At Ideal Health Now –WE DO NOT  WANT LIFETIME DIETERS!

Our goal is to help you become a LIFETIME EATER and ENJOY a HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP  WITH REAL FOOD!

 

We can bounce to the latest diet fad or pill, but only when we learn and put to practice eating real food and eating certain foods that don’t let us gain weight will we ever be able to maintain a healthy weight.  If we don’t then we are doomed to be a classic yo-yo dieter for life.

 

This week we are privileged to hear from one of our current dieters named A G and her perspective of her RELATIONSHIP WITH REAL FOOD and the benefits for her.  Plus she shared a recipe

 

My Relationship with REAL FOOD

by A . G.  ( Physician’s Assistant )

 

I have a relationship with food. Yes, a true love/hate, need you in my life, can’t live with you, and can’t live without you relationship with food. It’s been a constant battle since I was 7 years old. At least that was the first time I remember thinking my weight was an issue.  I have read self help book after self help book on developing a healthy relationship with food.

Non of it stuck!

Nada!

It was my own self-realization that food was meant to be nourishment, not comfort. Once I realized this, and began nourishing my body with good quality food. I was amazed at how wonderful I felt. I was sick less often, my clothes fit, and I felt better in my own skin. The weight came off as more of a side effect than a goal.

Now this doesn’t change that I still LOVE food. I love good quality ingredients! I count long meals with wine and good friends as a hobby. I study Julia Child and still watch old episodes of The French Chef in black and white. I read cook books like most read novels. I place the Barefoot Contessa on the pedestal of all things succulent.

 

Below  are ways I  incorporate my favorite foods and chefs into the Ideal Protein eating plan.

 

Barefoot Contessa  Turkey Meatballs

 

1 Head fresh cauliflower

1 Clove peeled garlic

2 tbsp chicken broth

3 Large eggs

1 Package Turkey Italian Sausage, removed from casings

1 Pound lean ground turkey

½ Cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp red pepper flakes if you like a little heat

1 tst dried oregano

Kosher salt and freshly grated black pepper

Good quality Extra Virgin olive oil

1 container good quality marinara or homemade low carb spaghetti sauce

 

1. Pre Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Begin by cleaning the cauliflower leaving on the florets. Place in a food processor with the garlic clove on high speed until grainy. Scrape down the sides and add the chicken broth. Continue until mixture is pureed, then add the eggs and blend again. The mixture will look a little foamy. Make sure the mixture is completely pureed without any chunks of cauliflower.
3. Place the meat in a large mixing bowel and pour the cauliflower mixture on top. Add the parsley, oregano, 1 tablespoon salt and 1 and ½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper.  Shake in some red pepper flakes if you like a little heat.
4. With good clean hands (a cooks best tools), mix until meat mixture has absorbed the cauliflower mixture. This is where it will seem really odd, but you will be pleasantly surprised.
5. Cover a large jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Spray parchment with cooking spray.
6. Lightly roll into 2” balls and place on the sheet pan. Allow at least ½” between each meatballs. Brush meatballs with olive oil. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Allow to cool before transferring. These meatballs are a little less sturdy than ones made with breadcrumbs, but you will be pleasantly surprised at the way they turn out! Beware of a white border that appears around the meatballs during the cooking process. This is excess moisture from the cauliflower and can be removed prior to storing.

Suggestions for serving:

1. Mix with warmed, high quality (store bought) marinara, and serve over a bed of spinach or Ideal Protein noodles. Scarpetta can be bought at Fresh Market or Boulevard Bread Company.
2. Outside of phase one, add a little freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
3. Eat alone or with a side of roasted broccoli.

Grocery Store Tips!

1. Shop on the perimeter of the store, the things in the middle are highly processed and not usually as nourishing.
2. When you arrive at home with your produce, wash and prepare it all. I cut up my cauliflower, cap my broccoli, rinse my romaine lettuce and put it is a bag with a paper towel. You will find things go bad less often and this is a major time saving tool.
3. Make friends with the produce man. I eat a large box of spinach every 3-4 days. If the spinach is wilted, I kindly ask him to find me some fresh. You will be pleasantly surprised at what they can pull out of the back.
4. When it’s on sale, buy it. I LOVE bell peppers, but I can’t bring myself to buy them when they are $1.89 EACH!
   1. When peppers are on sale, make stuffed peppers:
      1. Cut off the tip and pull out the seeds, rinse out and place on cookie sheet.
      2. Stuff pepper with leftover meat and veggies

• Cook at 425 for 25-30 min or until peppers are soft
• YUMMY!

 

Crock Pot Wonders

I don’t know why I bother putting my crock-pot away, I’m always pulling it back out. When I find meat in the bargain bin, I take it home and throw it in the crockpot. There is no piece of lean meat, that slow cooking can’t make fabulous.

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts covered in one package taco seasoning. Pour water or chicken broth over meat until it comes up 1” -2” from the bottom. Place on the “keep warm” or lowest setting and then allow to cook for 8-10 hours. It’s impossible to come out on the other side of this without tender and succulent meat. This meat can be used for stuffed peppers, salads, or just eaten with veggies. Try making lettuce wraps for a mock taco.
2. Crock Pot BBQ beef:
   1. 1 large sirloin roast- preferably out of the bargain bin
   2. Store bought BBQ seasoning, made without brown sugar or other sweetener
   3. Chicken broth
      1. Place roast in crockpot and cover with 2 tbsp seasoning. Pour chicken broth over meat until it comes up 1”-2” from the bottom. ALWAYS BUY LOW SODIUM CHICKEN BROTH. Sprinkle some fresh cracked pepper on before cooking.
      2. Roast on the “keep warm” setting for 8-10 hours or until tender and falling apart. Watch about midway for the need of additional moisture.

• Pull out and place on a plate to cool

1. Allow the broth from the crock pot to cool and skim off the fat
2. Pull apart meat, shredding with two forks
3. Place meat in a bowel and pour around ½ cup of moisture back into the meat

• Mix in Walden Farms BBQ sauce to desired taste
• Serve warm