Lettuce Wraps

So I took this idea from a couple of recipes at Engine2.com.

They suggest kale or swiss chard, but I used romaine lettuce leaves.
Spread the leaf with homemade hummus (I like it with garlic and red pepper) - but I need a better recipe with more spice and flavor.

Top the hummus with any chopped veggies you want. I used leeks, broccoli, green pepper and tomato. Corn would be good and so would cucumber and zucchini.

Roll the lettuce leaf like a burrito using the stem as the bottom. Ta da!

It was tasty (but my spice skills need work to improve flavors), filling - because you can eat however many you want, and easy. I suppose you could wrap anything up in the leaf - quinoa, rice, mustard - it essentially is a wrap, which we all know how to make and eat!

I kind of feel like an ex-smoker...I crave certain foods in certain situations. Fridays used to be pizza day. I don't miss it - but my brain thinks it needs it. It's an odd experience. I guess that's what an addiction is.

I'm going to the Rally for Sanity in D.C. tomorrow and packing some food. I want to avoid the vendors with hot dogs and kabobs!
I'm thinking...
Hummus sandwich on whole grain bread
the island vanilla shredded wheat from Kashi that I love to snack on
an apple
and maybe carrots

Onward :)

Motivational Life-ring!

I just found this website: Engine Company 2 Diet created by Rip Esselstyn - son of the good Doctor. At this site, Rip chronicles how he is challenging and working with Firefighters in Austin, TX to take on the plant-based regimen created by his dad.

The fabulous thing about this site is that it is fun, real, and has recipes that I can make!! It tells me how to cook kale and greens, has helpful hints on cooking lots of veggies, and makes the regimen a bit more approachable and less clinical!

Please check it out to see how real people are lowering their cholesterol and losing weight by adopting this plant-based way of eating for life!

Onward at full speed!
<3

Conflicting Health Advice

Yikes. The more I read, the more discouraged I get. So many conflicting pieces of information on what to eat, what not to eat, what is good for you, what is not good for you. I think that's why people often decide on the "everything in moderation" route.

Here are my dilemmas:
1. B12 - you have to have it and you can't get it from plants. I take a multi-vitamin every day that has all the B vitamins in it. I chose this vitamin years ago because of its formula that hits all the vegetarian needs. B12 is essential for your nervous system operation. Not something to fool around with. I can get it in Salmon...

2. Omega 3's - there are 3 types and you get only one from plant sources. All 3 are necessary for good brain health. I decided on a fish oil supplement gel cap that includes Krill as well as fish and gives you a great dose of the 2 missing Omega 3's. You also need Omega 6 in small doses and most people get it from plant-based oils. I have to check back to see how to get these. Flax gives you Omega 3. There is an entire medical literature about Omega 3 supplements too and which ones are good, which aren't and why...

3. protein - you don't need as much as you probably think you do. I am finishing up a can of whey protein powder because I like it, but it is a milk-based product... If you use whey protein powder there are all kinds of good and bad elements of it as well - cold vs. heat processed, raw vs. pasteurized, no growth hormones, grass fed cows, no long chain something or other...yikes. I am looking at hemp powder and bought one trial size packet to see if I like it in my almond milk fruit juice mix. Almond milk has protein, but I should be getting it from beans, lentils type foods. I probably don't eat enough of those. Could be why I am lacking energy. I used to get my protein from dairy products as a meat avoiding vegetarian. I need to eat more Quinoa.

4. Vitamin D - I can get it from almond milk. I also take a Vitamin D supplement occasionally (spray under your tongue). Sunshine is obviously the best source - but who wants skin cancer. Oy!

5. Gluten - the big fad now is to go gluten-free because it supposedly does dastardly things to your intestines and causes cancer. I can't add this to my list too. I like the whole grain bread they bake at my grocery and it fits all my other criteria...I like the Jerusalem Artichoke flour pasta and whole wheat pasta I have that fits all my criteria. I'll take my chances with gluten.

6. High Fructose Corn Syrup - luckily, I have been avoiding this for almost 2 years now and with a plant-based regimen, there aren't too many products with hidden sources that I eat anymore.

