Tomatillos

This is what tomatillos look like after you remove the husks. My spell check doesn't recognize the word "tomatillo".

I got a bunch of these from the CSA and had no idea what to do with them. So I made salsa (with heirloom tomatoes that were almost sugary) and the tomatillos added a nice tart flavor. And I made a green salsa. It was a winner! Great with chips, eggs, burritos, tacos, perfect on salads - just so so good! Here is my recipe:

Tomatillo Salsa

• 15-20 fresh tomatillos - remove husks

Roast whole tomatillos in large pan until they start toast a little. While they are roasting assemble the following ingredients:

• 2 garlic cloves
• 4-6 roasted mild chiles - stemmed, seeded and peeled
• 1 onion
• 1 cup water

Once tomatillos are browned add the above ingredients and simmer until tomatillos and onions are soft. Then add:

• 1/4 cup (or more) cilantro leaves
• 1 T lime juice (fresh is best)

Pulse in food processor until it reaches desired consistency (no large pieces).

I also added a little cayenne pepper that we had on hand to heat it up a bit otherwise it is a mild salsa. You may want to add salt too.

Here in Colorado Springs you can get roasted peppers at road side stands, farmer's markets, or my favorite place is the Chile Festival in Pueblo (this weekend - I want to go!). It is wonderful and well worth the trip. For $20 you will bring home a huge bag of fire roasted chilies (mild or hot, your choice) and divide it up into smaller portions to freeze and use this winter in soups, salsas, and stews. The taste is amazing and the festival is fun! Arrive at the festival hungry.

I served this salsa on burritos and salad and it was great. For dessert we had a huge bowl of fresh peaches.

Yum!

Honestly

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I've found a new ability to be honest with myself. It has been a pleasant discovery that has helped me immensely. When I was eating the SAD (standard American diet) I was completely out of touch with my body.  I didn't understand the signals it was sending. I confused cravings with hunger - there was no difference. I was consumed with thoughts of eating. I accepted fatigue as normal. I attributed pain and weakness to being 45 years old.  I had no control over my appetite. I blamed my high cholesterol on genetics. I couldn't exercise because I was exhausted.

I was disappointed that my body was failing me. I asked myself over and over "why me?" Why did I have such a hard time losing weight? What was wrong with me? And then I would feel overwhelming hunger and make Snickerdoodles.

Since I have been eating a plant based non processed diet I have whole new relationship with my body. I don't feel the urge to eat or even think about food until my tummy growls and rumbles because it is empty and needs food. And if that happens and I am not near a food source I can have a glass of water and the grumbling empty feeling is gone - sometimes for hours. When I eat I can feel the food in my body and how it affects my mood and energy. Have I ever told you about the time I felt pure anger after eating a brownie on an empty stomach? I mean uncontrollable lash-out-at-your-kids anger. Roland sent me to my room.

But mostly the honesty that I have with my body is the ability to understand and objectively look at what is going on and adjust and make myself feel better. I believe that getting rid of the SAD food allowed me to be more aware of what is going on with my body and give it what it really needs instead of a doughnut.

When I first started having cravings (yesterday's post) I felt those old feelings of confusion, fear, and loss of control creeping back. But I was able to think clearly, assess the situation and be honest enough to see why this was happening and then decide that I would make a change and get back on track.

I'm happy to "give up" Coke, pastries, prime rib and cheese for that honesty. It's a good trade.

Confession

I've suddenly started craving junk food. Well, not suddenly. It's been a gradual process of having a little nibble of this and a taste of that. And "suddenly" I find myself walking right past 100 lbs of produce to stand in front of my pantry looking for something (chocolate cake? Cheetos? they aren't there- thank heavens!) to satisfy this surprising craving. It surprises me because up to this point I have had no cravings at all.

I've been confused by these cravings and a little disappointed in my body that it would "suddenly" trick me like this. But, one thing I have gained in this quest for health is the ability to be much more honest with myself. So I took a good long look at what was happening.

Could it be possible that a few little daily mouthfuls of sugary salty fat could create such strong cravings? Yes.

I want those cravings gone - banished back to 2009. I know how to do that - I have to walk that veggie line. Fortunately, I've only indulged in sugar, processed grains, and extra fat so I don't have to overcome  meat/dairy/caffeine cravings too. It will take about 3 days for the cravings to disappear. And then it will be easy again.

