Healthy Caponata

Last night Dan wanted lasagna for dinner again. He is playing the sick card to get his favorite dinner at least that seems to be his theory. He shamed me into making lasagna by claiming he can’t get it unless he is sick. Guilt works with me every time, and he knows it. That is the down side of being together so many years he knows exactly which button to push to get his way. I don’t mind making him lasagna but I am tired of it now. He could eat the same thing night after night when he loves it; I get bored with food very quickly. He hasn’t said anything but I suspect he wants lasagna again for dinner tonight. At least he has another serving in the refrigerator waiting for him. I have no idea yet what I am making myself for dinner.

I had intended to make caponata yesterday afternoon but ran out of time. Since I will be the only person eating it there wasn’t any rush on this. Caponata is something that we both love and in the past I would have sautéed the veggies in olive oil. Oddly I have become so accustomed to this no oil lifestyle that I don’t even miss it any more. Sometimes I wonder what happened to the old me as the idea of eliminating oil was so hard for me to imagine not that long ago. Even a year ago I would never have expected to be “this healthy”. Here is what I made this afternoon:

Healthy Caponata
Makes 8 - 1 cup servings

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely diced (red is my preference but I was out)
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
½ fennel bulb, finely diced (or substitute 3 stalks celery, finely diced)
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
Red pepper flakes, to taste (this would be a great place for wet hots) – optional but recommended
1 eggplant, diced small into small bite size pieces
1 zucchini, diced small into small bite size pieces
2 cups tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes cut in half), diced into small bite size pieces – it is traditional to skin them but I don’t bother
1 cup tomato sauce, or as much as you need to get the consistency you like
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 scoops stevia, or to taste (I didn’t add this as I thought the raisins added enough sweetness but you may want to)
olives are a traditional ingredient if you aren't watching your sodium

Directions:

Heat the pan with the water on high until it comes to a boil. Add the aromatics (onions, garlic and fennel) and cook, stirring often until they have begun to wilt. Depending on the pan you use and the power of your burner this should happen in approximately 3 minutes. Here is a picture of the cooked water sautéed aromatics for those that are having trouble with this process.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the stevia and tomato sauce, and cook until the eggplant and zucchini have softened. I tend to prefer my veggies to have a little texture but traditionally they are cooked until  quite soft. If you want the caponata to be saucier add as much tomato sauce as you think is necessary. Next add stevia until the caponata is as sweet as you like. In the past I would have added 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar to this if you need a gauge. You want the caponata to have a sweet and sour flavor. Garnish with fresh parsley or torn basil leaves (if desired) and serve at room temperature or cold.

Caponata has many uses. I like it in a wrap sandwich with nut cheese. It is great tossed with some whole wheat pasta or on top of polenta. Our chef friend makes an appetizer plate with hummus, caponata, sweet pickles, olives and pepperoncini. I have also used it in lasagna instead of marinara sauce. As you can see it is versatile.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 103.09
Calories From Fat (27%) - 27.82

Total Fat - 3.33g
Saturated Fat - 0.28g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 175.15mg
Potassium - 582.26mg
Total Carbohydrates - 18.16g
Fiber - 4.55g
Sugar - 10.46g
Protein - 3.01g

Comments:

This is one of my favorite foods. I could eat this every week, and that is not like me. The combination of sweet and sour flavors with the soft veggies and more firm pine nuts is just a little piece of heaven. If you like southern Italian food you will like this. It has many uses so I really hope you give it a try. It isn’t packed with nutrition like some of my recipes but it tastes good enough that I eat it anyway.

Unrelated Notes:

Today is Friday so I have been doing my usual activities. First there was the wellness check on my parents. While I was there I vacuumed and dusted and checked their refrigerator and pantry. My father had just been to store so the cupboards were not at all bare. Most people in their 80s don’t eat much. That has never been a problem with my parents. I always know when one of them doesn’t feel well when they are eating lightly. I suppose that is where I get my appetite from. ;-)

Speaking of appetite I got up this morning and wasn’t hungry in the slightest. Normally I always eat breakfast but I skipped it this morning. My scale jumped up this morning and I assume that was because I ate too much yesterday. Whenever I eat a heavy meal (like lasagna) late at night I am not hungry in the morning. Most days I force myself to have breakfast, but not this morning. Sometimes I think it is more important to listen to your body.

Today I am testing out a new toy I got my hubby to order for my birthday. It is a heart rate monitor watch by Mio. I have a heart rate monitor with a chest strap but it gets sweaty and just isn’t comfortable in the summer. Whine, whine right? Anyway, I thought if this strapless heart rate monitor worked I could use the one with the strap as a backup. So far so good the readings on the two are very close. Also, I am comparing it to my Body Bugg. Yes I have too many gadgets. I am a numbers person and always have been which explains my grad degree in Finance I suppose. I keep charts and graphs of data and that is how I motivate myself. Sick right? I love to compare workouts to see which one gives me the best calorie burn. This new watch also calculates calorie burn which I thought was pretty sweet. After I have a couple of days of data I will be posting a review. Today I am just learning how to use the new toy. I am sure I have been quite the sight today with my heart rate monitor, body bugg, new training watch and IPod. My husband told me I was starting to look like a Borg. He is too cute sometimes.

