how to eat * how to be

Feeling overwhelmed with the news out of Japan and wondering how
to help?  I know I have been feeling that way.  Find a way to spread “love”
and be mindful of not just getting caught up in the fear, because it can
be very contagious and certainly not helpful to anyone. 
What does that mean in less abstract terms?  Maybe turn off the news and
go online to donate.  I just happened to look at chocolateandzucchini.com
(my second favorite food blog!) and read about a couple of food bloggers
who have set up donation pages within their blogs!  How great is that?
I clicked on Tamami Haga’s (cocoandme.com) FirstGiving page which
donates directly to Save the Children.  In fact, Tamami will match your
donation!

Every little bit does make a difference!  And giving is the best way of
ensuring your own prosperity.  Giving does not deplete, in fact, when
giving with an open heart,  a space is created in which more “good”
will return!

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Just a tip, so as not to get overwhelmed.  If you are unable to break the
snack habit, and you are wanting some crackers or chips, etc., make
yourself put them in a bowl and sit down to eat them and try to have just
one bowl!  Instead of an unconscious act of grabbing a handful of chips,
you will turn the snack into a mini-meal!  When you become conscious
of what you eat, you will have more control.
Oh, and it’s fun to collect pretty bowls – my Mom gave me these fun bowls
from one of my favorite stores – Anthropologie!

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Why plan v?  What is plan v? V stands for many things, but the first
word that comes to my mind is vitality, which means liveliness and
don’t we all want to feel lively?  I know I do.

How do we get that feeling?  First and foremost I would have to say
to start the day feeling grateful for what you already have, then
continue to give thanks all day long, as many times as you remember
to do so.  Even if it means being thankful for waking up to a sunny day
or finding a parking space when the lot appears to be full!

For a less abstract way to go about your day, I would suggest eating
what you crave!  I do just that every single day and  feel satisfied
and energetic, never obsessing about food, never feeling deprived and
not bothering with calorie counting or weighing my food or myself!

I am not model thin either, but I am happy being slim enough!  I like
my size and therefore I suggest beginning by picking a size you want
to be and keeping this knowledge to yourself.!  Your size is no one else’s
business, especially those closest to you.  Now be honest with yourself
and select a size that is comfortable, not one where you have to starve
and deprive yourself to stay there.  I am talking about creating a life
of ease, instead of dis-ease!

If you are wanting to lose weight AND maintain that weight, I suggest
finding a pair of pants one size smaller than you are right now (don’t
worry you will get to your desired size, but no need to overwhelm
yourself) and trying these on every few days and you will find them
fitting soon if you follow plan v.  When those pants fit, if you are still
desiring to lose weight, find the next size down, and keep trying them
on every couple of days or so, and you will find them fitting soon!

Now for the nuts and bolts of the plan.  I did say that you can eat what
you crave and the only caveat is creating some structure in your day,
so that you keep on track.  In fact, I have found that I am happiest in
my “eating” life when I know there is some structure in place.  I suggest
eating 3 times a day and eliminate snacking.  Simply put, this plan is
for those who want to enjoy a good meal, then keep your lips zipped
to food until the next good meal!  It does take some discipline in the
beginning, but the reward of eating what you crave daily will be
incentive enough to do that.

Now begin today eating what you crave!  If you are reading this in the
afternoon, plan what you would like to have for dinner based on what
s0unds good.  Then, stop at the store to gather ingredients or go to a
restaurant to get take out, or maybe even a dinner out would be nice!
If you are at home, check your cabinets and fridge to see what you
already have and build a meal from that - one that sounds good.  Part
of this plan involves cultivating a love for fresh fruits and vegetables!
We really need the vitamins and fiber and they are just so delicious, so
keep that in mind and start buying whatever looks good and fresh at
the store, then incorporating them into your daily meals!

