Day 18: Almost There!

Three days, people! Three days! While I know next week I won't be able to go back to eating whatever I want, I do know it will be a little easier just for the fact I will be able to have a little bit more variety in my diet. One of my favorite breakfasts of all time is hashbrowns, sausage, and fried eggs. Well, I have been able to eat chicken and turkey sausage and the potatoes, but no eggs. Starting next week I can have eggs! I crave protein in the morning more than any other time of the day. I don't want carbs - I just want protein. In fact if I go out to breakfast to like IHOP or Denny's, I will always be the one at the table that orders the all meat and egg breakfast - bacon, sausage, chicken fried steak - all the meat and eggs! It's really the only time I am a huge meat and protein lover!

So, this is why I am glad I will be able to have eggs again. Eggs are so versatile and you can do so much with them. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't think eating eggs is right because it is an animal product, but if a chicken doesn't lay her egg she will die as I have witnessed first hand. You also cannot leave the unfertilized eggs with the chickens or they may get cracked open and if a chicken tastes the egg they go crazy! They will do anything in their power to get the other eggs and eat them - they basically get Mad Chicken Disease and have to be removed from the rest of the flock or put down. So this is why I am not opposed to eating eggs and this is because I have seen firsthand why it is important for the hens to lay their eggs and secondly why they need to be removed. The eggs I eat come from free range chickens. The eggs themselves cannot be considered organic because these chickens do not eat organic feed and they also eat all of the fruit and veggie leftovers my mother has. I think since my father got chickens my mother has not had to throw away and fruit, veggies, or bread away. The chickens eat it all!

I am also looking forward to eating tomatoes as well. One of my favorite things to make is my own fresh salsa - well I like tomato based salsas better than any other kind of salsa, so I am very excited about having salsa again and marinara sauce. I will be able to make meatballs again now that I can have eggs. I make these awesome Italian inspired meatballs and I have tried other things to get them to stick together and nothing really works better than an egg.

I also found a recipe online for buckwheat flour drop biscuits which I am itching to try. That would make a delicious breakfast option. Serve some of those bad boys up with almond butter and a slab of turkey sausage - yumness!

I keep talking about how I crave protein for breakfast in the morning - well, today was an unusual day. As I getting ready for work I found myself craving a bowl of fruit. So I stopped and a local bakery and cafe here on my way to work and ordered their bowl of fruit. It had cantaloupe, honey dew, pineapple, and red grapes in it. It was delish! Once in a while I crave lighter fare, but most of the time I like meat!

Have a great weekend everyone! I know I will!

Day 1: Breakfast

Breakfast has always been a challenge for me since I have been out of college. I would rather sleep that extra ten minutes than get up and prepare breakfast. Needless to say my breakfasts are either really bad for me (stopping somewhere and getting fast food breakfast) or I just don't eat breakfast.

The most important thing in this diet I am on is to eat three meals a day and to have snacks if I get hungry between meals. So, I made sure I got up earlier this morning than I usually do so I could make breakfast. This posed another challenge for me as well -- what was I going to eat that would keep me full for more than a couple of hours? I have a job where I can't just get up and walk away and get something to eat whenever. So, this is one of the reasons breakfast has always been challenging. When I was younger and even in college I would just have cereal, but I could eat basically whenever I wanted, so it didn't bother me to only eat cereal. Cereal doesn't keep me full at all these days. I eat it and an hour later I am starving. I find I have to have a combination of carbs and protein for breakfast. If I just eat protein, I am starving in a couple of hours. This morning definitely presented a challenge for me. This is why I started preparing breakfast ideas last night.

I settled on a half of one of the chicken sausage links I bought this weekend, and some buckwheat cooked and mixed in with some homemade canned peaches. Buckwheat is very interesting. I am not sure if I cooked it right or what, but it has a nutty flavor to it and definitely has a hot cereal\oatmeal feel to it. I don't like plain oatmeal, so I wasn't sure I would like the buckwheat plain, so I mixed in some peaches with it and it made it palatable. The chicken sausage was very spicy, but I loved it! So after drinking a full glass of water with my supplements, my "protein" shake (which is not a meal replacement as I don't drink a lot of it), the sausage, and the buckwheat with peaches I was very full. I packed a banana\almond milk smoothie for my morning snack, but I am still very full and not feeling hungry at all.

