Pound Cake

Pound cake may be one of the most delicious cakes that I have ever eaten.  What does it taste like? Heaven?  You can practically hear the angels singing as that first buttery, sweetness hits your taste buds.  If the cake is warm, those angels may stop in the middle of their chorus to appreciate their own glory just as  you may stop in mid bite to appreciate the moistness and smoothness that is found in few other cakes. This cake in its flavor and texture somehow make me think of hospitality – a delightful and charming comfort that welcomes me to stay and eat for as long as I like.

Where does pound cake come from?  Contrary to my imagination it isn’t actually heaven.  In my reality, it comes from my mother-in-law’s kitchen, which is appropriate because she and her kitchen embody that sense of hospitality, that same delightful and charming comfort that her cake does.  Before the recipe made it to my mother-in-law’s kitchen, the cake was created and concocted somewhere in England during the 1700’s.  For more information about the history of the pound cake, take a look at Cooks Info.

But why does “pound” separate it from all of the other cakes out there?  And no, it has nothing to do with any pounds you might gain if you really do stay and eat as long as you like.  It actually has to do with the measurement of ingredients. The people of the 1700’s were not as lucky as we are today; many of them couldn’t read let alone write down a recipe and so “pound” cake referred to the pound of butter, the pound of flour, the pound of sugar, and the pound of eggs that went into the cake.  “Pound” cake was really a way to remember the recipe.  You can imagine that this recipe would create a very large cake that would feed a lot of people.  No wonder it tastes like hospitality.

It's also no wonder that I had never really enjoyed pound cake until recently.  Over the years the recipe has changed, yet the name has stayed the same.  Some have added ingredients like leavening agents, fruit, and even sour cream have been added.  The amounts have also been reduced so that we can have smaller cakes.  Even though a pound of each ingredient is no longer used, eggs and butter are still important ingredients that make the cake what it is.  I'm so glad that I'm no longer allergic to them! 

I will conclude with a conversation that my husband and I had over the last piece of pound cake that my mother-in-law so kindly brought to us:

Me:  Want to share the last piece of pound cake?

Husband: No, that’s your piece.  I ate mine last night.

Me: But I love you so much that I’m willing to share!

Husband: It’s up to you.  How about you eat what you want and I will eat the rest?

I gave him exactly one bite.  Although it was a big bite, I guess hospitality (generosity?) is not a side effect of eating the cake.  I think I should eat more of it to really find out.

Everyone's a Dieter: The Low Cholesterol Diet Experience

It’s strange, but I’ve never considered myself a dieter.  It’s strange because at exactly the ripe old age of 2, I’ve been doing exactly that – dieting.  It started with the milk, egg, potato allergy.  My mom came pretty close to eliminating those things from my diet.  Then in high school out of some morbid combination of rebelling from my steak and potato/hunter gatherer family and simply being a teenage girl who wanted to wear midriffs (it was the 90’s, so give me a break!) I became a short lived not all that dedicated vegetarian.  In college I moved on to the necessary peanut butter and cracker diet, which really only meant that I wasn’t allergic to these ingredients and they were cheap so I ate A LOT of them.  Which brings me to today in my adult, working life where I’ve been on a number of self-inflicted diets ranging from the sugar-free diet to the yeast-free diet to even the grain-free diet and the worst of all the sugar-yeast-grain free diet.  

The optimal word here is “free” and yet I don’t feel free at all, but rather a slave to these diets.  But really we all have some kind of diet and so I’m pretty sure that makes us all dieters and we all have to eat so I guess we are all slaves to whatever diet we choose in some way or another whether it is in the kitchen, the drive through, or the five star restaurant.  We have to eat to survive.

Green onions from my flower pot garden

I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this and wish I would post a picture of a hamburger or something. No hamburger today.  The husband recently discovered that he has high cholesterol and so we immediately embarked on a low cholesterol diet. We have been on this diet for about two months now.  We aren’t incredibly strict about it and do enjoy a nice trip to Sonic occasionally.  The husband has gotten a lot of inquiries about this low cholesterol diet he is on and so I thought I would share the secret with you all.  Are you ready for it, people?  The secret to the husband’s low cholesterol diet is (enter drum roll....) vegetables!  The secret is exactly what our mothers have always told us: eat your vegetables! The husband and I took on a conscious effort to reduce the meat that we eat and increase the vegetables.  The goal is not to lose weight, but to be healthier and balanced. We also have added whole grains into the mix too.  (I’m not sure if corn chips count as a whole grain, but I can’t live without them and so they stay in the “diet”.)

What kind of vegetables, you ask?  Experienced dietitians may disagree with me, but I say anything!

