Some Days Are A Bitch!

Ok, it was the whole weekend. The whole weekend was a bitch for me. I was missing Jeff who was traveling for work again and Sam is starting to get exceptionally clingy while Jeff is gone. Not cute, sweet, cuddly clingy. Crazed, screaming to the point of nausea, banging, throwing himself violently on the floor the minute he couldn't see me clingy. Plus, I had book (wine :)) club Saturday at which my fellow book lovers chose a fondue buffet and a play date with a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs yesterday. I'm not going to beat myself up but I had a spoonful of cheese fondue, 4 shrimp and a touch of sangria on Saturday and I ate a meatball and the garlic bread that Sam didn't finish yesterday. Is it the end of the world? No! I immediately jumped to a self loathing place last night and then quickly stopped myself.

 

Just as one healthy meal doesn't make us healthy, one irresponsible series of bad food choices over two dinners, doesn't make us fat and unhealthy. I knew the friend with whom we were having the play date was making spaghetti and meatballs so I took a giant salad with my favorite Dijon Date Dressing, oven roasted broccoli, and what's soon to become an all-the-time fixture in our dinner repertoire. Baked cauliflower cheese sticks with marinara. They very nearly meet the nutritarian food choices I've been making. They do have one egg white which I'm not savvy enough just yet to know how to replace. Otherwise, I was able to modify the recipe ever so slightly to take out all of the oil with the exception of the spray I used so they wouldn't stick. Here's the recipe with my modifications.

 

Baked Cauliflower Cheese Sticks

1/4 of a large head of cauliflower “riced”

2 cloves garlic, grated or minced

1 large egg (white), lightly beaten

1/2 Cup Go Veggie mozzarella and cheddar style cheeses mixed

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning, divided

Marinara Sauce for dipping

Preheat the oven to 350F and spray a 9 by 5-inch quarter cookie sheet (covered with tin foil) with cooking spray. Rice the cauliflower in a food processor. When you’re done, you should have about 1.5 cups lightly packed. Place the riced cauliflower and the garlic into a microwavable bowl and microwave until softened, about 5 minutes depending on your microwave (no need to add any water). When your cauliflower/garlic is softened, add the lightly beaten egg white, Italian seasonings, and 3/4 of your cheese mix. Be sure to leave 1/4 of the cheese for the topping! Stir and mix well, then spread onto your prepared pan.

Bake at about 400F for about 40 minutes. You may have to play around with your oven to find the right baking temperature. Bake until they start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven, flip the loaf over so the bottom side is now on top, and bake for another 10 minutes or so.

Now it’s time to add the remaining cheese and a sprinkle more of the Italian herb seasoning. Place back in the oven until the cheese is melted and golden. Cut into pieces and serve hot or warm. I did find that if you let them sit for a little, they will harden slightly and make them easier for dipping.

 

Commercial spaghetti sauce has an upsetting amount of sodium so I made my own spaghetti dipping sauce.

8 ounce can of no salt added tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon of Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos

1 teaspoon of onion powder.

 

Here's the one I reheated for today's lunch and it was just as good on the reheat.

 

 

Okay, okay, they didn't stop me from finishing Sam's piece of bread but they stopped me from having more bread and meatballs. They were fantastic dipped in a little spaghetti sauce. I recommend them wholeheartedly for when you're serving Italian.

 

I slipped a little. I am not perfect. I am a work in progress. And that is okay. Delicious choices like these certainly help my progress. It's also okay to be a little weak sometimes. This is definitely something I struggle with. I'm not great at asking for help, question myself sometimes as I'm sure all humans must do, and bad days happen to me just like they happen to everyone. I'll admit, after Sam was asleep last night, I cried in the tub a little. I cried for his sadness, my inability to fix it immediately, what at the time felt like a much bigger deal than it actually is in my giving in to food, and just because I was overwhelmed.

 

Honestly, that last two sentences might have been the hardest thing I've written in months. And that's okay too!