I need to get a few things done around here before Dan gets home. It is always my goal to be prepped and ready for the weekend so I can spend more time with my sweetie. I will be back later with a post about my dinner. I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday

Green Tea Polyphenols May Reduce Skin Cancer Cell Survival

It seems that a few times a month I read another article or study about the benefits of consuming green tea if you are concerned about cancer. This abstract of a study at the University of Maryalnd School of Medicine looked at skin cancer and green tea. EGCG appears to negatively impact two proteins that help skin cancer cells stay alive, thus leading to skin cancer cell death. This is only study, but one in a long line of studies that show similar results with different cancer cell lines.

While skin cancer isn’t specifically a concern of mine maybe it should be. I spent many summers in my youth lying on the beach covered in baby oil and getting burned. The cumulative effect of those burns is what is thought to lead to basal cell melanoma. Not a comforting thought is it?

I am going to continue to drink my 6 cups of green tea a day. In fact, I am going to make myself a double ginger green tea now and get back into the kitchen.  Don't forget to have a little soy (I choose dry roasted edamame) to increase the effectiveness of both the tea and the soy. Talk to you all again soon.

Kale Lemonade

I wasn’t certain what to call this, but this is what it tasted like to me. As I told you earlier today I am trying to reduce the produce we have on hand. The kale was taking up a lot of room in the refrigerator which made it my first target.

Since juicing is an easy way to consume a lot of produce I decided to juice the kale not having any idea what I was going to add to it. I tasted it straight and it was bitter. I decided to juice a lemon to see what that would do to the flavor. Additionally lemon is good to add since plant iron is better absorbed with vitamin C. Definitely better but we aren’t there yet. It still needed some sweetness so I juiced 4 carrots. The taste is better, but is not quite right just yet. I stirred in stevia until it tasted sweet and that was it, kale lemonade.

I had no intention of posting this when I started making it but it turned out better than I expected so I wanted to share the idea. I will give you the amounts I used so you can see the nutrition, which is just amazing. Here is what I did:

Kale Lemonade
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale (about 8 cups), cut into stalks so you can feed it into your juicer
1 lemon, cut into chunks
4 carrots
3 scoops stevia, or to taste

Directions:

Run everything but the stevia through the juicer. Stir the juice well and add stevia to taste. Best served cold.

Nutritional information: **

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 209.12
Calories From Fat (9%) - 18.55

Total Fat - 2.27g
Saturated Fat - 0.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 227.32mg
Potassium - 1757.02mg
Total Carbohydrates - 46.85g
Fiber - 10.33g
Sugar - 8.5g
Protein - 10.51g

** The nutrition numbers are overstated by the fiber that was removed through juicing. I have no idea how that impacted the other numbers. The program I used doesn’t have the fresh juices in the database.

Comments:

The green color is a little unsettling but it tastes much better than it looks. This juice really needed the stevia. I thought I could make it sweet enough with only carrots, not even close. I will definitely make this again. I even think Dan will like it, which was not what I expected when I started preparing this. The lemon flavor is on the light side. Next time I may use two lemons and possibly add a little sparkling water (like Pellegrino).

Each serving of this juice contains 68,200IU of vitamin A, 350mg of vitamin C, 420mg of calcium, 5mg of iron, 110mcg of folate, 2,200mg of vitamin K, 210mg of phosphorus, and 110mg of magnesium. I drank both servings of juice today for lunch, the cup pictured above. I should be glowing with good health any moment now. Given my breakfast and lunch I won’t feel too bad having a slice of lasagna for dinner tonight. ;-)

It is time for me to get back to cleaning and make a run to the grocery store. Talk to you again later.

Soup for Breakfast: Creamy Broccoli and Kale

You are probably thinking this is for Dan, but you would be wrong. This is what I made myself for breakfast after he left for work. We have a lot of fresh produce in the house since he hasn’t been eating much of it and I want to make room for a trip to the farmers’ market on Sunday. So ….. I will be making a lot of very veggie intensive dishes between now and Saturday night. Knowing I wanted to use some kale that was the start of this soup. It is more of a method than a recipe. I have given approximate measurements for what I did this morning. Here is the recipe:

Creamy Broccoli and Kale Soup
Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 leaves kale, stem removed
1 ½ cups broccoli, cut into rough chunks
¼ cup raw cashews, pre soaked ** (see note in recipe)
Water necessary to blend soup (approx ½ cup)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, or to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Finely cut green onions, for garnish

Directions:

Combine the kale, broccoli, raw cashews and water in your high speed blender and process until smooth and warm. I stop processing at warm since this is high in vitamin C, which is heat sensitive. Add seasonings to taste, I used Dijon, lemon juice and pepper. Garnish with finely sliced green onions.

** I now keep soaked cashews and almonds in the refrigerator.  It makes it easier to prepare soups, sauces or smoothies without needing to wait for the soaking period.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 202.73
Calories From Fat (47%) - 96.02

Total Fat - 11.49g
Saturated Fat - 1.98g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 297.63mg
Potassium - 828.97mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.17g
Fiber - 2.33g
Sugar - 1.77g
Protein - 10.01g

Comments:

This is not what I call a standard breakfast. But it was good and uber healthy. It feels good to start the day on such a nutrition high note. This soup is rich and creamy from the cashews. I like the touch of lemon juice which I think brightens the flavor.  The dijon gives the flavor dimension.

