If you ask me what my favorite food is, I will say coleslaw, but if you catch me at a barbecue, block party, fried chicken restaurant, or any other place coleslaw frequents, I probably won’t eat it. Why? Because when I say coleslaw, I’m not referring to the white, sloppy mess of unidentifiable grated vegetables sitting in a swamp of mayonnaise and sugar. You can’t get me to touch that with a ten-foot fork.

I suppose the correct answer to my favorite food would be “my mom’s coleslaw.” At some point during my teen years (most likely because she didn’t feel like washing the food processor), my mom decided to start shredding her cabbage into a chiffonade with a large chef’s knife. This is when I fell in love with cabbage. Prepared fresh, cabbage is palest green and crunchy, with a pleasantly firm bite and a mellow, sugary flavor. A bit of dressing is all you need to make this cold-weather vegetable shine.

Most people think of coleslaw as a summer dish that accompanies grilled meats. It inevitably shows up at your Fourth of July parties, your family reunions, and your beach picnics as if it always belonged there. But the truth is that cabbage is sweetest during colder months, so coleslaw will have a better flavor if you serve it at a spring luncheon or an Easter celebration (hint: it’s actually the best on an average weeknight, when you don’t have to share with others!). Using cabbage in season means you don’t have to drown it in cupfuls of mayonnaise, sour cream, and sugar. That’s why my mom’s coleslaw only uses a spoonful or two of these ingredients. I’ve included the “recipe” below, but really it’s just a few simple foods you can throw together from memory in about 15 minutes. I’ve estimated the amount of each ingredient I generally use, but really it’s best to use these quantities as guidelines and simply cater to your own tastes and the flavor of the cabbage and other vegetables you’re using.

Mom’s Everyday Coleslaw (makes enough for 3-4 people):

• 1/4 to 1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded (see instructions on How to Shred Cabbage)
• 2-3 tablespoons of light mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• yellow mustard, to taste
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 julienned carrots (optional)
• 1/8 head red cabbage, shredded (optional)

Instructions:

1. Put shredded cabbage (with carrots and red cabbage, if using) in a large bowl, and add mayonnaise, white vinegar, and sugar. Mix until slaw is coated in dressing.
2. Drizzle the mustard over the slaw and blend well. Usually I do 2 or 3 times around the bowl or zig-zag across the bowl, mix, and then taste.
3. Salt and pepper to taste and lightly toss the slaw to mix in the seasoning. Freshly ground pepper really tops off a good coleslaw, but if you don’t have it on hand, regular pepper works just fine.
4. For the best flavor, let the coleslaw sit at room temperature (or in the refrigerator if you like it cold) for 5 to 30 minutes.

It’s that simple! But if you want to get adventurous with your coleslaw, try some of our riffs on traditional slaw that cut down on fat and sugar but pump up the flavor:

• Spicy Mexican Slaw
• Sweet Orange Coleslaw
• Zippy Italian Coleslaw
• Sunflower Slaw
• Veggie Garden Coleslaw

Using different types of vegetables is another way to update your slaw. Check out some of these healthy, inventive slaws for inspiration:

• Food Blogga‘s Raddicchio and Orange Salad with Citrus Champagne Vinaigrette (which also includes a thorough explanation of the differences between red cabbage and raddicchio)
• Napa Cabbage Salad with Dijon Mustard Dressing on Dil Se..
• Red Cabbage, Lime, Cilantro & Honey Slaw on The Garden of Eating
• Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Apple and Caraway Seed on Pinch My Salt
• Portland Foodie‘s Beet, Carrot, and Cabbage Slaw
• Puerto Rican Cabbage Salad on Champaign Taste

With New Year’s finally here, many of us will be embarking on our New Year’s resolutions, those annual goals we set for ourselves. For many, New Year’s resolutions revolve on losing weight and dieting.

