Tuesday, June 30, 2009

talent show at the getaway

The last event at the Getaway was a talent show and it was outstanding. I haven't laughed this hard in a long, long time. My smile muscles are going to be sore. There was lots of variety, hilarity, adorable children, and even some unbelievable talent. The format was an American Idol theme with voting. Lisa Fuhrman played the role of Simon and was hilarious. I hardly snapped any pictures because I was too busy laughing.

Here's Todd doing basketball tricks. He's owner of the Harlem Wizards.

















Here's the real talent of the show, Sonny Leigh. If you live in the Denver area, go check her out. She is fabulous. Sorry for the lousy picture.

















I was in a skit that turned out to be very funny, thanks to the creative work of Maggie and Sue, who wrote it. We showed the day in the life of a family in the year 2025 when everyone was a nutritarian.

Afterwards, Dr. Fuhrman let us take pictures with him and Lisa, his wife. So of course, I took part in that. And here we are:











Tomorrow we'll go on a morning kayak outing and then head out to Miami. We'll get a final breakfast and lunch, and then we'll enter back into the other world. It was fun to live in the nutritarian world for a week. I always eat the nutritarian way, but it sure was fun to have it served to me 3 meals a day with no effort on my part and surrounded by 120 other people eating the same food. Yep, this was a great Getaway. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn how to become a nutritarian.

Last Supper at the Getaway

I have really enjoyed trying out Fuhrman recipes that I haven't made myself yet. Tonight was no exception. I wish I could find someone to make the desserts for me because it's the one thing I don't enjoy making--the baked ones that is. I'm a lousy baker.

Here was the menu for tonight:



















The butternut squash soup was excellent. I will make this:














I was in the mood for salad and vegetables. The salad bar goes on for three pictures here. Lettuce, beans, nuts, dressings:














tomatoes, potatoes, raw cauliflower, onion, cucumber:










beans, fruit:










fruit, and berries:










Here's the chard and vegetable medley with barley. I wasn't in the mood for this:









The salmon. I'm vegan so wasn't in the mood for this either:










Ah, here we go, simple steamed cauliflower. I was in the mood for this. Put some caesar dressing on that and it's yummy.










Then the healthy chocolate cake was really good! I have considered making this before but thought it wouldn't taste good because it has so many vegetables in it. I love it. Now if only I could get someone to make it for me!

effect of a nutritarian diet?

watch out, this could happen to you too!




birds

Sorry, off topic here, I can't resist posting a few bird pictures. This was on our short walk to the marina to go snorkeling. Today was our day off.

































Getaway breakfast

Today I remembered to snap photos of breakfast. I think this was my favorite meal of the Getaway. Here was the menu for today:




















This was a pretty typical menu. This is my favorite part:













oh, I forgot to include the bananas in the picture. So you put some cashew cream and bananas in a lettuce leaf and eat it like a burrito. Yummy!

Then there's tons of fruit and berries:



















And today's grain dish, if you so choose, was oatmeal and muesli. I usually pass on the oatmeal in favor of the luscious berries, but the muesli was to die for. I am making this again:








Here are the ingredients:
















We enjoyed a large breakfast knowing we wouldn't eat lunch, because we went snorkeling this afternoon. I'm so glad we didn't eat lunch because the waves were choppy! Lots of people looked green on the return trip home. After breakfast we did our usual relaxation at the lagoon. My feet and Gail's head are in the foreground. The lagoon is actually a great swimming pool, for doing nice long laps.

Monday, June 29, 2009

June 29 Getaway Update





























This bird was fishing for dolphins. It was fun to watch her watching the dolphins. Her eyes were bigger than her stomach.

The highlights for me today were the lecture by Dr. Fuhrman of course--this one on diabetes--and the cooking demo with Lisa Fuhrman and Chef Charlotte. Everyone, as far as I know, including the Fuhrmans, loved Chef Charlotte. She was fabulous. She was given the guidelines for the eating program several months ago but not the recipes (I think that's what she said). I think this was brilliant because she then proceeded to come up with recipes of her own, such as watermelon gaspacho soup. She gave us lots of tips about produce and utensils and improving on recipes. She improved on the caesar salad dressing by roasting the garlic in orange juice. Here's Elija and Lisa preparing for the lecture. I hope they don't mind my posting this. It just conveys the excitement!















They demoed a chocolate smoothie, a cashew-orange dressing in which they didn't have oranges so it turned into a mango lime dressing and it was great. We got to taste test them, and the flag cake:











It was really good! I don't like baking, but my friend Gail said she would do it. So I'll have to visit her sometime when she's making one.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

great quotes on vegetarianism

I love this post from strix.

June 28 -- At the Health Getaway

The Health Getaway has been fabulous so far. Last night we got a lecture on the Certification program for Nutritional Excellence Counselors (NEC). I'm really excited about this. We have to take an exam and then we can become counselors and help people adopt this healthy eating program. I have a fabulous job and career already but I feel so passionate about this that I want to do this too. I think we can change how people eat, and even though it's an uphill battle at this point, it's worth the effort because it will save so many lives.

I've been learning a lot too, even though I've already devoured all of Fuhrman's books, lectures, teleconferences, and newsletters. He's been reporting new information and reinforcing the old. For example, I already knew nuts and seeds are good for you but after his first lecture, I realized I don't eat enough. Then in yesterday's lecture he presented new information about beans. Wow, they are an amazing food. So I will incorporate more of those in my diet. Since I feel uncomfortable eating large quantities of beans, I will try eating smaller portions more often.

