Snak

So, I got this "Raw Food" "cookbook", and the recipes read something like this:

Celery Stalks
Peanut Butter

Dip. Enjoy.

Variation: Hummus instead of Peanut Butter.

Variation: Apples instead of Celery

Variation: a handful of raw almonds instead of [Celery and Peanut Butter]

Awesome. These are my own recipes, by the way, not from the book. I am 90% positive the recipes in this particular post are plagiarized from somewhere, especially the almond variation, but I love this snak so much, that I had to incorporate it into the blog.

I made chili the other day and can't remember exactly how I made it. I will try and recreate it and post it here. It was a tiny bit Japanese and mostly Mexican (Baja region) flavors.

South Beach

I am on the South Beach Diet. Why? I've tried Atkins, but that was just too HARD. Literally, way to hard in areas that are not appropriate on a food blog. Also, I do not agree that meat should be the basis of the diet. I think the foundation of the Human Diet is actually green-leafy vegetables and savory fruits (like squash, avocado, zucchini and cucumber).

So, I have been on it for a year now, but have slipped recently. Well, recently means "I've been on it loosely since Christmas, ignoring some of the rules that I want to ignore". You know how it goes.

Anyway, I had a thought recently. Why, on Phase I of the diet, do I get a headache? A really really bad headache. Happens every time I ditch carbohydrates for a few days. It HURTS too, bad headache for three days. I've asked around, and lots of people seem to have this same problem. And nobody seems to know why. We know what the cause is - lack of carbohydrate in the diet, but we have no idea why it makes the head hurt.

I think I have figured it out. Anyway, this is my theory, and "Dammit, Jim, I am not a Doctor".

The fatter you are, the more insulin your pancreas will pump out per meal, and the more likely you'll develop what's called insulin resistance. Insulin also works in the brain to suppress hunger. In other words, as you gained weight, your body would generate more insulin after every meal. Now the higher insulin production that comes with getting fatter would no longer suppress your appetite, because your brain would no longer register the rise in insulin. That is why we are always hungry after eating lots of carbohydrates and what we Americans call "Chinese Food".

If your brain were to lose its sensitivity to insulin, just as your fat and muscles do when they are flooded with it, and then you deprive your brain of massive amounts of insulin, that may cause a headache.

My hypothesis, based on another hypothesis of Michael Schwartz, an endocrinologist at the University of Washington.

Now, what to do about it? Just wait it out. My brain gets 'used to' the new insulin levels by the end of Phase I, and welcomes the new unprocessed carbohydrates that come with Phase II, YUM!

Carbohydrates make Epic Food very sleepy.

Enjoy!

* I would say tomato as well, but in the days of early human, tomatoes were very small - like berries - humans have developed them into the watery-monsters they are today. "dammit, Jim, I am not a food anthropologist".

Bacon

1 package of thick-cut, apple smoked bacon

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a baking sheet with rectangular cookie-cooler racks. Arrange the bacon on the racks so the pieces do not touch each other.

Cook it until it looks like you like it - about 20 min for soft, 30 min for extra crispy. I like it in between.

Save the bacon fat for cooking later - use in place of butter for cooking stuff...

Picture "Pig Butchering Guide" : The WAREHOUSE

Chicken Salad

3 Chicken Breasts, overcooked (oops)
3/4 c Hummus
dash Paprika
Drizzle Olive Oil

Chop chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks, top with hummus. Sprinkle some paprika and drizzle olive oil.

I like to dip celery and have a light lunch. Serves 2 or 3 people.

Ham

Ham

1 Costco Smoked Ham
1 cup maple syrup
1 cup unsulphured molasses
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
2/3 cup deli-style brown bustard
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tbs. paprika

Open the ham, throw out the sauce packet. I used a cast iron pan for this, the sauce is plentiful, so you will need a pan with some edges.

In the meantime, wait until the ham is about 3/4 done, then mix up all the ingredients (except the ham, of course) in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat stirring constantly until butter and brown sugar are melted together and smooth.

Remove ham from oven. Baste ham with glaze and crank up the oven temp to 450. make sure to get the sauce/glaze into all the nooks and crannies, I use a couple of forks to manipulate the hot ham. Baste ham every 15 minutes of the cooking time to get a nice decent coating.

Pomum Letifico

This is a nice apple dessert that I made up for my kids:

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes

Pomum Letifico [Apple Delight]:
1 Apple
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oatmeal
2 tbs. butter
dash cinnamon

Preheat conventional oven to 360°, or use the microwave. Use an apple slicer to core and slice the apple. Discard core. Place apple pieces into a coffee mug (ramekin), the walls of the mug (ramekin) holding the apple in place without the core. Pack the oatmeal into the opening where the apple core was. Place all of the butter on top of the oatmeal. Top the whole thing with brown sugar. Microwave on high 4 min per Apple or throw it into the oven for 30-40 minutes.

See you can do it in the microwave and a coffee mug, or be sophisticated and do it in an oven if you really like to wait or you are baking something else too ;). The cooking method doesn't really affect the taste any.

Topping:
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp confectioners sugar
dash cinnamon

Whip until stiff, enjoy on top of your Pomum Letifico. We made the Pomum Letifico and topped it with the whipped topping, and the topping melted and made a very nice cream sauce.

Make the topping and leave out the brown sugar for a delightful apple pie topping...

Wilted Spinach with Pecans

Wilted Spinach is my favorite vegetable dish. Sometimes, I will eat it as the entrée. It is fast, healthy and cheap.

1 lbs. Spinach
2 c. Water
1/2 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tbs Butter
1/2 tbsp. no-salt seasoning
1/2 c. Pecans
Dash of Kosher Salt

Makes about 4 servings (we like a lot of spinach).

I have left the seasoning up to you, but I usually use a salt-free garlic-herb blend.

This takes no time at all, (except toasting the pecans) so if you are serving it as a side dish, wait until everything else is cooked and your diners are ready to eat before you start.

Toast the pecans. I literally toast them in the toaster oven until they just barely start to smell good. You do not want to over-do this because burnt pecans are terribly bitter.

Heat the water, oil, butter and seasoning on high heat in a big soup pot or a large round saute pan, until it boils. Turn the heat to medium and dump the cleaned spinach leaves in. Use tongs to turn the leaves gently. Keep turning them until they are just wilted and dark green, and warmed throughout. Remove from heat and dump the whole thing in a colander. You can save the broth and use for soup if you want.

Squeeze out as much water as you want. Place it on your plate and add a dash of Kosher Salt and top with the Pecans. Serve. Enjoy.