 



Amazing Nutritarian Spinach Stuffed Mushroom

Stuffed mushrooms are one of my FAVORITE things! They're usually stuffed full of breadcrumbs, or cheese, or crab, or basically all kinds of things I'm not eating as part of my nutritarian food choices. Luckily, Dr. Fuhrman put out the Eat To Live Cookbook late last year that includes an absolutely delicious stuffed mushroom recipe!

 

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

1 small onion, chopped

12 large mushrooms, stems separated and chopped (I used 4 medium caps)

1 clove minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup low or no sodium vegetable broth

5 ounces fresh spinach

2Tablespoons raw almond butter

1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast

Black pepper to taste

 

Water saute the onion with about 1 Tablespoon of Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos or tamari for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, and thyme and saute until onions and mushroom stems are tender, about 3 minutes. Add mushroom caps and vegetable broth to pan, bring to simmer and cook 5 minutes (because the mushroom caps I had were kind of flat and thinner than smaller caps, I only left them in about 2 minutes so they would hold a little shape for stuffing). Remove caps from pan and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Add spinach to onion mixture and heat until wilted. Remove from heat and stir in almond butter, nutritional yeast, and black pepper. Fill caps with onion/spinach mixture and bake 15-20 minutes.

Man it's hard to take pretty pictures of food. Here's my picture.

Dr. Fuhrman's Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

 

Here's the picture on Dr. Fuhrman's website.

 

 

Whatever, they were so good with a side salad of mixed greens, Cucumber Noodles with Coconut Lime Dressing, and sprouts, I don't care that they kind of deflated on the reheat!

 

On an exercise note: I very nearly wimped out today. Jeff had to get up and head to the airport at 3AM for a work trip and I rolled over while he was getting ready and pushed my alarm to regular time (i.e. no time for a run). When I finally got up and around, I was kicking myself in the ass for not getting with it. As the day wore on, it got easier and easier to think it was no big deal. Husband's gone, no help with Sam or around the house. Surely that grants me a pass right? Right?

 

Wrong!

 

Once I could no longer hear Sam singing to himself and knew that he was asleep, I put on my running gear and got to it. I even added 8 minutes from Wednesday. And I kicked it's ass! I think a lot of us get into trouble by thinking that we can just skip this once or that we don't have to be consistent with our healthy habits. It helps for me to know that this isn't a diet, it's my life and I want to keep on living it so I'll embrace my Friday night sweat with open arms!!! I made a promise to myself, to Jeff and Sam, and to this journey.

 

 

Yea buddy!

 

I Feel Better But How Do I Look?!?

As I've stated before, my particular journey is about health. Weight loss is just one wonderful part of that. I feel great. No more heartburn. No more drag assing at 3 in the afternoon. No more tummy issues. And no more feeling tired before I even got out of bed. My thyroid medication and my hormones are doing their jobs. My supplements are doing their jobs. And my food choices seem to be doing their job.

 

The scale is slowly but surely ticking down, down, down and it's nice to see. Just yesterday, I was able to wear a blazer at work that I hadn't comfortably worn in about 6 months. It was still in my work closet, thank goodness because my arms were freezing yesterday, where I'd hung it in the winter when it was so snug on my arms, I considered getting rid of it.

 

Check out how cute it is! It's like shopping for new clothes without spending any money.

 

 

Okay it's a little rumpled but give me a break, it was in the closet for months. Also, it's a bathroom selfie, something I promised myself I would never do. All in the name of the full disclosure I promised you from the embarrassing start!

 

My mini-victory got me to thinking, why are we so hard on ourselves when it comes to a fitness or health journey? If I say "It's only 9 pounds", then I'm totally setting myself up for failure with a defeatist attitude. The journey has to start somewhere. And not only that, if I walked into the grocery store and lifted a 10 pound bag of potatoes, I guarantee I'd think that was a lot. 9 pounds in 17 days is NOT TOO SHABBY. I allow myself to scream it from the rooftops and be proud!