Zucchini Noodles with Lime Chicken

 I have even started growing my own onions!  Next year I hope to try basil and even zucchini.  While it is technically a fruit, zucchini is this diet’s best friend.  We have made a number of “pastas” from zucchini using the inspiring spiralizer.  Our latest recipe was Zucchini Noodles with Cilantro Lime Chicken.  Of course, I changed it up a bit because I don’t like cilantro so I omitted it and sprinkled a tiny amount dried parsley on the top of the complete dish.  I also only used about half of the cumin.  This left the dish tasting fresh, the sour bite of the lime juice dressing an invigorating surprise.  I also added fresh green onion from my flower-pot garden and slices of fresh tomatoes from my dad’s neighbor’s garden. 

It was relatively easy to make this healthy dish and the husband said he would eat it again.  Not a bad tasting meal for being part of a low-cholesterol diet.  Like all of you other dieters out there, we like (love?) food and we will be joining you all at  the bbq grill to celebrate Labor Day over hamburgers and maybe some other kind of red meat, so there probably won’t be any other healthy recipes posted for a while.

A Yellow Cake and Chocolate Frosting Attempt

OK, so I’m not Martha Stewart. I decided to make a cake for my dad's birthday. I asked him what his favorite kind of cake was and he responded with "ummmm…. " My sister, the Cake/Pie Goddess, quickly jumped in with “Don’t you like carrot cake?”  If my mind really had gears, I would have felt them whirring – carrots, I’d have to shred them, does it have pineapple in it, should I make it gluten free, what about the frosting – cream cheese, buttercream?  Obviously, I’ve never made a carrot cake before and obviously for some unknown reason I’m afraid to make a carrot cake.  But as my dad does, he saved me from my own thoughts and said, “I like yellow cake with chocolate frosting!”

That I felt I could do.  So for my dad’s birthday I concocted my very first yellow cake and my very first chocolate frosting.  Of course, I had eaten both of these things before and even made the cake from a boxed cake mix, but I had never made my own from scratch.

The Cake/Pie Goddess was out of town, so I was on my own for this creation.  I found two great recipes on Martha Stewart’s website for yellow cake.  One was for Yellow Butter Cake and the other for a Simple Layer Cake.  I decided to go with the simple one for a few reasons: 1. Because it said it was simple and I figured I could handle that and 2. It called for less butter and less eggs, which I figured was a good way to lower fat and cholesterol intake.  And, yes, I know I probably just ruined cake for everyone.

Making the cake was actually pretty easy, especially using an electric mixer. I’m rather new to the electric mixer. Before I got married I never had one and just mixed everything by hand. What a work out! Now that I know how easy it is to mix things together with the electric mixer, I may be baking more!  As you probably know by now, I can’t follow a recipe.  I just can’t.  That’s all there is to it.  I substituted whole milk with almond/coconut milk.

All was well until the two 9 inch cakes were baked and cooled.  Getting them out of the pan was a real challenge.  I didn’t use parchment paper to line the pans as the recipe instructed.  (Maybe I should learn to follow a recipe after all!) Instead, I greased and floured the bottoms of the pans.  Oops!  The cakes stuck to the bottom of the pans and I had to reconstruct them by pushing the cake pieces together into giant cake blobs. (No pictures for this because it was way too messy!)

Enter Chocolate Frosting.  I made a half recipe of Martha Stewart’s Ultimate Chocolate Frosting, again using almond/coconut milk instead of real milk.  This frosting was surprisingly good!  I don’t usually like a strong chocolate flavor, but this recipe has changed my mind.  It had just the right combination of chocolate and vanilla to cause a perfect chocolate frosting addiction.  Not only was it delicious, but it became the perfect edible binding to hold the yellow cake together. 

The cake itself definitely needed the frosting's flavor.  It was missing something that I can't quite place.  Maybe it needed the extra butter and eggs in the other recipe or maybe I should have doubled the vanilla.  I'm not sure, so I guess I will have to make more cake to figure it out!

Martha Stewart, I am not.  My cake looked terrible, but it actually tasted great!  It was made with love, creativity, and happy birthday wishes for my dad.  Happy Birthday, Dad!  

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 7

Broccoli.  Apples. Fried chicken.  Pizza. Nachos.  Garlic.  I miss them all!  It’s day 7 of 7 and I am hungry.  I am craving everything that I can’t have.  I don’t eat a lot of wheat bread any more, but above all else I want a simple dinner roll with butter slathered all over it.  Mmmmm…butter….

Almost there! No change for breakfast and lunch.  I will not miss peanuts. Peanut butter is different though.