Are you interested in trying a low carb diet this year? In a low carb diet, you exclude carbohydrates like bread, rice, sugar, etc. from your diet, forcing your body to burn fat. Of course, before you embark on any diet, you should consult a doctor first. However, if you’re considering starting a low carb diet, let these FaveDiets.com recipes provide some guidance on what to eat.

To get you started, try this recipe for Low Carb Almond Crescents.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut oil (solid)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups oat flour (blend oats in blender)
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 2 tablespoons ground or finely slivered almonds

Instructions:

1. Cream together the oil and honey. Add water and vanilla.
2. Blend in flour and ground almonds. Chill the dough.
3. Shape into logs 1 inch in diameter and 6 inches long. Cut in half and shape into crescents.
4. Place on oiled cookie sheet. Brush with oil and sprinkle with ground or slivered almonds.
5. Bake at 325 to 350 degrees F. for 12 – 15 minutes until lightly browned around edges. Leave on the tray to cool and firm up.

Need some more low carb recipes to get your diet going? Be sure then to check out all of these low carb recipe videos from the FaveDiets YouTube channel:

Low Carb Cheddar Biscuits:

BBQ Ribs:

Low Carb Coconut Cream Pie:

Low Carb Cheese Crisps:

Stuffed Hamburgers:

Orange Chicken:

Your Turn: What are your thoughts on a low carb diet? Have you ever tried it before? What were your experiences?

This guest post is contributed by Cindy Cullen, she writes on the topic of culinary art colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email id: cindycullen84 <@>gmail<.>com.

There are various aspects to food that make it what it is – besides taste, you have visual appeal, aroma, and most important of all, health. Now the main problem with food is that what’s healthy is not often tasty and vice versa. Similarly, foods that look and smell great don’t really spell good health, while those that are rich in nutrients and promote wellbeing are perceived as low on the taste factor. However, it’s all in the mind – when you believe that food tastes good, it really does. So if you want to boost your health quotient and avoid compromising on taste, all you need to do is pick up some healthy cooking habits and implement them on a regular basis. You can start with these:

• Omit the Oil: Oil, butter and grease – they all seem to add to the taste of your food; however, they’re loaded in calories and very low on nutrition. They increase your risk for cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Besides this, they pack on the pounds and bring on poor skin health. You start to look and feel older than you really are when you eat greasy and fried foods. To change to healthy cooking, grill or boil your food instead of frying it; spray on oil to grease pans instead of pouring spoonfuls; and switch to low fat options whenever possible.
• Skimp on the Salt and Sugar: There’s an unwritten rule of healthy cooking that says it’s not wise to add anything that’s white to your food – flour, sugar and salt are the chief culprits here. While salt increases your blood pressure and causes disease, sugar is empty calories that add to your weight – it has no nutrition whatsoever, it boosts your blood sugar level and brings on lethargy and suppresses your immune system in due course. Go easy on the salt and season your food with herbs and spices – they taste just as good and are more beneficial for health. And as for sugar, reduce the amount you use or switch to healthier substitutes like honey.
• Start from Scratch: As far as healthy cooking is concerned, processed foods are some of the biggest villains. Processing removes most or all of the nutrients from food; it also introduces preservatives and additives that are unhealthy into food. So instead of resorting to readymade mixes and ready-to-eat foods, try putting together homemade meals using ingredients that are fresh and in season. Canned goods are ok for emergencies, but when used on a regular basis, they don’t do a thing for your health.
• Feed your Family Fresh Food: Some people hold on to food that’s well past its use-by date. They also fill their refrigerator with food that they use for months on end. While this habit may not really bring about food poisoning as such, it doesn’t bode well for your overall health. As much as possible, don’t eat foods that are more than a couple of days old unless they’ve been frozen well. Try and cook fresh meals every few days, and if this is not possible, throw together a sandwich or salad or soup instead of foraging in your fridge for leftovers.
• Ditch Dessert: Or at least switch to healthier alternatives – avoid cakes and pastries that are fatty and unhealthy and eat fruit salads instead. Eat low-fat ice cream to satisfy your sweet tooth, or better yet, try sweetened or flavored yoghurt that’s frozen.

