Chicken in tomatillo sauce

Yes, another crock pot / slow cooker recipe.  This is one of those random - throw things together and luck out it was good.  I know each time I use different spices, but somehow the BF states it tastes exactly like the last time.   I'm just going to say it must be the tomatillos.

If you google tomatillo and chicken, it appears to be a pretty common combination.  Perhaps I read on of these posts and then got the idea... or had chili on the brain. But, this has become one of my go-to recipes for chicken because it's quick (to set up) and easy.

I like to use whole chickens - mostly because that is what we have in our freezer (yea CSA!) and because I like white meat and the BF like dark meat.  And, this way we can have both - and I can hide the dark in the white meat when I eat my share.  Yes, exactly like when I hide the kale in something so the BF is able to eat it.  (is that a boo CSA?)

So, the night before - I cut up the chicken and store it in the fridge.  Legs are left on the bone, breasts and back meat is deboned and cut into large pieces.  Say half each breast bone as you don't want to loose the white meat while cooking.  The left over bone and associated parts (liver, heart, gizzard, etc) is placed in a zip lock bag and put in the freezer for stock making day(s).

Chicken in Tomatillo Sauce

• 1 whole chicken cut into parts (or pre-cut chicken)
• 2 cups tomatillo (or a can)
• 2 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon chipotle pepper powder (or whatever you use for making chili)
• salt to taste
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves (or more) of garlic

 Take the tomatillo, onions, cumin, chipotle and place into crockpot/slow cooker.  Give it a good stir.  Place a handful of onions.  Layer chicken legs and then breast pieces.  So that most of the heat is focused on the legs which are bone on so that the sauce is nice and rich.   Toss in the rest of the onions and the garlic. Cover and cook on low.  About 8 hrs (or longer).  I do not know if shorter is possible as I tend to work long hours.  I'm thinking you are good at about the 5 hr mark.  But, you will have to test the chicken.

When I get home, I pull out the chicken.  Put the sauce in a pan to cook down.  Shred the chicken and toss it into the thickened sauce.  YUM!

If you have fresh cilantro or some diced avocados, they make a lovely addition.  In the early fall, I've made a nice salsa fresca as the tomatoes are so good that time of year.  Guacamole would be good as well.  It has a nice southwestern feel.

Chicken stir-fry with cashews

We have some awesome CSA's.  Tomato Mountain, which provides us huge amounts of vegetables.  And, Meadow Haven Farm that provides us with all our meat.  Now, just to find a beer CSA. :)

I have something almost as good - a honey who buys me great beers.  This go, he bought home a lovely Belgian Farmhouse Ale called 'Vielle Provision Saison DuPont'.  It went surprisingly well with the ginger, honey, Asian flavors.

Now, our veg CSA is on a Asian vegetable kick - so we have been getting lots of Asian vegetables.  So, in the last two weeks we have gotten - Vitamin Green, Bok Choi, Tokyo Bekana, Yukina Savoy.  And, to top all that off - Kale!  Two kinds, no less. Red Russian (which I used for this dish) and Lacinato.

So, we had a lot of greens in this dish. But, you can use whatever you have on hand.  Don't you love stir-fry's?  As long as you have some ginger, honey, garlic and soysauce/tamari - you are good to go.

I also like to use lemon grass - it gives a nice citrus flavor without the added acidity of lemon or lime.  But, if you don't have lemon grass - you can use either or to brighten up the dish.

Chicken Stir-fry with cashews

1 pound chicken (breasts or mixed) cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 pound vegetables (various greens)
1 handful green onions or chives, chopped
1 handful garlic scapes, chopped (if you have them)
2 tablespoons ginger powder (or 1 inch fresh, minced)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup tamari (or soy sauce)
1 piece lemon grass (or a teaspoon of citrus)
a handful of raw cashew nuts
coconut oil - or a fat to cook


In a bowl, mix ginger, garlic, tamari, water, honey.  If you are using dried lemon grass, add to the bowl with hot water instead of regular water.  Once the water has cooled, toss in the chives and garlic and scapes.  Add the chicken - and allow to marinate while you are cutting up the vegetables.