I am feeling a little dizzy from the supplements, but I am sure I will adjust to that. As for the bad things - I had to have a Diet Pepsi because I can't work with those headaches. Starting tomorrow I will go caffeine free.

Here is the recipe for the buckwheat and fruit and banana smoothie.

Creamy Buckwheat With Fruit
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of buckwheat
Fresh fruit or canned fruit (if you use store bought, make sure it is no sugar added and in light syrup).

Add the buckwheat and water to a pan. Bring to a rolling boil and then continue to cook for 2-4 minutes until desired creamy consistency. Pour in a bowl and add the fruit and mix it together.


Almond Banana Milk Smoothie
1 Frozen Banana
1 cup of almond milk (unsweetened and unflavored)

Add banana and almond milk to blender or food processor and blend until mixed together.

Again, I will be researching how to cook buckwheat because I don't think I did it right because my cereal looked more like grape nuts than cream 'o' wheat. It was good, just different.

On the menu for lunch: Grilled chicken salad with sesame ginger dressing and grapes. And a baggie of cashews, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds for my afternoon snack. Check back later for the report on that!

New Menus Ahead

So, I have really slacked in my blog as of late! I really don't have an excuse other than I just didn't feel like it. To be honest, I haven't felt like doing much of anything lately. For the last few months I have just felt icky and after I get home from work all I want to do is just be lazy and play with my iPod.

I have been going to the doctors a lot these past few months searching for answers because no one in their twenties should feel like they are a 100 years old! I found a chiropractic physician who seems to know what he is talking about, so I am going to give him a chance. As a result of this treatment, he has put me on a very strict diet. It is the anti-inflammatory diet, so there is a lot of things that I cannot eat.

So I am going to be using this blog to post the new recipes I am having to learn out of plain necessity. This strict diet will be lasting three weeks only. I started today.

Basically here is the run down of the diet. These are the foods I cannot eat: dairy, eggs, gluten, tomatoes, corn, peanuts, soy, beef, pork (in all of its forms), canned meat, coldcuts, rice, potatoes (except for sweet potatoes), shellfish, dried fruit, fruit juices (unless I make them from the fresh fruit myself and don't anything else to them) caffeine, soda, and sugar and other artificial sweeteners.

The foods I can eat are: Fresh fruits and veggies (except for tomatoes and soy), peas, legumes and beans of any kind (except edamame which is soy), raw nuts (except for peanuts), fish (except for shellfish), turkey, chicken, lamb, water, herbs, sweet potatoes, spices, herbal teas, buckwheat, quinoa, and almond milk.

So looking at the lists above it probably seems like there are more foods that I cannot eat than I can eat. I enjoy chicken and I like a lot of fruit and veggies, so I know I will be able to survive. There are a few things on the CAN EAT list that I have never had before, so I am looking at this as an opportunity to try new foods. And there is also a variety out there so I will be getting all of the nutrition my body needs, so if anyone was worried about that, I am good.

I addition to this diet, the doctor also has me on some supplements and a "protein" shake. So I will be getting the additional nutrients that I may not get from some of the foods I am permitted to eat. My biggest challenge is going to be no caffeine. I usually drink at least one 20 oz. Diet Pepsi at work every day. I know I can do it - I am just not looking forward to the headaches and withdrawals.

Now you know what I am being faced with for the next few weeks and in the months to come. I am thankful I can have turkey cause if not I don't know what I would do this coming Thanksgiving!

Harvest Time - Does It Get Better?

I maintain that my favorite season of the year is summer because it is warm and toasty and not a lot of snowflakes in site. I also enjoy all of the summer time fruits and veggies you can get. Probably my favorite vegetable in the summer is asparagus and strawberries are my favorite summer fruit!

