Saturday Throwback: Learning to Love the Foods You Hate: A Guide for Frugal Eaters

Every Saturday, we post a piece from the CHG archives. This one is from April 2009.

Up until a few years ago, the list of foods I loathed was a long one. It included, but wasn’t limited to: spaghetti squash, broccoli, asparagus, red cabbage, ginger ale, cauliflower, radishes, lentils, beans, Brussels sprouts, fennel, eggplant, anise, scallops, figs, and of course, the dreaded mayonnaise. The list goes on (and on), but you get the idea: growing up, I wasn’t exactly a daring eater.

I still hate mayo. I will ALWAYS hate mayo. George Clooney could serve me mayo wrapped in chocolate bacon on a gold-plated re-issue of Who’s Next, and I would throw it back in his face. But my opinion’s changed on most of those other foods. These days, I’ll gladly scarf a floret of cauliflower. Brussels sprouts hold a special place on my dinner table. And eggplant? Well, eggplant is my favorite thing ever, aside from the panda song from Sifl and Olly. (In fact, you could say I’m drunk on eggplant mystery.)

Granted, part of it is just me aging. At 31-years-old, my palate’s matured a little, and my tastes now lean more toward savory than sweet. The other part, though, can be directly attributed to recent changes in my lifestyle.

See, a few years ago, I resolved to learn to cook, to eat healthier, and to better manage my money. As it turned out, vegetables and legumes were vital to making this work, since they’re exponentially cheaper than meat and much more nutritious than most starches. So, I had to confront my fears. I had to expand my produce repertoire beyond corn, carrots, corn, and carrots.

These strategies helped. I learned to tolerate, and even love, a lot of foods I had longstanding issues with. Try ‘em for yourself, and please add your own suggestions to the comment section.

Make it unrecognizable.
Case study: Eggplant
Seedy, mushy, and horrifically purple, eggplant appealed to me about as much as a drug-free colonoscopy. Then, in 1997, my friend H hid it in her homemade tomato sauce. And … revelation. Soon, I was on to eggplant dips, eggplant pastas, and finally, plain ol’ broiled eggplant. The trick was getting the image of the vegetable out of my head, and forcing me to associate it with otherwise good food. I suspect it would work beautifully with any vegetable that could be pureed or furtively included in a sauce (butternut squash, bell peppers, etc.).

Use it in a recipe with foods you love.
Case study: Brussels sprouts
As far as I was concerned, Brussels sprouts were tiny, bitter cabbages that masochists ate when they ran out of bigger bitter cabbages. Little did I know that slathering them in Parmesan would provide a delicious gateway into healthier, simpler preparations. See also: Red Cabbage (ew) with Honey (nice), Apples (yay!), and Bacon (king of cured meats). It's actually quite scrumptious.

Try it in an ethnic dish.
Case study: Broccoli
Broccoli: looks like trees, tastes like butt, right? Yeah, I used to think like that, too. But in high school, Ma ordered Chicken and Broccoli from our local Chinese joint, Da How. Suddenly, it was broccoli: looks like trees, tastes like HEAVEN (with garlic and brown sauce). Sometimes, a food is more appealing when its paired with flavors you’re not necessarily accustomed to. Like bean sprouts on top of Pad Thai. Or peas stuffed in a samosa. Or tomatillo sauce spread across an enchilada. Pick a cuisine and start experimenting.

Cook the best-reviewed recipe you can find featuring that food.
Case study: Cauliflower
Most aggregate recipe sites like Epicurious, Food Network, and All Recipes have sophisticated rating systems with which home cooks can evaluate any dish. If you’re feeling ambitious, plug an ingredient into one of their search engines. Then, prep the recipe with the best overall reviews. For example, Ina Garten has a Cauliflower Gratin that’s received an average of five stars from 132 people (which is outstanding). I’ve tried it myself, and without exaggeration, it changed the way I felt about cauliflower. I just … I just didn’t know it could taste that good. Now, stuff like Roasted Garlic Cauliflower and Curried Cauliflower Soup with Honey are making regular appearances in my mouth.