Whatever you have decided to eat, put it on a plate and eat the whole
thing!  Enjoy every bite!  Then stop!  I have to have a piece of dessert
after dinner.  This is non-negotiable!  So, I have my dinner, then a piece
of dessert and those who know me can attest to its generous size!  After
dinner and dessert, I stop.  No more bites of anything!  Just water with
lemon, preferably or some hot tea.  I drink lots of hot tea, all year around.
This is just very comforting and good for you, as tea is full of antioxidants.
I have another secret which I will divulge later to help you lose weight and
keep you healthy, but to continue with weight loss, you may be thinking
“how am I going to lose weight?”  You do have to use some common sense
when it comes to eating.  If you are craving a plate of pasta for dinner, have
a full bowl of pasta, but leave off the bread and butter.  I promise you won’t
miss it if you let yourself have what it is you truly want.  Maybe what you
want is the bread and butter, so have it and eat a salad and grilled fish or
chicken.  The key is skimping or eliminating what you don’t want and eating
what you do want!  It takes some practice to do this.  We are not used to
eating this way.  All the diets say you can’t have dessert or pasta or pizza,
but this is not a diet, it is simply a new way of life that affirms what you want.
When you have what you want, it is easy to let go of the junk that just adds
extra weight we don’t need to carry.

I also call this plan “freedom within limits”.  You are free to choose what you
want to eat, but you must eat at a mealtime, make a satisfying portion, eat
all of it, then STOP.  No snacking between meals, unless you want a sort of
planned snack as a mealtime.  Or cut up a bowl full of raw vegetables and
have at it!  You just need some structure to ensure you won’t snack the
whole afternoon or evening away!  And if potato chips are your downfall,
keep them out of sight until you can build the discipline not to grab a handful
or two when you walk into the house or kitchen!  Breaking this one habit alone
would probably cut out enough calories in a year, so that you could eat
whatever you crave at meals and your excess weight would drop right off
without doing anything else.

I have two more secrets up my sleeve.  The first is to walk every day that you
can or get on the elliptical or treadmill for 30 minutes if the weather isn’t
cooperating.  Just getting some form of movement everyday is essential to
feeling vibrant and looking good!  Do what you love, because it won’t be
a burden.  I enjoy walking when the weather is nice, but I also will put on some
music and dance in the house!  So what!  I also enjoy the elliptical machine, while
watching my favorite food network show, Barefoot Contessa!  Keep it fun for you
and it won’t be a chore.

The second and essential secret to staying slender and healthy and vibrant is
drinking a can or two of Verve a day!  What is Verve?  It is an “insanely healthy
energy” drink  made by the Vemma Nutrition Company.  I love drinking 1-2
sugar free Verve drinks a day and find that my metabolism and energy level,
as well as my immune system are given a healthy boost every day!!!!

Good luck with plan v!  Please feel free to email me with any questions about
Verve – especially how to order it!  I would also love to help you tailor plan v
to fit your individual lifestyle.  You can reach me at debbiebrodsky@charter.net.
Hope to hear from you!!!  Remember to eat what you crave and leave off the rest!

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The smallish pancake restaurant across from our hotel in Chicago
admittedly did catch my eye when we checked in late last Friday
afternoon, and thanks to the good judgement of my 7 year old son,
we headed across the street on the last day of a really nice weekend
in the Windy City.  I love pancakes, but somehow manage to talk myself
out of them whenever the opportunity presents itself.  Too much indulging
over the weekend was my latest argument.  Happily,  the kid in me was
only too happy to indulge my real child, who not only wanted pancakes,
but an order of hashbrowns on the side.  If you are in Chicago, please go to
the Original Pancake House on Bellevue.  It won’t disappoint.  And yes there
will be a wait, but as a fellow customer told us on his way out, “the line goes
fast and it is worth the wait!”

I promptly resurrected this recipe from my file box when we returned from
our trip.  Hope you will not talk yourself out of enjoying these on a leisurely
weekend morning!  Just go for a longer walk or run later in the day.  Enjoy!

pumpkin pancakes

try these now while pumpkins are prevalent!

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp.cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
whisk above ingredients together and in a separate bowl,
stir together:
1 cup milk
6 tbsp. canned pumpkin puree
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp. orange zest
Fold this mixture into dry ingredients.  Melt some butter in a
skillet over med. heat; pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.
Cook pancakes about 3 min. per side;  serve with warmed
maple syrup.  Yum!