For dinner I wanted to attempt to use all 7 ingredients, but I ran out of spinach!  I made a variation of Cuban Chicken.  I only made this recipe once and was disappointed in the preparation time to flavor ratio.  It took a lot of time to make a disappointingly bland meal.  My variation required cooking rice in chicken broth, using up leftover burnt turkey breast, cooking sweet potatoes  halfway in the microwave then slicing and frying in skillet, frying bananas in same skillet, layering everything in a bowl and then sprinkling with peanuts on the top.  And the husband’s response?  “Fried bananas!”

The husband's symbol for fried bananas

OK, so these are not the fried bananas at Tucano’s where this response originated from, but they were a sweet topping to bland rice, salty dry turkey, and the sweet potato

that I’m now having nightmares about. (I had a dream that I would never be able to eat sweet potatoes again and a horrible fear washed over me, but when I woke up I had no desire to eat sweet potatoes.  I’m tired of them!)  And that was the end to day 7 of 7 days of 7 foods.  We ate all the spinach, all the turkey, all the sweet potatoes, and we are down to one banana, half a bag of brown rice, and half a jar of peanuts.

On day 2, my sister the Pie Goddess asked “What is the point of all of this?  Is this another one of your crazy diets?”  Great question, Pie Goddess!  I responded with “No, this one actually has a point beyond the food itself.”  The husband said that the purpose of fasting is to get to a point that you no longer think of what you are fasting from, but you are able to think beyond it.  Enlightenment, anyone? I really appreciated his explanation.  I don’t know if this really counted as a fast and as you can see from my above cravings, I don’t think I’ve reached any kind of enlightenment or way of reaching beyond what I’m fasting from.

I think that Jen Hatmaker, the author of the book that inspired this journey, was able to focus more on God and His plan.  While I did find myself praying more and really thinking about the needs of others, I also found myself thinking about the 7 ingredients and how I could use them and feed my husband and myself without going crazy.  I think I may have focused too much on my own plan and not God’s, but I will make a conscious effort to pray more and plan less and see what happens.

I’m glad that I went on this journey.  I learned that I can make the most of just about anything.  I learned that I can be creative.  I learned not to take the things that I have for granted including any food that I have in my pantry.  I learned to embrace compassion and empathy while still remaining practical.  I learned that I’m not poor and that I need to stop using this word as I have been.  I learned that the body really is a temple and that we should care for it as best as we can, but I also learned that we shouldn’t be so restrictive that we forget to enjoy what we do have.  And to prove this point I may celebrate day 8 with a big bowl of ice cream!

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 6

The key to making the 7 diet work is snacks!  I was going to enter the calories for everything that I ate by using Fitness Pal, but that it is going to take way to much work and I doubt it is of much interest to anyone.  Let’s just say that I attempted to eat more today to avoid the hunger pains.  I took a little bag of peanuts to work for a morning snack and I ate an extra banana at lunch.

Because there has been a chicken recall, I couldn’t make myself by any chicken even the brands that haven’t been reported as having salmonella.  Instead, I’ve been eating A LOT of turkey!  For dinner, I decided to try something different.  I made a small boneless turkey breast in the crockpot!  Before work I put the turkey in the crock pot with about half a cup of chicken broth and sprinkled it with salt and pepper.  I set the timer for 10 hours to give me plenty of time to get home from work and check on it.

When I pulled into the garage after work, I could smell it!  This was either a really good sign or a really bad sign.  I can’t usually smell whatever is cooking in the kitchen in the garage.  I walked inside and the husband said, “Take a look at it,” with a little grin.  I immediately cringed, “Did it burn?”  He just shrugged so I investigated.  The turkey had a beautiful dark golden brown coloring,

but the chicken broth and all solidified into a black char at the bottom of the pot.  I pulled the turkey out and set it on a plate so that it couldn’t cook or dry out any more than it already had.  The end of it was so hard that I couldn’t cut through it!

The turkey had to be salvaged because I’m running out of my 7 ingredients!  (I’ve been to the store twice this week just to buy bananas and I don’t want to make a third trip!)  Inspired by Thanksgiving yet again, I decided to make a simple gravy to moisten the meat.

Gravy

1 cup chicken broth

1 T rice flour

Lots of salt and pepper

I beat all the lumps out of the liquid and then boiled until it thickened.  Voila! Gravy!  I forcefully sawed the meat into slices and generously spooned gravy over the top.  “Baked” sweet potatoes in the microwave are so good that I made them again.  Dinner was saved.

Lessons Learned

Use more liquid when using the 10 hour setting on the crock pot.  Maybe try a bone-in turkey breast next time?  Above all, trust that everything will work out in the end.