Understand you don’t have to eat it the way your Ma (or Pa) prepared it.
Case study: Spaghetti Squash
Across the country, millions of Irish-Americans loathe vegetables because growing up, produce was boiled beyond recognition and then forced by threat of death into their reluctant maws. But take heart, my freckled brethren! It doesn’t have to be this way. Did you know carrots can be roasted? And broccoli rabe, sauteed? And spaghetti squash, combined with red sauce, mozzarella, and pine nuts to create something COMPLETELY DELICIOUS? It’s true. So, love your Gaelic Ma. Embrace her. Call her often. Just … try to forget her cooking. It’ll make this whole process much easier.

Try a dish with a subtler incarnation of that food.
Case study: Tarragon
This one’s a little difficult to explain, so here’s an example: I despise anise. Even thinking about its black licorice flavor makes my tongue curl. Recently though, I discovered a White Bean and Tarragon Soup that I quite like. Tarragon, like fennel, possesses traits similar to anise, but it’s much, much subtler. In the soup, it was complemented so well by the other ingredients, I didn’t even taste the hate. Maybe I'll feel the same way about anise someday. Think of this principle like salsa: you start out mild, and work your way up to medium and hot varieties.

Give it just one more shot.
Case study: Beans
For some inexplicable reason, I always assumed I hated beans. As a kid, they looked funny to me. And in my six-year-old brain, funny-looking food = bad food. It wasn’t until I grew up, sacked up, ate one and didn’t throw up, that they became a regular part of my diet. (Okay, hummus helped.)

If you truly hate it, let it go.
Case studies: scallops, figs, radishes, mayo
Scallops will never be my thing, no matter how fresh they are, how well they’ve been prepared, and how many times I try them. Figs, radishes, mayonnaise – still disgusting, as well. (Which, did I mention I hate mayonnaise? I did? Oh, good.) Sometimes, a certain food just won’t do it for you. And it’s okay. Just move on to the next one.

