Watching Good Eats is like a religion to me, I’m obsessed. Over the past few months I’ve noticed Alton getting thinner and thinner, in a good way. So a couple weeks ago he dedicated an entire show to talk about how he lost the weight and specifically what foods he ate. He went through a whole list of rules for what he eats and doesn’t eat on a weekly basis.

Daily Foods: fruits, whole grains, leafy greens, nuts, carrots, and green tea

3 Times a Week: oily fish, yogurt, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and avocado

Once a Week: red meat, pasta, all desserts, and alcohol

Do Not Eat: fast food, soda pop—with the exception of club soda, that’s okay—processed meals—TV dinners and the like—canned soups—generally full of sodium—and anything with the word “diet” on it because, after all, I’m not on a diet

A very good, “in moderation approach” which seems to be the only key for long term weight loss. With an upcoming wedding and trip to a beachy resort, moderation is definitely on my mind 🙂

I thought I’d give the recipes a try to change things up in our weekly menus. Len doesn’t eat breakfast and I always give him a guilt trip about it…”The most important meal of the day” I brought up the idea of making the smoothie for him and he said he would give it a try.

I do not have a Vitamix (I would love one) but my old blender seemed to work out just fine. Having a tare weight scale made this a breeze. I also liked that you can prep everything in the fridge in the blender the night before so it’s super fast and easy in the morning. I just doubled the recipe, which brings it right to the top of the blender but settles down a little bit in the fridge overnight.

Buff Smoothie
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

* 4 ounces plain, low-fat soy milk (I used Vanilla soy milk)
* 4 ounces acai, grape, or pomegranate juice (I used grape)
* 4 ounces frozen banana
* 4 ounces frozen strawberries
* 4 ounces frozen blueberries (I did a combination of blueberries and blackberries)
* 4 ounces frozen peaches (I used mangos)

Directions

Combine the soy milk, juice, banana, strawberries, blueberries, and the peaches in the carafe of a blender. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 8 hours.

In the morning, or when the fruit is partially thawed, put the carafe on the base of the blender, start at the lowest speed and slowly accelerate to medium, until you achieve a vortex. Blend on medium for 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and blend for an additional minute. Serve immediately.
Recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com

The result was thick and creamy and delicious. I got a call from Len saying he finished his whole smoothie. For a non-breakfast eater, that’s a good thing!

The next recipe was a far cry from yummy fruit smoothie. Smoked Brisling a.k.a. SARDINES! They do however contain a lot of good things like tryptophan, selenium, vitamins D & B12, omega-3s, and a heapin‘ helpin‘ of protein, and Alton can make cardboard look good to eat so we were in for giving it a try.

Sherried Sardine Toast
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

* 2 (3.75-ounce 2-layer) tins brisling sardines in olive oil
* 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley leaves, divided
* 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, reserve the lemon and cut into 4 wedges
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 4 (1/2-inch) thick slices crusty bread, such as sourdough, country loaf or rye
* 1 ripe Hass avocado
* Coarse sea salt

Directions

Drain the oil from 1 tin of sardines into a small bowl and set aside. Drain the oil from the other tin into another small bowl and whisk in 1 tablespoon of parsley, vinegar, lemon zest, and black pepper, to taste. Add the sardines, stir to combine and set aside for up to 1 hour.

After 45 minutes, put a rack 3-inches from the broiler and heat the oven to the broiler setting on high. Brush each slice of bread on 1 side with the reserved oil. Put the bread, oil side up, onto a cooling rack set inside a half sheet pan and broil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Smash the flesh in each half with a fork.

Spread the avocado evenly onto the toasted bread. Top evenly with the sardines. Pour any remaining dressing on top and garnish with the remaining parsley.

Season lightly with sea salt and serve with lemon wedges.
Recipe courtesy of FoodNetwork.com
Visually, not so appetizing. You might want to close your eyes while you eat if you’re someone like me 🙂 All in all though…I hate to admit…it didn’t taste that bad. I’m not going to say it was my favorite thing in the world to eat, but it was very good for you and tasted ok. I think we may revisit this one again in the future, blindfolded maybe…

There is one more recipe in this episode, but I’m saving that for next time.

Have you seen those Smiley Faced American Express commercials where the inanimate objects look like smiley faces? Those are my favorite commercials! Well while I was cleaning dinner up, I saw one in my very own kitchen 🙂

Here’s to your health!