Tag Archives: healthy eating

Eat to Live, Day 2: Finding My Way

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I am not going to lie. This is harder than I thought. Partly because I did not adjust my eating enough in the days leading into this and I am experiencing tougher detox symptoms than what I expected. I am tired, foggy and have a raving headache at times. Advil helps. Apparently, I was not as good as I thought I was during the holidays.

I realized yesterday that although over the past year I have grown to crave vegetable juices and meals with salads, tomatoes with basil, veggie burgers and more, apparently I have not grown to love cooked vegetables or salads that don’t include cheese, cranberries, sauce, salt or other things that are not permitted on Eat to Live.

And to my dismay,  I have sadly come to believe the cup of unsweetened soy milk that I thought I could have in my smoothie is probably a no-no too.

That said, am I discouraged? Absolutely not. In fact, I am encouraged and believe more than ever that this is something I can and must live with if I am ever going to get and keep this weight off… If I am going to be healthy, to live longer.

I’m still figuring out what I’m going to eat for tonight and the next six weeks, but am getting there. This morning I decided to add some spinach to my morning smoothie. I cut the soy milk down to 1/2 cup, added unsweetened pomegranate juice and after further research, I’m eliminating it as of today – at least for the next 6 weeks. More about that tomorrow.

Here’s the smoothie recipe: (I just used my standard kitchen-aid mixer)

Strawberry, Banana, Pomegranate, Spinach Smoothie

  • 1 banana (wasn’t frozen, but could be)
  • 7 strawberries
  • 1 peeled kiwi
  • 6 handfuls of baby spinach (about 6 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened pomegranate juice.

Notes:

I juiced a whole pomegranate in my Breville Juicer. Apparently the membrane is can be bitter if you juice it whole, but it didn’t bother me at all. I may try juicing just the seeds next time to see if there’s a big difference. You can also put the seeds w/juice in the blender if you don’t mind the crunch. 

Tonight or tomorrow I’ll try the same recipe with a cup of fresh pineapple and juice in place of the pomegranate and soy. That would give me 12 ounces of raw greens and if  have 6 ounces in a salad for dinner – that will be a pound, which is the goal. That is doable.

Yesterday I made a big batch of vegetable bean soup. I’m eating this it lunch this week – the recipe made enough for at least 5-6 days and I may top a salad with some of it tonight. I’m still playing with it, but in a nutshell, here it is…

Homemade Vegetable Soup: “Quick” Method (allow a couple of hours)

  • 1 package of beans – I used a bag with a variety of 15 beans, but tossed the seasoning which has salt in it.

Wash and rinse beans well and bring to a boil in 3 quarts (12 cups) of water and cover. Allow to gently boil for an hour or so.

Then add the following…

  • 4-6 stalks of celery – diced
  • 4-6 carrots – diced
  • optional – the juice from 7 or 8 carrots. (I did this)
  • 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice (can be seasoned)
  • 1 yellow onion – diced.
  • Pepper and seasoning to taste (this is what I’m still experimenting with – not loving it enough to pass it on yet. Watch to make sure any that you add don’t have salt.
Cook for another 40 minutes until beans, celery and carrots are tender.
Let cool and pour into mason or recycled glass jars for individual servings and to talk with you to work. Refrigerate…
I hope that helps! Looking forward to the next couple days when this should become much easier! xo Amy

 

Eat to Live, Day 1: Getting Started

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Yep. It’s Day One of following the Eat To Live Six Week Plan and if breakfast is any indication, this is not going to be bad at all. I will warn you though, I am winging this at the moment.

Breakfast:

  • 7 strawberries (tops cut off)
  • 1 pear – peeled
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 1 peeled Kiwi
  • 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk
It was tough…. place ingredients in blender, push a button, wait for it to blend and voila! Time to drink it up. It was super delicious. I am in a bit of turmoil over if I can really have the soy milk or not and have put questions out to a few people. It doesn’t say you can have it in the book, but supposedly, Dr. Furhman says elsewhere that it’s okay? I don’t know, I had it in my smoothie today, but I’m still not sure about it – I will update you when I do find out. Fingers crossed that the answer is yes.

