries. I use frozen strawberries, or raspberries and blackberries work too. You can really use any berries, or they make chunks of frozen mango now too for a tropical version. Assorted berry options work too. And if you want your smoothie a little thicker and fruitier, just add more fruit.
- ½ cup of cold water
- Truvia to taste
Instructions:
Put this all in your blender and whiz until it’s smooth. I use my Bullet blender for this job. No need to take out the bigger model.
Pour in a glass and sip or load it into your travel mug for a meal on-the-go.
My husband even opts for a smoothie for lunch sometimes.
Enjoy!
Pass Me an Orange
A full two-thirds of Americans start off their day with a glass of orange juice. They think that’s healthy behavior.
I rarely ate breakfast, so I used to get my orange juice a different way. If I was in a restaurant, I’d order a drink that was half orange juice and half soda water. I was counting my calories so I thought this way I got my healthy orange juice and kept down the calorie count.
Interestingly I was only half right. I had the other half wrong. I thought the orange juice was healthy. Turns out I would have been better off having a full glass of soda water.
It’s not the orange that’s unhealthy. Eating an orange is good for you, but drinking large amounts of juice will cause you trouble. The average glass of orange juice contains the juice of several oranges. That’s a lot of fructose and your body can’t handle all that sugar without turning it straight into fat.
I won’t bore you with the scientific details, but 60 Minutes had a segment where it was explained in detail that when you take out the fructose from orange juice that it will convert very efficiently to fat. (You can Google that if you’re interested in the detail.)
What I am offering up here is an explanation of why you want to eat an orange rather than drink a glass of orange juice.
Now that you’ve watched that informal, little movie, I am going to progress to the even more sinister part of the subject of orange juice. Now we get to the stuff in the carton in the refrigerated section of our grocery store.
When "big food" runs commercials for orange juice they make it look really enticing. They bombard us with beautiful packaging. They give us images of an orange with a straw sticking out so we think what we are drinking is coming right off the tree and into the carton. Oh contraire. That’s not how it’s done. Watch this to get a mouthful on how processed our the orange juice in the grocery store really is.
So do I want to drink a large glass of something that my body will process efficiently into fat? Do I want to drink something from a carton that’s had the life sucked out of it and then put back in a new chemical format? Or do I just want to eat an orange?
I think I’ll quit my old complaining about how long it takes to peel an orange, and the fact that I like to take even more time to peel off all the pith. Please, pass me an orange.
You should also check out today's recipe for Cinnamon Tangerines.
These are a juicy, fun dessert. I highly recommend serving these after a Mexican-themed meal. The cinnamon goes great after hot food. But you can eat them anytime! I bet these would be great slightly frozen on a hot day too!
Cheers,
"I never felt like I was deprived or hungry at all.”
Dieter Mary Anne had tried every diet imaginable. She considers herself someone who eats healthy and leads an active lifestyle but at 46 years old, she still struggled with her weight. Mary Anne found Plan Z from a friend's recommendation. “I had a friend who shared Zola [Plan Z] with me and it was life changing.”
In 50 days, she lost 30 lbs and continued to lose weight living ZLife in the year that followed. Using the education she received on Plan Z, Mary Anne got down to 148 lbs (from 192 lbs) and she kept the weight off for 9 years! Now, she tells us, “I [feel] SO MUCH better... And I never felt like I was deprived or hungry at all.”
Before Plan Z, Mary Anne struggled with plantar fasciitis, and regular pain in her knees. But losing the first 30 lbs alleviated these physical ailments for her almost right away.
“I slept better, I looked better, I felt better, and it was very noticeable. I got comments and compliments from so many people.”
Listen to her interview here:
Chow Down On Chili
Chile is the pepper. Chili is the concoction.
And now that we’ve got that straight, let’s talk chili. It’s chilly outside these days so now’s a perfect time.
The history of chili is long and varied. Even the International Chili Society debates the origins of chili. (Yes, there IS an International Chili Society). Chili has been around in one form or another since cooking began.
The origins of Texas chili seem to have come from a range cook who was working along the cattle trail, feeding the hungry men at the end of a long day of rustling steer. Here’s his original recipe:
CHILI CON CARNE
Cut up as much meat as you think you will need (any kind will do, but beef is probably best) in pieces about the size of a pecan. Put it in a pot, along with some suet (enough so as the meat won’t stick to the sides of the pot), and cook it with about the same amount of wild onions, garlic, oregano, and chiles as you have got meat. Put in some salt. Stir it from time to time and cook it until the meat is as tender as you think it’s going to get.
