Friday, August 28, 2015

Kitchen Control


Kitchen Control

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




For the first time in my life I gave up control of my kitchen. I hired someone else to do the cooking.

You can imagine how insane even typing that seems to me. When people come to my house they fully expect me to do the cooking. I’m a food writer. Of course I do my own cooking. The word catering doesn’t even fit in my vocabulary. But this time I made an exception and fit the term personal chef into my life and into my kitchen.

The occasion was a gathering of my siblings and their spouses. We all decided it was time to get together and even though not all could make the date, a significant number did, and it was time to spend some quality time together.

My family members are all good cooks. We could have joined up and made dinner together. That would have not been a problem. What happened is I volunteered to coordinate this gathering and I wanted it to be something different. We have gathered lots of times to cook. Many of those times were when my family came to help me prepare for large parties. Instead, I wanted the day to be filled with other activities we could do together and not have to set aside time for cooking.

I gave everyone a list of several things that were going on in Chicago on that bright, crisp fall day. They could choose what they wanted to do. When you have a big family such as ours I don’t expect everyone to like the same things or want to do the same things. Turns out pretty much everybody decided to take the water taxi down the Chicago river and go visit Chinatown. The water taxi is a great way to get a new perspective of the city and a unique view of the architecture. I love the water taxi. Our Chinatown is quite sizable and there’s tons of shopping and great food. Now, this was something different.

Turns out I was the only one who could not go to Chinatown. I had to be back in time to let the chef in the house so I decided to drop them all off and go home. I also was not in all the great a mood because Titi had just died a couple of days before so having some alone time was good for me.

Chef Josh is the guy I contracted with to put on our dinner. I met Chef Josh because he had been hired by a couple of our Plan Z dieters. They wanted someone to cook for them while they were on the diet. Chef Josh had to get up to speed on how the diet works and what the restrictions/structure are so he could properly cook for them. Since we both live in the same city it seemed only logical that we meet. So we did.

I liked Chef Josh. He’s building a unique business of his own and I decided I wanted to help him. He’s young and enthusiastic. What’s not to love? But I also wanted to test out his skills so I could be in a better position to recommend him if the opportunity arose, so I decided the way to do that would be to hire him.

Chef Josh and I discussed what style of dinner I wanted. I wanted to have the dinner conform to the ZReboot stage of Plan Z by Zola. I wanted a creative menu but not too far out on the edge. I knew we could have a fabulous meal and still be eating ‘diet food’. This was not because I feel my family needs a diet. It was really for me to be able to see if Chef Josh could be creative and execute a meal that followed the protocol. And I still wanted him to have fun and use his creativity.

Chef Josh stepped up to the challenge and I have to say he passed the “test” with flying colors! Each couple chipped in to pay for their dinner and this is the three course meal Chef Josh orchestrated.

Chef Josh really got into this project. So much so, he brought along a sous chef; his buddy Collin, and his fiancé Britta joined us to take pictures. They all seemed to be enjoying their time in my kitchen and my family was enjoying the dinner. It was really nice, and certainly a change, just to be able to sit and chat. No cooking. No serving, and no cleaning up! We could talk and EAT!

It was great to see someone else spread plates all across our counter and set about plating three teeny appetizers. Each tidbit was better than the last! I heard moaning coming from my family members. Lots of cheering and laughter. The entrée was delightful and the desserts devine. Everyone graduated in the Clean Plate Club. A few might have been tempted to lick their plates had they not been successful in getting every last morsel on their forks.

The dinner was a big success. And I’ll proudly recommend Chef Josh to others in the Chicago area who want someone else to do their cooking while they are on Plan Z. So many tell me Plan Z doesn’t taste like a diet. And Josh surely proved that with his delivery on a magnificent dinner.

Chef Josh did such a great job, in fact, that I asked him to contribute a couple of his recipes. I’m sharing those with you today. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did. I also want to invite you to check out Josh’s website and Facebook page. If you click on the tumblr.com link below you can see Chef Josh working in my kitchen. Not all of his recipes in his various sites are Plan Z “friendly” because he does all kinds of cooking but each of them are beautiful to see. I wish Chef Josh much success.

http://www.facebook.com/chefjoshkatt

http://www.twitter.com/chefjoshkatt

http://chefjoshkatt.tumblr.com

http://about.me/chefjoshkatt

Cheers,
To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Glug Glug: How Much Water Should You Drink on the Plan Z Diet?https://www.planzdiet.com/uploads/glug-glug.jpg



Glug Glug: How Much Water Should You Drink on the Plan Z Diet?

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Let’s talk water on the Plan Z Diet.

Most diets will instruct you to drink water. They will tell you that if you get hungry just drink water to stave off the hunger pangs. I might agree with that to a very small extent but that’s really a very short term “fix.” On Plan Z dieters don’t report that they are hungry so that’s not the big issue.

I tell people on the Plan Z Diet to drink water for another very important reason.

I want the water to flush the fat.

On the Plan Z Diet we recommend that you drink at least 70-90 oz of water per day. That would be the minimum. If you can drink more than that go ahead and do it.

Now I have very good reason to believe that drinking even more is beneficial to weight loss.

I read a study not long ago about water and weight loss. The gist of the readout was this: When the body is ready to give up fat it needs a vehicle or mechanism to flush the fat out of your system. Otherwise it might just stay there. The vehicle is water. If there is a ready supply of water circulating through your system and your body releases fat from the fat cells it literally needs something to flush it.

So water it is.

Around the same time I read that study I was doing a BETA test for an improvement to the Plan Z Diet. I had a BETA test group and was tracking several elements of their weight loss and one of the things I tracked was how much water they drank each day.

The final result was pretty startling, and I say that in a good way.

Those who drank 100 oz of water or more per day (ranging from 100 oz to 150 oz) lost 30% more weight than those who drank less. Those who drank less than 70 oz per day lost a full 30% less weight and those in the middle lost an average that landed in-between. 30% difference in weight loss is a pretty remarkable difference. And I didn’t just track this for a few days. I tracked it for over a month.

