Not a bread crust in sight

I do better when I have a plan. At least, I do better at eating healthy when I have a plan. Being in a rush when I am hungry generally leads me down the wrong path. It’s a tasty path, full of things like bagels, muffins and croissants. They are so good, and quick, and sometimes that’s what’s for lunch. I am working on reminding myself that the salad bar at Lowes Foods is also quick, and it’s a much better choice. I do actually make good choices on the salad bar. Mixed greens, lots of veggies, even raw carrots which are not my favorite but which I know are good for me. And they’re bright orange, which makes me happy, especially on a dreary March day.

Sorry for the babbling. 

This week, I have a plan. I sometimes use plain hamburger patties, because I really do like beef. But this week, I went with the healthier choice of chicken. No cheese, very little olive oil, and just some seasonings. Today., I used salt and pepper, and paprika. And then I cooked some red bell pepper and zucchini, and a little bit of onion. I just used olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little thyme on those. I packed them up in individual servings, and voila! I have a couple veggie and protein lunches ready to go this week. And no bread in any shape or form is involved. I’m calling that a victory. 

Brunch!

Our church’s music director was on a much needed vacation this week, so we didn’t have choir today. So, we played hooky (don’t tell anyone) and made brunch instead.

Sometimes I want us to have a large meal. We definitely accomplished that today.

The time change always throws me off a little, so I felt like I was off to a late start today. The first thing I did shortly after I got up was slice the strawberries, add a wee bit of sugar and put them in the refrigerator to get happy. I also took out the frozen hash browns from the freezer to thaw. I had never used this product before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out.

When Jeffrey got up, he made me a cup of coffee. This house is just magical sometimes. Two days in a row, I just sat there and a cup of coffee appeared. Yay me!

I started fussing about the kitchen here and there. I knew we needed to get the bacon going. We used a recipe from a new cookbook, called Eat Delicious, by Dennis The Prescott, a musician turned chef/photographer, he’s on YouTube, all the things, etc. I highly recommend this cookbook. We had decided to make his Maple Bacon Scones, and we needed the Maple Spiced Rum Bacon. In true Lisa fashion, I didn’t have a lime, and we didn’t have spiced rum. So we used dark rum and an orange instead, and it was delicious. I don’t have a lot of experience making scones, but these were the best I have ever made. Look at that glaze gently dripping down the side of the scone - your mouth is watering, isn’t it?

I had diced some onions and peppers and cooked them with olive oil, salt and pepper. I also diced some ham pretty small, and cooked it too, just to get some color on it.

Now we were ready to really get cooking. Thank goodness there are three of us.

We used Pioneer Woman’s recipe for waffle iron hash browns (we added onions and bell peppers), and while they tasted great, we kind of made a mess. I am not known for keeping a spotless house, though, so we just kept rolling on.



I love mini frittatas, so we made some with the onions and peppers and ham, and some cheddar cheese. These little gems are so easy. It’s just 6 eggs, ¼ cup plus a couple splashes of milk, salt and pepper and whatever fillings you want to use.

Make sure you spray the mini muffin pan with cooking spray. We already had the oven at 350 degrees for the scones, so we just popped these in there too and cooked them for 25-30 minutes. You’ll have 24 mini frittatas, but leftovers heat up well, so I knew I’d have some breakfast for a couple days.

So, John was manning the waffle iron, Jeff was cooking the asparagus, and I was setting the table, crumbling bacon for the scone glaze, adding sliced bananas to the strawberries and generally flitting about the kitchen. Jeffrey snapped a photo of me when I wasn’t expecting him to. I was giving the boy a sidelong glance, because after I announcing that I wasn’t ready for pictures because I hadn’t even brushed my hair yet, the boy cut me off short, saying I looked just fine. He’s a fine young man, that boy.

That was another fun part of our lead up to brunch - Jeffrey was all about the food photography today. I might be a little biased, but I think he did a fantastic job.

Finally, we were ready to sit down. It was quite the spread. It was a lot of work, and there was a lot of cleanup to do afterwards, but I loved every minute of it. I love it when all of us are in the kitchen cooking together. We talk and laugh whenever we sit down to a meal. I guess that’s the point of all of this today. The menu, the cooking, the flitting about the kitchen, writing this blog and using Jeffrey’s photos. Whether you’re making a huge meal or you’re going to be like us and have cereal for dinner because we ate too much brunch - talk, laugh and enjoy it and it will come out right every time.

And please enjoy some more pics from brunch...

I have GOT to eat better

Last year, I tried the Whole30 Plan. It’s pretty basic. No grains, no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods or additives. No peas or corn (a couple of my fav veggies), no alcohol, no peanuts. I said it was basic, not easy.

But I did it.

I made my own ghee (clarified butter, really) to take out the milk fats. It took me a few cups before I could say I enjoy it, but I learned to drink black coffee. Fortunately, I could have potatoes and sweet potatoes (in moderation), so I was actually able to live without grains. I thought I would have the hardest time with the grains, but really, it was the cheese that got me. I wanted to lose weight, and I did lose some. But mostly, I wanted to learn some new eating habits so could lose weight and keep it off. Well, I have fallen back into some bad habits, so it’s time to work on me again. Harder this time. I am not going to do a strict Whole30 plan this time, but I will use a lot of what I learned and really work to make these changes that I need. I hope.

One thing I learned is that carbs for breakfast are useless for me. Sure, they taste great. But even the “healthy” things like oatmeal or Crispix cereal leave me hungry way before lunchtime. But if I have protein, I am only mildly hungry for lunch. So a protein-rich breakfast it is. I try to have hard boiled eggs, or sometimes I make mini frittatas, crustless quiches, whatever you want to call them. You can fill them with a meat of your choosing. I do try to pick a Whole30 approved one, which means no fake ingredients and no sugar — there is just one brand of bacon that my grocery store carries that does not have sugar. But I would rather cut added sugars out of everything else if it means I can have a cookie or something that actually tastes sweet and will satisfy my craving. For the mini frittatas, I leave out the cheese, and put in veggies, usually red bell peppers because they are one of my favorites in a quiche.

I also learned to love almond butter (a no additive kind, just plain ‘ole roasted and puréed almonds). Like black coffee, this too was an acquired taste. But now I like it more than peanut butter, which tastes overly sweet to me. I can put a couple tablespoons of almond butter on diced strawberries and bananas, or dip a sliced apple. I’m also excited to try a recipe I just saw for sweet potato and zucchini fritters - I think that will make a good breakfast. I am also going to master making poached eggs and serve them over roasted asparagus spears.

Something else I learned is that I can make just about anything for the guys for dinner. They are good sports and will try lots of different things. But while I can, and need to, avoid the carbs at dinner, if they don’t have a starch, they will be trolling through the kitchen an hour after dinner. Just different metabolisms, I guess. So one night, I made a homemade marinara sauce with ground chicken. I served it over portabella mushroom caps for me and big bowls of pasta for the guys. A perfect solution.

I know I won’t stick to a diet. But I can change the way I eat. Wish me luck! And if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them.