Personally, I have never been “skinny”. In fact, I have battled the muffin top and extra 30 pounds a food critic carries. I have however learned to balance using mostly a Paleo / South Beach kind of eating plan on those distinct days I am not in the test kitchen or being overloaded with fresh pasta and creamy truffle sauce at a favorite Italian bistro.

With so many choices- The whole 30, Keto, Paleo, Eat your blood type, Weight Watchers, (the latter being a good role model for me when I opened my first café, many years ago north of Boston. Fresh warm grilled cinnamon rolls were my poison and finally I jumped on the WW train to great success that taught me tools for a lifetime.)

I have tried to move my main restaurant reviews twice a week to late lunchtime. Done by 3 and nothing more but water. It certainly helps. Eating past seven is a no no yet the most requested reservation time in the US. Cannot even imagine the 10 pm dinnertime anymore when we have traveled to Spain and France.  So, Is there is a magic eating plan that fits everyone?, heck no but there are some magic recipes and ingredients to share.

What I have learned is going back to the farm. Fresh organic vegetables roasted with fresh herbs replace this carnivore second red meat day and letting go of any diet sodas can do wonders. I am not an extremist. I don’t do crazy yo yo diets and fortunately I am not much of an alcohol drinker and I detest chocolate- I know I know that is just weird but true. (NYC Housewife Bethany Frankle would shame me on the chocolate comment).

So, in the spirit of springtime health and sharing recipes for those on special no sugar and low carb eating plans, try these fresh recipes to replace heavy sauces and cheese laden casserole.

Pork Chops with Pomegranate -Ginger Sauce

Serves 4

Adapted from The Paleo Foodie Cookbook

For the sauce
½ cup unsweetened pomegranate sauce
½ cup homemade chicken broth of bone broth
½ cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons fresh garlic minced
1 teaspoon lemongrass puree
1 Tablespoon raw honey (I prefer orange blossom)
3 sprigs fresh thyme
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Arrowroot starch. (thickening agent)

For the Pork:

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
4 center cut bone-in pork chops
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Fresh cilantro

In a medium saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients except the arrowroot. Cook sauce until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix the seasonings. Rub on both sides of the pork chops. Season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Heat a large cast iron skillet top medium high. Place the pork chops in the pan, without crowding and sear about 4 minutes per side. Remove the pork chops from the pan. Bring reduced sauce to a simmer. Stir then place arrowroot starch in a small bowl of and add just enough cold water to make a thin paste. Add the paste to the sauce and whisk until smooth and silky and slightly thickened. Spoon over pork chops and serve. I like to serve with a butternut squash puree.

Whole 30 Cauliflower Rice

Serves 2

Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market sells frozen cauliflower already riced if you are in a hurry.

1 head cauliflower cut into florets
3 Tablespoons ghee, (clarified butter)
½ onion finely chopped
1 carrot peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
½ cup homemade chicken broth
1 Tablespoon minced cilantro

Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
½ cup slivered almonds
1 Teaspoon Moroccan seasoning
2 Tablespoons coconut aminos (in place of soy sauce)
2 green onions minced

Rice the cauliflower in your food processors and pulse, working in batches. Do not over pulse of the cauliflower gets mushy.

In a large pan or wok, melt the ghee over medium heat and add onions and carrots, stirring until the carrots are tender. Add the rest of the vegetables and chicken broth., cover lightly with lid for 8 minutes.

Remove from pan and toss in almonds and coconut aminos. Serve as is or with chicken or shrimp.

Mangoritas

From 500 Paleo Recipes

1 ripe mango
1 lemon
1 lime
½ cup high quality tequila

Club soda, any flavor without calories or sugars.

Peel mango and cut off the stone. Put the mango chunks in freezer and freeze.

When cocktail time rolls around, put the mango chunks in your blender and add the juice of a lemon and the lime. Add tequila

Many of you know that about two months ago I embraced the Paleo diet as a healthy lifestyle option and as a way of losing a few pounds. A useful explanation of going Paleo is in our September issue of F&M, if you want a little background.

What I’ve learned in the last two months is something that most of us discover when we change our way of eating, shopping and preparing food. It’s expensive. Whether you embrace Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, Medifast, Vegan-Before-6, whatever, – committing to any form of lifestyle eating can initially be quite a pricey project. Sure, you may save on healthcare in the long run, but committing to a new eating lifestyle, like Paleo, can take a pretty big chunk out of your budget. Here’s why.

On Paleo, first you purge your pantry of those nasty things – processed foods, gluten, legumes, sugar, peanuts, canola oil, butter and almost anything that has more than one ingredient on the label. Adios rice and pasta, see ya later French lentils – who knew you were so bad for us! Then you need to stock up on organic just about everything; stevia – yes organic stevia, liquid aminos and cold-press sesame oil because your soy sauce went bye-bye with the flour!

Then you have to load up on the Paleo-approved snacks: raw cashews, organic raisins, organic dried Turkish apricots, cashew butter, ghee (clarified butter, but since you only are allowed a little it is not too big a deal). Your refined coconut sugar will be your back-up and those honey bees better start reproducing to keep up with the Paleo person’s demand of organic honey.

You might feel some shame when you buy organic tomato sauce for a quick turkey Bolognese, but what the heck you buy six jars, which by the way, NEVER go on sale. The turkey, Kosher all-white meat runs about $5 bucks more than the generic I used to buy.

On Paleo I only eat organic omega-three eggs and grass-fed beef and humanly raised pork – antibiotic free. This may make us Paleos feel better about eating them but our wallet just got lighter by another $3 bucks a pound for each short rib.

Coconut oil and avocado oil are your new best friends and don’t even think about using anything other than pink Himalayan sea salt for seasoning. No nitrate turkey bacon; your new best friends in the morning are berries out-of-season. My smoothie must be composed of chia seeds and baby kale – organic, of course, with a splash of carrot juice. This drink appears as a mid-day snack.

Thirty days into Paleo I lost 10 pounds. Going for 10 more. I feel better than ever except for my food budget. I spent $700.00 the first two weeks of this diet and another $600 the second two weeks. Why, because specialty foods and organic foods cost more. And I now mostly shop at places such as Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Fresh Market as well as farmers’ markets. If I wanted to advertise my new lifestyle I could buy a “No Genetically-Modified Grain” printed on a tee-shirt made of organic cloth that I saw for $40.00 at a local health food store. But wait, I’m Paleo. I don’t eat grains. So, I saved money by not buying the shirt.

F&M