After wiping out sipping on the smoothie, I headed to the store for a few items. If you are starting this with me today, I hope you are more prepared. If you are starting in a few days… I should have it all figured out for you by then.

As with anything of course, preparation is key. Today, I am preparing to be prepared. I wrote about the basics of the plan the other day – you can read that here. Over the next few days, I’ll work on a suggested first-time shopping list that may be helpful if you decide to try this. I’m going to experiment with a few recipes throughout the next couple of days and come up with a delicious, but simple plan for newbies like me! I’m all about basic recipes and adding some variety when you have time to explore something new! If it’s too difficult or time-consuming, I’m not going to stick with it. This I know.

Eventually I’ll have a page dedicated to everything I know about Eat to live… unfortunately for me, I don’t know much yet! But I will soon :)

I had an AH-HA moment last night when I read a post by Dr. Fuhrman – I’ll share that with you tomorrow, because I haven’t quite processed it all yet, but I am really excited about it! I can’t stop thinking about it, it made so much sense to me.

I am still reading the ETL book, but I’m ready to jump on in. Here is the preliminary plan for today …

  • Weigh in I cannot I believe I forgot to do this. I will start tracking that tomorrow!
  • Smoothie for Breakfast
  • Salad with veggies and salsa for lunch and a carrot, apple, ginger drink
  • Steamed broccoli for dinner with bean soup and fruit
  • Try a recipe for salad dressing and another for salsa
  • Drink water – I am bad about that. I have to remind myself.
  • Get to sleep earlier than normal.
I think the hardest thing is going to be sticking to three meals and not grabbing something in between meals.

I’ll update later or tomorrow! Happy New Year! xo Amy

PS. I found out yesterday from a friend that Dr. Fuhrman was the Doctor that Joe Cross of Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead went to during the movie to get his blood work done. Did you know that? If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know how much I love Juicing. To me, Eat to Live is an extension of Juicing. I love juicing… I think I’m going to love this too!

 

A Love Affair with Pulp

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I have been juicing for over a year now and have always thrown away my pulp. Many times throughout the year I’ve preached that you should line your pulp catcher with a plastic bag to make it easier to clean up and dispose of.

I do have a book with assorted recipes for pulp, but it’s mostly about baking muffins, breads and other things that I really don’t need to eat. I have thought about creating a compost for my pulp. That’s something I may do next summer, but in the meantime, I confess – I have been throwing it away. I know that sounds innocent enough, but now that I know better, I am shaking my head. What the heck was I thinking?

The lightbulb moment came a few weeks ago when visiting Gigi, my friend and business partner in Florida. She is obsessed with a restaurant in Cayman called Jessie’s Juice Bar. She talks about it all the time and when she’s in Cayman you always know what she had for lunch and dinner because she’s posting photo’s from Jessies like the one below…

She may or may not have licked the bowl when she finished the beet salad. You be the judge…

Definitely wanted to!

It was during one of these conversations with Gigi about her favorite Juice Bar that she mentioned Jessie makes all of her wraps from the pulp of the juices.

What??????… she makes wraps from the pulp of her juices? Hello wraps! Of course, we promptly did what any other hungry, healthy food obsessed person would do… we jumped up and made two apple, carrot, sweet potato, kiwi, ginger juices. Then we dug out the dehydrator, mixed the pulp with some flax seeds, seasonings and juice from a lemon…

then we spread the mixture onto the dehydrator trays lined with parchment paper…

We heated them at 115 degrees for 3 hours (or when not stuck to the tray). Then flipped and cooked them for another 2-3 hours. The longer you cook, the crispier they get. Soft = wraps. Crispy = wedges/chips.

I’ve been making wedges. I tear the dehydrated sheets up, spread on a bit of vegenaise or yogurt (you can find vegenaise at Whole Foods)…

top with sliced tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste…

I am telling you, this is delicious! Just yummy!

