"You Are What You Eat" says Jan Tilley in her new book

July 15, 2016
The Boerne Star

Whether your goal is to avoid disease and sustain good health, to lose weight, or to insure that your family eats a healthy diet, registered dietitian Jan Tilley wants to make it easy for you. In Tilley’s new book Eat Well to Be Well: Living Your Best Life through the Power of Anti-Inflammatory Food, (Greenleaf Book Group Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1-62634-266-8) you will learn how to make wise choices in your food selection based upon you and your family’s special needs and requirements. Tilley cites medical evidence that concludes that chronic inflammation in our bodies leads to ill health. She provides room in her book for readers to make notations and she explains why inflammation is so harmful.

          In addition to working full time as a dietitian, speaker, and writer, this Bulverde author is a business owner, a “foodie,” a wife and mom, an avid cook, and a dinner party guru. Most of Eat Well to Be Well is made up of healthy, delicious, and easy-to-make recipes. She has divided the recipe section of the book into Eggs and Breakfast, Salads, Soups and Stews, Beef, Poultry, Pork, Seafood, Vegetarian, Side Dishes, and Desserts. The recipes include codes for heart-healthy, gluten-free, diabetes-friendly, and kid-friendly. Recipes such as “Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup,” “Asian Flank Steak,” “Spinach Stuffed Orange Chicken,” and “Apple Granola Bites” are fuss-free, tasty, and healthy. The final portion of the book helps the reader create a personal anti-inflammatory plan. 

          “In my years of practice,” writes Tilley, “I have realized that there simply had to be more we could do to get out in front of chronic disease and give people the tools they need to help prevent it from happening in the first place. I set this out as a challenge to my brilliant team of professionals . . . and together we have spent countless hours researching the data on anti-inflammatory foods and their positive impact on long-term health. From these findings, I have designed four easy-to-prevent steps to give you a practical approach to making [anti-inflammatory] work for you.”

          Tilley is CEO of a professional practice JTA Wellness. She and her team of dietitians accept referrals from most health insurance companies and provide services for private-pay individuals, as well. Tilley sees anti-inflammatory living as being a “four-legged stool” comprised of “balanced nutrition, moderate exercise, managed stress, and high-quality sleep.” 

          Eat Well Be Well contains beautiful color pictures of some of the recipes and is organized into an easy-to-follow format. It is available from Tilley’s website http://www.jtawellness.com/, Amazon, and other major booksellers. She has also written two other books, Getting Your Second Wind and Healthy Meals for Hurried Families.