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 5

Today was a hungry day.  Do you ever have those days when just can’t seem to eat enough?  It was also leftover day, but I don’t think this was the cause of my hunger. I ate leftover peanut butter banana cookies for breakfast (yum!) and leftover fried rice for lunch.  By 9:00 I had to eat some of my lunch in order to quiet my growling stomach until lunch time. I attempted to buy banana chips from a convenience store for something to snack on, but they were made with coconut oil and sugar, so I put them back. By about 3:30 I was so hungry that my stomach actually hurt.  I somehow pushed through and made it home about 5:00 and even though peanuts and I aren’t friends any more, I grabbed a handful and devoured them.   At least they calmed the hunger pain.

Dinner was not very creative tonight.  I made thin turkey cutlets in the skillet and sweet potatoes in the microwave.  Nothing to brag home about, but it was food and I ate it without complaint!  For dessert I made peanut butter banana cookies again, but this time and I rolled the dough into little balls and put them in the refrigerator for a no bake treat.  The husband ate one and with a look of shock on his face, he put the ice cream container back into the freezer and asked if he could have two more

cookies instead!  Wow!

The cookies remind me of something my mom used to make.  As a kid who couldn't eat ice cream or chocolate, these little peanut butter, graham cracker morsels  were like heaven, a welcome creamy treat that wouldn't result in a rash.  I feel the same way abut the healthy cookies!

Maybe I should continue making sugar free healthy desserts even after my 7 days are over!  The good news is that I’ve lost a little bit of weight by eating a combinations of only 7 things and the pants that I had moved to back of the closet fit again.  The bad news is that my other replacement pants are a little big and then, of course, the  small fact that I feel like my stomach is eating itself.

I can't imagine what it must be like to feel like that all the time, not have the opportunity to grab a handful of peanuts, have the ability to look for something to snack on, or have the stability of a scheduled eating time.   I am grateful that I am able to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and still have the luxury to complain that I'm hungry.  

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 4

Breakfast and lunch were the same as usual, so nothing to report.  I am getting tired of eating peanuts though.  Honestly, I don’t think they like me any more than I like them.  But it is already day 4, so I know that I can make it the rest of the week!

Dinner

I decided to let the 7 things inspire me and I came up with a delicious idea: fried brown rice with coconut aminos (my substitute soy sauce).

chicken and spinach!  I boiled the rice in water and chicken broth, browned the chicken in the wok, set the chicken aside, and then fried the rice in the same skillet so that the salty chicken pieces coated the rice.  I chopped up some spinach and added it to the mix with some salt and pepper.  I didn’t even miss the

Dessert

I had a rough day and I really wanted to bake something.  I know you’re probably thinking that I can’t possibly bake with only 7 things, but if you want something bad enough you’ll find a way to get it.  And so I got it!  I made up a recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Cookies inspired by the real recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies.  This is one of my favorite recipes because I haven’t followed it yet!  I always make substitutions and changes and the cookies always come out different yet delicious.

Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

1 banana, mashed

3 T peanut butter

1 T olive oil

¾ cup rice flour

¼ tsp salt

I mixed all of the ingredients together, let the dough sit for 10 minutes, considered not baking them and putting them in the refrigerator, but decided to bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.  They came out like soft little naturally sweet cookies, real cookies, not like puffy like cake cookies, or crunchy cracker cookies, but real cookies!  I will definitely make these again.

I’m glad that I decided to embark on the journey of 7 things because it has forced me to tap into my creativity and actually create something rather than just think about creating something!

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 3

No variation on breakfast.  For lunch I made a delicious spinach salad with turkey a little olive oil and salt and pepper.  This what my usual lunch during the week is, so no real change here.

Dinner

First, I want to say that the husband had an opportunity to have dinner with a friend.  He declined because he said that he didn’t want me to have to do this by myself.  Thank you for being supportive, husband!

In my opinion, he chose a great night to be supportive.  I made turkey spinach burgers with roasted sweet potatoes.  I altered recipes that were in my collection to fit the confines of 7.  If you're not restricting you diet to 7 things, you might want to try Spinach and Feta Turkey Burgers with Sun Dried Tomatoes

For a healthier alternative, you might want to try my version:

Turkey & Spinach Burgers

1 lb. ground turkey

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

1 T rice flour

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Mix it all together in a large bowl.  Separate into four sections and create patties.  Flatten patties in a large skillet.  Brown each side and then cook until there is no pink in the meat.  Browning the meat adds an extra saltiness so that condiments are really needed.

When I usually make roasted sweet potatoes, I like to use a lot of spices.  In fact, I really miss chili powder and cinnamon!  If you too like spices, try out Sweet & Spicy Sweet Potatoes.  For a less spicy, more traditional flavor, try my version:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 ½ T olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Put potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle with olive oil.  Make sure it is evenly spread on potatoes and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake at 425 F for about 20 minutes.