I’m going to be experimenting with some different recipes for wraps in the future, but in the meantime, here’s my very basic, no fuss, on-the-run recipe…

  1. Dump pulp from 2 juices in bowl (around 4 cups)
  2. Squeeze juice from a lemon into bowl
  3. Add 1/2 cup or so of chia or flax seeds (ground or unground)
  4. Add seasoning if desired
  5. Mix and spread onto 2-3 lined trays
  6. Cook for 5-6 hours, flipping half way through.
Store in an airtight container.

Gigi made some fruit wraps the other day – the kids loved them!

This is the dehydrator that I have. They do make plastic liner trays for it if you don’t want to mess with cutting the parchment paper…

Even better, Jessie uses an Exacalibur with square trays which make it so much easier without the whole in the middle- here’s one with five trays…

Let me know if you try them! xo Amy

Weekend Recipe: GiGi’s Vegetable Soup

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I’m here in Florida for a few more days and thought I’d share a recipe for something we eat every single day – it’s GiGi’s version of the soup from the Cabbage Soup diet. Remember that Diet? GiGi adds lots more veggies and spices to the soup and has been steadily losing weight.  It’s really more like a vegetable soup or even a stew. We love it just as it is with a dollop of yogurt, but you can also add it to the top of a baked potato or a 1/2 cup of rice. Another option is to add pasta to the pot or even chicken or beans for protein. GiGi is a vegetarian, so the chicken is not happening in this house.  The recipe is plenty filling and personally, I find you really don’t need to add anything else. We both are at our lowest point on the scale since we’ve been eating healthy. Yay!

GiGi makes a great big batch every few weeks. Some of it she puts in the refrigerator, some she freezes for future use and she always has a container for Dr. Nune. Lisa over at PickMeYard tried it the other night and loved it! She couldn’t get enough. It’s a low-calorie, healthy, satisfying bowl of goodness. I love that you can make it over the weekend and have something to grab for lunch or dinner all week! It’s perfect to store in mason jars for carrying to work and to heat in the microwave.

I suggest you sample as you go and add the spices according to your taste. When I’m in town GiGi gives me my own pot to spice so it is perfect for me! All the veggies may make you gassy your stomach rumble if you are not used to them, but five or so drops of beano in your bowl will take care of that!

If you are curious about how the Cabbage Soup Diet is working for her  - she’s lost 25# so far, I’ll post about that next week or so, along with some of her tips, if you’d like to know more.

Here’s her recipe…

GIGI’S VEGETABLE SOUP

  •  1 large bottle V-8 whatever flavor or style you like. Regular is good.
  •  4-5 cans of diced tomatoes.  I mix them – Fire-roasted, basil, oregano, garlic etc.
  •  At least one box of fresh sliced mushrooms, can add more
  •  3-4 scallions chopped right to the end
  •  1/2 half large onion chopped
  •  At least one bag of small organic carrots, no need to chop
  •  1 bag Marketside (WalMart) green beans (not the giant bag)
  •  1 small bag Marketside butternut squash
  •  1 medium bag Marketside mixed veg – cauliflower, broccoli, carrots
  •  1 large zucchini chopped
  •  1 large summer squash chopped (yellow)
  •  About 4 sticks celery sliced thinly
  •  Green, yellow, orange pepper- 1 or all 3 chopped
  •  White  cabbage, at least half of a large chopped. Can also add 1/4 or 1/2 of a purple cabbage.

