The Whole (Foods) Truth and a Tomato Tart

It's been months I know...but I've been busy learning a new food journey and I plan to chronicle it here.  In August we went on our annual 10 days at the lake.  We eat, we play, we eat some more. We gained weight!  My daughter and I both gained over 6 pounds in a short 10 days!! 

While we were there, I perused a book that my brother's girlfriend left for my mom called The Healing Power of Whole Foods.  When we got back home to the scale and the frightening reality of what we did to ourselves on vacation so we decided to give it a try.  But this is not a diet...it's a lifestyle change.

We started out by reading the book voraciously.  Then we cleaned the pantry ridding ourselves of anything with white flour, white sugar, white rice.  Anything that was "enriched" of "fortified" was taboo too. As you may guess, a large part of our pantry was gone!  I was amazed, because I've always believed I was chosing healthful foods, but the book taught me how to REALLY read a label and find the hidden truth.

So, to make a long learning story short, I've really changed how we are eating, and the results have been really great.  In six weeks, my youngest daughter has lost 22 pounds, my oldest and myself have lost 15 pounds.  I recently had my blood workup done, and I had amazing results.  For the first time in 10 years, my cholesterol is under 200.  Last year it was 250!  I have been pre-diabetic for the last two years...not anymore, my blood sugar is normal!  But the best result is the amazing behavioral changes it's made for my 4 yeard old grandson!  He'd been having quite a problem when he'd get angry, he was unable to control himself and he'd fly into a fit of rage.  Changing his diet has had an amazing change on him...he's still fidgety, but he'd not violent anymore.  He's an absolute angel.  Even he recognizes the change!

I'm going to start chronicling what we're eating.  We still eat a lot of the same stuff but it's altered to be more healthful.  We'll start with a summer favorite...it's beautiful, tasty, and got rave reviews at a party I took it to recently.

Tomato Tart

A whole wheat pie crust, some delicious filling and a lot of tomatoes - DELISH!








Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1 stick cold butter
5 T cold milk

Filling:
1 c. mayonaisse or vegenaisse
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Toppings:
thinly sliced red onion (amount - to your liking)
sliced ripe tomatoes - about 3-5 depending on size

Make the crust:

Put the flour and cut up butter into a food processor. Pulse it until the mixture is crumbly.

    

While pulsing on high speed, add the milk.  Blend only as long as it takes for it to start to form, do not over blend it.  It may still appear somewhat crumbly, that's ok. 

Turn it out onto a pastry sheet or your countertop and work it into a pie crust.  It is very forgiving, so don't over work it.  If you place it in the tart pan and it's broken up a bit, don't worry about it - just patch it back together.  The key is to do this all quickly and not overwork it.  You don't want the butter in the crust to get too warm.

      

Mix the filling:

Combine the mayonaisse and parmesan cheese, and spread it out on the crust.  Layer the red onions on top of that, then the tomatoes.

    

Sprinke some paremsan cheese and about 1/2 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning on the top.  Bake for 45-60 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.