I start today.

100 LBS!

There are 20 lbs of pears, 20 lbs of apples, 20 lbs of peaches, and 25 lbs of tomatoes sitting in my kitchen waiting for me to do something with them. I still need to go to the farmer's market and pick up my CSA share. What am I going to do with all this produce??

I'm going to freeze the tomatoes (I was told to wash them and put them into freezer bags and freeze them whole!), skin and slice and freeze the peaches (they are great in my green smoothies), put the apples in the cool basement, and hope that the pears don't all ripen at the same time.

My fridge is still jammed full with the produce from last week's CSA share (probably another 20 lbs of veggies). Roland's been traveling and Ike doesn't love the veggies so much - I can't eat all this!

Poor Me. Too much food on hand. Everyone should have this kind of trouble.

Turns out we don't like turnips so much. You are welcome to come take all my CSA turnips away.

Yo, Adrian

So I went with Kelly to the YMCA and it pretty much kicked my little fanny. It took all the fight out of me for the whole day. That would have been the day to call and ask me to do something big for you - I would have said yes. No fight left. Or today - call me today because I went again this morning.

I'm actually looking forward to going next week. If I can walk.

Que The "Rocky" Theme Song

My friend, Kelly, walked up to me on Sunday and told me it is time to get serious about exercise. Don't you wish you had a friend like that? I don't deserve her.

I've fallen off the exercise wagon. I've only run 3 times since August 1. So tomorrow morning I'm meeting Kelly at the Y for a lovely cardio/weightlifting session.

I hate to sweat.

New and Improved!

This is what I had for lunch. Whole wheat pita with veganaise (just a little) stuffed with a salad heavy on garden fresh tomato and cucumber and a side of watermelon. It was delicious and filling and satisfying. Roland got back from London tonight and I made the same thing for him but substituted hummus for the veganaise and I think it was even better! It was the perfect meal following a day of flying.

I've modified my hummus recipe a bit. I added a can of white beans (northern) and it makes the hummus creamy. Sometimes I want to eat it with a spoon! I've tried the recipe without the tahini but I just don't like it as much.

Robin's Improved Hummus

• 1 can chickpeas (reserve liquid)
• 1 can white beans
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin or more to taste (I just got roasted cumin but I can't tell the difference - I need to do a taste test)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste
• 2 T tahini

Blend in food processor until smooth and creamy. Add chickpea liquid if it is too thick. Serve on crackers, sandwiches, burgers, cucumbers, veggies, salad, pitas, or on a spoon if you love it as much as I do!

Selling The Fat Clothes

Today I took my old clothes to a resale store. It is called "Full Figure Resale" and they only sell size 16 and up. They sell shoes size 9 and up. It's for big girls.

It took me about 3 hours to sort my clothes, pick out the stylish clean new looking clothes, touch up iron, put them on hangers, and drag them out to the car. I had 31 items and the clerk told me they were beautiful. I hope they sell for lots of money because I only get 40% of the price.

All the clothes that didn't make the cut went to Salvation Army.

My closet is looking pretty bare - it looks big now! I bought a pair of jeans and a skirt and jacket at the resale shop. I am proud to say that everything there was too big! I don't really want to buy clothes yet. I still have a ways to go. So I will wear the same thing over and over until I get down a size.

Yay!

A Little Kick In The Pants.

"Everything you want in the world is just right outside your comfort zone...every single thing you could possibly want."  

Jamie Lee Curtis

I guess this means I need to get out of my comfort zone (couch) and start exercising again! 

What is it that you want that is right outside your comfort zone?

Pineapple

We are eating this tomorrow.

Did you know that if you turn a pineapple upside down (set it on it's leaves) that it will ripen more evenly and quickly? I've done it 3 times now and it works! Fresh pineapple is wonderful! So far the best pineapple has been at Costco.

Summer Dinner

Oh, what do you eat in the summer time when all the world is green?

How about this for dinner:

Green salad
Steamed Green Beans with pepper
Cantalope
"Oven Fried" potatoes

Oh so yummy and easy and clean up was a breeze! The potatoes were sweet and made it feel like a real meal.