However my favorite part is the nutrition. This recipe contains approximately 13,500IU of vitamin A, 185mg of vitamin C, 160mg of calcium, 100mcg of folate, 550mcg of vitamin K, 250mg of phosphorus, 120mg of magnesium, and 8mcg of selenium. Not too shabby for tossing a few things in the blender.  This is one reason I love my Vitamix.

Unrelated note:

Sorry I didn’t come back yesterday with a dinner post. Dan came home last night wanting lasagna again for dinner, he really loves it. Needless to say that is what I gave him. He wants the same thing tonight so I will be making another small pan of lasagna this afternoon. My dinner was a simple quinoa bowl with spinach and salsa so it wasn’t worth posting. ;-)

Today is day two of cleaning. Yay? But I need to do it before the cat hair dust bunnies carry us away. I am planning on making caponata this afternoon. I should have time to get that posted tonight. I hope you are all having a great day. Talk to you again soon.

Quick Cleaning Post: Natural Soft Scrub

I do not like to clean. It is one of those necessary evils in my opinion. I also don’t like using toxic cleaners in my home. Years ago when the cancer first appeared my first question was why? The doctor said it was probably exposure to a toxin. A toxin? How could that be, we weren’t exactly exposed to anything toxic, or so I thought. When the doctor said it could have been something as simple as a food preservative or dye in our food, that was all I needed to hear to make some big changes. That was the beginning of our transition to clean natural food and cleaning products.

I thought about posting this because I have been cleaning today. I make a natural soft scrub that I use to clean my kitchen sink, stove and bathroom fixtures. I posted the original version here. Since then I have started making large batches at a time. I have a big stainless container that I pour about a cup of baking soda into. To that I add some environmentally friendly liquid soap and stir until it is a thick somewhat liquid texture. Once the texture is right I add tea tree oil. The tea tree oil is included for its disinfecting ability. I also happen to like the fragrance of tea tree, which is a bonus. This mixture will last for months. If it gets a little thick over time add more soap and stir. It is that simple. I like that it is natural and non toxic and you don’t need to use much to get things clean.  I use this on a plastic scrub sponge and it works much better than baking soda alone.  It also rinses away easily if you don't use much.  It only takes about a tablespoon to clean my bathtub.

The non toxic aspect comes in handy when you have three curious felines that want to “help” you clean the bathroom. If you are a cat owner you know what I mean about feline help. Our felines seem to supervise everything I do.

I need to get back to cleaning. Sigh..... I wanted to share the change before I forgot to mention it again. Talk to you again soon.

An Unorthodox Breakfast: Collard Wraps with Almond Feta and Veg

Dan is feeling much better this morning. So much so that he has gone back to work. This is a great sign. He almost never takes a sick day. When he took off Friday, Monday and was home on Tuesday I knew that he felt really horrible. Needing to make him a smoothie this morning for breakfast as well as cream of broccoli soup to go in his lunch with the lasagna my Vitamix had quite the workout this morning. By the time I had cleaned the blender twice I was not in the mood to do it again. Since I had breakfast once Dan had left for work I picked something that was crunchy. Here is what I made myself from breakfast this morning:

Collard Wraps with Almond Feta and Veg
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 large collard leaf, thick stem sliced fat to bottom or removed (it is easier to roll if you don’t remove the stem completely)
¼ cup almond feta – no oil version
4 inches English cucumber, sliced into sticks
¼ red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Directions:

Place the collard leaf on a board light green side up. Spread the leaf with a thin layer of almond feta. Top with cucumber and red bell pepper. You can add anything else you like to the wrap. Olives would be good, so would sun-dried tomatoes, anything works in this. Roll the leaf up like you are making sushi. Secure with toothpicks and slice into bite sized pieces.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 255.73
Calories From Fat (62%) - 158.03

Total Fat - 18.84g
Saturated Fat - 1.45g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 278.37mg
Potassium - 600.59mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.38g
Fiber - 7.08g
Sugar - 5.86g
Protein - 10.15g
Comments:

These are a little difficult to roll tightly. It helps to use more nut cheese but that really ups the fat content so I try to hold that to minimum. If you want to take this in your lunch I would suggest packing the components separately or wrapping the entire thing in waxed paper followed by cling film and slicing when you are ready to eat it.

I made this today since I was craving a little fat. Nut cheese and but butter is my main source of fat and I need to keep an eye on make certain I eat enough of it. There are days when I have only had 100 calories of fat and that is not enough. Your skin will get dry if you do that for too long, I don’t recommend it. Also the fat seems to keep my satisfied longer. Since I had this for breakfast I won’t add much if any nuts or seeds to my lunch today.

This little wrap contained approximately 3,650IU of vitamin A, 70mg of vitamin C, 160mg of calcium, 10IU of vitamin E, 110mcg of folate, 200mcg of vitamin K, 220mg of phosphorus, and 125mg of magnesium. Pretty good for less than 260 calories I think.