Strain out the chicken - placing the sauce in a sauce pan to thicken.

Heat a pan with coconut oil.    In the hot pan, add the chicken a bit at a time - and give it a quick fry.  Ideally, you want it to brown up.  But, some-times that doesn't happen for me.  Just make sure not to over cook it.  Once cooked - place in a bowl to the side.  Add the vegetables into the pan you cooked the chicken in, stir it up until it has wilted.  Add back the chicken and mix.  At this point, your sauce should have thickened nicely.  Add sauce to the chicken and veg.

In a separate pan (or in the oven ) brown the cashews.  I do this in a dry pan until the cashews are nicely brown but not burnt.  Put the chicken dish in a bowl, toss in the cashews. serve.

Chicken in Catalan Ratatouille

So, as you may or may not know... chicken is my least favorite meat. I don't know why - since it seems to be everyone favorite meat. The default when you do not know what to cook. But for me, chicken takes the most effort. I think because it doesn't have a strong flavor.  could be? maybe?  Or perhaps, I'm just ornery and do not want to like what everyone else apparently loves.  Probably, the later.  *grin*

Well, I made this chicken dish and took some into work to give to a friend who LOVES chicken.  I took enough for her to share with her hubby... but she said it was so good she ate it all. I think that is the best part about cooking - the joy that people have in eating what I make.

So, a bit about this recipe. I have a cookbook I bought at Costco, after we came from Spain the first time around. We had loved the food and I saw this cookbook. For $10, how could I go wrong? And, it's a great buy. So far everything I've made from it has been wonderful - and for the most part I follow the recipe. sort-of.

The book is called: The Food of Spain

Now how can one go wrong with that? And, it has little stories about the food. Which I always find fun and interesting. This dish, is from Catalan. Hence, the alternate name for it Chicken in Catalan Ratatouille. Apparently, the Catalans say it is from Samfaina/Valencian. 

Both Catalan and Valencian food is considered Mediterranean cuisine. The food is based on a mixture of vegetables and meats - like paella - which are slow cooked to bring out the flavors. With Spain having both the European and the Moorish influences, the food is rich, warm and tasty - which is especially great as winter is coming to the Midwest. 

That being said - if you want the original recipe - go buy the book. ;)  They did have zucchini in this recipe that I didn't have at the time - but I would probably add it in for the next go.  Or another green vegetable.  As colors go, this one is very pretty - especially when you do the yellow bell peppers. Which always seem so bright and happy to me. 

Chicken in Samfaina sauce

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces*
1/4 cup butter 
2 large onions, chopped
1 small eggplant, peeled and cut into bite sized cubes
3 cloves garlic (I think there might have been more), crushed / minced
2 large bell peppers, cut into cubes (different colors is nice)
14 oz chopped tomatoes (puree of tomatoes works too)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons chopped oregano and parsley
1/2 cup white wine

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Officially, you are suppose to brown the pieces - but I'm always too lazy.

Heat butter in a nice sized, deep frying pan/skillet. Add onions, cook for about 10 min until softened. Add garlic, eggplant and bell peppers. Cook for another 10 min or so.

Add wine and deglaze the pan (pulling up the brown bits). Add tomatoes, bay leaf, herbs. Add chicken. Bring to a boil - and then turn down to a simmer over low heat. Cook covered for about 45 min. Or until chicken is cooked and eggplant has softened / disappeared (depending on how small you chopped up the eggplant. I did really small so that the BF wouldn't find it. )

*note: I cut up the chicken legs into 2 parts at the joint, leaving them on the bone. The breast pieces, I cut up into four large cubes. While they will not cook exactly the same time, the breast pieces will cook a bit faster than the legs - the amount of liquid in the dish will keep everything nice and moist.