The husband said that he would eat this any day, diet or no, so I guess that is a good sign.  Maybe I will keep making the healthy alternatives in the future!

Dessert

While the husband had low fat frozen yogurt for dessert, I had previously sliced a banana and frozen it.  It wasn't bad!  It was a little on the cold side, but it gave me some ideas for future ice cream!  

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 2

I cheated. It’s only day 2 and I already cheated.  I thought this experiment was going to be easy. I thought that because I’ve been on so many elimination and restricted diets in the past that limiting my food to 7 (10 things, if I’m being honest) would be easy for me.  It’s not.  I will come back to this, but I wanted to be honest from the beginning and set the tone for the rest of this post.

Breakfast

I had my usual banana and peanut butter, but this time I sprinkled dry roasted peanuts on the top for some extra protein.

Lunch

My sister (a/k/a Goddess of Pie and Cake) was visiting.  She, my mom, and I usually go out to lunch and shopping when she is in town.  I was worried about going out to eat and trying to make this diet work especially with someone that I call Goddess of Pie and Cake, so instead I invited them over to lunch.  Surprisingly, they accepted and were completely willing to try my limited offering lunch.  Instead of feeling restricted by the 7 things, I was inspired.  Most of the things on the list remind me of Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday.  So…I decided to prepare a pseudo Thanksgiving meal.

The store didn’t have a good selection of turkey breasts that I could roast.  I guess July isn’t really the season for this sort of thing, but they did have turkey cutlets.  I prepared these in a skillet with a splash of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I made “baked” sweet potatoes in the microwave and served it with fresh spinach.  The turkey seemed a little dry to me, but my family ate it and we enjoyed just hanging out with each other, so no complaints for me.

Dinner

Since the Goddess of Pie and Cake was in town, my dad invited us out for dinner.  I explained my 7 things that I could eat and he said, “You can still order chicken tacos with rice and potatoes!”  This was his plan and there would be no changing that plan.  I decided that spending time with my family was more important than trying to follow the 7 things diet.  The husband sincerely told me that it would be ok, “just ask for forgiveness.”

I ended up ordering the tacos with no cheese and two sides of rice.  I contemplated only eating the chicken out of the tacos, but thought this was rather wasteful considering the point of this experiment is to cut out the excess, not to waste the excess.  But God really does work in mysterious ways.  There was a woman who was sitting behind us.  She was talking to herself rather loudly about how her mother raised her to feed and clothe herself and if we didn’t believe her either she or her mother would kick our ass.  She watched as our food was served and made pointed comments about how she always ate rice to make herself feel better and then just muttered the word tacos.  Talk about awkward!  What does one do in this situation? I wanted to buy her a plate of food, but didn’t.  Have you ever gone to school knowing that there was a test that you didn’t study for, knowing that you were going to fail?  This is how I felt.

The woman told the waitress that she only had $6 and couldn’t pay for everything she had ordered.  I only saw that she had coffee and later exchanged it for tea, but my sister said that she had a plate of food when we first arrived.  I felt better knowing that she had eaten.  I was just about to go to the front and offer to pay for her food when one of the ladies at the table next to us went over to her and told her not to worry that the check was taken care of.  Thank you, God, for moving someone to help this woman.  After knowing that the woman had been helped and that she had eaten, I could finally eat my own tacos.  And, yes, I ate the corn tortillas and the lettuce and tomato without hesitation. 

Unfortunately, this woman needed more than food.  She told the good Samaritan that she had money, that she just forgot her purse.  Then she asked if the woman would ask the waitress to bring her 4 or 5 more tortillas.  The good Samaritan’s husband shook his head and they left.  I don’t know if more tortillas were brought to the table or not.  The skeptic in me can’t help but wonder if this same scenario would be repeated throughout the night only because at one point in the woman’s muddled conversation to herself, she asked “Why should I only eat in soup kitchens?”

I could discuss the necessity of mental health care, I could discuss the struggle that occurs within me to answer this question, I could discuss that the answer is always money, or I can simply end this post by saying that limiting my food intake to 7 (10) things is self-imposed and not really a struggle at all.

7 Foods for 7 Days: Day 1

For breakfast I didn’t deviate from my normal meal too much.  I had a banana with natural sugar free peanut butter. I didn’t add any raisins or other kind of dried fruit like I normally do, so it was a little chalky but not bad.  I already admitted that I was not going to give up caffeine, so I also had coffee with a bit of  almond/coconut milk.