Unrelated note:

Sine Dan felt so lousy this weekend I didn’t get any of my “work” done around the house. Today and tomorrow are going to be cleaning days at our house. Ugh! I love to cook, but cleaning is not my favorite activity. Martha Stewart has nothing to worry about from me. LOL.

I have been very unproductive so far today. I really need to run and get some things accomplished before the day gets away from me. I will be back tonight, if not sooner. I hope you are all having a great Wednesday.

Our Favorite Foods

When I put up my one year blog anniversary post Jenn said she would like to see me write something about our favorite meals. I was reminded of this tonight since Dan wanted me to make my Neapolitan Lasagna. Here is the list we came up with of our favorites. We may have missed few things since we did it from memory. But I think that means these were real stand outs. Here they are sorted by course.

Salads:

Brussels Sprouts with Clementine Sections and Citrus Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Autumnal Salad with Miso Dressing

Deconstructed Vegetable Sushi Salad

Spinach Salad with Citrus, Walnut and Date

Main Dishes:

Neapolitan Lasagna

Bolognese

Mushroom Ragu

Whole Wheat Pizza with Lemon Ginger Tofu and Port Soaked Figs

Vegetable Paella with Seitan Sausage

Spinach Tofu and Bean Enchiladas

Beet Barley Risotto with Wilted Beet Greens

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Curried Ravioli filled with Almond Feta

Soups and Stews:

Moroccan Chickpea With Preserved Lemon

Red Lentil Soup

Miso Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Truffles

Desserts:

Chocolate Mousse with a hint of Espresso – the original (which my husband wanted me to specify)

Banana Soft Serve with Walnut Butter Swirl

Cranberry Orange Granita

Miscellaneous:

Vegan Queso

Steam Baked Seitan Cutlets

Reduced Fat Peanut Butter

Cinnamon Walnut Butter

Almond Feta – No Oil

Super Flavorful No Fat Added Hummus

Panelle and Polenta Toast

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto with Golden Raisins

Silken Tofu and Tahini Sauce – No Oil

Walnut and Mushroom Gravy

I hope you enjoyed the recap of some of our favorites dishes. Dan is starting to feel better so cooking will return to my house tomorrow. Tonight he had lasagna for dinner, per his request. I was happy that he felt good enough for something that didn’t go through the Vitamix.

It is time for me to kick back and relax before bed. I hope you are all having a good Tuesday. Talk to you tomorrow.

Red Wine Marinated Mushrooms

This is the dish I made on Thursday that we didn’t have because of Dan’s throat. The mushrooms have been staring at me from the bottom shelf each time I opened the refrigerator. Today I decided to have just a few for a nibble.

This dish is all about the wine. The rich wine flavor permeates each delectable morsel. It is critically important to use a wine you really enjoy as it provides most of the flavor for the dish. Here is what I did:

Red Wine Marinated Mushrooms
Serves 6

Ingredients:

24 ounces crimini mushrooms, stems trimmed flat
1 cup good dry Italian red wine (I used Sangiovese)
2 – 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, to taste
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced (or sub 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced (or sub 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves stripped (or sub 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 green onions, finely sliced

Directions:

Combine everything but the green onions. Add red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Bring the liquid to a boil then turn off the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Allow the mushrooms to cool to room temperature and then store them and the liquid in a container with a tight fitting lid. Add the sliced green onions and refrigerate until needed. Serve cold or room temperature.

Nutritional Information: **

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 70.75
Calories From Fat (2%) - 1.44

Total Fat - 0.16g
Saturated Fat-  0.03g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 10.32mg
Potassium - 588.94mg
Total Carbohydrates - 6.72g
Fiber - 1.13g
Sugar - 2.33g
Protein - 3.08g

** These numbers are overstated by the marinade that was not absorbed, which is most of it. Since the excess liquid is marinade and water from the mushrooms I didn’t want to back out too many calories but instead preferred to overstate them. I would estimate each serving contains less than a ½ tablespoon of red wine.

Comments:

This dish is all about the wine. If you choose a wine you like you can’t go wrong. I like to serve these as part of what I call an “antipasti dinner”. I know the name is contradictory but it is what I call it. We have little bits of different appetizers for dinner and that is our meal. These mushrooms make a nice flavorful addition to the platter.  Needless to say this isn’t the most healthful dish I have made. But sometimes you need a little cheat and this is mine. I thoroughly enjoyed the wine flavor and aroma of this dish. These would be wonderful served with some almond feta, veggie crudités and a spinach salad with chickpeas.

Unrelated note:

I want to make something with collards tomorrow but I have no idea how I want to use them. Typically I will use collards as a whole wheat flat bread substitute but I am not in the mood for that at the moment. Do any of you have a creative use for raw collard greens? If you have any ideas I would love to hear them. :-)

For now I am going to go so that I can enjoy some time with my hubby. I hope you all had a great day! Talk to you tomorrow.

