Sunday, November 30, 2008

nov. 30 food

Breakfast:  blueberry, apple, pineapple, cinnamon, ground flaxseed "compote" over shredded greens (lettuce, salad mix, spinach).  I peeled and cut up the apple, added some cinnamon (1/4 tsp I think), microwaved it for a minute, added the frozen blueberry (half bag), pineapple (fresh), flaxseed, and microwaved another minute.  stirred it all around.  maybe microwaved it again.  poured it over the greens.  The only problem was that I was late for something and ate it faster than I wanted to.  Dr. Fuhrman says to chew your salads carefully so you absorb more nutrients.

Lunch:  veggies and eggplant-chickpea hummus.  The veggies included carrots, beets, broccoli and cauliflower.   I steamed them for 10 minutes to soften them up a bit.  It makes the carrots and beets taste sweeter.   It was yummy.   I also ate some grapes. 

Snack:  I made some Applenut Flax Bars from the Fuhrman members site.  These have ground nuts, chopped apples, oats, raisins and dates.  It's very good.  So far this is the best healthy baked thing I've tried.  I'm not a huge fan of baked goods.  I made these for my trip later this week.  I froze them.  But of course I taste-tested several pieces, and ate nuts while grinding them.  I ate too many nuts again today.  

Dinner:  more desserts.  I'm trying out various Fuhrman desserts.  and I think I'm getting tired of them, not surprising.  Let's see, I made some mango-coconut sorbet which I didn't enjoy too much--I think I didn't like the dried mango and it had too much coconut.  So I froze most of it for later.  Then I had the leftover cashew cream sauce from last night's baked apples, so I microwaved a cut-up apple with cinnamon and added the cream sauce.  It was good.  I had a few more grapes.  This doesn't sound like too much but I was full from the nuts and bars.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

nov. 29 food

Breakfast:  banana-blueberry walnut salad.  I didn't like this as much as before.  too banana-y.  now I wonder why that is.   maybe I had more salad greens than before so it was more like a salad than a banana-blueberry breakfast with some greens mixed in.

Lunch & Dinner:  I made several things for later in the week and snacked on them.  I made an eggplant-chickpea hummus dip for tomorrow's football game (only Fuhrman members can get to the recipe link, sorry).  It was good.  I made some of Dr. Fuhrman's Date Nut Pop'ems.  Oh my gosh, they are so good.  It's about half dates and half nuts/seeds.  I added some vanilla and carob powder.   I'd like to try coconut next time, wasn't brave enough to vary from the recipe this time.   This is way way better than those crappy cookies and muffins I ate yesterday.  Then for dessert I made baked apples with a cashew raisin topping.  The topping was too sweet and rich, even for me.  So I think I had more than my share of nuts today.  oh well.  I'll try to eat less nuts and more salad tomorrow.   

food nov. 26-28

Wed, nov. 26

breakfast:  banana + nut mix

lunch:  apple, orange, carrot, more nuts

dinner:  Indian restaurant.  this splurge wasn't really worth it.  I didn't think the food was good enough to offset the effects of the salt and fat and processed grains.    The salt is especially a problem for me now.  The food was a bit too spicy and way too salty.  I had bharta which is eggplant.  it was pretty good.  I overindulged in the nan (bread with oil) but it was enjoyable, I have to admit.   The appetizers were pretty good, probably not good for you though.

Thurs., nov. 27, Thanksgiving day, flew home.  Had my final apple, orange, carrot, banana and nut mix for the trip home.  Then at home, I'm trying to remember what I had.  There wasn't much food in the house.  I think I had a blueberry, banana walnut compote of some kind.   I know I had half bag of blueberries and I think I recall slicing a frozen banana.  I think I had a couple of oranges.    probably too many nuts.  

Friday, I wanted to have my own Thanksgiving and end of the month splurge, so I went to the Co-op and had a "nothing muffin", a cup of decaff coffee with soy cream, and bought a bag of cowgirl cookies!  I ate about half of them!  That's probably about 8 smallish cookies.   I have to say, this stuff does not taste as good as the Fuhrman desserts.  It is a psychological thing for me to have these "forbidden" foods.  It also makes me feel heavy and bla.  well, that's probably because I ate too much of it.  But even a day later I feel bla from it.  I don't know, I think I should stop eating these things altogether.    I also felt the effects of the caffeine in the coffee and chocolate chips in the cookies.  I still feel the salt from the cookies and muffins.  geez, I'm so sensitive now.  Well, anyway, besides that I ate some leftover borscht (from the freezer) over lettuce, and then for dinner a baked sweet potato which I blended with some orange juice and mixed with pineapple for another treat.  It was pretty good.   