7. Fish - I don't think I want to eliminate this entirely because of the Omega 3 and B12 properties. I will, however, be very conscious of when I eat it, how much I eat, what type I eat. Not ready to bring it back into my diet just yet. Though I have had shrimp in a dish or two since starting this effort. I want to get the oil/fat craving out of my system as much as possible and then see how well I can handle it.

8. Calcium - this is an issue for me because I always relied on dairy as my source. Now I have to find the plants that are rich in calcium and be sure they are in my rotation. Butternut Squash is a good source and I am trying to learn how to cook it!

One of the joys of being oblivious to all this and eating fast foods is that you don't have to think about anything. When you are hungry, you eat. But years of doing that has gotten me to where I am. So for all those years of slacking, I now have to put in the work of thinking about what I eat proactively and not just avoiding meat :)

Onward!
<3

Kansas City Vegan-Friendly restaurants

Eating out is sometimes challenging, but my favorite KC restaurants make it pretty easy. I just ask for vegan and they accommodate me.

Had a great late-night meal at Pot Pie in Westport. It is such a great restaurant for anyone, but they made me a wonderful veggie plate with potatoes that is cooked in an apple cider reduction. Oh, yum. The house salad is fabulous too. I can't entirely avoid oil, but I can avoid butter.

Today I was at Blue Bird Bistro on the Westside at 17th and Summit. They serve organic and locally grown and raised food. I had the polenta and vegetables and it came with cheese - I said, the menu didn't indicate cheese - and the waitperson said, vegan? Yes! No problem. And voila - back it came without cheese. This is a restaurant with fabulous flavors. Also had the house salad with blueberry vinaigrette, and the apple and pear tart kind of desert. All wonderful.

Also recommend Korma Sutra Indian in Westport - their lunch buffet has a vegetarian side and I asked about cheese in dishes. None had any so I was good to go for a fantastic lunch.

There are few places to eat in Camden, let alone in Jersey that will accommodate my eating regimen. I could easily go over to Philly, but downtown restaurants are pretty expensive. So when I go to KC, I tend to eat out a lot.

Onward
<3

Leeks - who knew?

This week I have eaten a leek for the first time. If I have ever eaten a leek in a dish before I don't remember it or did not know it. I intentionally tried it this week and found out I love leeks!! To me they are like a giant green onion that is not as sharp tasting, but certainly flavorful. I bought a bag of fresh leek that was already washed, trimmed, and cut - because I didn't know what to do with a whole leek - what was the good part, what was not.

Tonight I threw it in with green pepper, brocolli, and carrot and steamed it in the micro using tamari sauce. Mixed it in with brown rice and it was great!! I'm a fan of Asian food and I also do not need a tremendous amount of spice to enjoy my food. I love spice and love eating out where ethnic spices are used. But I like a simple dish like this too and the tamari is really good.

I ate grapes and celery during the day as snacks. I haven't eaten celery in years - but it actually tasted good. That's part of the whole - my palette is coming back - thing.

I followed a great convo today on Facebook where some friends were discussing the merits of Omega 3 sources. I thought flax seeds were just fine - well I found out that there are 3 kinds of Omega 3 and flax only provides one. Your body may be able to use that kind and turn it into the other 2, but not everyone can do that. And the other 2 are the ones that are really important for your brain. As an academic, I find my brain to be a vital organ :)

So I am looking at fish oil supplements as a source of Omega 3's - I have tried Krill Oil gels, but I fear I have a shellfish allergy that is exacerbated by taking the gels every day. I can look for other fish oil supplements and now at least I know what to look for, but if you have a recommendation on a brand - let me know. My other option is to just eat fish - but you need it 2 or 3 times a week to maximize the effect and the PCB and Mercury contamination in fish could do more harm than good. Sigh. Who polluted the fish???? But whether I do supplements or eat fish, I will be allowing oil into my diet. I'm not sure how I feel about that - not because it breaks the rule - but because I fear it will leave me in that craving state forever. But I want to keep my brain healthy. Well, I'll figure it out.

