31 Days to Better Health - Day 15

I am looking forward to the return of sailing season and decided to include this photo to remind me of the fun ahead.  Do you recognize this area? The end of the pier just to the left of the sailboat is where Med Ryan sat in Sleepless in Seattle when she was contemplating going to Seattle.  Do you remember that movie?   Dan and I are big fans of Meg Ryan movies.

How is your weekend going? Are you having fun?  I hope you are having enough fun for us too.  There really is only so much fun you can have in a hospital, even one as big as this one.  Dan was joking about wanting me to bring him a cake with file yesterday (so he could break out).  At least his sense of humor is intact.  LOL

Guess where we were on Saturday?  Yup, we were still at Hopkins.  I am spending so much time I am starting to feel like I live here.  It will be very nice to sleep in and be able to stick close to home.  That does sound pleasant doesn’t it?  J

Hopkins is becoming my new home away from home.  As I continue saying as much as we like the staff at Hopkins we are both ready to get out of here.  When the doctors were rounding this morning they told Dan he is one of most patient patients they have ever had.  It was nice of them to let him know that they thought.  The people here are all wonderful; we would just like to see them under different circumstances.  

Do you have any thoughts on the posts so far this month?  You guys have been much more quiet than normal.  Would you like me to add the holistic posts to the blog on a routine basis?  Please let me know by commenting or emailing otherwise when January is finished you won’t be seeing many more holistic posts. I am trying to write what you find useful and the only way I can tell what that is if you tell me.  This is a good lead in to what I am writing about today, what do you want have you asked?  ;-)

Here is the recap of what we have accomplished so far to remind us all of how far we have covered during the first 14 days of January:

Day 1 – Defined Success and What is/was Holding Us Back

Day 2 – Determined our Purpose and Looked at Passion

Day 3 – Listed Our Goals for January

Day 4 – Listed the Things We Have Needed to Work on for a While

Day 5 – Looked at Optimism vs. Pessimism and Fear vs. Intuition

Day 6 – Practiced Conscious Eating

Day 7 – Hara Hachi Bu

Day 8 – Taking the Stress Out of Meal Time

Day 9 – Acknowledgments

Day 10 – No Excuses, Do it Anyway

Day 11 – Is it True?

Day 12 – Have You Really Connected With Someone Today?

Day 13 – Motivation is a Decision

Day 14 - Successfully Navigating Dinner at an Unfamiliar Restaurant

Was the post about what to order in restaurants helpful?  If you have any questions about this or any of the other topics that I have written about this month please don’t be shy. Feel free to ask questions. It may take me a few days to get back to you until my life returns to normal but I will do my best to respond in a reasonable timeframe.

What Do You Want, Have You Asked?:

How many times have you thought I would love to take an exercise class or do more cooking but ……. I don’t have time, my family won’t eat healthy or some variation? Women are notorious for taking care of other people while neglecting themselves. Trust me this is something that I know all too well because I fall back into this trap quickly and easily.  It is a bad habit that I think most of us need to be aware of so we can work on it.

When you are trying to making healthy lifestyle changes sometimes you need other people to help you, or at least work with you.  However this also means that you need to ask for what you want otherwise you won’t get it.  For example, let’s say that you want to go for a run in the morning but the kids need their breakfast.  Either the kids need to learn to get their own breakfast or Dad needs to pitch in. Whichever would work better for your family you still need to ask the parties involved for their assistance.  Remember there are many ways to handle any situation. Try to brainstorm all the possible ways you could handle the challenge you are facing then get everyone involved in the decision making.

Asking for what you want works in all areas of life.  Now imagine that you are running around for your family taking care of all their needs and no one ever says thank you.  After a while you are going to feel a little taken advantage of that is normal. But now I ask you, have you asked for what you want? Does anyone in your family know that you would like a little appreciation?  Sure they should know that everyone likes to be appreciated and they should do it without you telling them.  However they obviously aren’t thinking about that or they would have done it already.  My suggestion would be to have a family discussion and to explain what you need.

Dan and I talk all the time about what we need and want.  The great thing about talking about what you want is the other person isn’t trying to read your mind. In the past we weren’t as communicative as we are now nor were we particularly good at mind reading. Talking about what you need is much more effective than having the other person guess.  Dan knows that I need to verbally appreciated in a particular way and I know that he likes it when I pay attention to him. 

Communication is almost always a good thing in any relation.  However I have to caution you that it is possible to tell people what you need and have them react poorly depending on your wording and tone. Just be certain to tell them what you need, not what they aren’t doing.  It may sound like a very subtle distinction but it makes a big difference.  If people feel like you are criticizing them for not doing something they are very liable to not react as well as if you but the blame on yourself.  Telling someone that you need to hear “thanks mom” is very different from saying “you never thank me for all the I do for you.”  Do you see the difference? 

I hope now it makes sense when I say “what do you want, have you asked?” 

Today’s exercises are:

1.       Figure out what you would like to do that you aren’t doing and if there is anything that anyone can do to take a few tasks off your plate so you have more free time.

2.       Brain storm all the ways that you could get assistance that would make your life easier.

3.       Now ask for the help that you need.  Be sure to explain what you are trying to accomplish and how much their help would mean to you. Everyone likes to be appreciated.  J

4.       Are there any other things you need from people and write those down.

a.       This could be more time with your spouse, like a date.

b.      Having your family verbally or physically appreciate (ex. Hugs) all that you do for them.

c.       Someone to run the kids to soccer practice one night a week maybe.  If you need help write it down.

5.       Of the items that you listed in 3 above you have a choice. You can either talk with people and tell them what you need or you can show them. You could initiate dates with your spouse or hug the people you love and tell them how much you appreciate them.  Many times people will respond to you the way you treat them.  Try that and see if it works for you.

