Create an Appetite and Attitude for Health and Fitness Today!

Paleo Diet

This is an amazing testimony to the healing power of foods. Although, I believe there are ways to get omega 3's without eating meats and fish.

Green Tea and Green Tea Benefits - Dr. Weil

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:53:00 +0000

Green Tea and Green Tea Benefits - Dr. Weil

Studies show junk foods change brain chemistry and are addictive like cocaine.

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 17:41:00 +0000

http://www.naturalnews.com/034478_junk_foods_addictive_brain_chemistry.html

How Artificial and Natural Flavors are Made

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +0000

Ideal Protein Weight Loss Variation

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 02:57:00 +0000

My variation on the Ideal Protein Weight Loss Diet. Was skeptical and wanted to see if I could stick with it for an entire day. I allowed myself to have fruit which is normally not acceptable on Phase One. Phase One includes a protein shake with each meal, unlimited veggies and lettuce and an extra protein. This was my day.

BREAKFAST

Egg Whites w/ Spinach, Blueberries, Raspberries & Strawberries

Whey Protein Shake w/ Almond Milk

320 Calories

Ideally, I would have thrown in green onions, zucchini and garlic to the egg whites, but I'm experimenting and haven't been to the store yet.

SNACK # 1

Sweet bowl of cantaloupe

50 Calories

LUNCH

Vega Chocolate Whole Food Optimizer w/ Hemp Milk

Sunshine Burger & Amy's Texas Veggie Burger on a Bed of Mixed Greens w/ Carrots & Organicville Ranch Dressing

560 Calories

The burger salad was huge and I couldn't eat it all. First time trying the Vega Whole Food Optimizer. Only a health nut would like the taste of this....and I did.

SNACK # 2

CHICKPEA SNACKERS

200 Calories

First time making these. So simple and so good. Rinse and dry the chickpeas. Preheat oven to 350. Mix chickpeas with 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp sea salt. Roast for 45 minutes. The end result is a high protein, high fiber, crunchy snack. The original recipe called for 1 tblsp of oil, but I don't think it needed it. They were a little salty for my taste, so I'll cut back by half next time.

DINNER

DESIGNER WHEY PROTEIN SHAKE W/ LEFTOVER BURGER SALAD

190 Calories

I just was not hungry. And even though two of my protein shakes were chocolate, I didn't have any chocolate cravings all day. I am stuffed, but still have to eat something with my bedtime meds.

BEDTIME SNACK

ONE MEDIUM BANANA

90 calories

Overall, I'm impressed. I ate an array of colors from the rainbow (red, blue, green, orange, purple, yellow) and the only processed foods besides the shakes were the burgers, which I can make myself, time permitting. Nightime eating is one of my biggest challenges. In the past, that's when I find myself eating mindlessly and not ever being truly satiated. However, tonight I could barely eat dinner. I'm comfortably full, but not stuffed or tired. I had good energy today too. I am skeptical though because my doctor started me on Tramadol yesterday and that might have caused a decrease in appetite. Because of the roaring that it is causing in my ears, I won't take it tomorrow, so I'll have a better grasp on what my true appetite is on this diet.

TOTAL CALORIES 1410

KalaMarzu

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 01:45:00 +0000

Yes, that's a blended word. Such as the likes of Kalamazoo, as in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Or Brangelina, as in Brad & Angelina. They looked stunning on the red carpet at the Golden Globes tonight, but then again, when has Angelina not looked stunning? Hence we have KalaMarzu, as in kale...massaged that is...and Arzu, which you'll learn more about below.

I first tried Arzu at our local Farmer's Market in the form of a cookie. It was delish, but had brown sugar added, so I thought I'd buy a pack and try it in oatmeal form. Arzu is a blend of buckwheat, quinoa, northern white beans, and garbanzo beans. One serving has 180 calories, 8 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber. Very simple to make. Just add water, leave on stove top for 2-3 minutes and then add your favorite toppings. I chose to add a chopped apple and lots of cinnamon.

