Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Diets, Yummy Egg Dishes, and This and That!

egg frittata, recipe toward bottom of post

Our family has been gluten-free since last October and it has made such a difference in our life.  We all have some gluten-sensitivity and we feel much better.  We have become more aware of what we are eating and try to eat more whole, healthy foods and less junk.  So we don't get to eat out much...  ;-)  Yet I find reading posts like this make me really miss the old days when I ate whatever the heck I wanted.  Those were the days...  But rest assured, you can make amazing, gourmet, delicious, healthy food if you like to cook.

If you are interested in reading more about the scary food out there (not just gluten!), check out the FoodBabe site.  I have learned so much about healthy eating from her site.  I drink her lemon/cayenne pepper water every morning.

I have slowly gained weight in the last couple of years and I haven't been happy about it.  I used to be able to eat all of the food I wanted and just exercise it off, but it is not so simple anymore.  I know the weight gain was due to chips, chocolate, and my nightly glass of wine, but until recently I didn't want to give them up.  I just decided to get a granny swimsuit and hope no one noticed.

My neighbor a few houses down is simply one of the nicest people out there.  She is a great friend and the fact we both have all boys in our house (she has three!) makes it fun to get together.  Plus they have a beautiful house, huge yard, pool, and trampoline so when we visit I feel like I am at a resort.

Like me, she has recently become very interested in eating healthy and suggested I read The Maker's Diet, especially for the recipes.  It was a good read, even though it had some iffy science (like most health books), but I was intrigued by the 40-day diet plan he suggested in his book.  It really concentrated on lots of vegetables/fruits, healthy meat and dairy, nuts and seeds, and no prepared foods.  It is very similar to the Mediterranean Diet and seemed pretty healthy overall.  Then my neighbor suggested we both give it a try and see if it made us feel better.

The first two weeks are difficult because he wants you to eliminate most complex and simple carbs (other than the ones in fruits and vegetables).  So the first few days almost killed me because I was used to my late-night snacking (chips/chocolate).  Oh, did I mention I also cut my coffee down to one cup and no wine after dinner?

But now that I am almost 1.5 weeks into the first phase I am feeling great, and I am down 6 pounds!   Making the conscious decision to stop eating chips, chocolate, and wine really reduced my calorie intake, plus I have upped my vegetables so I feel healthy.  I will let you know if I can keep the weight off.  I am still exercising and will start eating some complex carbs again next week.  But I have to stay away from chips, they are my weakness...

I know anyone can lose weight by watching calories/exercising, but this book helped me because it had a written guide to follow, and my neighbor is doing the diet with me and I have to tell her if I cheat.  ;-) I really don't need to lose much more weight, but I need to get toned and try to keep those pounds from creeping back on again.

One of our favorite breakfasts these days are frittatas.  The image above is the one my husband made this morning.  They are so simple, delicious, and healthy.

Frittata Recipe (adapted from my brother-in-laws recipe)

Grease a cast iron pan (I use coconut oil) and preheat over to 350.  This recipe feeds a hungry family of 4.

7 eggs
few large handfuls of greens/spinach
few small tomatoes
1/4 - 1/2 cup cheese (we use sheep feta)
2-3 pieces of turkey or pork bacon
salt, pepper, and favorite spices

Fry the bacon and sauté the greens.  Beat the eggs and mix in all of the ingredients except the cheese and pour into the oiled pan.  Sprinkle on the cheese and cook for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned on top.

The frittata should be fluffy and absolutely delicious.  I think they make great dinners too.  Let me know if you have any frittata recipes that you love.

On another note, Marketing Mall wanted to announce the winner of their $100 gift certificate giveaway.  Congratulations Nancy Patton!  The coupon code is still active so check Marketing Mall out and save 40% on any of your purchases.

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And the winner is... Nancy Patton! Congratulations!


The 40% OFF coupon code COFFEE40 is still active :)




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Rita