6.       If you feel like need something today talk about it.  Tell the other person what you are feeling and what they can do to help.  Just be careful to word it in a way that makes about your need not about what they aren’t doing.

Progress on my goals:

1.       Newsletters – Saturday I was much busier than usual at Hopkins.  How did that happen it isn’t like I was working anything?  Apparently it was much more important for me to socialize than it was for me to be productive.  I am going to cut myself some slack since it was the weekend.

2.       Body Bugg – Forgot to take my bugg off the charger and put it on in the morning before I left.  Oh well, I was being very consistent.  I did remember it on Sunday so that was something.

3.       Date with Dan – We are spending loads of time together but I wouldn’t call it a date.  There will be plenty of time for that soon, once we make a break for it.  LOL

4.        Measuring calorie dense food – I have been nibbling on nuts and seeds at the hospital and adding them to salads.  I think I am consuming about ¼ cup a day which is where I want to be.

5.       Working on my business –  I spent about a half an hour working on business plans on Saturday. Not a lot of time but I did get a few things accomplished and that is all that matters. Slow but steady wins the race.  ;-)

How are you doing with your goals?  Can you see any progress yet?  I am pleased with what I accomplished so far. I hope you feel the same thing.

Acknowledgements:

Have writing your acknowledgements every day become a habit yet? Have you seen any improvement in your mood or outlook on life?  I hope so!  Here are my acknowledgements:

·         The medical staff has been very complimentary of our diet and attitude about life in general.  It is nice to know that Western medicine is beginning to see the value of holistic practices.  At one point Dan’s blood pressure was up and the doctor was a little concerned.  Dan meditated for a few minutes and his pressure came back down. The doctor told him to keep on meditating.  J  This same doctor was also interested in the fresh green juice that I brought in for Dan (1 bunch kale, 1 bunch celery, 1 English cucumber, handful of parsley, 1 lemon and 1 clove garlic). She likes fresh juice too so we asked if she had been to Liquid Earth at the Belvedere Market and she had not. I think she will be checking that out now. Lauren and I were talking about juicers too, I think she may be getting one soon.  Are you starting to see that we are beginning to fit in here?  Scary isn’t it?  Who knew we would become the model patient and family?  LOL

·         I was very happy when Dan drank the green juice that I brought for him on Saturday. Dan prefers the sweeter juices but I wanted him to have something that was packed with phytonutrients.  I wasn’t certain that he would drink it, but he had at least 2/3’s of the quart I brought in and I had the rest.  He even commented the he knew that he needed the micronutrients.  Go me!

·         I was also proud of myself for bringing food for me into the hospital. I don’t think I could have looked at another veggie sub again. It was nice to have my own food again. BTW the Subway the Hopkins sells a “veggie patty” sub but I couldn’t find any information on what was in the patty online. Do any of you know?  Specifically I am wondering if it has any soy protein isolates because you know what I think of those.  Until I know for sure what is in it I won’t be getting one. That is the same reason I refuse to eat most veggie burgers when we are out, they almost always contain TVP or something similar.  :-P

·         My sweetie was not happy on Saturday so I tried to make a healthier version of this tofu chocolate mousse to cheer him up which only worked a little.  At least he knows how I love him.  He tried the new recipe and said it was okay, not as good as the original.  Of course it wasn’t as good it was the first attempt.  It was however much healthier and I think it showed promise.  I brought a little for Lauren to try and she enjoyed it and said “don’t change a thing”.  You know how much I enjoy sharing the healthy vegan love right?  ;-)

·         We have discovered that if you don’t like your meal options while at Hopkins you can ask for things that aren’t on the menu. You can get peanut butter to put on your bagel with breakfast.  Also you can ask for two salads and add your fresh fruit to that which works well since we don’t use traditional salad dressing. You just need to get a little creative but you can make it work.  Go us!

Random Observations:

I was noticing yesterday that being at Hopkins has almost become normal and I never thought that would happen.  We are starting to recognize people and know them by name.  Isn’t it odd how something that was very foreign less than a week ago has become normal?  I have no idea how we were able to adapt that quickly but even I am surprised by it.  I guess that it is mostly due to the fact that both Dan and I are easy going and try to live in the moment.  I just found this very strange so I wanted to mention it.

I realize that I am bringing this up for the second day in a row but I am still mildly annoyed about the Paula Deen “fiasco”.   Celebrities have such power to do well in the world but when all they seem to want to do is profit it just annoys me.  I can’t help but think of the positive changes she could help people to make that the opportunities that aren’t being taken advantage of.  *ugh*

Dan got a little more rest last night so he is feeling tons better Sunday morning. He asked me to bring him 2 green smoothies (frozen banana, frozen cherries, walnuts, cocoa, cinnamon, vanilla and stevia) to the hospital this morning which I did.  I also made some hummus this morning and tabouli and brought those to the hospital as well.  We are both convinced that he will feel much better with a more normal amount of fiber in him.  The hospital diet is so low in fiber and we know isn’t good.

One thing I noticed being in the hospital that struck me was that almost every room that we walk by has the TV on all day long.  We don’t even know how to turn on the TV in Dan’s room and we have been here 6 days now.  Have you ever read any articles about people needing to be mentally distracted and that they use TV, music, alcohol and drugs to do it.  Until this week I didn’t actually put much stock into TV being a real problem. However seeing that most people need it on constantly I understand now why “the experts” are starting to say that it has become a problem.

Saturday:

There is nothing really note worthy to report about our Saturday. The day has been like most of the last week.  To say there isn’t much to do in the hospital is an understatement.