So I’ll be making adjustments to my recommendations going forward. I’ll be recommending 100 oz or more of water per day on the Plan Z Diet.

In the beginning it’s a bit tricky for most folks to drink that much water. Reason is they end up in the potty a lot more. At night they have to get up more often. I tell them now that if they are cursing me during that time just keep in mind they are flushing fat. That makes them happy. They see the results on the scale each day. Their body gets used to it too. I can easily drink 100 oz water per day now without an excessive number of trips to the bathroom. Other dieters report the same.

Even if you’re not on the Plan Z Diet but working to regulate your weight, try drinking more water. Your body will thank you and you just might get a little skinnier in the process.

Drink up!



To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Sand Dunes--A Plan Z Diet Trip to Michigan


The Sand Dunes--A Plan Z Diet Trip to Michigan

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




It all started when Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over the lantern and Chicago burned to the ground.

The whole city was destroyed. Over 100,000 people were rendered homeless. The fire had burned for two days and wiped out every structure in its path and most of those were made of wood.

Recovery was not going to be easy. The whole city had to be rebuilt. Even if the buildings were going to be constructed using stone or brick this time, they were still going to need a lot of wood.

Chicago is dotted with beautiful, brick Victorian homes. My neighborhood alone has about a hundred of them. There are thousands of grey-stone homes too. They all also have ornate décor on the inside. Many have carved wood-paneled walls. Most have wooden floors and so very many have beautiful, ornate staircases that are made of wood. Then there are things like kitchen cabinets and all of the furniture. That’s all made of wood too.

So with Chicago destroyed they had to go find a LOT of wood to rebuild.

Where did they go? Well, one place was the western coast of Michigan.

I was visiting Michigan’s Harbor Country last week, taking a little vacation from Plan Z Diet headquarters and learned about the deforestation that supplied some of the much needed wood to re-build Chicago. The unforeseen consequence was a major development of sand dunes.

The easiest thing for Chicago to do was send out loggers and ships. They could leave Chicago, travel along the lakeshore and head right up to a huge stand of hardwoods that at the time lined the shores of Lake Michigan. They concentrated much of their effort in an area that swings along the southwestern shores of the state of Michigan. They got all the beautiful, strong hardwood they needed. They cut it all down and the ships transported it back to Chicago. This went on for decades while they re-built Chicago. Then they left it alone and Mother Nature stepped in.

As they describe it in Michigan, “leave an open space along a beach and the wind will take over and make sand dunes”. The prevailing winds are usually from the west. As the wind travels over Lake Michigan to Michigan’s western shores the wind picks up the sand and blows it. And blows it and blows it. LOTS of it. Some of the sand dunes along Michigan’s shore are as high as 350 feet tall. They look like small mountains of sand. I had no idea that there is no soil under that sand. It’s just a huge pile of sand. The sand dunes are everywhere; even to the point that they supply a whole cottage industry of giving tourists rides along the sand dunes in large “dune buggies”. They aren’t really buggies when you are transporting 12 or 16 people in one vehicle but the idea is the same. The guides give a tour of the area and doll out information on how the dunes were formed.

Good news is the area is filling back in. Michigan State University, years ago, planted thousands of new trees and they took hold. The re-foresting has begun. It’s actually quite mature already. They also found a special strain of beach grass that they planted and it has taken hold too. Each year as the grasses freeze and die they decompose and are depositing new top soil. Other things are beginning to grow in the new soil where nothing much would grow before.

The sands make for beautiful beaches. The dunes are a unique part of Michigan that draw tourists like me each year for fun in the sun and along the beach. The ride in the dune “buggie”, although a bit harrowing, was fun too. I think I liked the history lesson better than the ride.

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Plan Z Diet Peanut Butter Dream



Plan Z Diet Peanut Butter Dream

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Plan Z Diet by Zola

This is a Plan Z Diet ZReboot recipe. This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe. Think peanut butter chiffon pie without the crust. For a low carb diet like the Plan Z Diet this is perfect. I have made it for guests a few times. The servings I gave out were generous and I figured no one would finish. Ha. Everyone snarfed up every bit. Served in a pretty glass (I use antique champagne saucers) or a fun, tiny bowl, this is perfect for a party. People love the fact that it’s so light and yet decadent.

Servings: Serves 4 – 6 depending on size of serving you decide on.

Ingredients:
8 oz of cream cheese (softened)
3-4 packets of Truvia
1 cup of smooth peanut butter. I use organic peanut butter that is emulsified and unsweetened.
3 cups of whipped topping. TruWhip is one brand you can use. Or you can whip your own cream and use that.
cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

Instructions:

Load a medium bowl with the cream cheese, Truvia and peanut butter. Whiz until blended. Then add your whipped cream or the TruWhip. Whip again until it’s all mixed. Put into your pretty serving dishes and put in the refrigerator covered (I just use little pieces of plastic wrap to cover them). Remove covers when you want to serve and dust with the cocoa powder. You’re all set for a fancy party. It’s also great all by yourself watching TV. If you have them, you can even serve this with demitasse spoons to make the experience take longer. Small spoonfuls. Listen for the moaning at the table. You’ll hear it. I promise.

Serving Suggestions:
I recommend you make this the afternoon you serve it. Leftovers do well in the refrigerator for a few days. They never last long in my house.

Enjoy!
Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Party Report


The Party Report

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





I think you all know we had a big party here at Plan Z HQ. It was a Saturday night blow out. For those of you who could not make it, or would just like the live vicariously, I’m going to lay out a few of the highlights of how it all came together and how it went during the night.

