Ok, so everyone is asking me, "Angela - do you eat?  How can you write recipes, teach classes with Baked Brie en Croute, Baklava and Creme Brulee L'Orange and never eat it??  You have to taste as you go if it's going to be any good!"  There seems to be this myth that if you are a chef, you can't be thin.  It's even a myth that if you want to be thin, you can't eat good food - YIKES!   

So, here is what everyone wants to know...are you ready?  Well....yes, I eat!  And yes, I eat the recipes I write, I taste them and test them and those from the classes I teach - how else would I know they are any good?  But, to be 5'9" and just under 135 pounds, it seems impossible, right?  Well, it's not and I'm going to tell you how I do it.  And for the record, 131 pounds is my ideal body weight, but I'm a little over and fine with it.

  Yep...that's another one.  Love yourself! 

Moderation is key.  Yeah, I know.  When you're looking at a large order of fries or a great piece of chocolate cake, you wonder, "How can I NOT eat that?"  Well, my guess is that eating patterns are off.  A day in the "eating" life of the Kook:

1.  Breakfast

Breakfast is KEY.  Start your day off right!  I have two eggs, one piece of whole grain toast and a bit of jam.  Or, I have pancakes I make with wheat flour, flax seed, blueberries and top it with a bit of agave nectar rather than maple syrup and it's SO good - and better for you than maple syrup.

But on a budget?  Flax seed?  Wheat flour?  What will I use blueberries for besides pancakes once a week or less often than that?  Brings me to my next point...

2.  Snacks

You have to snack throughout the day or you will gorge yourself on lunch and dinner.  I eat until satisfied and then snack an hour or two later when I am hungry again.  Those blueberries?  Use your blender or immersion blender (I LOVE mine, btw) and mix a tablespoon of agave nectar with a cup of yogurt, 1/2 c. blueberries and 1/4 c. strawberries and 1/4 c. water.  Delicious and filling AND healthy!  Have healthy snacks ready.  Smoothies, trail mix, crackers with a nice cheese (just enough to take the edge off - we're not eating lunch at 10 AM!)

Doesn't that smoothie look great?!

3. Lunch

What to do for lunch...hmm....Well, don't let that yogurt go to waste if you don't want your snack to be a smoothie everyday!  Use a cup of yogurt, chopped chicken (I poach several chicken breasts at the beginning of the week), chop some grapes and throw in some basil and slivered almonds and you have a GREAT chicken salad for a sandwich or to throw on top of a bed of mixed greens.  Get creative and use what you've got so that eating healthy isn't expensive!

  Healthy DOES taste good and LOOKS great!  Don't you agree?

4. Snack

Again, I might have a smoothie (put it in a thermos to stay cold and keep it in a lunch bag with a frozen cold pack).  Or, have veggies like celery with peanut butter.  Got a craving for a cupcake or candybar?  Eat almonds and raisins instead and you'll be stunned - the craving for those refined sugars and carbs goes away!

  Dried fruits and nuts are filling and help take away your sweet tooth!

5. Dinner

You should keep your meat to 3 ounces (the size of your palm).  Have a cup of green veggies and a starchy veggie (corn or root veggies, for example) and if you like bread, eat just a bit and wait to eat the bread until you are half way through the meal so that you don't fill up on bread.  Eat only until satisfied and snack before bed.

  Even if it's fish - 3 oz!  Even this is a bit too large.  Veggies are perfect!

6.  Snacks before bed?

Yes, eating many times throughout the day keeps your metabolism going and it teaches your body to eat when hungry rather than when you are upset, anxious or bored.  Popcorn makes a great snack or baked crackers with cream cheese and sliced cucumber.  There are so many options!

Also, my habits around eating are very structured.  I never eat in front of the television.  You don't keep track of how much you are eating and often you don't even realize WHAT you are eating.  When I eat out, I ask for a to go box at the beginning of the meal and box half of it immediately so that I'm not tempted to eat more than I need.  Dessert?  I treat myself once a week and I don't eat the entire pint of ice cream, the entire piece of cake or pie.  I eat enough to enjoy it without thinking, "Oh gees...I'm miserable now!" Or I share it!

So, can a chef be skinny?  Of course!  I exercise too, but mostly it's eating in moderation that keeps me the size I am comfortable with and once you get into a routine, watch the pounds drop and you'll start thinking, "Wow, this wasn't so hard after all!"

Do you have a well-stocked kitchen?

So, yes, this is a big question.  But unlike the picture, it doesn't have to be as tough as algebra, accounting or statistics!

A lot of people think that they don't like to cook because it's too difficult, it takes too much time or they don't know enough about what they are doing.  Does this sound like you?  If so, I once thought that I was all of the above myself, but that wasn't the root of the problem. 