Chicken Confit with Acorn Squash in Duck Fat

We are getting a lot more chicken due to our new CSA provider, Meadow Heaven.  I still love Mint Creek but the BF was a bit tired of Lamb and creative dishes with offal are a bit much sometimes.  Ok, ok... I know it's good for me but I just can't do it! lol.  Needless to say, the cats were eating well when Mint Creek was our CSA. *grin*

Anyway, another thing I don't like too much is dark meat chicken.  I know it's supposedly the best part, a la the BF.  But, for me, I never liked it that much.  You know why, right?  It's the veins.  *shudder*

But, I have found two ways I can eat dark meat.  One is when I take the meat from the chicken and make ground chicken (it is much better than buying ground chicken).  The second is new as of yesterday and it is chicken leg confit.  It is so good, that I can even get over my weirdness with the chicken leg.

Confit is the french term for meat preserved in fat. Normally it is the fat from the animal but I used duck fat.  I like the flavors and I got a great price on a "bucket of fat" from our local butcher.   The best part is that once you have this stored off in your fridge, you can put a quick dinner together whenever you are short on time.

Fancy in less than 15 min - how cool is that?  The bad part? This is a multi-day process but does not take a lot of time on most days.  

Chicken Leg Confit

• 5 chicken legs
• 2 tablespoons salt (coarse kosher)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2-3 sprigs of thyme
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 6 garlic cloves, crushed
• duck fat or lard - enough to cover the meat

Day 1: Marinate the chicken - approx 10 min.
Mix together salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaves and garlic.  Rub the mixture onto the chicken legs covering as much of the meat and skin as possible.  Place in a covered container or zip lock bag and store in the fridge for about 48 hours.

Day 2: salty massage - 5 min? or less.
Pull out the chicken, give it a quick rub.  Or not. I completely forgot about them for the whole 48 hrs. :)

Day 3: cook - approx  2 hrs.
Take the chicken from the fridge and scrape off the seasonings, saving them off to the side.  Preheat the oven to 300 F while waiting for the duck fat to heat up in a pan.  Once the fat is heated, place the chicken in the pan and brown the legs all over.  Put the legs into a ovenproof dish, where the legs fit snugly.  Add the seasonings that you saved off.  Cover with duck fat and place into the oven, let it cook for about 2 hours, turning them very carefully every once in a while.   Remove from the oven and let it cool to room temp.   Put legs into a container that can be covered,  I use a glass-lock box in a rather large size.  At this point you can layer the legs if you like, then cover them completely with fat.  Place in the fridge and you can pull it out to eat any time between now and 6 months from now.

Six months later:  re-heating the legs
So, if you still have it in the fridge six months later -- I'm impressed. I only managed to wait 2 weeks before I broke into it because I didn't get a chance to cook anything for dinner.  There are two options for reheating the legs:  1) oven method: heat oven to 450 F, pull out the chicken from the fat, cook for 5 min. 2)  pan method: put the legs with a little bit of the fat into a fry pan and slowly bring up to heat.   Takes a bit longer but then I don't have to heat up the oven for two legs. 

You can save and reuse the fat for more confit or something else.  So even though you have covered it in a lot of fat, you are not going to be wasting it.  I took a little spoonful of it cold from the fridge the other day -- but I am a oddity in that I like to eat fat. :)

Normally duck confit is served with something that is a bit on the sweet or sour flavor as a side dish.  As the confit tends to be a bit salty, I like something that is naturally sweet to off set the flavors. 

Acorn Squash with Mache and Walnuts

• 1 small acorn squash - cooked
• 2 handfuls walnuts (or however much you like)
• 2 handfuls mache (or spinach or another green)
• a bit of the duck fat from the confit if you wish

To cook the acorn squash:
Cut squash in 1/2 - if you have a sharp enough knife (if not, cook the squash for about 20 min and then cut it).  Put a pat of butter in each half. Cook the squash in a 350F oven for 20-30 min until squash is soft to the touch.

