Sylvia's Scenario

We always include sweet potatoes with our Thanksgiving dinner and this year was no exception.  However, we did have a discussion about why we include sweet potatoes when they are the least favorite of all our Thanksgiving dishes.  I'm not sure why except we always had them growing up.  Back then, our basic sweet potato dish was the one with mini marshmallows sprinkled on top.   I'm trying to avoid sugar now and eat more healthful so I decided to try this new recipe from  Hannah Freese, RD  that she included in her Thanksgiving recipes and I'm glad I did because everyone loved it!  All of my other Thanksgiving dishes were our old traditional ones.  It was Nick's first Thanksgiving back in the U.S. after living in Japan for seven years and so I couldn't change things up too much this year. I had to make all the favorites.  Nick savored every bite, too.  He was still eating long after we all had left the table.                              This sweet potato recipe pass

This is a homemade sausage recipe that is simple and doesn't involve stuffing meat into a casing. You make these sausage patties out of your favorite meat such as ground turkey, ground chicken, lamb, beef or pork. I used chicken on mine; not ground chicken breast but just chicken because after my post yesterday, you now know that fat is good for you. This is what I am learning on Hannah Freese, RD 's diet and couldn't be happier. This year on Thanksgiving, I will be eating the skin of the turkey. Yes, I said it out loud! Fat is good for you. The bad part is that added sugar is not. The "Dirty 6" oils of soybean, safflower, sunflower, canola, corn, and cottonseed oils are not and are in fact, toxic oils that damage a woman's metabolism. And it's hard to find processed foods without these ingredients in them like chicken broth or sausage. I have found a brand of sausage at my grocery store that fits the criteria called Applegate but Hannah provi

  One of the habits that I've changed since I started following  Hannah Freese, RD 's diet is to be sure and eat a high fat breakfast.  Her meal plans start you off on all kinds of delicious high fat breakfasts which I have no complaints about at all.  Her diet has five steps and I'm currently on Step 4 where you reset your appetite control center which is your brain.  In other words, we are learning why we eat and learning how to stop eating for emotional reasons and learn to eat for nutritional reasons only.  This is a three week process.  Her diet is really a full on course, not just a diet.  There is so much to relearn!  The fact that I was trained as a dietitian and worked in the field for 35 years makes it almost harder for me because she is telling us to do so many things I would have NEVER told my patients to do.  I've been retired for five years but I can't believe how much has changed.  Eating high fat? Gasp!  Do not restrict salt? Never!  Sugar causes hea

This recipe doesn't look like much but it's super easy to make, super healthy to eat and amazingly delicious.  It's the special dill sauce that does it, I think.  You bake the salmon on top of the cabbage and kale so all the juices cook into the vegetables which adds such great flavor and softens the texture.  I've never been a big kale fan but since I started  Hannah Freese, RD  diet, I've been surprisingly eating a lot of kale and don't really mind it.  I've been buying Trader Joe's packaged kale that will last 2-3 meals and then I don't have to mess with cleaning it.  Unlike lettuce, I don't think packaged kale tastes any different that fresh kale but I can really taste a difference with lettuce so I always buy fresh lettuce.  The cabbage in this recipe is a lot like my  roast chicken with cabbage  recipe that is so simple, yet so tasty.  This salmon recipe is good enough to serve to guests or for a special occasion, it's that good. You wo

I think I finally found my favorite coleslaw recipe.  Bruce told me I should make this recipe every time we have coleslaw.  Usually, I just chop up some cabbage, add some mayonnaise, sweet pickle juice, salt and pepper and be done with it.  This recipe is a non-mayonnaise version of coleslaw so it's lighter and has an Asian flare to it with the addition of tamari and sesame oil.  Tamari is the Japanese version of soy sauce so if you don't have tamari, you can easily substitute soy sauce.  Tamari is darker, less salty and has a strong umami flavor to it.  You may have heard of umami being our fifth taste sensation in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter.  Umami is described as a meaty, savory, broth-like flavor and it sure tastes good in this recipe!  I made this recipe last week and then took some to Nick's house to share with them for dinner and they also loved it and immediately asked what was in it.  The recipe also calls for topping with nori sheets as a garnish so

Yes, this tuna salad is really that green.  I was thinking it ought to be served on St. Patrick's Day because it's so green but boy, does it taste good!  The green is from the basil and parsley that you blend together with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and olive oil; another recipe from Hannah Freese, RD .  Bruce even liked this recipe and he's not a real tuna fish person but he loved it on his sandwich for lunch.  I like it just eaten alone or on a bed of lettuce for a true tuna salad.  I also added extra chopped sweet onions in my recipe and next time I think I'll also add some cucumbers because I do like cucumbers with my tuna salad.  We don't have tuna very often but I always have a few cans in our pantry cupboard and once in awhile it sounds good, like today.  I will probably be posting lots of recipes in the next two weeks because we are home quarantining for 14 days so we can have Thanksgiving with my family.  I've stocked up our kitchen so I won't nee

This cheese and Halloween candy appetizer tray was not only fun to make but it was also a big hit during our Halloween festivities yesterday.  The grandkids were jumping up and down with joy when they saw this Halloween "snack" I had prepared for them.  I saw this article on  Food52  where they paired cheese with popular Halloween candy which I thought was a very clever idea and it makes for a very festive food tray.  Plus, there is something for everyone; sweet or savory, traditional or unusual, healthy or not, plus it was very colorful for the season.   You can also add your own favorites.  I added some pistachios and wheat thin crackers since I knew the grandson would go straight for the cream cheese and wheat thins, which he did.  The cream cheese was soon annihilated.  The Food52 article also included blue cheese and Twix, neither which I like that much so I left that pairing out.  There is a lot of room to customize this party tray to your liking.  I basically love ever