Tomato Roses

I meant to post this BEFORE Mother's Day so you all could do this for her meal and make some extra smiles. :)  But now you can use it next time, or for birthdays, etc.  This is a "how to" blog on making tomato roses.



 

First, make sure you have a good tomato, and two sharp knives. I usually have a longer and a shorter one for different uses. 
You can use one knife the whole time, but if one isnt working the way you want it to, then you want a backup there since you will be covered in tomato juice. ;)








Step 1:  Cutting your tomato

 Start with cutting the end of the tomato. Now, the first rule you need to remember is to go slow and control your knife, if your tomato skin breaks, then it is ruined!! 

So cut the end it one piece, but then work your way around the tomato

You need to move slow and steady and keep your skin pieces as even as possible. The larger (wider) the cut, the less it will go around, but the easier it is to cut, the smaller (thinner) the cut, the more layers the rose will have but the harder it will be to cut.  It is all about practice. :)

This tomato was softer then I wanted it to be, but it was my last tomato, and I didn't want to go to the store first. :)  Being softer, you can see the skin rippling and it was MUCH harder to get a good cut out of it and so I made it a larger cut.








 


 When you are done, you should have one long piece of tomato skin.


 










Step 2:  Build Rose




curl the end up with the inside of the tomato skin facing each other.  
You start with the end that you finished cutting.

 

 hold it tight and keep rolling it up.

When you get to the large top piece, you will fold it over and set the curled up skin on top of the piece. It becomes your base. The weight of the skin helps hold it together. 

It should look about like this.  You can put basil leaves between the base and the curled skin to look like leaves as well.    Different colored tomatoes work and can make a pretty "bouquet" of flowers. :)  

So, Give this a try, and let me know how it goes.

Happy Creating!  :)

Happy National Public Gardening Day!!

It is National Public Gardening Day, and to celebrate I am having a deal on my events.  Check out the flyer, and let me know what you think!  

What are you doing today to celebrate??  

Baby Steps to Better Steps

I did a consultation the other day and we talked about how to get from point A: The habit of unhealthy living, to Point B: The habit of a healthy life.  His main concern was that there is so much out there, that it is hard to dig through all the fads and the crap to get to the things that really matter, and then trying to figure out which ones work for him and his lifestyle and his body.   This is a conversation that I have had a bunch with many clients and friends.  The age of technology and knowledge has made a situation of there being too much for the average person to dig through. 

I love my job and helping people find a way to get healthy, and so I want to make a simple list that might help all those struggling to find healthy steps.

1. Keep it SIMPLE!
You do not need a bunch of courses, or items on your plate. You do not need spaghetti, and salad, and rolls, and, and, and.....If you have a hearty vegetable sauce, then you do not need a salad, and you definitely do not need a roll if you are eating pasta. Redundancy is not necessary and is a big downfall to trying to cut calories and get healthier. 

2. Make the changes you will miss the least first!
This one is the first I tell anyone. Cut out all the things you will not miss much. For me, I cut out all soda and just drank water. It was tough, but I just do not miss it. I allow myself coffee and milk, and that is it.  If you could miss cheese the least, then start there. You do not need to go straight for breads and pastas, etc, if that will be too hard to stick to.  Then you do step 3.

3. Limit things you do not want to give up completely. 
I LOVE cheese. I can more easily give up meat then cheese. (trust me, I have tried.) ;)
But I can limit my cheese. If I only allow myself cheese once a day, I tend to enjoy it thoroughly.  I let myself have coffee once a day, and even allow the occasional cookie and treat. Limitations are so much easier to stick to then abstinence, and then there is not the guilt associated with messing up. Almost every food has a purpose that your body can use, and no matter what diet you are choosing to transition to, it is not set in stone. Your body will be different then anyone else, so what works for your body may not be exactly what other people are following.  Allow your body and your lifestyle to help you make the diet that is right for you.

4. Allow yourself to be Human!!
No one is going to change over night.  No one.  And if they say they have, they are crazy. ;)
It will take many slip ups to make a new habit and lifestyle. It is not easy. But when you are feeling healthier and better, it makes it easier to stick to. 

And there you have it;

4 simple tips to trying to make your changes stick!

Remember, it takes longer to make a habit then it does to break one.  :)

 

 

If you need any more help or tips, please email me, I would love to set up a consultation and help you with your goals.  :)

chef.jaelanne@gmail.com

 

A month off...

Admit it, you have all wanted to take a whole month off, right?  ;)

I spent some busy weeks seeing doctors, chiropractors, and massage therapists to try and get this headache to go away.  I still have that headache......

But while doing all of that, I am sorry to say, that I have had a hard time getting much else done.  Thanks to a loving husband that doesn't whine that the house isn't as clean as it normally is, and some very forgiving teachers for my daughters late paperwork for school, I have survived the last month.   