Dan was very cranky on Saturday. He hadn’t gotten much sleep since Sunday (when he was home) and he was not a happy camper.  Those of you who know Dan probably can’t imagine him in a bad mood but trust me he was more than unhappy. I was in the room on Sunday when the doctors were doing rounds and it came up that Dan had not been pleasant the day before.  *yikes*  Yes 5 days of inadequate sleep can do that to a person.  At least they also said that he apologized and that was just before they said he has been the most patient patient that have ever seen. 

However we talked the doctors and nurses yesterday and everyone was going to try to stay out of his room from midnight until 5am so that he could get some rest.  Dan also did quite a bit of walking around before bed so that he would be more tired and would hopefully sleep soundly.  Spoiler alert those tactics seemed to work out well for him.

We have been sharing recipes, restaurant suggestions, food, and websites with people.  I guess the staff isn’t used to having people like us around.  Dan told me he got a hug today from Jennifer the nurse we had the first day we were here. Everyone here seems to be enjoying us much more than I would have expected.  LOL  However I will say it nice to be appreciated.  J

To help you get a better idea of the size of Hopkins I took a few photos of the map of the medical campus.

These are the facts of the new building which opens in a couple months.  See what I mean about this place being huge?  At least I am starting to learn my way around now.  That is one less thing to worry about in all this.  Now I just need to get Dan home!

Happy thoughts:

Have you gotten into the habit of writing your happy thoughts?  I find it helpful to remind myself that often things go well and that I shouldn’t take these things for granted.

·         I was very happy to get a parking spot in the Weinberg garage on Saturday. I snapped a quick picture to show you how desolate it is when I walk to the car late at night.  This picture was taken a little after 11pm and you see no one is around there aren’t many cars either.  It feels much safer being in Weinberg where there is only one way in and out of the garage.  It was also nice that security was just starting to walk the garage as I was heading to my car. I should have asked if they do that on the hour.  If I see them tonight I will definitely ask so I know their routine.

·         I timed myself last night and once I pulled out the garage here at Hopkins I was home in 11 minutes.  We are very fortunate to be that close to one of the best hospitals in the world. I really shouldn’t take that for granted.

·         Dan was able to get 3 good hours of  restful uninterrupted sleep Saturday night and he feels much better today (Sunday).  The dark circles under his eyes are greatly diminished and his mood is much better.  *yay*

·         Sunday is definitely better than Saturday and that is a very good thing. Dan is almost his old self today. I guess he really did just need some sleep. 

·         Given where we are (the hospital) things are going very well.  Dan feels good, and we are hoping that they will let him loose soon.  We have both stopped asking when because we don’t want to be disappointed. However it happens to be tomorrow we won’t be disappointed.  ;-)

Signing Out:

It has been another long not terribly productive day for me.  I did manage to make some hummus and tabouli this morning in addition to green smoothies. But other than that not much is happening in my life. I am spending all my time with Dan at Hopkins.  I am sure my dust bunnies now have dust bunnies. I hope I have vacuum cleaner bags to get up all the cat hair that is accumulating as I type this.  My fur children should be bald based on the cat hair that I clean up.  LOL

Dan wasn’t the only one that slept well yesterday, so did I.  If Luca and Nicco hadn’t had a fight in our bed at 9:45 I have no idea when I would have gotten up.  I must have really needed the rest.  Good thing I had my feline alarm clock huh?

Once I get this posted I am going to spend a little time chatting with my hubby before it is time to head for home.  I hope you are having a good weekend.  Talk with you again tomorrow.

Online Book Club – The China Study

I wanted to talk a little about the book club and what is next on that front which I think is very exciting. First there are more than 20 of you who have expressed the desire to take part in our first online book club discussing T. Colin Campbell’s landmark study and subsequent book “The China Study”. *woo hoo* Way to go guys! I am thrilled that so many of you want to discuss this book first because I think it is the pivotal book on nutrition of our time.

Since this book is a somewhat tough read I want to discuss it one chapter at a time so that everyone comes away with a complete understanding. Any of you who are interested in taking part in this book club please buy the book and be prepared to discuss chapter one beginning on Monday August 15. I will be sharing more about this as we get closer to the start date.

Here is the link to the book club blog. In order to take part in the online book club please become a member of the book club blog. Being a member of that blog is required in order to post comments. I have the comments set up to post automatically since I think that will facilitate discussion. Hopefully we don’t start getting spam on that blog like we do here. If that happens I may have to make the book club blog private which I am trying to avoid so that everyone can benefit from the conversation not just those who want to  actively take part.

I will be posting a few questions about chapter one prior to August 15 to help to get the conversation started. Let’s try to keep all the comments regarding each chapter to the post for that chapter. I think this will help us to all be on the same page. Hope to see you there.  :-)

Thank Goodness it is Thursday... or, How to Handle Stress:

I am so happy that this week is almost over. Typically I am a happy person but this week happiness has been a bit of a struggle though I did persevere. Do you have weeks where for some reason things don’t fall into place the way you are expecting? Seriously this would have been a good week to stay in bed curled in the fetal position and that might have been what I would have done in years past. However this week I pushed through and didn’t focus on what was going wrong.

Since I have been talking a lot about attitude recently I wanted to let you know what I do when life is giving me lemons and I just can't force myself to make lemonade. Here goes:

• In all honesty there were a few minutes of a pity party but I didn’t dwell on what was going wrong. I set a timer for 15 minutes and told myself that when the buzzer went off I had to get on with lifeand stop feeling sorry for myself, which I did.

• I allowed myself to do something that I knew would sooth me even though it wasn’t the healthiest thing that I could do. It was probably the endorphin rush but the Green and Black dark chocolate made me feel much better. ;-)

• I did not let myself dwell on what was not going well. In my case that meant no long phone calls complaining to friends. In fact I only fussed to my friend Louis and that lasted less than 5 minutes. We all need those friends we can tell our problems too don’t we? But don’t let yourself talk the your problems to death ... if you know what I mean. Too much negativity results in more negativity which is never good to anyone.

• When I was having a bad moment I listened to some upbeat music and watched an uplifting movie. I find that when I am not feeling the best a comedy always helps me to feel better. Personally “When Harry Met Sally” never gets old for me. ;-)  It should tell you something that I know every line by heart.

• I also took time to get in extra exercise to help work out my aggressions. It is tough for me to feel agitated when I am exhausted.

Does any of this make sense to you? I hope that you find one or two of these tips helpful.

Now I want to hear from you. What things do you do when you are having a tough week? Let’s all share so that we can learn from each other and make the world a healthier place.  :-)

Online Survey:

Recently I have been thinking a lot about what to focus on when writing the blog. Lately when I sit down to write a post I literally just wing it. That is why the posts have been all over the board recently in terms of topics.   It bothers me a little that I lack focus so I thought I would ask for your help.

In order to have some idea of what you are interested in reading I set up a short 5 question survey on Survey Monkey. Please take a few minutes to set up a free Survey Monkey account and respond to the questions. That would be a huge help to me in terms of guidance when I am writing future posts. Thank you in advance for your time.

Happy Thoughts:

Those days and weeks when life is not going the best are precisely the times when I think it is particularly important to find the silver lining to the dark cloud. Here are the things that I am grateful for today:

• The scale was my friend this morning and that made me very happy. I love to start the day with good news. I know that an inanimate object shouldn’t have an impact on my mood but today I will take any good news I can get.

• “Our ship has sailed” as my friend Louis so eloquently put it. *happy dance* Thanks for the good line Louis; I loved it and had to use it.

• I am excited about the online book club and am very much looking forward to discussing “The China Study” with you.

• We are having dinner this weekend with our friend Louis and that makes me very happy. There is nothing better than a good meal with a good friend to lift my spirits. :-)

• Dan is coming home early this. Okay it is only early for Dan but still that makes me happy. I love spending time with my sweetie.

• I took some time today to nurture myself and tried a different exercise DVD. When things aren’t making me happy I try to break out of my norm and shake things up to keep my mind busy.

• Today I listened to a new jazz DVD that I got out of the library this past weekend. I love having a library with a nice selection of music and books on CD to choose from.

• Massimo was running and playin today which made me extremely happy. Having happy and healthy fur children is a very good thing in deed.

Signing out:

It is time for me to log out and spend some time with my sweetie. He has been very busy at work this week and we haven’t had much time to spend together. Talk to you again soon.  I hope you have a great evening.

Exercising in Tight Quarters & Recent Breakfasts

Figuring out how to exercise in limited space has been on my mind for the last few weeks for obvious reasons. With so many things being electric powered on the boat I know that sailing isn’t going be of a workout. *sigh* However I don’t want that to keep us from enjoying the boat when the weather is nice. Clearly we need ideas for exercising in tight quarters because while the boat is roomy but isn’t like being at home. Here are the ideas that I have come up with so far:

• Buy a kayak to get some upper boat work when we are anchored (I have heard they make folding and inflatable models which would be great to have on board)
• Simple calisthenics which can be done on deck (crunches, push-ups, dips, etc.)
• Keep exercise bands on board which would be great since there are many things to wrap them around
• Travel with the TRX which I bet can be secured on the mast ;-) (Dan is cringing at the idea of this, just so you know)
• Go for a swim … but this is on the bottom of my list since I am not fond of swimming in the bay
• My friend Joy recommended exercise videos but I am not sure that I would have enough room to move around to use them on board

You were so great with breakfast ideas I was wondering if you had any exercise ideas. If you do please share I could really use the suggestions.

Recent Breakfasts:

Speaking of breakfast I am working on a few ideas for what to serve on the boat. Dan is more of a traditional breakfast person than I am. As you may have guessed Dan thinks I will eat just about any crazy combination of food and call it breakfast. I imagine some of you would/do agree with Dan.  ;-)

Yesterday I made this concoction which was: diced cucumber, a cooked tomato sauce with zucchini and artichokes. The sauce included Italian seasonings plus turmeric and black pepper for the health benefits. I finished this dish with chia seeds. Needless to say this was only for me, Dan had a green smoothie.

Today for breakfast we had: steel cut oats cooked with cinnamon, powdered ginger, nutmeg and cardamom. When I was grating the nutmeg I immediately thought of the boat because of where she is located. I added a dollop of reduced-fat peanut butter, some fresh red raspberries and finished with sliced almonds for crunch. This was definitely something that I made to Dan’s specifications.

Happy Thoughts:

• Everything is moving along nicely in Grenada which makes us both extremely happy. :-)

• The holiday weekend has started very low key which is nice since we have been swamped lately with unexpected tasks. We went for a nice walk this morning and even stopped to say good morning to Deirdre while we were out.

• Saturday we are heading downtown for a least one marina tour and might stop at West Marine while we are out. We both need to buy boat shoes since other than athletic shoes neither of us have anything with white soles.

• It is wonderful that the weather is forecasted to be nice most of the weekend. Who knows we might even grill some veggies and tofu if we have time.

Signing out:

I need to get ready to head downtown. I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday weekend and have some great things planned. Talk to you again soon.

