Eat | Wendy Damonte - Eat, Play and Live - a Lifestyle Blog

BEST EVER CORNED BEEF RECIPE

March 17, 2013 By Wendy D 2 Comments

I’m not Irish, I’m Scottish! And damn proud of it. But when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, I’m all about going green and eating Irish. Seriously though, what other day do you actually want to eat like an Irishman? Sorry my Irish friends (Emma McKeen), but food is not your forte!

However, God bless the Irish, because apparently you all came up with the corned beef. I’ve been making this recipe for the past couple of years and it’s the best corned beef I’ve ever had. Honestly, it rules! However the secret, like with any beef roast, is you have to make sure you cook it long enough. This recipe calls for 5 hours at 250 degrees for a 3 pound roast. Cook it longer if you have a few extra pounds. You should be able to shred it with a fork. That sentence makes my mouth water! I serve it with a dollop of Dijon mustard on the side… although it’s not necessary!

I’m not sure where I got this recipe. Since it’s hand written, in my handwriting, I’m going to just call it my own. Feel free to file it under “Wendy’s Corned Beef!” HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!!

Filed Under: Eat, Wendy Tagged With: HOLIDAY, Holidays, paleo, paleo diet, paleo recipes

LOSING WEIGHT…. SUCKS

March 3, 2013 By Wendy D 2 Comments

I’ve been helping two people lose weight for 6 months. I gave them 6 months of my life after learning the husband had been diagnosed with diabetes. So how did it go? Well, it’s still going. And here’s why. The holidays are killer for people trying to lose weight. I believe there’s one vital reason. When you eat badly at breakfast, you have a better chance at cheating during lunch and an even better shot at cheating during dinner. I mean you blew it at breakfast… what the hell… the whole day is shot. “I’ll do better tomorrow,” you say to yourself. So now take that daily concept and apply it to weeks. Several weeks. Make it a month. And now you’re saying to yourself, “I’ll be better in the new year.” I think the need to lose weight following the holidays is where you will find the origin of New Years resolutions! So here we are. 8 months later. My diabetic friend started at 327. He was at 283 before the holidays. He gained back 10 pounds during that 4 week period. Ouch. His wife started at 162. She got down to 139. Currently shes 141.

So I asked my diabetic friend if I could share our text conversation from a few weeks ago. He smiled and said no because he didn’t want people to think I was a douche!! Keep in mind I care about this guy… Sometimes I think more than he cares about himself. Our conversations are blunt, emotional and sometimes hard to swallow… Like this one:

Friend: I’m in a rut right now and losing the weight I gained over December is proving diffiuclt. I’m riding the bike and treadmill in the morning but I am still losing very slowly. I’m not in the groove yet on my eating habits. I feel like I’m getting depressed a little because I can’t control my urges to eat a little too much. I’m still in the 288 range and my blood sugar was 88 this morning on 40 unites of insulin. I guess I’m going to need some time and will power to get moving.

Me: This is what you are going to do tomorrow morning. You are going to wake up and put a band aide on your little toe. And then you are going to pull out that beautiful food journal I bought you and start writing down every gdam thing you put in your mouth. Then you are going to open up your favorite photo album and look at what’s important in your life. I sure as shit bet it’s not a bunch of pictures of bread and cheese and huge plates of pasta. You no longer have the choice to eat those things. The band aide will remind you of that every day until you get down to 275. And then you are going to do some workout that makes you feel good. DO YOU HEAR ME??? I want to see that food journal next week when we work out together. Tough love SUCKS! Tough shit!

So how did he respond to my lovely text? I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Filed Under: Eat, Wendy Tagged With: how to lose weight, losing weight, weight challenge

KID FRIENDLY DINNERS… WHEN THEY MAKE THEM

January 22, 2013 By Wendy D 6 Comments

My phone rang at 4:45 pm. I rarely pick up at that hour since I have to be on set 5 minutes later. But I did today and heard Eva on the other end of the line.

“Hello Mom. This is Palm.”

“Hello Darling. How are you?”

You should know “Palm” is my daughter’s alter ego. She’s called herself this for about a year now. Oh ya, and she’s British. So now re-read the conversation using your best British accent.

“Hello Mum. This is Palm.”

“Hello Darling. How are you?”

“I’d like to know what’s for dinner. Because I certainly don’t want what happened last night to happen again tonight.”

WHOA!!!!!!!!! Back up 24 hours. I rushed home from work, went straight to the kitchen and made Szechuan Beef. I attempted Szechuan Beef!! And it actually tasted like Chinese food!! Darrin and I had extra helpings it was that good. The kids however, went into their typical rants I’ve heard the past 6 months.

“Is this Paleo???”

“Mom, you know we HATE Paleo!!!”

No you little bastards, IT’S CHINESE FOOD! So what if it happens to qualify as Paleo. So what if I tried to slip a Paleo dinner in under the guise of Chinese and got caught. So what if I never ever cook dinner again!

And then she said this:

“So since I don’t want what happened last night to happen again, I was thinking I could cook dinner tonight.” And she had dropped the British accent so I knew she was entirely serious.