I knew I was going to have about 90 people in attendance, so I started prepping for the party early. This was probably the earliest I have ever done that. On Wednesday I rearranged the furniture in the area where the buffet was going to be set up. I decided I could tolerate having that room look a bit disorganized for a few days instead of doing it at the last minute. I got out all the platters the food would be served on and placed them where they would sit during the party. I even put little notes on each platter of what was going to be served on that dish so I could visualize how the colors and textures of the food would look that night. That way anyone helping me could just put the food on the designated plate, and in that place, without having to ask me, “Where does this go?” That’s an idea I will take forward. It worked great.

I got the bar setup that night, too. My menus were all prepared in advance and I got my grocery list together 2 days ahead. I always print off any recipes I’m going to use and keep them in a folder so I have them handy or I can hand one to someone helping me cook, and they can go to town without having to handle an awkward cookbook.

Friday morning I bought all of the food and Friday afternoon my colleague Grace helped me start cooking. Grace is a culinary school graduate so that sure came in handy. I gave her two of the more complicated dishes to cook. She was able to follow the recipes and hardly had to ask me anything. I was able to concentrate and get a few other things prepped and off to the refrigerator in the garage. Because this was a summer party, almost everything we cooked was going to be served cold. I wanted to be more hostess than caterer so if the food is set out ahead I can spend more time with guests than in my kitchen.

We cooked until about 6PM Friday and took a break. We were being so efficient I didn’t need to worry. My Saturday prep list was ready to go. Saturday morning, two friends volunteered to come over and help. One was a cooking kind of guy and the other one was more of a cleaner/handyman. My husband teamed up with him and they got the front porch spotless and did all kinds of tidying up in the garden and around the house.

Allen was helping me in the kitchen. He and I knocked out the rest of the cooking along with Jennifer, and we were all done by noon. I HAD to be done by noon because that’s when the video crew and the band showed up. The band was there to set up their equipment and test their sound system. The video crew was setting up to tape 3 of our dieting celebrities. We spent the afternoon interviewing them and recording their responses. They did an amazing job. Someday I’m sure you’ll get to see some of the production. I have never had to sandwich a video production in between pre-party prep. It was a very tricky thing to try to pull off, but whew! That worked, too!

At 7PM, guests started to arrive. I hired my favorite bartender to take drink orders and my cleaning lady Coco was ready with her sister to help in the kitchen. They do a great job of walking around a party doing what we call ‘groom the room.’ They pick up empty drink glasses and dirty napkins. They keep everything tidy on the party floor. If anyone spills anything they are right there to clean it up. In the kitchen they help with any last minute food prep and they wash and dry dishes that come off of the buffet table as they are finished. There was one warm dish that had to be baked during the party so Coco and I teamed up to prep that, but otherwise I was able to circulate amongst the guests all night long.

The band started playing at 8:30. Our living area floors are poured concrete. Very industrial. I actually took sidewalk chalk and drew a dance floor border on the floor and wrote the word “DANCE” in the middle.

The serious blues fans were able to listen to the Will Tilson band at little club-style tables, and the dancers could cut loose on the floor. Those that just wanted to chat outside in the garden could still hear the band but it was quiet enough that they could carry a solid conversation.

The band was amazing. The food was delicious (even if I do say so myself!). I didn’t get to eat any of it, but the compliments kept rolling in so I think my guests liked it. If I could put sound and smell-a-vision in this column I’d give you samples of both.

I know the food was a success because we cooked enough for 110 people, we had 90 in attendance, and the food was wiped out in two hours! All I had left at the end of the night was a pile of sliced red onions that were a garnish for a little beef slider sandwich. Everything including the Peanut Butter Dream “shots” was gone. PBD is a great teeny dessert for a buffet. Buy those little plastic shot glasses at the party store. Make enough Peanut Butter Dream for the crowd and then use a little ice cream scoop to serve it in the shot glasses. I even found teeny tiny spoons that were very inexpensive at the same party store, so everyone could spoon their mini-dessert. There were also baby cupcakes, dark chocolate peanut clusters and more to have as sweet treats.

One highlight for me was the introductions time. I didn’t want to do a big Plan Z commercial or anything, but I wanted to introduce the three special people we had brought in for the party. Harry O came in from Mason City, Iowa. Biggie came from North Carolina and Alyssa came from Wisconsin. Harry has lost and kept off 175 pounds. Biggie has lost over 120 pounds and little Alyssa has lost over 255 pounds. The crowd cheered louder and louder as I introduced them.

I expected people to politely clap but I did not expect people to be jumping to their feet from where they were sitting. It was all very exciting.



I directed the audience to be able to go over to a TV where we had prepared a video show that displayed before and after pictures of dieters from all over the US and beyond. Everyone marveled at the transformations these dieters have gone through. There was no sound. It just played on a loop and the band played in the background. People were gathered around all night and smiling as they watched the show. They were genuinely happy for all involved.

The record-setting driving distance came from the Wilkinson’s. They drove all the way from North Carolina to meet me, dance at the party and generally celebrate their achievements. They have both lost considerable weight and are very proud of their accomplishment. And they should be proud. They were so happy, they did this really cute thing where they pinned “before” pictures on their outfits so everyone could see their personal transformations, too. Besides that, these folks were a hoot! I was so happy to meet them.

I think everyone had a good time. The last guests left at 2:30 AM. Another sign of a good party.

Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Monday, August 24, 2015

How Bad Was It?



How Bad Was It?

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




I thought I was the biggest weather geek. Now I find out I have met my match.

I am one of those people who cannot get through a day without watching the weather at least once. I read about it in the paper most days too before I start working at Plan Z Diet headquarters. They give out five day forecasts and I’m a quick learner, so why would I need an update every day?

Every day? Sometimes I’ll watch the weather included in News at 5 and then watch it again during the 6PM news. Nothing has changed, believe me, yet I do it anyway. I even ask those around me to be quiet so I can listen. The second time around I act like there will be a news flash update. Not bloody likely.