I got fed up with being poked and prodded, so I just stopped all that nonsense. I will eventually have to go to a neurologist and try and figure out this headache business and get it taken care of. Right now, I am mostly functional, and taking things a little slower then the past. My days of multitasking enough for 5 people is just at a stand still for now. I will be working on my blog as much as my head will let me be on the computer. 

I have some great things to add though, so I am excited to get back in it.

I had a great talk with a sports nutritionist about cooking and supplementing for athletes, and have some products that he has been working with to try out and review. (I love that part of my job)

So, hopefully soon you will have something to read about that!!  Can't wait to share. I have a could power lifters doing some sampling as well to get some better feedback on a product too. :)

Hope everyone has had a great last month, and this month has a BUNCH of great stuff to add. (I have been saving some stuff up too.)

Thanks for reading!! You make this so much more fun for me. :)

--Chef. Jaelanne

Mind over matter? Out smart your bad habits!

I always wonder why, when I go on a "diet" that I always seem to hit a road block. Those days that nothing sounds good but cheeseburgers and cake, or all you want is ice cream and peanut butter, etc. and you give in, why? because they seem to be the STRONGEST cravings EVER!  Then, the guilt hits, and you feel like crap. And then, you must make the choice to restart your "diet" the next day, or just give up.  Diets are not the horrid things we all dread, it is THAT day that we dread. It is knowing that our will power can only take us so far and that there WILL come a day that we will hit that wall and we will more then likely fail. We are human, after all, so we really should not expect anything more, right?  Well, basically.  But there is hope. The first step is to stop "binge" and "fad"dieting, but even if you are changing to a healthy stable diet, there is still the brick wall that you will eventually hit. Don't worry, there is good news. I can help you OUT SMART your BAD habits. :)

When you get cravings it is your bodys way of telling you that you need something. Badly, sometimes. It has been widely known by this due to pregnancy cravings and the fact that most times the pregnant woman gets whatever she wants whenever the craving hits. I say most because I was NOT one of those pregnant people. Oh, I had the cravings, but when I would wake my hubby up and ask him to get me whatever I was craving he would laugh at me and tell me I could wait until morning. Which, I always did and I survived just fine, and sometimes they went away by then too.  It has been my experiences through 3 pregnancies and more "diets" then I care to admit to, that when I went through nutrition classes and culinary school, things began to click with me, and I have figured out how to outsmart my bad habits. :)

When your body become deficient in something that it needs, it tells what I have dubbed as the Control center of your brain. This is in the subconscious part of your brain that controls bodily functions and the like. It gets the message that you need something and then it pulls up the food you eat the most that will give you what you need, and then sends that message to you and you crave it like no other, and basically nothing else will satisfy you. And the will power to just NOT eat those foods is hard to come by. What I want to share, is how to get around it. Remember that I mentioned that your control center will access the food you eat the most that will satisfy your bodies needs. As you are changing your diet and moving to a healthier way of eating and life, you are still trying to teach your brain as well. So when you crave a cheeseburger, you may need the protein, or the salt, or the carbohydrates, and if you can satisfy your bodies need, then the craving will, more then likely, go away.  As you eat more healthy food with a regularity then you will start craving the healthier foods since they will be the foods you eat the  most.  You understand?  The hardest part, which is very hard, is getting through the 2 -4 weeks it will take to reprogram your control center with the foods that you want to be eating.

Here are the most common cravings, and a few ideas as to what your body might need, and somethings you can eat instead that should satisfy your bodies needs and hopefully it will stop the cravings. :)

Probably the Number one craving that I get told about is that they crave cheeseburgers. And since it is so cheap and easy to just drive thru and get a couple, it is hard to pass up. 
You will normally crave this for the:
 protein
fat,
or salt.

Try instead:

Salted nuts, or even just some nut butter (especially if it is a good natural nut butter without the added oils and fats)

Grilled chicken on a salad, you can even add some nuts to your salad

Tuna. I like to put mine on a piece of toast. (if you are cutting out breads, then you can put it on lettuce as a wrap, or I have even put some on cucumber slices to give it a crunch as well. A little salt and pepper, maybe even some celery and carrots diced up in it gives it a great flavor. :)

Cookies:
These are MY biggest weaknesses.  All. The. Time.  Whenever I have a cookie, and I finish it, I die a little inside and wonder where my next cookie is. ;)
These you will crave mainly for the carbs and the sugars. (which will eventually all just turn into sugar in your body) You can also crave them for the fat, but mainly it will be the sugar.

Try instead:

Vanilla yogurt with berries

Cheese cubes and honey

Apples with yogurt or nut butter

Watermelon or Cantelope

Strawberries with honey

Remember to get you some raw unfiltered local honey. This will make it good for you and less just sugary filler. ;)

Ice cream of any kind will be craved when your body needs sugar or calcium. 
Sometimes you will also crave ice cream when your body needs fluids to regulate it temperature. If you are over heated for instance, or you are dehydrated.