So, overall, I suppose I didn't set a very good example for eating healthy over the Thanksgiving holiday.   Actually, I think the main thing I would change if I were to do it over again would be to delete yesterday's cookies and muffin---though I did learn from that and it will probably help me to refrain from them in the future.  While traveling, I did well with the fruit during the day and only splurging in the evenings.  I overate at the Indian restaurant.  I overate at Gobos but can't say I regret that.  :)   

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

nov 25 food

I'm in NYC with my best friend and her family, staying in a hotel.

Breakfast:   banana, 2 oz nuts

Lunch:  Large orange, apple, banana, lots of grapes while walking all over the city.  got over-full with the grapes.    I brought the oranges, apples, bananas and nuts, and we bought the grapes at a fruit stand.  They weren't nearly as good as the ones I get from my co-op.  People complain that organic costs more but it really does taste better.  Same goes for the bananas.  I brought the organic ones from my co-op and had one for breakfast, then had one from the hotel at lunch and it wasn't nearly as good.

Dinner:  splurge at Gobo restaurant.  It was very good and I think worth going off plan for.  Had tastes of appetizers--edamame (with salt), vietnamese spring rolls, and the scallion pancakes were the best (probably fried).  Oh they brought out bread and pumpkin spread which I ate and it was enjoyable.  They had great juice and smoothie drinks.  I had a carrot, apple, ginger drink that was great.  My neighbor had a carrot, apple, spinach, parsley drink (I think) that we agreed was even better and we were surprised.  The juice drinks were way better than alcohol!  very energizing!  For my main course I had white bean, root vegetable and pumpkin soup; and spinach salad with mango and crisp onions.  If I were to go there again I think I'd try a couple of small plates--eggplant with string beans in basil sauce, and there were several others that looked really good.   Then we shared 7 desserts between the 8 of us.  That was definitely off-plan (off the Fuhrman healthful eating plan which I'm a total believer in now), but it was enjoyable trying out all the desserts.   I had the mango, coconut and tapioco pudding mostly and then bites of the others.   Next time I might try the apple pear crisp--I didn't get a bite of that one.  I enjoyed the bites of the chocolate cake and pear with the chocolate ganach inside, but wouldn't want to eat the whole thing.  I had sips of a neighbor's decaff coffee with soy cream and sugar.  It was really good too.  I think desserts are definitely better in spoonfuls rather than large servings.  

My physical reaction to the meal was to the salt and chocolate.  I have been thirsty ever since (it's 7 am the next morning) and my fingers are still swollen.  And I was a bit affected by the caffeine in the chocolate.  I slept a good 6 hours though.    I am not sure when I will be hungry again!  Tonight (next day), we're probably going to Indian.  Let's hope I behave somewhat...

Monday, November 24, 2008

nov. 24 food

repeat of yesterday:

Breakfast:  banana-walnut-blueberry lettuce salad  with sunflower seeds too.  1.5 oz nuts & seeds total.  This is my new favorite breakfast!

Lunch:  leftover borscht over lots of lettuce and spinach (wadded up and then sliced finely).  carrot

Dinner: salad with apples & cranberries.  carrot.  

I had no problem finishing off all the salad and spinach in the fridge.  Cleaned out the fridge nicely.  I'm at the airport and will head of to NY for a few days.  I have fruit and nuts with me.  Hopefully I can find salads at the restaurants.  

Sunday, November 23, 2008

nov. 23 food

Breakfast:  banana-walnut-blueberry-lettuce salad.   yummy!  

Lunch:  leftover borscht over salad, 2 oranges

Dinner: huge salad with apples & cranberries (also added some fresh pineapple to the mixture), an orange.  

I'm into salads today.  maybe because I'm going out of town tomorrow evening and will have much less access to good food for 3 days.  and I have to get rid of what's in the fridge.  I still have a whole bag of spinach and a half head of lettuce to eat tomorrow, or I may have to make a smoothie and freeze it for the future.  we'll find out tomorrow.

Banana-blueberry walnut lettuce salad

The title pretty much explains what to do

Ingredients:
1 banana
1/2 bag frozen blueberries (about 4 oz)
1 oz walnuts (about a handful)
a bunch of lettuce and/or spinach

slice the banana, chop the walnuts, microwave the banana, walnuts and blueberries until they are warm (1-2 minutes). wad up the greens into a ball and slice them into smaller pieces so you can fit more on your plate. Pour the fruit mixture on top and eat. really good!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Creamy Borscht Soup

This is based on this recipe.  But I think mine is different enough to allow a new post.  

