So, I’ve been embarking on a journey to clean up my diet. For the past two weeks or so, I’ve been working on eating breakfast. Sounds simple, yes. But it really hasn’t been.  Oh sure, I’ve been eating breakfast - but I wait. Sometimes it’s two hours before I actually bother. In order to boost metabolism, breakfast should be eaten right after waking up.

The only rule is that breakfast should contain plenty of fiber, fruit, and a good protein source. Here are some ideas:

• Smoothie - Made with frozen berries, soy milk, protein powder, and flax seeds.
• Oatmeal - My favorite is old fashioned oatmeal with dried fruit and almonds
• Cereal - Choose something high in  fiber and low in sugar. I use soy milk but you can use skim milk. To make it a complete breakfast, add fresh berries and nuts.
• Eggs - This is an excellent breakfast. I like to serve it with a mushroom saute and whole wheat toast.

What are your favorite breakfasts?

This year, I am embarking on a journey to drop some extra pounds. I know, I am part of the typical statistic. Through the month of January, gyms will be crammed, people will be dieting, and then eventually they’ll give out.

I don’t Diet

Let me just say, I am not dieting. I am getting healthy. Yes, this is definitely a weight loss journey. But, I am not going to do it at the expense of eating. I cook, I eat. I’m Greek, afterall. But I am going to apply some of the proven “tricks” for losing weight. That’s what this series is all about.

Keep a Journal

If you would like to join me, find a journal that you can use. Don’t overwhelm yourself with it. Of course, you can do anything you want with your new healthy life journal, but in order to follow along with me, all you need to do is focus on the tip I give you.

Keep Track of Your Breakfasts

For now, I just want you to write down some ideas for healthy breakfasts. After you eat breakfast for the day, just write down what it was and how you felt. And that’s it. Each tip is designed to be your focus for a solid week. But to tell the truth, I’ve been working on this breakfast thing for a while and it still isn’t a habit, so I am not introducing a new tip until it is.

Breakfast Rules

Yes, there are rules. But it’s easy to follow.

• Eat within thirty minutes of getting out of bed.

•  Have something with protein, complex carbohydrates, and a fruit or vegetable.

• Drink water and take your vitamins.

• Have a cup of green tea with breakfast.

And that’s it. For me, I need to work on eating right when I wake up and making sure I get enough protein. For the past few days breakfast has been quick pizza with low sodium marinara, low fat cheese, and fiber rich rye bread. I also have some fruit and tea with it.

Our next tip is going to be to focus on lunch. But don’t worry about that now. I just wanted to tell you so you know what to expect.

I took the hens out of the freezer for Christmas dinner but we ended up going out to a movie and then to dinner. It was just my husband and I and even though I cook all the time (and love it) I felt like a needed a break.

So today, I am cooking Cornish Game Hens which are probably small chickens. I roast chickens all the time so I wonder, how hard can it be to cook the hens? I plan on preparing it simply. I’ll rub the skin with olive oil, season it with salt and pepper, and put it in the oven in the roasting pan.

A whole chicken takes about an hour and  a half to roast. I’m thinking a hen will be a lot shorter than that. Would I like to do something fancier? Maybe - but I don’t think it is a good idea for the first time roasting them. It never is! This is what I did for my first Thanksgiving turkey. Each year, I got a little more complex with the preparation and it got easier (and tastier!)

I’ll let you know how it goes.

So, Christmas is almost here and there are still people you haven’t found gifts for. Have you ever thought of making homemade chocolate? You may have the idea that making your own chocolates are time consuming. And you’re right - some are. Like truffles. But I love making chocolate candies with nuts stirred in. They look beautiful and people are always impressed. It will be our secret that it takes ten minutes - tops - to make.

The method is simple. Melt chocolate. Stir in something fun, like candy cane pieces, dried fruit, or nuts. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Drop the chocolate in teaspoonful amounts on the cookie sheet. Find a place for the candy in the fridge or let harden on the counter or outside. Put in a pretty bag or box and you’re ready to give it as a gift!

Are you the type that likes to see a recipe all written out? Well, try this.

Ingredients:

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup “something fun” (see below)

Fun mix-ins:

Dried fruit

Puffed rice cereal

Pretzel pieces

Nuts (unsalted)

Shaved coconut

Crushed cookies

Instructions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
2. Melt chocolate over a double burner or in the microwave until smooth. Microwave in twenty second intervals so the chocolate doesn’t burn. (I personally do it in a double burner - I’ve burnt chocolate in the microwave before and it’s frustrating.)
3.  If using a double burner, shut off the heat and remove the bowl. Stir in “fun mix in” and drop in teaspoonful amounts on the baking sheet. Let cool and harden completely before packaging (it takes about 24 hours).
4. You can speed the cool-off period if you put the chocolates in the refrigerator or outside.

My favorite chocolate combinations

White chocolate and crushed peppermint candies

Dark chocolate and dried cranberries

Dark chocolate with peanuts or almonds

Dark chocolate with almonds and coconut

Milk chocolate with coconut

Milk chocolate with crushed oreo cookies.