I know. It looks nasty. And guess what? It tasted nasty too. Blech! The cookie was so good, but then again, brown sugar does make it all better, not? What's a girl to do? Hmmm, stay solution oriented, that's what. In Dr. Jacob Teitelbaums book, Pain Free 1-2-3, he recommends using xylitol as a substitute while weaning off the white stuff (sugar). Apparently, yeast are not able to ferment when using xylitol and inositol. Plus, xylitol is touted as decreasing osteoporosis and cavities. So, in with the xylitol!

Ideal, my preferred brand. Tastes like sugar and has zero calories. This made the Arzu palatable and I was full for hours. I'd buy the Arzu again to make high protein, high fiber cookies with Ideal, but doubt I'll be eating it in oatmeal form again anytime soon.

Dinosaur Kale

How do you take your kale? Would you like that raw, steamed or massaged? Heh, heh. Massaged kale is wonderful as it seems to saute itself down while you massage it with sea salt. Something to marvel at really. This was my first foray with dinosaur kale. My store usually only carries curly kale which is lighter in color, and curly, of course.

Now, I must say. I loathe cherry tomatoes. I shiver me timbers just thinking about the way they pop their seedy liquid in my mouth. People who eat them with great adoration have always intrigued me, really. However, I am thrilled to report that halving them and adding them to this salad, hit the spot with me. I liked them and wished I had added more.

After massaging with sea salt, I added red onion, olive oil, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds and apple cider vinegar.

This too I hid from dear hubby because I knew he would devour it, and I need every bit for my sugar cleanse. My youngest son tried it though and asked for more! Next time I'll make a double batch.

Then I had to pause and take in the wonderful sight of my kitchen counter. Thoughts of, "A working kitchen is a happy kitchen" and "What beautiful healthful ingredients are on my counter" danced through my head.

I am happy to report that after only one day of adding high nutrient foods to my diet that I have drastically reduced my chocolate and sugar intake from something like this:

To this:

And that chocolate at least has antioxidants and fiber, my friends. Now, that was just day one. It's usually between days 3-5 that I feel like I just have to have something. Nah, that's a lie. Not just something. Listen folks, when a hard core sugar addict says they want "just something" that means bags and bars of candy. It can even mean a whole day of eating nothing but. We shall see. Toodles!

Most Dogs Take the Turkey!

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:57:00 +0000

Finally, I've found a way to truly enjoy chopped raw veggies. Crudites galore! Woot! My friend, Em, has raved about her obsession with hummus, and at last, with a little tweaking, I've discovered just the right recipe for mwah.

Garbanzo beans with a little of their liquid, one garlic clove, 3 tblsp raw tahini, a tsp of sea salt, 1/2 a fresh squeezed lemon and a bit of olive oil. Similar to Fuhrman's hummus, however, I think I added too much garlic and lemon for my liking with that recipe, so I reduced those ingredients this time, and folks, we have a winner.

Into the blender....doesn't that look delish?

Always use organic ingredients when possible.

Fresh hummus with radishes, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots.

I ate about half of the hummus. Hummus heaven, indeed. So much so, that I didn't even offer to share with dear hubby because I knew he would devour it. But there was another evil lurking in my house...waiting to make it's move. Note to self...never leave your hummus sitting out while you take a shower, at least in this house, because while most dogs take the turkey off the table, mine take the hummus! My first clue upon entering the family room was my Snuggie on the floor (Snuggie never goes on the floor, ewwww, germies live there), then to what do my wondering eyes behold, but my trash can tipped over with my hummy, yummy, hummus inside. :(

Now, don't you know, it was nothing short of a miracle that the trash can broke the fall. I mean, can you imagine having had to clean up hummus off the carpet? And the bowl even fell right side up? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Thank you, Jesus! It didn't even appear that the dogs ate much, so I don't know if the heavy glass bowl falling scared them off or if I just happened to enter the room as they were just getting started. No matter, in the trash it went because I don't know whose noses and tongues have been in there.