And that’s it. Readers? Suggestions?

~~~

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Lemon Chicken Recipes - Healthy Low Fat Chicken Recipes as part of a Healthy Die

Citrus adds sparkle to these easy lemon chicken recipes.

Lemon is a great partner to chicken, giving it a buzz of fragrance and flavour that lifts it out of the ordinary. Use a lemon marinade, or just some of the juice squeezed over, to improve the most basic of chicken dishes, like roasts and grills, or make lemon the central ingredient of a tangy sauce.

Add herbs as well, like fresh tarragon or fresh or dried thyme, to make any of these healthy chicken recipes more aromatic.

Citrus Grilled Chicken
Grilled chicken makes a swift and easy mid-week supper, and is one of the simplest of lemon chicken recipes. Marinading the meat in lemon juice tenderises the chicken, and gives it masses of extra flavour. You can leave the chicken in the marinade overnight if you get organised enough, but if not even 10-15 mins steeping in the lemony mixture will be enough to add that unmistakeable citrus aroma.

Serves 4: 8 chicken pieces, 2 lemons, 2 cloves garlic, crushed, 4 tbsp olive oil.

Put the chicken in a dish. Squeeze the lemons, mix juice with the garlic and oil to make a marinade. Toss chicken in the marinade, cover and refrigerate until needed. Preheat the grill to medium. Put the chicken into the grill pan and spoon over some marinade. Grill the chicken, placing it about 10-15cm (4-6 inches) beneath the heat, and turning once until the skin is crisp and juices run clear when the meat is tested with a knife point.

As a variation, you can use chicken breasts, skinned and cut into cubes before marinading. To cook, thread the cubes on skewers, alternating with cherry tomatoes, baby onions and bay leaves, and grill until the chicken is cooked right through, basting with marinade.

Tangy Lemon Chicken With Mushrooms

Citrus adds freshness to this easy chicken recipe which produces a light, zesty sauce. Perfect with noodles, or serve with grains such as bulgar wheat or cous-cous.

Serves 6: 6 chicken thighs, a little olive oil, 200g (1 cup) baby onions or 2 medium onions quartered,1 level tbsp plain flour200g (2 cups) mushrooms, sliced, 175ml (3/4 cup) chicken or vegetable stock, juice of 1 lemon.

Using a little oil in a non-stick frying pan, brown the chicken thighs. Remove from pan, add a little more oil and brown the onions. Return chicken to pan, sprinkle over the flour and stir around to coat.Add sliced mushrooms. Pour on the lemon juice and hot stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer. Cover and cook gently for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Roast Chicken With Lemony Gravy

Cheer up an everyday roast chicken with a zesty citrus gravy. I like this served with grains like quinoa, rice or cous cous, so that the sauce soaks in, but you can partner it with potatoes if you prefer.

Serves 4-6: 1 chicken weighing 1.75 ? 2.25 kg (4-5 lb), 2 lemons, 2 tbsp olive oil, 50g (1/4 cup) butter, 1 tbsp flour, 150ml (1/2 cup) chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350F/180C/gas 4. Cut one of the lemons into four pieces and place inside the chicken carcass. Squeeze the other lemon. Mix half the juice with the olive oil and rub into the chicken skin.

Place in a roasting tin, and cook for 75-90 minutes, basting from time to time, until the skin is browned and the juices run clear when tested with a knife point.

To make the gravy, melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook for a couple of minutes, then gradually stir in the chicken stock and remaining lemon juice, stirring well to incorporate the liquid into the flour mixture to make a smooth sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Carve the chicken and serve with the lemony gravy.

Tabbouleh with chicken: Add cubes of cold cooked chicken to a salad of cooked bulgar wheat, spring onions (scallions) and diced cucumber, dressed with an oil and lemon juice mix.

Chicken and potato lemon-dressed salad: Add lemon juice to home made pesto and use to dress a salad of cooked new potatoes and cubed chicken. Serve on a bed of leaves.

Lemon chicken risotto: Add lemon juice to stock and use to cook risotto rice, which absorbs all the flavours. Add finely diced mushrooms while the rice is cooking, and diced cooked chicken. Stir, and keep cooking over a low heat until all is thoroughly heated through.

For more exciting ways to cook chicken, see Healthy Chicken Recipes.

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Green Kitchen: Fresh Garbanzo Beans and the Excitement of New Vegetables

Green Kitchen is a bi-weekly column about nutritious, inexpensive, and ethical food and cooking. It's penned by the lovely Jaime Green.
Don't get me wrong – a good chunk of my love for the greenmarket is love of, and belief in the goodness of, local eating. I like meeting my farmers, I like minimizing my food's road trips, I like the dirt on my kale that comes from nearby. (Okay, I did not love the cocooned caterpillar that came along with that local kale and its local dirt this weekend, but that's my own problems with squeamishness. In theory, I loved that caterpillar.)

But I also fell in love with the farmers market because, during our early courtship, everything was so new. Kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, lambsquarter, Brussels sprouts still on the stalk – my first couple of greenmarket years, I took home something new and strange almost every weekend. I hit the internet and hit the books, and almost every time I added a new and delicious veggie to my repertoire.

I still love the greenmarket, lo these many years later, but things have become a little... predictable. A few extra bucks in my wallet this summer are opening a few new doors – berries, grapes (that actually taste like something!), and endless varieties of stone fruits – but the veggies are all familiar territory. As each veggie comes back into season, sure, there's a weekend or two of excitement, but true vegetal strangers are few and far between.

So I hope you'll allow me a digression from the agricultural bounty of the greater New York area (love you, Pennsylvania peppers!), as I allowed myself when I met an international temptation too strange and exciting to ignore.

Fresh garbanzo beans.

The bin of fuzzy green pods was nestled between portabellos and quail eggs in the Whole Foods produce aisle, and I could not resist. At $4/lb I thought my few experimental handfuls would cost me a buck or so. These beans are so light, though, that my bag rang up at a mere twenty-nine cents. Score one for the beans.

I hit the internet, and hit the kitchen, and here is what I learned:
Fresh garbanzo beans can be eaten raw. Popped out of the pods they look just like their canned and dried cousins, just green. They have a fresh, not particularly strong taste, like starchier edamame.The internet will tell you that they should be steamed in salt water in their pods. This works, but the pods are so roomy that they become little saline capsules, which then burst in your mouth or in your hands. The beans are still tasty, but they get lost in the saltwater, and it doesn't really work. So, fresh garbanzos edamame-style: technically works, but not so awesome.If you use the same method, though, but shell the beans first, well bingo, there you go. A quick boil in salted water gives you bright, salty, tasty little beans. The internet is full of more elaborate preparations, but I like to get to know a new veggie simply, at first. (Okay, I often end up sticking with those most basic preparations – salt, and sometimes oil, usually make veggies taste like their best versions of themselves.)

Next time – if I even see them again, because their appearance was sudden and they may vanish as quickly and with as little fanfare - I may try some sort of pan-frying, with cumin and other chickpea-friendly spices. I bet the green flavors of the fresh beans would play nicely with that. But for now, for my new friend the fresh garbanzo, simple and quick is the way to go.