Try Instead:

Ice water

Chilled grapes (some even like them straight from the freezer)

Watermelon

Cheese and honey

Yogurt and fruit

 

Not very often do I personally crave chicken nuggets or french fries, but when I asked around, this was a common answer given to me. Most of them when asked said that they would crave these normally after they wanted a cheeseburger or something and they were trying to find another option, and wanted chicken nuggets instead, or ended up eating french fires or even potato chips.
The best answer I could find for this is that you are craving fat. Your body does need fats and when people diet they tend to try and not eat fat and eat fat free options of everything, but some fats are needed.  If this happens, I would suggest  trying:

Avocados
Nuts
Coconut

You can eat these however you want. I love avocado on eggs, sandwiches, etc.  You can eat some peanut butter, almond butter, or even sunbutter. Dip apples in it is great, or celery. Find a way to incorporate some healthy fats into your diet and it might cure the fired foods cravings. :)




There comes a time when everyone needs to revamp their diets, too much repetition is not good for anything, just remember when you are changing anything the first few weeks are the hardest. They say that it takes 2 weeks to make a habit and 4 weeks to break one, so if you are trying to break the habit of too much coffee, or bread, or cookies, etc, it will take time before your body and mind adjusts to your new limitations. Do not get discouraged when you cave and have a cookie, or coffee, or bread, etc. Allow yourself some give, it doesn't have to be so serious. I allow myself one cup of coffee a day. Sometimes its with breakfast, and sometimes I have coffee at night with my little dessert. Limit your quantities and you will not have to feel guilty for allowing yourself a treat now and then. If you eat healthy all day and get all your vegetables and needed nutrients, you had no bread or fatty meats, then allow yourself to enjoy a hamburger for dinner. Cut out the things you will not miss first, then just limit those things that you feel like you could not live without. Mine are cheese, milk, coffee, cookies, and chocolate. I literally would miss meat less then milk and cookies. :)   But once you get a habit of eating healthier then your craving will be just emotional cravings more then body deficiency cravings. (The difference between "I want/would like" and "I need") 

Good luck, and remember to 

LOVE WHAT YOU EAT!

Breakfast Bread Pudding. Attempt #1

I went to the Hilton Anatole and had one of the best breakfasts EVER!   I ordered the Eggs Benedict, and it came on an eggy, herb bread pudding, and I was in love!!!  I needed to try this!  

This is my first attempt. I believe that next time I will do a couple things different. I will specify throughout what I will be doing different next time and you can choose to try it either way. :)

First was the bread. I chose both a sourdough loaf and a rustic italian boule. Since the sourdough would be the most popular, I used it on the top and bottom and put the rustic boule in the middle. 

I cut it and layered it first, so that I know that it will all fit and I was ready to build it. 

Then I got the eggs together, with a large loaf pan and 3 layers I used 5 eggs, I think next time I might use more, it was on the dry side. I put Italian seasoning in the eggs and some pepper.

I poured the herb egg mix over the bottom layer, and then poured the excess back into the bowl. I think next time I will let all pieces of bread sit in the egg mixture for a few minutes, and then build the layers with the presoaked pieces. :)

To add some veggies to the meal, I layered spinach in between each layer of bread. 

When it was all built I put it in a 350 oven and cooked until the top bread started to brown a bit and the egg was cooked all the way through. To have the egg cooked all the way through the top piece got a little more brown and crispy then I wanted, but I think next time when I soak the bread more individually, it will cure that problem.  It tasted amazing and was really filling. 

I ate it with two fried eggs and some honey ham. As much as I LOVE hollandaise sauce, I am trying to lose weight, so I did not even make it. (I would not be able to just eat a little hollandaise sauce.)

I have a couple pieces of this batch left that I will poach eggs for and eat that way, I just wanted fried eggs this morning. 

My client got a slice of this with poached eggs and asparagus for one of his breakfasts, so we will see how he likes it. :)

Happy Monday, and good eating! :)

 

 

4 Dangers of the Wrong "Bulking" Diet

I have done a bunch of research on Bodybuilding/weightlifting diets and I have found so many websites talking about "bulking" diets and glycemic indexes, etc. But I found that many of them kept throwing up the same red flags to me, and as I looked, it kept happening. Even though most of them mentioned the carbs and proteins and suggest "good leafy green veggies" they really do not explain things as well as I think they should and I was honestly worried that there may be many people that do not know enough to realize the dangers of packing on the protein in egg, chicken, and beef forms with their protein shakes and eating rice and broccoli, it will make it hard to stick to and when they are asking you to try and clear 200+ grams of protein a day, I really felt the need to go over some of the risks of heavy protein, or "bulking" diets. 