The meals have been fabulous of course. I was expecting that. They are buffet style and consist of salads, soup, beans, berries, fruit, nut butters, nuts and seeds, cooked entrees, and at lunch and dinner, some sort of dessert. Here's an example from last night's meal

The salad spread: lettuce, beans, dressings, nut butters, seeds, tomatoes, avocado:















More salad spread: berries (this was right at the end of dinner, so the strawberries were almost gone), snow peas, nut butters, vinegars, melon, etc, soup at the far left (last night was quick and creamy vegetable bean):
















Roasted Mixed Vegetables


















Cauliflower Spinach Mashed "potatoes" (no potatoes!), a favorite on the forums:

















plain ole' steamed spinach. Gail had hers with D'angou pear vinegar and loved it:













No pasta vegetable lasagna. I've been wanting to try this and finally got to without even having to cook it. It's good.














Dessert was blueberry fig sorbet:


















We've been so engrossed in our own world for the last few days, I forgot what everyone else usually eats, but I was reminded as I passed by a wedding party spread. Here's the bar:













Here's the hors d'oeuvres (I had to look up the spelling of that one). okay in case you can't see this, from top left to right is meat slices rolled up in cheese slices. crackers and breadsticks, meat slices (salame?), crackers and breadsticks, is that a veggie at top right? yes, I believe so! grilled sliced zucchini I think. not bad. probably with oil and salt though. Then the bottom row is cheese.















We had great hors d'oeuvres the first night. bean dips in little pieces of lettuce (baby bok choy perhaps?). some red pepper type salsa in little lettuce wraps--I didn't get to taste those. this great coconut, lime drink. and a cantaloupe drink I didn't get to try. yummy!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

off to a Health Getaway!

Today I'm on my way to Dr. Fuhrman's Heath Getaway. I've never done anything like this in my life. I've gone on vacation, yes, but not a group vacation at a resort. I'm pretty excited about it, not the resort part, but learning a lot, while relaxing and working out and eating great food that I don't have to prepare! And being among people who eat the same things as me and don't think it's crazy. And I'm going with a good friend. I'm trying not to get my hopes up so they aren't dashed, but I am looking forward to this.

I don't know if I'll have time or inclination to post. I'll definitely give a report when it's over with.

June 23 & 24

Yesterday (June 23) I ate whatever emptied out the fridge before my trip.  

Brekky was a smoothie.  I used grapes instead of pomegranate juice because I didn't want to open up a new bottle.  I eventually want to wean myself off the juice because I don't want to buy all those glass bottles.  Plus fruit is healthier than juice.  I have one bottle left.  I was also trying to pare down the garden so it won't get too overgrown by the time I get back.  So I made two smoothies using grapes, frozen berries, and stuff from the garden:  mostly collard greens, some swiss chard and just a bit of kale (I love kale but not in smoothies).   I froze one and it is in my suitcase.  If all goes well, I'll drink that when I arrive in Miami at 5 pm.   

Then I got busy with work and had a late lunch which was leftover eggplant dish, and berry salad (strawberries, raspberries, banana).    I made housemate 8 smoothie servings (!), and of course sampled them.  ate my usual carrots and peas as snacks.

Dinner was lots of asparagus topped with ground sunflower and hemp seeds, and some lemon juice.   I also made a salad with lettuce (some from the garden--really good), avocado, apple, ground seeds (pumpkin & sunflower), and D'angou pear vinegar.  nibbled on frozen peas as usual.  

I was pretty full after all this.  I must have eaten a lot of seeds.  

Today I'm traveling and just eating an apple and some carrots--not that hungry anyway.  When I arrive in Miami, I'll have the smoothie hopefully.  then I have more soup in my suitcase if I'm still hungry.   


Monday, June 22, 2009

avocado-mango salad



















When I eat something several times, I decide it's time to make it a recipe.

Ingredients for 1 large serving:
lettuce and greens
1 small mango or 1/2 large--I get the small yellow ones from Mexico because they seem to ripen better for me than the big green/red ones from South America
1/2 ripe avocado
1/2 cup edamame, thawed (or fresh sugar snap peas or snow peas)
1/2 red bell pepper (optional)
broccoli sprouts or other sprouts (optional)
1 Tbsp sunflower, hemp, or pumpkin seeds, ground (coffee grinder works well)

I think you know what to do. cut up the lettuce. cut up and add the mango, avocado, bell pepper on top. add the edamame and vinegar and seeds. yummy. I'll post a picture sometime.

eggplant, veggies, & seeds

This is one of my favorites now. I finally learned how to make eggplant: you have to cook it enough for it to get really tender--at least for my tastes. The pressure cooker is perfect for that.  But this dish will work fine one a conventional stove--just cook for a long time.  Which reminds me,  the PC is a great summer appliance because it cooks things so quickly.  I highly recommend it!  Here is the one I got:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 bunch of kale, or more if you'd like
a bunch of mushrooms, 8-16 oz
a leek or onion
any other veggie you want to throw in or subsitute--zucchini, for example.
2 16-oz cans of tomatoes (or 1 if you want)
herbs or italian spices or other spices (I used stuff currently in my garden:  chives, cilantro, tarragon, parsley.  The basil isn't ready yet).
ground seeds, I used hemp, sunflower, pumpkin.  I did 4 Tbsp but I might do 6 next time.