Ingredients:
1 medium cabbage, thinly sliced
1.5-2 lbs beets, peeled and chopped
3-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 onions, chopped
1 large or 2 medium carrots
1/2 cup dried adzuki beans (optional but I really liked it, added to the creaminess)
a bunch of water or vegetable stock (I never use stock because I don't want to buy it and I'm too lazy to make it) or water + powdered veggie (I used Dr. Fuhrman's veggie zest)
freshly ground pepper
1 cup raw cashews
juice of a small lemon
some dill, um, 1/2 tsp if dried, more if fresh.  add more if you'd like

Soak the adzuki beans overnight, or do a quick soak bringing them to a boil and then letting sit for an hour or two.    start cooking the adzuki beans in water and broth (or powdered stuff).  chop the onions and add them. chop the carrots and add them.  chop the garlic and add it.  chop the beats and add them.  chop the cabbage and add it.  add the pepper and dill if dry.  Let it cook for, maybe an hour?  I left the house for 5 hours and forgot to leave instructions for turning it off.  That is way too long.  Fortunately the soup survived.   The adzuki beans probably need at least an hour after soaking.   Once the soup is done, turn it off and add the lemon juice.  Then put the cashews in the blender and add a few cups of the soup.  Blend until very creamy.  Add more soup if it gets too thick.  Then pour that in and add more soup to the blender.   Make it as creamy or chunky as you want depending on how much you blend.    

I thought this was very good.  I followed Dr. Fuhrman's advice and ate it over greens (he recommends eating salad all the time!).  So I scrunched up spinach and sliced it, and put it in a big bowl and topped it with the soup.  I liked it.

nov. 22 food

Breakfast:  salad with apples and cranberries.  I used an idea from Dr. Fuhrman's latest telecon where he said you can get more lettuce on a plate if you smash a bunch in your hand and then slice it, so it's more shredded.  It really works.  so now my salad is even bigger.  
1 oz nuts.  some pineapple and grapes.

Late lunch, early dinner:  Creamy Borscht soup.  surprisingly good considering I overcooked it while I was out for several hours.  I forgot to tell housemate to turn it off while I was gone.    I ate way too much.  First I ate a bowl, then I remembered to try another idea from Fuhrman's telecon which is to eat your soup over salad (he wants you to eat a lot of salad).  So I scrunched up some spinach and slice it and then had my second bowl of soup over that.  I was going to stop there but then I was pouring the soup into plastic containers and they were a bit too full so I ate from them until they weren't too full (I was freezing one).  It was probably another bowl's worth!  that was too much.  then I still ate two oranges and a fair amount of grapes, so I definitely pigged out excessively.  It's silly to do this because then you feel too full.  Plus I have two more days to eat this stuff--I don't have to eat it all today!   okay, I'll be better tomorrow.   Oh, I noticed something else about my body.  My weight doesn't seem to vary much even when I overeat (I just poop more), but I notice my farts are stinky when I overeat.  So that's a good reason to not overeat, in addition to the waste, gluttony and discomfort of it all.  haha.

nov 21 2008 food

Breakfast:  salad with apples & cranberries
1.5 oz mixed nuts.  ate these right after exercising to give me energy for the cold bike ride home.
then had my salad.  that worked well (even if it was probably mostly psychological!)

Lunch:  was out with a friend, knew we were going to Chipotles' which does have a good vegan burrito but I brought my own lunch.  Now, I feel I have to explain myself to the public why I didn't want to partake in a vegan burrito at Chipotles' (too much salt and refined grains) because I worry they will think I've got an eating disorder (there is one assigned to people who are obsessed with eating healthy, I forget what it's called).  To the people on the Fuhrman forums I don't have to explain and that's giving me more confidence in my choices.  So it will be interesting to see how I handle next week in New York with my SAD (Standard American Diet) friends.  Anyway I brought my lunch to Chipotles.  It was steamed beets and brussels sprouts and a mashed (baked) sweet potato with raisins and pumpkin pie spice, which was kind of like dessert.   It was great.  I was slightly tempted in having a bite of the burrito which wouldn't have been a problem, but I didn't bother in the end.

