Weekday Breakfast ...Quick, Satisfying, & No Sugar!

I love making my Israeli Breakfast on Sunday mornings, and I love serving it in the Cafe.  While it doesn't take all that long to make, it does take a little more time than I have available on a weekday.  Here's what I make on weekdays...a crunchy, very slightly sweet, delicious and satisfying start for my day.  First a handful of walnuts and a handful of almonds go into my bowl.

Next into the bowl is soft plums (formerly called "prunes").  I cut up five into the bowl, and later in the day I eat four more.  In the course of pre-marketing research, prune packagers discovered that prunes have a significant bone-strengthening effect.  It seems that the magic number is 9 or 10.  I used to use raisins and craisins...but since I quit eating sugar, craisins are out.  And prunes have that great bone strengthening effect.

The next layer is the fresh fruit layer.  I'm just enjoying the last of the peach season.  Soon I will move on to apples for most of the winter.  Berries are great in season.  Bananas work almost any time of year.  I've used pears, and I really enjoy them.  I usually keep a bag of non-sugared frozen berries in the house just in case I run out of fresh fruit.

My crushed vitamins are next.  I just can't seem to swallow those pills.  I can take the gel caps, but the non-gel caps just will not go down.  Crushing them and burying them in my breakfast seems to work well.  By the way, vegetarians tend to be low in B-vitamins, and studies show that B-vitamins are good for your heart.  If you are vegetarian, you should check your B level.  I take a Super B-Complex along with my multi-vitamin.

Kefir.  A few years ago, my daughter-in-law persuaded me to try the elimination diet, insisting that she thought I had issues with dairy.  I didn't go through the entire process with all possible allergens, but I did check out dairy and wheat.  Wheat was a non-issue, but I was surprised to find that there was an issue with dairy.  I have reduced my dairy intake, but yogurt and kefir don't seem to have the same effect, so that's what I use with my breakfast.

Finally, I top off the whole meal with two tablespoons of flaxseed.  My associate, Jame, calls it my "sawdust."  On the other hand, I gave him a bag for his own use, and I notice he requested another -- so I guess he must have liked it.  I surely do!  And it helped lower my cholesterol by a significant amount.  I love this mix of nuts, fresh and dried fruits, kefir and ground seeds.  It's a delicious and satisfying start to my day!

Eat Breakfast!

Interested in losing weight?  Studies show that people who eat breakfast are more likely to lose weight -- and keep it off. 

The Israeli Breakfast is famous for its salad.  A typical breakfast spread at an Israeli hotel (or kibbutz) is likely to include a salad of tomato, cucumber, onion and avocado as well as fish, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, cheese, olives and more.

I used to prepare an Israeli breakfast every morning in my home.  Nowadays I save that for Sundays, and on weekdays when I have to start out so early, I prepare something different.  I'll share that with you tomorrow after I get a picture.  In the meantime, check out the Israeli Breakfast we serve up in the Cafe.

L'Chaim...To Life! Finding a Healthy Weight

Several weeks ago, a customer asked if I would be willing to work with her to lose some weight.  It inspired me to organize a group, something I have wanted for some time to do.  Here's the email I am sending out to those who have expressed interest in this project:

Congratulations to each of you who responded to my initial query about interest in a weight loss group!  I’m looking forward to welcoming you to our little experiment…or perhaps “adventure” would be a better word.

After some significant staff transitions, I’m finally ready to set dates.  I am going to keep the café open on Monday evenings, beginning Monday, October 29.  I would like to meet with our group for four weeks of structured conversations and dinner, followed by an invitation to all of you to continue meeting together for dinner informally. 

In Hebrew, letters stand for numbers, and as many of you may know from Fiddler on the Roof or other sources, the letters “chet” and “yud” represent 18.  When read as letters, the word formed is “chai,” meaning LIFE. 

As I think about this project we are beginning together, it seems to me that our main goal is to enhance our health and our joy as we learn to eat more meaningfully.  Our project is about living LIFE to the full…and so I think $18.00/session is an appropriate fee.  This fee includes dinner and is payable in advance, either session-by-session or altogether ($72.00).

At the conclusion of our four weeks together, if you would like to continue meeting to check on each other’s progress and have the support of a group, the only cost will be your own meal.  We will provide a reserved table and interesting bits of information or topics of conversation on an informal basis.

What are my qualifications to lead such a group?  I am not a physician or a chef or a certified nutritionist.  With regard to food and nutrition, I am self-taught.  What I know is based on more than 40 years of reading and observation and experimentation with myself and with my own family. 

Since my grandmother died at age 65 of cancer, just two years older than I am today, I developed a deep interest in health and the relationship between our health, the food we eat, how we eat it and our broader spirituality.  I believe I may have some insights and techniques to share that will be of value.  I am not an extremist in my views, and I don’t believe there is anything in what I will suggest to you that is controversial or will require a doctor’s approval.  I don’t like to rely on self-control (I have little myself), and I am not into asceticism.  My goal for myself has always been to find my natural weight and support my health by eating correctly, naturally and joyfully.   

I have had good results in my own life with the practices I would like to share with you in coming weeks.  The experimental nature of this project is trying it out with a wider group of people.  Each of us is unique, and what works for one may not work exactly the same way for another.  I would like to track how things go during our four weeks together and will ask each of you to keep a daily weight chart.  At the end of the four weeks, I will be very appreciative if you would give me a copy of that chart with a net weight loss or gain.  You need not include your name.  I would just like to observe overall patterns.

What will you need to participate in this group other than your fee?  Just one thing – well, for some, two things: You will need your own commitment to faithfully follow the practices I will lay out in the first session.  That will include a detailed kitchen overhaul and the removal of certain items from your kitchen.  Some may have to remove many items.  If you don’t want to get rid of these items, you can box them and tape them and put them in a place that is difficult to access.  This brings us to the second thing required for some of you – the willingness of others in your household to support you in this process and be part of it for a period of four weeks.  This means that if they wish to continue eating those items, they should do it someplace other than your home.

If you’re still with me, please respond with your check or cash made out to Expressly Leslie Vegetarian Specialties and mailed (100 S. Johnson St., Woodstock, IL 60098) or dropped off at the Café, $18.00 for the first session or $72.00 for the series. 

I’m very excited to welcome you to this journey toward a more joyful, healthier LIFE!  I look forward to greeting you Monday, October 29 at Expressly Leslie Café at 6 PM.

Leslie

P.S. If the time of these four sessions is inconvenient for you but you are still interested in participating, please let me know.  If there are enough people interested in a different time, we may divide this group or gather more people to start another group.