Peel and cut up the eggplant.  Cut up the kale, mushrooms and leek/onion.   Here's how I made it in the pressure cooker:  cooked the eggplant in 1/2 cup water for 2 minutes.  Then added the kale and onions for another 2 minutes.  Then added everything else for another minute.   For conventional stove, cook the eggplant, onions, kale and tomatoes for about 20 minutes, then add everything else for another 10.  that's my guess.  maybe cook the eggplant for even longer.

The ground seeds remind me of ricotta cheese so this feels kind of like an Italian dish.  

You can add beans or edamame too.   I often add edamame to the leftovers.

june 20-22

It was a busy weekend so no time for blogging.   I worked Sat and Sun nights (my usual blogging time) to make up for goofing off Friday and Monday.  But I ate great.  We've been eating lots of berries because they are cheap and delicious!   Let's see if I can remember it all.

Sat. morning I had a smoothie and half a cantaloupe.  then some watermelon at our work day at church.  then grocery shopping so a late lunch which was pea-guacomole and carrot sticks and red bell pepper "sticks" for dipping. I also had a box of blackberries.  Dinner was salad made from lettuce & greens topped with berries (strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries), ground hemp and sunflower seeds, and orange vinegar.  The berries were especially good today. Housemate said she prefers  the fruit salad by itself.  I can see that, as it's more of a treat on its own.    

Sun. morning was a smoothie and half a cantaloupe.  some more watermelon at church. more grocery shopping again.  got a bag of cherries.  I've learned that when I get a bag of cherries I end up eating the entire bag of cherries.  I wish I had more discipline but I don't.  So it's good to just eat smaller meals on those days.    Lunch was essentially the bag of cherries.  it was good...  then I made a big batch of eggplant & veggies.  This has become one of my favorite cooked meals.  Housemate doesn't like eggplant, so I made her version with potatoes.  I had a small portion after making it at about 3 pm.   For dinner we went to a diner with a friend and I brought along another helping of the eggplant & veggies.  

Today, more visitors.  Brekky was a smoothie again, and half a cantaloupe.   Lunch at a state park was avocado-mango salad and fruit salad for dessert (strawberries, raspberries, banana, and cantaloupe).   Dinner was leftover eggplant dish (still one more serving left!), some carrots, while visitors ate pizza.  oh, I added some edamame to the eggplant dish.   had a few frozen peas while preparing.   half an orange for dessert.  oh, and a couple of Tbsp of pumpkin seeds.  

I'm probably eating too much fruit but this time of year, that's to be expected. 

Friday, June 19, 2009

june 19

Another busy day.  It took me all day to recover from the lentils.  I finally felt normal tonight.  I'm going to cut back on the beans.  I don't care if I don't build muscles.  I have enough.  I froze the rest of the lentils for another time.

Brekky:  1/2 cantaloupe, a carrot, a little spinach.  I didn't eat this until about 11 am because I was still full in the morning.

Lunch:  about 4 pm.  I was finally hungry!  smoothie.  I made this about 11 am though.  This was my first smoothie of the season using garden greens!   Here they are:












chard, collards, and arugula.  It was about 5 oz.  I made my recent favorite smoothie.  It was very good.  oh, I added a small mango to it, which is probably why it was better than usual.   I also ate an apple with the smoothie.

Dinner: salad.  This was really good.  I like salads.  I like them more than beans.  Well, I like beans, just not how I feel after eating too many of them.  I did have 1/2 cup of edamame on the salad.  That is a bean (soybean).  That doesn't seem to bother me.  This salad had lettuce and spinach (local, yum), a cut-up apple and peach, avocado (a whole one, though small, yum), edamame (frozen, heated in microwave), and orange vinegar.  It was yummy.   I also ate an orange while making house-mate's orange juice.  and a carrot while making the salad.   

Thursday, June 18, 2009

june 18

brekky:  not too hungry.  half a cantaloupe.  Ate some carrots and spinach while making soup.  It was pretty much this recipe for lentil soup.   I made a large batch to take some over to a friend.  I used 1/2 cup wild rice mixture, and 1/2 cup wheatberries, because that was all I had.  Normally I would have used 1 cup of the rice.  But I kind of like the wheatberries mixed in.  They give it a crunchy taste.   I used 4 cups of red lentils.  I like the 4:1 ratio of lentils and rice/wheatberries.  Like last time, I blended up cauliflower and zucchini into a creamy sauce, and added kale.  

lunch:   not too hungry.  ate a bowl of the lentil soup, and some fruit salad.   was still pretty bloated for my workout in the afternoon.

dinner:  still not too hungry.  ate a small bowl of soup, salad, and some fruit salad at my friend's house.   Then I got a little hungry when I got home.  maybe the hard workout finally got my appetite going.  I ate some cherries and berries (too many, oops).

I have to say, I'm overdosing on the beans. They are making me too bloated.  I'm probably eating too many of them.   And this time of year, I'd rather eat the berries and vegetables.  The berries are cheap and good right now and that's a rare treat.   The co-op is starting to fill up with local veggies, mainly greens right now.  I got some asparagus today.  So I think I'll cut back on the beans.  I definitely don't want them every day.   

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

veggies, greens, & seeds












This is similar to beans, greens & seeds, but has veggies instead of beans.