Speaking of which, here are the little culprits...eyes aglow and all.

Lexi and Emma (I think Lexi was the real culprit)

Baby

Rubber Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:13:00 +0000

My blood cells and tissues are made of chocolate right now. Yes, that's right. Chocolate, fat and sugar. Since the holidays, I've averaged 600-1300 calories in the brown, yellow and white stuff, almost daily. It has been my drug of choice for years. It temporarily numbs the pain (fibromyalgia & neuropathy) when medications don't. It soothes my soul, my brain and my body and transports me out of a pain riddled body into a world of relief, if only for a very short time.

However, I know better. At my age, I cannot continue getting off the beaten path, which for me, is the nutritarian path. Eating nutrient dense foods. Greens, veggies, fruits, complex carbs, good fats like coconut oil and avocados. The last thing I want to do is add more health problems to my list, such as diabetes, dementia, heart disease or stroke. Therefore, I must kick the white stuff. And that means trying a sugar cleanse. Basically, eating whole foods, keeping my blood sugar stable and gradually (because cold turkey has never worked for me) weaning myself off the white poison. My crack so to speak.

So, I have a plan. A list of vegetarian and nutritarian recipes and meal plans to follow to get me started. My days will mostly start with a green smoothie. Green smoothies have been a staple of mine for years. I love them. My favorite is just 12 ounces water with spinach, hemp seeds, and frozen berries thrown in.

I decided to try something new. A banana split smoothie. Just a spin on my favorite, but with chia seeds, frozen banana and a little raw almond butter added.

I was excited because chia seeds seem to be all the rave right now. They are said to be the richest plant source of Omega 3 and have the ability to reduce appetite, blood pressure and regulate blood sugar.

Mine were raw and organic too. Woot! That means it is a living food. All enzymes intact. Into the BlenTec went all the ingredients and lo and behold, the area between the base and the canister started smoking. Um, yikes! The smoothie was done, so off I went to drink it while I made a phone call to the company to find out if the blender was still under warranty.

The young lady asked if any of the black rubber seal had gotten into the inside of the canister to which I replied, "No, it can't do that can it? I have shredded black seal from the outside, but let me go check the inside." "Oh wait, I did see little black things sticking to the inside of the canister when I was washing it, but I just thought those were the chia seeds. Hmmmm, let me check my smoothie." To which I have already drank half. Argh, and wouldn't you know.

Black rubber seal pieces floating in my smoothie. How did I not realize that? Was the smoothie reallly that good? LOL, I guess so, people. See, you should try a smoothie, nasty color and all. They really are delish!

And BlendTec is a great company. Even though the blender was out of warranty, they are sending me a new canister free of charge.

Dr. Fuhrman's Spaghetti Squash Primavera

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 02:47:00 +0000

This recipe was from, "Eat for Health." It was relatively easy to make. Just requires alot of prepping, a little cooking and yields enormous results, both in volume (enough to feed a small army) and is packed with nutrition.

Ingredients include: Spaghetti Squash, Carrots, Celery, Garlic, Cabbage, Zucchini, Pinto Beans, Chopped Tomatoes, Apple Juice, Thyme, Parsley, Garlic Powder, Pasta Sauce and Romaine.

I found that I preferred to use this as a side dish instead of a main dish. Adding a Quorn Garlic n' Herb Chick'n patty rounded out the meal nicely. The dish freezes well too. I had enough leftovers for three more meals.

November 2010 Farmer's Market

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 02:21:00 +0000

Fresh from the farm green beans (an organic bag that size costs about $6.00 at HEB), gorgeous purple bell peppers, pattypan squash, zucchini (again, organic at HEB costs $6.00 for two of those), watermelon radish and opo squash.

The opo squash and watermelon radish turned into raw munchies.