Dinner:  Had some friends over in the evening and made cookies for them (banana oat cookies from the Fuhrman member site).  So I just had some fresh pineapple, grapes, and then lots of cookies as my dinner.  They are healthy cookies (more like oat clusters) made from bananas, oats, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and vanilla.  So it was kind of like eating oatmeal and bananas with more many raisins and walnuts than you should normally have in a day.  So not a big splurge.  But was it worth it?   oh, the cookies also were topped with raspberry jam so had sugar in them too.  They were good.  But to be honest, I think I'd enjoy a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and bananas or blueberries more.  and I'd enjoy other kinds of fruit more.  So I'm not sure in the splurge department that these cut it for me.  But the guests seemed to like them.  I was surprised because they are SAD eaters and are used to eating things with a lot more sugar and salt and fat, so I was expecting them to think they are yucky, but they all had at least 2 of them and said they were good.   It shows that SAD eaters would be perfectly happy eating this healthy Fuhrman food if they knew how to prepare it.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

nov. 20 food

Breakfast:  salad with apples & cranberries.    This was sooo good.  I wonder how long it will take me to get tired of this.

Lunch:  steamed veggies:   beets, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots.  added some frozen herbs from the garden and no-salt seasoning.   amazing that something so simple can taste so good.  orange for dessert.

Dinner:  carrot, celery, 1/2 cup edamame (from a frozen bag, microwaved for a minute), rest of yesterday's spinach-cherry-blueberry smoothie (froze it over night, thawed it during the day), 0.5 oz brazil nuts (plus 0.5 oz sunflowers that were in the smoothie).  orange for dessert (wasn't really hungry at that point but I was making OJ for housemate and couldn't resist).

nov. 19 food

Breakfast:  fabulous salad topped with apples&cranberry and cashew-orange dressing
1 oz sunflower seeds

Lunch:  Last of the lentil soup over steamed brussels sprouts and beets.  orange for dessert.

Dinner:  Spinach cherry blueberry smoothie, 1 oz nuts, carrot, celery

Salad with apples & cranberries

This is the best salad I've ever eaten, at home or at any restaurant.   Am I exaggerating?  Well, maybe all salads taste like the best salad I've ever eaten.  Salads are good.  This was also very easy to fix.

Ingredients:
lettuce and/or mixed greens (I make a large plate's worth)
an apple (or two or three if they are small)
some cranberries (1-2 handfuls).
1/4 tsp cinnamon
some chopped fresh red bell pepper (optional, I just happened to have one and it's good)

Peel and slice the apples.  Put in a bowl with  the cinnamon and cranberries, and microwave for a minute or two.  I have a low-power microwave, so I do it for 2 minutes, stir and let sit for a few minutes, then microwave for another 2 minutes, let sit for a few minutes.  Then the cranberries are nice and soft and mixed with the apple juice and cinnamon.

Top the lettuce with the cranberry-apple mixture, red bell pepper, and lots of cashew-orange dressing.    A great late-fall recipe!   This would be a good Thanksgiving treat.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

nov 18 food

Breakfast:  lettuce, baby greens from a bag, some strawberries, a cut up apple topped with orange-cashew-sunflower dressing.   also 1 oz nuts (cashews, brazil, macadamia, sunflower).
probably 0.5 oz in dressing.

Lunch:  leftover lentil soup on a baked sweet potato.  orange for dessert

Dinner:  a carrot, a piece of celery, 1 oz nuts, rest of yesterday's berry-spinach smoothie (frozen overnight, thawed in fridge during day), tiny apple.

Monday, November 17, 2008

nov 17 food

Breakfast (was out so brought it with me):  small banana, small apple, 1.5 oz walnuts, sunflower seeds & brazil nuts (total), some grapes and strawberries (after grocery shopping).

Lunch:  steamed cauliflower and broccoli topped with this week's soup (creamy lentil).  This was really good.  The soup is so rich and thick I prefer it as a topping than a soup.  And this way I got my veggies in too.  For some reason this meal felt like more of a treat eating this way than eating the vegetables and soup separately.  It felt like a fabulous entree at a restaurant.  Psychology is funny but I just go with what works.  For dessert I had an orange.   I didn't overeat for once.    I realize I can have this every day this week so no need to eat it all at once.  And eating too much beans is regrettable even 15 minutes later as it starts expanding in my stomach.

Dinner:  a carrot, a piece of celery, 1 oz brazil and pistachio nuts.  a spinach-berry smoothie, similar to this one, only it had strawberries and just a half bag of blueberries and orange juice and no flaxseed.  I decided I don't like flaxseed in my smoothies.  it's fine when you eat it right away, but it gets slimy if you freeze the smoothie and thaw it out later.  

