Here is a news segment I did about mine and my husbands company, MB Family Foods. We make two award winning Jamaican Sauces. We’re in the last week of online voting as finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards.
Will giving these up help me lose weight?
I don’t know about you, but I am always reading health and diet related blogs, articles etc. I came across this short and sweet one on the Huffington Post today. All I can say is, guilty as charged!
My readers know it too. I’ve done the egg-fast which equates to the 7-Day Fix. I have definitely indulged in a cheat day. Cheating one day over the weekend equates to four days every month of eating whatever I wanted. Sort of counterproductive to losing weight!
I have so played the blame game, and I still do. My husband buys cookies to keep in the house for he and my daughter, but let’s face it, I am the one who eats most of them.
I’m curious to know how many of you indulge in these habits and if you have any strategies to manage them.
Is This The Answer to The Obesity Epidemic?
I watched an interesting and informative documentary the other night. “The Perfect Human Diet” by C.J. Hunt. For those of us who already live a low-carb lifestyle, it will support and reinforce your beliefs about the benefits of reducing or eliminating the starchy carbs from your diet.
The documentary also provides a good amount of scientific data to support the notion that it was through the introduction of wheat and grain foods is where our collective health began to decline.
“The Perfect Human Diet” is available on Amazon streaming. If you have Amazon Prime it’s free to view right now.
Tailgating Dilema’s
I’m not a football fan, but I am a fan of tailgate parties. For me it’s all about the food. Most parties are always filled with starchy carb options, so I was really happy to see this great little appetizer recipe. I will definitely be making these tasty morsels for the next party I host or attend!
Antipasti Bites
ingredients
24 slices (4-inch diameter) genoa salami
2 6 ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained and finely chopped
2/3 cup finely chopped jarred roasted red peppers
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnishing
48 fresh perlini mozzarella balls
directions
Position a rack in the middle of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees . Divide the salami between two 12-cup muffin pans, pressing the salami slices into the cups.
Tear aluminum foil into pieces; lightly mold into twenty-four 1-inch balls. Push the foil balls into each muffin cup to secure the salami. Bake until the salami is crisp, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven; let cool slightly in the pan. Discard the foil.
In a medium bowl, mix the artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, 1/4 cup basil and the mozzarella balls.
Place the salami cups on a platter. Fill with the vegetable mixture. Top with more chopped basil.
via Antipasti Bites.
Low Carb Layla: Jalapeno Popper Chicken
I stumbled upon this recipe in my Facebook newsfeed this morning.. I am serious about jalapeno poppers, so I just gotta try this chicken… I’ll bet this topping would be great on fish too.
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
I’ve been trying to be a bit more picky with giving recipes 5 stars but I just can’t find anything wrong with this chicken. It just doesn’t deserve 4 stars. It didn’t do anything wrong so it shouldn’t be punished! I found this recipe on Mommie Cooks via Pinterest and boy am I glad I did. I had some cilantro that I needed to use and I really love making cream sauces with cream cheese or Laughing Cow so this was right up my alley for the night. It was only sort of jalapeno popper tasting but that doesn’t even matter because these are some fabulous flavors mixed together. If you like jalapeno, cilantro and bacon then this is the recipe for you! *INDUCTION FRIENDLY*
5 STARS
3 servings
3.3 net carbs per serving
3 chicken breasts
a sprinkle of cumin (I used about 1/2 tsp)
a sprinkle of chili powder (I used about 1/2 tsp)
a light sprinkle of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (we are wimps so we just used 1 but I recommend 3)
4 oz full fat cream cheese
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro (can use 1 tsp dried but I don’t recommend)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Pan fry the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon but leave grease. Sprinkle cumin, chili and salt on each side of chicken breasts and pan fry in the bacon grease until cooked through, flipping half way. Remove chicken and keep warm. Throw chopped jalapeno and garlic in pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes over medium heat. Add chicken broth, scraping and deglazing the leftover yummies in the pan. Add cream cheese and stir in until melted. Add shredded cheddar and stir until melted. Add bacon crumbles and cilantro, stirring through for a minute or so. Spoon sauce over chicken.
Spice up your metabolism
I am a heat freak. Hot peppers that is. I put hot sauce on most everything. As a matter of fact, my husband and I own a small food manufacturing company called MB Family Foods. We make two award-winning Caribbean sauces. So, we’re both pretty much into heat.
There’s been a lot of buzz going around stating chili peppers can rev up one’s metabolism and improve overall health. Some claim capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot peppers will ramp up metabolism, and may reduce high blood pressure. I don’t know if all that is true, but I can tell you that I do not have high blood pressure, so maybe there is something to that claim.
I fixed myself an ice-cold Crystal Light Lemonade and added a few slices of the hot peppers from our garden. My lips are still blazing, but the combination of hot peppers goes great with the tartness of lemonade. It’s a refreshing treat considering with the heat index it’s still 109 degrees! Hot peppers also cause vasodilation, which helps cool the body.
I think I’ll go sit in the shade on the front porch swing and enjoy my spicy and refreshing lemonade.
Kickin’ It Old School
For those of us old enough to remember, low carb diets from the past had nothing to do with macros, micros or coconut oil! It was about eating as much as you wanted of high protein foods, and giving no thought to ratios of protein to healthy fats.