Well, hell yes you can I thought to myself. “Absolutely Palm! Knock yourself out!”

After work that night, I walked into the house and actually smelled food cooking. And I hadn’t even stepped in the kitchen!! This is Christmas morning for me. This is the greatest present of all to a working mom! Dinner ready the moment you walk in the door!

I sat at the dinner table and Eva and Domi proudly served me their meal. Chicken breasts, asparagus and edamame. Yep, two greens and a protein! I couldn’t have been prouder. Maybe underneath all their surly talk about how my dinners suck, the kids are learning a few things about good nutrition. And may I point out that, minus the edamame, this dinner IS TOTALLY PALEO!!

Filed Under: Eat, Live, Wendy Tagged With: eat healthy, family, KIDS, paleo, paleo diet, paleo recipes, wendy's family

ROBB WOLF

December 4, 2012 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

I’ve interviewed a lot of nutrition gurus in my career. And every time I talk to one of them, I’m sold on their ideas. For example, after interviewing Mark Sisson (Primal Blueprint) I started eating like a caveman and working out in short spurts and stressing less. I loved it. I felt great. But in this stressfully hectic world, I couldn’t sustain it. Cortisol once again started racing through my veins. So when I learned Robb Wolf (The Paleo Solution) moved to Reno, I thought, “Ok, I’m going to give this Paleo lifestyle another shot!” I first met Robb during an interview at my TV station. I then invited him back to do a live segment with me. And each time, he convinced me eating Paleo really is better. He’s living proof. As a former Californai State Powerlifting champion and amateur Thai boxer, he was horribly sick with ulcerative colitis, high blood pressure and a host of other health problems. After switching to Paleo, he’s better… much better. In fact, he rarely deviates from this lifestyle after 15 years! But when he does “cheat” it’s with some corn tortillas, ice cream and dark chocolate. And what about alcohol? Can we indulge without undoing all the good we’re trying to do with our diet? I love Robb’s answer to this! Drink dry wines, the NorCal Margaraita (tequila, lime juice and soda water) and drink enough to optimize your sex life, not so much that you damage performance.

I believe in living life to the fullest… and trust me! I’m not going to miss out on Sunday night pizza during the game just because I’m “Paleo.” But I do believe sticking to a healthy diet (whatever diet that is for you) most of the time is essential. Plus, it makes those indulgences taste that much better! On the other hand, the more I cook Paleo, the more I like it and the less I want breads, pasta and dairy. So, if you’re tempted to try it out, Robb says the number one thing to take out of your diet is gluten. That means no wheat, oats, rye, etc.

Good luck on your journey to better health! To learn more about Robb Wolf go to www.robbwolf.com And click on the link below to see my 2 minute interview with him.

http://www.ktvn.com/story/20189534/paleo-lifestyle#.ULf3sN22ics.email

Filed Under: Eat, Fascinating People, Wendy, Wendy's Work Tagged With: paleo, paleo diet

MY NEW FAVORITE SALAD

November 19, 2012 By Wendy Leave a Comment

So when my little Friend Lynn and I go mountain biking, she talks non stop… For an hour and a half!! She talks because I can’t. Seriously I’m huffing and puffing and she’s gabbing on and on as if we were sitting down having a cup of coffee. It really pisses me off but during these rides she has to fill the time somehow and that often means sharing her cooking secrets. During our last ride, when I was demoing the 29-ER, she was raving about this new salad she just made that is healthy, light and filling. Healthy, light and filling are key words for me. So I literally tried to puff more softly to make sure I heard every word! And since I risked passing out to get this recipe, I feel entitled to share it with all of you! And BTW, I’m not a huge fan of salads at Thanksgiving dinner, but this one might change my mind!!

Dressing:
Equal parts fresh lemon juice and olive oil (I used 3/4 cup each) and 3 crushed garlic cloves. THAT’S IT!!

Salad Mixins’:
Arugula
TOASTED walnut pieces
Dried cranberries
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Roasted butternut squash pieces (I got the bag of butternut squash pieces from Trader Joes. Cook them with olive oil, plenty of crushed garlic, salt and pepper at 425 for about 30 minutes)

Mix everything together and then add your desired amount of salad dressing. I have lots of dressing left over, which is a good thing since I’m going to make this salad again next week.

I recommend adding the butternut squash to the salad fresh out of the oven. The hot squash does something to all the other ingredients that makes them all blend together.

Lynn and I are going riding again tomorrow. I’ll see what I can get out of her!!