During storms there is a reason to check in often. This summer we had one evening where we got golf-ball sized hail for 45 minutes. That resulted in 22 cracks in our roof that had to be repaired. Another time we got 7.5 inches of rain in less than an hour. It’s been a summer of weird storms. The weather reporting helped me be prepared for those events. Or at least the best I could.

As Hurricane Irene approached I watched the weather extra-closely for a few days, looking at their prediction models as the storm formulated in the southern Atlantic. I looked at the potential paths and I looked at the predicted wind speeds and made my decision. I decided this was going to pretty much be a non-event. Bad storm, yeah but REALLY bad storm? No. Hurricane and tropical storm, yeah. Category 3 and a repeat of Hurricane Katrina? No way.

Well, my friend and I debated. He was here visiting from out of town and kept tuning into the weather reports. He’s got a ship captain’s license so he knows a whole lot more about isobars and the paths of weather than I do. He used to live in Baltimore so he’s likely seen more hurricanes than I have. I’ve only officially been through one. That was Hurricane Gloria and I was visiting family with my husband. We were in Maine. We did the fill buckets with water thing and got all the candles etc. ready. What a snoozer that was. I’d been in bigger thunderstorms in Wisconsin than that turned out to be. By the time it got to us it wasn’t any big deal at all. We didn’t even lose power for long. My feeling was this hurricane was going to be about the same as Gloria.

But the question is, if there is a chance for disaster do you take chances? I say ‘no.’ Did the media need to hype it as much as they did? Probably not. But on the contrary if they had not, maybe not so many people would have listened. Being prepared is much better than getting caught and ending up in peril.

Did the hurricane do as much damage as it could have? Probably not. But if you’re living in the path of the violent flooding in Vermont that’s not the issue. And it’s not water over the dam. It’s water everywhere. Dangerous unrelenting water. Everywhere.

You can’t fool Mother Nature but you can’t really predict her very well either.


Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Candy Corn


Candy Corn

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




I ate my second ear of corn for the season last night. It’s late August and this was only my second time to eat corn. Sounds odd, doesn’t it?

In my old days before the Plan Z Diet I might have had two ears of corn in one sitting. My husband would ask for corn probably three times a week. We both love corn. I thought it was good roughage. I thought if I only used a teeny bit of butter on it and a whisp of salt and pepper I was good to go.

When we went to the local corn festival we might both eat six ears each. That was our lunch. Corn and something to drink. We had a blast.

Since I have started the Plan Z Diet I have been enlightened and even shocked.

They don’t call it sweet corn for nothing.

Corn in the US has an amazingly high glycemic index. Our sweet corn hybrids score a 60 on the glycemic index. Compare that to Italian Ice cream; the really good stuff, vanilla flavored. That ice cream only scores a 57. Our sweet corn is sweeter than some ice creams.

Do another comparison. Sweet corn from New Zealand only scores a 37. Their corn 37. Our corn 60. Like I said, they don’t call it sweet corn for nothing.

Now, I’m not beating up on sweet corn. Moderation is all I’m talking about. You want to know what you eat will do to you. Sweet corn is full of carbohydrate. We teach on the Plan Z Diet that carbohydrates in too large a quantity will make you fat.

When you are rating foods with the glycemic index most nutritional experts would agree in general that below 50 is good. Above 50 is not. In America, many dieticians give us extra room for error. They rate things high, low and medium. Medium for many in the nutritional sciences would be 50 – 75. Sweet corn in the US ranks a 60. A Milky Way candy bar rates a 44. Go figure. I don’t believe there’s a medium. It’s high or low. In or out.

Our corn has been “modified” if you will, to make it as sweet as possible. Because I limit my carbohydrate intake as much as I do on the Plan Z Diet, when I eat corn now it tastes like candy. Candy corn. If I could get the same sweet corn as they eat in New Zealand I would. Then I’d eat it more often and with more pleasure.

If you are diabetic you’ve probably been introduced to the Glycemic Index already. If not, the most comprehensive one I know of is put out by the Mendosa group. Here’s a link to it. http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm It’s pretty easy to read and is very comprehensive. This one has food items on it from all over the world. This one even takes into account the glycemic load of a food. The load is what tells you how fast the spike will be in your blood sugar if you eat a particular food. Our sweet corn scores miserably on that scale too.

My one hint for eating sweet corn on the Plan Z Diet. Drench it in butter. When you have a food that has a high glycemic uptake and you balance that off it won’t hit your system so harshly. So the fat in the butter will make the corn easier on your system and slow down the glycemic uptake. Never thought someone would tell you the butter is the good thing for you, did you. I just did.

Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Plan Z Diet Peach Salsa


Plan Z Diet Peach Salsa

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





Plan Z Diet by Zola

This is a Plan Z Diet ZReduction recipe. This lovely, light peach salsa can be served with all kinds of light meat and fish. I’d serve it over grilled chicken. I served it last time with sautéed scallops.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 medium, ripe peaches cut into small bits. For this dish I just wash the peaches. I don’t bother to peel them. Be sure to cut around the pits and toss them.
½ red bell pepper, chopped
½ cup of red onion, diced
2 Tbl of fresh lime juice
1 Tbl of fresh, minced cilantro
1 tsp of minced jalapeno
½ tsp of grated sea salt

Instructions:

Put the peach bits and a bit of water that can cover the bottom of a medium saute pan. Cook on medium just to loosen and warm the peach bits. Don’t cook to mush. Transfer to a bowl.

Put all ingredients in the bowl and stir. Let set in the refrigerator until ready to serve on top of your cooked entrée. If you want this to be really zippy, make it earlier in the day so the jalapeno bits can influence the flavor even more.

Enjoy!
Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Plan Z Diet Says How Now Brown Cow?


The Plan Z Diet Says How Now Brown Cow?

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




“Sugar — in the form of lactose — contributes about 55 percent of skim milk’s calories, giving it ounce for ounce the same calorie load as soda” — Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

That just happens to be one answer to a question we get asked every day at The Plan Z Diet by Zola. “Why do you suggest I quit drinking milk?”