This time of year is in a close second to the summer because I love all of the yummy foods that come on this time of year with two my all time favorites - apples and pumpkins! I am a huge Rachael Ray fan and I was thrilled that October's magazine is filled with apple and pumpkin recipes. Awesome!

I could live off of pumpkins and apples all through the autumn season and right into the holidays. I love just about anything with pumpkin in it - pie, cookies, cocoa, pasta; if a pumpkin is in it I will most likely eat or drink it. I also love apples as well. I love applesauce, juice, cider, pie, chutney, and my favorite guilty pleasure - caramel and candy apples! I love going to the fair and getting these! They are so yummy and I can justify eating it because it is "healthy."

I want to expand my baking skills as they are quite lacking (ask my sister or mom about the time I added too much salt to the cookies) and I found this decadent pumpkin recipe on Rachael Ray's website: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies! It is an Amish recipe and pumpkin - best of both worlds! And then I want to try and make my own caramel or candied apples. I love candied apples because it is like eating your favorite hard candy over an apple and the caramel apples are delicious because they are!

What are your favorite recipes that incorporate all of the yummy fall fruits and veggies?

Pumpkin Whoopie Pie:

 









Candied Apples:

Ideas On The Best Way to Freeze Fresh Foods

I need some help! I absolutely love fresh fruits and vegetables, but I can never seem to eat them fast enough before they get rotten and nasty! And then I end up throwing them out and therefore wasting money. So, my question is, does anyone have any good suggestions on how to freeze fresh fruit and veggies so that when they are thawed, they aren't mushy and gross? I want to try this salad, but it serves 8. I am not 8 people, and I have a very difficult time cutting down recipes -- especially from eight to one. Any thoughts or tips would be helpful. I am to a point where I buy very few veggies or fruit and stick with canned, because I can't stand throwing out food. And I prefer fresh over canned any day. Bring on the ideas!

Merry Berry Christmas!

I have lived in my condo for a year and last year I didn't do anything for the neighbors at Christmas, because I didn't know anybody. Well, that has changed. I know quite a few neighbors now and you would be surprised what a freak carport accident will do to help you get to know your neighbors. They first wonder how the carport could fall down and smash your car, and then they come and admire the hot new sexy car later! Want to know the rest of the story? E-mail me.

I have always enjoyed treats at Christmas and so I wanted to make treats for my neighbors this year. I didn't want to do the typical cookies and brownies, though. I wanted to do something different. In the December\January 2010 edition of "Everyday With Rachael Ray" there was a recipe for granola -- a nut and fruit granola! So, I decided to make this. They officially call it Berry Christmas Granola. This recipe is very easy to make and tasty to!

My favorite part of this granola is the pistachio nuts! I love pistachios! I could eat a whole bag to myself without even thinking about it! There is also dried blueberries, dried cherries, sliced almonds, sesame seeds, rolled oats, butter and honey in this recipe. The oats, sesame seeds, and almonds are coated with the honey and butter and then gets baked for about a half hour. After it is baked and cooled you mix the oat mixture with the fruit and pistachios! Delicious! If you do buy pistachios still in their shells, do keep in mind you will be shelling for awhile and the salt on the nuts can dry out your hands, so I had to take a couple of breaks while shelling the nuts. Some stores sell shelled pistachios but they are typically more expensive than those in the shell.

I wanted to have a cute presentation for my granola and I wasn't sure what I would do initially. The magazine suggested using cellophane bags and tying them with some ribbon. I was going to do that as I was not getting any inspiration, but then I was perusing around the Dollar Spot at Target and saw them! Target had these cute Chinese take-out boxes with Christmas decor on them, so I bought some those! I put the granola in a sandwich bag and then put that inside the take-out boxes! I am now going to make a cute little tag to go with them and then I will be delivering them.

Neighbor Christmas gifts work well if you need to get to know your neighbors a little better. While I know my neighbors, I don't know know them. This will be the opportunity to formally introduce myself. This recipe also does have multiple people in mind, so it makes quite a bit! Happy munching!

Finished Granola in bag:















Granola in Chinese Take-Out Container:



Finished Gifts: