Relaxing Christmas

Nicco says Merry Christmas! Hard to believe has a warning on his medical record at the vet isn’t it? He is 6 pounds of danger kitty that little one. LOL

This is Luca and Massimo that I shot with my new lens. They aren’t thrilled but were more cooperative than normal which was a nice Christmas present for mommy (me).

People often ask us what Christmas is like at our house without little ones. What, fur children don’t count? (just kidding, sort of) This morning I woke up to one of the fur children bouncing in the bed as though they were excited about Christmas. Whose cats act like this? Oh yeah … mine do. LOL

After my “daughter cat” decided to do the tango on my bladder decided it was time to get out of bed and have some quiet time before Dan was awake and moving about. I like to get up first so that I can have a little alone time. Early mornings are my time to enjoy the colors of the sunset, read a little (specifically the daily passage from “The Book of Awakenings) and get my mind in the right frame for a good day. Christmas shouldn’t be any different now should it?

Since the surgeon gave the all clear for exercise we have been starting our day with a quick three miles to get the blood pumping and set the right healthy tone for the day. Today being Christmas that didn’t give us a pass on our healthy habits. However since it was 39 degrees in the morning we did opt to wait until after breakfast to head outside. We didn’t get a white Christmas as you can see, but the neighborhood is still looking festive even without the snow I think.  :-)

Christmas breakfast was a bowl of steel cut oats, topped with homemade almond milk, a little homemade no-sugar and no-oil added granola, and a few dried cherries to our breakfast for nutrition as well as intense flavor.

Our current favorite hot tea is a combination of green and white tea (a double mug) with the juice of 1/8th of the grapefruit squeezed in and a pinch of cinnamon. Both Dan and I really like this combination. I came up with it one morning while considering making us baked grapefruit with cinnamon which turned into tea instead.

I received a few “blog presents” this year for Christmas. The first was a new portrait lens for my camera since I take a lot of close ups of food as you know. I am not sure if you can see the difference but the photo of breakfast was taken with the new lens and I think it worked well. ;-)  Now I have no excuse to use my cell phone camera to take pictures for the blog. Let’s see how long that lasts.

My sweet husband also bought me Dragon Professional to give me more time. Woo hoo I am excited that there will be a lot less typing in my future. You have no idea how happy that makes me. My typing skills are not the best so less typing means more output. LOL

Every year the hubby and I buy each other at least one new Christmas ornament for the tree. This year I got a beautiful crystal train. I always wanted a train set as a child but never got one, now I have my train and it is beautiful and sparkly.

I bought Dan a crystal angel ornament because he is my angel. Sorry, I know we can be a bit much to take for a lot of people. But we really are like this all the time. ;-)  As crazy as it sounds I really do love my husband more today than I did 25 years ago when we met.

In keeping with my obsession with health Dan also bought me a book on anatomy which you know I will be pouring over. I also received jewelry (in addition to the three-stone ring I told you about yesterday), cookbooks, books on health, Dr. Greger’s latest DVD, and Dr. Fuhrman’s Immersion Excursion boxed set of 10 disks. There was also a lovely Shun santoku knife under the tree. It is my first Shun knife so I am thrilled to have it. I received some glassware for taking blog worthy photos, a new tea pot just like they use are our favorite Asian restaurant, green and white tea, scented candles, a calendar based on the Tao, 4 new sweaters, and a few other things. Are you starting to see that there are definite themes to my life? ;-) I guess you would say I am fairly single-minded. LOL

Lunch for us was a big salad which I am sure is no surprise to anyone. This one contained cooked red beans, arugula, salsa, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, artichokes, and raw pumpkin seeds.

Later I made Dan a double smoothie for dinner. I wasn’t hungry but Dan needed the calories. As usual he requested his recent favorite smoothie which includes: frozen banana, frozen cherries, kale, walnuts, cinnamon, cocoa powder, ground flaxseeds, water and a little stevia to taste. This actually tastes like a chocolate cherry shake, no wonder he likes it.

We had stayed up so late Christmas Eve that neither of us got enough rest the yesterday. Instead of trying to push ourselves today we opted to take it easy and turn in early. This really is one of the benefits of being on our own.

Making Dietary Changes:

You will probably not be surprised to hear that this is a frequent topic of conversation between Dan and me. Most of the time I initiate this conversation but Dan is more than willing to discuss it since it has had such a profound impact on his life too.