 

I declare publicly, today, this very moment, to own my victories, all of them no matter how big or small. Own them, celebrate them, and share them. Today I will share that I ran 2 minutes longer than Monday. Not only did I not die, I felt great afterward. Ready to take today by the horns.

 

Don't wait another day. Start with a small victory if you need, just start!

I'm Back In The Saddle Again....Well My Running Shoes Anyway

I had a fabulous weekend. Friday night was my work bowling tournament and the pizza was a hard thing to just walk on by, BUT I did it (for the most part) and my eggplant roll-ups were awesome just as I knew they would be! Ok, I took one bite of my co-workers pizza and ate 2 pepperonis off of another. Interestingly, I bought a beer because it sounded like a good idea and come on, I was bowling, then drank less than half before I ended up tossing it. It just didn't taste as good as I thought it was going to taste. Too bad half a beer isn't available in those cases. AND in one game, I even came in second. That's me, player #2. I don't think I've ever come on second unless there were only 2 of us bowling! Turns out bowling is good exercise for the inner thigh of your lead leg. I'd forgotten that too. I'll take it where I can get it.

 

 

Saturday, we got up early and headed to the zoo about an hour East of home. We made some animal friends, saw some beautiful flowers, and I pushed the stroller up a couple of hills that felt like pretty good exercise to me. After the zoo, we found a wonderful lunch spot that had vegetarian options that were perfect for me. A grilled veggie sandwich on whole wheat pizza dough bread...ok! The bread had a seasoning mix already on it that clearly had salt in it, but this is the real world and I will do the best I can when someone else is preparing my meal. I even ate about 3/4 of the goat cheese that was on it. It was locally made and so, so, so, so good!

 

Sunday we got to FINALLY celebrate Father's Day with my Father-in-law. We had a cookout at the house and I found the most awesome vegan burger so that I could get the delicious, smoky grill flavor too. Voila, the Mushroom, Walnut, Quinoa Spicy Vegan Burger. Check out the rest of this fantastic recipe resource blog HERE. There are LOTS of recipes that can be tweaked slightly to fit the Eat To Live lifestyle.

 

 

Mine weren't nearly this pretty so I am using the photo from the website. I'm going to have to practice getting these to effectively stick together but they are so worth it. I will also grind the walnut in a mill the next time as well so that there aren't chunks of walnut in them. I love the walnut flavor but the texture was a little off-putting. I ate mine with a fat slice of purple onion, delicious black heirloom tomato, spicy mustard, a slice of Go Veggie. This is a new favorite line of mine. I'm just not sure I can have NO cheese most of the time. These are delicious products that melt wonderfully. The slices are thin but that's perfect so I can have the taste and mouth-feel without overdoing it! 

 

My modifications:

1) I used tap water because really, mineral water to boil quinoa....nope.

2) I don't care for teriyaki sauce but it did need the binder and moisture so I substituted stone ground mustard with a splash of low sodium worcestershire.

3) I didn't use any olive oil for frying. I used just enough spray to keep them from sticking, then water as needed when the pan dried out.

4) Instead of finishing them in the oven, I had Jeff pop them on the grill for me. Because they were slightly crumbly, I put them on foil first but I highly recommend this step if you're able.

 

I was also in the mood for a pretty dessert that was more than a bowl of mixed fruit. I found just such a dessert in the Raw Blueberry and Kiwi Tart on the fabulous Blissful Basil blog. Check it out HERE.

 

 

I was relatively sure my in-laws wouldn't want a piece, and thank goodness I was right, so I quartered the recipe and used a mini loaf pan instead of the full sized tart pan she used for the picture above. I only say thank goodness because we had some left-over that I intend to eat after dinner tonight! I ended up with a checkered pattern instead of a circle, and a convert in my husband. He said he especially liked the cashew cream and that he'd like for me to make it again.