The watermelon radish is gorgeous, but has a little too much "kick" for my taste. The opo squash was mild and delicate. Perfect for snacking.

The zucchini and green beans were thrown in a pot with cabbage, onion, cilantro, cumin, black beans and Quorn Chik'n tenders to make soup which turned out like this.

Black Bean Cabbage Soup
This soup is a new favorite. I ate two bowls. I'm salivating thinking about it. Nom, Nom.

On a side note, here's Lexi with her stuffed baby cheetah, Chester.

Dr. Fuhrman's Famous Anti Cancer Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:50:00 +0000

After reading about my friend Emily's experience with making Dr. Fuhrman's "Famous Anti Cancer Soup" I vowed to never make it. The thought of dragging out a juicer, a blender, a cutting board and a large soup pot, seemed a bit much. Plus, I've heard more than one person talk about needing a "rest cure" after completing this small feat.

However, when I read that a patient of Dr. Fuhrmans, who owns a fine restaurant offers it on his menu, my curiousity got the best of me.

First, you place a cup of beans and four cups of water in a large soup pot and start cooking them. I chose cranberry beans. You can also use split peas. Then you add four medium onions, six zucchini and three stalks leeks, all uncut.

This was my first experience with leeks. They have alot of dirt inbetween their layers. I chose to individually wash each layer, but you can also fill a sink with water, put them in, and the dirt will fall to the bottom. At least, that's what Rachael Ray says.

Here are my freshly washed leeks on the cutting board.

Beans, Onions and Zucchini in Pot

Leeks on top...not an easy fit!

Next, Dr. Fuhrman says to juice five pounds of carrots and two bunches of celery. However, I wanted to simplify. So, I blended my carrots and celery into juice in my high powered BlendTec, thus retaining the fiber, and in the end, creating a thicker soup.

Blended Celery

Then the recipe says to remove the soft onions, leeks and zucchini from the pot with a ladle, being careful not to remove the beans, and put them in a blender with some of the liquid from the pot.

Soft Veggies Ready for Blending

Into the Blender

Add a cup of raw cashews.

Then you have this.

Everything back in the pot with the beans.

Now, at this point, dear hubby ventured in the kitchen, took one look and asked if it was something from Harry Potter. He said all it needed was boiling bubbles and a toad sitting on the counter. I can't say I disagree. The soup really is yummy, but a tad ugly, don't ya' think?

At this point, you can also add TVP or mushrooms. I chose Quorn (myco-protein) chick'n tenders.

Here is the finished product, sprinkled with turmeric and black pepper.

Good, but like my friend Em says, "Dr. Fuhrman Needs to Learn to Simplify in the Kitch!"

Next time, if there is a next time, I think I'll try blending the veggies first, so I don't have to ladle them from the pot.

Now my freezer is stocked with eleven bags of Anti Cancer Soup.

                               But what to do with leftover leeks?

                                     Blanch them.

Throw them in cold water

And into bags for freezing

On a side note. Here's what you're left with when your washer overflows!

Eat to Live Acorn Squash Supreme & Steamed Veggies

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:08:00 +0000

This recipe "plated" was the most beautiful vegetarian meal I have ever made. Endorphins flow just looking at it and imagining how the colorful fruits and veggies with their different vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals are nourishing all the cells in my body. We'll start here.

Steamed Swiss Chard, Zucchini and Onions

Acorn Squash Supreme

The filling for the squash was dried apricots, raisins and cashews soaked in pineapple and its juice. There was a good cup of filling leftover and it was hard to keep from snacking on it while the squash was cooking and dear hubby was happy to finish it off as a dessert. So it did double duty.

Acorn Squash Supreme with Steamed Veggies and Strawberries

Everything was delish and obviously that was a ton of food. However, I found myself wanting to nosh on chocolate later on that evening. I never had that problem when I followed a full day of recipes from the, Eat For Health, plan. Seems that my body needs the extra fats from the nuts, seeds and avocados to keep me full. Or I might have tried adding in a serving of faux chicken to the steamed veggies for more protein.