GOODBYE GLUTEN: Happy, healthy, delicious eating with a Texas twist

Boerne Star, Nov. 21, 2014

Pizza. Pasta. Hamburgers. Biscuits. Fried chicken. These are forbidden foods for individuals with celiac disease or for those who have an intolerance to wheat, barley, and rye. In their new cookbook, GOODBYE GLUTEN: HAPPY, HEALTHY, DELICIOUS EATING WITH A TEXAS TWIST, authors Kim Stanford and Bill Backhaus prove that even decadent deserts can be successfully prepared without gluten.
    Over the past decade, gluten has gained a reputation as a devil in disguise. For individuals with celiac disease, gluten, a protein, causes an autoimmune response in the digestive system that can be deadly. In recent years, even people who can safely ingest the substance have joined the gluten-free bandwagon, declaring that they feel better avoiding it.
    There are problems inherent with sticking to a gluten-free diet. Many processed foods contain gluten, as do canned goods, condiments, cured meats, and liquor. Gluten-free foods are expensive, are sometimes adulterated with unhealthy additives and preservatives, and are often bland and flavorless.
    The backbone of Stanford’s and Backhaus’ cookbook is their assertion that gluten-free can be just as delicious as mainstream food. Their two hundred-plus gluten-free recipes will restore the enjoyment of great food to people who have been forced to miss out on their favorite dishes.
    When Backhaus called his former wife, Kim Stanford, to ask if she was interested in collaborating with him on a gluten-free cookbook, she responded with an enthusiastic “yes.”  Backhaus had been diagnosed with celiac disease more than thirty years before when there were virtually no packaged or processed gluten-free foods, so he and Stanford, a former financial consultant, learned to cook without gluten. Stanford continued to consume gluten until she was diagnosed with a thyroid deficiency. She eliminated gluten from her diet and also turned to organic whole foods. To her amazement, her thyroid healed without the surgery her doctor told her she needed, her allergies disappeared, and she lost weight with no effort.
    Stanford grew up in north Texas and lives in Austin. As the owner of a catering company, she borrows recipes from her childhood and jazzes them up with her own special twists. Her “Guadalajara Gazpacho,” “Lasagna with Mexican Crema,” and “Spiced Tequila Chicken” are succulent, delectable entrees that any good restaurant would be proud to have on its menu.
    After his celiac disease diagnosis, cooking quickly became Backhaus’ passion and he spent thousands of hours developing entrees like “Herb-Crusted Parmesan Chicken” and “Bacon-Wrapped Quail with Dates and Jalapeno.” A meat-lover, he has included numerous recipes for barbeque, rubs, and sauces. One notable sausage recipe, “East Austin Trailer Park Spicy Homemade Chorizo,” is downright addictive.
    Stanford loves dessert and looks forward to sitting around the dinner table at the end of a meal with a cup of coffee and a luscious sweet treat.
    “Previously,” Stanford says, “gluten-free desserts were like eating raw corn grits with sugar baked on them, then set out in the sun for a couple of days and, of course, freeze-dried for a couple of months. They were dry as concrete, tasteless, and so different from regular desserts.”
    The desserts that Stanford included in GOODBYE GLUTEN are anything but tasteless and dry. Her “Best Little Coconut Cream Cake in Texas,” “Ooey-Gooey Chocolate Brownies,” and “Southern Bell Peach Pie” will please anyone.
    Because food manufacturers add gluten to a myriad of products—cheese, chips, cereal, salad dressings, frozen vegetables, baking mixes, and processed meats—Stanford and Backhaus have included a list of gluten-free, brand-name pantry items found in most supermarkets. Even ketchup frequently contains gluten so the authors include a recipe for a homemade version.
    Some liquors and spirits also contain gluten. Popular brands of beer use barley for the fermentation process and are on the gluten-free forbidden list. Stanford and Backhaus list gluten-free beer brands and also include a bar guide in their cookbook. While vodka made with potatoes, unflavored rum, and tequila are naturally gluten-free, rye whisky and certain other blends contain the offending protein. Many cocktail mixers also contain gluten. Wine is generally gluten-free, but the authors warn the reader to stay away from malted wine coolers.
    GOODBYE GLUTEN is a comprehensive guide to enjoying a gluten-free lifestyle. At the same time it is a wonderful tool that any cook, gluten-free or not, can rely upon for a cache of recipes that will impress family and friends—with a Texas twist.

Cookbook author captures the essence of the Texas Hill Country

“Who needs Europe? The Texas Hill Country, west of Austin and north of San Antonio, might be the next best thing to crossing the Atlantic. The region is lush, colorful and, unlike much of the pancake-flat state, dotted with beautiful green hills that are evocative of Tuscany or the south of France,” states the New York Times in a recent article describing that newspaper’s 31 favorite tourist destinations. The Texas Hill Country is the Times’ number one pick mostly because of our diverse multicultural heritage—a heritage rich in culinary traditions.

Terry Thompson-Anderson captures the essence of the cuisine of our eighteen-county region in her book The Texas Hill Country: A Food and Wine Lover’s Paradise.

According to Todd Staples, Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture and author of the book’s Foreword, “Within the pages of this book you will see firsthand the true heart and soul of the region and all the resources it has to offer. You’ll come face to face with the proud pioneering spirit for which hardworking Texans are known.”

Thompson-Anderson begins her alphabetical tour in Bandera at the Diamond H. Ranch, home of the “finest tasting quail available” and The Grotto Grill and Coffee Bar. Then it’s on to Blanco, then Boerne where she highlights Leslie Horn’s “Aurelia’s Chorizo,” Bear Moon Bakery, and the Cypress Grill. From the Camp Verde General Store to the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls and Poodie’s in Spicewood, Thompson delights the reader in a mouth-watering journey rich in history and food. She includes recipes from many of these landmarks, such as Shrimp and Crawfish Bisque from the Huisache Grill and Wine Bar in New Braunfels, Sausage and Cheese Kolaches from the Sandstone Cellars Winery in Mason, and our very own Bear Moon Bakery’s apple cake.

Complementing the culinary odyssey through the Texas Hill Country are stunning color photographs by Sandy Wilson “which capture the diversity of the Hill Country eating experience, with its berry patches and orchards, roadside stands, artisan bakeries, boutique wineries, and vast array of restaurants serving both traditional and haute cuisine.”

Thompson-Anderson is a professional chef, cookbook author, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She will be signing copies of her book The Texas Hill Country: A Food and Wine Lover’s Paradise on Thursday evening at Read-All-About-It Bookstore, 305 South Main in Boerne, at 6:30 pm. Thompson-Anderson will have samples of many of the recipes in her book for tasting.

The Texas Hill Country: A Food and Wine Lover’s Paradise (ISBN# 9780940672796, 156 pages, paperback with flaps, $19.95) is available through Read-All-About-It Bookstore in Boerne, major booksellers, and through the publisher’s web site at http://www.shearerpub.com/.