I had a friend comment on my dilemma and said - oh, what's a little fish - go ahead and live dangerously. My friend then told me how a near death experience had changed his/her mind about denying pleasure. I thought about that a lot. Here is my answer - I have been living dangerously by stuffing my face with bad foods and letting my weight balloon. I am playing roulette every day. The pleasure I have been denying myself is in living a healthy life where the stress of what I am doing to myself does not kill me. I think I have really turned a corner on this one.

Today was a good day :D

Onward
<3

Menu as Forethought

I did 5 days worth of grocery shopping on Saturday. I planned some dishes, made a list, and hit the store. I figure the fewer times I am in the store, the less temptation there will be. More on that later...

I used to buy veggies with the intention of eating them and ending up throwing them away. Now, they are what I eat, so there is no throwing away! I made some great meatless, cheese-less chili, some homemade hummus that rocked for football watching, and finally found the Kiva Flatbread which is great with hummus. Tonight I made stuffed mushrooms that were excellent - filled with mushroom stems, shallot, diced red pepper, garlic, fresh basil, and Japanese-style breadcrumbs called Panko made from whole wheat flour. It's probably a bit more involved in terms of cooking than I would like, but the result was great.

I had to buy some cat food today and I had to go to a different grocery store to buy it. In my regular grocery I know the aisles to avoid. I found the cat food, was on my way to the register and hit the candy isle. I wanted some sugar. Before I knew it, Twizzlers were in my hand, paid for, in my bag and then in my mouth. It is just that easy to just enter an alternate universe where nothing you are trying to do exists, rules don't apply, and you do as you please.

Well, the sugar fix was wonderful, but the calories were awful. Luckily, eating lots of veggies means you don't have to count calories or deal cards to yourself with points, or any of that other stuff. Did I mention I had a soy latte this week?

The really hard thing about making these changes is losing your old friends - cheese, fries, ice cream, eggs, pizza, egg rolls, who were always there to comfort me, help me through my day, and never leave. In fact they still sit perched on my hips...

What I have to constantly remind myself of is that those foods are NOT my friends - they are impostors. My real friends are the people I see every day, who I text, IM, Facebook, Tweet, and phone - who want me around for a long, long time.

I'll get there, but I think it is important to be real about the roadblocks and what I learn. I realize that other food programs allow all things in moderation - but for me moderation is a moving target. So for now, I need to walk (er, eat) the straight and narrow. The good Dr. Esselstyn reminds us that "just a little" may as well be a truckload when your heart it at stake. Undoing damage takes time. That's what I gotta give it.

I am currently in my 4th week of this project. I looked back over my food diary and saw my progress! I started out with lots of X's for no-foods and too few check marks for yes-foods. Now I go whole days without an X! Of course, today was not that day - damn you Twizzlers!!!

I fear two things.
1. that I will get complacent and little slips will turn into more frequent slips and the whole thing will unravel. That's why I keep track of the X's and review daily. If I keep it square in front of me, I won't be as likely to enter that alternate universe where I forget what I am doing.
2. that I will get bored with what I know how to fix or am willing to fix and will lose my drive to do this. Although Jared ate nothing but Subway sandwiches, so I could just eat a regimented menu.

Onward
<3

Quinoa - Superfood!

I've had quinoa pasta before, but never the seed itself. I cooked it tonight for the first time. It is now my new favorite food :D

Quinoa (keen-wa) is a superfood - in that it is nutrient dense, a great source of protein, and highly versatile. I bought a bag in my grocery of Alter Eco organic quinoa that is from Bolivia and is a free trade import. I like to do my part for global trade.

Quinoa is actually the seed of the plant, and yes, it is tiny and hard. It looks a bit like barley or tiny pasta. You have to rinse the seed to get its outer coating off - which if left on - leaves a bitter taste (or so I'm told). Rinsing the seeds is challenging because they are tiny and will slip through a mesh strainer. Cheesecloth would probably be best. I used a convoluted method of a pot and a 2 cup glass measure and drained the water off the pot into the measure to capture any errant seeds. When the water comes off clear, it's good to go. Catching the drained water allows you to easily see if it is clear. It is messy to handle - it does not float and sticks to anything you put in the pot - a spoon, your fingers, and does not release - almost like it is statically charged. Kind a creepy.