Cinnamon Extract Shown to Decrease Blood Glucose

I have been reading about the health benefits of cinnamon for many years. Since cancer cells consumes 16 times the sugar of normal cells I work to keep our blood sugar as low as possible and have added cinnamon to our fruit recipes for a long time. According to this abstract scientists tested 137 patient using a double study (neither patients nor scientists knew who was given what) and found the cinnamon extract lowered blood glucose. While this is by no means definitive evidence I think adding cinnamon can’t hurt you so why not include it where it is appropriate. The most shocking thing about this article was the mention that 8% of Americans are diabetic. Clearly this problem is rampant in our society.

I sprinkle cinnamon on fruit, toss it into our smoothies and use cinnamon sticks when making Indian style rice dishes. We have yet to try cinnamon extract but I am warming up to that idea. I need to do a little more research to make certain it is safe before I buy it. When I finish that research I will let you know. But for now I will continue to use cinnamon whenever it works with the dish I am preparing.

I am really behind in my "health" reading. There may be another quick health blurb or two to follow this one.

I hope Monday is treating you as well as can be expected. Talk to you again soon.

Another Reason to Include Flaxseeds in your Diet

According to this abstract scientists now feel that the lignans in flaxseeds may provide protection against hormonal cancers (breast, prostate, endometrial) as well as skin cancer and diabetes. The recommended dosage is 1 to 2 tablespoons a day. We have been adding a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds to our breakfast (either on top of cooked oatmeal or in our smoothies) for about a year. When the flaxseed is well ground you don’t really know it is there. It is also good sprinkled on a salad if you prefer.

I have mentioned before that Costco is now carrying milled organic flaxseed (pictured above) for a really good price. It is $7.99 for two pounds at our local store. I find this flax to be a little more “chunky” than I prefer. To rectify this I place it in a coffee grinder before sprinkling it on our morning oatmeal. However, the texture is great for making flax crackers, which I do all the time now. Once I have opened a bag I keep it in my freezer so it won’t spoil as quickly.

I am going to run and catch up on my “health” reading. If I see anything else worth sharing, I will be back with another quick post.

A Very Different Smoothie

This is the most interesting smoothie I made yesterday. The flavors worked very well together, and I would drink this just because it tastes good. It reminded us both of a mango lassie, which must have been due to the cardamom. Here is what I made:

Pineapple and Carrot Smoothie with Coconut Milk and Cardamom
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 cups pineapple, cut into chunks
13.5 ounce can of light coconut milk (I used the Native Forest Organic Brand)
1 large carrot cut into chunks
½ teaspoon ground cardamom, or to taste
Approximately 8 ice cubes (or what is required to get the thickness you like)

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and process until it is smooth. Serve chilled.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 240.4
Calories From Fat (47%) - 112.71

Total Fat - 11.29g
Saturated Fat - 9.59g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 48.21mg
Potassium - 135.59mg
Total Carbohydrates - 31.87g
Fiber - 3.12g
Sugar - 25.89g
Protein - 0.43g

Comments:

I made this because I was looking for something different for Dan’s sore throat. However the flavor is really good and I would now make this just for the flavor. This version is on the thin side, for obvious reasons. But you can make it thicker with more ice or by increasing the solids or reducing the liquid.

Each serving of this smoothie contains approximately 6,750IU of vitamin A. The other values were reasonably low. I may try to play around with this idea to up the nutrition. But if you are looking for something that tastes good this is a winner.

Unrelated note:

I have not been posting things like normal since they are all variations on the smoothie theme. Until this morning I have been eating the almost the same things I was feeding Dan. This morning Dan wanted me to make myself something that I wanted. So I had a quick deconstructed sushi salad for breakfast (thank goodness for leftover sushi rice and dressing) and Dan had a smoothie. I am going to post the red wine marinated mushrooms I made on Friday later today.

 Here is another picture of a busy little bee I took on Saturday. I hope you enjoy it.  This will be the end of azalea pictures as I looked at them this morning and they are now past their peak and look a little sad. 

I hope you all had a good weekend. I will talk to you later today.

Smoothie Breakfast: Strawberry or Wild Blueberry and Mint

I will start with the most important thing to me. Last night Dan’s fever was 101 and I was in a bit of a panic. However after 10 hours of sleep his temperature was 98.6 this morning, thankfully. His throat still hurts but I feel like we have turned the corner on this. Big sigh. Thank you all for your concern and recipe suggestions.

For breakfast this morning I decided to make smoothies for two reasons. First, it will be much easier to get calories into him in liquid form. Second, we are expecting another day of temperatures in the low 90 degree range so smoothies just seem right.

I made two different smoothies this morning, one for Dan with additional calories and a more reasonable one for myself. Here is what I made:

Strawberry Smoothie for My Baby
Serves 1

Ingredients:

½ cup oatmeal, dry ground into flour
2 cups water (or less if you want it thick)
2 cups strawberries, frozen
2 tablespoons walnuts
1 tablespoon flaxseeds, ground finely
1 scoop stevia, or to taste
2 tablespoons brown rice protein powder

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and process until completely smooth. Pour into a chilled glass. This recipe is for a thinner smoothie that you can pour into a to go cup and take with you. If you want something thicker start with 1 cup of water and add it more if necessary to get the consistency you like.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 492.81
Calories From Fat (26%) - 127.79

Total Fat - 15.24g
Saturated Fat - 1.54g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 48mg
Potassium - 676.33mg
Total Carbohydrates - 74.35g
Fiber - 16.85g
Sugar - 16.01g
Protein - 23.48g

Comments:

I added the nuts and protein powder to this smoothie increase the calories. This is something you can do with any smoothie. The flaxseed was included for its omega 3 fatty acids but it is also a good source of fiber. If you don’t use stevia you can add a pitted medjool date for sweetness. If I were making this for me I would add a little orange extract.