When you make a conscious choice to cook and eat healthier food, it becomes a way of life rather than a decision that must be adhered to for a few days.

This guest post comes from Rachel Lerner of Personal Web Nutrition:

Are you tired of always being tired? Struggling to find the time to take-care of yourself? Feel you need an IV of coffee or sugar to make it through the day?

If you are READY to:

• Have MORE energy than you can handle

• BEAT those afternoon cravings

• LEARN savvy secrets to living a healthy lifestyle

• Get SUPPORT around your health and lifestyle goals

This Wellness Wednesdays Tele-series is for you!

You will LEARN:

• How to decrease your cravings without deprivation

• About many new and exciting foods

• Which foods can increase and decrease your energy

• Easy to implement ways to maintain a healthy weight

• Natural ways to reduce toxins in your body

READY to take a step towards making real CHANGES in your life?

You also get:

• To participate in a FREE yahoo group
• All calls recorded so you can put them on your ipod and listen at your leisure

When: Wednesday afternoons 12-1pm on 11/03, 11/17 and 12/01

Where: By phone from the comfort of your home or office (Call-in details will be provided on 11/03)

This investment in your well-being is $99.95 BUT if you register by 10/20 it is ONLY $79.95 ($20 Savings)!  As an added BONUS if you register by 10/08 you will receive a FREE 20 minute coaching call with me.

Space is LIMITED!  Register by clicking on http://wellnesswednesdaysteleseries.eventbrite.com/

Don’t miss out on this tele-series, I promise it is going to be TRANSFORMATIONAL for you.

I am still inclined to overdo it when it comes to food. I have found, however, that there is a time and place for overdoing it. We must indulge sometimes – so I do – but I do it consciously. This video blog explains the process of allowing for over indulgence in the context of my weight release program. This is not the “out of control” rebellion that comes with “breaking a diet” – this involves relating to a very human part of our selves with compassion and awareness. Check it out:

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Freeman Michaels is America’s #1 weight release expert and coach. He is the author of Weight Release: A Liberating Journey. His groundbreaking program uses personal development principles to end the “diet cycle” and help people release weight forever.

Don’t let your allergy to gluten get you down, there are tons of easy gluten-free recipes out there that are beyond delicious. Heck, many celebrities and others are choosing to go the way of a gluten-free diet by personal choice.  Here at FaveDiet’s we’re here to help, check out our latest eCookbook, 42 Easy Gluten-Free Recipes, which is free-to-download now! Who doesn’t like free stuff?

So whether it’s because you need to or you’d just like to shake up your healthy cooking recipe menu check it out. To learn more about and download this free eCookbook, click here.

For now check out one of my favorite easy gluten-free recipes below:

Tequila Sunrise Fish Tacos – Yum!

I was a life long dieter which fits with being a life long binger – because dieting and binging are two sides of the same coin. I didn’t recognize that the same compulsion that drove my unhealthy eating was driving my desire to diet. If you are overweight (or even underweight) because you diet and binge let me explain something that may change your life – dieting and binging follow basically the same neural pathways in your brain. They are patterns of unconscious thinking that operate from the EXACT same belief structure. Now, I am not a scientist, and I did not discover this in the lab – BUT what is amazing is that I now know scientists who have absolutely confirmed that what I figured out trying to deal with my personal weight fluctuation (over 100lbs in my adult life) is fact. My offer today is to take an entirely different approach – let the binge be an indication of imbalance and work to balance your behavior by finding different ways to address the factors that trigger binges. But, also, I want you to consider giving up dieting, as well – make positive change incremental and lasting.

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Freeman Michaels is America’s #1 weight release expert and coach. He is the author of Weight Release: A Liberating Journey. His groundbreaking program uses personal development principles to end the “diet cycle” and help people release weight forever.