I also decided I'm in the mood for berry spinach smoothies this week because they taste really good and fruity.  They are too filling at breakfast so maybe for breakfast I'll have a salad!  I might try greens, fruit and nuts and see what happens.  if it's boring I can make a salad dressing.  more on that tomorrow.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

nov. 16 food

Breakfast:  cherry-spinach smoothie

snack:  small apple, small banana, 0.5 oz walnuts

lunch:  carrots, 1 oz brazil and cashew nuts.  steamed beets and brussels sprouts.  small orange

Dinner:   ate some carrots and celery while cooking soup.   taste tested the soup.  then 1.5 bowls.  but given the taste-testing, I probably ate two bowls in total and was a bit too full.  I'm not concerned about my weight, just with healthy eating and I think I need to not get quite so full after eating.  The soup I made was another Fuhrman recipe, creamy lentil soup.  I'm having fun trying out a bunch of Fuhrman recipes.  People on the forums are sharing their favorite soups.  This one is very good.  very good.  It's got a ton of vegetables and carrot juice and some cashews (blended with some of the soup), and of course, lentils.  These soups are very rich so one bowl is definitely enough.  The idea is to eat a bowl of this every day and then eat a bunch of vegetables and greens and fruit and there's your healthy diet.  I froze half the soup.  I'm going to have to stop making soups and eat the frozen ones soon.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

spinach cherry smoothie

A quick single-serving (large 16 oz) smoothie

Ingredients:
5 oz bag of baby spinach
frozen bag of cherries (I think it's 10 oz)
juice of 2 small oranges
2 Tbsp raw sunflower seeds

blend the seeds and OJ.  add in the spinach and blend. add in the cherries and blend.  You can taste the spinach but I like the flavor, feels a bit crisp or something like that.

Is 5 oz spinach too much to eat at one sitting?  I'll find out tomorrow!  I am freezing it, then thawing overnight in fridge for breakfast tomorrow--I have to get up and run out the door early.

Nov. 15 food

Breakfast:  made a warm breakfast out of an apple, banana, half a bag of frozen blueberries (4 oz), 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds.  heated in a microwave for a couple of minutes.  It was good.  also ate some lettuce greens and 1/2 oz brazil nuts.

late lunch:  leftover sweet potato dish, big bowl of lettuce greens and mushrooms, a carrot, 1 oz cashew and brazil nuts.

Dinner, a dish from the Fuhrman forums called cauliflower, spinach mashed "potatoes", which doesn't have any potatoes in it!   Each serving had 1/2 head of cauliflower, 1/4 cup ground cashew nuts (about 1 oz), 2.5 oz spinach, and a garlic clove!  After cooking, it was blended in a food processor.   Housemate loved it.  I'd just as soon eat the ingredients separately.  I love steamed cauliflower.   But it's a good way to get your loved ones to eat healthy.  It tastes better than mashed potatoes. 

Nov. 14 food

Breakfast:  apple, banana, 1 oz walnuts.  I've been away from home for breakfast pretty much every day this week, so this is an easy breakfast away from home.  When I got home, I also ate some mushrooms (fresh from the grocery store).

Lunch:  bowl of leftover soup from yesterday.   at least 2 bowls of a sweet potato dish.  1 oz brazil nuts.  The sweet potato dish was from the Fuhrman forums, called Sweet Potato Apple Bake.  It has sweet potatoes, apples, cranberries, raisins, and orange juice.  I thought the cranberries were going to be yucky but they were great.  I ate too much of it.  I overate.  

Dinner:   bowl of salad greens and mushrooms--too lazy to make dressing so just ate it with my hands like snackfood.  I kind of prefer this, much easier.   2 small oranges.  another bowl of sweet potato dish.    doesn't seem like much but I ate a lot of sweet potatoes today and was overly full.  I finished dinner before 6 pm and wasn't hungry until 10 am the next morning (today as I write this).  

NOTE:  edited a few days later:  I learned on the Fuhrman forums that Dr. Fuhrman doesn't recommend eating raw mushrooms because they might be carcinogenic; they contain a toxic substance called agaratine, whatever that is.   I think this is one of those, who knows, things but since I'm pretty much willing to do whatever Fuhrman suggests, I'll stop eating them.  I was eating probably a pound of them a week!  It's disappointing to take them off the list as they were a great snack.  He says they are okay cooked.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Nov. 13 food

Out most of the morning so had breakfast on the go, like yesterday:
1 apple, 1 banana, 1 oz walnuts

Lunch:  no time to cook anything, so 1/2 oz sunflower seeds (1 Tbsp), OMG blueberry drink, 0.5 oz brazil nuts, ~2 oz salad mix (baby herb mix from a bag).  hmmm, that doesn't seem like so much but I was satisfied.   