This one serving of smoothie contains approximately 120mg of vitamin C, 90mg of calcium, 75mcg of folate, 230mg of phosphorus, 110mg of magnesium, and 20mcg of selenium. Not too bad for a breakfast in a glass. And definitely healthier than Jamba Juice, although I have to admit I have enough many of those smoothies in my day. ;-)

Next Recipe:

This is the smoothie that I made for myself. I happen to love blueberry, mint and lemon. It is one of my favorite flavor combinations so I turned it into a smoothie this morning. Here is what I did:

Wild Blueberry and Mint Smoothie with a Hint of Lemon
serves 1

Ingredients:

½ cup oatmeal, ground into flour
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups frozen wild blueberries
1 tablespoon golden flaxseeds, finely ground
6 mint leaves, or to taste
¼ teaspoon lemon extract (or fresh lemon zest)

Directions:

Place everything in your blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a chilled glass and serve.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 345.25
Calories From Fat (13%) - 44.32

Total Fat - 5.14g
Saturated Fat - 0.61g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 16.05mg
Potassium - 171.22mg
Total Carbohydrates - 68.97g
Fiber - 7.82g
Sugar -- 0.37g
Protein - 8.92g

Comments:

I loved the flavor of this smoothie. But that isn’t a surprise since I love these flavors together. This was good enough I may have another one tomorrow and you all know I don’t repeat often. ;-)

This smoothie contains approximately 75mcg of calcium, 5mg of iron, 140mg of phosphorus, 50mg of magnesium, and 17.8mcg of selenium. Not quite as good as the strawberry version, but not bad either.

Unrelated note:

These last few days my Vitamix has been invaluable. I don’t know what I would have done without it. I typically use it more often in the summer but not as much as I did yesterday. For those of you that are considering one I highly recommend them. I bought mine at least 5 years ago now, and I give it a workout that has burned out at least 5 prior $100+ blenders. If you have any questions about the machine please feel to ask. I am happy to help in any way that I can.

Here is a picture of our youngest feline Nicco, also known affectionately as Binky. He is keeping an eye on his daddy while I am busy. As you tell by the look on his face he is very intense and doesn’t miss a thing.

Today we don’t have much planned. I am going to encourage Dan to rest and relax so he can heal more quickly. I have no idea what else is happening here to today. But I will let you know what else I decide to cook. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Talk to you soon.

Dinner for a sore throat

Instead of one dish tonight we have been snacking our way through the evening. I wanted to make a variety of smooth dishes to make it easier for Dan to eat with his sore throat. He relented so either lunch really hurt or I wore him down. I am not certain it matters which one it was. Here is what we have had so far tonight:

Cold Melon and Cucumber Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients:

¼ cup raw cashews
½ melon, peeled and cut into cubes (I used an orange Tuscan melon)
½ English cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
¼ teaspoon orange extract
2 – 6 mint leaves, depending on how much mint flavor you want

Directions:

Place the raw cashews into your blender first then add remaining ingredients on top. Process the soup until smooth. Adjust the mint to your tastes. Serve well chilled.  Garnish with a mint sprig if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 123.52
Calories From Fat (38%) - 46.88

Total Fat - 5.6g
Saturated Fat - 1.01g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 25.15mg
Potassium - 553.98mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.61g
Fiber - 2.19g
Sugar - 12.69g
Protein - 3.79g

Comments:

This is a good soup if it is hot and you don’t want to turn on the stove. It is also good if someone at your house has a sore throat. If you are a big fan of citrus this would be good with a little fresh orange juice. I will definitely make this again when the weather is warm like it was today.

Next recipe

I have played around with raw hummus and I can safely say that I am not a fan of eating too many sprouted raw chickpeas. I don’t know what it is but they are very hard for both husband and me to digest. A few sprouted chickpeas on a salad are fine but too many means trouble for us. I have been looking for a raw hummus for some time and none of them really appeal to me. However there was one recipe I came across that used summer squash as a substitute for garbanzo beans. Zucchini alone was the wrong texture for hummus. But when I added cooked chickpeas I had the best of both worlds. This is what I made tonight:

Reduced Calorie Hummus with Zucchini
Makes 2 ½ cups – or 6 servings of ½ cup each

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chickpeas, no salt
1 medium zucchini, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons sesame seeds or tahini
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 teaspoon cumin, or to taste
1 teaspoon paprika, or to taste
1 lemon, zest only
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine everything in your high speed blender and puree until it is completely smooth. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.  If you don't have a high speed blender a food processor should also work but then you will want to use tahini and stop the machine a few times to scrape the sides of the mixer bowl.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 115.61
Calories From Fat (22%) - 25.88

Total Fat - 3.09g
Saturated Fat - 0.38g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 8.28mg
Potassium - 276.77mg
Total Carbohydrates - 17.46g
Fiber - 5.15g
Sugar - 3.29g
Protein - 5.93g

Comments:

I was pleasantly surprised by how smooth this hummus was. Of course I also like the nutrition the raw zucchini adds to the spread. This is not too different from the other variations of hummus that I have made with baked sweet potato, or roasted red pepper. But this variation has the added benefit of the inclusion of raw veggies. This worked out so well I will be playing around with other raw veggies in hummus to see if one works out better than any of the others. However, for now this is a great place to start.

