ArcaMax

Thanksgiving Menu

Traditionally, my menu for Thanksgiving gets set this week. Here’s a little bit of the history of Thanksgiving in my family.

I always tell people it was my mom who taught me not to be intimidated by any holiday meal or the size of the crowd. As I analyze it, I realize my mom boiled Thanksgiving down to a minimalistic...Read more

Hints for Eating Mashed Potatoes on Holidays

When my husband and I are invited to Thanksgiving dinner he insists I bring mashed potatoes. He has to make sure there will be at least one bowl of mashed potatoes on the buffet. Borderline rude. I know, but he insists.

I want to give you low carb hints for eating mashed potatoes...

...Read more

The Art Of The Antipasti Tray

The definition of Antipasti: An appetizer usually consisting of an assortment of foods, such as smoked meats, cheese, fish, and vegetables.

Sounds like a low-carb platter of perfection, doesn’t it?

Plan Z dieter Michael offers these basic but tasty ideas of what you could include in an antipasti ...Read more

My husband invented one of the best kitchen innovations of all time.

It’s called The 10 Minute Cleanup.

I’m going to tell you all about it.

This works magically at the end of any dinner party. Any size. And by that, I mean I have done this with dinner for almost 100 people, but it can be done for dinner for four or even six. No number is ...Read more

Fall is my favorite season of the year. Hands down. Nothing can beat it. Nothing even comes close. I am loving this year’s fall – immensely.

What do I love about fall?

First off, I love the temperature...

Read more at PlanZDiet.com

Pumpkin Chiffon

Just in ...Read more

Will exercise help you lose weight? That is certainly what we’ve been conditioned to think. However, evidence points towards a different answer. Exercise is great for your overall health but it won’t help you lose weight. In fact, it may be counteractive towards this goal. Let’s take a closer look.

homeandleisure/recipes/zola/s-3448981">Read more

I went to my naturopathic doctor a couple of months back. I have been dealing with an infection in my digestive tract that I contracted after a series of antibiotic prescriptions. It’s been a nightmare. She had some new test results for me. One of the first things she told me was I am not getting enough protein. I squealed at her, “I eat ...Read more

Crunch!

While developing Plan Z, I never really thought much about what I now call the Crunch Factor. I was never the kid in our family that face-planted in the bag of potato chips. I left that to my brothers. I went for the donuts.

I never wanted to eat the hard candy. I’d rather have a brownie or ice cream for my treat.

After designing ...Read more

The countdown has begun...

And the clock is ticking.

If you’re going to do Plan Z this year, I’m guessing you’ll want to be well into ZReboot for Thanksgiving.

Won’t you?

Plan Z is fast — up to four times faster than “regular” diets. But ZReduction lasts for 50 days. And Thanksgiving happens to fall on November 28 this year.

...Read more

You’ve probably noticed that I regularly try to convince you to eat whole, unprocessed foods. Every recipe I write uses what I consider unprocessed foods (with minor exceptions).

To keep it simple, let’s start off with some definitions:

What are processed foods? Processed foods are anything you buy in a package in a grocery store. ...Read more

Best Food for Kids Before and After School

When I was a grade-schooler my brother and I would walk home from school each day. He was one grade behind me. It was about a mile from school to the house. If we didn’t get any other exercise at least we got that.

I do know that we went out to play after school but when we got home and ...Read more

Enjoy this previously published Zola classic

Have you heard about the spotless giraffe!

Yep, that’s right. She was born a couple of months ago in Limestone, TN. She’s already 6’ tall of gorgeous. I was on my North Carolina mountain vacation when we heard about her. She made the NY Times, The Today Show, and about every other news ...Read more

A lot of people call me a clean freak. My house is pretty spotless most of the time. I have two cats, but I don’t have any small, human children, so frankly, this is not that hard to do. My husband and I split up the household duties pretty evenly. I do the menu, shop for the food, and cook it. Sometimes he chops veggies. He’s a great sous...Read more

What to do with all those tomatoes...

When you grow a garden, you know what it’s like when the tomatoes start coming in heavy and you have to figure out what to do with them. My mother used to can stewed tomatoes. It took her one long weekend, but we had enough for the whole winter.

I had an even worse problem than tomatoes one year ...Read more

Six Wonderful Sweeteners Better For You Than Sugar

Even if you never touch dessert it’s still easy to have too much sugar in your diet. We all know now that sugar is virtually everywhere in our food system. Plan Z dieters know to stay away from things like bread, pasta, pancakes, baked goods, sodas, fruit drinks, and virtually every ...Read more

My father was an engineer; a smart and precise man who had his weekend rituals. About once a month, I’d find my father at the kitchen table on a weekend afternoon sharpening the kitchen knives.

He’d have a sharpening stone in front of him set on a spread of newspaper print. He had a little can of oil that looked like a miniature version of ...Read more