Cut squash into bite size pieces.  heat pan, put the walnuts in the pan and dry roast them.  about 5 min, shaking / stirring the nuts so they do not burn.  Add the squash.  if using the duck fat - put about a teaspoon or so in now.  Give a quick stir.  Add the greens and once it has wilted you are done.

Chicken Paprikash (sort-of) with Bell peppers

I made this for my sis, Coco, for dinner as she is in surgery recovery mode.

A great recipe that re-heats well and has that warm, comforting feel to it.  We don't eat it with pasta or rice so it's more like a soupy stew...but you can put it on top of something if you feel the need. I know the sis is going to do so. :)

Anyway ... Coco.. here is the recipe like I promised you.

Chicken Paprikash with Bell Peppers

• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 3 teaspoons paprika 
• 1 chicken (3 to 3-1/2 pounds), cut into serving pieces (skin off or on, depending on what you like)
• 4 tablespoons fat/ghee for frying 
• 1 medium onion, sliced 
• 2 medium red bell peppers, cut into 1-2" squares 
• ground pepper to taste 
• 1-½ cups chicken stock 
• 1 cup yogurt or sour cream or creme fraiche

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, mix salt and paprika.  Toss in chicken and coat.

In a dutch oven, heat up fat on high/medium high heat.  Add chicken to pot, being careful not to crowd the chicken .  You may have to do several batches.  Once all the chicken is browned (see picture).

Reduce to medium heat and put in the onions and bell peppers.  Saute until onions have softened, about 5 min.    Add black pepper and anything you may have left over in the bowl you had placed the chicken in.  Do a quick stir.  Add chicken stock and chicken.  Bring up to a simmer.  Just before placing into oven, add yogurt.   If using sour cream or creme fraiche, wait until chicken has cooked and add at the end as I'm not sure how either of those will cook down in the oven. 

Place pot into the oven and bake for about 50 min. 

Serve... in a nice bowl or with something traditional like spaetzel. 

thai chicken vs. thai basil chicken

I've made multiple versions of Thai chicken now and I still don't see a significant difference between Thai basil chicken and Thai chicken (from the recipes I have tried).

Here is one I like best which is from The Atlantic (I think but I cannot find it on their site anymore).

Thai Meat Salad

• 5 ounces lean pork or chicken, hand-minced, This is an important step, and takes about two minutes with a sharp knife. Chop until meat is very fine and resembles ground chicken or pork. The texture will be much better than machine ground meat.
• ¼ cup chicken stock
• 3 shallots, chopped fine
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large handful fresh mint, coriander and spring onions, in roughly equal parts, chopped OR 1 cup of Thai basil or holy basil (Italian doesn't taste right but can be used if you wish) slivers
• 1 Kaffir lime leaf, rolled up and then sliced into tiny slivers (optional)
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (more, if you like it sour)
• 1.5 to 2 tablespoon good fish sauce (I use a bit less since I don't like fishy)
• ½ teaspoon roasted chili powder
• a handful of cashews (optional)

Heat stock and garlic in a small pan and season with some salt (and sugar - if you use sugar - I do sometimes put in a drop of honey if it tastes like it needs sweetness but for the most part I don't bother)
Add minced meat and cook quickly, stirring, until the meat is fluffy and cooked through--about 3-5 minutes is all you'll need.
Remove from heat and add lime juice, fish sauce, chili flakes, and taste. There should be a sweet, salty, spicy and sour balance. If not, adjust.
Toss with fresh herbs and shallots. Cashews if you wanted to have a crunch.

serve immediately.

If you are pressed for time... the minced chicken works well enough.  It really does taste better if you chop up the meat yourself - but this is such a nice quick meal - I have totally slacked on occasion and used ground chicken instead of doing it up myself. :)

You can put these in lettuce - for lettuce wraps.  Or eat it plain like we tend to do.  Boston/Butter lettuce works well as it has nice big leaves.

A nice side to this is a cucumber salad.  We got a lovely Persian cucumber from the farmer's market last week and I have to say it is one of my favorite variety of cucumber.  I just slice it up with some rice wine vinegar, a drop of honey and some shallots diced up.  If you have some nice tomatoes that would be lovely in there as well.