Going out to dinner is always eye-opening for me. I realize that our diet is different from most Americans but I am always a little surprised when I see how absolutely unhealthy people eat in this country. I tend to look around when we go out to eat because I am always trying to learn how people approach food. My thoughts are the more I know the better my chances are to help people. One person caught my eye last night and really made me think.

When we started on this “crazy whole food plant-based diet” (which is how I referred to it back then) we were just “trying it on for size”. Like many of you who are currently omnivores I really didn’t believe that this diet was sustainable for us. Sure other people could do it, but they didn’t love food the way we did, nor did they have a chef friend who made them delicious and decedent food anytime. How could we possibly keep this up long term? Yes I really did believe that less than a decade ago. However I also knew that things were out of control for us in terms of health and that we needed to try every possible approach. The notion of “moderation” had very obviously not worked. Dan was on medication for his high blood pressure and his doctor was worried about his cholesterol and we both needed to lose weight. We were just going try this “healthy vegan approach” for a little while to see what happened. Secretly I was hoping it would be a bust so I could get back to life as usual.

Okay fast forward to the first week and I have no idea why my husband didn’t kill me. Seriously I was a miserable human being and I wasn’t quiet about my unhappiness. I had no idea what to cook, I missed my traditional foods, I felt horrible and I just wanted to experiment to fail so I could be back to life as I knew it.

By the second week I was starting to figure out what to cook and eat so while I was still unhappy at least I wasn’t floundering around trying to decide what to do. Life was still not great but at least it was getting easier.

However by the end of the first month things had really taken a turn for the positive. Once we had both lost our desire for unhealthy food this “crazy lifestyle” was actually becoming easy. I still wasn’t “in love” with the food but we had both lost weight, Dan’s cholesterol and blood pressure were dramatically down (below normal in fact and he was off medication) and my seasonal allergies had literally disappeared.

It took a few more months before we both lost all cravings for our favorite unhealthy fare but they did ultimately disappear. Thank goodness!

Why am I telling you this? I know that many of you who read my blog are omnivores who want to improve your health based on the email that I receive. It hasn’t been that long since I was one of you. I very plainly remember what it was like to be in your shoes. My addicted brain was convinced that I could not give up meat, cheese, olive oil, sugar, etc. I was absolutely positive that those items had to be “available” or I could not survive. Yes, I really can be that dramatic some time.

Today one of my good friends is flirting with the idea of trying out a vegan diet. However she is worried that she can’t do because she will miss her “favorite foods.” While I realize that this is her addiction talking she doesn’t though hopefully she will eventually. I am not sure how to explain to her that these foods are not her friends and that they are ruining her health and most likely shortening her life. I want to assure any of you who are considering a dramatic dietary change that while it is difficult in the beginning it does get much easier and in the end it will become your new normal but you won’t want to go back to your old way of eating.

This evening Dan and I were talking about people asking him if he missed steak or prime rib and that they seem to be bewildered when he says that he doesn’t. Can you tell these are questions from men? I have to say that I don’t miss animal based food either. The foods that we used to eat just aren’t appealing to either us any longer. We enjoyed them when we used to eat them, but neither of us would eat them now. I never thought I would be someone who could say that and mean it but now I am which I hope shows you what is possible for you too. This lifestyle will become easier and you will feel so incredible that just a few short months that going back to the SAD (standard American diet) won’t be any option.

For those of you who are worried about getting together with friends please don’t be. Dan and I go out to eat probably more often than we should. There is almost always something on the menu that we can eat as is. When there isn’t there is always something that I can see is easy to modify for us. Whenever either of us has asked for a modified menu item (even from chefs that we didn’t know) the kitchen has always been more than happy to accommodate us. Please know that changing your diet doesn’t have to mean that you are stuck at home with no social life. Granted what you make at home will be much healthier for you, but I think we all need social interaction in order to have a healthy, happy and full life.  Man can't live by food alone.

If any of you have also made the change to a diet similar to ours I would love to hear from you. What prompted you to change your diet? Did you jump right in or ease into it? What are some tips or tricks you can share with others to make the transition easier for them. Let’s work together to help others make the change to a health promoting diet.

Happy Thoughts:

It has been a very nice but also a laid back Christmas. This is the first time in the last 30 years (other than when my mother-in-law passed) that I didn’t make a big dinner. I am very surprised by how nice it was to be able to relax on Christmas. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. This might become a new family tradition.

• Dan and I had a nice day together just the two of us (plus the fur children). We watched “A Christmas Story”, talked a lot, got some exercise and fresh air, and just generally goofed out. Overall it was a great day!

• Tomorrow is our last day of 24/7 togetherness and I am already feeling a little sad. I love spending time with my sweetie. Too bad he has to work for living. ;-) On the bright side that will be give more time to get back to my usual routine. My first order of business is to figure out how to use Dragon to facilitate the writing process. I am really looking forward to that. If you know how bad of typist I am you would understand why. LOL

• Both Dan and I are pretty much in love with our current hot tea with pink grapefruit juice and cinnamon. If you aren’t on any medications that interact with grapefruit juice please give it a try. It is very tasty if I do say so myself. Don’t forget that the citrus increases your absorption of the EGCG in the tea, and the cinnamon contains antioxidants. Not only is this delicious but it is good for you too. Love that!  :-)

• So far I am really enjoying the new lens that my sweetie got me for my camera. Considering that I am the photographer in the family he did a wonderful job. I will need to find out which camera store he went to so that I start frequenting the shop. They clearly pointed Dan in the right direction.

Signing out:

Given the inadequate amount of sleep we both got last night we are trying to turn it much earlier tonight. Depending on what we get it into tomorrow you may see a post from or my next one may be Tuesday. However I am trying to get back on a regular schedule with my posts.

I hope you had a fabulous holiday. Talk with you again very soon. I am very curious to hear from those of you who have made the transition to a diet like ours.

Merry Christmas!

 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season so far. Ours has been pretty good so far but very hectic since the medical stuff had us behind before the holiday season really began. However you know us we are choosing to focus on the positive side of life. Being bummed out our wallowing in what was wrong never made us feel any better so we don’t. ;-)

The post surgical appointment was a few days ago and that went well. Life is definitely going to be getting back to “normal” around here very soon. I will need to write a number of posts to fill you in on the highlights. Overall everything is going well and for that we are both very grateful.

Here are few random pictures from our life this month. You will notice there have been many salads, bean soups and a few meals eaten out. If you want any more details on the food items pictured, like what is in them, let me know.

Those of you who are local really should try the faux shrimp at Jesse Wong's in Hunt Valley.  It is frighteningly shrimp-like.  ;-)

Happy thoughts:

I have much to be thankful for this month and here is small sample of it:

• Any surgery you can walk away from is a good one and this was no exception. We are both very pleased with the care at Johns Hopkins and particularly with our surgeon. It is always nice to meet an MD who is not only talented but obviously very caring.

• Additionally we are very fortunate to have the best bunch of friends anyone could ask for. They kept in touch during the process and made sure that we knew how much they care. In the end does anything matter in life more than love? Nothing even comes close in my book.

• It has been wonderful to spend almost a month with my sweetie. We both have loved being together 24/7. Now that the surgeon has given the go ahead to get back to exercising you know how we are spending our mornings don’t you? ;-)  Too bad it was only 45 degrees this morning when we headed out to knock out three miles.  However the chilly air did make our hot tea that much nicer once we got home.  Our new favorite is white tea with a little fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and cinnamon. Delicious!  :-)

• We were able to spend the day with our precious Aimee, and her fiancé Michael, on her 25th birthday. We all had a great time in DC at the museums and then dinner at Jaleo.

• Christmas Eve was spent with the gang at the restaurant. They were doing an Italian Feast of the seven fishes but they made us a spicy garam masala encrusted tofu and veggies and it was delicious as always. It was nice to spend a little time with our other adopted family since Christmas Eve should be spent with family. We picked up a little something for Ian and he seemed to enjoy it which made us happy.

• We heard this evening that Aimee has New Year’s Eve off so we will be seeing her and Michael for dinner and maybe watching the midnight fireworks from the boat. Sounds like a great way to ring in the New Year doesn’t it? Hopefully I can get a few good pictures to share.

• The weather has been very nice this month. It has been nice to have days in the upper 60’s in December. It looks like we are going to have a mild winter. Let’s hope this continues since warmer weather this winter means more sailing time. :-)

• A certain precious husband got me a past, present and future three-stone ring for Christmas which I received at midnight on Christmas Eve. Is it any wonder that I love him? I am one lucky lady. One of the smartest things I ever did was to marry my husband. I think I will keep him. ;-)

• This entire year has gone by so quickly. We have had so many wonderful things happen to us this year. Sometimes it is easy to forget all the good things that happen in life. I hope I can continue to focus on the things that really matter. My life is full of people whom I care for that also cares for me. If that isn’t the definition of a successful life I don’t know what is.