But wait. There’s more.

After infancy, you don’t need milk. It’s a simple fact. Milk is a substance produced by mammals to nourish their newborn babies. Baby mammals — including humans — depend on milk until their digestive systems have had enough time to mature and allow them to eat solid food.

After they begin eating solid food, the animals don’t go back to drinking milk.
That is, of course, unless they’re human.

I used to drink milk before I created the Plan Z Diet; lots of it. I was raised in Appleton, Wisconsin; pretty much smack dab in the middle of the Dairy State. We had a milk man who delivered (sometimes twice a day) to our house. We had such huge containers of milk in our refrigerator they took up most of a shelf and even had spouts on them. As kids we could serve ourselves without having to even reach for a milk carton.

At grade school I wasgiven milk three times a day.
In high school I bought milk from the vending machines.
As an adult I drank a gallon of milk every two days.

I loved milk. I loved it so much I craved it for over two years after I had given it up.

Today the Department of Agriculture’s recommendation for dairy is still 3 cups daily for every man, woman and child over age 9. This in a country where as many as 50 million people are lactose intolerant, including 90 percent of all Asian-Americans and 75 percent of all African-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Jews.

No one actually needs to drink milk. The myth is you need milk for calcium and bone strength. This is in fact FALSE. If you are really interested in this subject and want to get the lowdown on the science, read this entry at saveourbones.com.

All of this doesn’t mean I recommend you quit drinking white liquid or give up smoothies. Try drinking unsweetened almond milk. Or my favorite, unsweetened coconut milk. I just bought a carton today and plan to have a mango smoothie for breakfast.

I have shut the refrigerator door on cow milk.

If you’re still not convinced, Google “milk bad” and read up. You’ll find out raw milk is slightly better for you than pasteurized milk but still not really beneficial to your health. You’ll find out pasteurized milk is pretty much devoid of the healthy elements we thought was in it. You’ll find out cheese and yogurt digest much more easily than milk, and why. And you’ll find out there are plenty of other sources where you can get your calcium.

Here at the Plan Z Diet we say MOOOOVE over milk. Water is the drink of the day.

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Hail at Plan Z Diet Headquarters


Hail at Plan Z Diet Headquarters

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Two nights ago, my garden was shredded by a hail storm. Golf ball-sized hail rained down on our courtyard for about 15 minutes. Then it calmed, only to get hit again with even more force.

We lost half the leaves off of our trees. Our pool had 3” deep of leaves floating on top of the water. Everything was covered in debris. I had planted my garden early, so it was quite well along and looking beautiful. I had been thinking just the day before how great it looked; how lush. Now it was toast.

There was some greenery left but the stems of the plants had been hacked off at just above ground level. There was six inches of hail on the ground and in one corner of our yard the hail accumulated to over a foot deep. Even the next day at 90 degrees, the hail didn’t all melt. It was there 2 days later!

We cleaned for hours. Garbage bags full of leaves, sticks and plant parts. I managed not to cry but I was heartbroken. I had worked so hard to design and plant that garden.

On about day 2 the things we were not able to rake or pick up began to curl up into brown dead bits. I decided the best thing to do was to let them stay there and just cover them with new mulch. That was easier than picking it all up and the dead stuff could just become compost.

But my flowers! I just could not sit there and wait for them to all grow again. I had to do something and I had guests coming. So off I rushed to the discount garden store to buy something to fill in the blanks. I didn’t have to spend a lot of money. By the 4th of July the plants are 50 – 70% off. So for not much money I was able to buy a couple of flats, fill in the holes and get on with my party.

There. I felt better now.


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Friday, August 14, 2015

Edible Education with the Plan Z Diet



Edible Education with the Plan Z Diet

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




Used to be that if you picked anything from a public garden you could get yourself arrested.

It’s not always that way these days.

I don’t recommend you start picking things from your local public garden, but in some cases you can participate in what’s going on in the garden and be able to “consume” your education.

Take Chicago for example. In Chicago you can go to the Regenstein Garden and attend a chef series. They do cooking demos with items from the garden. Herbs can be ornamental one day and then they might find themselves as a feature in a sauce. Gale Gand, pastry chef extraordinaire gives cooking demos at the Regenstein Garden and then she offers up the recipes to go with the discussions. Check out www.chicagobotanic.org.

Live in Atlanta? There they have an old parking lot that is now a garden with an outdoor kitchen. Local chefs do cooking classes. YUM: www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org.

Here’s a cute one. In New Orleans they have a new city program that educates kids about how to plant and tend a vegetable garden. They get to do tastings too! I got my early start with this helping my mother tend the rhubarb patch. We had tomato plants out back of the house too. I’ll also never forget the year my brother dug up the area behind the garage and planted potatoes! I don’t recall eating one potato but I do remember the potato patch: www.neworleanscitypark.com.

One more.

In San Francisco there’s a place called Arcimboldo’s Edible Garden. What a great name. Arcimboldo was a 16th century painter. I bet he never envisioned his name on a garden, although he specialized in doing portraits made out of fruits, vegetable, etc. it’s something you have to see to believe. Quite creative. Google Guiseppe Arcimboldo and read all about him. You can go to the Arcimboldo Garden and take a cooking class or watch a cooking demo at www.sfbotanicalgarden.org.

Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Plan Z Diet Commitment to Whole Unprocessed Foods


The Plan Z Diet Commitment to Whole Unprocessed Foods

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




You’ve probably noticed lately that I have been pretty regularly trying to convince you to eat whole, unprocessed foods even if you're not on the Plan Z Diet. Every recipe I write for the Plan Z Diet uses what I consider unprocessed foods (with minor exceptions).

To keep it simple, let’s start off with some definitions: Processed foods are anything you buy in a package in a grocery store. Anything that has chemicals and preservatives as additives would fall into the processed foods category. By my definition, any bread in a store that has a preservative put into it would be a processed food, so even if it doesn’t always come in a box, you can consider it processed. Processed foods encompass most of the grocery store.