For lunch I had two slices of Kirkland brand turkey lunch meat that I got from Costco.  It doesn’t have as many preservatives as other lunch meat, so I feel it is a healthier alternative.  With it I had two rice cakes.  I checked the ingredients and it only has brown rice and salt in it, so it still meets the criteria of 7 things.  It wasn’t a bad lunch, my only observation was that it was very white, no color whatsoever.   But it was food and I really shouldn’t complain.  Unfortunately, I don’t think it had enough calories because I was pretty hungry by 3:00 pm, not starving but hungry to start thinking about dinner.  I found some physical labor to keep me busy at work and not focus on my grumbling stomach.

When I got home, I grabbed a handful of peanuts while I prepared dinner. For dinner, I made chicken

lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, sautéed in a spritz of olive oil.  I made “baked” sweet potatoes in the microwave and served it with fresh baby spinach.  It’s amazing how delicious sweet potatoes and spinach are all on their own without any flavorings added.  They are extremely colorful too, so the plate actually looked appetizing.  Of course, it’s only Day 1 and my opinion could change on this.

The husband has agreed to go on this journey with me for dinner.  I’m not expecting him to follow it  beyond that, so it didn’t surprise me when he wanted dessert after dinner was over.  Luckily, we had some non-fat frozen yogurt in the freezer and that seemed to satisfy the sweet tooth.  I had half a banana that I grabbed out of the refrigerator.  The cold banana oddly tasted different than the room temperature banana I had for breakfast, much more dessert-like, a healthy creamy treat and still within my 7 foods!

Day 1 complete!  Will I make it through the weekend?              

The Luxury of Choice

I normally write about new foods that I’ve tried in this blog.  Today I’m going to try something different.  Inspired by the book, “7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess,” by Jen Hatmaker and the ladies in my bible study/book club, I am embarking on a journey to only eat 7 things for 7 days.

What does one do to prepare for such a journey?  Why, eat half a pizza, of course! And no it was not one of those healthy veggie pizzas, but a real pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and olives.  It didn’t have cheese on it though! Do I regret it?  No, not really.

I had a nightmare about starting this diet, probably because I’ve been on some pretty restrictive diets in the past and have felt like I was starving.  “Felt like” – I wasn’t really starving!  What a luxury to be able to say that “I felt like I was starving,” what a luxury to be able to restrict my diet from the numerous food choices available, what a luxury to complain that there is nothing to eat just because I don’t want to cook when in reality there are people all around the world who don’t have this luxury.  They eat what they have and here I am having a frivolous nightmare about only eating 7 things for ONLY 7 days.  This is a journey, an experiment, not my reality as I really do live a luxurious life of choices.

Here is my list of things to eat for 7 days:

1.Chicken
2. Turkey
3. Rice
4. Sweet potatoes
5. Spinach
6. Peanuts
7. Bananas 

Olive oil, salt, and pepper are allowed as seasonings in 7, so I will keep in line with this.  Even though beverages other than water were not allowed in 7, I’m not going to give up caffeine.  I have tried this in the past and it didn’t go well. I gave up drinking cokes/sodas in October, so that won’t be a problem.  However, for the protection of the people that I work with and my family, I hope God agrees that it is in society’s best interest if I continue to have my morning coffee and my afternoon tea.  I usually put almond milk in my coffee; perhaps, I will try to omit it this week.  An yet another luxurious choice that I have! And so the journey begins…

French Toast or Skillet Toast?

I tried French Toast for the very first time last weekend.  I thought that it sounded like the perfect breakfast on an early Saturday morning and a nice way to reward myself for getting up early and going to the eye doctor.  (Who knew that eye doctors were open early on a Saturday!) My favorite breakfast place, Weck’s, is in the same shopping center as the eye doctor so it worked out perfectly. 

French Toast and bacon at Weck's

Everyone probably knows that French Toast is basically bread dipped in egg batter and then cooked

in a skillet.  It was served with powdered sugar sprinkled on the top and little container of butter on the side.  I was surprised that the waitress also put a small container of maple syrup next to the plate and even asked if I wanted more syrup.  I didn’t realize that the dish was supposed to be so sweet.

I was a little disappointed that the French Toast  was so bland on its own.  I really did need the maple syrup and even the butter to give it some life, some taste.  Because it was basically fried  bread, I expected it to be crispy on the outside instead of so soft.  Once the syrup was added to it, the whole plate became a mushy maybe even gushy mess.  I love the taste of maple and who doesn’t love syrup, so this isn’t really a complaint, just an observation.

I’ve never had French Toast before, so I don’t have a point of reference, but it did remind me of something my mom used to make for me and my sister.  We called it Skillet Toast.  Keep in my mind that I was allergic to eggs and milk growing up, so my mom had to get creative with feeding us breakfast.  She took a piece of  bread (probably Roman Meal) slathered in dairy free margarine (probably Country Crock) and put it butter side down in a hot skillet.  She would let it sizzle until it was a golden brown and crispy, sometimes even hard.  She usually put a jar of strawberry jelly on the table, but it was needed.