Chicken Makhani

Butter Chicken - aka - Chicken Makhani is the BF's favorite dish.  It works really well as a stew-like dish.  Since we don't eat grains, this is one of the few Indian dishes that translates well into a low-carb meal.  I shred up the chicken after it has cooked up so that it has a bit less liquid/curry.

I like to buy a whole chicken and cut off the meat.  This gives me the bones to use for making stocks and it is very economical.  I freeze the bones, wing, skin - whatever I haven't used for the curry in a ziplock bag.  Then, when I have collected enough chicken bones - we have a chicken stock making day.  A nice weekend event. :)  Last go, we ended up with 24 cups of chicken stock for the freezer.

Chicken Makhani

• 2/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon ground bay leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (cayenne)  - or less as it is quite spicy
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 4 green cardamon pods
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 2 cups canned tomatoes
• 1 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken, cut up in chunks
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 tablespoons cream (optional)
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced

In a large bowl, mix almonds, yogurt, chili powder, ground spices, garam masala, ginger and garlic. Add tomatoes and salt, to bowl and mix. Add chicken, mix well and set aside

On medium heat, melt butter in a large pot (a stock pot works well). Add onions and cool slowly until browned, about 10 - 15 min, stirring frequently. Add chicken mixture and cool until chicken is done, stirring occasionally.

Once its all cooked up, if you had placed any bones, pull them out. Take two forks and shred the chicken if you wish. Add the cilantro, mix well.

If there is still a little too much liquid, cook on low heat until you have the desired thickness. Once it's at the consistency you want, add the cream if you wish.  This gives it a richer taste.

Notes:

1. Yogurt: The best yogurts for this are thick, either Greek style or full cream like Brown Cow (which I prefer for Indian food).   
2. Ground spices:  I tend to grind all the ground items together in a coffee grinder and then dump it into the curry, which makes all the spices uniform. 
3. Chicken: If you are cutting up a whole chicken for this dish, save off the wings or the leg bones and cook them in the curry, pulling them out before serving. 

This dish went over really well with the family last weekend and if you are having a lot of people it is a pretty frugal meal for a large crowd.  And, if you make rice for your carb eating guests - there is even more chicken for you!

Quick Meals for those tough days

I was talking to my sister today. Badgering? Chatting? driving her crazy...about switching her food options to less processed food and lower carbohydrates. Her take was that I had heaps of time and therefore was able to keep and maintain the life-style we have chosen.

I was thinking about that... but the reality is that I don't.

However, I love to cook, it relaxes me and re-connects me to what I feel is important in life. And, I am lucky that we aren't tied to eating times and the BF is very flexible on when and what we are eating. I've had days where all of a sudden I've decided that I just don't want what I had planned for dinner and go out shopping. And, we've eaten at 10pm. I know this is not possible when one has children.

And, this particular posting isn't about those days where no one cares how long it is going to be before one ea. It is about the days where I come home and all I want to do is eat and sleep.

And, here is what we do on those days.


Hamburgers (sans bread) with a side salad (avocado and tomatoes)

Tuna with green goddess dressing on a salad


Scallops in cream sauce with salad

fish (grilled or pan fried) with a salad

...ummm.. .I think there is a theme here. ; )

Steaks with green beans (or salad, I'm sure that will work too. *grin*)

Chicken strips with veggies. I use chicken pieces so that it cooks fast but if you have time chicken cooked on the bone is much tastier. But, I've never cooked the chicken recipe below with chicken on the bone - as you may recall, this is my "OMG! I just wanta go to bed recipes." :)

As for veggies, we steam or stir fry in butter the following: broccoli, carrots, green beans, mushrooms. Other options that just don't make it into the house because of the BF (but I may find ways in the future to sneak them home!): eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy...etc. The list of veggies are endless - and most cook up fast. Unless, you are trying to be sneaky with the veg in question - in which case we are back to "work" :) Well, at least until you have found a recipe that may or may not be quick and easy. I'm just saying that while I may think that butter makes everything taste good, not every one agrees with me. *shocking* I know.