• In the spirit of the holidays I have picked up a few of my favorite things to give away on the blog. I will be telling you about one of them very soon. I think you will enjoy them as much as I do.

Signing out:

I hope you are spending the holidays with people that mean a lot to you. I hope you all enjoy your friends and family now. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow so we should all make the most of every day that we have with those we love.

Happy Holidays and I will talk with you again very soon.

New Year’s Eve Festivities

Friday was another day of shopping and eating out for us. We got a slower start to the day because we only had a few things we wanted to get done before meeting Aimee and Michael (who we affectionately refer to as “the kids” because we are old enough to be their parents *sigh*) for dinner at 7pm.  It was nice to take our time getting moving since neither of us our morning people.

Since we haven’t had grapefruit in a while we decided that a broiled grapefruit with cinnamon and a little stevia was in order this morning. If you are taking any medications don’t forget to double check that you can have grapefruit since it is a problem with many meds.

Next Dan had his favorite green smoothie that contained: frozen banana, kale, walnuts, cinnamon, powdered ginger, ground flaxseeds, a little stevia and water to process.

I was more in the mood for savory oatmeal and made something very similar to yesterday. My plain oatmeal, which I cooked with water, cumin and garlic, was topped with: fresh baby spinach, black bean chili, ground flaxseeds, nutritional yeast, parsley and fresh tomatoes.

After Dan watched a little of the “Doctor Who” marathon we had to stop at the tea shop (Baltimore Coffee and Tea) because an unnamed little white puff ball decided he wanted to break into one of Aimee and Michael’s presents with his teeth. *rolls eyes* It is such a good thing that we love that little brat. ;-)

Since we were near Tuesday morning in Cockeysville I wanted to stop in to see what they had that might be interesting. As I have mentioned before I like to buy a few new Christmas ornaments each year. I found the most adorable little glass purse ornaments and at $1.99 each I had to buy them.

For some reason the roads were packed yesterday as were the stores. Apparently everyone was off from work and decided to go out shopping. We decided to head for home to grab a healthy lunch and then go to the Asian market before dinner since it was located on the same side of town as Great Sage.

Lunch was a microwaved sweet potato topped with: leftover black bean chili, artichokes, grape tomatoes, parsley, nutritional yeast and raw pumpkins seeds.

I made this because I wanted something filling but reasonably low in calories since I knew dinner would be more calories and fat than we normally eat.

Next we headed to the Asian market (H-Mart) where I found some great stuff. I am shocked by the number of organic items you can buy at the Asian market at excellent prices. We picked up an organic bean mix, an organic whole grain mix, organic soy sauce with three ingredients, dried shitake mushrooms in huge bags, organic soybeans (3 pounds for $3.99 … so much cheaper than the health food store), fermented black bean paste, hot pepper paste, bean thread noodles, Durian extract (who knows what I will do with that, LOL), and other things that I have now forgotten. After the market it was time to head to the restaurant.

The last three years we have been gone out to dinner with our friends Aimee and Michael for New Year’s Eve (NYE) and this year was no exception. Aimee and Michael are very busy during the year with college and working which means we only really get a chance to see them socially during breaks from school. We wouldn’t want Aimee to ruin her 4.0 GPA now would we? ;-) Michael is busy now studying for the MCATs and maintaining his nearly perfect GPA. These two are the most amazing 20 something’s we know. Both of them are brilliant, kind, nice and attractive if you can imagine. We have another friend that described Aimee as so perfect you want to hate her but you can’t because she is too nice. That comment made me laugh but I can see where it came from. ;-)

Aimee and Michael are both adventurous when it comes to food. Even though neither of them had had vegan food before they were both very willing to try it. I think they were both very pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I am hoping that since they are both interested in health (she wants to be a pharmacist and he a doctor) that they will be eating more healthy vegan meals as time goes on.

For an appetizer I ordered the “almost raw Vietnamese spring rolls” which included: raw carrot, cabbage, scallion, sesame, peppers, cashews, cilantro and herbs wrapped in rice paper which was served with a sweet and spicy chili sauce and a peanut sauce. I had one of these and Dan had the other one. It was a nice light appetizer but with plenty of flavor from the peanut sauce. I also liked the texture of the crunchy cashews inside the rolls. We would both order this item again.

For Dan’s appetizer he got the “chipotle and black bean soup”. The heat was mild and the flavor was good. The only change we would make would be to have some chunky bits in the soup. I achieve that at home by pureeing half the soup which leaves some whole beans in the final soup but still results in a thick consistency.

My dinner entrée was “risotto with butternut squash and mushrooms” (that appeared to be shitake), topped with pea shoots and walnut parmesan (very light if any nutritional yeast in the nut parm) with a spicy stripe of sauce on the plate. I ate about 2/3 of this and gave the rest too Dan since it was very filling.

Dan ordered the “Seitan Wellington” for dinner. His plate contained smashed potatoes, wilted spinach and a phyllo wrapped seitan and mushroom duxelle with mushroom gravy. This is Dan’s favorite dish at Great Sage so he “had” to order it for NYE. I had a bite and it is a nice dish with lots of yummy mushroom flavor.

Since it was a special evening we actually ordered dessert after dinner. You are shocked I know, I think I was a little shocked too actually. Dan wanted the “chocolate lava cake” which was very nice. Yes of course I had a bite I had to suffer for you or I coudn't say how it was right? LOL  ;-)

I ordered the “apple strudel” which I enjoyed. It wasn’t too sweet and the apples were still a little firm. The only change I might have made was to add a few cranberries but otherwise it was perfect. I ate about 1/3 of this and Dan finished off the rest of it. Are you seeing a theme here? LOL, I have absolutely no idea how Dan eats so much and stays trim.

Overall we all enjoyed dinner and thought it was very nice.  I was happy that Aimee and Michael had a very positive first encounter with vegan food.

Happy thoughts:

We had another great day and have plenty to be thankful for like always. Here are my happy thoughts today:

• We had a lovely evening with Aimee and Michael. Dan and I both think the world of both of them. They are the without a doubt the children we wished we had and we are thankful to have them in our lives.

• Our trip to the Asian market was very productive. We came out with four grocery bags of mostly organic food for $80. If you haven’t checked out an Asian market near you I highly recommend you check it out. Indian markets can also be great resources if you have one nearby.

• Like always Dan and I had a nice day together even when we were stuck in traffic and shopping. It is so nice to be married to my best friend and I try to never take that for granted.

• Lunch and dinner on Saturday turned out very well. I made a pecan dirty rice that both Dan and I enjoyed and he isn’t the biggest fan of rice in general. I will get that posted for you tomorrow along with the black eyed pea caviar.

Signing out:

It is getting late so it is time for me to relax and watch a little movie with Dan. Our 2011 has started off well and I hope the same is happening at your house. Talk to again tomorrow when I hope to have time to catch up on my blog reading. I am very behind in the blog world at the moment after spending two of the last three days running around. Enjoy the remainder of your evening.

Christmas Day and the Day After

Since we had opened our presents late Christmas Eve early Christmas morning we started our day slowly. I was thrilled to have the scale give me a Christmas present too. Woo hoo the 4 pounds I gained over the past month are all gone plus an additional 0.4 pounds down. *Happy Dance!* LOL, can you tell I get far too excited about this? :-P I wanted the new year to start on the right foot and now I can breathe an enormous sigh of relief.

No surprise breakfast was a green smoothie made with kale, frozen banana, cinnamon, powdered ginger, ground flaxseeds, a few walnuts, some dried oatmeal and a pinch of stevia.

After breakfast it was time to get the meal with my family at 3pm started. I decided to roast the acorn squash halves first and get those out of the way since they are easily reheated. I popped them into the oven at about 1pm and they seemed to take a long time to cook though I wasn’t timing them. In fact I ended up finishing the squash halves in the microwave. Then I tossed in the lasagna and knew exactly how long that should take but when I pulled the pan from the oven the lasagna was only 120 degrees after 45 minutes. When I checked the oven with my laser thermometer it was only 150 degrees though the oven had been set on 375 for the prior two hours. Houston we have a problem! This meant a serious change in dinner plans on the fly and I am not the best at adapting quickly. ;-)

Since my stove is digital and not very old *rolls eyes* I was hoping that if I used the bake setting (instead of the convection setting I always use) that the oven would heat up and fortunately that worked. However it delayed dinner by quite a while which is never a good thing with my hungry family. I ended up abbreviating dinner since I lost a ton of time messing around with the oven. In the end it was fine since I still had leftovers. It did help remind me that I go completely overboard on food most holidays. ;-) Where does that come from? LOL

The funny thing is that normally this sort of problem would have made me nuts. However this year it was only a minor bump in the road. It was a bit frustrating but mostly it was just an annoyance. I was actually laughing about it before dinner. Isn’t it amazing how facing a real crisis (like cancer) has a way of putting other things into perspective?

For dinner we had the Neapolitan Lasagna which is one of Dan’s favorites so he was thrilled. Luckily for Dan my parents snacked before dinner so they only had a half piece of lasagna each meaning he has lasagna to take to work Monday for lunch. I made a couple of changes to the lasagna as a test. First I made the tofu filling in the Vitamix and it was much smoother which was good. Also I tried the filling without the flour and it was much softer and less dense. The filling is good without the flour but I still prefer the texture of version with flour. However I didn’t mention the change to Dan and he didn’t seem to notice so I think the difference may not be apparent to anyone but me. ;-)

I also baked acorn squash halves that I seasoned with white miso and apple cider and topped with black and white sesame seeds and dried ginger.

I also made a simple salad with shredded romaine, yellow bell pepper, artichokes, cucumber, grape tomatoes and sliced almonds. To top this I made a very fast dressing in my Vitamix that contained: marinara, raw cashews, nutritional yeast, dehydrated (or sun dried) tomatoes, raw garlic, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning and water. That turned out really well which means I need to make it again and measure it so I can share it with you. If you are wondering how I get those thin stripes of dressing I use a squirt bottle from the restaurant supply store. It makes a nice presentation and results in less total dressing which makes it a win-win to me.

After our 3pm meal with my parents we decided to take my library books back that had a 12/26/10 due date. Since the weather people were calling for snow (or unknown amount but possibly significant) we thought it was prudent to not need to drive anywhere on Sunday just in case.

While we were out I had to look at more Christmas lights because that is the kind of girl I am. I love the decorations at our neighborhood bagel place. Isn’t it cute? I think they did such a nice job. I would stop in for bagels just to the see the decorations if we still ate bagels. ;-)

Once we got home and settled in it was time to eat again. I swear it feels like all we did was eat the last few days *rolls eyes* Dinner was a very simple fruit salad. I wanted to make fruit salad more nutritious so I served it over shredded romaine. This salad contained: romaine, orange, banana, grapes and a creamy walnut dressing. The dressing is something else I whipped together in the Vitamix. I didn’t measure everything but it contained ¼ cup walnuts, ½ teaspoon white miso, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon powdered ginger, a little lemon juice (maybe a tablespoon) and water enough to process (I added this slowly while the machine ran) until smooth and creamy. I used about half of this dressing on our salads. This combination actually worked out well. The fruit was sweet, the romaine crunchy and the dressing was creamy it all worked together. I love it when that happens. 

Book Review: Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes

After dinner I decided to finish reading “Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes”. I had originally purchased this for my mother who is diabetic. I thought it would be a good idea for me to read it, underline the important ideas, and then let her borrow it. What was I thinking? Talk about unrealistic expectations, LOL. When I mentioned it she told me she wasn’t the least bit interested so I dropped it. I have had the book for months and only got around to reading it this weekend.

Dr. Barnard does a great job of explaining how and why diabetes happens and how it can be reversed in most people. He also explains how this diet is the same diet that can reverse heart disease and prevent cancer. The diet he is proposing is the same one advocated by T. Colin Campbell, Dr. McDougall and Dr. Esselstyn. The interesting thing to me is that they all came to the same diet looking at different diseases.

The book is categorized as follows:

Part 1. The Breakthrough

1. The Basics Have Changed
2. Reversing Type 2 Diabetes
3. A Revolution in Type 1 Diabetes

Part 2. The Program

4. A Powerful New Menu
5. How to Get Started
6. Healthful Weight Control
7. How to Track Your Progress
8. A Perfect Diet in an Imperfect World
9. Troubleshooting
10. Which Supplements Should You Take
11. Exercise for the Rest of Us

Part 3. Complete Health

12. A Healthy Heart
13. Healthy Nerves, Eyes and Kidneys
14. Information for Clinicians

Menus and Recipes (from Bryanna Clark Grogan)

What I liked about this book is that I felt as though I understood the mechanics of what happens when you have diabetes and how it can be reversed from reading this book. I also had no idea about intramyocellular lipids and the impact this had on the cells ability to respond to insulin. (page 22) I thought this was fascinating information and a good reason to keep fat consumption to a minimum. I may have to reduce our nut and seed consumption a bit now. I haven’t decided yet but it is something I am considering.