Quick and Simple Breakfasts

I have been spending a lot of time recently thinking about food that would be good on the sailboat. Obviously I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking on the boat but I also want healthy food on board.  Breakfast was the meal that I am the most concerned about because I don’t want to haul my Vitamix back and forth nor do I want to buy a second one for the boat because that seems wasteful (like a sailboat is the height of practicality as we all know, LOL).

I suppose I could make some green smoothies at home and freeze them solid in the deep freeze. Then I could let me thaw in the boat refrigerator or cooler and maybe they still be cold and slushy the next morning. However I will have to experiment to see how well that works.

We could always take fruit with us and eat that with some cashew yogurt and homemade granola for breakfast. That would make a nice breakfast and one that doesn’t take too much effort to put together on the boat. I will have to make the cashew yogurt and no-sugar no-oil granola at home but neither are difficult so they will both show up on the boat a lot I suspect.

It also occurred to me that I can take oatmeal on the boat. Lately I have been making steel cut oats at home which I cook in water with golden raisins, cinnamon, powdered ginger and cardamom. When the oats are cooked I stir in raw pumpkin seeds, raw sunflower seeds and sliced almonds. Typically I pour a little almond milk over the top. You could also add some fresh fruit to the oatmeal.

Another option is non-breakfast food which I am fine with but Dan doesn’t love as much.

Other than these few ideas I am a bit at loss for what to make for breakfast on the sailboat. I am hoping that you have an idea or two about healthy breakfasts that require minimal prep time. If you have ideas please share I would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions.

Happy Thoughts:

What a crazy week I am having again. There has been a lot of activity at our place. So much for “dolce far niente”, personally I can’t wait for the sweetness of nothing to begin. However I suppose we have to do the work to get to the nothing part right?

• Things are moving along nicely with the sailboat. We are both thrilled with the progress so far and are very anxious to get our new baby home. Everything is starting to come together just as we had hoped. :-)

• Tuesday I had to run to the veterinarian to pick up meds for Her Royal Highness Luca Belle. Doc wants us to start to wean her off the steroids because of the side effects which are scary to say the very least. Please keep our little princess in your thoughts. We need to keep her asthma under control so that she can have surgery while also minimizing her exposure to the steroids.

• I spent some time yesterday watching the nutrition course from The Great Courses and enjoyed that. You know that I love that stuff right? It didn’t include much new information for me but I enjoyed it none the same. I never get tired of reading or hearing about nutrition. Can you say geek? LOL

• Don’t you love that it is Wednesday already and that we are half way through another week! *woo hoo*. I am already looking forward to the weekend. How about you?

Signing Out:

I have a lot of things to do around the house today so I need to run. Talk to you again soon. :-)

Middle Eastern Flavored Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Spinach

Thursday was another rainy, grey and dreary day in the mid-Atlantic. It was another day best spent inside which is exactly what I choose to do. Being inside gave me another opportunity to get caught up on my out of control to-do list. I never seem to get as much accomplished as I would like to but at least I made progress.

Due to the dreary weather I decided that soup was a good idea for dinner and here is what I made:

Middle Eastern Flavored Chickpea and Tomato Soup with Spinach
Serves 6-8 depending on your appetite

Ingredients:

2 cups dried garbanzo beans
9 cups water
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, peeled
32 ounces diced tomatoes
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 large red onion, peeled and finely minced
4 additional cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
10 ounces of frozen chopped spinach

Spices to taste: (in other words I didn’t measure…sorry)

cumin
fennel
oregano
dill
fenugreek
saffron
cinnamon
sumac
zatar (thyme and sesame seeds)
freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients to finish:

1 lemon, zested and juiced
parsley, minced
cilantro, minced

Directions:

Combine the garbanzos, water, bay leaves and first 4 garlic cloves and cook until the beans are tender. I pressure cooked my beans.

Add the remaining ingredients except the toppings and cook until the onions are tender. Add the spices according to your taste. Be sure to cook the soup at least 15 minutes after you add the spices so that the flavors have time to marry.

Finish the soup with lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley and cilantro and serve. If you want to make this more substantial than you can add some cooked bulgur to the bottom of the bowl before serving. You could also top this with cashew crème fraiche to mimic yogurt which is often used in Middle Eastern food.

Nutritional Information:

Sorry I didn’t have time to run the numbers on the soup. However like all my food this recipe is healthy.

Blog direction:

You may have noticed that I haven’t been cooking very much lately and that is because I am too busy. My meals have been very simple, lots of salad, soup and fruit which is why I haven’t been focusing on them. I don’t feel as though there is much value in discussing fairly simple food. I know other bloggers post the same foods over and over again that doesn’t appeal to me.

Until I have more time to get back into the kitchen regularly I am not sure what I am going to be posting. So I wanted to toss the question out to all of you. What would you like me to write about? Is there any topic or question you had it mind? Alternately would you like me to take a hiatus from writing until I am back in the kitchen?

I have some book reviews that I can write, and I have a few questions that I received by email or comments. Other than that I am not sure what to write about currently. I suppose that I could get myself back into the kitchen but that isn’t possible due to time constraints at the moment. If you have any ideas I would love to hear them.

Happy thoughts:

• It is good to be able to cross a few more things off my to-do list. Being extremely behind schedule makes me nervous so I am feeling a little better today after my two productive days this week.

• On Friday I veganized a lobster tandoori which turned out extremely well. I really love this recipe and can’t wait to share it with you and to hear what Dan thinks about it. If you enjoy Indian food I am fairly sure you will enjoy this and it is made from easy to find ingredients. I may run some by Ian to see if he has any suggestions … but it is really good as is. *woo hoo*

• Friday the weather has started to change and we actually had a little sunshine today. I was able to open the windows and let some fresh air which was wonderful. The felines have been enjoying relaxing in the windows all day. I love to watch them smell the fresh air and have their fur blow in the breeze.

