It might be hard to believe that a celebrity chef chows down just like
the rest of us — and might be harder still to believe that the chef is Giada De Laurentiis.
Famous for eating, quote "a little bit of everything and not a lot of
anything," here's a peek at how Giada satisfies her hunger in real life.
"This is my favorite way to jazz up boring old water."
When De Laurentiis wakes up, she doesn't head straight for the coffee.
Instead she reaches for water with lemon — two glasses to be exact — and prefers
warm to ice cold when she's still shaking off the previous night. She told Delish,
"You get dehydrated as you sleep and need to help your body rehydrate when you get up."
According to a nutritionist for Business Insider,
there are plenty of reasons to knock back a couple glasses of water first thing in the morning,
especially if your routine includes a cup of joe. The expert explained,
"Most people have their coffee first thing in the morning. Although it is
a good source of antioxidants, it is also dehydrating. You can offset this with water."
Other benefits include increasing your alertness, fighting off illness,
and jump-starting your metabolism. Sounds like Giada gets her day started right.
When it comes to breakfast, it's a real stick-to-your-ribs kind of meal for this star.
Along with an Americano for a hit of caffeine,
De Laurentiis prefers a healthy dose of carbs. She told PopSugar,
"I do brown rice, with olive oil and salt. I like a carb for breakfast,
and I like a savory breakfast. […] I get up really early in the morning, so I need a carbohydrate."
Giada says she occasionally switches things up by substituting oatmeal for brown rice,
or throwing in a handful of Marcona almonds for a little added protein.
De Laurentiis might be all about the healthy breakfast Monday through Friday, but she's all
about pancakes on the weekend. Even with a quick search on the Food Network database, you'll find
at least a dozen versions of her recipe. She even once made pancake cereal with her daughter Jade.
"No…What are you gonna top it with, Jade-y? Syrup. Go Jade-y go."
When De Laurentiis is noshing with Jade, she'll often make a stack of lemon buttermilk pancakes.
They're Jade's favorite, and they're a hit with adults, too. The chef wrote for Giadzy.com,
"When I make pancakes on the weekend I like to make a few extra and freeze them. That way,
I can defrost a few in the toaster oven on weekday mornings so Jade can have a hot breakfast without
my having a lot of kitchen cleanup." Based on her carb-focused food choices in
the morning, it's no surprise to learn that De Laurentiis isn't a breakfast protein kind of
girl — and eggs are definitely off the table. She told Food & Wine that as a child in Italy
she ate traditional breakfasts, which consisted of things like bread and pastries. She explained,
"I am not a protein person for breakfast — it's not my thing. I'm a starch girl because
that's the way I was brought up. […] We can eat eggs for lunch and dinner, like in a frittata,
but not breakfast. I can't do eggs for breakfast."
These days, with the appearance of eggs on just about every lunch and dinner item,
it's easy to follow Giada's lead and get your protein later in the day.
We all have our favorite weird food combos. Think peanut butter and pickle sandwiches,
Cheetos with milk, or Frosted Flakes with cheese — you know who you are.
But just because De Laurentiis is a professionally trained chef,
that doesn't mean she hasn't come up with a pairing that might make us blink twice.
"It's just sort of a way to be a little creative and to do something really fun."
While she has a wealth of flavors to choose from, one of her favorite creations just happens to be
Milano cookies or Nilla Wafers dipped in lemonade. Yes. Lemonade. Who knows, maybe Giada's onto the
sweet and sour treat we never knew we needed! Most of us would have a hard time passing up some
hot and salty French fries — and De Laurentiis is no different. She wrote for Shape in 2013,
"Fries are some of my [favorite] comfort foods. I love the crispy indulgence,
but I make sure they aren't a daily habit!"
If you need more proof that De Laurentiis is just like us,
another one of her guilty pleasures is chocolate. She admitted to Health
that a seven-layer chocolate cake would be her last meal, saying,
"I would eat all of the frosting on the outside, then I would peel off the cake and eat the layers
in between. […] It's more fun, and it takes longer to eat, so you get more pleasure out of it."
"So this is a chocolate stout torta."
Giada has also confessed to topping cold spaghetti with chocolate chips as a midnight snack.
And she nibbles on frozen bittersweet chocolate chips when she craves a sweet treat.
If the word "cleanse" makes you want to inhale a bag of chips, you might want to consider
this De Laurentiis method. In early January 2018, after proclaiming that she'd had her fair share of
white sugar and prosecco ,De Laurentiis took to Twitter to tease her detox plan, posting,
"I do this whole-food cleanse a few times a year when I need to reset.