Ingredients:
some veggies: I used a beet, a zucchini, some mushrooms, and some cauliflower
some onion or leek: I used 1/2 leek.
some greens: I had kale, mustard greens, baby bok choy.
some seeds: I used 1 Tbsp pumpkin and 1 Tbsp hemp, grind in coffee grinder
some herbs: I had tarragon, rosemary, cilantro, and chives from the garden.

I used a pressure cooker (PC) which made it go fast, but you can do this with a regular pot, steaming everything. Cook the longer-cooking things first (beets for 3 minutes in the PC). Then add the shorter-cooking stuff and cook some more (everything else but the seeds and herbs, 2 minutes in the PC). Then add the ground seeds and chopped herbs. Use whatever veggies, greens, seeds or nuts, herbs (dried or fresh) you have on hand.

It was great!

june 17

busy day. brekky was half cantaloupe, some cherries, and a carrot.

lunch: it was really good but I ate too much, because I prepared too much and I didn't want them as leftovers. bad planning. I made veggies, greens, & seeds. I snacked on a carrot and some spinach while preparing, oh and on the berries as I made fruit salad for housemate. They were really good. California berries are really good right now.

dinner, out and about: smoothie, beans from a few days ago, a few pieces of watermelon at a dessert potluck. Then at home, some cherries, peas, carrots and spinach, and an orange. that was a bit too much again, oops. I have been working out a lot this week, but still. It's wasteful to overeat, and not healthy.

Speaking of overeating, let's talk about gas for a minute. People think beans give you gas. I've found this week that eating 1 cup of beans a day doesn't give me gas if I don't overeat. And not eating any beans, but overeating gives me gas. So gas is a good indication for me that I'm overeating. Housemate will say, "this is more than I wanted to know."

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

june 16

brekky: 1/2 cantaloupe, new favorite smoothie, carrot. The smoothie was very filling.

lunch: wasn't hungry! wow, I guess those beans and greens and seeds really do fill you up for a long time. So I just had 1/2 cup peas and a carrot. I wasn't even hungry for that but thought I might want the energy for my afternoon workout.

dinner: had plans to be out, so had a carrot, smoothie, cup of beans. then after grocery shopping, some blackberries and cherries.

Monday, June 15, 2009

june 15

brekky: my new favorite smoothie. I used kale and spinach and a little arugula as my greens. also had 1/2 cantaloupe.

Lunch: beans, greens and seeds. While preparing I had a small bowl of cabbage salad and 1/2 cup peas. Dessert was an orange.

Dinner: beans, asparagus and seeds. While preparing I had a small bowl of cabbage salad and 1/2 cup peas. Dessert was a banana. I wasn't hungry for dessert. should have left it off.

All of this food was really good and satisfying. In fact, I think I might have eaten just a little bit too much. The beans do fill you up. I probably had more than a half cup with lunch and dinner, so will watch that in the future.

beans, greens, & seeds

I listened to a Fuhrman telecon about how to build muscle in which he recommended that you eat a high-quality protein meal combining beans, greens and nuts& seeds after exercising. Protein gets excreted from your system if you don't use it (i.e., build muscle), so it's good to eat it one or two meals after exercising. It turns out that this is an easy and delicious meal to make. Here are two examples, from today's lunch and dinner.

First, make a pot of beans (or just use a can!). Today I made a mixture of lima and pinto. I soaked them overnight, then rinsed, and cooked with a chopped onion for about 3 hours. At the end of cooking, I added from fresh herbs from the garden. Today that was chives, dill, a little cilantro, and tarragon. The garden cilantro and dill will end soon, but the basil will be strong soon, so there should be something all summer long. For fun, I added 2 tsp of fig vinegar. That was unnecessary but good.

Next, chop some greens and one other veggie. or more. whatever you want. My greens today were kale, baby bok choy, and mustard greens. I made enough for two. It was probably about 10 oz, so 5 each. I didn't measure it. It went into a big pot. I also added some mushrooms and a can of tomatoes. I cooked them in the pressure cooker for 2 minutes (or steam for 15 minutes or so). I ground up 1 Tbsp of hemp seed and 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds in the coffee grinder (the meal served two people). I added that to the greens, poured 1/2 cup beans on top, and the seeds. The seeds mixed with the cooking liquid and made the sauce a little creamy. It was fabulous.
















For dinner, my greens were asparagus. okay, that doesn't count as greens, but it's a healthy vegetable. I added sesame seeds to the asparagus and pressure cooked for 2 minutes. then I thought I could grind them but I realized after cooking that you can't really separate them. So I thought, they might not digest well, so I ground up 2 Tbsp of sunflower seeds. Added that and juice of 1/2 lemon to the asparagus, topped with 1/2 cup beans. And added more herbs that I had picked for lunch. It was fabulous too!
















I may be doing this sort of thing a lot. It's an easy way to get a high-nutrient, high-protein meal!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

june 14

Brekky:  wasn't too hungry, just snacked on the fruit salad I was preparing for my lunch potluck.  I probably had a full serving.  The fruit salad had strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, and grapes.  Oh yeah, I had a box of blackberries too (6 oz I think).  So yeah, I guess it was plenty of food.