~~~

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~~~

Fresh Garbanzo Beans
Serves 2

1/2 lb fresh garbanzo beans (about 1 cup shelled)
1 T (or so) salt

1) Shell the garbanzo beans. They usually pop out easily, but scissors can be helpful.

2) In a sauce pan or small soup pan, bring a couple of inches of salted water to a boil.

3) Add the garbanzos. Boil, covered, for about a minute.

4) Drain, and eat warm or cooled.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, Protein, and Cost Per Serving
134.5 calories, 2.1g fat, 6.3g fiber, 7.3g protein, $0.26

Calculations
1 cup fresh garbanzo beans: 269 calories, 4.2g fat, 12.5g fiber, 14.5g protein, $0.50
1 T salt: 0 calories, 0g fat, 0g fiber, 0g protein, $0.02
TOTAL: 269 calories, 4.2g fat, 12.5g fiber, 14.5g protein, $0.52
PER SERVING (TOTAL/4): 134.5 calories, 2.1g fat, 6.3g fiber, 7.3g protein, $0.26

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What is a healthy instant drink for kids?

My son is 2 year and 10 month old. He is not taking solid foods properly. Can you please suggest me a healthy drink in Tamilnadu. He goes go play school and do not eat from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. kindly suggest. He is telling about back pain. But all the investigations are normal.

Answer If you are concerned because your son is not taking solid food properly, you need to consult your doctor. A child of this age should be eating solid food without problem, so he needs checking out. He should also eat several times between 7.30 and 4.30 - this is a very long time for a young child to go without nourishment.
Instant drinks are generally full of sugar and are not good drinks for him to have. Milk is very nutritious and he can also have juice once a day.

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Ask the Internet: Top 5 Fruits?

Sweet readers! The results of last week’s Top 5 Vegetables inquiry are coming a little later today. (Hint: Celery does much worse than expected.) In the meantime, we had a few requests for this follow-up question, which could be even tougher to answer.

Q: What are your top five favorite fruits, and why?

A: Mine, in order:
Cherries. I fear death as a concept in general, but mostly because I wouldn’t get to eat cherries anymore.Pluots. I don’t particularly like apricots, but this plum/apricot hybrid is a genetic anomaly I can get behind.Plums. There's nothing more satisfying than digging into a cold, juicy plum on a hot summer’s day. William Carlos Williams was right on.Bananas. Portable, cheap, and packed with potassium, they're the reliable utility outfielders of the fruit world.Lemons: You can’t eat them by themselves, but they brighten up so many savory dishes, I can’t imagine cooking without them. Also? Lemonade. BAM.Mangoes, blueberries, limes, and a really good pear just miss my top tier, and cantaloupe, kiwi, and apricots are way at the bottom.