Tonight I had my hummus with crunchy veggies as pictured above. Dan has his hummus with softer veg. I was happy to find a way to make it work for both of us. :-)

Unrelated note:

Today has been an unsettled day at our house for obvious reasons. Dan’s throat is still raw and sore. But he is managing to eat and that is a good sign. We have discovered that drinking liquids with the food seems to help a lot. Also when the temperature of the food is more moderate they seem to go down easier. Hopefully tomorrow will show some improvement in his throat.

The weather today has been unseasonably warm reaching into the 90’s this afternoon. Dan, I and the three felines were all a little lethargic today. None of us has adjusted to the heat apparently. If Dan had felt better today it would have been a wonderful day for a long bike ride. Hopefully next weekend will also be nice.

Tomorrow the farmers’ market downtown opens. While we normally go each Sunday I think it would be better for Dan to get his rest. Either I will go without him or we will be skipping this weekend. We have a ton of fresh produce in the two refrigerators so it really isn’t a necessity to be at the market tomorrow.

I need to make something else for us to eat tonight to make certain Dan has had enough calories. We also need to have our fresh juice tonight and green drink. It seems like all we have done today is eat.

I hope you all had a good day. Talk to you tomorrow.

10 minute lunch: Wilted Sicilian Greens on a Baked Potato

Dan was a little fussy this afternoon about lunch. He didn’t want “bland mushy baby food”. Well okay now, let me see what I can do. I decided to stick with the potato idea but opted for baked or in this case microwaved potatoes. I topped them with a Sicilian inspired wilted beet greens. Here is what I did:

Baked Potato topped with Sicilian Style Beet Greens
Serves 1

Ingredients:

10 ounces russet potatoes, microwaved until tender
2 tablespoon yellow onion, peeled and finely minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 tablespoons water to sauté aromatics
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 cups beet greens and stems, stems finely chopped greens julienned (can use spinach or chard)
1 tablespoon pine nuts
Salt and pepper to taste

Optional Ingredients:  (if you don’t have a sore throat)

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Sprinkle of red wine vinegar, to taste

Directions:

While the potatoes are microwaving water sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Add the golden raisin and beet greens and cook until they are the texture you desire. Season the greens with salt and pepper to taste. If you are using the red pepper flakes and vinegar add it at this stage.

To serve, cut open the baked potato and top with the wilted greens and pine nuts.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 427.61
Calories From Fat (12%) - 51.04

Total Fat-  6.1g
Saturated Fat - 0.47g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 194.9mg
Potassium - 2766.1mg
Total Carbohydrates - 89.07g
Fiber - 8.91g
Sugar - 12.29g
Protein - 10.85g

Comments:

He said it was good but too spicy. Clearly I used too much pepper. He also said it hurt his throat due to the chunks. Maybe he will let me make something more bland and mushy for dinner. But somehow I doubt it. He has already been talking about my making lasagna. Can you say stubborn? Oye!

This portion of his lunch contained approximately 4,00IU of vitamin A, 100mg of vitamin C, 115mg of calcium, 310mcg of vitamin K, 275mg of phosphorus, and 150mg of magnesium. At least I managed to get a little nutrition into him.

I followed this up with a chocolate banana and peanut butter smoothie. That seemed to go down a little better. If this seems like a lot of calories, it is. He has dropped a few pounds since the sore throat so I am trying to put them back on him without resorting to a lot of fat. It is difficult to eat too many calories with our lifestyle.

Unrelated note:

Dinner will be late tonight since he didn’t get up until 10am and he just had lunch at 4pm. But if I can I will get another post up this evening.

For now I need to get back to more to do list. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Thank you so much for everyone that had food suggestions. Dan may almost be ready for soft food. After the “painful” lunch he may change his mind about lasagna for dinner. But we will see. He can be a very stubborn man, but I adore him.

Talk to you all again soon.

Product Review: The RAVE diet and Healing Cancer From the Inside Out and an Update

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had ordered both books: "The RAVE diet" and "Healing Cancer From the Inside Out" with their accompanying videos. Just so that everyone is clear. I purchased these items and have received nothing from the author or publisher. The views expressed below are mine.

The concept behind each book is actually very simple. By feeding your body abundant amounts of healthy food you will reach your ideal weight and prevent and/or reverse disease. Both books advocate a whole foods plant based diet without oil. RAVE stands for the items you will be eliminating from your diet. These are as follows:

R = No refined food

A = No animal products

V = No vegetable oils

E = No excuses and exercise

Since I have given you the basics of the plan why should you buy the book? I find that completely understanding the reasons why things are harmful and unhealthy makes it easier to stick to such a restrictive plan. Make no mistake this is a restrictive plan and is not for everyone. These books do a nice job of explaining the science, in layman’s terms. Additionally the author cites his sources so you can follow the information trail if you desire. Even as much as I read about nutrition I learned a few things reading the books.

