Love Your Food and Your Food Will Love You

Sometimes I can talk Roland into inviting a work associate (friend? peer? dude?)  home for dinner. This week was one of those times. Roland has been telling me how awesome this guy is for months now.

Prasad Kaipa. He works with Roland as a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership. He is also a professor at the Indian School of Business, and does Executive Coaching. He is a good photographer. He has a lovely wife and 2 beautiful children. And to my great pleasure he is a wonderful conversationalist who isn't at all afraid to talk talk talk. We talked about lots of interesting things but I want to share with you our conversation about food.

He is vegetarian and so he appreciated my meal of vegan lasagna, fresh baked french bread, big green salad, and apple sauce. We talked about how after a meal like that you feel satisfied but light. He told us that you must love your food and treat it with respect and care. He said when we eat the food meets 3 main needs: 1) emotional/spiritual edification, 2) physical/nutritional rejuvenation, 3) the elimination of that which is not of use. He said when we carefully prepare and consume our food with love it does a better job of meeting all 3 needs.

Eat with love.

I think this is why a bowl of watermelon is so much more satisfying than a bowl of cold cereal. And imagine the satisfaction emotionally and nutritionally of eating a watermelon you have grown and nurtured with tenderness.

He encouraged me to read a book called Messages from Water written by a Japanese researcher who studied the effects of music and words on the growth of water crystals. It is on my reading list.

He told us that 30 years ago only 20% of people in India ate meat and today 70% of people eat meat causing a huge spike in diet related illness in India. It's because they are adopting the standard American diet.

We talked about lots of other amazing things. I wish you all could have joined us. When he finally left Ike said he was a pretty cool guy. High praise from a 14 year old!

Links to Prasad:

• http://www.kaipagroup.com/
• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/corporate-dossier/Ayurveda-for-building-innovative-organisations/articleshow/6909645.cms
• http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/11/can_the_us_and_india_really_work_together.html

Restaurants

I took a quick trip to Salt Lake City this weekend and put my daughter in charge of the restaurant choices. First we were going to eat at a raw food restaurant called "Omar's" (follow that link - it is an awesome web site) but they were closed. So we went to a vegetarian restaurant called "Sage".  The restaurant was actually vegan, it didn't say it was vegan, but I couldn't find single animal product on the menu.

We ordered and I had a whole grain crepe filled with pesto roasted veggies. Hannah had a colorful pile of steamed veggies with a delicious sauce topped with a nut burger. We ordered a side of mushroom escargot and carrot pate. SO GOOD. I am filled with regret that I didn't take pictures of our lovely food! For dinner we ate Indian food - The Indian Oven in Logan. You can always eat healthy at an Indian restaurant - except it was probably pretty high in fat. We ordered stuffed nan and an ugly spinach potato dish "Saag Aloo" that was ugly. Did I mention how ugly? But it was delicious. Lick the bowl delicious.

If you live near a big city (and even in a small one like Boise) you can probably find a delicious vegetarian restaurant or a restaurant that serves vegetarian food. Next time you want to go out for dinner skip Red Robin and be adventurous. If you aren't sure what to order, ask the staff - tell them you are new to this kind of food and unsure what you would like. They want you to have a great experience, veg heads love new converts, and will steer you in the right direction. And if you mention that you are eating vegan style they are more than willing to accommodate you.

The vibe in a vegetarian restaurant is laid back - easy - healthy. You leave feeling refreshed and nourished rather than full and tired.

Not sure how to find a vegetarian restaurant? Here are a few links that might help:

Urbanspoon.com - choose your city and search for vegetarian restaurants
http://www.chow.com/restaurants/regions
http://www.happycow.net/
http://www.vegetarian-restaurants.net/usa/index.html

Oh! The Weather Outside is Frightful!

It's cold and snowy.

The cold snow makes me want to bake and use ingredients like butter and caramel. But I feel blah after eating that kind of food and I want to keep eating healthy, especially as the holidays approach, I want to feel great!  So what to do when the comfort cooking urge hits? Put on some good music - right now I am liking "Lower Lights" an old timey hymn revival that you can really sing along to - and make rustic apple sauce.

It makes the whole house smell wonderful and satisfies that comfort baking/cooking/eating urge!

I had rome apples that were on the mushy side - perfect for:

Rustic Applesauce

• 8-10 large apples - peel them (don't worry if it's not perfect) and quarter them 
• Put apples in pot with 1/2 cup water (add more if needed)
• Add cinnamon and nutmeg to taste 
• Simmer (with a lid) until the apples are done. 
• Break them up with a spoon into bite-sized pieces. 
• Serve them hot. 