I also loved the discussion about how and why bread (even whole wheat) is digested and the impact this has on the body. (page 55) Bread is something that has concerned me due to the glycemic index and this doctor agrees which was a bit of relief for me. The one thing that confused me about the book was that even though the doctor isn’t the biggest fan of baked goods (except rye and pumpernickel bread) the recipe section contained scones, cornbread, and cake which seemed like a disconnect to me. *scratches head*

Finally I was surprised by the saturated fat content of olive oil. I had no idea that olive oil was 13% saturated fat. (page 51) I will be doing a little research on saturated fat soon myself and putting that on the blog for everyone to see.

Overall if you are interested in health it was a good read. If you don’t have diabetes you may want to check it out from the library. However if you are a diabetic I would recommend buying the book. It is well written, easy to understand and would definitely be a program I would try if I had diabetes.

Christmas recap:

As usual Dan went overboard on Christmas for me. I love everything he bought but I also feel quite spoiled. I got a lot of jewelry which is all beautiful. Some of it is Venetian glass which I adore. We started our honeymoon in Venice so anything from there has special significance to me.

This is a picture of one of the bracelets. He bought me two pendants, two sets of earrings and this bracelet. I also got more jewelry (a pendant, two rings and cuff bracelet. I also got a new coat, more flavors of green and white tea, and a few cookbooks (which I will review for you soon) and a few other things. It was entirely too much, but all perfect for me.  Thank you sweetie! :-)

However the most fun present of the day has to be the TRX. Talk about an impressive this little item is very sturdy, well designed and I can tell it is going to be a blast. We got it out and set up on Sunday so you know I will be trying it out (for upper body at least) on Monday. I love a new exercise toy. After I have a chance to give it a few thorough workouts I will write up a review. Dan and I were both more impressed than we expected to be.

The Day After Christmas

We stayed up late Saturday night, which is our natural inclination, so we slept in on Sunday. Well we slept in for us which really wasn’t that late for a day off. I was up by 7am and Dan got up an hour later.

After getting on the scale, which we do each morning, we decided to have another green smoothie for breakfast. This time I reduced the nuts and added oatmeal. After reading the Dr. Barnard’s book (the one I reviewed above) I wanted to see if a smoothie with fewer nuts would be as satisfying and last as long. It was fine going down but I did seem to get hungry sooner. I am going to try this for at least a week and see how we feel. I will let you know what we decide.

For lunch with my parents I thought that a hot thick stew would be good with the snow and wind that was predicted. Dan loves my Moroccan Chickpea Stew but this time I wanted to add more veggies to the dish. I also thought it would be good to have a recipe that could be made from things most of have in our pantry. Here is what I did:

Pantry Friendly Winter Moroccan Chickpea and Veggie Stew
Serves 6

Ingredients:

½ pound of chickpeas, cooked until tender
1 bay leaf
water to cover chickpeas by at least 1 inch
1 pint (2 cups) canned diced tomatoes (or substitute 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes no salt)
1 pint tomato sauce (or substitute 15 ounce can of tomato sauce no salt)
1 red onion, finely diced (once cut allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so the chemical reaction has time to take place)
8 cloves garlic, finely minced (once cut allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
½ cup golden raisins, or to taste
½ tablespoon cumin seeds (you can grind all or any of the seeds, I prefer the texture of leaving them whole)
½ tablespoon coriander seeds
½ tablespoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon - ½ tablespoon ginger powder, to taste (to increase the nutrition)
1 cinnamon stick
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (I would have used more but my mother is not tolerant of spicy foods)
¼ - ½ teaspoon turmeric (not for flavor just to increase the nutrition)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste (remember to be generous since it makes the turmeric more bioavailable)
2 large parsnips, cut into bite size pieces
2 cups frozen or marinated artichokes cut into 1/8ths
I red pepper, roasted or fresh, cut into bite sized pieces
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups cauliflower, cut into small pieces
1 lemon, zested and juiced
½ cup freshly cilantro, minced
cooked whole grain to serve as the base (I used quinoa) – not included in the nutritional stats

Directions:

Combine the chickpeas, bay leaves and enough water to cover by at least an inch and simmer until the beans are soft. I cooked an entire pound of beans and put half of them in the refrigerator to use in salads early this week.