I love that last part about cooking it as long as it takes to get it tender. My theory is chili was developed as a full-flavored dish to mask the flavor of what was probably pretty bad meat.
I have another Texas chili story:
Years ago, we invited a couple over to our house for a Sunday meal. The gentleman decided he’d like to make his favorite chili. He was from Texas and said Texans make the best chili. He would bring the ingredients and make it in our kitchen. Oh, and by the way, he needed to start by 11 AM or the chili would not be done in time for dinner.
Yep. They just sort of invited themselves over for the entire day!
We had just met this couple a couple of months prior so we didn’t know them very well. We weren’t sure what we were going to do with them for an entire day. Turns out we didn’t really need to think too hard. They had plans.
In addition to all the ingredients they needed to make the chili, they brought fixings for Bloody Mary’s and for martinis. Their plan was to play board games and drink all day.
They put the meat on the stove and started to tenderize it. Their methodology involved continuing to add things to the meat as the day progressed and continually cook it over low heat so it would become melt-in-your-mouth tender.
My husband and I are not adept at drinking all afternoon, but they were. Many a martini went down easy. We did enjoy playing the board games. Trivial Pursuit was in vogue then. We laughed and played a few rounds of that. In-between we watched football. The chili-man kept at his chili and around 7 PM we actually ate dinner. The chili was excellent but I never asked for the recipe. I’m not good at 8-hour recipes. I don’t have many of them in my recipe file.
No beans. No macaroni. No discernible vegetables. Nothing but meat. We made cornbread to round out the meal.
At chili contests, you’ll see all manner of chili recipes now. White chili made with chicken and white beans. Chili made with hamburger or chili made with stewing meat. Veggie chili too. Chili is all over the place now.
I recommend chili as a tailgate item. Instead of firing up the grill behind your vehicle, I suggest you bring along a crock pot full of chili. It’s easy to eat; conveniently held in one hand. The chili will even keep your hand warm as you eat it. The chilies in the chili will keep your tummy warm during the game too. You can serve it in those cardboard bowls and clean up in a jiffy.
Chili is a traveler for sure. I’ve heard of truckers who brown up their meat at home, toss everything else for the chili along with the browned meat in a crockpot, plug it into the lighter socket and head off down the road. Chili’s done a few hours later, the cab of the truck smells fantastic and a crock pot full of chili makes several meals.
Chili travels to the office too and makes a fine and dandy meal heated in the microwave. A bowl of chili can even make a quick after-school snack.
I opened my cupboard the other day and found a jar of roasted red pepper strips. That inspired me to make a new chili. Plan Z Diet has a bunch of great chili recipes. Everything from simple Chili Con Carne to fiery Caribbean Chicken Chili. Comfort food that’s diet food. That’s a BIG YUM.
Cheers,
Chili Con Carne
This is a meaty chili with some veggies tossed in for crunch factor. Makes a satisfying lunch. You can take chili to the office and heat in the microwave for a perfect Zola To GO! meal. You can also freeze individual portions for later retrieval and then heat them.
Fat Tuesday in the Old French Quarter
Fat Tuesday is here folks. The end of Mardi Gras, and for many, the beginning of periodic fasting or giving up something special for Lent. The party’s over for those who follow these traditions; at least until Easter.
People go all out on Fat Tuesday. New Orleans is the city most famous for their celebration.
I’ve been to New Orleans a few times; just not for the parade and the party atmosphere that dazzles the crowds on Fat Tuesday. Remember, this is the feast of necklaces with beads, traded for favors. This is the parade riddled with huge crowds of scantily clad women and men who hide their identities behind elaborate costumes. The French Quarter goes through days of cleaning after Fat Tuesday is over. It’s one heck of a party. I guess I’ve matured and I’m too old for those kinds of shenanigans. I used to think I wanted to go to New Orleans for Fat Tuesday; at least once. Now, I think I’m over it.