Lunch:  at the potluck, the food was quite healthy.   I had my fruit salad + a delicious lettuce salad.  Then there was a black bean salad and a corn & asparagus dish.  I had small amounts of those--would have had more but I didn't want too much salt.    They were good.  I should point out the reason I'm sensitive to salt now is that since I don't add any to my food, my kidneys are used to retaining all the sodium I consume.   So when I consume a large amount, my body bloats up from retaining the sodium.  In contrast, most Americans excrete large amounts of sodium every day which is why their sweat is salty.  The kidneys have to work pretty hard to do this.  (I learned this from a Dr. Fuhrman telecon).

Dinner:  cabbage salad and the leftover fruit salad.  snacked on spinach, 1 carrot, and 1/3 cup frozen peas while preparing.  I guess I look at that as the first course.  The local spinach is so good I just love to eat it plain out of the bag.

I didn't snack today.  I felt hungry in my stomach  at 4 pm (according to Dr. Fuhrman, that is not real hunger, which you feel in your throat).  I told myself to wait, and went out and worked on turning and rearranging the compost pile, and then realized I wasn't hungry anymore.  Then I was hungry at dinner and it was good.   It really is easier to not snack, just eat 3 meals a day, and focus on your life and not food.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

june 13

Today I kind of pigged out, oops.  and the reason is because I let myself snack.  at least it was healthy.

Last night when I got home I was a bit hungry.  I ate as described in my June 11 post.  I got home about 8 pm and saw some lettuce, kale, and arugula in the garden that needed harvesting!  Excitement.  So I made this smoothie, using mixed berries.  It is now my current favorite smoothie.   I liked it so much I had it again for brekky this morning, using blueberries (I had no other food in the house).   Then I went off to do manual labor at my church.  That made me hungry, so I came home for a very quick lunch before heading off to a memorial service.  Well, I still had nothing in the house except frozen berries and spinach so I had another smoothie!  this time with raspberries.  I also had some frozen peas and an orange.  It was a good lunch.  At the memorial service, they served tons of food, which I wasn't expecting.  I had some fruit salad and bean salad.  The bean salad was super oily and salty.  I just had a small amount but I can feel the salt--my fingers are swollen.  I'm so sensitive to it now.   Then I went grocery shopping, loading up on all kinds of fabulous local veggies!   When I got home and was putting away the groceries, I snacked a bit.  When I snack a bit, it leads to lots of snacking.  So I ate a box of blackberries, some grapes, a fresh fig, a carrot, and some pistachio nuts.  Well, I wasn't that hungry when dinner came around but that didn't stop me from snacking while preparing, and then eating a fair amount.  I snacked on edamame, an orange, some grapes, and too many pistachio nuts while preparing cabbage-apple dish.  I was full after all that. 

One thing I noticed today was that there was so much food available everywhere I went.  It really does seem to be the case that every social event in America needs to have lots of unhealthy food at it.  No wonder most people are overweight.  We had a huge box of donuts at the beginning of our work day, along with coffee and cream, after most people probably just had breakfast.  Someone brought lunch for us at 11:30 am.  Then there was tons of food at the memorial service, most of it baked goods and sweets and candy and pasta.  Now that I think about it, every social event I go to has food in it. Tomorrow I have church, where there's always food,  followed by a potluck with some friends.   Next Wednesday I'm going to a dessert potluck.   I requested that fruit salad be on the menu (I'm a guest so they don't want me to bring food).  I'm planning to go to the movies next week; where everyone will be eating popcorn and candy and coke.   It's kind of interesting.   I wonder if sociable people are more overweight!  How can they help it?   Then there's the bar scene.  I have drifted away from some friends because I lost interest in drinking--that wasn't my intention, but I just don't have much interest to go to bars now.  I'm somewhat immune from the SAD (standard American diet) now.  But all that food does probably trigger my own food cravings.

I'll try not to snack tomorrow...Part of it was the excitement of getting my favorite foods from my favorite grocery store after a week on the road.  And I probably allow myself to do this because I wonder if perhaps I'm a bit underweight.  But even if you want to gain weight, I think 3 meals a day should be enough.  I feel better when I rest my digestion in between meals.  And of course, that is what Dr. Fuhrman recommends.   

okay, time to watch a movie at home with no food because we already ate and aren't the least bit hungry!

nuts and seeds

This post is to remind me for future use what I just learned. I looked at the nutritional info for various nuts and seeds, using the CRON-o-meter program (it's free). I compared (raw) walnuts, pistachio, brazil nuts, almonds, cashew; hemp, sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, chi, and flax seeds.

Now I see why Dr. Fuhrman and others recommend flax seeds, hemp seeds, and walnuts for getting your omega-3 fats. Chia seeds are also super-high in omega-3. I've never tried them but I'll add them to my shopping list and try them out. The seeds are much higher than the walnuts in omega-3s. Here's an article describing the benefits. Here's another that says it helps with macular degeneration (eye disease). Since housemate got warned by the eye doctor that she had the beginnings of this, I will put the seeds in her smoothies. According to the same article, citrus fruits and leafy green vegetables are good too. House mate does pretty well with those.

Then I want to get some more muscle on my skinny frame so Dr. Fuhrman recommends sunflower seeds because of their complete amino acid profile. He said it's just like eating meat. I think he said that about hemp seed too. I recall this from one of his telecons or the forums so I don't have an article to point to.  According to this website, pumpkin seeds and chia seeds have even higher "quality" protein than sunflower.  It didn't have an entry for hemp.  Most nuts and seeds have 4-5 grams of protein per oz, but hemp seeds have 8, and pumpkin seeds have 6.  So I want hemp, chia, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds in my diet for protein.