Unprocessed foods are the things you find in the produce section, the fresh meat section and limited parts of the dairy section. I say limited parts of the dairy section because we can’t all have a cow or goat in our backyard. We need to allow for some processed foods that are in packages or cartons but the fewer the ingredients that are there to keep them fresh for transport to the grocery store, the better. The closer your food comes to you from the farm, the better.

The almost old adage is, “If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it.” Just read labels and you’ll see what I mean.On the Plan Z Diet you will become a label reading maniac!

Another almost sage saying is “Shop the perimeter.” Buy your food from the sections that surround the outside of the store. That includes the produce department, the fresh meat (not that deli stuff that hangs in those plastic packages), fresh flowers if you want them to decorate your table and the freshest dairy you can find. With dairy, try to stick to the things that have that shorter ingredient list and which don’t have enough chemicals to keep them fresh in the case until 2012. Check the sell-by date.

Buy fresh. That pretty much covers it.

I bring up this subject because there’s a pretty good article in this month’s issue of Food and Wine Magazine written by a contributing chef named Dan Barber. Dan was awarded Best New Chef in 2002 by Food and Wine and is a partner in Blue Hill restaurant in NYC as well as a partner in Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY.

Dan’s article is called “Can Farms Save the World?” (Buy this month’s Food and Wine and read the whole article. It’s not in the on-line archive yet).

He contends that our old thought of keeping farming separated from “nature” is ludicrous. The idea of good environmentalism was always separated from farming. That’s where the concept of natural parks came from. You see a national park like Yellowstone in the distance as an environmental preserve while you stand in a pesticide-filled wheat field or a cornfield.

Things are changing though. I drive by community gardens in Chicago, built right under the elevated train tracks. That takes the separation away from city and farm. You see farmer’s markets becoming even more popular and prevalent; bringing the farm closer to the city too. People are flocking to these markets because they are starting to ‘get it’. They see now that fresh food; brought to them from as close to their location as possible is fresher and better for them. Chefs are buying food directly from the farmers. They feature the farms’ names on their menus. Depending on where you live that might be ‘old hat’. It might have been going on for decades now but for many the trip to the local grocery store is still the only option for buying food. For many a franchise restaurant is still the biggest game in town. That’s sad. We have to get back to restaurants owned by individuals. But the trend I’m talking about is growing. Thank goodness – literally!

I had this idea about 20 years ago that I never got to implement. I wanted a sheep farm. I wanted to locate my sheep farm on about 100 acres south of Madison, Wisconsin. I was actually pursuing the idea enough that I’d drive about 45 minutes south of Madison along the rolling hills that border the I-90 corridor, looking for an ideal location to put a sheep farm. I even read books on how to birth sheep. I visited two huge sheep farms, one in upstate New York and one in Washington State, working toward my dream of building a sheep farm.

It’s odd to have a sheep farm in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is the land of cows and corn. So why sheep? Maybe it is my Irish heritage. I’m in love with sheep. I love the noises they make, the shape they are, the size and I love the cheese that comes from sheep’s milk. I was totally ready to do the sheep thing and learn how to make sheep’s milk cheese. That was going to be my sheep production involvement. And of course some butchering. (Well , maybe I’d hire that out.)

The sheep farm I planned doesn’t need the full 100 acres. My plan was to lease out the surrounding acres to organic farmers. Then I was going to be in charge of selling the produce to Chicago restaurants. That’s why I was looking where I was. I wanted the transportation of the produce to be simple. Go down I-90 and deliver all this fresh produce and my sheep/lamb products to Chicago.

That idea was in my head long ago when that form of restaurant supply was very new. Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in California, and a few other cutting-edge chefs were growing their own produce and sourcing their meat and produce totally locally. I wanted to do my thing; only with sheep. Alas, I was always too busy running another company to get my sheep farm together. But now that I have developed Plan Z by Zola I am approaching the whole food trend from another perspective; that of teaching you how to make delicious whole food recipes and encouraging you to spend the majority of your grocery budget on fresh, whole, unprocessed food.

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Plan Z Diet Chicken Alfredo with Almost Noodles


Plan Z Diet Chicken Alfredo with Almost Noodles

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




The Plan Z Diet by Zola

This is a Plan Z Diet ZReboot recipe. This dish comes together in a flash! You can also make it with steak or even seafood. Any of those options would be good. When I get a hankering for pasta on the Plan Z Diet I crave Chicken Alfredo. This one did it for me! Satisfied that craving.

To make “noodles” out of zucchini you need a contraption called a “spiralizer.” You can order them online, or buy one in a kitchen store. They are very inexpensive and super easy to use. If you don’t want to buy one you can make this dish with just zucchini slices but that would defeat the noodle technique.

Servings: Serves 2

Ingredients:
¾ of a pound of chicken tenders
Your favorite meat rub (optional). I use Special Shit (sorry… that’s what it’s called). That gives me sort of a southwestern feel to the chicken. Any meat rub will work or you can just do yours plain.
1 medium zucchini (about a foot long and 3” in diameter) turned into noodles with a spiralizer
2 tbl of olive oil
¾ cup of whipped cream cheese
3 Tbl of sour cream
1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese
A whisper of cayenne (optional)

Instructions:

In a saute pan, add 1 Tbl of the olive oil. Begin to heat it to medium high. Add your chicken tenders. If you are going to sprinkle them with meat rub you can do that now. Just sprinkle the top side.

Cook the chicken tenders, turning after 3 minutes. In about six minutes they should be done. Just make sure all of the pink is gone. Set them aside.