I had them for dessert and then again for breakfast and then as a mid afternoon snack.

Here is another apple idea:
I had a gallon of cider and boiled 2 quarts of it down into a thick syrup. It was so sweet and strongly apple flavored. I added 2 tablespoons of the apple cider syrup to the applesauce and it was wonderful. I also used it to flavor a sugar free apple pie I made last week.

3 Meals In 1

I find this diet to be pretty heavy in the food prep department. Because of that I end up eating fruit and vegetables in their raw natural state a lot of the time. But I love to cook and have found that my cooking skills are getting better on this diet. Here is a recipe I made up this week that made 3 delicious meals!

It all started with roasted vegetables that was a meal in itself. Then I made a salad and a soup! 2 more meals!

Meal # 1
Roasted Veggies - I could eat this every week, all winter.

Not my picture. I usually forget to use the camera while I am cooking. I'll try to do better.

You want to make a lot of this so you have left overs for the other meals.
On a lightly oiled cookie sheet with a lip add:

Large Butternut squash (peel with peeler and slice into 1.5 inch cubes)
2 onions (peeled and quartered)
Lots of baby potatoes (don't peel, dont usually need to be cut as they are already small)
Garlic cloves
Carrots - lots
Any other veggies you have on hand (I included Parsnips (GOOD!) and brussell sprouts)

Toss with olive oil (I used a very very small amount - like 1 Tablespoon) and course salt and pepper. (I was very light on the salt - 1/2 t)

Roast at 425 for 30 minutes or until tender.  I roasted each vegetable in their own side of the pan and didn't mix them all together. When you serve it put the veggies all on a large platter but don't mix them together. Let them touch but keep them with their own kind. It looks rich and fancy that way. Serve with balsamic vinegar for dipping, salad and rustic bread. I served applesauce too.



Meal #2
Roasted Veggie Salad - there is something so yummy about the potato in this salad!

Mixed greens
cold roasted potatoes, brussel sprouts, butternut cut into bite sized pieces
sliced apple
toasted walnut
Balsamic vinegar (Amy's Green Goddess dressing is quite good here too)

Serve with toasted pitas and hummus



Meal #3

Butternut "Sausage" Soup - this was my favorite meal of all!

In a soup pot warm:

 4 cups vegetable broth
left over butternut, potato, parsnips, carrot, onion and garlic (about 4 cups worth)

When warm blend in smaller batches until smooth. Return to soup pot and bring to almost a simmer. While it is heating, microwave 3-4 MorningStar Sausage patties (if you have meat lovers in the house maybe add an extra patty or 2) until they are warm. Break them up into small pieces and add to butternut soup. Serve hot with leftover roasted brussel sprouts and toasted whole grain bread for dipping.

Do It To Feel It

Recently I was talking to a friend who felt like she should serve a religious mission. She shared with me how she felt like she should do it but she didn't feel "inspired" about it. She wasn't brimming with enthusiasm about the mission. Then she said once she started preparing, setting doctor appointments, interviews with her Bishop, and filling out the paperwork she started to feel it. She said,   

"Sometimes the feeling only comes after you do it. 

You have to do it to feel it."

Pretty smart for a 22 year old woman.

She is right. And I think it applies to taking care of our health. If you wait until something external motivates you it may be too late. But if you tell yourself that you want a healthy body, even if it means no more sour cream dip, fudge, or potato chips, and you start to do it, you will feel it. It is a positive cycle that takes on a life of it's own.

For those of you who are waiting for that big flash of inspiration I say:

You have to do it to feel it.

For Newbies

I've been getting quite a lot of email about our success on this plant based diet. I suggest that if you are truly interested in changing your health you read the book "The China Study". It will answer your questions. Another great book is "Eat to Live" (but the recipes in the older book aren't so good).

Also, I've added something new to my sidebar. It is a list of my selected posts, starting from the beginning, that have good information about this diet works (don't care for the word "diet" but that is what it is). If you are thinking about making big changes some of those posts might be interesting. Of course, I think every post on this site is amazing and you should read them all while you eat a green smoothie and some freshly picked apples.

Olympic Training Center

Roland and I got to hang out at the OTC (that's what we insiders call it) last week. He was speaking to a group and I went along to help him. What an inspiring place! We were surrounded by art work, sculptures, flags, murals and installations that celebrated being the very best in the world.

We ate lunch with the athletes in their dining hall. They pretty much ignored us.

Next week we get to go back and speak to another group. Can't wait!

Dinner's Ready!

I have made some nasty food on this diet. I made a butternut soup this week that was TERRIBLE. I mean, it was horrible beyond belief. But Roland ate it because he was hungry. Oh, it was bad.