Honestly cancer is the only reason we made these dramatic changes almost overnight. If it were a matter of weight rather than life or death I can’t honestly say that I would have been able to commit to something this dramatic. However I do believe something like this is necessary to get control of addictions to unhealthy foods. In my case my favorite foods were pasta, olive oil and cheese. Those foods made daily appearances at my house. I used to joke that it was in my Italian DNA. But once I understood why they were harmful it was much easier to avoid them. I now believe that these foods are truly harmful for many reasons. In my case by seeing foods as toxic/harmful I am better able to control my desires for them.

I read the Healing Cancer book first and finished the Rave Diet this morning. Since both books are very similar and in some cases identical I will review them as one. Here are my thoughts on the books, good and bad:

Pros:

1. The author writes in a clear and friendly style that is easy to read. His style makes you feel as though you are listening to a friend talk. It also makes both books a quick read.

2. His diet is no doubt uber healthy (there is little variation between the two books). I would say it is a combination of the programs espoused by Dr’s Esselstyn, Fuhrman, McDougall and Ornish. There is no doubt in my mind that if you follow this diet you will get both healthier and slimmer.

3. The Rave Diet book contains a short list of tips to accelerate weight loss on this plan. While they seem obvious sometimes you need a little nudge in the right direction. I thought they were a good reminder and something I will turn too if my weight goes in the wrong direction.

4. He generally cites scholarly sources, which I appreciate. Each chapter on average has 100 footnotes. I will soon be in research heaven following the trail back to many of the studies. Although, there were some references to MSNBC and similar sources which made me cringe.

5. Each book contains enough recipes to get you started on this program. I particularly liked this advice on quick meals. The quick meals suggestions will get used often at this house.

6. If you know someone that is concerned about cancer that book is very inspirational in terms of the people that have been able to make an impact on their health by changing their lifestyle. The parts of the book on conventional cancer treatments were a little disturbing. Being a part of the healthcare community for a long time I can identify with some of his arguments. However some of them seem like conspiracy theories to me. I tend to rail against all such theories. Not that the author isn't right; but this is a hot button for me.

7. Each book and DVD combo is very reasonably priced and shipped very promptly.

Cons:

1. There is a lot of overlap between the two books. Since I read Healing Cancer first I felt as though the RAVE diet was an almost unnecessary read. I would suggest you buy one book or the other depending on your concern.

2. The diet will be too strict for most people. I think the idea of eliminating tofu and nut milks may lose quite a few people. Not that I don’t think both items are best used sparingly. However, I think it is odd that he seems less concerned with whole wheat flour products than tofu or nut milk. Overall our current diet is very close to the one he is advocating if that gives you insight into the book.

Overall:

I think the author did a great job coalescing dietary advice and studies from many different sources into one resource. The amount of research that went into developing this book is very apparent. If you are looking for dramatic change either in terms of weight or health either of these books are worth reading. Either of these books is worth buying for the citations alone. I can see myself using these as a resource often.

The DVDs that I purchased with the books are good to have. I was able to get my husband to watch the “Eating” DVD and he enjoyed most of it. The last 20 minutes is devoted to environmentalism and animal rights which was unexpected to both of us. People that are looking to change their diets for health reasons may lose interest during that portion of the DVD. There are also a number of animal images that I would have preferred not to see. For that reason I would not recommend that you allow children to watch the “Eating” video. Some images were disturbing and horrific. That aside, the videos contained a lot of good information. I can see playing these for friends that are interested in making lifestyle changes.

Update:

Dan’s throat is still sore and irritated. I am hoping by tonight we will have some visible improvement. For breakfast this morning we had oatmeal with mixed berries, cinnamon and well ground flaxseed. Lunch today is probably going to mashed potatoes topped with something soft so that it is easy for him to eat. Dinner is completely up in the air. If he thinks tomatoes won’t be too acidic I may make gazpacho this evening.

Last night we had a very simple dinner of cooked millet that I topped with julienned spinach, fresh cherry tomatoes, avocado, chickpeas and black sesame seeds. I thought it would be soft enough for Dan to eat but he still found it difficult to swallow. For dessert we had strawberry soft serve which was also difficult for him. Feeding someone with a raw irritated throat is difficult. But I am determined to keep his food healthy. There will be no dairy milk shakes in this house. If anyone has any ideas on soft bland food I would love suggestions. This not how I normally cook, so it is a bit of struggle for me to come up with recipe ideas given all the limitations. But we do what we have to so I am sure I will come up with some good things.

Given Dan’s potential strep my parents will not be coming for dinner this weekend. With their age they don’t need to be exposed to this either. So far I don’t have any signs of catching this. Finger crossed that it stays that way.

For now I am going to run and get back to cleaning and disinfecting the house. I want to get ahead of this as quickly as we can. I hope you are all having the same gorgeous weather that we are enjoying. We have all the windows open and the little felines are soaking up the sun and breezes. Talk to you all again soon.