You cook 1 cup quinoa with 1 1/2 cups of water, by bringing to a boil, then simmering for 15 minutes, in a tight-lidded pot. Let stand without the heat for another 5 minutes, and fluff the cooked quinoa with a fork. The finished product is a bit like rice, has a slightly nutty taste, and is quite yummy! I steamed some mushrooms, carrot sticks, and baby asparagus in the micro-wave using some tamari sauce. Drain the excess water that comes off the mushrooms after cooking, and fold into the quinoa. Delicious.

I found a number of internet sites dedicated to quinoa recipes and there are a million things you can do with this food - pilaf, patties, salad, stuffed peppers, pudding, and on and on. It fixes fast, it is tasty, you can make enough for leftover to have in a completely different dish the next day, and it has protein - did I mention that?

Thanks to my friend, Beverly, for suggesting I try this. She's cooks it frequently and gave me the nudge to try it :)

Onward!
<3

Vidalia Onion

Bake a Vidalia sweet onion - they are supposed to get "sweeter" by baking. In fact, the onion was very edible! I cut out the core, dropped in some pre-minced garlic, capers, Provence spices, and fresh cilantro. In the roaster pan I added some organic red potatoes and gave them the flavor treatment too. Put a little water in the pan, cover in foil, bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I really liked the potatoes, especially with some spicy mustard! The onion, not as much. Probably would be much better as a side dish and not the main course. A little onion, even a sweet one, goes a long way.

But you know what? I've never cooked an onion before. So, at least I'm willing to try something a little different to stay on this path.

I was jonesin' for junk food today, something fried, something crunchy. Yep, it's like that. Over 3 years ago I gave up Diet Coke and I was a dietcoke-aholic! Many times I have really, really wanted a DC, but knew that if I gave in, I might never be able to give it up again. Having had that trial, I am a bit prepared for these CRAVINGS, but it is still challenging. Yikes, my brain is fighting my body.

Diet Coke leeches calcium from your body, is filled with chemicals, and is just not a good thing to ingest. That's why I gave it up. When I remind myself of that, it helps. Why no oil or saturated fat? Because it clogs the arteries. LDL cholesterol builds in the body when you eat fat. It gets sticky and clings to the inside wall of arteries. When clogged, the white blood cells come to grab up the cholesterol, but as they do, they turn into plaque, which also builds on the artery wall. A protective cover forms to keep the plaque in place, but eventually it can rupture, releasing pussy goo into the artery. White blood cells attack! But this just clogs the artery - leaving you with a heart attack. If this process goes on in a non-coronary artery, it could produce blocked blood flow or a clot - thrombosis. Yep, that's what's goin' on. Eeeewwww :(

It is that mental picture of this that helps me quiet the craving. The craving will pass.

Cooking - I haven't done for so long

One thing about this regimen is that there are no fast-food places to get what I need. Even my favorite take-out spots are not heart healthy. So for now, I have to take a pass.

And if I don't want to eat everything raw...I must cook. My tiny kitchen makes this tricky - I have a single sink, a prep space that fits the cutting board, a microwave above the stove, and a gas range! Thank goodness for the range - because I definitely can't cook on electric coils.

Tonight, I tried one of the Esselstyn family recipes (the Dr. who created this regimen) and adapted to my tastes. Here is the recipe as I made it. The amounts of each ingredient are as you like:

• Brown Rice (if I had made a batch ahead of time, I could save lots of after-work prep time), cooked in Pacific organic vegetable broth instead of water
  
• can of black beans (I like Westbrae Natural organic vegetarian, just make sure there is no added stuff, just beans and water), drained
• matchstick carrots (because they get tossed in and this size is easiest)
• fresh green (or red) pepper diced - steam in the micro a bit to soften and cook a little
  
• fresh chopped cilantro
• salsa (I like Muir Glen organic, but use your favorite)

Cook the brown rice. Add beans, carrots, green pepper and cilantro. Stir. Top with salsa.

