Tips for Eating at Home

Excerpted from
Suzanne Somers' Eat, Cheat, and Melt the Fat Away
By Suzanne Somers

As far as eating at home, if you're used to eating prepared foods, you will need to make some adjustments. Most prepared foods are made with processed products like sugar, white flour, and a variety of unpronounceable chemicals. Say good-bye to Hamburger Helper! With a little preparation, you can learn to create fresh foods that taste much better and are far more nutritious. I keep my refrigerator stocked with ingredients that allow me to prepare meals quickly. I like to shop at our local farmer's market on Saturdays and stock up for the week. Alan and I make a morning of it. We each grab a couple of straw bags and scan the market for the selections of the season. Alan heads straight for the fruit growers - succulent melons, crisp apples, peaches, berries, pomegranates, whatever the season brings. I gravitate coward the vegetable stands. My friend at the mushroom stand will put together a brown bag with his prized shiitake and oyster mushrooms. The lettuce growers display a variety of romaine, endive, radicchio, frisee, baby spinach, butter lettuce, and more. I pick up a bag of sugar snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, onions, leeks, and vine-ripened tomatoes-all grown organically without pesticides.

On Sundays I do a little cooking; perhaps I'll make some mushroom-sausage stuffing with my shiitakes and stuff a small turkey. The next day I'll use the leftover meat for turkey salad served in lettuce cups, and then I'll take the carcass and make a delicious turkey and vegetable soup for the following night.

Having ingredients in the house makes coming home from work and preparing dinner so easy. Most of the recipes in this book are quick and require minimal skills as a chef. The most important part of any good recipe is finding good, quality ingredients. You'll find when you shop that you'll mostly buy foods from the perimeter of the grocery store. Start in the produce section for all your fresh fruits and vegetables. Then the meat and fish section. Try to look for a great butcher who sells meat without added hormones, nitrates, or preservatives. Go to the bakery to look for fresh bread or bagels made from whole grains. And then stock up in the dairy department on butter, sour cream, cheese, nonfat milk and yogurt. I always feel good at the checkout stand when I unload my groceries because I'll have several wrapped packages from the butcher, a ton of bags from the produce section, and a great selection of cheeses and dairy products. There are no boxes of cookies, crackers, or snack food. It's all real food, as close to its natural state as possible.

To give you an idea of what I shop for each week. I've listed some:

Whole-grain bread: Whole wheat, pumpernickel, rye: whatever kind you like. Keep an extra loaf in the freezer so you never run out. Check for hidden sugars, fats, fruits, or sweeteners. Choose totally natural breads made without honey or white flour or fruit juice. I have found Ezekial (made from sprouted grain). Again, make sure you look for whole wheat, not just wheat flour. Many manufacturers are listing white flour now as wheat flour to make you think it is a healthier product. Don't be fooled. White flour begins with a grain of wheat... it just gets processed so extensively that none of the nutrients of the original wheat remain in the end product. Sometimes it's difficult to find bread that fits all these requirements. Ask your local bakery if they make all whole wheat bread. Flatbreads are excellent choices and readily available-whole wheat pita, whole wheat lavash bread, and whole wheat tortillas. Just make sure they're made without any fats.

Whole-grain pastas: Some whole wheat pastas can be mushy, so you may have to try-out a few. I like De Cecco brand whole wheat best. Whatever brand you choose, look for whole wheat or durum whole wheat semolina. I also like whole wheat and artichoke pasta. Straight semolina on its own is not allowed. Also try pastas made from whole grains like kamut, spelt, or brown rice.

Hot cereals: Oatmeal and Cream of Wheat.

Cold cereals: I like Shredded Wheat, Grape Nuts, Puffed Wheat, and Crispy Brown Rice. Again, check for sugars and Funky Foods carefully on the labels.

Nonfat cottage cheese: Great on your toast in the morning or for a snack in the afternoon.

Nonfat yogurt: A good-quality plain nonfat yogurt is a delicious treat. Pavel's is my favorite brand, but it's sometimes hard to find.

Nonfat milk: I buy the kind from farms that don't use any hormones, pesticides, or antibiotics.

Beans: Dried, canned, or fresh. I like cannelini beans, pinto beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, and garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas).

Mustard: Yellow, whole-grain, and Dijon.

Rice: Brown rice and wild rice. Make sure neither is blended with white rice of any sort.

Phyllo dough: Many types are whole wheat. Keep a box in the freezer for quick Level Two tarts and pastries.

Cheese: Whatever kind you like. I always have buffalo mozzarella and goat cheese in the fridge. I also try to keep Stilton or another good blue, Romano, and feta on hand. My favorite Parmesan is Parmiggiano-Reggiano. Pecorino is wonderful and sometimes I splurge on a triple cream like Camembert or Brie. On most diets celery is the only free food that can be eaten at will. Who knew cheese could keep you so lean and healthy! Keep little individually wrapped cheeses, like string cheese or Laughing Cow, on hand for snacks.

Butter: There's nothing like the real flavor of butter. I keep salted and sweet on hand.

Fresh eggs: I get mine from the farmer's market for the freshest of fresh. I like to keep some hard-boiled in the fridge for quick snacks.

Mayonnaise: Best Foods or Hellman's is my favorite brand. I used to avoid it in Level One because it has sugar listed in the ingredients. But if you look on the label you'll notice there are zero carbohydrates per serving. I presume the added sugar must be in trace amounts or there would be an increased carbohydrate listing. So enjoy your Best Foods. Or make your own with my easy recipe.

Fresh seafood: I always buy my seafood the same day I eat it. My favorites are sea bass, trout, tuna, shrimp, and scallops. The exception to the freshness rule are frozen Alaskan king crab legs, and shrimp. They're expensive, but an amazing treat and a cinch to make.

Meat: I like to keep a few things in the freezer to thaw for a quick meal. Pork chops, lean ground beef, steaks, and lamb chops. Remember, the fat in meat is real fat which promotes healthy cells.

Oil: I buy extra virgin olive oil by the case. I use it in almost every meal. I also keep vegetable oil, like safflower or canola. And don't forget hot chili oil and sesame oil to flavor those delicious Asian meals.

Vinegar: Balsamic, red wine, white wine, and champagne vinegar are my household staples. Rice vinegar is good to have around for Asian dishes.

Poultry: I eat a lot of chicken. I have the butcher make a few packages with two chicken breasts in each. That way I can keep them in the freezer and thaw them quickly for an easy meal. Same with turkey cutlets-they're nice alternative with a slightly different flavor. I also keep ground chicken and ground turkey on hand.