We are a lot more educated these days about what’s in our foods, where they’re grown or how they’re processed. We come up with elaborate recipes using good fat foods to duplicate the high sugar and carb dishes we crave. I think that is great, but sometimes I long for the old days.
I was kickin’ it old school last night. We picked up some Prime NY Strips from The Butcher Shoppe and grilled them up right. Nobody grills a steak better than my husband, Doug. Grilled okra on the side finished out the dish. No real prep needed other than bringing our steaks’ to room temperature and seasoning them up with salt and pepper before grilling.
Now this is a meal I could get used to!
My husband Doug grills up the best steaks I have ever eaten!
I’m Back Baby!
It’s been a challenging few weeks, but I’m back on track. After being laid off from my job as a weight-loss counselor. Ironic, I know! I wasn’t sure how to navigate through my days of not having a set routine.
Talking about food, weight-loss, best practices etc for the last five years, i I contemplated just not making food such a focus. Well we can all see where that landed me. Up ten pounds.
This was taking during my honeymoon to Asheville, NC. I felt good about my weight and health when this was taken.
It’s good to uncover certain truths about yourself, and the truth for me is, I am a food junkie. I do not have the luxury of NOT making food a focus. Returning to some of my best-practices. Planning ahead, being sure there are readily available foods to eat when I get hungry, a good attitude, and a visual prompt. Yes, I’m talking about the pic on the fridge routine. It keeps me mindful of my goal. I happen to love the dress I am wearing in the photo and would like to get back into it!
There is one more important piece that I want to mention here. I get a lot of motivation from reading weight-loss success stories. When I take the time to read the blogs or magazine articles about folks who have reached and maintained their weight-loss goals, I am inspired to reach mine.
I figure that none of us are pillars to will-power, otherwise we would not have found ourselves having to lose weight in the first place. During my counseling career, reading about the success of others placed high on my list of counseling strategies. So, a big shout out to all of us who share our stories. Not only does it keep us accountable, but it is very likely that we are inspiring others to work toward their own goals of reaching a healthy weight.
How about a recipe? You have all seen by now that I love to keep it easy with cooking. Sure, I like to get fancy now and then, but I prefer delicious, one-skillet meals. Here’s a good one to try tonight.
Chipolte Chicken
One skinless-boneless chicken breast cut up into chunks
1 medium red or green bell pepper sliced thinly
1/2 medium onion sliced in thin strips
1 T olive oil
garlic powder
salt and pepper
2T Philadelphia Chipolte Flavored Cream Cheese
Get It Done
Season the chicken with garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Saute the chicken breasts in olive oil until cooked.
Add the vegetables and cook until desired doneness. Some folks like them still crispy, while others like a little wilted.
Melt in the Philadelphia Chipolte Flavored Cream Cheese.
*This recipe would be good over Shirataki noodles if desired. I’ll bet it would be delicious with chorizo sausage too! Enjoy!
Late Night Sweet Tooth
I decided to get back on the low carb wagon, but I needed to find something to satisfy my sweet tooth. There are Oreo Cookies in the pantry, and I was successful in staying away from them.
One tip I advocate is having a Tupperware bowl of whipped cream already to go. When push comes to shove, one can always snack on that when the sweet tooth hits. I whip up an entire carton sweetened with Stevia and keep it in the fridge. If my daughter wants strawberries and cream, it’s already ready already. The canned whipped cream is really expensive, not to mention being environmentally unsound.
So, I scoured the kitchen and came up with a quick and easy low carb, albeit high fat dessert idea, when you need something in a pinch. My measurements aren’t exact here, but here’s what you need.
1/2 Cup of plain greek yogurt
1/2 Cup of homemade whipped cream
1-2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
Additional Stevia or Splenda to taste
Gently combine all the ingredients and put in a decorative dessert glass or bowl. I suppose you could also freeze it, but I haven’t tried that yet. Quite frankly, I needed the immediate gratification. The light and airy goodness of the whipped cream really gives the yogurt a mousse like consistency. Great in a pinch. I’ll bet PB Powder would be good stirred into it as well.. I’ll try that tonight. Enjoy!
There’s No Place Like the Zone, There’s No Place Like the Zone
I am going to assume that I am not alone in saying, when my head is in the game, I face temptation head on, and with overwhelming success. Conversely, I can wake up on any given Monday morning, and declare that today is the day I start a diet, and by my second cup of coffee, I’ve aborted the mission.
These days, no matter how much tighter my jeans get, I cannot find that sweet spot. I cannot get myself back in the “zone”. It feels so good being in the zone. You know that feeling, when the waiter offers you bread, and you’re able to say no, with a smug wave of your hand? Yeah.. that’s it.
How do I get back to that place. Like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, I have everything I need, right? I don’t need the ruby-red slippers. The trouble is, these days, I cannot seem to find the word no when it comes to food, or on the rare occasion that I do use the word, I am not happy about it. No thank you, may be rolling off my tongue, but it would rather be tasting the flavorful morsel I just declined.
Ok, real-time moment. I no sooner typed out that last line, and my husband asked me if I wanted bread with dinner. No lie! I just experienced what I had written, just moments ago. I said “no thank you”, but with every fiber of my being, I wanted to feel the simultaneous splendor of both the tenderness, and the crunch, of that homemade sourdough bread we get from the local farmers market.
I’m sorry, where was I? Oh yes, the zone. Well it cannot hurt to try clicking my heels three times while saying, “there’s no place like the zone”!
PattyOpinion 