Once the beans are tender add the ingredients through the parsnip and let the dish simmer for at least an hour. You may need to add water to keep the stew from sticking. I cooked mine about 2 hours then added the artichokes, red pepper, sweet potato and cauliflower and cooked the stew until the veggies were tender, about 45 minutes. Just before you are ready to serve add the lemon zest, lemon juice and fresh cilantro.

I served this dish over quinoa. This is good topped with either sliced almonds or pine nuts also if you like.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 362.83
Calories From Fat (8%) - 29.18

Total Fat - 3.51g
Saturated Fat - 0.4g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 539.19mg
Potassium - 1672.19mg
Total Carbohydrates - 76.07g
Fiber - 20.77g
Sugar - 23.58g
Protein - 14.51g

Comments:

This dish was universally enjoyed by the omnivores and vegans in the extended family. Dan is looking forward to having another big bowl of this at lunch on Monday. In the past I would have made this with preserved lemon but I changed to fresh lemon to reduce the sodium and I don’t think it hurt the taste which actually surprised me. I also loved that this was a pantry friendly meal since the only fresh veggies in here were hearty winter veggies.

Dinner for us was quick salad. I noticed this evening that salad for dinner has become our new normal. I think this has happened for a number of reasons but predominantly because we eat late and aren’t very active after dinner. Having something light like a salad seems to be more in keeping with our actual evening caloric needs. This salad was very simple and contained: shredded romaine, sweet potato, cucumber, leftover quinoa, leftover chickpeas, grape tomatoes, almonds and the dressing I made yesterday. It was quick, filling and nutritious the perfect meal in my opinion. ;-)

After dinner I mentioned to Dan that my knee wasn’t “hurting too much” and I thought I could get back to exercising on Monday. He reminded me I said I needed to take at least two weeks off and that maybe I could do some upper body strength training and use the exercise bike but to stay off my knee. Good thing one of us has good sense around here isn’t it? LOL, sometimes I am too gung ho for my own good.

Happy Thoughts:

We had a wonderful holiday long weekend together. Here are my happy thoughts:

• I am very thankful to be married to my best friend. Dan knows me so well and always buys me the prefect presents. I love you baby!

• We didn’t get our Christmas day snow but we did get a few snow flurries. It retrospect it was nice to have clear roads when we went to the library Saturday evening. Also on snow on Sunday wasn’t the blizzard that much of the East coast experienced. By Monday morning we had little more than a dusting. It was terribly windy but the snow probably wasn’t more than 2 inches here.

• It was wonderful to be able to spend another Christmas with my husband and have both of us be happy and healthy. I never take that for granted now. I feel so good that we are becoming more focused on health the older we both become.

• The fur children were particularly cute this weekend. They love to get into everything we do and really do light up our lives. We are very fortunate to have three special little fur babies in our family to bring our home to life.

• At dinner on Christmas Eve we were discussing the topic of friends, not acquaintances but true friends. We defined friends as the person who that will drop everything and be there when you needed them. Dan and I are very fortunate to have that in our friend Louis. He has been there so many times when we needed him. Louis, if I haven’t told you recently I hope you know how much you mean to both of us. Lots of Love and Hugs!

• I feel very fortunate this weekend for my life. Other than cancer I really can’t imagine a more perfect life for me. Most of the time I am beyond happy and almost need to pinch myself to believe this really is my life and not a dream. Sometime I think that we are all too busy with everyday distractions to notice the wonderful little things that happy every day. I try to take it all in and to be grateful for what really matters in life. In my case that is having my husband, fur babies and my friend Louis in my life. I love you all!

Signing out:

It is amazing how quickly I got behind with one brief computer problem. Sorry this post was so long. I decided one long post was better than two shorter ones.

Dan has gone back to work this morning *boo hoo* which means I am back to my regular schedule. I need to get my exercise finished and do a ton of things around here. It never ceases to amaze me how much needs to be done at home. How did we ever get it all accomplished when I worked crazy hours like Dan? *shakes head*

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Talk to you again tomorrow. Stay warm!