Here are some tried and true dinner recipes that my entire family likes and will eat without being bribed. Most of them make great leftovers too. There is enough here to get you through 11 days.

• Burritos
• Tofu scramble (just like scrambled eggs - add peppers, onion, avacado, Red Hot sauce)
• Stir Fry
• Amy's Soups (lentil, bean chili - top with fresh tomatoes and avacado - perfect for stressful nights!)
• Veggie Sandwiches
• Veggie Burgers (marinate veggies in your favorite marinade and grill. Eggplant and portobello mushrooms make excellent burgers!)
• Three Bean Chili - (saute onion, peppers, celery and garlic [lots of garlic] - add tomatoes (fresh or canned) oregano, cumin, chili powder, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans - top with chopped lettuce, cilantro, and avocado)
• Chickpea Curry Super easy - open cans and fix.
• Spaghetti Squash with Eggplant sauce (saute eggplant slices and pour a jar of Classico sauce over and simmer until bubbly - one of Roland's favorite)
• Wild Beans and Rice ( a little work but worth it)
• Veggie Lasagna - a crowd pleaser every time and easy! Great leftovers!

and easiest of all and very delicious - just a big plate of fruits and veggies:

Now that the weather is cold I am starting on soups. You already know I made that nasty butternut soup but I am going to try a new butternut one this weekend. Tomorrow (hopefully) I will post my new Mushroom and Wild Rice recipe that I adapted from a Williams Sonoma recipe. Yum!

Daily Menu

People ask me what I eat everyday if I am not eating dairy (what?! No yogurt!??) or meat or processed food. Well, to tell the truth I do eat some processed sugar now and then but it makes me feel bad now that I am off it. However, I very rarely have dairy and I no longer like the texture of meat but I sure do love the salt the meat is seasoned with!

So my days usually look like this as far as food goes:

Breakfast:

• Always a green smoothie (about 20 oz. - usually enough to keep me happy for 3 hours)
• Usually some fruit
• Sometimes oatmeal or granola with a little almond milk and sliced fruit and cinnamon

Lunch:

• Always a big salad (I mean huge. It takes forever to eat. I usually read while I eat even though diet books say that is a bad habit)
• Either leftovers from dinner the night before or, hummus and toasted pitas, or homemade whole wheat bread with almond butter

Snack: Sometimes I need a snack

• sliced veggies
• fruit
• small handful of nuts
• very thin bread with almond butter and bananas
• almond date rolls - yum!
• leftovers
• cup of hot tea 

Dinner:Veggies are the main course and side dish too! I will post some sample dinner menus tomorrow. Roland (he has a secret desire to be my blog coach) has been telling me that I need to create a list of dinner ideas. He is right.

Dessert:

We hardly ever need dessert after dinner. the nice thing about this diet is that all my nutrition needs are being more than met so my body doesn't crave sugar - not even during "PMS" time (which has disappeared with this diet). But if I have the need for a goodie I will make fruit or a fruit smoothie. We also make very low fat, low sugar kettle corn.

Tune in tomorrow for dinner menu ideas!

Brussel Sprouts

As a child I thought brussel sprouts were nasty. I've been passing by the big bag of brussel sprouts at Costco for a few weeks now but yesterday my friend, Jen, told me she had fixed them for her family and they loved them.  So today I bought that bag and roasted them up and they were wonderful! Ike loved them. I was rather shocked that I liked them too.

The outside is toasty and crisp and the inside has a wonderful texture and reminded us of artichoke hearts. The roasting brings out the sweetness in the sprouts.

I got this picture off the net - We ate ours so fast that there wasn't a chance to take a picture!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• Enough sprouts to loosely cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan
• Olive oil (I used 1 Tablespoon but you might like more)
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix together until sprouts are lightly coated with oil. Roast in 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or so, until tender.

I served this with spaghetti squash topped with egg plant and classico tomato sauce. Roland said it was a great dinner.

TO DO

This week:

I'm will make 2 new soups and a new salad from the Moosewood Cook Book.

I will re-read The China Study.
I will DVR a show called "Good Eats"
I will put the following cookbooks on hold at the library:

• Claire's Cornucopia
• The Conscientious Cook
• Fit For Life

I will exercise one hour 5 days a week (ack!)

Looking Forward to 64

Yesterday I was invited to lunch at my friend's so I could meet her mother. Of course I loved her mother. She is a lovely woman who reminds me of a modest and unassuming Martha Stewart. She lives on 40 acres in Alabama, has raised 14 children (!), and has been on a plant based diet for 30 years. It was such a treat to ask her about how she managed to go plant based (for health reasons) at a time when doctors were telling women that formula was more nutritious than breast milk. I admired the fact that she made such a huge change at a time when no one - I mean no one! was eating plant based.

