One Pan Annie Cooks for One

The Story of One Pan Annie

By Jan Jackson

It’s not hard to tell the story of One Pan Annie because she’s me. She became me shortly after I discovered I had stage three kidney disease. When stage 3 becomes stage five, you have to go on dialysis.

I didn’t want that to happen. So, I did what any red-blooded person would do. I started reading books on it.

My Books . . .

The first book I bought, explained kidney disease.

The second book I ordered was a recipe book and believe me, the food choices are drear.

The third book I bought was  “The Lucky Years, How to Survive in the Brave New World of Health,” by David B. Angus. Dr Angus  talked about how important it is to be the boss of your own health.

The fourth book was “The Secret Life of Fat, The Science Behind the Body’s Least Understood Organ and What It Means for You,” by Sylvia Tara PhD.. From Dr. Tara, I learned to quit looking around and whining about what other people could eat but I couldn’t.

The fifth book, which got me off sugar for life, was called “Salt, Sugar and Fat, How the Food Giants Hooked Us,” by Michael Moss.

Enter One Pan Annie

One Pan Annie created a limited diet for me that was tasty, cheap and quick. She knew I don’t believe in spending more time preparing something than it takes to eat it and she didn’t let me down.

Now, because One Pan Annie is so tired of seeing everyone around her eat out of boxes, bags and restaurant take out windows, she is writing a cookbook. Called One Pan Annie Cooks for One, she shows just how quick, cheap and brainlessly easy it is to eat healthy.

This is how she does it. *

She goes to the grocery store – doesn’t matter which one as long as it has real food.

Buys her favorite piece of meat, a golden thin-skinned potato and a carrot (not the rounded sawed off rounded little carrots made from the big ones they that should be saved for horses).

Goes home.

Washes, but doesn’t peel the potato and carrot (no need to throw away the nutrients she says). Drizzles some olive oil in a heavy old-fashioned cast iron skillet and turns it on high.

As soon as the pan heats up, she turns it down to four and adds her meat  vegetables and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. She puts a lid on it. (Photo shows thin cut in-bone pork chop)

In two or three minutes, she removes the lid, turns the food over and puts the lid back on. In another 3 or 4 minutes she turns the stove off and lets the food continue to cook for another minute or two. While she waits she gets out her plate and eating utensils.

She lifts the food onto her plate and rinses out the frying pan.

She sits down and enjoys her dinner.

After she eats, she washes her plate and silverware.  Now she has the rest of the evening to do whatever she wants wherever she wants to do it.

She recommends repeating this nightly.

The Results . . .

You see? No boxes, no cans and no bags. The meal cost her about $2.00, contained less than 300 calories and took her eight minutes.

In addition, One Pan Annie herself has dropped 100 pounds (and kept it off) and reduced her blood pressure medication from 100 to 25 mgs a day.

You could be like One Pan Annie and eat healthy, cheap and in less time than you would spend getting takeout!

*This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider.

Photos by Jan Jackson

One Pan Annie’s skillet of choice:

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