So for me, I want flaxseeds, hemp seeds, and I'll try chia seeds for the omega-3s; hemp, chia, pumpkin, and sunflower  seeds for the high-quality protein; and Fuhrman recommends sesame seeds too (see Howard's comment below). Then the nuts have varying quantities of minerals which is why Dr. Fuhrman recommends a variety. Brazil nuts are loaded with selenium, while the others have little. Unfortunately I have a tendency to pig out on brazil nuts, so I guess I should buy them in relatively small quantities. Pistachio nuts have 5 g of protein per oz, lower calories than walnuts, and taste great. so if I could control myself, I probably should get some pistachio nuts, brazil nuts and walnuts to add to the mix. Sesame seeds have more calcium than any other nuts or seeds. Interesting how much it varies between them all--hence Dr. Fuhrman's advice to vary them.

single serving green smoothie

Warning: this is not a very sweet one. But this is what your taste buds start desiring after you get hooked on eating raw greens. I'm just starting to harvest all these greens from my garden! yea!!!!

Ingredients:
2-4 oz leafy greens: I usually use collard greens (because I have a garden full!), chard or spinach. Collards and kale are cruciferous vegetables and are great cancer fighters! However, I personally don't like kale in smoothies, as I find it too bitter.
1 Tbsp flaxseed
1 Tbsp hempseed (or sunflower seeds or raw nuts or nothing)
1 bag frozen berries (e.g., mixed, blueberry, strawberry, raspberry)
1/2 bag frozen pomegranate berries (new!) or 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup water, if needed
daily supplements (optional): 0.5 ml DHA,2 gentle care vitamins, 3 Osteo-Sun
1-3 tsp blueberry vinegar (if using lots of the bitter greens---kale, collards, arugula)

Put the seeds, nuts, juice or water, and supplements in the bottom of your powerful blender. Add the greens on top. start blending. The greens should fall down and start blending with the liquid, adding more bulk. Let that blend up nicely to grind up the seeds and supplements. then you can just add the berries slowly and let them blend in. it makes a thick shake. You can microwave the berries for 30 sec first which will make it blend easier and less thick; or add a bit of water. The vinegar removes some of the bitter taste of the greens. Makes a large glass, about 16 oz.

Nutritional info: 393 calories, 12 g protein (10%), 73 g carbs (65%), 12 g fat (26%).

Thursday, June 11, 2009

june 11

today's brekky:  same wonderful salad as yesterday and day before.

lunch:  almonds & cherries (yum), peach, nectarine, orange, all ripe and local and delicious.  what a surprising treat this was for a business trip.

dinner:  lettuce & spinach, peach, nectarine, carrots and celery, almonds

Tomorrow I head home.  yea!  planning the same salad for brekky.  I'll eat the last can of soup before checking in at the airport (right out of the can!  you don't have to eat soup hot!), then pack the can opener in the suitcase.  then just have fruit until I get home at 9 pm (I hope).  it will be plenty--I have a couple of nectarines, peaches, a banana, an orange, and celery and carrots.  okay, that will be more than enough!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

june 10

Still in Pasadena on business travel.

Brekky:  same salad as yesterday and the day before.  This is heavenly.  In case you forgot, its about 4-5 oz of greens and spinach packed into my bowl, topped with half containers of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, some sunflower seeds, half an avocado chopped, and some blood orange vinegar.  

Lunch:  Dr. Fuhrman's Moroccan chickpea soup.  peach, nectarine, grapes, cherries, and raw almonds.  the fruit and nuts were the best part, all ripe and delicious.  I was out with colleagues again for lunch and we went to a deli so it was no problem for me to have my own food.  My colleagues ate really fast and I didn't even finish my soup before they were finished.  So I just nibbled on the fruit while we talked business.  But I felt rushed and didn't enjoy it.  I also ate too many nuts because I wasn't very hungry for dinner.  I'll try to moderate more tomorrow.

Dinner:  same as breakfast.  This is just too too good.  plus a peach and nectarine.  okay, I'm eating too much fruit.  But it's fresh and local and ripe and delicious and I'm going to enjoy it for just 2 more days.

Note #1:  I decided I like the VitaBeanaVegaMin soup best despite not liking the name (sounds clinical though I'm sure it's meant to be cute).  

Note #2:  A friend of mine said to me "Where did you get your tan?  You look so golden and radiant!"  Ha.  too funny.  I think I've only worn a short sleeve shirt outside once since last summer (we've had a cool spring in Wisconsin).   Doctors used to test me for anemia because I was so pale.  But it's true, my skin has much more color in it than before.  It's not a tan.  It must be beta carotene or something, from all the green vegetables.  and I do eat a lot of raw carrots too.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

june 7-9

I'm in Pasadena, CA, and the food is good.  

On Sunday I was still eating food from home because I couldn't make it to the grocery store until my tour was over.  I recall I wasn't hungry for brekky because I ate too many brazil nuts the night before!  oops.  so I just had a banana for brekky.  I made oatmeal to take for lunch. It turns out this works well.  I'll explain in a bit.  I also had an apple.  Everyone else had sandwiches supplied by the organizers.  For dinner I had one of Dr. Fuhrman's soups, the morrocan chickpea. Let's see, did I have a salad?  I don't think so.  I think just the soup and some fruit and carrots and celery.  I ate in my room.  I was tired from all the walking, about 5 miles. It turns out my motel is a bit of a hike from the conference, but it's actually really nice to get outside and walk.

