Piece of cake!

Some of you may have remembered one of my first blog posts where I discussed Michael Pollan's "Food Rules". These rules really have stuck with me, and I thought it was a good time to re-post them again!

The one rule that really sticks with me is about the junk food! I made a deelish chocolate cake myself last night with one box of Duncan Hines devil's food cake mix and a can of Coke Zero. Ok, maybe it's not organic, and didn't follow the rules below 100% (these items were made in a plant) but it's also not a Hostess Cupcake which is what I really wanted! Those are loaded with preservatives and a bunch of other crap. And did my homemade junk food taste good? HELL YEAH! It honestly didn't taste any different than a cake with eggs and oil! Try it yourself, you'll see! It's easy! Here's the recipe:

Take one can of any 12 ounce diet soda and any cake mix. I did Coke Zero and Devils Food. Mix until blended. Pour into greased/floured pan. Follow the same directions on the package for baking.Tah-dah! Top with Cool Whip Free or add sugar free pudding and Cool Whip free for a twist!

For my WW pals: 1/12 of a cake (that's a big slice, people!) as prepared above is just 4 points without a topping. The old-fashioned egg and oil version is 7 points for 1/12 of the cake without topping.


Enjoy these "rules"! Oh! I'm excited about making a visit to my local CSA farm for my organic veggies tonight!

From "Food Rules":

#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.

#36 Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

This should go without saying. Such cereals are highly processed and full of refined carbohydrates as well as chemical additives. 

#39 Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we're eating them every day. The french fry did not become America's most popular vegetable until industry took over the jobs of washing, peeling, cutting, and frying the potatoes -- and cleaning up the mess. If you made all the french fries you ate, you would eat them much less often, if only because they're so much work. The same holds true for fried chicken, chips, cakes, pies, and ice cream. Enjoy these treats as often as you're willing to prepare them -- chances are good it won't be every day. 

#47 Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

For many of us, eating has surprisingly little to do with hunger. We eat out of boredom, for entertainment, to comfort or reward ourselves. Try to be aware of why you're eating, and ask yourself if you're really hungry -- before you eat and then again along the way. (One old wive's test: If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you're not hungry.) Food is a costly antidepressant.

#58 Do all your eating at a table.

No, a desk is not a table. If we eat while we're working, or while watching TV or driving, we eat mindlessly -- and as a result eat a lot more than we would if we were eating at a table, paying attention to what we're doing. This phenomenon can be tested (and put to good use): Place a child in front of a television set and place a bowl of fresh vegetables in front of him or her. The child will eat everything in the bowl, often even vegetables that he or she doesn't ordinarily touch, without noticing what's going on. Which suggests an exception to the rule: When eating somewhere other than at a table, stick to fruits and vegetables.