Readers, what about you? Keep in mind we’re going with the conventional idea of fruits here, which means no tomatoes. And again, look for those veggie results later today.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.

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Health Benefits of Water

This article about The Health Benefits of Water has been forwarded to us by the editorial team at TotallyDrinkable.com.

The human body is composed of approximately 60% water. It is therefore easy to understand why it is so essential to life and the health benefits of drinking water. A human can survive for a long time without food, but without water, dehydration sets in quickly, leading to death. Even mild dehydration on an ongoing basis can lead to serious illnesses from accumulation of deadly toxins.

Having insufficient amounts of water in the body prevents waste products from being flushed out of the cells, allowing them to build up until they reach toxic levels. High levels of toxins can lead to cancer, liver disease, arthritis, low energy and poor brain function. Mild dehydration alone can make you feel drained of energy, depressed and unmotivated. Dehydration can also lead to constipation, another potential source of cancer-causing toxins.

Water is essential for the proper functioning of the body?s systems and organs, including the brain. Lack of water can make you feel tired and sluggish, and even make it harder to think. Every chemical reaction in the body requires water. It is necessary for metabolizing food and for proper bowel function.

Water helps boost the immune system as well as dissolve minerals and other vital nutrients and carries them to the cells so they can be used by the body. It also regulates body temperature and helps lessen the strain on the liver and kidneys by flushing toxic substances out of the vital organs, helping to prevent deadly diseases such as cancer. Water is a key component of saliva, necessary for keeping the mouth moist and also for creating a moist environment for the eyes, ears nose and throat. Adequate moisture in the body keeps the joints lubricated, improving mobility, easing the pain of arthritis and possibly even preventing some types of arthritis from occurring in the first place.

Water also helps fight premature aging. Properly hydrated skin retains its elasticity, keeping it smooth and preventing wrinkles from appearing. Healthy skin is more able to repair damage caused by free radicals such as air pollution, cigarette smoke and sunshine.

In assessing the different health benefits of water and deciding what type of water will bring you the best nutritional benefits, you must remember that the benefits range from simple to complex and are varied. And although studies have not shown any concrete evidence that mineral water health benefits are different from those associated with regular tap water, there are several important things to highlight about the differences.

For instance, sparkling mineral water health benefits include but are not limited to the lowering of LDL cholesterol (the bad kind of cholesterol), the balancing of sodium levels in your body, an increase in your HDL cholesterol (the good kind of cholesterol), it kills bacteria that attack the immune system and can cause infections and illnesses, and reduces your caloric intake (like all other water).

Once water has been cleaned, boiled (the process to create distilled water), processed or softened, the minerals are removed or otherwise destroyed or damaged, making these essential minerals useless to the human body. Tap water is always sent through a cleaning process and many things are added to it such as fluoride and additional minerals and vitamins. This also happens with bottled water a great deal of the time.

The main research of nutritionists and other health professionals shows that most things from nature are best in their natural state. Mineral water has many health benefits because it brings back to your body what is destroyed during your daily activities and through the normal course of life. Mineral water is the best way to quickly rehydrate your body and bring back all of the essential nutrients your body needs to be in its healthiest state.

Once again, we would like to thank the team at TotallyDrinkable.com for this article. Please follow these links if you would like more information about water purifiers or water filters.

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Trading Butter for All the Broccoli in China: Getting Healthy Takes Practice

Making her CHG debut, please welcome today's guest blogger, Amy Dickenson. Amy is an actor, writer, producer, and mom to the cutest baby girl in the five boroughs.

Forty. Forty is the new 30, right? Well, in my house, 40 is starting to look like the new 60. My gorgeous husband and I have recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol—hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, to be fancy, like certain cheeses which I love and will never be able to eat again.