In the meantime, I still need to make Fuhrman's, Famous Anti-Cancer Soup, because I bought all the ingredients for it.

And here's my Mother's Day present.

My Life in France with Pink and Red Roses

Eat to Live Apple Pie Salad & Tasty Hummus

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:32:00 +0000

After hearing about dramatic weight loss results on the Eat to Live aggressive weight loss program, I decided to give it a try. The first day starts off with a breakfast of fruit.

Fruit Salad with Mint

That's strawberrries, kiwi, cantaloupe and honeydew topped with fresh mint from my garden. I like to save the seeds (shown on the right) to juice with my smoothies. No, I don't throw all those seeds in the smoothie. Just about a 1/4 of that. Seeds are good. Remember, the life is in the seed. Not all blenders can break down seeds, but fortunately, I have a Blendtech which does a great job of doing just that.

For day one lunch on Eat to Live, I got to have, "Tasty Hummus" on pita bread with lettuce and tomatoes and, "Apple Pie Salad."

The, "Apple Pie Dressing" was super simple.

Just a couple of chopped apples, orange juice and cinnamon. Throw it in the blender.

And you can see it topped on my green salad below.

Here's my pretty new red colander and my favorite new kitchen gadget to scoop chopped foods with.

The hummus was made from garbanzo beans, tahini, bean liquid, garlic and lemon juice.

Into the "Magic Bullet" for blending.

The "Magic Bullet is great because it blends and then I can store leftovers in the same container. Here is the hummus spread on a La Tortilla wrap with the lettuce and tomatoes. So light that you can hardly see it. It blends in with the tortilla. A light dusting of paprika would have been nice, if I weren't allergic.

Unfortunnately, the hummus wasn't as "tasty" as the "Tasty Hummus" recipe in the Eat For Health book. The recipe in Eat For Health has raw sesame seeds instead of tahini, no salt seasoning, Braggs or soy sauce and only one tablespoon of chopped garlic. The two tablespoons that the Eat to Live recipe called for was just too much garlic for me. Honestly, I had a hard time eating it.

Plus, the wrap needed more than just lettuce and tomatoes. Next time, I won't hesitate to add more lettuce, cucumbers and avocado. I was allowed to have two fruits, but only had one. A mango.

The "Apple Pie Dressing" was good. Different, but still good. It really did taste like apple pie. But it had an applesauce consistency, which was a little strange on a salad. It could just be eaten as, "Apple Pie Applesauce" on the side or as a dessert.

Overall, I was left feeling hungry. I think I need a grain with breakfast like oatmeal or Ezekial toast with coconut oil. Something a little heartier. And definitely more veggies on my wraps and nothing wrong with adding another fruit as a side.

Meanwhile, hubby loved the garlicky hummus and finished it off by topping off three (yes, three) bowls of broccoli slaw with it.

Dr. Fuhrman's Hummus, Bean Burgers, Slaw & Peach Freeze

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Mon, 03 May 2010 15:07:00 +0000

Tasty Hummus

This is Fuhrman's Tasty Hummus with Baked Garlic Pita Chips. I didn't have pita bread, so I substituted a multigrain La Tortilla. Just sprayed it lightly with olive oil, a sprinkle of garlic powder and popped it in the oven for eight minutes.

The hummus was a cinch. Garbanzo beans, bean liquid, sesame seeds, lemon juice, Mrs. Dash, soy sauce and garlic thrown in the blender until creamy and then served with crudites or pita chips.

This made for great snacking while I was making dinner and it was a hit with my hard to please oldest son. I couldn't believe I found something with beans, seeds and garlic that he was chowing down on! Hubby and youngest son loved it too. A sure crowd pleaser.