"Oven Fried" Potatoes

• New potatoes - cut to bite size - freshly harvested ones are sweet and tender
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• chives
• minced garlic
• pepper

Mix in bowl, spread on cookie sheet, bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until tender - turning once during baking time.
................

This was such a light and satisfying meal. For dessert have Watermelon Icy's!

3 Months

I was doing some housekeeping and found a post that I wrote 3 months into the diet but for some reason I didn't ever post it. So, for your reading pleasure: A never published post from 3 months ago!

.....................................

5/17/2010

Roland and I have been nutritarian for 12 weeks now. It seems like we were just high fiving our 6 week goal and suddenly here we are at 12 weeks.

I've read back through my initial entries and have a different perspective now that I have some distance from the first few weeks. The first week was more difficult than I realized. I emotionally prepared myself and was ready for a tough time, so when you read the original posts, it sounds easy breezy when in fact in was hard. Not hard because I was hungry. I wasn't hungry at all. And I didn't really miss junk food or meat. There were so many new foods to try. And I love to cook and there were lots of new recipes.

What was hard was changing a life long habit. Change can cause struggle but struggle brings strength. And boy, am I much stronger now than I was in February!

When I look back on the first 2 weeks I remember that we were tired, the withdrawal from our previous diet made us feel weak and a little flu-ish. We watched a lot of TV during those weeks. And I was consumed with what I was eating. I thought about it all day long. I was obsessed.

.....................

Folks - that's all I wrote. But I think it is interesting to read because each month the diet just gets easier and easier. Sure, I crave junk sometimes and please don't leave an open bag of Doritos near me. But I've been at this long enough that it feels natural and normal. I can eat without thinking and planning as much. 

So
Glad
We 
Did
This!

After?

Quite a few people have told me that I need to post an after picture. I haven't because I'm not at the "After" point. But - I will post where I am right now.

I have been a nutritarian for 6 months and I've lowered my cholesterol by more than 60 points and lost 52 lbs. I feel so much better, younger, happier and productive!

Our before picture. A friend took this and thought it was such a flattering photo. And here are our afters (sorry - no body shots - yet!):

Roland - 53 lbs lighter

Me - 52 lbs and counting!

Pretty soon we will get a picture in the same pose as the "before".

I keep saying that even if I hadn't lost a pound I would still eat this way. My food tastes better and I feel better!

CSA Share

Every Saturday I go to the farmer's market and pick up my CSA share for the week. Each week I get more and more! This is what we got this week:

• celery
• kale
• basil
• beets
• green peppers
• lemon cucumbers
• baby potatoes
• garlic
• zucchini
• onions
• slicing cucumbers
• turnips (need ideas for what to do with these!)
• carrots
• cabbage
• tomatoes
• 2 kinds of beans

I still have quite a bit of produce left over from last week! I love that it is all organically grown, picked fresh and local. It tastes much better than store bought (and in the case of brocolli - much stronger!).

Can't wait to see what we get next week!

Veggie Sandies By The Dozen

Most of my family has started eating a nutritarian diet. My mom and sisters are especially devoted to this healthy lifestyle. This pleases me very much because it validates my position as the oldest and thus, the bossiest. But really, I love them and want them to feel as great as I do. I want to travel with them when we are old and when I say travel I mean adventure! Most of the places on my "To Explore" list involve, at the very least, vigorous walking. Some require an little bit of dare devil attitude and I want my mom and four sisters there because they really are the neatest people I know.

So this summer when we spent a few weeks together we ate lots of delicious food and had many exciting conversations about how wonderful it all tastes and how awesome we all are for treating ourselves so well. There was lots of bragging and back patting.

One night we made 12 veggie sandies:

12 wasn't enough. Everyone wanted two -they were so good. We served them with grilled corn on the cob (grill before shucking), melon salad, hummus and green salad. It was a feast!

Grilled Veggie Sandies

Sandwich thins - we used Pepperidge farms but any brand will do if it is whole wheat
Spread bottom thin with hummus
Stack:

• shredded carrots (on the hummus so they stick)
• grilled eggplant
• grilled zucchini
• grilled sweet peppers
• sliced onion (we used Vadalia)
• sliced cucumber

Spread top with guacamole.

Tuck bib into collar and open wide (real wide!).