Last time I was in New Orleans, I decided I liked the city better at night; especially the area around Bourbon Street. During the day you see the aftermath of the party atmosphere the night before. The party is every day on Bourbon Street; not just Fat Tuesday. There’s a smell of stale beer and spilled liquor that hangs in the air. If you’re there in July, (like I was the last time), the humidity can be stifling. I much prefer the evenings when it cools down (at least a little), the music is playing and people are out for a good time. It sort of covers up the nasty parts.
What I thought I’d do today is give you a little food tour of my favorite places in New Orleans. It’s Fat Tuesday. Seems totally appropriate.
I’m going to include links so you can check these places out further.
First stop - NOLA.
I used to be a huge fan of Chef Emeril Lagasse when he first got famous in the early 80’s. NOLA is one of his restaurants in New Orleans. He now has four. I started out my eating adventures in New Orleans at his first restaurant called Emeril’s. I like NOLA’s modernity and casual atmosphere. Many of the top restaurants in New Orleans are more upscale. NOLA’s is more boisterous and serves food with twists and turns you don’t expect from Cajun or Creole food.
Emeril was not born in New Orleans, but he certainly is partial to that city. At one point, he was the Head Chef at Commander’s Palace –after the famous New Orleans Chef Paul Prudhomme left. (When blackened catfish was popular in the 80’s, I always used Paul Prudhomme’s recipe. BIG YUM.) Commander’s Palace is probably the most famous New Orleans restaurant.
I preferred the venerable Arnaud’s.
Stepping into Arnaud’s, you know you’re in the deep south, bathed in tradition. The décor has a southern charm with a French flair. The waiters are all dressed in formal attire and live jazz is playing.
I can only remember one thing I ate at Arnaud’s. Don’t get me wrong. It was all fantastic, but it was the crème brulee that stole my heart.
Our waiter saw me taking my time reading the dessert menu. He seemed to lose his patience with me. He took the dessert menu out of my hands and told me he’d take care of selecting my dessert. He strolled off.
I was pretty miffed. I fancied myself a foodie and didn’t like the idea of some guy deciding my dessert for the evening.
What he brought back was foreign to me. I was young. I didn’t have the culinary experience I do now. He set in front of me what I thought looked like a yellow puddle of pudding with some crust on it. I had to break into it to eat it. I have to admit, my eyes rolled back in my head when I took my first bite. I moaned.
The crust on the top was hot and sugary. It broke like glass when I tapped on it with my spoon. The custard was cold and tasted dreamy; like nothing I had ever had.
When the waiter returned to our table, I made some comment about if they had a mixing bowl of the stuff back in the kitchen I’d like to lick it clean.
He smiled. He was quite proud of himself.
I was quite happy with my dessert.
Even though I prefer New Orleans in the evening, I will bring up one other New Orleans specialty that I’d recommend is worth the carbs.
The beignets.
Café DuMonde is the most famous coffee place in New Orleans and of course, they serve beignets as a breakfast treat.
They also serve chicory coffee. A Cajun tradition. Be careful with that stuff. Chicory coffee has a kick.
The last time I ate a beignet it was “baby-sized” and I tapped off all of the powdered sugar, but just one little one as a treat is something you’ll remember forever. Besides, Fat Tuesday is right around the corner.
Cheers,
White Chocolate Creme Brulee (Custard) with Strawberry Coulis (Sauce)
Only 10 grams of carbohydrates per serving!
A Babe is Born
Flint Roman Chaney arrived a little early on 1/18/2020. He was scheduled to arrive on 1/20/2020. That would have been a cool birth date to have. Such a clever set of numbers but, alas, he had other things in mind. He wanted to start partying early.
Speaking of parties, we had one in honor of his parents Jen (our Operations Manager), and her husband Flint (the handsome professional photographer). It was a baby shower with a gift emphasis of diapers. Now, there’s a theme. Can’t get enough.
It was an afternoon couple’s shower on a Sunday. Brunch. We held it in the complex party room.
I thought I’d share the menu and mention why I made each item.
First up:
Italian Sausage, Mushroom and Cheese Brunch Casserole
This is low carb all the way. It’s easy to make. I mean EASY. It serves about 12 on a brunch buffet. I made two of these because I was serving 35 for brunch. I am including the recipe for this dish with the column.
Now, I would not normally serve potatoes. The good news about these is they are made with tons of sour cream and butter and covered in cheese. Not really low carb but the cheese, sour cream and butter all work to keep the glycemic uptake down. That way your blood sugar doesn’t surge because of the potatoes.