Simple Bean Burgers

The ingredients in these are oh-so-simple. Just sunflower seeds, pink beans, onion, ketchup, oats and chili powder. I had to omit the chili powder because I'm allergic to it, but they were still awesome. I bet they are super awesome with the chili powder added though. I would suggest using a food processor to mash the beans next time, as using a potato masher was a bit time consuming. Those beans just did not want to cooperate. Into the oven for about twenty-five minutes, a ten minute cool down and they're done.

Sunshine Slaw

The Sunshine Slaw gets an A+ and I'm craving it again just blogging about it. Carrots, apples, lemon juice, raisins, almonds and Vegenaise. Not crazy about having to grate four cups of carrots and turned that job over to hubby because I didn't want to aggravate my carpal tunnel syndrome. It would be much easier to buy already shredded carrots, but there is such a difference in the texture of freshly grated carrots. Well worth the time and effort.

Here's my dinner plate with the bean burger and slaw.

I wasn't in the mood to jazz up the burger with a bun, lettuce, tomato and onion like Fuhrman suggests. So, I did this.

Simple Bean Tacos

I crumbled up the burger and transformed it into a bean taco. DELISH! Again, not the first time with Fuhrman's food, I was literally moaning with taste bud pleasure. So very good. The burgers could be turned into burritos. Like this.

Simple Bean Burritos

Or quesadillas, nachos, so many uses. A definite multi-purpose recipe.

Jenna's Peach Freeze

Super easy and super good. Peaches, a frozen banana, dates, soy milk, vanilla and cinnamon made this an easy and satisfying cold dessert. I give it an A.

Fuhrman's Fast Black Bean Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:42:00 +0000

I find myself slowing making my way through the Eat for Health recipes. This has been a humdinger year in the chronic pain department. I wish I could fly through the book and cook all the recipes like Jana and Haze. If you haven't seen their blog, check it out here. The Jana/Dr. Joel Project Blogging Julie/Julia Style

In the meantime, here are my thoughts and pictures on Fuhrman's Fast Black Bean Soup.

Fast Black Bean Soup

Er , say what? Fast? Uh no, not so much. Not unless you've got alot of experience in the kitchen or you're last name ends in Ray, as in Rachael Ray that is. This recipe required alot of prep work and left me exhausted in the recliner. However! I am solution-oriented and have a back-up plan for next time because the time and energy it took was well worth it.

Here are the ingredients:

This part wasn't too hard. Canned black beans, a can of prepared black bean soup, frozen mixed veggies, corn, tomato, celery, green onions, cilantro and avocado. Plus, 1/4 cup of toasted raw pumpkin seeds to garnish on top. (Not shown in picture)

The time consuming part was the homemade carrot juice. I could not find it at Whole Foods or my HEB, although I did see it AFTER I made the recipe...GRRRR. I first scrubbed and peeled almost 3 pounds of carrots and then pulled out my masticating juicer, which I was excited to use again since it's been such a long time.

Ugh! Then I remembered why. I have come to the conclusion that masticating juicers, although better for extracting more enzymes and nutrients and great for wheatgrass and green veggies, are not the best choice for carrots. Unless, you just have nothing else better to do. Here are the results.

All that work just to yield 2 cups of carrot juice! And what to do with all that pulp? Fortunately, I found several good recipes for carrot bread, carrot muffins and the like, but in the end, I decided to throw the pulp in my BlendTech and turn it into juice for the next go round. I know. I should have just thrown the carrots in the Blendtech in the first place, but who would have thought a juicer wouldn't have done the best job?

Here are my five bags of carrot juice ready to go in the freezer and be popped out at a moment's notice the next time Dr. Fuhrman calls for it.

A Day in the Lunch of Dave

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:36:00 +0000

My dear hubby, Dave, has recently transitioned his diet to about 75% raw. For the past twenty years, he ate the standard American diet for lunch daily. Going out with his co-workers and wolfing down large volumes of meat, dairy. sugar and white flour at whatever steak house, fast food joint or other food chain that they could find.