• I am sorry to say that Dan needs to go into the office this weekend to work. If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I am not happy that Dan is working. However I am going to view this as an opportunity to get more things done and home so that I am feeling less stressed out about my growing to-do list. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous, in the 80’s in fact. I plan to start my morning with a nice walk through the neighborhood before I start working on my to-do list. I am determined to make the most of Saturday.

Signing Out:

You will not be too surprised to hear that we are going out to dinner tonight. That seems to have become a Friday tradition with us. The weather is gorgeous and we love to hang out on the patio when that happens. Tonight is Corey’s last night at the restaurant and both Dan and I are very sad to see him leave. However we realize 14 years is a long time to be anywhere so we also understand. You know we had to be there tonight to say good bye, and hopefully it will be more of a see you soon.  Corey is such a great guy I am really going to miss him.  :-(

It is time for me to clean up the kitchen, figure out what I am going to wear tonight, and make myself presentable. Talk to you again tomorrow when I will be back with the tandoori tofu recipe. Happy Friday! I hope you have some fun planned for the weekend.

Watercress Pesto Dressed Zucchini Pasta and Veggies

I imagine someone is reading this is wondering how I can call this pesto when it doesn’t include any basil. Easy, pesto does not have to include basil. The pesto that most Americans are familiar with is Genovese pesto which is made with basil but the options are endless for pesto. The word pesto comes from the Italian word pestare which translates as to crush, pound or bruise. This is because pesto is typically made in mortar and ground into a paste with the pestle. Now you can make you pesto that way if you want to go old school. Many Italians will tell you the pesto tastes better made my hand. I do have a mortar and pestle and have made it by hand. Seriously, I could not tell the difference. I use my food processor it is easier. ;-)

When I made pesto I typically (though not today) make extra to have on hand. It is great on a sandwich (made with collards for bread of course), on pizza, in a baked potato, as a coating for tofu, stirred into salad dressing, added to soup just before serving. I think you get the idea. Pesto is not just for pasta anymore.

Here is what I made today for the mid-day meal with my parents:

Watercress Pesto Dressed Zucchini Pasta and Veggies
Serves 6

Pesto Ingredients:

1 bunch watercress, approximately 4 cups lightly packed well washed and spun dry
¾ cup walnuts
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
water enough to achieve the texture you want (the amount will depend on the juiciness of your lemon)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional if you want a cheesy undertone (add to taste)

Veggie Ingredients:

approximately 12 cups spiralized zucchini , it may have been more (4 big zucchini)
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 tomato, finely diced and drained of liquid so it doesn’t make your dish too wet

Directions:

Combine the pesto ingredients in your food processor and blender and process until smooth. Add as much water as is necessary to get a thick but creamy consistency. The nutritional yeast is optional but 2 tablespoons is enough to add a little cheesy umami background but not enough to overwhelm the sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper, as or if desired. Refrigerate until needed.

Combine the veggies and toss to distribute evenly. Add the pesto and toss again. Serve cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories-  209.5
Calories From Fat (53%) - 111

Total Fat - 13.31g
Saturated Fat - 1.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 68.88mg
Potassium - 1180.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.39g
Fiber - 7.94g
Sugar - 6.75g
Protein - 8.57g

Comments:

This dish is somewhat mild intentionally because my parents were coming for dinner. Since they are definitely meat and potatoes people I know there is only so much intense veggie flavor I can push on them. However if you wanted to add a few kale leaves to the pesto I think that would be great and would add to the flavor as well as nutrition.

Everyone (vegans and omnis) enjoyed this dish today. I suppose you would say it was another success. Not on the same level as using salsa for salad dressing, but a success none the less. ;-)  Anytime they eat my food and don't reach for the salt shaker or olive oil I am quite happy.

Quick Question:

Laura just bought a Saladacco and is looking for tips on how to make it easier to use. Any of you that have that particular brand of spiralizer please let us know if there are any tips or tricks you have found using it. Thanks so much!

Unrelated notes:

Poor Dan has been sequestered in his home office most of the weekend. He has come out periodically to eat or get fresh juice but mostly he has had his nose to the grindstone all weekend. I really wish he would rest a little but I know letting things get further behind would stress him out more so I am trying to understand and not fuss. *sigh* You have no idea how hard this is for me.

With my hubby working I have had the weekend to myself. I have taken the time to do a few things around the house that I normally wouldn’t get to on the weekend. Hopefully that will make Monday more laidback so that I can watch a few things on the tube. I have a few health related DVDs I want to get to soon. Shocking, right?

I need get going for now. I will talk to you all again soon. Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

White Bean and Vegetable Soup with Morels in a Tomato Base

Like most weekends we had a mid-day meal with my elderly omni parents today. This situation always pushes my culinary limits. It is not easy to make a healthy whole food plant based vegan meal that unhealthy omnivores will also enjoy. I rely on soups and salads often since those are healthy dishes that we can all agree on.

In keeping with the new information from the cancer lecture yesterday I have included mushrooms in our soup today. I did not list morels in the post yesterday but the message was that all mushrooms are protective but some maybe more than others. Since Dan loves morels, and we always have multiple packages in the pantry I though why not use those today.