The crispy Skillet Toast was perfect all on its own.  It took on the flavor of the margarine, somehow sweet and salty all at the same time.  Mom usually made this when we went to our cabin in the mountains.  We had an interesting toaster that sat on the range of the stove, not an electric toaster like we have now.  The contraption worked really well, but dried out the bread into crackers instead of toast.  The Skillet Toast was a much more appreciated alternative. (Of course, if I were to make this today, I would have to use different bread and butter to accommodate the unwelcome soy allergy.) 

Skillet Toast somehow tasted even better in the mountains.  The cold, crisp morning air, the brighter than bright blue sky, a sun filled grassy yard, and the slight smell of damp pine needles brought a natural promise to the day ahead.  The warmth emanating from the skillet and the sweet smell of frying bread brought smiles to our faces and accentuated that promise.  I don’t think that French Toast had a chance at competing with that vivid memory.

Holy Cow!

Why would anyone name a restaurant Holy Cow?  Sure, it’s catchy, but it makes me think of cows mooing in a pasture followed by “Wow!  That’s really big – huge actually!” And then my thoughts seamlessly transition to myself and I wonder, “Am I huge?  Am I a cow?  Am I eating too much?” At least I didn’t outwardly moo during my internal stream of consciousness, not that I’m aware of anyway.  But, really, should I be eating at a place called Holy Cow?

The simple answer is, “Yes.”  While eating at Holy Cow was not a religious experience, I think I did

mutter “holy cow” when the burgers came out.  They were gigantic!  I ordered a build-your-own burger and added green chile and The Husband ordered the blue cheese burger.  I will admit that there was not much talking during this dining out experience, so I’m not sure how The Husband’s burger was.  He was too busy devouring it while he attempted to hold it in his hands.  He did manage “mmmmm” a few times, so I think that is a good sign.

Before I dismantled the burger

I took my burger a part as I normally do.  I’m turning more into a food snob like Sally in the movie When Harry Met Sally every day.  Eventually I may order everything on the side just like she does through the movie.  I took off the bun and then turned the burger upside down so that the lettuce, tomato, and green chile were on the top of the burger.  I then proceeded to knife and fork it.  I do love a good knife and fork burger and Holy Cow did not disappoint.

The meet was juicy and flavorful and did not require any ketchup.  The green chile was just spicy enough to know that I was eating green chile, but not overpowering so that I needed four glasses of water or any cheese to cool it down. 

The only downside?  Fries are not included with the burgers, which makes it a pricy dining experience for a simple burger and fries; however, it is definitely worth trying at least once.

The Inspiring Spiralizer

Spring.  It’s right around the corner.  The February sun is tempting us, teasing us with the possibility of warmth, the possibility of something new, something worth rolling out of bed to experience, the possibility of inspiration.  While the weather can’t exactly decide what it wants to do and we can’t depend on the sun to create these possibilities, we have to find inspiration in other things.

I happened to find inspiration in a kitchen gadget that I received for Christmas called The Spiralizer.  It is a tool that can turn a regular run of the mill zucchini or yellow squash, in my case, into a beautiful bowl of spirally pasta.  Inspiring? Exciting?   It is if you haven’t eaten traditional pasta in months.  So, to me The Spiralizer is the best invention since the Salad Shooter.

Zucchini or squash pasta tastes healthy, but not healthy  as in boring or “I know that I’m really eating imposter pasta,” but healthy as in fresh, as in “mmmm this is different, this is good,” as in I want seconds!

My first attempt at using The Spiralizer was a great success.  I followed the recipe for Low Carb Zucchini Pasta.  (Shocking that I actually followed a recipe, I know!) OK, so I didn’t have any zucchini, so I substituted yellow squash instead. (Guess I didn’t follow the recipe after all!)  I washed and then cut the top and bottom off the squash, then pushed and turned it through The Spiralizer.  The result, as you can see by the picture, looked much like traditional wheat pasta.

Then I made a variation of the sauce that I use in the Italian-Paleo Eggplant with Crumbled Beef, Tomatoes and Mint (minus the mint) recipe.  This sauce is very different from the usual meat marinara sauce.  It does not call for tomato sauce or tomato paste, but rather fresh tomatoes.  It also calls for vinegar, but I use apple cider vinegar to add just a hint of sweetness.  This is an excellent sauce on top of eggplant, but the squash is much more fun to spiralize than roasting the eggplant.  However, why couldn’t an eggplant be spiralized?

See what I mean?  The Spiralizer is inspiring!  If only it was in spring.