OK.. so here are some recipes.

Scallops - ok.. fine... this isn't the one from the picture because....well, that one isn't so quick. but it looked and tasted too yummy for me not to put it up. I'll put up the recipe in the future.

However, here is a quick scallop recipe which is very yummy as well.

Scallop Provencal

• 1 lb. fresh bay or sea scallops
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• ½ cup chopped shallots (2 large)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• ⅓ cup dry white wine (optional)
• 1 lemon, cut in 1/2

If you're using bay scallops, keep them whole. If you're using sea scallops, cut each 1 in half horizontally (or not). Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
In a very large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in 1 layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on 1 side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes, total.
Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic, and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine (or not), cook for 1 minute, and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Chicken

• 1/2 pound or so strips of chicken (you can cut up a breast of chicken or buy chicken already cut up into strips)
• 3 tbs butter, melted
• 1 tbs basil and oregano (dried)
• salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl mix herbs, salt and butter. Toss in the chicken and mix to coat. In a skillet, add enough butter to coat the pan. Once hot, add chicken and cook through.

See how fast that is? you are done! I love to make this on a grill pan - which I was very lucky to get this past Christmas. If you are lucky enough to have one, heat it up while you are preparing the chicken.

This is also one of those recipes which you can add or remove ingredients on what you feel like or have on hand. I've tossed in some grated cheese. Used rosemary instead of or with the basil and oregano. You can add whatever flavors you like at the time and I think it will turn out good.

Green Goddess Dressing

• ½ avocado
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise (optional - we don't use it because I can't be bothered to make mayo and well, I don't like the stuff from the stores)
• 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped (well, if you feel like chopping - I just toss it all in)
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tarragon, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon pepper

In blender, combine avocado, mayonnaise, yogurt, water, scallions and garlic. puree until smooth. Add basil, parsley, tarragon, lemon, salt and pepper. blend until combined. Or, if you couldn't be bothered to chop the herbs (like me) just blend it for a bit longer so it's all nicely chopped up for you.

There are so many quick and easy options. It isn't a case of not having time because a lot of processed foods take as much or more time. And, if you are a planner - you could do so much better than I do about getting dinner done up in no time.

And, I love stews, roasts and soups - which take a lot of time but little work. So, if you can stick something in the oven or in a crock pot and do whatever else you need to do. Those are great options as well.

I think the most important thing is to break the cycle of processed fast food. Of thinking that real cooking takes time and more energy than a tossing of pasta with some sauce. Or a pizza in the oven. OK, perhaps a bit more energy than the pizza in the oven. ;)

But, honestly, I have gained so much more energy by removing processed food and high amounts of carbs from my life. I feel better about what I eat, knowing where it comes from and how it was treated/grown/cared. Versus, eating a box-o-meal, where I know nothing about the product. Where, I do not know all the ingredients or how it was made (aside from in a factory).

Do I eat carbs? yes, sometimes. Nothing like I use to do. Which, when I was a vegetarian was every day, multiple times a day. And, the highs and lows were so extreme. If I forgot to eat on a regular schedule, I would randomly tip over. I kid you not! The BF had gotten so use to me tipping over that he thought it was normal behavior for me. And, it didn't matter the type of shoes I wore or the terrain. It was my blood sugar levels - which were spiking and falling.

Do I eat out? yes, sometimes. And, while I will try to eat at sustainable restaurants. Or, choose better options at regular restaurants (however, not fast food restaurants - they are still plain nasty). Some days, a pizza is just too good to pass up. (like tonight! although I do stick the toppings from a few slices on to 1 pizza crust. The BF, just eats it sans crust --- which is yummy too).

The thing for me is not giving up everything - just not eating it often. I find that I don't want bread or cake or pizza (ok, maybe not pizza) as often as before. And, that by giving up changing the food I eat on a daily basis, I am in better health now than I have ever been.