No kidding. It's that easy. It is amazingly tasty and filling.

Next time, I will look for more veggies to add. A can of tomatoes and/or corn come to mind. The dish is a bit heavy on the starch. So maybe green beans instead of corn would be good, or baby asparagus. I have both in the fridge, and can use with the leftover for tomorrow's lunch.

Leftover (with no salsa), also can be served with a vinaigrette or without - as a cold salad.

Ok, so I can "cook" or at least throw together ingredients easily to make a tasty dish!

But something very wonderful is happening to my pallete...I'm tasting the flavors of food. I thought I was just really hungry tonight after waiting 45 minutes for the brown rice to cook, and that's why it tasted so good. But I discovered that it not only tasted good, but the flavors popped. That's because my sense of taste is coming out from under the blanket of processed food flavor, oil induced flavor, and dairy flavor. I must say, it is quite pleasant! The good Dr. Esselstyn foretold this in his book, but I thought he was just trying to put lipstick on the pig. Who knew!

As for my progress...I will be honest and admit a big slip this past weekend. I went to a Mexican restaurant. Don't do this while you are still learning this regimen. There really is nothing to eat, so you will make "compromises" and that is like heroin to the junky. I followed it up later with kettle-cooked potato chips. Don't ask. Let's just say, I am not beating myself up. It was a slip and I really don't want to go there again.

Onward!
<3

Leftover Soup

My cold is much better!

I had leftover soup and the broth had thickened overnight. What to do? Make goulash!

I added some Hodgson Mill whole wheat pasta as I reheated the soup. Voila - a yummy, nutritious, no saturated fat dinner.

I have to say, that making choices gets easier and my blood sugar ups and downs are definitely waning - yay!

So far so good. But I'm in this for the long haul. I expect more bumps in the road. Luckily, I'm in my 4-wheeler that I call survival!

Soup for a Cold

I have a cold.

What do you do when Chicken Soup is not an option?

Make veggie soup. I did it in 70 minutes and it is delicious. I have a tiny kitchen, so I have to minimize prep and use convenient products with as little waste as possible (no disposal in my kitchenette).

1 box of Pacific Natural Organic Mushroom broth.
assortment of fresh vegetables: I used mushrooms, peas, carrots, asparagus, green beans - all bought in the store in their own bags, pre cut and washed. I just threw them in by the handful until it looked right.

Provence French seasoning (dried) which I just put in the soup, but could have put in a cheesecloth garni bag for simmering.

Crushed garlic

I simmered this brew for 30 minutes, then while it continued to cook, pureed a fresh, peeled yam and added for the last 20 minutes or so of cooking to give the broth a bit of thickening. I added a little bit of water to make the puree easy to add to the soup.

Yum, yum, yum. No saturated fat in this dish, but plenty of whole food goodness!

Navigating the Grocery Store

This is like a game show. Can you make it through the maze of tempting, but bad foods, and get out of the store without sabotaging your eating regimen? Not easy, but I did it!

I have the Kindle for Iphone app and have Dr. Esselstyn's book there. I open it in the store to see the recipes and suggested brands. I read labels, I pass on things, I long for tastes and flavors. I don't even go into the cheese section - I'm not that strong. I find interesting things in the produce section and think about what I can do with the items so I will actually eat them. I peruse and make selections in the organic section - scoring a great find - Pacific Natural veggie broth in the convenient 4 pack of small cartons. Perfect for me so I don't end up wasting half a big carton.

I look at sauces and toppings and find them all laden with oil. I buy a few key spices to jazz up the vegetables. I finally find a good cracker - Wasa whole grain crispbread. I went home and made some tahini-free hummus and had it on the crispbread. Yum!

I had lunch today at a friend's, who is a vegetarian. She fixed a wonderful carrot soup and made a fantastic salad. What I discovered is that the spices and herbs along with the mixture of vegetables is what made the food sooooo tasty. The meals I grew up on and carried over into adulthood always had "a" vegetable. Tonight is peas, tomorrow is green beans. But when you combine vegetables in new ways, you get new tastes. Get beyond succotash and be creative!
Onward.