Let’s jump in the Crisco Time Machine. It all started 18 years ago when our courtship took a decided slant toward biscuits slathered in butter and jam. Have you ever tasted butter? It’s like a miracle married to a unicorn wrapped in a rainbow. Much like its cousin, bacon, which is a miracle married to a unicorn dipped in chocolate, butter’s not so good for your arteries. But it was the early ‘90s and we didn’t know about cholesterol and vegetables back then. Did we?

Back in the time machine to August 2010. My cholesterol is 254. WHAT? I am not a high-falutin’, pin-stripe-wearin’ banker chugging scotch, smoking stogies, eating aged porterhouse steaks with my big wig partners, guffawing over “that deal” that made “lots of money” while flashing my newly laminated AARP card. I am a working mom. I eat veggies. I make sure my family gets a salad at least once a day. So, what gives? And why is my husband’s blood pressure 180/2 million?

My husband (let’s call him Adam) and I do not agree all the time (shocking) but we do agree on one thing: We want to be around for our baby daughter’s graduation from college. And her wedding. And her babies. And their graduations from college. Even if she doesn’t get married or go to college, we want to be around to lament those things.

She is worth all the broccoli in China. And I know they have tons, because, let’s face it, nobody ever eats that side of bright green buried under the General Tsao’s chicken. I imagine the Great Wall as an agricultural implement built to contain the cruciferous invaders from the steppes of central Asia. They must love it as much as I do.

Our daughter, however, loves broccoli (a secret point of pride), and for now, she needs us to make it for her. Time to act.

Adam’s doctor put him on the First Line Therapy diet. Mine gave me a prescription cholesterol reducer, a pharmaceutical of the most common side effects reported are headache, muscle pain, abdominal pain...variety.

One of the scariest side effects I read about is birth defects. Since Adam and I are “not not trying” to have another baby, the meds are sitting on my desk, looking forlorn while I debate whether to take it. Or I could give this First Line Therapy diet a try too.

Adam and I are fly-by-the-seat of our pantsers, not planners. I love to cook, but I have been known to open the freezer at 5 pm and stare blankly for three minutes before I reach directly above it for the takeout menus. (OK, the restaurant numbers are in my cell phone.)

How do two nonplanners plan to be healthy, live longer, and learn about nutrition on a diet that requires grocery shopping in advance of the moment we might need said ingredients?
I started by reading the cute little binder Adam got from his doctor. It has menus, recipes, and tips like pretty much every other diet book. I thought, “Hmmm. This looks really great.” And I said to Adam, “Babe, this is really great.” And then I put down the book and we ordered chicken ceasar wraps with feta from Zorba’s. Because you can have fat-free feta on this diet. (Zorba’s doesn’t have fat-free anything.)

Oh I needed a PLAN. I gave myself a goal of meal planning for three days. My mind can grapple with Sunday, Monday and Tuesday just fine. I didn’t want to get too ambitious and hope for a week.

First Line Therapy (FLT) is basically the reduced-carb, high-veggie, lean protein, healthy fat diet that we have all read about, tried, and maybe succeeded at. It’s similar to the South Beach approach or the Mediterranean diet…or Weight Watchers if you do it right.

You aim for a set number of calories per day within a certain set of food groups. For instance, Adam can eat 2000 calories a day, and this is how they break it down:

Servings per Day
3–4 “Category 1” veggies (the green leafies, the zucchinies, the tomatoes, the peppers, etc.)
2 legumes
1 dairy
3 concentrated proteins
2 fruits
4 healthy oils
1 nut
1 grain
1 “Category 2” veggie (the yummy orange ones)

You can read more about FLT here, where people are dangerously perched on two-wheels or here, where they weigh giraffes. I prefer the giraffes.