In order to increase the nutrition in this soup I added a little turmeric. This is something I do often. I start with ¼ teaspoon stir it in, taste and keep adding until I can detect a hint of turmeric. Then I add a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper since the piperine in the pepper makes the turmeric more bioavailable. This is just one of my “tricks” to enhance the nutrition of our food. Here is the soup I made:

White Bean and Vegetable Soup with Morels in a Tomato Base
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 cup dried white beans, presoaked and cooked until tender
½ ounce package dried morel mushrooms
2 cups water
28 ounces diced tomatoes, no salt
1 onion, peeled and finely diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
5 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating)
2 carrots, finely diced
3 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon paprika
water to cover the soup ingredients by about ½ inch
4 cups finely shredded cabbage
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
sea salt and pepper, to taste (if desired)

Directions:

While the beans are cooking combine the dried mushrooms and water and microwave until the water just begins to boil. Allow the mushrooms to soak for 30 minutes so they soften completely.

Combine the beans, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrot, celery, spices and water and simmer over low heat. When the mushrooms are soft cut them into thin rings. Pour the mushroom soaking liquid through a fine wire strainer lined with a few layers of cheesecloth or a damp paper towel. Place this strained mushroom liquid into your soup pot.

During the last 30 minutes of cooking add the cabbage to the pot. You want it to be just tender, but not mushy.

Just before serving add the wine vinegar and stir to distribute. Taste the soup for seasonings and adjust to your taste.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 208.59
Calories From Fat (4%) - 8.89

Total Fat - 0.95g
Saturated Fat - 0.22g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 73.05mg
Potassium - 1091.17mg
Total Carbohydrates - 37.4g
Fiber - 11.53g
Sugar - 10.06g
Protein - 9.89g

Comments:

While this isn’t something that you would think of as a summer dish it works if you are in the air conditioning. I was careful to not add too much turmeric and make the soup bitter. It did add a light yellow color to the beans. Paprika was added to tone down yellow color and that seemed to work well. Nutritional yeast was added until I could taste a little umami in the broth that reminds me of butter. If you add more the taste seems to go from butter to cheese, in my opinion. With this soup I wanted to stop with the note of butter.

What I liked is the soup was healthy, filling and didn’t require a lot of attention from me while it cooked. It is also nice to have some leftover for tomorrow. One of the benefits of making a pot of soup is that it always lasts more than one meal. Nothing like double duty cooking I always say.

To start the meal we had a simple salad of shredded romaine, shredded red cabbage, cucumber, shredded carrot, salsa, avocado and sun flower seeds. This was the first time I tried the concept of using salsa as salad dressing on my parents. Much to my surprise they both ate their entire salad and said it was good. I mention this for those of you that haven’t tried salsa as dressing. We think it works well, and it even gets the omni seal of approval. I will say I think adding the avocado helped the omnivores enjoy the salad more. ;-)

Unrelated note:

Sorry I bailed on Fun Facts Friday. Yesterday was far too busy at our house. I was lucky to accomplish half of my to-do list. Today has been a little more mellow, thankfully. Dan is still swamped at work but at least he is working from home, which is much better.

Yesterday I spent a bit of time on the phone with a friend talking about my favorite subject, nutrition. She asked me many questions about food and it gave me some good ideas for posts. I have decided to write a series of posts called “what is the matter with …..”. In those posts I will select one food and write about what I learned about the issues or concerns are about consuming that particular food. I thought some of you may find it interesting and other would enjoy reading the studies that I thought were noteworthy. Those posts are going to take me much longer to write with links to the studies since I will need to go back and find some of the studies again. I am mentioning this because if anyone is interesting in the science behind the health problems with a particular food let me know and I will add it to my list of topics.

Once I finish the series on which foods are to be avoided I may do another series on the foods we should all be eating and why. Whether I do that or not will depend on how long the first series takes to write and document. I would love to hear if you think this is a good idea or not. Please let me know.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I will chat with you all again soon, either tonight or tomorrow.

Fun Facts Friday

(This is a pic I took in Firenze I added it because I am in an Italian state of mind after my questions)

Hello everyone. I hope you are all excited about the long weekend. I know I am. We don’t have any definitive plans but it just nice to know I get to spend three days with my hubby, assuming he doesn’t have to work that is. ;-) What are you doing this weekend, have any plans?

Are you planning any big food activities? We frequently grill "veggie" burgers, seitan hot dogs and fruit for Memorial Day. However since the weather is supposed to be hot again I may just go with raw food instead. Do your tastes change with the weather?

Fun Facts Friday:

I like to write these questions as they pop into my head. Today I was thinking about life in general which is where the first question came from. Reading is something that I try to do every day. I just find it good for my sanity. Italian wine is something that I have loved as long as I can remember. It isn’t the healthiest choice but I still adore it. I can’t remember the last time had a glass but I can also smell and taste it just thinking about it. Here are my questions:

1) What was the favorite time in your life and why? This was a difficult question for me because I am basically a happy person and have enjoyed most of my life. But I have to say that now is my favorite time. With age I have learned to relax and take things as they come. I used to be too focused and hard working to relax long enough to enjoy the little things. I try to do that every day now. I start my day with a mug of green tea and to try to write a few things each morning that I am grateful for. It really seems to help me to put life into perspective. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. If any of you want an example so you can do it let me know. I would be happy to write a post about it.

2) Do you have a favorite activity, something that always makes you happy that you do it every chance you get? I love to curl up in my favorite chair with a good book and a cup of green tea. That is my idea of heaven. This is followed closely a long leisurely hot bath with a magazine. See the connection?  I love to relax and read, LOL.

3) What is your favorite indulgence? This was the easiest question of all for me. A nice "chewy" glass of Brunello di Montalcino. Add a piece of dark chocolate to that and I almost melt into the glass. I can think of no better indulgence than that.  Drop me in Firenze or Venezia with the wine and chocolate and I can think of nothing better on earth.  In fact I think of Italy every time I drink Brunello.  Maybe that is why I love it so much. ;-)

Unrelated note:

It is time for me to run my errands and check on the folks. I will be back later. I can’t wait to read your answers. You guys come up with some great stuff. Talk to you soon.