 Herbs and seasonings. Be  very generous. More rather than less:

  •  Garlic – fresh or from jar chopped 2 tbsp or so
  •  Cumin – ground 1 tbsp
  •  Turmeric – 1-2 tbsp
  •  Cinnamon – sticks: about 3 or ground 1 tbsp
  •  Oregano – 1 tbsp
  •  Caraway seeds – 3 tbsp
  •  Chia seeds – (Bob’s Red Mill – $10/pk). Store in Mason jar. Add to fruit smoothies on fruit day too.
  •  Flax seeds – golden or red (Bob’s Red Mill) 3 tbsp (Mason jar)
  •  Cardamom seeds.  Break open about 10 pods  and empty each pod into pot. Smash the tip of the pod on the counter. It breaks the pod open. Empty all the seeds into the pot.
  •  Herbs de Provence- 2 tbsp – not essential but tasty
  •  Vogue Cuisine Instant VegeBase (Whole foods, smallish round jar – Whole Foods-maybe Publix)  3-4 tbsp
  • Parsley
  • Cilantro
  • Salt
  • Pepper

I (GiGi talking) start by emptying tomatoes and V-8 into a large stock pot stir and then pour some into a medium stock pot with heat on medium high…

Start chopping and adding the veggies…

Add them to the pots in no particular order.

Next toss in the herbs and seasoning… By the time I get to this step, the soup is almost done.

When all is in the pot, turn heat to low, cover and simmer 20 more minutes or so…

Stir occasionally, making sure to lift vegetables from the bottom of the pot to the top of the mixture when stirring. Cook until the carrots are tender.

Note: If you want a brothier soup, add some V-8 when you heat up a serving.

Top soup with  a few dots of Earth Balance (Whole Foods, maybe Publix) Soy free Natural Buttery  Spread and/or a dollop of plain probiotic or homemade. (End of GiGi talking)

Sounds yummy, doesn’t it? Too bad, you don’t know Dr. Nune! She swaps homemade yogurt with GiGi for soup! It’s sooooooo good! If you ever want to try to make your own from scratch, I posted a recipe for it a few years ago – here’s a link!

Enjoy and have a great weekend… make sure to do something fun!  xo Amy

I Cooked a Falafel Burger and I Liked it!

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If you told me a year ago that I would try my hand at making a Falafel Burger, I would say… “a what?” What the heck is a Falafel Burger? As you may know, I’ve been slowly losing weight, eating healthier and juicing. I am eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans – less meat and chicken. I was a meat lover. Loved steak, chicken, processes, grilled… you name it, I loved meat.

Did you notice I said loved? What changed? Well, I still kind of sorta like it, but there are few things coming in between me and my meat. One thing is simply that I’m finding new protein sources that both taste good AND are healthier alternatives to meat. I had subconsciously cut back on eating meat or chicken to just a few times a week and realized I was okay with that. I was still getting protein from juices, nuts and beans.

The other thing is a bit more complicated. My love affair with meat began to unravel when I watched the documentary Food Inc.. Then, last month, GiGi made me I watched a horrific documentary called Earthlings. You can click on the link to watch for free. Anyway, it’s horrific in that it’s a true documentary of everything animal-related and it unveils some really horrible things that I could not have imagined even in my worst dreams. It’s THAT bad. It covers “pet stores, puppy mills and animals shelters, as well as factory farms, the leather and fur trades, sports and entertainment industries, and finally the medical and scientific profession”. Even now, I can’t eat a piece of  meat without thinking about it. The thing is, I H.A.T.E.D. it, BUT, to not watch would be like putting my head in the ground and I am not about putting my head in the ground. I now truly appreciate words like cage free, hormone free, pasture raised. Argh.

When I went to Epcot a few weeks ago – I was starving, but determined to eat healthy. I had just watched Earthlings and anything with meat was not an option. GiGi ordered a Falafel burger – she’s a vegetarian. I was feeling a bit adventurous, and said “I’ll take one too!”. At that point, all I knew was it was green and looked like a burger. then I discovered it tasted pretty darn good. I really, really liked it. Turns out it’s a made of chick peas/garbanzo beans, onion, parsley and a few other ingredients. I thought it would be a fun recipe to try at home.

This past Friday night I asked my parents to have dinner with Mike and I. Little did they all know they were guinea pigs for my new recipe :)

Here’s what was on my table and the recipes…

Falafel Burgers with Cucumber Sauce and Strawberry Spinach Salad with a balsamic dressing

FALAFEL BURGERS W/CUCUMBER SAUCE: Recipe adapted from AllRecipes

Cucumber Sauce (prepare first and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving)

  • 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cucumber – peeled, seeded, and finely shredded
  • 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise or grapeseed vegenaise (vegenaise is a delicious alternative to mayonnaise found in the refrigerator section of Whole Foods)
In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Falafel Burgers

  • 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash pepper
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup dry bread crumbs

In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don’t use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin.

