The original story I wrote for today's column has been sauteed with some onions, leeks and garlic and eaten with a glass of good wine.
I was really hungry.
This year I got a head start on my New Year's resolutions. Before the season of feasting began its annual lease, I adopted a new lifestyle.
I've traded in my sugar, carbs and fat-laden flavor enhancers for lighter portions, nutritional supplements and frequent jaunts around Lake Ella.
Dieting through the holidays was a challenge, yet I've managed to drop about 30 pounds in two months.
Creating food that tastes good enough to keep me focused on this diet is my current culinary challenge de jour. Fortunately, my mind is never idle and frequently rewards me with tasty solutions.
During fruit and veggie shopping adventures to the nearby farmer's market and the produce aisle of the grocery store, my imagination blooms with bouquets of ideas on how to marry the season's fresh and vibrant bounty in exciting new ways.
Butter, olive oil, cream and heavenly sauces have always been among the supportive ingredients that lend the rich velvet-like texture to food. Unfortunately, these flavorful additions are the bad guys that need to be eliminated from the diet, or at least used in extreme moderation.
What is a gourmet to do?
Flavor is everything to me! So these days I'm on a fabulous adventure to not only lose a significant amount of weight, but also to accomplish my objective without sacrificing taste.
By substituting heart-healthy homemade stocks and purees, creating unusual depth and intrigue to delicious meal-time adventures is a snap.
Farmer's Market Vegetable Broth is a delightful way to season food. Cook it up in the crockpot and allow it to simmer over low heat for a couple of hours or do it stove top in less than an hour. Once the broth is cooked, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer. Let cool briefly, then pour the broth into ice-cube trays and/or quart-sized freezer bags for frozen storage. Since the majority of cooking I do is for one person, the ice-cube-sized frozen stock is perfect. If you cook for a larger group, perhaps a quart bag would be more appropriate.
With the broth as a base, you have the beginning of a great vitamin-rich meal that can be served alone or used in synergy with other favorite ingredients for interesting chicken, fish, seafood or vegetarian meals.
Vegetable broth is also a perfect fat-free and salt-fee complement and flavorful springboard to adventures into all types of regional and international cookery. The possibilities are unlimited.
This recipe is very forgiving. You can add, subtract and alter the ingredients based on your own taste preferences and availability of ingredients.
Experimenting with new combinations is the fun part - at least it is for this flavor-hungry former caterer who has decided to tackle the challenge of losing weight in 2007.
Farmer's Market Vegetable Broth
1 gallon water
2 onions, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
3 garlic cloves
Fresh tomatoes, chopped
Plus lots of your favorite chopped vegetables, chopped fresh herbs and gourmet peppercorns.
Simmer on stove for about an hour or in a crockpot for a couple of hours. Strain and freeze in ice trays or freezer bags.
Well, I'm off to the kitchen to experiment with a Florida Seafood Stuffed Artichoke with Lemon, Citrus and Dill Vinaigrette for tonight's dinner.
From The Entertaining With Kathi Newspaper Column ~ originally published Jan. 3, 2007
For more recipes and ideas visit http://www.dietwithkathi.blogspot.com If you are in the Tallahassee, Florida area, come join us for a cooking class taught by Kathi Dameron at Winner's Weight Loss on February 6, 2007. The class is free but seating is limited. Kathi can be reached at askkathidameron@aol.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathi_Dameron |
Splenda Buys Hundreds of Anti-Splenda Domains
The makers of Splenda have been busy. Busy enough to purchase over 211 domain names - such as SplendaKills.com, SplendaPoison.com, SplendaVictims.com. It is an elaborate and insidious ploy to prevent any negative information being written on-line....
Be Inspired: Shannan's Story
Some people have it tough, and others have it very tough. Shannan Hutchinson is one of the latter. Shannan has Multiple Sclerosis - yet despite the phenomenal challenges posed by her illness, Shannan was able to lose over 90 pounds - by eating right and exercising. Here is her story....
The Answer To Childhood Obesity: 15 Minutes Of Football?
ALSPAC The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (also known as Children of the 90s) is a unique ongoing research project based in the University of Bristol. It enrolled 14,000 mothers during pregnancy in 1991-2 and has followed most of the children and parents in minute detail ever since. [click link for full article]
Spain Removes Skinny Mannequins From Stores
Last year during Fashion Week, Spain banned models with a BMI under 18 from participating. This year, the Health Ministry in Spain is charging ahead with a new program that will prevent mannequins under a size 6 (a Spanish 38) from being displayed in store windows. Womens' sizes are also being standardized. 85,000 women across Spain, ages 12 to...
Do You Pursue an Hourglass Figure?
Forgive the double entendre. When it comes to the hourglass figure - many women pursue it, and it seems that men pursue women with it. Psychologists at the University of Texas (obviously with way too much time on their hands) have reviewed hundreds of years worth of literature and concluded: Men lust after slender-waisted women. Apparently it all comes down...
In Obesity, Brain Becomes 'Unaware' Of Fat
Critical portions of the brain in those who are obese don't really know they are overweight, researchers have reported in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press. These findings in obese mice show that a sensor in the brain that normally detects a critical fat hormone - causing a cascade of events that keeps energy balance in check - fails to engage. Meanwhile, the rest of the metabolic pathway remains ready to respond. [click link for full article]
Obesity Drives US Surgical Procedure Volumes Higher
Millennium Research Group (MRG) has conducted a detailed analysis of surgical procedures in its US Surgical Procedure Volumes 2007 report. The report finds that over 11 million Americans are considered morbidly obese, and by 2011, over 13 million will be- driving the volume of surgical procedures in the US throughout the next five years. [click link for full article]
Obesity At The Time Of Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis Dramatically Increases The Risk Of Dying From The Disease
Obese men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer have more than two-and-a-half times the risk of dying from the disease as compared to men of normal weight at the time of diagnosis, according to a study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The findings by senior author Alan Kristal, Dr.P.H., and colleagues appear online and will be published in the March 15 print edition of the journal Cancer. [click link for full article]