Among the many challenges of embracing FLT is that it’s kinda pricey. They recommend you eat what they call “medical food,” which includes Ultra Meal 360 Plus shakes with delicious "Selective Kinase Response Modulators,” twice a day and take a variety of supplements. You can indulge in medical chalklate, medical chalkberry or medical chalknilla flavored shakes, which you mix with cold water. Or you can get purse-friendly bars in flavors approximating fudge or apple cinnamon. (We have yet to try the apple cinnamon bars or strawberry shake flavors.) If there is a cookie variety, they are holding out on us.

“Medical food,” in combination with the cost of fresh produce, was looking a little forbidding until we looked at our daily Starbucks intake—$10 easy for both of us, which adds up to over $3600 a year. If we cut that out, along with our takeout habit, we could maybe swing this thing.

I comparison shopped at our local grocery store vs. the health food store vs. the farmer’s market. A head of lettuce at our grocery store costs around $3. I never used to buy a head of lettuce that I’d have to cut up and WASH and spin and hang to dry. It’s like doing laundry. Especially when have these cute little plastic boxes of cut up, triple-washed lettuce. But, they’re $4.99 a box. And, if truth be told, we usually throw away about 1/3 of it when the purple leafy things get all slimy. Hmmm… I see savings in my salad spinner.

The farmer’s market had locally grown lettuce for (drum roll please) $2! And it doesn’t come in those plastic shells which I always feel guilty about buying and tossing. So, not only am I supporting local growers, I can get my green on too? I’m sold. Or least sold on Wednesdays. Because that’s the only day the farmers market comes to my area.

To fill out the week, I decided to go for Romaine hearts at my grocery store, saving roughly $4 a week. Over a year, that’s $200. Which means I can buy those fancy Omega-3s FLT recommends we take. Or the “Medical food,” which is $50 a canister for 14 servings. OUCH, but remember the lettuce. Remember the lettuce!

Here is my 3-day plan:
Breakfast: a medical food shake, plus 2 eggs – anyway you like ‘em
Snack: fruit with a nut butter (Almond butter is pricey, but a little goes a loooong way. Plus, you can only have 1 tbsp.)
Lunch: here’s where the planning kicks in…yesterday’s dinner leftovers
Snack: another fruit
Dinner: a recipe from Adam’s cute binder and a salad
Snack: another medical food (This stuff is pricey.)*

Sunday’s dinner was turkey chili from the book (surprisingly delicious); Monday’s dinner was salad with grilled chicken breast; and Tuesday’s dinner was turkey and bulgur with peas (also yummy).

Not only did we have plenty of chili for lunch, I actually froze two servings for another day. The bulgur recipe looks like it might be another loaves and fishes story. I have never cooked bulgur, which I had to get at my health food store, but it was only $4 for a bag that will last me until the Buffalo Bills win a superbowl.**

Now I have to take a deep breath because today is Wednesday. And I have to plan again. But I did it THREE DAYS in a row. And I think I can, I think I can, I think I can… I talked to my doctor about Adam’s FLT diet, and he asked how it was going. “Well, it’s challenging, figuring out how to cook and plan and get all the food groups in.” He said, “That’s what it is. It’s practice.”

Hmmm... Practice. I can do that.

*According to the American Heart Association, in 1995, the last yearly figures they publish, there were 1,460,000 angiograms performed at an average cost of $10,880 per procedure. This resulted in 573,000 bypass surgeries at an average cost of $44,820, and 419,000 percutaneous transluminal (balloon) coronary angioplasties (PTCAs) at an average of $20,370 each. The total bill in 1995 was $50 billion, or $137 million per day?$5.7 million per hour. The total annual cost of cardiovascular disease in the United States, including medications and disability, is approximately $274 billion per year. And that was in 1995. When we were slathering butter on our biscuits. Good grief.

**Adam and I proudly hail from Buffalo, NY.

If you dug this article, you may also dig:
How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off: 10 Rules to Live By
Weekly Meal Planning for Singles, Couples and Working People
Why Weight Maintenance Is Harder Than Weight Loss, and How to Help It Along

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