Dinner:  made a batch of North African Chickpea and Kale soup since I happened to have the ingredients on hand.  It's not my favorite soup.  I might have added too much garlic.  It was better after I added a Tbsp of maple syrup to the pot.   hmmm, so would carrot juice have worked here?  or sweet potato?   anyway, I ate 3 bowls!  oops.  and 0.5 oz brazil nuts and 2 small oranges.  I should have had the nuts and oranges first and then wouldn't have eaten so much soup.  I'll try to remember that.   I feel a bit too full...

OMG blueberry drink

This was unbelievably good.  why would you want to eat SAD (Standard American Diet) food when you can eat this?

Ingredients:
1/2 bag frozen blueberries (about 4 oz or 1 cup)
handful or two of grapes (optional)
juice from 1-2 small oranges or 1 medium to large

blend in a blender.  soooooo gooooooood.  without the grapes, it isn't as sweet but it is still attractive, has a clean feel to it.

I made this because I thought, I should eat some berries since they are good for you.

Nov. 12 food

Was out most of the day except home for an early dinner:

Late breakfast:  apple, banana, 1 oz walnuts


Early dinner:   1.5 oz nuts (brazil & pistachio, I like the brazil most right now), large carrot (was hungry early), grapes (more than I should have), ~2 oz salad greens (baby herb mix from a bag), steamed cauliflower, beets and sweet peas.  and this awesome blueberry drink I made up, OMG, I will call it OMG blueberry drink.    that seems like a big dinner.  I did get full.  But I didn't have to eat the rest of the night and lasted through my exercise class this morning.  I don't like to eat dinner too late because then I'm still full the next morning.  

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast

I am stealing this from Lucy on the Fuhrman forums, but I hope she doesn't mind the reason, which is to benefit others with examples of healthy eating:

cut up an apple, chop up some walnuts (I used 1 oz), sprinkle with cinnamon, and heat in the microwave for about a minute. slice a banana, add and stir it all up. If it needs a little more warming, try 15-30 sec in the microwave.

It's good isn't it? Even housemate liked it.

mon & tues nov. 10&11 food

Monday

Breakfast:   warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast.

Lunch:  0.6 oz brazil nuts, mango-banana-spinach smoothie, 1/2 cup edamame warmed up in the microwave (from a frozen bag).  (I thought I needed some beans).

Dinner:  my favorite sweet potato with pumpkin pie spice, brussels sprouts (cooked with a little fennel and lemon juice), cabbage salad, large orange, 1/2 oz pistachio nuts.  

Tuesday
Breakfast:  grapes, 1/2 oz brazil nuts, bowl of greens (not much, maybe 1 oz), made the warm apple-banana-walnut breakfast again.  yum.

Lunch:  vegetable medley (just a bunch of steamed veggies:  beets, cauliflower, carrot, edamame, potato with no-salt seasoning on top, the cauliflower was really good, I think I like cauliflower a lot more than I thought), finished off the cabbage salad, grapes

Dinner:  spinach-mango-banana smoothie (more fresh local spinach at the co-op!), 1 oz nuts (pistachio, brazil, macadamia), grapes, large orange.  

all of it so yummy.  I decided to measure my nuts to make sure I'm eating enough but not too much.  it's much easier and makes it guilt free.  Since I'm thin and exercise a lot, I'm going for 2-3 oz a day.  You should have less if you are trying to lose weight.  They are a lovely treat that I get to eat several times a day!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

sun nov 9 food

Today I ate the way I'm supposed to.  It was a relief, not an effort.  Surprisingly, I weighed myself this morning and I haven't gained weight, though I'm in the top end of my normal range, which is 122-125 lbs.  I was 125.2.  My body must have a set point.  but it's wasteful to eat as much as I have been.  so here's what I had today:

Breakfast:  mango-banana-spinach smoothie and 2 brazil nuts.  To me it's like drinking a delicious milkshake and yet it's so healthy.   That is why this way of eating is not deprivation.  It is awesome!

Lunch:  1-2 oz of baby herb salad mix from a bag.   small bowl of cabbage salad.  and my favorite meal right now:  sweet potato & pumpkin pie spice.   4 brazil nuts.

Dinner:  small bowl cabbage salad.  large orange.   brussels sprouts cooked in a small amount of water with a little vinegar and a little fennel from the garden (planted it too late so it was very tiny).  1 oz brazil nuts & pistachio nuts (total), small apple.

Notice I didn't touch yesterday's soup.  Neither did housemate.  She says she'll try it for lunch tomorrow.  I have the feeling most of it will go down the drain.  I feel bad about that--wasteful.