I asked her how her life would be different if she didn't change her diet and she said she would be dead. What a loss! She has 36 (!!!) grandchildren! They would miss her and she would miss them. She has beautiful skin, a bright shiny smile, sparkly eyes, and a young healthy body. She was quick to laugh and knows just about everything about nutrition. And the meal she made! An amazing "salad" called Gado Gado from The Moosewood Cook Book (which I just happen to be borrowing from my neighbor right now) was so fresh and exciting I want to make it for you all!

She gave me a little pep talk and told me to post more often and include pictures. OK. I will. And after meeting her I look forward to being her age. Delightful.

For Maxine: a picture of some of my local, organic CSA peppers that I froze this week to use in stews this winter!

Commitment

It's been 8 months now that Roland and I have been eating a plant based diet. We just returned from a great week in Idaho where we ate healthy food and worked hard outside and felt wonderful! I have often said that I would continue to eat this way even if I didn't loose weight and the last 2 months have proven that.

In the last 2 months I didn't loose any weight, mostly because I was nibbling on extra bread, nuts and the occasional goody at a party. I also stopped exercising - no good reason to stop but I did. I didn't gain any weight, but my steady 2 lbs-a-week-loss came to a screeching halt. Well, I miss that weight loss so I am going back to the Eat To Live 6 week plan which means that everyday I will try to eat:

• 1 pound of raw veggies
• 1 pound of cooked veggies
• 5 pieces of fruit
• 1 cup of beans
• 1/2 cup whole grains.

Holy cow that is a lot of food! 

Last week I cut my long hair short as a reward for loosing 50lbs. It was a big change and kinda scary to do, just like changing my eating habits! But Oh! It has been so good for me!

I love this new hairstyle and feel like it is more "me".

I already started the exercise 3 weeks ago and I am back to running 2x a week and doing a ridiculously difficult workout at the YMCA 2x a week. Already, without cleaning up my eating, I have lost 3 lbs. Exercise is key in a healthy lifestyle. Oh, but I don't always like it.

So today I go out to buy more spinach, almond milk, bananas, and hopefully some smaller workout clothes!

What I ate today before 12:00:

• Green Smoothie
• 1 cup oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon
• big leafy green salad

Planned snack:

• Pita with Hummus and cucumber

For dinner tonight:

• veggie stir fry (peppers, cabbage, onion, tofu, wild rice, seasoned with fresh ginger, garlic, Braggs Liquid Aminos, and sesame seed oil [just a bit]- so good!)
• salad
• WATERMELON (might be the last of the season - big sad sigh)

There is no way this meets the 6 week food intake requirements. It's hard to eat that much food.

You Are In Charge

If you have youngish children you are so lucky! You can feed them whatever you want! Sure they will complain and beg and maybe even refuse to eat for a while, but eventually they will eat what you feed them. Ike - my soon to be 14 year old son - complained something fierce when we started eating Nutritarian, but now he is on board and actually prefers a plant based, non processed diet (of course he will eat junk if you give it to him - duh!).

Dr. Fuhrman recently sent out this informative email:

The Five Most Dangerous Foods to Feed Your Child


1. Butter and Cheese - full of saturated fat and fat delivered chemical pollutants


2. Potato Chips and French Fries - rich in trans fat, salt, and carcinogenic acrylamides


3. Doughnuts and other trans fat - containing sweets - rich in trans fat, sugar, and other artificial substances


4. Sausages, hot dogs, and other luncheon meats - containg N-nitroso compounds that are potent carcinogens


5. Pickled, smoked, or barbequed meats - places you at risk of both stomach cancer and high blood pressure

I used to feed my kids cheese everyday, sometimes 3 times a day, thinking that they were getting good nutrition that way. I saw the ads on TV and was trying to do the right thing.  Cheese on chips was a favorite! And rolled up lunch meat filled with cream cheese! I thought that was healthy and felt like a good mom when I made that for a snack. Oh, that I could go back and do that all over again! I had no clue what I was doing.

Here is a snack that all my kids loved (I rencently tried it out on my 8 year old nephew and it was a hit!).  Sliced apples and peanut butter. Easy peasy. I am especially fond of the Costco organic peanut butter. There are only two ingredients: dry roasted peanuts and salt. My kids liked any snack that involved dipping. My nephews are big fans of whole grain crackers dipped in hummus.

While your kids are young you can help them develop a taste for healthy nutritious food that will bless them their entire life!

Me and Mr. Clinton

If I had known he was so smart I might have voted for him!



Makes me want to bite my lower lip and look like I am thinking a big thought.