Filed Under: Eat Tagged With: paleo, salads

MY ITALIAN

November 2, 2012 By Wendy 3 Comments

Not everything about ranching happens outside, tromping around cow shit, cursing the storm that ruined an entire crop. Nope. Some things happen in the kitchen. Especially if you’re married to an Italian rancher like I happen to be. And this is what I came home to tonight. Darrin cooking up a storm… yes in his chefs hat. I’m kind of surprised he wasn’t in houndstooth pants, but he wasn’t. Anyway he’s making his family recipe spaghetti sauce. Spices are flying, the Cuisinart is whirling and onions are bringing him to tears. That’s tough to do. I once watched the guy accidentally stab himself in the leg while cutting the twine on hay bales. He just kept on working. The dude doesn’t break down… except apparently for onions. But check this out!! It’s a great Damonte spaghetti sauce secret!! Once all ingredients go into the pot, add a few pork chops… or even a small pork roast. It adds a little flavor to the sauce (I personally can’t pick it up but I’m Scottish, what do I know) but most importantly, it creates another meal. When the spaghetti sauce has cooked for about 3 hours, you take the pork chops out and… Waaahhhlaaaa!! Perfectly cooked meat for dinner tonight. Steam up some veggies and you are ready to go! Who knew cooking spaghetti sauce meant having pork for dinner!

Filed Under: Eat Tagged With: Spaghetti Sauce

HAPPY HALLOWEEN CAKES

October 31, 2012 By Wendy 3 Comments

You all know me as a TV anchor and now blogger (!!!!) but my close friends know me as a cake decorator. At least during special events and Halloween of course qualifies! I always try to come up with unique, original designs. Because the LOOK of the cake is all that matters to me. But the TASTE is what most everyone else raves about… And here ya go!!! Here’s my secret for making the best tasting cakes around. Ok, at least by a home cook like me! I follow the recipe on the back of the Betty Crocker box exactly… Except! And here’s the secret… I add a box of Jell-O pudding. I get a small box of whatever flavor the cake is and just dump it right in while my KitchenAid mixes it all up. This is a fool proof way to always get super moist cake!! Now my other secret for frosting the cake is to freeze it first. This makes it much easier to spread the frosting. And then just let your imagination take over!

Filed Under: Eat, Wendy Tagged With: CAKES

MY HOLIDAY TRADITION

October 26, 2012 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

When I was growing up in Walnut Creek, CA, my mom created many family traditions. But one thing was the same with all of them. They included just the four of us. My mom, dad, brother and me. My family was small. Both my parents were only children. My dad’s parents had both died by the time I came along. My mom was estranged from her mom and her dad and his wife lived up in Oregon and didn’t travel much. So family affairs meant a table of four. And I loved it. But now, I’ve married into a huge family plus we have many close friends we consider family, so family traditions often include 10 to 20 to 50 people. And I love it. Except this one holiday tradition. The tradition of making Nevada Day cookies. I’ve kept this tradition just for a table of three. Eva, Dominic and Me. Here’s how our day goes. I wake up completely squished between their two little bodies. Somehow they both come into my bed the night before and since I know this is going to end some day… I always let it happen. We finally get up and eat something quick and easy. And then the mess begins. Domi makes the dough as Eva sets up all the sprinkles, frosting, cookie cutters and anything else she can find on my baking shelf in the pantry. I then put a layer of dough in front of each child and they go to town making Nevada shaped cookies. They always throw in some bats, pumpkins and this year stars (not sure why!) since Nevada Day is so close to Halloween.

Officially, Nevada Day is October 31st, but years ago people voted to make the holiday on the last Friday of October. Oh yes! Did I mention it’s a state holiday?? We get the day off here… well most people do. I will eventually go to work in the afternoon, loaded down with plates of cookies. Because while my children love the tradition of making Nevada Day cookies, they don’t really eat them. For the kids, it’s all about the journey. For me, it’s all about the destination; a day spent with just my kids.

Best sugar cookie recipe ever! I found this in Parenting Magazine and have used it for years!

Filed Under: Eat, Live, Wendy Tagged With: HOLIDAY

BRUSSEL SPROUTS

October 23, 2012 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

I hate to say this but my Mom ruined me for brussel sprouts. She used to steam them whole and then mix them with hard boiled eggs, mayonnaise and lemon. It must have been a 60′s thing. Well, the other day, I was in Trader Joes and saw my friend, Bryce, walk in. From across the apple isle I yelled, “Hey Loser, I’m sick of all of my side dishes. What’s your current favorite?” His reply? “Brussel sprouts dumb ass.” He and I have that kind of relationship. But as you can imagine, I was less than thrilled with his suggestion. He went on to say, “Drizzle them with olive oil, add some crushed garlic and salt, and roast at 425 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes.” What the hell, I thought. No mayonnaise, no eggs, I’m in. Plus, I found a bag of brussel sprout leaves which I thought would make my reintroduction to them even easier. And can you say hello to my new favorite side?? Wow these babies are good. So good, I even tried the recipe with small grape and cherry tomatoes and the same result. Delicious! And totally Paleo if you’re into that.

Filed Under: Eat, Wendy Tagged With: paleo diet, paleo recipes

Scallops and Aspargus

September 23, 2012 By Wendy D Leave a Comment

Good grub tonight!!!!

Scallops and asparagus (and sweet potatoes, sorry sweet potato haters) with white wine Dijon sauce. Wow! Get the recipe at cavegirlcuisine.net

Scallops and Aspargus for dinner

Filed Under: Eat Tagged With: diner, paleo diet, paleo recipes, scallops and aspargus