First Blog Anniversary: 870 posts and 139 followers later

What a great year!

How did this happen? When I started this blog a year ago I had no idea what to write or if anyone would care to read it. The first three months of blogging were rough. I frequently felt as though I was talking to myself and considered shutting down the blog. Now I am very happy that I stuck it out and kept writing. I have “met” so many wonderful people through blogging. I appreciate every email and comment you send. Thank you all for your kindness and concern. It means more than you know.

Over the past year I have struggled to find my voice. As time has gone on I have moved to writing more like I speak. Early on my friends would tell me that I should write as I would talk to them so things weren’t so impersonal. Since my writing experience until the blog was confined to financial reports about monthly performance you can imagine that warm and fuzzy wasn’t exactly my writing style. Even after a year I still feel as though I am changing how and what I write and expect that will continue.

The reason I started this blog was two-fold. First, I knew that most vegan blogs weren’t healthy as I had tried to find healthy recipes to make and there weren’t many to be found. I started the blog because I assumed we couldn’t be the only family that wanted healthy vegan food. Second, I wanted to be able to share links to articles about health. When we were first faced with cancer I spent hundreds of hours looking for information and went to many different places for research. Even now that I have logged thousands of hours on the topic I still find the information to be in many disparate places and also be contradictory (that is so comforting, NOT). I thought others would find it useful to read about the current health studies as they are published which is why I write those quick health posts from time to time.

My husband and I decided to make our diet as healthy as we could tolerate. We have given up almost everything, meat, dairy, sugar, oil, and most flour in the hope of eating the most healthful diet that still tastes good. You will see many nutritionists and/or doctors that tell you that whole grain pasta and olive oil are healthy. If you aren’t currently staring cancer in the face they may not be a big deal. But I have read enough books and articles written by oncologists that I feel they are best eliminated or at a minimum very severely limited. Additionally, I worked in health care for many years as a hospital controller so I have had the opportunity to discuss nutrition with clinicians. When I ask them questions about diet and nutrition their responses were almost always the same. They acknowledge that consuming a healthy vegan diet is a good thing but in the next breath would tell me that most patients aren’t going to do it because they themselves could not eat that way for life. I have always thought that they shouldn’t be so quick to assume people can’t do something because it is difficult. They should give their patients all the information and let them decide what changes they can make. I try to do that same thing with my blog. I know that most Americans will find my cooking to be too restrictive, but for those that want to eat the healthiest diet possible (that still tastes good) I wanted to share what we eat. I think that the traffic that my blog has proven that there are many people that want to eat an extremely healthy diet. At least I choose to believe that and really hope that I am right.

On a very bright note the last appointment with our internist a few weeks had something almost miraculous occur. The doc knows that we eat a vegan diet and mentioned that his PSA was high and that he was trying to reduce his meat consumption and add more soy to his diet. I assume this came up since he knew we would be supportive and have suggestions. We chatted about nutrition and food for a while during the visit. It was very encouraging to us that a doctor would show interest in nutrition. Maybe there is reason to hope that the medical profession is making a connection between diet and health. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

There is one thing that we have not completely given up yet, but we may one day. Both my husband and I love good Italian red wine. Those of you that know us know this is no exaggeration. Our wine cellar is stocked with good Brunello and Super Tuscans just begging to be opened. We both love the taste of red wine so I use a little in my cooking every now and then (maybe five or six times a year). Red wine has both good and bad aspects. The resveratrol it contains is good, but the alcohol is not. Since I don’t use it much, or often, I don’t get hung up on the small amount of alcohol in my dishes. This is one place where we are going to allow a little of something in our diet that I acknowledge would be better to eliminate. After all we could get the resveratrol from eating grapes but that isn't the same. Good wine adds such depth of flavor to food it will be difficult for me to completely eliminate it. Maybe one day this occasional luxury will also go, but not now.

On the topic of nutrition as many of you know I have started the plant based nutrition certification at Cornell since starting the blog. I hope that it fills in the gaps in my nutrition knowledge. I am excited to learn if there is any way to tweak our diet and take it to the next level. My other half is convinced there is little I will learn, but I am hopeful. Even if everything is a rehash it is always helpful to hear things from different people and in a different way. I will definitely let you all know if it is something you should consider as soon as it has finished in about a month.

One thing to keep in mind as you go back to my earlier recipes is that my cooking style has continued to change and evolve as I learn more about nutrition. My early recipes used a little oil, which is now off the table. If you find a recipe in my archives that you would like me to make an oil free version of let me know. I would be happy to modify the recipe to make it healthier for all of us.

I have a few questions for all of you that I hope you will have time to answer. Your answers will help me to write more posts that you may find useful or interesting. Here goes:

1) What medical conditions are you concerned about? Is is cancer, heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, weight loss, or something else? Is this something that you would like to see the current science when it turns up?


2) Do you have a favorite cuisine? It is Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Mexican, Irish, Spanish or something else.


3) Do you have any favorite recipes that need a healthy make over? If you do go to my profile page, where you will find a link to my email, and send it to me. I would love to try to make it something that you can enjoy again.


4) Are there any other topics you would like to see me cover? If so, please let me know. If I know something about the topic I will be happy to share. It may take me a while to research but I will try to come up with a well researched answer.  BTW, I still have a few more difficult questions that I need to finish researching so I can post the answers.  You guys ask the best questions. I love your difficult questions that make me stretch to research and develop answers.

As always, thank you so much for reading. I am looking forward to reading your responses.

It is a beautiful sunny day here, finally. I am going to head outside to enjoy the sun and get some exercise. Talk to you all again later today.