While the chicken is cooking you can also make your sauce. In another medium pan heated to medium, add the other Tbl of olive oil. Put in your spiral noodles. Saute them for about 3 – 5 minutes to loosen them up and cook them. Remove the noodles from the saucepan and put them into a bowl. Continue making the sauce in the same pan by adding the whipped cream cheese and the sour cream. Stir them together to mix them up and get them all melty. Add the parmesan. If you want a little heat to the dish, add the cayenne. If it’s a bit thick for you, you can thin the sauce with a bit of cream, milk or even water. Then transfer this to the bowl with the noodles and mix it all in. You want the noodles coated. Then add your meat on top and serve.

My husband does not crave chicken alfredo but he loved this!

Enjoy!
Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/


Chicken Alfredo with “Almost Noodles” Recipe Copyright 2015 Plan Z, the Diet by Zola

What the Plan Z Diet Thinks about School Lunch


What the Plan Z Diet Thinks about School Lunch

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




President Truman started the National School Lunch Program in 1946. A little over a decade later I was born. I went to a Catholic School as a child. Most every kid stayed at school for lunch. It was an expected part of the program.

My mother fairly regularly volunteered as a “lunch lady” at the school. She went in early in the morning and helped prepare the food, helped serve and clean up, and then ran errands on her way home to cook dinner for the family. She became friends with many of the on-staff ladies who were the full-time pros. Those were the women who designed the menus, ordered the food and supplies and supervised the cooking.

I can remember many of the meals we were served. Each of them contained a protein, a starch or two, a veggie and something for dessert. One of my favorites was chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, mixed peas and carrots, a dinner roll with butter and freshly made apple crisp. Sure, there were times when something was served that I didn’t like. Sauerkraut comes to mind. We’d have some kind of roasted meat with the sauerkraut on the side. I’d eat the meat and everything else on my plate but the sauerkraut always stayed on my tray. There were plenty of lunch ladies cruising the aisles making sure you ate the majority of your meal, but I could get away with leaving the sauerkraut behind.

The drink was always 8 ounces of whole, white milk. In Wisconsin, that was a given. The meals were subsidized by a weekly payment (I think my weekly payment was about a dollar, maybe less). Now compare that to the average lunch in a grade school today.

Deep fried popcorn chicken, tiny taters, bread, barbecue sauce, ketchup and chocolate milk. EEEW. You call that a healthy meal that is going to keep a kid full and focused all afternoon. Making matters worse, none of that food is cooked in the cafeteria. You never see anyone peeling a potato. That food is shipped in and reheated. That’s enough to turn a kid’s brain to mush.

Other mainstays on the menu: pizza, French fries, hot dogs and a mystery pork they call “ribicue.” Do you see anything green and leafy on that list? No. Oh yeah, and the “fruit cup” they call dessert is floating in sugar water. You have to open the top of it and peel back the plastic to eat the diced fruit out of a plastic cup. How long has that fruit been in that cup? And how many preservatives are in there? Compare that to the freshly baked apple crisp that I could smell as I descended the stairs to the school cafeteria as a kid. My mouth was watering by the time I stepped in. If I were a kid these days I’d be gagging.

And get this: in many schools the children are allowed to sit with the meal they are served and wait 15 minutes. Then they are allowed to throw it out, take their own money and buy things a la carte. They can buy cake, brand name junk foods like chips and sodas, along with candy bars. No limits. The big name food companies ship that stuff in.

Sadly 16.9% of children between the ages of 2 and 19 are obese.
No wonder.

Guess what a typical meal in a French school is? Beet salad, veal stew and pumpkin soup. What do they eat in Korea? Stir-fried beef with carrots and kimchi. What is WRONG with this picture? Are those nations more wealthy than ours? Do they care more for the well-being of their kids than we do? The United States sadly budgets $2.68 per child for lunch and only $1.25 of that money goes toward the food!

Children born in 2000 have more than a 30% chance of developing diabetes in their lifetime. We are sending our children down a nutrition and health hell-hole.

I’m feeling ill.
I think I better stop now.


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

Monday, August 10, 2015

The Shrinking Architect


The Shrinking Architect

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




I first met Jack as a prospective client. He designed the house I live in and that functions as Plan Z Diet headquarters. He’s an amazingly talented man. He took a car fix-it shop that was built in 1954 and transformed it into a home. Our home. Check out the kinds of things Jack designs by clicking here. http://yochicago.com/talking-architecture-at-mondial/9421/

This link is not an ad. Instead it will give you a lesson in modern Chicago architecture and even a little bit of a lesson in architecture from the turn-of-the-century. It will also give you a short glimpse of Jack but better yet, an understanding of his design expertise.

Fast forward a year. We have been living in our new home that long. Time flies when you love your residence. We have been very happy.

Jack has watched me begin the building of The Plan Z Diet by Zola. Sort of a twist on my type of architecture; building a new business. He’s been very interested in the building of the Plan Z Diet, not only because we live in a building he designed but also because he’s been interested in losing some weight.

Jack has dieted for years. I have watched the man order dinner and you’d never know he could eat so little and stay large and unhealthy. He was much like me. No matter how hard he tried to lose weight he never lost much, and those pounds he did lose just came roaring back.

In recent months Jack has had a larger motivator to lose weight. His daughter has been planning her wedding. Everyone in the family feels pressure to lose weight when a wedding approaches. As they say, wedding pictures are forever. Jack also wanted to lose weight to improve his health so he decided that since he knew me, why not try The Plan Z Diet.

Jack did a great job with The Plan Z Diet. I congratulate him.

Over the weekend I got this email from Jack. How he had time to write this in the middle of the weekend his daughter got married, I will never know, but I will always appreciate that he took the time to write me such a personal note. He also gave me permission to share it with you.