Today it finally got cold in Wisconsin, didn't get above 32 F and is only going to drop tonight, So it was finally time to harvest the rest of the collard greens and kale from the garden.  I washed and destemmed (ripped pieces off the stems) about 4 lbs worth, and stuffed them into 4 large ziplock bags, and froze them (it took 3 hours!).    It will be interesting to see how long they last.  I also washed and froze parsley, thyme, mint, and marjorum.  I'm not sure how this will work but I've done frozen parsley before and that worked fine.  it's easier than drying them, which I don't know how to do.  What a great year for the garden it was.  We're encouraged to do even more next year; I'd like to keep expanding it as time goes on.  In a few years, I suspect money will be tighter and the garden will be a cost saver.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy those expensive berries and fruit while I am still gainfully employed!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

mashed sweet potato with pumpkin pie spice

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp date syrup (optional)

Bake the sweet potato at 400F for about 50 minutes. (if small, do a shorter time). Let it cool enough so you can peel the skin, which should be mostly separated from the potato in the cooking process. Mash it up and add the pumpkin pie spice. If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can combine 1 part each of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove. If you want it sweeter, add some sweetener.

I like this because I have always loved pumpkin pie, and this tastes just as good to me.

friday and saturday food log

let's see, yesterday I had an apple and must have had some other fruit for breakfast.  lunch and dinner were my new favorite dish (until I get tired of it):  mashed sweet potato with pumpkin pie spice, and steamed brussel sprouts.   I'm sure I snacked a lot too (on fruit and probably nuts and seeds) because that is what I've been doing lately--it's all healthy stuff but it's too much.  lLst night at a gathering with friends I had some tortilla chips (oops) and guacamole.

This morning I went grocery shopping and then ate grapes, an apple, a large orange and a bunch of brazil nuts for breakfast.  too much as usual.  was still full at yoga class at 12:30.  lunch was the mashed sweet potato again, and an apple, and some raw pistachio nuts (as good as roasted as far as I can tell).  also had some greens from a bag.   I eat them like potato chips.  it's good.   for dinner I made a soup and combined two ideas and it turned out pretty bad.  I started with the "gorgeous garlic greens soup" from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's website (you have to purchase the recipe).  then instead of veggie broth I put in carrot,celery and beet juice.  Well, sweet juice and garlic is not a good combination.  I had some leftover wine from a friend's visit early in the week, and added that to see if I could fix it but that made it worse.  so now I have this big pot of lousy soup.  oh well, at least it was greens from the garden.  I was thinking today what a great bargain that has been.  We spend about $10 for our initial collard greens and kale plants and seeds, and have been eating them in large amounts for the last 4 months!   That would probably cost at least $10 a week or more at the store, so a few hundred bucks.   

The other thing I made tonight was cabbage salad.  I thought of an improvement to the cabbage salad that I will implement next time.  I already edited the recipe even though I haven't tried it, but it's an obvious improvement (blend the walnuts and orange juice before adding).  

We'll probably try to eat some soup tomorrow but I think we'll probably throw out the rest.  oh well!    I ended up eating an entire bag of grapes today.  I'm really a pig these days.  I think I'm trying too hard to be healthy and it's making me think about food too much and then eating more of it than I should.  And I've been trying to follow Dr. Fuhrman's plan which says not to snack, so then that makes me want to snack.  My pigging out is on healthy food but it's unhealthy to pig out and get so full.  I'm surprised I haven't gained weight--or maybe I have, I haven't checked lately.  I think I need to back off, not from healthy eating, but from thinking about it.  So I'm not in the mood to blog right now either.   Plus, the point of the blog is to show people how to eat healthy, and if I'm not succeeding, what's the point then?  though I am eating healthy, just too much of it.  

Friday, November 7, 2008

smaller green smoothie

This is my new favorite green smoothie, for now.  (they usually last a few weeks before tweaking again).   It's not very sweet, which I like.  If you are new to this or prefer sweet smoothies, use spinach only and add a banana or grapes, and maybe even a date or two.

Ingredients:
4 oz greens (collards, kale, spinach, parsley, whatever you got that's a leafy green)
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 Tbsp flaxseed, ground in a coffee grounder (optional)
1 package frozen berries (8-10 oz), any kind, vary them
throw in your vitamins if you wish--I throw in my DHA supplement too
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds (optional)

Put the sunflower seeds, supplements, flaxseeds and OJ at the bottom.  then put the greens on top.  then blend.   once the stuff at the bottom gets blended, start smashing the greens in.  once that's all blended, add the berries.  This makes 2 8-oz glasses.  Right now, I like having one at breakfast with an apple and one at dinner with something else.   My big meal is at lunch.   I prefer this to one big smoothie as a meal, at least when I'm at home.  On the road, a big smoothie is very convenient. 