The real problem was that I didn't have a well-stocked kitchen!

Now, a well-stocked kitchen can mean groceries, too, of course.  But, what I am talking about here is stocking the best gadgets, most user-friendly cookware and having everything you need to cook with, not just to cook alone.  I mean, we can use a fork to juice a lemon, a fork instead of a pastry blender or food processor, but wouldn't it be easier if you had access to all of these handy appliances and more?!

ooohhhhh...

I can almost hear you saying, "Pastry blender it is.  Food processors are expensive!"  And if that is what you are thinking, you are absolutely right.  Stocking your kitchen to create a place to play intsead of work is not cheap. 

However, there is a solution to this problem!

It's called a "gift registry". 

Yep, it's that simple.  Oh, you aren't getting married, you say?  Well, guess what.  Me neither! 

Getting married or not, this is why you should seriously consider a registry:

You get what you need without the hassle of returns or shopping!  If you tell people on registries exactly what you want, you get what you need without having to drop hints or feeling like you "told" them what to get.  A registry gives them a variety to choose from and they can pick their price range.

Dream big and choose BIG!  Don't think small here, now!  Do you see a $1200 espresso machine that you would LOVE to have?  What about a kitchen organizer that is $500?  Think one person won't spend that much money, so why bother?  But, what if you have several people that want to go in on a gift for you?  They might be able to swing $100 or so each and then you have that big item that you never would have bought for yourself!

Give people an easy way to say "Thank you" or "I love you".  Did you invite guests to stay from out of town?  Did you keep someone's children while they had an emergency to attend to?   People know I am registered at all of the stores that offer kitchen appliances/gadgets/storage systems and they will go look to see if they can get me a little something from time to time to say "thank you" or simply to say "I love you".  

How to register and where:

1.  Register at every major store with items I want in all price ranges. (Here are a couple of my registries as an example)

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/registry/2454049/registry-list.html

http://www.target.com/lists/012399101270101

2. Register at the beginning of every year as registries sometimes expire after a year.

3.  List the end date/event date as Dec. 31st ; register once for all of your special occasions (and just because!).

4.  Update your list frequently!  Stores carry seasonal items, so be sure you check back from time to time and add!

5.  Tell people you registered!  Blast it out on fb, twitter, include a link to it in your email signature, etc.  Don't keep it a secret!

6.  And the best part?  Watch your kitchen become your playground without spending the money on it!

From this: 

To this:

And beyond!! 

Here's to a happier "kooking" experience.  Go register online now! 

What do you think of New Year's Resolutions? 

I have to admit that I'm no good at deciding what they should be or sticking to them!  Unless they have something to do with the kitchen, of course.  Excercise more?  Hmmm...I'll try.  Do jumping jacks in the kitchen with the blinds open and see if anyone confronts you in the parking lot later about why you were jumping around in the kitchen?  That I can do!

I was doing some reading and found that every year, tons of Americans make the resolution that they’ll eat healthier, lose weight and cook at home more often.  Great!  I think I can help everyone with that!  But then I read, statistics state that 45% of adults in America make one or more resolutions, but only 46% of those make it past the 6 month  mark.  

Sound grim?  I don't think so.  Why?  Because the experts at proactivechange.com say that most people don’t follow through because they don’t set sustainable goals. They expect immediate results but aren’t willing to shift lifestyle choices.   And not being willing to make a lifestyle choice isn't a bad thing.  I think it just means that the lifestyle choice wasn't realistic, maybe.

Ok, maybe not an EZ Bake Oven kind of easy, but simpler kind of easy.  haha!  For me, this means easy recipes, simplifying relationships and simplifying life.  Just keep it all simple so everything is attainable rather than one really lofty goal that overwhelms you everyday.

Waste less to save more. 

With my kookbook, Passion on a Plate, I’ve compiled an index based on common ingredients used in other recipes within the kookbook, so you can use what’s already in your pantry and never waste ingredients. 

A major factor in saving money is being sure that what you already have on hand doesn't go to waste.  Did you know that each year, Americans discard 96 billion pounds of good food?  Awareness alone can put a dent in this number and I'm proud that my great-grandmother taught me this so I could pass awareness on to those that choose "waste not, want not" this year and enjoy my "kookbook" recipes along with me!

Love my kooky self, every moment of every day. 

Yes, I always wanted to be Wonder Woman and it looks like I have finally achieved my goal...kinda.  haha!!

My great-grandmother, Mom Buck, continues to say "Mistakes? There are no mistakes. Only learning experiences." That goes for in the kitchen and out of it. Relationships, wearing a fancy apron so I feel good about myself and what I'm doing in the kitchen, lava cakes, gluten-free, dairy-free chicken and dumplings, career endeavors.   It's all connected and I'm going to love every bit of it!