Sharing something I love....

First off, an apology. I just forgot to do a post last week, and then this week, some events transpired that were way more important than a blog post. Nothing I really want to go into detail on at this time, or in this space.

Now.....

Yesterday, we had national Open House Day for Weight Watchers, and I was thrilled to be asked to lead a cooking demo for our location. I love to cook. I'm not a pro by any means, but there's something about being in a kitchen and preparing delicious, nutritious food that just makes me happy. Since our meeting is early morning, I thought I would prepare a brunch-type food from our new "Power Foods" cookbook. And I had the perfect one: Cheddar and Veggie Frittata.

And in one word: yum. Actually, to use several words: (throw head back and roll eyes just a bit) oh my stars, this is SO good (followed by muffled chewing sounds interspersed with a bunch of mmm's).

Really, you can't go wrong with a basic frittata recipe like that. As I told the group yesterday, you can pretty much make the vegetables interchangeable. Don't like tomatoes and peppers? Use broccoli and mushrooms. Or onions and asparagus. Whatever your heart desires. For the non-starchy vegetables, the calories, etc. would vary only slightly. Or use smaller amounts of 3 vegetables instead of two. (I'm thinking broccoli, mushrooms, and peppers.... okay, 4, gotta have a little onion). And if you preferred, it would be a great light dinner, paired with a salad. MMM!

But the really fun part was being able to show people that cooking healthy is possible, and that it doesn't require much except a little time and a little ingenuity. One of the things that I mentioned is that when I first started WW, I ate out nearly every meal ... and lost weight. But that as time went on, I realized that there was so much I wanted to do and try myself to make it healthier (or cheaper). And then I realized how much I enjoyed this! I also spoke to them about batch (bulk) cooking ..... to spend the time once a week to cook larger quantities for using throughout the week, or even freezing for later on.

Cooking isn't some impossible task, and cooking healthy is no harder than cooking the way Granny did (especially here in the South, where lard, sugar, butter, salt, etc. are in everything!). You just have to devote a little time, a little research, a little experimentation, and a little backbone (to say to family members, "Well, this is how we eat now. Don't like it, cook your own food!) .... and you may find you enjoy it more than you ever dreamed!