Thursday, November 6, 2008

food log today and yesterday

I'm still a bit overloaded on food because I cooked all day yesterday and had my cooking class last night (had to take a day off work!).   But the class was a lot of fun for everyone I think. I even had a 12-year old student who was very enthusiastic, especially for the banana walnut ice cream.  The class is over now so I can get back to focussing on work and everything else in my life.   I made tofu jambalaya ahead of time.  I made it a little different from the online recipe, using my wild/brown rice mixture, and just throwing everything in the pot and cooking for about 1.5 hours.  I also used 3 16-oz canned tomatoes from our garden instead of 1 28-oz.  I smashed one of them up so it was like the tomato juice called for in the recipe.  You really don't have to follow recipes closely if you aren't baking.  Go with what you have on hand and what you like.  Then we made in the class cajun tempeh bacon (I marinated ahead of time), garbanzo-guacamole dip with blanched veggies (unfortunately you have to be a member of the Fuhrman forums to see that link but you can guess right? garbanzo beans, avocado, few green onions, a little hot pepper, a little garlic, small tomato, some soy sauce, blend the beans first, pulse everything else), and for dessert, banana walnut ice cream (frozen banana, few walnuts, small amount of soy milk, sweetener to taste, blended in  a superpowerful blender).  The tempeh bacon was really good!  I was surprised.  However, it was pretty high in sodium I bet, so probably not super healthy.  But a great treat occasionally I'm sure.  One of the students took it home to try in a TLT (tempeh lettuce and tomato sandwich).  And you gotta try the banana walnut ice cream.  it is so creamy and good.  as good as the unhealthy stuff.  maybe even better.

I ate all day yesterday and then all night.  So needless to say I wasn't too hungry today.  I snacked on salad from a bag, ate some leftovers for lunch from the cooking class, then for dinner more salad from the bag (finished a whole bag, though that's probably only about 50 calories!), a collard green smoothie, carrot, apple, orange, too many pumpkin seeds, a handful of frozen sweet peas, a handful of edamame (microwaved to warm them up).  Geez, I eat a lot.  I guess I got my appetite back.  I seem to get hungry about 4 pm.  

Sunday, November 2, 2008

food last few days

I'm getting tired of thinking about food and writing about food and eating food.  I think it's because I've been cooking a lot for my cooking class, which I enjoy, don't get me wrong (in case one of my students reads this), but then I bring home all these leftovers and have too much food and have to try to eat it all.  We had to eat four kinds of soup after last week's class.  Housemate finished off two of them.  We got down to one bowl left and we just couldn't do it.  It sat in the fridge all weekend and I threw it out tonight.  so I'm going to make this short.  

For breakfast I've been eating fruit:  a delicious locally grown apple, an orange usually, strawberries.

for lunch, I was visiting family this weekend and had baked potatoes and salad greens and apple sauce and a wee bit of their sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce (they were from a can and probably had high-fructose corn syrup and god knows what else in them).    last week, lunch was soup (I think I had three bowls one day, that was too much and I got a stomach ache that night).

for dinner, collard green smoothies.  still have collard greens and kale in the garden.  I eat a delicious locally grown raw carrot too, partly because I want to have the satisfaction of chewing something

oh, I have a new favorite dessert (for a few days until I get tired of it):  a banana and a handful of walnuts.  I really like this.  weird, eh?  The relatives were eating ice cream and cake and I preferred mine.  But the cake was a mix you add only water to topped with a can of frosting, and the ice cream was sugar-free.  It didn't appeal to me.  Food with chemicals in it has no attraction for me anymore.

tomorrow lunch will be a picnic lunch consisting of a nice chickpea-avocado dip I made (from Dr. Fuhrman's website, or p. 151 of Eat for Health) and fresh veggies.  I was testing it out and I think I'll make it for my cooking class.   breakfast and dinner will probably be the usual.

I have some beets and sweet potatoes I want to eat--have an idea I want to try with the sweet potato but don't know when I  can squeeze it in.  maybe tuesday lunch.  then I have an overnight visitor and we'll go out to lunch on Wed. and I'll be cooking again for the class and then come home with more leftovers!   I don't like throwing out food.  I've gotten really good at not wasting food but I didn't account for all the cooking class leftovers when I did my grocery shopping.  

okay, so that's the food log:  fruit at breakfast, I still want to do the smoothies at dinner because I don't know, I like them, and they are nutritious, and then some veggies at lunch.