Category — Healthy Eating

photo from we heart it

First, Happy Birthday to my sister, Jill!

Second, it’s been over a month since I’ve eaten sugar.

Guys, this is a big deal. I’m a former sugar addict. I’m the girl who would go out to eat, skip dinner, and get a giant slice of chocolate cake for dessert. I’d choose a restaurant based on its dessert menu. I used to eat dessert after lunch and dinner. My favorite breakfast foods were loaded with sugar.

On days when I didn’t eat dessert after lunch, I’d get a headache. I know, that’s, like, step one in recognizing you have a problem but I had blinders on. All I saw were visions of apple turnovers and cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies and funfetti cake and…

You get the idea.

When I quit the white stuff with hopes of helping my fire feet, I thought I was going to die. I was pretty sure my incessant cravings and the head-splitting pain I felt were my body’s way of telling me I would literally perish without a candy bar.

It didn’t help that I gave up all sugar. Not just dessert. Why, yes, I do hate myself. Why do you ask?

So, yeah, it was hard. That first week was killer. But after that? It got much easier. When I caved and ate dessert, it was way too sweet to even come close to finishing. In the past, I would have inhaled an entire plate before The Man had a chance to take a bite.

photo from we heart it

And now I’m going to blow your mind:

Right now, I have no desire for sweets. Fruit is about as sweet as I can handle.

No, I did not self-lobotomize. I just stopped craving it. The Man eats some chocolate or ice cream after dinner and I no longer want to club him and devour his dessert. It doesn’t even entice me.

I now crave savory dishes all the time. It does sort of feel like I’m living someone else’s life. (Maybe my mom’s because she’s always craved salty foods instead of sweet. I used to think she was a bit off her rocker. I get it now, though.)

The bottom line: If you want to give up sugar or just eat less, you can. You’ll hate yourself in the beginning, but if you stick it out your tastes will change. I promise, it’s possible.

Alright, how much sugar do you eat daily?

Thanks for your suggestions on how to use daikon. And for those of you who’ve never tried it, stay tuned. I’ll be whipping something or other up in the near future. Maybe more than one daikon dish if I decide to go totally crazy.

So, I’ve been having one of those weeks when I can’t imagine how I’ve survived life so far considering my astonishing clumsiness. It seems like by now I should have accidentally stabbed fork tines in my eyeballs or tripped off a cliff.

The biggest proof: Yesterday’s rice lunch. On my floor.

So there I was, enjoying brown rice with dressing. I was also on the computer because spending 30 minutes to just eat lunch seems like a waste when I have 4.3 gazillion things to do. Instead of actually LOOKING at the table where I planned to put the bowl, I just reached. Idiot.

The bowl faltered. It tipped. It went over the edge.

Tumbled onto the floor.

Bounced.

Spilled all over. All over.

Did you know that brown rice is almost the exact color of my carpet? I found that out when I was digging it up like treasure with a spoon.

Today, I was super careful. Especially because I ate beets. And, while pretty, that is not a color I want on my carpet. Success!

So now I get to show you this salad without tears. That’s a good thing.

This is so easy a well-supervised child could make it. (Well-supervised child because, as I mentioned, beet juice isn’t pretty when it’s a stain.) I roasted the beet the night before in tinfoil with some salt. It cooled in the fridge all day.

1. Peel and slice your beets. To peel, just rub the skin off with your fingers until the shiny flesh appears. I sliced my as thin as I could without dirtying my mandolin.

2. Slice an orange. I’ve made this before with grapefruit, and I love the tartness. I didn’t have one of those on hand, so I used an orange. Not quite the same, but still good.

3. Add a dollop of soft goat cheese.

4. Sprinkle with salt, if you like.

This doesn’t really need dressing since the orange is juicy, but I love it with a drizzle of balsamic over the top.

And that’s it. Fast, easy lunch. Also, super pretty if you’re entertaining.

Anyone else out there a major klutz like me?

photo by yuzu

Enough of Google’s questions. I have one for you today. Who knows what vegetable is in the photo above?

If you said daikon, the Japanese radish, you’re right. The Man picked some up at the grocery store because he thought they were white carrots and, I quote, “really cool.”

So…

What the heck do you do with daikon? Anyone ever used it?

I’m thinking about trying out this recipe.

But first: Have you ever cooked with it? I want your recipes, so leave them (and any links) in the comments.

Hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day. Now that it’s over you can buy enough half-priced conversation hearts to send secret valentines to half the neighborhood come Feb. 14, 2012.

To make up for the nutrients you don’t get from conversation hearts I have a delicious and healthy lunch for you.

As you might have guessed, I’m avoiding cow’s milk dairy. I’m not going 100 percent vegan (why hello, sheep’s milk cheese, how are you?) but I’m staying away from most cheeses, animal products, and processed foods. I’m still on a gluten-free diet, too, in case you were wondering how restrictive I’m being with my meals.

For the skimmers: I’M BEING CRAZY RESTRICTIVE WITH MY MEALS. Ahem.