I want to thank you for the Plan Z Diet…Our daughter is getting married tomorrow and the first time I had seen many of our guests since starting the diet was at the rehearsal dinner. On The Plan Z Diet I have lost 32 pounds and I guess it made a noticeable difference since dozens of our guests commented on how good I look and how much younger I look at my new weight. I can tell you that the one who was proudest of me was my daughter who said, “Thanks Dad … we want to keep you around for the grandchildren”…and the smile on her face and the hug I got was as they say …priceless…Unfortunately the wedding wasn’t priceless, but it was worth it and I look forward to the next stage of The Plan Z Diet by Zola….Thanks so very much for your Plan Z Diet, your coaching, and the recipes…it changes people’s lives.

Jack


Since August is the biggest bridal month I thought you’d like hearing that not only is the bride happy, the dad is too.

Cheers,


To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

My New Favorite Plan Z Diet Pen Pal


My New Favorite Plan Z Diet Pen Pal

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet





I guess you could call us “Pen Pals”. Internet pen pals.

Plan Z Dieter Jo-Beth found out about The Plan Z Diet by Zola by reading this very column. She and hundreds of thousands of others just like you have heard me talking about failing at losing weight for so long that I decided, finally, that I had to design my own diet. The Plan Z Diet was born. Jo-Beth was curious and checked it out. She registered, got started on the Plan Z Diet and ended up losing all the weight she needed to lose. She is one happy Plan Z Diet camper.

The reason Jo-Beth and I became internet pen pals is because she lives on a kibbutz in Israel. She’s a dieting pioneer for us. She’s been doing the Plan Z Diet in a Kosher fashion and has done very well. She’s become a big fan and my whole staff loves her.

Jo-Beth came back to visit family in the US and stayed for an extended period. Most of her time was spent in Phoenix. She said she was determined to meet me someday so when she was traveling across the country she made an effort to reach out to me to see if we could get together.

I was excited to meet her, so of course I cleared my calendar to be able to have a nice long visit. We closed the Plan Z Diet office and all trooped off to a nice lunch.

Jo-Beth told us so many interesting stories. We were all fascinated with the life she’s leading. She’s lived on a kibbutz for over 40 years!

Besides that, Jo-Beth is delightful and even shared another friend with us that was planning to show her more of the city later in the evening. We sat in the garden, sharing stories of her Plan Z Diet success and just about anything else we could think of. It was sort of like having a long lost sister come visit. What a delight.

I know that for years to come I will still be staying in touch with Jo-Beth by email. Very soon she will be back in Israel, teaching and sharing her commitment to her cause. She’ll be there for a long time again before she comes back to the US for her next visit. She’s invited us to come visit her in Israel and I just might work to take her up on that sometime. I know she’d be one thorough tour guide!

I have found many fans as part of The Plan Z Diet by Zola. And I have found some cherished friends too. No one can ask for a better job than the one I have. I’m so lucky!

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/

The Plan Z Diet Trip to Quebec City

 https://www.planzdiet.com/lifestyle/quebec-city/


The Plan Z Diet Trip to Quebec City
By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet




I’ll remember our dinner at Le Patriarche forever. It was one of those special meals in a special setting.

Le Patriarche is located in Quebec City, in Canada.

The first time we visited Quebec City we were there for a very short time. My husband and I promised ourselves we’d be back – and soon.

Well, it took 30 years. That’s not what I’d call soon. We weren’t even married the first time we visited! That was a very long time ago. I guess life just got in the way.

So this trip was special.

We only had a few days off, and life has been hectic here at the Plan Z Diet, so I didn’t get to a lot of research before I jumped on the plane. When we got to our hotel my first mission was to scope out the restaurant scene. I wanted some quality meals in relaxed settings. Quebec City is the perfect place for that. French bistros abound but so do other kinds of food.

Quebec City, in my opinion, is as French as France. The architecture is as grand. The streets of the old, walled city are narrow and cobblestoned. The shops are small and quaint. The products are high quality. All just like Paris.

The people are friendly. Most would stereotype and say the French are not friendly but in my experience if you are willing to try a few words of French they will acknowledge that and just start speaking English. So if you can say “bonjour” you are pretty well ready to communicate. The people of Quebec City speak Quebecoise which is a different variation on French, but it all sounds the same to me since I only speak English and some Spanish. I find it to be a light, airy language so to me it is pleasant to listen to. I love listening to the music too, so French music in the background at a restaurant always makes it feel special.

Check out this link to Le Patriarche: http://lepatriarche.com/en/index_en.html

I’ll let the movie (in French with English subtitles) describe the restaurant. I’ll work to describe the food, but in truth, you almost have to go there to really get the proper perspective. (If when you bring up the link the words are in French just look over to the left and click on the English button and you can read it in English).

Chef Roth is a creative genius in my opinion. He’s not so off the charts that you feel like you are eating a chemistry experiment but I assure you that you will experience new taste sensations no matter how exposed you are to eating in fancy restaurants. Some chefs take the creativity too far. This guy does not.

You will experience things like mushroom foam. It’s not often my husband groans with delight at a restaurant dinner table. He did at Le Patriarche when he tasted Chef Roth’s particular foam.

All of the menu course selections come in threes. They are aptly called trilogies and they all have themes. One of the trilogies I ordered was the foie gras trilogy. That means I had foie gras in three different preparations. They were all completely different.

I also had the lamb trilogy so one section of my plate had a lamb chops with a special preparation, and two other cuts of the meat were used too. I should have taken notes, but I was so intense in my eating activity that I didn’t even commit it to memory. There were just too many courses and too many variations on the themes. We had 4 courses plus le muse and intermezzo courses, so that’s about 20 different “teeny” plates.

My desserts were all made of pistachio. It was the creamiest pistachio ice cream I have ever put between my lips.

Each course was served on a different kind of plate and each plate was made in 3 sections. I have some three-sectioned plates but I had no idea there were that many different designs on the market. You’ll see some of the plates if you look closely during the little descriptive movie.

Le Patriarche will live on in my personal list of Top 10 Restaurants in the world. I hope you get to visit places this special to you too.

Cheers,

To read more of Zola's blogs CLICK HERE or head over to https://www.planzdiet.com/blog/