Christmas Day is fast approaching and French toast casserole is one of the most popular things to serve for Christmas breakfast - or at least it probably will be this year. Don’t believe me? A few hours ago, Google Trends showed this as being a top keyword - which means that tons of people were online searching for recipes. Even if just a fraction of those people make it on Christmas Day, that still translates to a lot of households serving it for breakfast.

What is French Toast Casserole?

Essentially, this is a recipe that allows you to prepare the French toast the night before in a casserole dish. Just pop it in the oven while opening presents. After the morning festivities are done, the casserole will be ready. Even if you do assemble it in the morning (and it comes out better if you do) this is still an easy breakfast solution.

How do you make it?

The basic ingredients are bread cubes, milk, eggs, cinnamon, and sugar. That’s it. You can follow a recipe if you wan, but it isn’t necessary. Just cut the bread into cubes. Beat eggs and milk together. Add some sugar and cinnamon. Arrange the bread at the bottom of a buttered baking dish. Pour over egg and milk. Sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until golden, about 45 minutes.

But If You Do Want to Follow a Recipe…

If I were to make this, I wouldn’t follow a recipe. I’ve made enough French toast in my lifetime to know what works and what doesn’t as far as the proportions go.  And I’m sure my version would come out fine. However, I understand that you may want to follow a French toast casserole recipe so I found one for you.

This isn’t just for Christmas day. The recips is so easy, you can do it whenever you want.

Are you in the need of some foolproof Christmas dinner recipes? I haven’t decided if my husband and I will go out for dinner or if we will cook a nice dinner at home. We went out for Thanksgiving, and it was fun. For the past few years, we’ve been doing the entertaining. It’s a nice break to have someone else worry about the food preparation.

With that said, I love searching for winning recipes. So, I decided to hop on the ‘net and find some great options in case I do decide to cook. Here’s a roundup of my favorite finds:

From Epicurious.com - This is one of my favorite cooking websites. This includes recipes from Gourmet.com, Bonapetit.com, Cookinglight.com, and Self.com. They have a page on their site completely devoted to Christmas.

Greek Butter Cookie - Kourabiedes - This is my all time favorite Christmas cookie. This is an improvement on my family recipe. The link takes you to a recipe posted on my Greek cooking blog.

Healthier Recipes at Cooking Light - Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean it’s okay to overeat. The wonderful recipes on this site are figure friendly without sacrificing taste.

When I sit down to make Christmas dinner, there are a few essentials that need to be there such as roast turkey and apple pie. In fact, the dinner mirrors Thanksgiving in a lot of ways. I also like to serve ham - especially if I am entertaining a sizeable crowd.

But lately I’ve been wanting to do something interested, such as roast a goose. Maybe because I’ve mastered the turkey thing, and my first goose was a bit of a disaster that makes me want to try again. So if I do decide to cook dinner, I will likely shy away from the typical menu items and do something different.

I joined a wine club yesterday. There’s this wine shop that I go to whenever I want to purchase a bottle of wine. I love the selection and the people who work there are very knowledgeable. I go in there, tell them what I want for dinner, and they show me some of the wines they think would be great. They’ll even give me a sample occasionally.

For me, joining that wine club made sense. I can go to one wine tasting a month and sample various wines throughout the month. Plus, I get 10% off each bottle of wine I purchase. There’s another wine club in town but it seems to target tourists, not people like me who want to find something to sip with dinner.

So, Should You Join a Wine Club?

But the question is, should you join one? There are different kinds of clubs. Some you can join online and they’ll send you bottles of wine each month or a few times a year. For me, the local wine clubs are more fun because they host wine sampling events and give discounts on the odd bottle of wine that you purchase. If you drink wine all the time and tend to purchase it from the same wine shop, it couldn’t hurt to consider joining their club.

Finding a Club to Join

After you’ve decided to join a club, your next step is to find one. Look around locally to see if there are any options. If you live in an area that doesn’t have a lot of local offerings, consider searching online. A quick google search revealed these companies:

• The Wine Club - based out of CA, thewineclub.com offers discounts and local events
• Cellars Wine Club - this company offers a wine of the month club. Find them at cellarswineclub.com
• Wine.com - this site is a portal of sorts. Shop for wine, join a wine club - no matter what you want, they’ll point you in the right direction

You Don’t Need to Be Obsessed With Wine to Enjoy a Wine Club

I love wine, but I don’t pretend to know how to describe it. I can’t tell you the history of each vinyard. I barely even know the difference between the grapes. But I do know which wines I like. I write them down in a notebook. I even make a feeble effort to describe what it tasted like.

One of my scribbled descriptions was, “Tastes yummy, a little like bubble gum.” Have you ever read a wine label with that description? Probably not,  but I don’t care. Just develope a knowledge for what you like and why you like it. There really are no right or wrong answers.

And since I buy around one bottle of wine a week, a club simply made sense. I don’t care if my fellow members know more about wine than me. It isn’t about them, anyway!