The other day, I wanted something quick and filling for lunch. Because I can’t eat pasta—I tried some gluten-free pasta, but it tasted like wet cardboard and had the consistency of worms—I went with a baked potato.

Q: What are the best toppings on a baked potato?
A: Cheese. Sour cream. Greek yogurt. Lots and lots and lots of cheese. Oh, and bacon.

So I had an idea: I’d sub creamy avocado for the dairy and—bam—rockin’ lunch. Plus, avocado is a source of healthy fats. In the end, I like this more than baked potatoes with sour cream. I almost like it more than baked potatoes with cheese and bacon. Almost.

I feel silly giving you a recipe because this is so easy:

1. Bake (or microwave) potato
2. Smash or blend avocado until smooth
3. Add a splash of lime (or, if you’re like me and love citrus, add the juice of one lime) to the blended avocado.
4. Add a small amount of freshly chopped parsley and dill to the mix.
5. Add feta to the avocado-lime mixture and blend.
6. Spoon a dollop of avocado dressing on potato.
7. Top with chopped fresh parsley and/or fresh dill.

I loved the addition of the salty cheese to the mix, but you can leave that out if you’d like—or if you sprinkle shredded cheese onto the potato before topping with the avocado mix.

I’m starting to see that limiting my food options has forced me to try combinations I never would have tried before. It’s safe to assume I’ll probably try something even crazier tomorrow.

Here’s hoping it’s edible.

What’s the weirdest food combination that you actually like?

photo from we heart it

Well happy Valentine’s Day guys.

I’ve never been much a fan of this holiday, which is lucky for The Man. I don’t see the need for flowers, especially when he does so much for me on every other day. Also, I despise jewelry store commercials.

I’d love to tell you about my wild weekend but I basically sat in bed getting over my sickness and working nonstop to meet my deadline today. (Which is to say, hearing about my weekend would probably bore you more than being at work.)

However, I do have two really great meal ideas for you.

WARNING: Craptastic photo ahead. It’s the pitiful lovechild of dim lighting and the iPhone. Proceed at your own risk.

This is a modified BLT: bread, lettuce, tomato and feta-avocado spread. Right, so this is gluten-free bread but I’d advise you to use regular bread if you can. Maybe I haven’t been gluten-free for long enough to forget how utterly awesome wheat bread is. Whatever the reason, I find gluten-free bread super dry and overly sweet.

The first step: Turn an avocado into guacamole and add some feta cheese. I’m avoiding cow’s milk dairy (just in case it’s behind my fire feet) so I’ve been eating sheep’s milk feta. Feel free to use your favorite cheese here.

Spread the avocado mixture on each side of the bread. This is the glue, people. Don’t skip a side or your fillings will fall all over the place and probably end up on your white couch.

Then add tomato slices and lettuce to either side. Slap ’em together and—done.

Seriously guys, I have no excuse for this photo. Only I do. I was using an iPhone. I only had one light on. And I was antsy to actually eat. You understand. Trust me that the dish tastes about 100 times as good as it looks.

This is roasted red potatoes covered in this tomato sauce with zucchini (don’t squint, you won’t be able to see it), sheep’s milk feta (go ahead and use your favorite cheese here—Parmesan would be good), and parsley. I’d never considered dousing potatoes in marinara until I did it by accident. This is kind of awesome.

And, that, dear friends, is it.

Wishing you a gorgeous secret Valentine who arrives bearing chocolate.

Are you a V-Day fan?

Good news and bad news today, friends. Let’s start with the bad and get all our pessimism out nice and early.

Bad: I think I’m getting sick. I can’t be sure if it’s an actual sickness or the effects of a new medication I’m taking, but either way the results are dizziness, chills, and an overwhelming desire to sleep.

So, I pretty much look like this whenever I’m not working:

Good: Dinner last night rocked.

I’ve mentioned my love for tilapia before but in case you missed that post, let me explain. It doesn’t stink up the kitchen, sink, pans, or trash like salmon. It tastes really good and yet it’s healthy. But the best reason: it cooks in five minutes. Seriously.

Yes, that looks ugly, ugly. But I promise it tastes really good.

We sautéed the fish in olive oil and added capers and lemon juice. Awe—wait for it—some.

The Man also heated up some Trader Joe’s sweet potato bisque, which is by itself really good, but even better with goat cheese. Try it.

The white stuff’s goat cheese. It makes the sweet potato soup tangy and 100 times more delicious.

Finally, dessert. Guys, I’ve never gotten on board the raw macaroon train. I’ve never tried to make them and I actually thought, “How good could those be?” But then I wanted to just try. And oh my goodness are they good.

See? And then there’s the few I dipped in Nutella for The Man. He reported back that they were, as expected, awesome.

I love these because they taste like real macaroons. I love these because they require zero cooking. I love these because they’re ridiculously easy to make. Here’s how:

Classic Macaroons
Adapted from Rawmazing

• 2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut
• ½ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup coconut butter
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla
• Sea salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into balls. Refrigerate until solid.

The only thing that would have made the night better is a maid who could clean the kitchen.

