French Women Don't Get Fat

One of the things I love about Kindle is that I can sample anything. After a chapter or two, I sometimes wind up liking books I wouldn't have thought I'd like, or not liking something that I was sure I would. It's opened me up to books I would normally not order, such as this: French Women Don't Get Fat. 

This is not a diet book, per say, more of a commentary about the differences in eating and lifestyle between the typical French and American families. It's a story beginning with the author coming to American and quickly gaining weight, then struggling to lose that weight again when she went home. She presents how she manages to navigate maintaining an ideal weight with eating a luxurious diet. It's a lot of common sense, but may have some things that never occurred to you.

We managed to incorporate some of her rules into our eating style, mainly the idea of having a menu of small courses in dinner every night, instead of a huge main dish. It's enabled us to have much more variety, no leftovers - which also means no second helpings, and not ever get that uncomfortably stuffed feeling, while still being completely satisfied. We've also been eating all fresh foods, going to the market and planning meals, and even cooking together. We've also been eating with the nice cloth napkin every night and having a glass of wine with dinner.

I was absolutely sure that I would be gaining weight from eating like this, but after a week I've actually lost about two pounds. Crazy. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to enjoy food more.

And now onto some of the recent meals, at lease the ones I stopped to take a picture of. 

Avocado and butter leaf salad (the bacon bits obviously weren't on my, but I did mention that I started eating things with no brains, right?), sauteed brown mushrooms with yellow squash and sweet potato, and fried pears with blue cheese:

Avocado and baby greens, grilled cheddar and tomatoes with basil, and more pears for dessert. Hubby actually participates in the cooking a lot, which is so fun. These grilled cheeses were all him, and the best I've ever eaten by far:

Avacado and tomato salad, steamed clams with white wine sauce, and strawberries with sherbert:

Spring mix with tomatoes, gorgonzola, and a dressing mix of pomegranate balsamic and lemon olive oil (fresh from the Farmer's Market! We finally went!), seared sea scallops with a side of Italian farro with cranberries and pistacios, and more strawberries for dessert.

delivery

Our bedroom is pretty minimal, with just a bed, two side tables, and a cat bed. For the last five years, we've had black sheets and comforter, and it just wasn't working anymore. So after I killed our comforter by shoving it into the washing machine one last time, we decided to go in search for a thin, but cozy blanket to take its place. One that could fit easily in the washer, but still felt substantial. We found the most beautiful, soft white blanket, and got white sheets to match. 

The linen store had a kitty living there, I stumbled upon him curled up on a show bed. I pet him a bit and he was purring instantly.

The room looked so much better and brighter instantly. But still a bit bare. So we went in search of a wall mirror, one that could be a substantial part of the bedroom decor, but that matched our style. Our friends in NYC have one close to the one below, made from a really old steel window frame, and it's beautiful in a antique, but modern way. 

I also really liked this yellow lucite frame, but probably because I'm a sucker for anything made out of plastic/resin/lucite.

Finally, we fell in love with this gigantic (8 foot tall?) faux white-alligator mirror. It's huge - substantial enough to be a focal piece of decor - but still bright and minimal. It was delivered today!

vegan french toast

One of the things I used to love was making a huge Saturday or Sunday brunch. But with eggs, bacon, and sausage off the menu, it didn't seem like much of an option. Enter this recipe for vegan french toast. It was so good, everyone agreed that it was even better than the original! (Note: this picture has real butter pats and white bread, but mine had Earth Balance and wheat bread and was still really delicious.)

Vegan French Toast

1 ripe banana
1/2 c. soy milk
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 slices bread
Vegan margarine

Blend banana, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla in food processor. (You want this to be runny like the egg mixture from French toast, so adjust the proportion of milk to banana if needed.) Pour into flat dish.

Heat vegan margarine in skillet over medium hot heat. 

Dip bread slices, coating each side.

Fry in skillet until golden brown on each side.

Serve with maple syrup and powdered sugar.

Our bruch consisted of some cut up berries, strawberries and peaches, sauteed onion and, red potato home-fries, and a few different kinds of soy sausage to try them out. Surprisingly, hubby was really into this MorningStar Farms sausage.

blackstrap molasses

I found out about this stuff when I stopped eating meat, because it's super high in iron (13% daily value in 2 tsp). An acquired taste, but now I really like it. You can use it on things like oatmeal, really anywhere you would want a touch of maple syrup. But it is a totally bitter sweetness, so be warned!

coming home

We've been out of town for a few days- it was a busy, beautiful trip. I am usually always ready to go home, a little less so in Manhattan, but I still get so excited on the plane ride home. There's a little feeling of starting over, turning your vacation into real life, detoxing a bit after eating only out. I wind up writing a list of a few things I want to do when I get home, some things are always on the list and I never get around to doing them: go to a yoga class, go to the farmer's market, go to the museum, go to the gym. My tiny, tiny goal is to do one of them in the next 7 days.

And now I'll leave you with more models with kittens, because, that is awesome:

[photos via]