Alaskan Smoked Salmon with Horseradish Sauce and Mini Bagels
My husband recently gave a speech in Alaska. As a speaker thank you gift, they gave him a whole smoked salmon. We’d been saving it for a special occasion. I thought this was a perfect way to serve such a special brunch item. I served it with teeny bagels to keep the tradition of bagels and salmon but keep down the carbs. Worked perfectly. I had lost of bagels left over.
This is always a big hit. Easy to make. Low carb and it even tastes better after it sits for a few hours or overnight (store in refrigerator). I am including this recipe too (link). Serve with celery sticks for the ultimate low carb experience or splurge and have a few crackers.
Cream Cheese and Chutney Dip
This is not exactly low carb, but it’s super easy to make and it gives a bit of exotic flair to a regular buffet. We don’t even have to have a link to this recipe. All you need is a block of cream cheese on a serving platter. Cover it with a blob of mango chutney (From the jar. Find it in the Indian section) and then top it with cocktail peanuts. I serve it with small Wheat Thins because the cracker can actually act as the dipper. My secret to this is to make it an hour or two ahead so the cream cheese loosens up and gets closer to room temperature.
Sweet and Spicy Mustard Meatballs
This recipe came to me from my husband’s nephew. He’s making fancy mustards in his kitchen and selling them on-line! Price’s Macho Mustard it’s called. We were given two big jars of mustard for a Christmas gift. I thought… How can I use this? And voila… he provided a recipe. I made them in a cast iron Dutch oven. They stayed hot on the buffet and looked cool because of the pan they were in.
Nuts and Caramel Corn
Everyone loves caramel corn, but that stuff is designed (inadvertently) to make you ill. Too much sugar. My secret is to take twice as many mixed nuts than caramel corn and put them in a trifle bowl on the brunch buffet. They look beautiful in the bowl but with each handful you take, you get lots of nuts and very little caramel corn. Satisfy the sweet tooth and keep your waistline intact.
This was a new recipe. I found a Keto Lemon Bar recipe on -ine and played with it a bit to make a yummy lemon dessert. Display secret is I made them in a parchment lined tart pan instead of a 9 X 13” baking pan. That way I could slice them into little wedges, and they look prettier than squares.
Big YUM and only 4 grams of carbs per bar.
The party took some work but what Jen did took a lot more work! I am forever telling her what a great job she did at work. Flint Roman might be her biggest achievement yet. Way to Go Jen and Flint!
Cheers,
Enjoy
ITALIAN SAUSAGE, MUSHROOM AND CHEESE BRUNCH CASSEROLE
As far as brunch casseroles go, this one is very easy to make and pleases the crowd. It can be made ahead and heated the day of the party.
Chocolate Dipped Pears
Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe
Servings: Serves 6.
I can see serving this at a dinner party, or as a special treat for a special someone.
You need a little forward planning with this, so your pears can be ripe on the day you want to make this. Usually two or three days ahead will yield you a juicy dessert. Good news is in about 10 minutes you have dessert completed.
Ingredients:
6 ripe pears, medium size. I used Bartlett green/yellow but you could use red or most other pears. The only one I would not recommend is Bosc but just because I would not think it would be very pretty when finished.
8 oz. dark chocolate (70-78% cacao), melted. You’ll have chocolate left over when this is complete, but you need to have a deep enough pool of chocolate to cover the pears. Just make a chocolate sauce/ganache out of the rest and you can serve that over almond pound cake. (insert links to pound cake and ganache)
4-5 oz. salted nuts, chopped. I recommend peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts or pecans. Chop them pretty finely or the pears won’t pick them up and they will topple. (I know, it happened to me)
Instructions:
To melt chocolate, I use a double boiler. I still think that works best without scorching the chocolate. Some people are aces at melting it in a microwave.
Place melted chocolate in one bowl and the chopped nuts in a second bowl.
These bowls should be fairly small and on the deep side.
Dip room temperature pears in chocolate then in nuts. Place dipped pears on a cooling rack to set or you can place them on a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper.
I’d store them at room temperature until you serve them on day 1. The chocolate will firm back up and form a coating on the pears.
Pears and chocolate go great together. Who needs a candy apple! I served with a steak knife for cutting top to bottom, and a fork.
Enjoy!
Cheers,