Any takers?

As many of you know, I’m what some would call—brace yourself—a picky eater.

I KNOW.

It’s a crime. It’s a big, red A stitched to my shirt only it’s not an A it’s a P.

When I go to dinner with people or attend cocktail parties or anything else involving food, someone inevitably points at that scarlet letter on my chest and mocks me. It usually goes something like this:

MOCKER: You don’t like onions?
ME: Nope.
MOCKER: Have you even tried them?
ME: Yeah. I just don’t like them.
MOCKER: But have you tried them caramelized?
ME: Yup.
MOCKER: Because they’re so much sweeter when caramelized…
ME: Yeah, still don’t like them.
MOCKER: They’re so good though. How could anyone not like them?
ME: I like capers. How could anyone not like them?

And so on.

The same thing happens when I try to find recipes that omit foods I hate. So you can imagine how excited I was when The Man forwarded me a link to Foodily.

Go to that site. Type in whatever you’re craving. Maybe it’s spinach and artichoke dip. Maybe it’s marinara. The site pulls recipes from all over the web. But…

But!!

The best part is that there’s a field where you can fill in ingredients you don’t want to include. So search spinach and artichoke dip minus mayo (gag) or onions (ick).

I have a feeling this site will revolutionize my recipe searches.

What’s the one ingredient that you’ll never, ever eat again?

I don’t know how it happened but this blog has somehow turned into a quasi food blog. No, I do know how it happened (the feet burn and I can do nothing but eat); it’s just unexpected.

So before I go into the ah-mazing sandwich I had yesterday let’s pause for something different.

Drop and gimme 20.

Throw in 35 sit-ups.

And while you’re at it, how about doing 30 jumping jacks.

OK, now that that’s out of the way…  Here’s what happens when you’re majorly craving a BLT but forget at the last minute that you’re out of tomato:

This is beyond easy and somehow just as good as a regular BLT. (I can’t believe just a year ago I hated avocado with a passion. Shame on you, 2010 Tracey, shame on you.) Here’s what you need:

• Bacon: regular or turkey, your choice
• Lettuce
• Avocado: you can do slices but I find mashing it like guacamole makes for a cleaner sandwich. And since I’m addicted to citrus, I mixed lime in my mashed avocado.
• Cheese (because cheese makes everything taste better)

That’s all. Please, do yourself a favor and make this for lunch. I promise it’s better than Subway.

What’s your go-to sandwich?

Guys, do I have a treat for you today. You can credit this treat to two things:

My genius.

The Man’s willingness to go out post-snowstorm to treat a Nutella craving.

This almost didn’t happen. When I thought of making this, the D.C. area was blanketed in snow. It took some people seven hours to make their typical two-hour commute. Let’s just say were weren’t up for spending five hours to get to the grocery store.

Don’t worry, The Man pulled through the next day. Folks, when a Nutella craving hits, there’s no denying it.

The good news: This tastes amazing and you only need three ingredients.

The bad news: As with all of my recipes, I didn’t measure anything out. But you know what? It still worked for me. And if I can whip these up without measurements, I know you can.

The tools:

Puffed rice cereal

Nutella

Butter

1. So, first: Put some rice puffs in a bowl.

2. Then: mix about two heaping spoonfuls of Nutella with some butter (I used those big cereal spoons and a quarter of a quarter cup of butter. I’m a real scientist, I know.)

3. And: Heat that Nutella and butter up in the microwave until it’s smooth. (The butter helps thin it out and prevent you from having sticky Nutella-crispy-puff hands.)

4. Next: pour the hot chocolate over the rice puffs. Mix. Pour into a container that you can pop into the refrigerator. Once it’s cool, cut.

5. And here’s the best part: Serve.

Eat slowly. Somehow these disappear when you’re not watching.

Your favorite way to eat Nutella?

photo source

How ironic, folks.

Just two days ago I wrote about how I’m mainly a vegetarian because

1. I’m lazy and

2. I don’t like touching raw meat.

I read new like this: A woman is suing Taco Bell because what they’re calling beef isn’t, well, beef.

Well, tag on another reason I won’t be eating meat at questionable restaurants. Thank heavens I never ate Taco Bell. (Mainly because I believed the rumor that there was ground dog meat in there. What? I was 12.)

According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, here’s the problem:

“[The lawsuit] says Taco Bell’s ground beef is made of such components as water, isolated oat product, wheat oats, soy lecithin, maltodextrin, anti-dusting agent, autolyzed yeast extract, modified corn starch and sodium phosphate, as well as some beef and seasonings.”

Mmm…beefy.

But that’s not the most disturbing part (because, really, if you thought Taco Bell was serving real meat you’re loco). No, I find it more disturbing that in order to be labeled “beef,” products need to be made up of at least 40 percent beef.

So the other 60 percent can be … I don’t want to know.

I don’t really eat fast food anyhow, but this new lawsuit makes me reconsider eating meat at chains like Chili’s or Ruby Tuesday’s. Because I like meat. But I like it to be, um, meat.

What’s your reaction?