Broadening My Horizons

"As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." -Buddy Hackett



Well today was a pretty interesting day for me. In one of my previous posts I had mentioned getting the Tosca Reno cookbook for the Eat Clean Diet, and today I finally got it!! Went to BAM and found it there, but they had to order the original Eat Clean Diet which will be in next Friday. I'm excited to read it!! Got home with my cookbook, read through it, found several recipes that looked interesting and decided to try them out. I've never really been adventurous as far as cooking and will try new things as i am exposed to them. Even though most of the ingredients i had heard of, i admit i have never been eager to try them. Mostly just because i had never had any experience with them and could not even fathom what to do with them if i had them. This cookbook is definitely different to say the least. Well tonight Sean grilled us a Newyork stip, which i had marinated yesterday, while I decided to try out a couscous recipe with sauteed peppers, garlic and dill. I've never had couscous before, so i was pleasently suprised at how good it was. I know Sean was not really into it but mainly because of the peppers. He's not a big vegetable fan and I'm not big on fruit go figure lol. And after we ate i was craving something sweet so i fixed a whole wheat pancake, from a healthy gluten free mix we bought at Kroger, and put some sugar free syrup on it. I was again suprised at how good it was and so much healthier than the old ways of fixing one with lots of butter and sugary syrup. I also bought ingredients for eggwhite breakfast wraps that include nonfat cottage cheese, peppers,and black beans. And another recipe for an orzo salad which looked delicious. Cant wait to see how those two turn out! There where also several dessert recipes im eager to try out since my sweet tooth will inevitably rear its ugly head at some point again. Guess its better to be prepared with something healthy than turn back to my old ways. And I am thrilled that Sean has decided to try this diet with me. His dieting ideas arent based on strictly clean foods but on healthier versions of old favorites, so I am glad to see him making changes for the better as well. We both grew up eating good homecooked country meals loaded with fats and sodium. And since Sean does take medicine for high blood pressure its good to focus on trying to prevent heart disease through diet than maintaining it with medicine. I'm sure he will always take the meds since he has such a strong family history of high blood pressure but anything to decrease these chances is worth trying. And my mom takes meds for high blood pressure also, so for me now is the time to start prevention in my lifestyle choices too. I also recommended this book to my brother to hopefully guide him in a better direction on his eating habits. I realize the small frequents meals is better for losing weight than the 1-2 big meals i was doing in the past, and thats what i am encouraging him to focus on. I will always have food issues as im sure we all do in some form or another but by making them healthy issues i can make my life better. I haven't lost anymore weight today but 7 lbs already this week is good enough for me. I'm sure it was alot of water weight from my recent visit with Flo but I will take it! It was a great start to see the changes on the scale so fast and such a great motivator. I just keep reminding myself the best has yet to come. When i start my gym training i will begin to see the real changes in my body and not just on a scale. Cant wait!! Another book I'm wanting to check out is one by my favorite New York Housewife, Bethenny Frankel. It's called "Naturally Thin; Unleash Your Skinny Girl". I think Bethenny looks amazing although i have the sneaky suspicion she's never had a good old fashioned homecooked meal in her life. She's probably also never had chocolate gravy and biscuits which is one of my favorites! Some people just have good genes and i'm not one of them. But I am still interested in her book for the fact that she does cook healthy meals and it never hurts to have too much knowledge about ways to improve your health. Even though i am experimenting with new foods it will be a long time before i am going to tackle tofu. They might as well place that under the fruit category cause im not touching it anytime soon. So here's to my newfound friends: couscous and gluten free wholewheat pancakes....may i enjoy you as much tomorrow as i do today!!!!