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I came across a recipe for meatballs in the Oct. 2010 issue of ”Bon Appetit”
magazine during a recent flight to New York City, and maybe I was “low in iron”
and needing the meat, but I could not get their image out of my mind.
Yes, I was obsessed with the idea of making delicious meatballs
and spaghetti, which gave me something to look forward to doing
after a wonderful time  in my most  favorite city in the world!  I took
the magazine to the grocery store and snatched up the ingredients, then
went home to duplicate the recipe and I will give credit to Molly Wizenberg
of the blog “Orangette” and the author of A Homemade Life.  When I
arrived at the point of cooking the meatballs in the tomato sauce, I fondly
remembered a meatball recipe from a Williams-Sonoma catalogue,
which I had made a time or two for our dinner & movie club back in
Little Rock!  We were all enthusiastic eaters and the meatballs were
met with an appropiate amount of appreciation, to which I attribute
the outer “melt in your mouth”  brown crust of the meatballs (and well, the
surprise cube of cheese inside each one).  So, I decided to saute the meatballs
then finish cooking them in the sauce per Miss Wizenberg’s recipe.  Please give
this one a try and you will discover that it makes so many meatballs, you
will have plenty leftover to freeze.   It’s the recipe that keeps on giving!

Meatballs & Sauce

2 cups of fresh breadcrumbs (use your food processor)
2/3 cup milk
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 cups finely ground (again use the processor) Parmesan
   cheese
2/3 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
4 large eggs
4 garlic cloves, minced
olive oil for sauteeing
1 yellow onion, diced
1 1/2 – 2 jars of tomato sauce (I like Archer Farms brand from Target)
1 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the table!

In a large bowl, combine milk and bread crumbs.  Let sit 10
minutes to absorb, then add meats, cheese, parsley, salt and
pepper.  Whisk eggs with a fork, add garlic, then add both to
meat mixture.  Using your hands, mix the meat until all
ingredients are evenly combined (do not overmix).  Chill
mixture at least 15 minutes.  Remove from fridge and form
into 2 inch balls.  Chill again for 5-10 minutes.  Place the ones
to be frozen in large ziploc bags and lay flat in freezer.  Heat
1/4 inch olive oil in a non-stick saute pan over med. high heat. 
Brown meatballs 1 minute per side.  Remove and let rest on
a paper towel lined plate.  Pour out excess oil, leaving enough
to saute the onion for 6-7 minutes over med. heat.  Add the
tomato sauce, season with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper; add
meatballs, cover and reduce heat to med. low and let cook 20-25
min.  While the meatballs are simmering, cook the spaghetti in
a separate pot and drain.  Serve meatballs and sauce over the pasta
with a hunk of Parmesan cheese and a grater at the table.   Enjoy!

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2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut in half then into 4-5
    pieces
1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. course black pepper
1 tbsp. flour
3-4 tbsp. olive oil
3 heads of garlic, each broken into individual cloves
1 1/2 cups white wine
3/4-1  cup  heavy cream
2-3 tbsp. fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste

good sourdough bread, cut into thick slices
olive oil

This recipe is an adaptation of Ina Garten’s “Chicken with 40
Cloves of Garlic”.  I love watching “Barefoot Contessa” and
I love cooking from Ina’s many cookbooks.  She is such a
warm and friendly presence on her show that I feel like she
is a friend.  I love the way she cooks and entertains her friends
in such a relaxed, casually elegant manner.  And Ina loves orange
tulips, one of my favorite colors and flowers! 

Let’s begin cooking – if you love garlic, this will become one
of your favorite recipes.
Prepare the garlic by separating the cloves from each head, not
peeling though.  Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in the cloves
for 60 seconds, then pour in a colander and rinse with cold water.
Peel all cloves and set aside.
Cut the chicken into pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then
flour and mix with your hands to coat all pieces.  Heat olive oil in
a skillet and saute the chicken for about 3-4 minutes on each side,
until golden in color.  Remove to a plate.  Saute the garlic cloves in
the same pan (do not rinse – you will want the tasty bits from the
chicken) over med. heat for 1-2 minutes, then add the wine and turn
up heat a bit a let the wine reduce and scrape the golden bits from the
pan.  Add the cream and bring to a boil and cover to steam the
garlic cloves for 2-3 minutes.  Season the sauce with salt, pepper and
fresh thyme.  Add the chicken, check the seasoning and consistency
of the sauce, adding more cream as necessary.  Serve over bruschetta -
heat oven to 400 degrees, drizzle olive oil over both sides of bread
and bake for 7-8 minutes until golden.  Add a steamed or roasted
vegetable for a complete meal.  Enjoy!

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