In a food processor, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth.

Note: It really didn’t get smooth, just finely mixed. I added extra parsley, I would not do that again. It was too much.

Stir the mixture into mashed chickpeas.

In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed…

Form 6 balls and then flatten into patties. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and place patties on sheet. Lightly spray top of burgers as well. Note: Mine is lined with a Silicone Baking Liner.

Yes, those are some chick peas that you see… some didn’t get mashed. It still tasted good, so don’t stress if you miss a few!
 Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes –  flipping them halfway through.
While they are baking, prepare the salad:
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Layer the following:
  • Romaine torn into pieces
  • A few handfuls of baby spinach leaves
  • Sliced strawberries
  • Chopped onions
  • Sliced avocados
  • Dried cranberries
  • Almond slices
Serve with a balsamic or strawberry vinegarette
Since I knew my husband was going to be difficult, once the burgers were done baking, I threw them into a pan with a spritz of olive oil and lightly browned them on each side so they would look more like fried burgers.
 
Note: If you would rather fry them, the original recipe says: Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.
Serve on a bun with the cucumber sauce, lettuce, onion, tomato and a sprinkle of freshly shredded cheddar cheese…
The Verdict:
Mike: ”The salad was good”. He didn’t say, but basically didn’t say it, but he never wants to eat them again. He bet me that even the dog wouldn’t eat them, but my dog loved them, haha! He would have been more verbal, but it was our anniversary and he was trying to be nice… smart man, yes?
My Dad: He thought they were good, a bit different. He ate every last drop… mostly I think, because he loves me.
My Mom: She really liked them… admitted she was a bit worried when she heard what I was baking, but was pleasantly surprised.
Me: I really loved them. I added a bit too much parsley and that was a mistake, but overall, I really loved them!
So, what do you think? Are you going to try them? Let me know what you think if you do! xo Amy
P.S. Stay -tuned for some organizing idea, wedding news and more this week!

Look what’s Cooking while I’m at the Office; Dehydrating Tomatoes and Onions

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Tomatoes and Onions with a bit of Olive Oil and Seasoning

 

While in Florida a few weeks ago, I visited new blogger and good friend - Lisa of PickMeYard. Her home smelled soooooo yummy as she dehydrated dozens of fresh strawberries picked from her truly amazing garden. 

I had never used a dehydrator and because I am a sponge for new ideas – was excited to learn more from Lisa. I discover I could purchase a basic model at Wal-Mart for $39.00 or for a small price increase one that features a temperature control for $58.54 . 

Last night I experimented drying banana’s, strawberries and apples – they turned out delicious. It’s so easy…all you have to do is slice up your fruits of choice and place on trays. Note: I did soak my apples for 5 minutes in orange juice to prevent them from turning brown. Twelve hours later…done! Actually it was all delicious at 3 hours, 6 hours, 9 hours - not as crisp, but warm and chewy.  Now that I think about it, we were lucky to have any left after 12 hours – haha! 

I'm going to have to make a secret stash...they're not going to last long around here

Time to secretly stash some of these...they aren't going to last long around this house

 

This morning, before heading out to the office I sliced up some fresh tomatoes and onions, spread them on the trays, brushed with Olive Oil and topped with a bit of my husbands favorite seasoning. They will be a nice add to dinner tonight! I’ll let you know how they turned out. 

I really like my new dehydrator…it provides a great (and easy) way to make a healthy crunchy snack. Plus, don’t you hate it when there’s fruit in the house that only has a day or two of life before going bad? I know I do… with the dehydrator I can make sure none of it goes to waste. What a great way to make a healthy snack for both kids and adults. 

This weekend the guys are going to try making some Jerkey. xoxox Amy