 

So, to my title. I had given up running, after over a year of regular sessions, a few months ago mostly because of my energy level. I just didn't feel up to it after work, making dinner, cleaning up, bathtime, bedtime, preparing lunch for the next day, blog posts, laundry, and whatever else came up in the evening. First of all, once your body is back in maximum production mode, it's a lot easier. Seriously, if you aren't felling good, right, normal, whatever you want to call it, make an appointment with your doctor. I chalked it up to "just life", "busy mom", etc. for far too long. I've been feeling a lot more like I thought I should feel at 39 since I first started this journey.

 

Secondly, and maybe more importantly, I had the timing all wrong. Of course I didn't feel like it at the end of the day. I have really full days and I'd like my evenings to be spent with my family and doing other things I love like watching So You Think You Can Dance and reading. I decided to bite the bullet, wake up 45 minutes earlier and start my day off right! I think I might have been more excited than I thought. I woke up and hour and 15 minutes earlier than normal. I actually was only able to run for 18 minutes with 2 minutes of walking on either side today which made me sad because I used to run for 45 minutes no sweat. After I finished, I headed back upstairs and when Jeff woke up he put me straight. That is 22 minutes longer than I ran/walked any of the days in the last few months. He's totally right!

 

SO, I'm proud, energized, and down 8 pounds! Whatever it takes, don't wait another day to feel good. I'll even give you my phone number if it comes down to support. That's how much it means to me.

 

 

 

 

Sometimes It Really Is In Your Mind

I sort of can't believe this. I am hosting a bowling tournament tonight for my work and arranged for pizza, chips, and candy to be available to the bowlers. I knew the smell of the pizza would be tough for me so I packed the eggplant roll-ups from this post so that I would have a pizza-ish dish to eat with the bowlers. As I was packing it this morning, I realized that I was more excited for the roll-ups than the thought of the pizza.

 

I think it comes down to delicious food for me. If I'm not being deprived of delicious things, I don't feel sad about "missing out". Also, it's important to remember this is NOT a diet, it's my life, my health, and my dedication to living to be an old, old woman, for me, and for my family.

 

It doesn't have to be this way!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Remember that the Eat To Live food choices you make aren't always going to be the easiest way to give your body nutrients because it takes more time, preparation, and planning, than pulling into a drive thru or grabbing a quick bite from the convenience store, but your body will thank you. First of all, not to be a Debbie Downer but most of that food isn't actually food. It's a little scary to look at ingredient lists and research on fast food and prepackaged/processed items. More importantly, I haven't felt sluggish, or snacky, in almost two weeks. My energy is good. I haven't had any tummy issues, heartburn, or gastrointestinal yuck since I started eating FOOD. 

 

AND, to keep on track for my self reporting to my doctor at my next appointment (3 months away!!!!!), I am down 8 total pounds since June 9th. While eating MORE food than I did before. In the interest of keeping it fresh, I ordered Dr. Fuhrman's Eat To Live Cookbook (yay!) and I've been scouring Pinterest for yummy recipes that I can modify, try, and share with you. I found another one that is SOOOOO good, I couldn't wait to share it.

 

Cucumber Noodles With Coconut Lime Dressing

 

Due to the site's copyright, I can't print the recipe, but I highly recommend you click on the link and check it out. I found it at an outstanding blog called Rawmazing.

 

My Modifications To The Cucumber Noodles

1) I used a can of coconut milk + 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut instead of the flesh and water from fresh coconut because I live in Missouri and frankly, some ingredients aren't easy to find.

2) I used white sesame seeds because that's what I had.

3) I used 1/4 teaspoon Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos instead of salt

 

My Modifications To The Hot Chili Garlic Sauce

1) I only used 3 hot chilis so I could be less sparing than instructed :).

2) I replaced the salt with 1/4 teaspoon Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos.

3) I didn't used ANY sweetener.

 

Happy, Healthy Eating

 

 

 

Great News From My Doctor AND A Yummy Tomato Soup

I had a follow up for the thyroid and liver issues today and the news was so, so, so great. I am responding really well to the medications and Eat To Live food changes that I don't have to go back for three months!!!!!! And I can add a little bit of animal protein back into my diet. No more than 2-3 times a week but with a little planning, that should be easy peasey!