Facing Roadblocks

I have been adjusting my diet, my mindset, and my habits over the last week. Not easy, but I remain motivated. But motivation is not enough. Life is one big barrier to a successful eating regimen because the majority of people in the USA are eating poorly every day - whether they are rich or poor, skinny or fat, young or old - we are killing ourselves with what we eat.

Some people will not suffer from their poor choices as much as others will. Since I have a family history of heart and vascular death on both sides of my family tree, I am someone who is going to be highly affected by a poor diet. So for people like me, this is a life issue.

I was out of town in Las Vegas for a conference the past 3 1/2 days. Of course you can't be in Vegas and not find a thousand things to tempt you. Remember - saturated fat is a drug. You crave it, you love the taste of it, and for many of us we have turned that satiation into a substitute for feeling good and feeling love. It's a chemical reaction and it can be broken. Doesn't mean you can't feel good with out it and certainly does not mean you won't feel love without it.

So - I maintained my food diary while I was gone. That was a huge help. I was tempted to cheat on what I wrote down - to make myself feel better. Twisted. But I didn't cheat on the diary and I found that making a few comments along the way actually was helpful.

Roadblock One - you are in a hurry, you need something quick. You already have some quick food patterns, so just fall back on them. I went to Starbucks for the morning latte and instead, picked up the Odawalla Smoothie in the case. No milk, just fruit and energy.

Roadblock Two - you are on a five hour flight and your airplane food choices and airport terminal food choices are limited. I had packed a plastic baggie of cereal - Kashi Island Vanilla whole shredded wheat. Kept me away from the snack box and I was not famished from empty calories when I got off the plane.

Roadblock Three - you have the opportunity to try some fantastic restaurants in the city you are visiting. You get in late and want to order room service. Here's what I did.
Room service = salad with dressing on the side, plain baked potato, mixed vegetables, dinner roll. My mistake - they brought butter and sour creme on the side. The butter was really good :( and I caved to my crave. But the salad I saved in the room fridge for a snack the next day while I worked and that was brilliant!!

Lunch/Dinner out = a Portabella mushroom "burger" with lettuce, tomato, and mustard with a side of veggies works for me. I can discretely remove the shaved Romano cheese from the bruschetta. And instead of going to a pasta place, I found a fantastic whole foods gourmet restaurant - Chef Bradley Ogden inside Ceaser's Hotel - where heirloom tomato salad and quinoa topped with veggies was fantastic!!! The French restaurant was a little tougher - but my dinner pal and I split a beautiful salad and I had only one bite of the delicious cheese. I had the best veggie platter in the world - of course butter makes it better - but infinitely better than anything else I could have chosen on the menu.

The bottom line, folks, is that this regimen is not easy and the world will sabotage you in a heartbeat. But my motto became - pass up on the obvious stuff and anything I could easily keep off my plate. If there were hidden problems, like veggies cooked in butter, I would accept it. In this way I kept trying and I passed on everything I would have normally eaten (save that one bite of fantastic fromage...). I passed on milk in the coffee (except once). I passed on all chocolate. I had seafood taco instead of cheese quesadilla at the Mexican place, but homemade fried chips and seafood are still a roadblock. Dr. Esselstyn would not be pleased with me because I did not keep 100% to the regimen. His reasoning that "a little taste" will hurt you is because a little heroin is as bad as a lot of heroin - it induces the same craving. Saturated fat is saturated fat and eating a little or the hidden amounts maintains the craving.

I got that when I got home from my trip and all I could think about was falling back on old habits. Wouldn't a pizza be good? Or a burrito with cheese? I'll cheat just a little with a cheese sandwich. I ended up eating a Wawa veggie hoagie on whole wheat bun - no cheese, no mayo - just lots of veggies. It was heaven - because I made a good choice and it was very, very tasty with peppers, pickles, spicy mustard, etc. And I also got a green tea and a Naked Juice Smoothie (no milk) for tomorrow's breakfast.

So go to Vegas and have fun. Eat well, just not wrong. Save your life and have a tasty time doing it! Onward.