    4 dangers of the wrong “bulking” diet
        
1. Heart health Risk
            Too much cholesterol and not enough fiber can lead to heart disease risks and higher blood pressure which can risk damage to heart and even inhibit effective lifts.
        

2. Colon Health Risk
            Too much bulk and not enough calcium, vitamin D, and good fiber and veggies, can lead to a toxic intestinal tract and lead to colon issues, which could include but not be limited to cramps, bloating, diarrhea, and even increased risks of colon cancer.
        

3. Bone Health Risk
            Not enough calcium and vitamin D can lead to week internal bone density and when building large muscles can add to the strain on the bones.
       


4. Joint Health Risk
            Making sure that you have enough natural, and maybe even supplementing, good glucosamine can ensure good cushioning for the joints. When lifting very heavy weights or doing heavy repetitions, the joints need to be well cushioned to not get injured.
 


How to make sure your diet has what it needs:

1. Cholesterol is higher in red meats and dark meats such as duck. Cholesterol is absorbed into the blood stream by saturated fats that are found in all animal products and some non animal products. In a “bulking” diet it is very hard to avoid saturated fats or cholesterol so you need to up the intake of solulable fiber. 
This is found in all fruits and veggies, as well as oatmeal. The inside (or meat) of an apple or pear, oatmeal, mushrooms, spinach, all green leafy veggies, broccoli, carrots, brussel sprouts, and all beans. Also the fibers in citrus fruit are very good sources of fiber as well. :)
Making sure that you eat mainly these as your vegetables for the day will help keep your LDL (bad cholesterol in your blood) at a lower level and keep your heart healthy and your blood pressure at a healthy rate. 
Experts are saying that normal people are only getting around 11g of fiber a day, and they recommend 20-30g of fiber a day for normal people to stay healthy. After reviewing the style of diets needed for bodybuilding and weight training I would lean more towards 40-60g of fiber a day. Since the recommendation is based on a 2000 calorie daily intake and most body builders are ranging in 2500-3500 calories a day from high protein sources. 

2. Colon health is base mostly on toxicity. Eating Insolulable fibers are like brushes that help clean out your intestines regularly and keep it from “gunking” up and becoming toxic. Insolulable fiber can be found in the outside pealings of apples and pears, the outside husk of oatmeal, the outside of beans, broccoli and asparagus stem fibers, etc. These help clear out your intestines at a regular interval so that your ph and toxicity levels stay at a healthy rate. I also would include that calcium and vitamin D aid in the health of your intestines to help keep them strong, enough water helps keep them saturated, and good probiotics can help keep them healthy as well. Including yogurt in your diet can help with all of these aspects in one simple step. 

 









3. Bone health is mainly due to Calcium and vitamin D, and those are easiest to get from Milk. It has a great source of calcium and is fortified with Vitamin D. Whole milk (or raw milk if you can get it) is very good for you, this includes both Goat and Cow milk.

The fat content of milk is lessened by heating the milk and skimming the fat off as it floats to the top. Sadly, once you get past 2% milk they then have to add chemically produced milk fat protein powders to the milk to turn it white again because naturally it is a clear bluish color. So stick to the whole milk or 2% and just drink a little less of it if you are worried about the fat content. 

In “bulking” diets they normally tell you to avoid all dairy product, and then take a calcium and vitamin D supplement. I will allow everyone to make up their own mind about the pros and cons of dairy, but I think it does more good then bad.  This can also include yogurt and cottage cheese.



Health Guide magazine did an article about the 11 best foods for bone health and half of them were dairy. The other half included high Vitamin D foods such as collard greens, spinach, sardines, tuna, salmon, and eggs. :)

 

4. For Joint Health you need Glucosamine.  This is one of the only things that I allow, and even encourage, people to supplement for. Glucosamine is found in the shells of shellfish and the internal organs of all mammals. So unless you have a hankering to eat liver or offal then you should take a supplement. For my own personal reasons I would like to research where the supplement comes from. There are a few companies that say they get their powder or pills from a natural source. I am looking to find a good company that uses the shells of shrimp and crab that might be discarded from the market of frozen seafood. This is a back burner search for me, so let me know if you learn or know of anything to help in this search. :)

I hope that my studies have helped you recognize some of the red flags of "bulking" and help you know how to avoid the potential problems from it as well. Body building is considered a "body modification" and not considered a "normal healthy body" when you get to the point of lifting over 125% of your body weight regularly according to nutritionists as so learning to be a nutritionist for these type of individuals has been a learning experience for me, but every time I learn more and grow more in my practice and study I am loving it more as well. If you have any questions, or have anything to add, please feel free to let me know. I am not claiming to be an expert, just someone that is continually studying this and always welcome more information. :)

Happy "Bulking"!! And get Huge!!  ;)

Image courtesy of: Pamela Perry Acclaim Images.com 0515-1103-2101-0932