Okay, yesterday I made a salad for brekky:
















This was the best meal of the day:  a 5 oz box of baby lettuce greens topped with half containers of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries; 2 spoons of sunflower seeds, and Dr. Fuhrman's blood orange vinegar.  Fantastic meal.  I heard today the berries just came in season in CA a week ago and they were good.  

Then I was going to be out the rest of the day so I packed my lunch and dinner, as compact as possible because it's a 1.7 mile walk to the conference:

















I made oatmeal with cut up apple, goji berries, and sunflower seeds.  These are steel cut oats and I soaked them overnight.   Then I microwaved for 2.5 minutes, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  Then added the cutup apple (with skin, it was organic), goji berries and seeds, and microwaved it again for 2 minutes.  I had about 3-4 times as much water as oats in the end.  Oatmeal is a good travel meal because it's compact to travel with, then even after cooking it's calorie dense so relatively compact.  I put the warm oatmeal in a tupperware bowl and put that in a cheap insulated bag I got for free years ago and it was still warm at lunch!    

For lunch I had the oatmeal, orange and some carrots and celery.  I was out with a group who went to P.F. Chang's.  I know I seem crazy but I can't get food I like in restaurants--too much salt and grease and sugar and refined grains.  The salt is the worse for me.  By the way, no one in my group batted an eye about my bringing my own food.  I don't know what they thought and I don't care.   

For dinner I had the fuhrman soup and the apple.  The soup was the "Supreme Greens."  I was with friends who went to a Thai restaurant.  They ordered a dessert that looked interesting so I had a bite.  It was sticky rice with mango and sweet coconut milk.  I knew it was going to be sugary and that part was fine, not too sweet, but the sticky rice was also really salty.  It would have been good without the salt.  It had roasted sesame seeds in it which were good. 

Today's brekky was a repeat from yesterday but it also had half an avocado which made it even better.  oh, and spinach/cabbage mix instead of baby green mix.  an entire 5 oz box again.   super good:

















Lunch was oatmeal again. same ingredients as yesterday, but I also managed to cook in with it another 5 oz box of spinach/cabbage mix.  it was good.  I ate this out with another colleague.  We went to a deli.

Then I discovered another grocery store that was better than the one I went to on Sunday.  Oh my god, so much good produce.  oh..my..the peaches and nectarines are fabulous, and I got another avocado:













also some grapes and cherries, locally grown.  they are fabulous too.  so I made a change of menu plans.  Forget the oatmeal!  It's gonna be fruit, nuts, greens, and beans (from the soup) for the rest of the trip.   The fruit is too good.   I also was realizing I probably don't eat enough nuts and seeds, given my weight and level of exercise.  So I decided to eat more, which is why I bought the almonds.  So this is what I had for dinner,  cherries, grapes and raw almonds:
















along with a can of the Vitabeanavegamin soup.  I don't think that name is very appealing but the soup was very good.   

A note about the soup:  When I packed my suitcase I had second thoughts about packing 5 cans of soup.  It made the suitcase heavy.  I thought, I could just buy cans of beans at the grocery store.  Well, it turns out the soups are very good and make for convenient meals, so I think it's worth it.  My suitcase weighed 51.5 lbs but I didn't get charged for it, whew.  It will weight less on the way home.

A note on my food vs restaurant:  to tell the truth I think mine tastes better.  In my view, you can't beat fresh local produce.  the soups are good too.

Some day, when society realizes the benefits of eating healthy and we don't object to bankrupting the medical and health industries, which we would do if everyone ate healthy, you will be able to get food like I'm eating in restaurants.  Until then, I'll just have to be an oddball.  I always have been in other ways, so this is just a new one.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

june 5 & 6

Yesterday, for brekky I had 1/2 cantaloupe, some walnuts (0.5 oz or so), some sips of housemate's smoothie, and a small box of blackberries.   and a peach.  and some spinach.

lunch was a bunch of asparagus in sweet potato sauce.  and a carrot and celery stalk.  and some fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, bananas).  This really filled me up.  I was still full when I went to exercise class.

Dinner was snacking while preparing food for my trip.  So carrot, celery stalk, about 1.5 cups of frozen peas, many sips from the 8 large glasses of smoothies I made for house-mate (2 64-oz batches).  lots of spinach from the bag (finished it off) and probably 2 oz of nuts of seeds (brazil, walnuts, sunflower seeds).  Exercise class was horrible, lots of weight lifting (that was the first time I didn't enjoy a class because it was too hard).  I thought maybe the nuts and seeds would help build muscle after all that.  I can hope.

Today's plan is scrounging in the fridge for breakfast and lunch--that will be salad and fruit.  Then I made a spinach-mango smoothie, which is 2 servings.  I'll have one before I go through security at about 2 pm.  I'll put a frozen one in my suitcase and have the other when I land in LA at about 7 pm LA time which is 9 pm WI time.  And I'll bring some fruit and carrots to snack on while traveling.  Should be plenty.   