We have all been told to “trust our feelings”, but for many of us this advice is not entirely wise. The reason is because growing up our feelings were misunderstood and misinterpreted and we never developed a healthy emotional sense of ourselves. In childhood, many of us were taught to judge our feelings – certain feelings may have been acceptable, while others may have been deemed “bad”. Feelings are not good or bad, they are just information. When feelings are allowed a healthy expression they are a vital part of our lives. However, when feelings are repressed, denied, and or judged they often get expressed in destructive patterns of behavior. Compulsive eating and binge eating are unhealthy expressions of emotion.

Many people grow up in families where feelings get distorted and where there is no healthy expression of feelings. Children learn very early on what feelings are permitted and what feelings must be repressed. Kids pick up ways in which their emotions can be used to manipulate situations to get needs met. Very few of us were blessed with healthy modeling of emotional expression.

A significant portion of the work that I do with my weight release clients involves helping them observe and express their feelings in a healthy and constructive manner. I teach them to interrupt the emotional ride that they are prone to “going on”. I teach them to relate to their emotional experience with a sense of compassion – seeking to better understand how they feel and why. I help them find new and healthier ways to experience and express feelings.

Ultimately, in order to be a functioning, fulfilled adult we must have a healthy relationship with our feelings which must include healthy outlets for emotional expression. For many of us we must learn how to “trust our feelings”.

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Freeman Michaels is America’s #1 weight release expert and coach. He is the author of Weight Release: A Liberating Journey. His groundbreaking program uses personal development principles to end the “diet cycle” and help people release weight forever.

We have all seen those advertisements that promise us immediate weight loss results while letting us still be able to eat the foods we love and do little to no exercise.  These promises are about as fake as the “before and after” pictures they show along with them.

There is no quick solution to being overweight.  It takes a lot of hard work to “battle the bulge”, as I like to call it.  Losing weight and keeping it off takes time and commitment and an “I can do this” attitude.  However, when it finally happens, when the stars align and you lose those 20, 30, 50+ pounds you have tried your darnedest to lose, the feeling of accomplishment you get along with it could not be any more fulfilling.

So how do you go about losing the weight?  I have found with years of experience battling my own bulge, that the first month of any weight loss program is the hardest.  When you’re doing everything you possibly can to lose weight, yet still not seeing results, that is the most disheartening of feelings.  But once the pounds start to drop and your clothes loosen up, it’s that much easier to keep with your weight loss goal and continue seeing results.

I recently published an article on FaveDiets called Lose Weight the Right Way: 5 Tips to Weight Loss Success.  It’s packed full of my seasoned diet wisdom and offers five tips you probably have heard countless times before, but maybe never really put to good use.  Some of the things covered are moderation, writing down what you eat and one of the most important concepts that I think often gets overlooked in this day and age, losing weight for you, as opposed to losing weight in order to please others.

I really hope this article will reach at least a few people and help them on their weight loss journey.  No matter how many times you have tried in the past and failed, losing weight is absolutely, 100% possible.  It takes a lot of motivation and hard work, but it is definitely an attainable goal.

I’m interested in learning about other people’s battles with the bulge, so feel free to share your weight loss stories in this blog!  =)

Process driven thinking is very different that result driven thinking – my weight release program is a process.  Honestly, it is also my personal process – and it is always a journey.  I have been a compulsive eater – it is easy for me to get triggered and find myself binging on unhealthy foods.  The difference in my life today is choice – I have a choice.  With self-awareness and self-compassion I can observe my experience and adjust my choices.  As a process, failure is out of the equation.  My life is a series of choices, just choices – every day.  The difference is that most of the choices are conscious verses unconscious.  And when I slip into unhealthy patterns, I have a process to correct my course and get back on track.

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Freeman Michaels is America’s #1 weight release expert and coach. He is the author of Weight Release: A Liberating Journey. His groundbreaking program uses personal development principles to end the “diet cycle” and help people release weight forever.