My Secret to a "Healthy" Life
- Tasha
- Feb 10, 2017
- 5 min read
So, as much as I love to cook and aspire for greatness....I daylight in customer service. Is it as rewarding...sometimes. Well yesterday was one of those days. Yesterday, I met, let's call him Dan, I met Dan. I love when I talk to a person and they are just genuine. I love humanity. Sadly I don't get that much. Dan however, was wonderfully genuine. Our rapport brought us on the topic of Patisseries (by Peach), goals in life, and he mentioned weight loss too.
Many don't know I have literally lost a small person in weight. Yes, literally. I'm 5'0"....I have lost a total of 116 pounds. Sometimes I can't believe it myself, it's so unreal. My doctor told me she could help me with at least 65 and she did, it was amazing...(sidebar: those disclosures are like really real people the best advice is if you ever need to lose weight like seek advice from your doctor, best. decision. ever.)...but then I guess from the laziness of relying on medical assistance I resonated at only like 62 pounds of weight loss...that was a whole 64 pounds away from goal...I was ONLY half way there!!
It frustrated me. I felt like I was following the rules. Because I was eating what they said and I was doing things like I should but it wasn't enough....but it was I just needed to tweek somethings. One thing I learned through cooking is adding and building flavors. It doesn't mean that you have to build fat, I will say that I don't care how much weight I lose, I will never put food on the table that I wouldn't eat myself, and some things just have to be laden in rich fatty goodness! YOU just have to know how to balance. I
totally am a portion control guru.
Portion control is what allows me to indulge in anything I want to eat...Full fat....yummy goodness of foods....and even though I was following the regime I was not thinking about what I was putting in my mouth. Now I do. So I figured in today's post I should share a life secret, for my friend Dan. Dan, from somewhere outside of the city, in New York, where they have the best opportunities to have a brick and mortar restaurant be successful....really successful, according to Dan.
The secret?....find alternatives that you love...
So like I said I am in love with fat. But I had to realize one thing, we just simply eat way too much. It is true...even as I think about menus and portion sizes for plates. We eat too much which causes excess fat, but just enough is good and using less doesn't mean you lose. I felt since my portions are small enough I could eat all the fat, but what I realized was I have to eliminate somethings...somewhere...for balance. Finding alternatives, was the easiest way to jump start my weight loss stump.
I love full fat products like yogurt and cream and buttermilk but I do use low-fat milk... always...since I could choose what type of milk I wanted to consume, which is fairly young thinking about elementary. I don't know...milk isn't really human it's cow and as weird as it sounds I just keep thinking maybe I don't need all the same things in my body a cow needs in their's but that is a whole other subject in itself...I am sorry I am weird about milk...experiment. But because of my ease to use low-fat milk I have tried fat-free half and half as an alternative to cream (unless i'm whipping it), and low-fat buttermilk almost skim, 1% I believe. I really don't notice the difference, honestly, I can't even tell in my baked goods and it really does make me feel a little better like an extra added bonus to the flavor being right.
Oh I also create my own spice combinations instead of pre-made and control my salt content or add Salt Sense (this is not an endorsement I have just tried many salt alternatives and I can't fake salt but I can reduce sodium content and Salt Sense does that!) Chicken broth adds great flavor to things that need cream and butter. I use chicken broth to make my mash potatoes because heavy cream and tablespoons...yes tablespoons...of butter are surely not the way to go (all the time). I tend to eat a low carb/good carb diet, once you understand carbohydrates they aren't as bad as people make them, its all about knowing when and how much and how you use them. But back to chicken broth, it's awesome and you can make your own and its the best additive for me because it gives me flavor. Flavor without fat is great. Now I splash cream into my mashed potatoes and I I told you I replaced my cream with half and half...fat free...remember how I feel about cows. But chicken broth has taken over as my staple liquid for all my cream based foods. Even in sauces, replacing creamy consistencies with watery liquids will alter the sauce but I have learned to use roux made with butter alternative, cornstarch, or flour slurrey
as thickener.
Other alternatives?
I use greek yogurt where I need sour cream, which works wonders for me! I don't know if you can tell the types of unhealthy things I like yet?! Cauliflower. People are on this cauliflower craze that I have not been able to fully participate in. I am sorry but it tastes like cauliflower not pizza crust or tortillas or bread or hashbrowns, And I am sorry to say ...it isn't even rice. But on the defense of cauliflower, which I do love in vegan dishes, curried is my favorite btw, riced cauliflower to me is a great alternative to rice. My first time eating it was a little weird but not dissatisfying. Let's be honest, the texture does not match rice, taste does not match rice at all, but its small enough to satisfy the need in my mouth to feel a small particle, and it had flavor which made it ultimately acceptable and delicious. So I use cauliflower rice, already riced, though easily done by pulsing crowns in food processor to small minced pieces. I season cauliflower rice the same as I season traditional rice a little more seasoned with herbs and spices because I find that when I saute vegetables without water and they retain their bite they also retain their blandness so if you season a little heavier to me it ensures you taste those flavors (but know what is overbearing...we will discuss in a later post).
In all I think finding alternatives has been my biggest help with my slump and because Dan was oh so nice I think today I am going to give you lovely readers a recipe!!! So since we discussed this I think it is only fair that I show you how to make Spanish "Rice".
Spanish "Rice"
Serves 6 Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes
olive oil cooking spray
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno minced
3 cups cauliflower, riced
1/4 Knorr bouillon cube crumbled
1 can diced tomatoes and chiles in juices
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
1. Heat skillet on medium heat spray with olive oil cooking spray. Add onions garlic and jalapeno. Cook until tender about 4 minutes.
2. Add "rice" and saute until lightly browned. Stir in tomatoes, bouillon, cumin, chili powder, and smoked paprika. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Fold in cilantro and season with sea salt if needed (pink Himalayan preferred for mineral content).
3. Serve and enjoy!
Nutritional content: 49 calories 8 carbs 0 fat 4g protein 70g sodium 5g sugar