Tomorrow morning I rush off to a tour so won't have time to load up on groceries until the evening.  I'm bringing oats, nuts, and Dr. Fuhrman soups in my suitcase, and hopefully enough fruit for tomorrow morning.  so I'll have oatmeal and fruit at brekky, a can of soup during the tour, and then I'll grocery shop for produce when I get back.  I got a hotel with a microwave and fridge so I should be in good shape.  It will be a hike to the grocery store and conference but the weather is forecast be splendid so the walks should be enjoyable.  The cars are amazingly polite to pedestrians in Pasadena.


Thursday, June 4, 2009

june 4

brekky seemed so long ago..I wasn't hungry, oh yeah, because I ate a lot yesterday.  I made a batch of smoothies for house-mate, and sipped on them a bit.  I usually get about 6 oz of that to myself when I make it.  Then I had some spinach and half a cantaloupe.  

Lunch was a salad.  I'm emptying out the fridge before my next trip so that happened to consist of:  salad greens, spinach and arugula topped with a sliced banana, small mango, apple, ground up sunflower seeds and D'Angou Pear vinegar.  It was good and I kept adding greens to it as I ran out.  The fruit seemed endless. 

For dinner, first course was half a watermelon at the co-op.  I was on my bike and just got done with a hard exercise class so that looked perfect.   It wasn't a big watermelon, sort of small/medium.  Oh, and about 0.7 oz of brazil nuts and some fresh spinach (I love plain old fresh spinach especially this time of year when it's local and really fresh).  Then when I got home I had a small bowl of lentil soup, carrot and celery stalk, and an orange.   

it was all good.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

june 3

My eating was a bit more random today.  I was going to make another salad for brekky and then I realized, I wasn't hungry--last night's meal was late.  So I ate a banana and carrot and headed off for grocery shopping.  

Then I started cooking a meal to take over to a member of my church and his family.  That was fun.  I made black-eyed pea stew, fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, banana), and the same salad I made last night without the edamame.   Since they requested healthy meals, I didn't have to worry as much about accommodating SAD (Standard American Diet) preferences (i.e., salt and oil).

While I was making their meal, I made similar things for us.  I didn't have anymore black-eyed peas so just made a lentil stew, sort of like this one:  carrot and celery juice, onion, 1 cup french (green) lentils, 1/2 cup wild/brown rice mix.  Then at the end added cilantro and lemon juice--that changed the flavor a lot and it was quite good.  It was good before adding it too, but I think I liked the extra bite.  Also added some more fresh herbs from the garden.    I made us the same salad to save for dinner.  I snacked on cherries and grapes from the store while cooking.  So just had a small bowl of the lentils for lunch.  

Then we had one avocado left so for a treat I made sweet pea/avocado guacomole.  This just had an avocado, cilantro, lime juice and about 1/2 cup peas.  I didn't feel like getting the food processor all dirty so I ground the peas in the coffee grinder.  worked like a charm!   then just smashed it all together with a fork.   This is pretty sweet with the peas.  I added some garlic chives too.  I didn't feel like adding garlic or onion because those tend to overpower the other flavors.  I had some with a carrot and let housemate have the rest since she didn't spend all day in the kitchen eating like I did.

Then dinner was salad and more lentils and some more cherries and grapes.    I probably ate too much today.  Being in the kitchen for several hours does cause me to eat more.  which reminds me, I forgot to make orange juice for house mate.  better go do that.  so I might end up eating an orange when I do that.  yep, I ate an orange.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

june 2

another day of delicious fresh local food.  ah, summer.

Brekky was a repeat of yesterday.  salad made from greens, spinach and arugula topped with berry-sesame dressing.  This was a very big bowl so it would last me through until lunch.  also had half a cantaloupe.  

Lunch, repeat of last night's dinner:  asparagus topped with lemon and ground sunflower seeds.  (an entire bunch).  plus the usual carrot, celery, 1/2 cup frozen peas.  

pre-dinner.  was gone from 4-9 pm so had food before and after.  before just nibbled while making the dinner salad (thought I might eat it while out):  carrot, celery, orange, frozen peas, spinach, banana.  got plenty full on all that.

late dinner:  salad.  this was really good:  greens, spinach and arugula topped with chopped red bell pepper, sliced mango, 1 whole avocado (decadent!), 1/2 cup edamame, 1 Tbsp D'angou pear vinegar.   really really good!

Monday, June 1, 2009

June 1

Today I really enjoyed every meal.  I love the food this time of year.   Here was my brekky:














I was in the mood for another salad this morning because the local greens are so good.  So I just made another batch of berry-sesame-sunflower dressing and poured it over mixed greens, sorrel, and spinach, all local and fresh.  It was soooooo gooood.  I tweaked the dressing a bit.  It was pretty much perfect, though I might try another tweak tomorrow on the amount of pom. juice to add.  yes, I will probably have this for breakfast again.  And then I will run out of greens but I'm planning to go grocery shopping tomorrow night.

Lunch was steamed kale with sweet potato sauce.  I added fresh local delicious green onions.  yum!  This is so healthy and so delicious.  House-mate, who also likes coca cola and m&ms and chocolate candy and burgers and fries, says this is one of her favorite meals!   I had my usual snacks while preparing: carrot, celery, some frozen peas.  

Dinner was fresh, local asparagus cooked in the pressure cooker.  so tender and good.  topped with lemon and ground sunflower seeds.  plus the usual carrot, celery, frozen pea snacks and an orange.  oh, and a banana beforehand, after my exercise class.