 

I know I said last week that I was going to continue to eat the same things that I liked from last week through the 5 weeks and I will continue to recycle some of my favorites but I need a little more variety now that I'm getting the hang of things.

 

I found a raw, vegan tomato soup recipe that very nearly subscribed to all of the Eat To Live program and modified a little to really fit because I LOVE tomato soup and the tomatoes at our farmer's market looked so good that I bought too many. What a happy oops!

 

 

Raw Tomato Basil Soup

 

3 medium ripe tomatoes

3 sun-dried tomato slices

2 stalks of celery

a pinch of onion powder

a pinch of garlic powder (or a giant pinch like I did ;))

1-2 sprigs basil

1/2 avocado

sea salt to taste

 

Cut the tomatoes in half and put in blender. Add sun dried tomatoes and blend until smooth. While the blender is still going, add the celery, sea salt, onion and garlic powder and keep blending until fully incorporated. Then add the basil and continue to blend. Finally, add the avocado and blend for just a few seconds to combine.

 

This recipe was adapted from Linda Wagner's fabulous blog, http://lindawagner.net/blog/. You should check her out. She has a wonderful site full of mind, body, and spirit advice and information.

 

Notes:

Linda used a Vitamix. I don't have one.....yet. It's on my wish list.

Linda used the heat from the blending of the Vitamix to warm her soup. I heated it for about 2 minutes in the microwave because I like, hot, hot, hot soup!

I didn't have any celery so I just left it out. I don't feel the soup suffered any as a result.

I left the salt out on my doctor's advice and added a teaspoon of Dr. Bragg's liquid aminos instead.

 

I may have a new favorite breakfast!! Yep, soup is my favorite breakfast.

Four Dips And Dressings You Shouldn't Live Without

I like vegetables and salads! I also like dips and dressings. Commercial dips and dressings are full of fat, salt (so much salt), and chemicals that I just don't want, or need, in my diet or the diets of my boys. Luckily, there are delicious, easy alternatives to store bought.

 

All but one of these dips and dressings have been featured in previous posts but they deserve their own post with the few changes I've made to them. The changes I've made still subscribe to the Eat To Live philosophy so feel free to feel good about choosing to eat them. The dips are all great with raw veggies or homemade pita/tortilla chips. I made scads of the dressing and eat it on all my salads and steamed veggies!

 

Black Bean Hummus

Serves 4

1 1/2 cups cooked black beans

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash or otherno salt seasoning 

2 tablespoons tahini

2 teaspoons Dr. Braggs liquid aminos

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 clove garlic, chopped

Dash cayenne pepper

Dash paprika, for garnish

Blend all the ingredients except the paprika in a food processor or high-powered blender until smooth, scraping down the side as needed. Add more seasoning to taste. Add more water to achieve the desired consistency. Garnish with paprika.

 

Dijon Date Dressing

Serves 4

1 cup water [I added a touch more after blending because was too thick to pour]

1/3 cup raw cashew butter

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Mrs. Dash or other no-salt seasoning

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Dr. Braggs liquid aminos

4-6 dates, pitted

1-2 cloves garlic

 

Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender until smooth and creamy.

 

     Simple Guacamole      

Serves 4

2 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Dr. Braggs liquid aminos

Using a fork, mash the avocados in a small bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and chill.

 

Hell On The Border

Serves 4

1 large tomato

1 large onion

 4 ounce can of diced green chiles

2 tablespoons lemon (or lime) juice

1 teaspoon Dr. Braggs liquid aminos

 

Dice the tomato and onion. Add green chiles, lemon juice and Dr. Braggs.

Note: This is my own recipe, adapted from a staple of my house growing up. My parents lived in New Mexico before I was born and this was on our table as long as tomatoes were good!

 

These are real, good for you food, easy to make and delicious. They LIVE in our fridge now.

Enjoy!