THE TICK THAT BIT ME

This week’s choline diet highlights 05/20/2012

I tried to be good and cook simple, choline-rich meals at home this week. Here are some highlights:

McBreakfast Sandwich

I love making my own version of a fast food breakfast sandwich for several reasons. One, it’s healthier because I can use better ingredients. Two, it’s relatively inexpensive. Three, I don’t have to drive anywhere to get it.

Start with an egg and a slice of Canadian bacon.

Sometimes I use an English muffin or a bagel, but this week I didn’t have those, so I used sourdough, which I actually like better. I also subbed out boring old American cheese for some spicy pepperjack.

Pepperjack on toasted sourdough. They’re big slices, so I just used one and folded it in half.

To drink, I had Treetop orange-pinapple juice, which I water down.

Choline count: fried egg (125 mg) + Canadian bacon (19 mg) + sourdough bread (15 mg) = 159 mg

Rainbow Coleslaw

I grew up on traditional southern-style coleslaw, and when the weather gets hot, I start craving it. I love putting it on pulled-pork BBQ sandwiches. Being that eating cabbage covered in mayonaise (or in my case, Miracle Whip) is not the healthiest way to get one’s veggies, when I make coleslaw at home, I try to make it a little healthier (and more rich in choline). One of the ways to do this is to use broccoli slaw. You can make it yourself in a food processor, or if you’re lazy like me, you can buy it already shredded up in a bag.

In a small bowl, I mix the dressing, which consists of Miracle Whip, sweet pickle juice (I didn’t have any, so I skimmed some out of the pickle relish jar), and horseradish sauce (for a kick). Some people also like to add vinegar (in place of pickle juice) and dijon mustard.

The condiment lineup.

Then I dump the shredded veggies into a big bowl, add a diced tomato, and mix in the dressing. It’s best to refrigerate slaw for a few hours before eating, but I always sneak a few spoonfulls to make sure it tastes right.

Choline count: broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, cabbage, tomato

Ready to refrigerate.

California Sandwich

I’ve been eating a lot of sandwiches lately. Boyfriend brought back several loaves of bread from Eric Schat’s Bakery, including some delicious rye bread, so I used some of it to make this sandwich.

I topped that slice of delicious rye bread with Miracle Whip, horseradish sauce, tomato slices, a fried egg, and half an avocado.

Choline count:  fried egg (125 mg) + tomato (12 mg) + 1/2 avocado (9 mg) + rye bread (5 mg) + milk (39 mg) = 190 mg

Chorizo Scramble

Toward the end of the week, I started feeling guilty about eating so much bread, so I cooked up some Mexican chorizo with eggs and topped it with diced avocado and tomato. Cooking for two, I use five eggs and one package (a long link) of chorizo.

Choline count: 2 eggs (250 mg) + chorizo (58 mg) + tomato (12 mg) + 1/2 avocado (9 mg) = 329 mg

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