Spinach Chips aren't the Answer

Today was an all-around hard day.  It was hard for the normal reasons (work, life, balancing it all) which made it hard for the dieting reasons. For those of you who don’t follow this blog, I’ve put myself on a sugar-free, yeast-free, gluten-free diet.  For two weeks I have to avoid a number of foods in what is called a”cleanse.”  I’ve been pretty good. I have managed to avoid potatoes for about 5 days, but it seems like so much more!  I’ve gone about 2 weeks without my favorite snack in the world – corn chips.  I’m craving the salt, the satisfying crunch, and the somewhat sweet taste.   I don’t know why I think that having chips would make the day any better, but craving them is making the day that much worse.

Spinach Chips paired with Coconut Fried Chicken

I don’t usually like to let negativity seep into this blog, but without those chips or any kind of sugar, I

thought venting might help a bit.  I did look for a solution to my craving and found a recipe for Spinach Chips.  I’m not a big fan of kale (yet) and these seemed like a viable replacement for kale chips.  I mixed 2 cups of spinach with salt, Italian seasoning, and olive oil and then spread them on a baking sheet.  Getting them off the baking sheet was a little challenging.  The “chips” were so thin that some of them broke off before I could transfer them to a plate.  You can imagine that eating them posed the same challenge.  I tried using a fork but that was awkward, so I managed to use a combination of a fork and my fingers – messy and oily!

The taste wasn’t what I was expecting.  It tasted like spinach, of course, but more like wilted spinach. Maybe I overcooked them or maybe the spinach leaves I had were too ripe.  I’m not sure.  They didn’t have the crunch that I was hoping for, but they did have a nice crispiness to them.  They might make a good salad topping. I’m willing to try the recipe again to see if I can make it better.  Unfortunately, I still want corn chips.

Quinoa as in whaaaaaat?

I’m having quinoa for breakfast.  What?  That’s what I first thought when I saw the word a few years

ago, which I suppose is appropriate since it is pronounced, "kinwa,” as if you were going to say the word “what” and hold out the aw sound.  Quinoa is a grain that is a part of the amaranth family.  It has become more popular recently because it’s high in protein and low in carbs.  I imagine if rice and pasta got married and had children this would be the outcome - a healthier and all around better version than they are alone.  Where rice and pasta are pretty bland without sauces and seasonings, quinoa has a nutty flavor to it – more savory, more interesting.  No matter how long it’s cooked, it seems to have a slight crunch to it.

Hot Breakfast Quinoa

I’m eating it as a breakfast cereal.  I followed the directions on the package, but boiled it in almond milk instead of water.  This seems to have enhanced the nutty flavor that I mentioned earlier.  Instead of focusing on the savory, I made it sweet by seasoning with cinnamon, coconut butter, and sprinkling a little bit of desiccated coconut on the top.  The coconut made the slight crunch a little less noticeable.

Quinoa isn’t a bad replacement for oatmeal in the morning.  I definitely recommend trying it.  However, it does take some time to cook quinoa, especially at higher elevations, so you might want to consider making it the night before if you are in hurry in the morning like I am.

The Yeast Free – Gluten Free – Sugar Free Cleanse (Candida Free Diet)

Yes, the “I’m Gonna Eat It” girl is dieting.  No, I’m not crazy.  I’m tired of feeling tired and I want to have a healthy 2015.  I am going on a yeast free, sugar free, gluten free, also known as candida free diet.  I’ using The Yeast Connection and the Candida Free Living books for guidance.

There is a long list of food to avoid including refined sugar, fruit, yeast, wheat, processed meats like lunch meat and sausage, vegetables that are high in starch content like potatoes and carrots, dairy products, beans and legumes, and caffeinated beverages. (I have decided that I can’t do without caffeine.  I tested it for one day and after a terrible headache and falling asleep on the couch at 7:30 pm, I decided that some sacrifices are not worth the outcome.  It’s bad enough that I have to give up my morning banana and peanut butter!)

Don’t worry! I’m still gonna eat!  While there is a long list of foods to avoid, there is an equally long list of food to enjoy. This includes most green leafy vegetables like lettuce and kale, some grains like quinoa, buckwheat, eggs, most meats except for pork, and coconut.  The challenge comes in preparing meals – it is going to take time as everything has to be made from scratch and carefully prepared.  There are no shortcuts and no pre-made dishes.  This will be especially hard for lunches when going to work.

I’ve done a variation of this diet before and I survived, so I’m confident I will again.  The cleanse is only for two weeks and then I can start reintroducing food.  This will help determine what foods bother me.

They say that if you tell people about the diet you're going on there is more a likely a chance that you will actually follow it.  with that said, I'm going to blog about the new foods that I'm trying.