Banana Shake

Banana Shake
Serves: 1

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk (raw, if you're into that)
1 banana, chunked (preferably frozen)
grate of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
few drops vanilla extract

Blitz the above in a blender until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy.

For a chocolate shake, add 1 tsp. cocoa, or more to taste.

Cinnamon Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Cinnamon Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (w/egg-free variation)*
Yield: 2 8" rounds or 24 cupcakes, plus icing enough for all

Cake:
3/4 cup butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs (I used 2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed heated in 6 Tbsp. water until thick)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups milk

Icing:
12 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup butter
6 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and grease and flour your cake pans, or line your muffin tins with cupcake cups.  Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.  Whip until fluffy.  In a medium bowl, combine cinnamon, salt, baking powder and flour.  Add half the flour mixture to the butter/sugar and stir to incorporate, then add milk, then the other half of the flour mixture.  Spoon batter into cake pans or muffin cups.  Bake about 15 - 20 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when touched.  Let cake rest 5 minutes before removing from pan to cool.  Make sure icing ingredients are out and coming to room temperature.

When cake is completely cool, whip icing ingredients together until spreadable.  Ice cake and enjoy.

*I made this cake for my son's fourth birthday (I made the egg-free version in deference to his allergies) and it was well-liked.  The cinnamon taste is mild; the flavor of the cake is comparable to that of a snickerdoodle cookie.  I ate the last piece of cake a week after making it and was surprised to find it every bit as good as it was the day I made it, if not better.

Coconuts?

Giving up sugar worked pretty well for the four or five days I was able to do it.  I did lose two pounds, but by Friday I gave in and finished the leftover birthday cake from last Friday (!!!), and you know what? It was heaven.  By the way, I'm going to give you the cake recipe because it was just as good, if not better, than the day I made it.  Back to the sugar thing though, I'm going to try to keep it reasonable.  I'll try to only eat sugar sitting down.  I know, I should only eat anything sitting down.  Baby steps.

I've decided to incorporate virgin coconut oil into my diet. I'm curious about it's purported metabolism-raising properties. I'm going to start by adding a tablespoon to my banana shake in the morning.  I'll keep you posted.  I start a lot of sentences with "I."

Sugar-free Me

My first step toward my goal is to wean myself off sugar for awhile.  I figure if I can keep from downing a Keebler Chip-tastic, or whatever they're called, every friggin five minutes, that should be good for a weekly pound of weight loss right there.  This week, I've sworn off desserts and sodas (or, as we say Down South, cokes.)  Next week, I'll add overly sweetened stuff, like store-bought yogurt cups and sech.  Then anything with added sugar.  I haven't decided if I'm going balls-to-the-wall and nixing white flour.  We'll see.
BTW, that brings me to recipe number one.  It's my second day sweetless, and I wanted something to calm my nerves, so I made a:

Banana Shake
Serves: 1

Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk (raw, if you're into that)
1 banana, chunked (preferably frozen)
grate of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
few drops vanilla extract

Blitz the above in a blender until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy.

About Me

You've probably guessed, based on the title of my blog, that I am not a purist.  What I am is fat and dissatisfied and itchin to make a change.  So, while I may borrow from several different philosophies of eating, I'm not going to get all hung up on any one of them.  I mean, stress kills more people than phytates do, know what I'm sayin? 
Anyway, the goal here is to lose 50 pounds without dieting, eat real food as much as possible, and do it with as much elegance as I can muster.  There are some mitigating factors however:

1. I am breastfeeding twins
2. I have 4 kids 4 years old and under
3. I work (part-time)
4. One of my kids has multiple food allergies

So, join me won't you, and we'll see how this goes.