I love an avocado omelet ~ from author @DarylWoodGerber #recipe

From Daryl aka Avery:

Okay, health lesson for today: there are good foods and super foods; good fats and bad fats. I’ve been reading up on this. Why? It turns out my body is producing cholesterol. I’m eating right and I’m fairly thin. I exercise, and I don’t smoke. But darn it, I have to take medicine to keep my cholesterol low.

Do you know your HDL and LDL and triglycerides numbers? You should. Ask your doctor.

Anyway, let’s get to some technical stuff:

To lower cholesterol eat:

Oats, red wine, salmon, nuts, green tea, beans (or legumes, especially kidney beans and black beans), dark chocolate, garlic, olive oil.  (Yes, you read that right. Red wine and dark chocolate!) Blueberries are good for you, too!

What are some good fats?

Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) help reduce visceral fat, the type of fat that promotes cardiovascular health.  An avocado fits into this category. Yay for me! I love avocados.

What are the bad fats?

I KNOW trans fats are bad, but what are they? Where are they found? Is canola oil a trans fat? No, it’s not. It’s got zero trans fat and the lowest level of any saturated fat on the market. Trans fat (also called trans fatty acid) is created when vegetable oils are hydrogenated. The process saturates the oil and produces trans fat. The process also gives margarine its butter-like consistency. Be careful. Trans fats can be found in non-dairy creamers. I know a friend who likes a little coffee in her creamer. Watch it!

Is butter a bad fat?

Not necessarily. While doing research, I found these guidelines for fat consumption: if you stay below 10% of your daily diet for fats, you’re doing well. If you want to have butter, consider cutting back on other fats that are in cheeses and milk products. FYI, a teaspoon of butter contains 10 milligrams of fat or about 4% of your minimum daily amount, 300 milligrams.

But enough of the science stuff.

Food. I like food! I love to eat.

And I love an omelet.  I started to worry. Are eggs bad for me? Guess what? Eggs get a bad rap.

Okay, one more technical thing. According to the Mayo Clinic website, chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, but the effect of egg consumption on blood cholesterol is minimal when compared with the effect of trans fats and saturated fats.

So I’m going to make sure I cut back on those.

Now, in an omelet, I like to include avocados and green vegetables. As mentioned above, avocados are the “good” fat. Also, an avocado can increase your absorption of essential vitamins, which therefore reduces your risk for heart disease. Plus they are free of cholesterol and sodium.

As for my green vegetable, I adore spinach. I’m going to share one of the easiest ways to always have it on hand. My sister taught me this nifty trick recently. Take fresh spinach, a good-sized portion on a plate, cover with a paper towel and zap in the microwave for 1 minute. Remove from the oven, fold the spinach over on itself. It cooks perfectly while preparing the rest of your omelet.

THE PERFECT OMELET

Ingredients:

2 eggs

½ cup cooked spinach

½ small avocado, diced

2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon butter

For an omelet, I like to have everything at hand—ready to go—because once the eggs start cooking, the process is fast.

Mix the eggs in a bowl and set aside. 

Cook the spinach, as suggested above.

Scoop out a half of a small avocado out with a spoon and dice; set aside.

Open the flaky Parmesan cheese container.  [Parmesan cheese is very low in fat. 1 tablespoon = 4% of daily fat]

Put a teaspoon of butter (I like the flavor of butter) in an 8-inch skillet and turn the heat on high. When the butter sizzles, pour in the eggs and turn down the heat to medium-high.

Holding the handle of the skillet, swirl the eggs all around. With a spatula, lift up the edges of the omelet and let the runny portion flow beneath the edges. This cooks the eggs evenly.

When the eggs are half-cooked, layer in the avocado and spinach on one side of the omelet and the cheese on the other. turn down the heat to LOW.

Let the omelet rest for about a minute, then using the spatula, fold the cheese side onto the vegetable side. Slide the omelet onto a plate and enjoy!

http://bit.ly/GirlOnTheRun_Kindle

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By the way, I announced it on Facebook yesterday, so I might as well tell all you of you. I have written a suspense novel, a stand alone. GIRL ON THE RUN.

I'm very excited about it. It will debut April 9. It is up on Amazon and will be in other formats in the coming month. I'll let you know as the formats pop up.  FYI, it is NOT a culinary cozy BUT it does NOT have a lot of bad language or sex or violence. No children or animals are harmed. It is what the title says: a girl on the run to learn the truth.  Here's the cover. 

If you click on the link, you can read the blurb.

  

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Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames

Tasty ~ Zesty ~ Dangerous!

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