Not a fan of juice cleanses or fasts […] just healthy, whole foods."
"The superfoods allow your body to function at the highest possible rate that it can."
"Protecting your skin."
"They help with inflammation, they help nourish, they help moisturize."
It turns out that Giada's cleanse even includes chocolate and pasta. But before
you get too excited, you should know that she does restrict alcohol, unhealthy fats, refined sugars,
and dairy for this detox. Still, avocado mousse is still very much on the table.
Even during a juice cleanse, De Laurentiis manages to sneak a
little protein into her diet — proof that even the most camera-ready celebrity chefs
don't want to drink every single meal. Delish reported that she spills the secret for her
tried and true bloat-busting method in her cookbook, Giada's Feel Good Food, writing,
"I always incorporate some protein when doing a juice cleanse. For me,
it's an important component in getting my strength back and feeling balanced."
For dinner, that might mean her homemade detox broth — made of chicken broth,
poached chicken, some veggies and spices.
"Cheers!" When asked
by Sweet Paul Magazine to name her perfect meal, De Laurentiis answered,
"Lemon spaghetti with a simple arugula and Parmesan salad."
"A little a that, a little a that…finito!"
She also revealed her favorite menu items at her restaurant, telling The Daily Meal
that she loves her lemon ricotta cookies, and once again, her lemon spaghetti. And,
not surprisingly, her favorite single ingredient is — yep. Lemons. She told Cooking Light,
"You're probably thinking I would say garlic or olive oil, but for me, it's lemons. I use
their juice or zest to bring out the flavors of almost everything I make. Lemon juice is fat free
and full of clean flavor, and it's especially useful for lighter dishes. You can also use it
as a substitute for the crispness of white wine in a recipe, if you prefer not to use alcohol."
"Take a look at these giant lemons."
Looks like it's safe to say that De Laurentiis isn't breaking up with lemons any time soon.
Yes, De Laurentiis really does snack throughout the day, and no, it's not
just green juice — though she swears by a blend of kale, spinach, apple, lemon, ginger, and cayenne.
She gave Dash a glimpse into the kind of snacks you might find in her purse — nibbles
like a goji berry mix, popcorn seasoned with citrus and herbs, and almonds with smoked sea
salt. And when she's in the mood for a sweet treat, frozen berries hit the spot. She said,
"The freezer turns them into almost like a sorbet ."
But of course the snacks she eats vary by the day. She told PopSugar,
"If I'm in my restaurant or testing recipes for my cookbook, I'm constantly tasting as I cook.
A few bites of pasta here, a brownie there. […] I keep roasted vegetables and pasta in
the fridge to snack on, too. You never know when hunger will strike, and I like to have
healthy options that are easy to grab." She may skip the protein for breakfast,
but De Laurentiis makes sure to get a healthy helping of it for dinner.
While she loves to prepare a meal like salmon with lemon, capers and rosemary, she told Food Network,
"If I don't eat protein at night, I don't sleep well."
If it's Monday, she might go meatless, but still with a focus on protein. Cooking Channel
reported that De Laurentiis spelled it out in her cookbook, Weeknights with Giada, when she wrote,
"We've started having meatless Mondays in our house, which has coincided with
my discovering my new favorite ingredient, quinoa . It's got a nuttier texture than
rice and is higher in protein, which is great for vegetarian-friendly meals."
"Honestly, no one can resist this."
But on Sundays, she seems game for anything — including pasta — and it's
exactly what you'd expect from this proud Italian chef. She shared with PopSugar,
"On Sundays we have family over for supper,
so I'll do something a little more special like lasagna rolls,
chicken cacciatore , and a big, beautiful salad like [a] whipped ricotta salad."
One of the most discussed topics around De Laurentiis is how she stays so slim while
cooking and eating for a living. She let fans in on a few of her secrets, telling Cooking Light,
"Italian cooking relies on fresh vegetables, but I like to use even more than a recipe might
call for. Roasted vegetables give off so much flavor, and they can keep a dish interesting.
Plus, they're filling. You can enjoy what you eat and not overeat."
"I eat a little bit of everything, and not a lot of anything."
Of course, there's her famous motto that's even featured on
the lighting fixtures in her Vegas restaurant. She explained to Health,
"I eat a little bit of everything and not a lot of anything.
Everything in moderation. […] Pasta doesn't make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat."
Amen to that.
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