Unfortunately, that led to high blood pressure and acid reflux, along with a little weight gain. The good news is that when Dave sets his mind to something he does it. No wishy-washy business for him. Just gets the job done. Willpower is his middle name and he's stickin' to it.

He takes two peanut butter n' jelly sandwiches, along with a Danactive to work everyday and the rest of his lunch is raw....and he likes it that way. He even prefers raw veggies to cooked veggies now. Here's what a typical day looks like.

Dave's Lunch

That includes red bell pepper, kale, carrots, purple cabbage, corn on the cob, cucumbers, an apple, orange, kiwi, lime (he eats the skin too) and inside the bowl is leftover couscous confetti salad, which looks like this.

Couscous Confetti Salad

He dropped about twenty pounds in two months and his acid reflux has improved significantly. And he's all mine! Yay!

Eat for Health Phase One / Day Two

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:53:00 +0000

On phase one, Fuhrman allows animal products, however, he also offers substitutions for those of us who are vegetarians on his meal plan. I appreciate that. For day two lunch, I subbed Tofurkey black pepper deli slices for turkey and loaded up my La Tortilla with mixed greens, tomato, cucumber, mustard and avocado. Mmmm, I love avocado. It's my new favorite food. Where oh where, has it been all my life? No melon and grapes on hand, so I opted for an apple with a kiwi. The tofurkey deli slices were delish and worth my time and gas making a special trip to Whole Foods for them.

La Tortilla Tofurkey Veggie Wrap

At the end of lunch though, I was perplexed because I was still hungry. How could I be hungry after eating this, when the previous Fuhrman wrap was veggie only and left me stuffed??? It wasn't until I picked up the book and reviewd the meal plan that I realized I had forgot to add the 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds to the meal. Aha! The sunflower seeds were the equivalent of the almond butter in the previous meal and I needed the micronutrients, protein and healthy fats that they provide to satisfy my hunger. Problem solved.

Dinner on day two is pasta with roasted vegetables. I have never liked any roasted vegetables. Not ones that I've made anyways. They don't appeal to me. So, I was taking a huge leap of faith spending money on eggplant, crookneck squash, butternut squash, and tomatoes... all for a recipe I highly doubted I would like. Alas, I have an enormous desire to change. To develop new tastes. To eat to live. I had to omit the red bell peppers because they contain an enzyme which aggravates fibromyalgia, and the eggplant was a possible aggravator also, as are all nightshade plants for fibro patients. To my dismay, I totally forgot to pick up fresh basil at the store, so I substituted fresh rosemary instead.

The result was fabulous! I was shocked. I LOVED this recipe. The eggplant, at least this one time, didn't seem to cause a pain flare-up and the rosemary subbed nicely, although I can't wait to try it with the basil. This gorgeous piece of work was wolfed down by hubby and me, well, mostly me, in just two days.

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Dessert was, "Wild Apple Crunch" with apples, walnuts, dates, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg, plus the juice of one orange. Could someone remind me to double-check ingredients before I go to the grocery store? Heh. I couldn't find the cinnamon, which did turn up later right there on the kitchen counter. I was looking for it in the spice rack, of all things, right? Fibro fog or just blonde? Dunno. Anyhoo, no nutmeg either. The closest spice I had was cloves, so in they went and I kept my fingers crossed.

Wild Apple Crunch

Yes, I know I'm not a great photographer and could probably stand to invest in a new camera. Getting there. The dessert was good, but a tad sweet for my tastes. Next time, I'll omit the raisins and reduce the dates by one. I also subbed orange juice for the juice of one fresh orange. I'll go fresh next time. And although the cloves worked, the cinnamon and nutmeg would have been more appropriate.

Here's another blurry picture to showcase my photography talents. ;)

Macadamia Cream

Heavenly, I literally moaned with taste bud delight as I savored this. So simple. Just macadamia nuts, soy milk and dates. I substituted cashew nuts because that's what I had on hand. You can also substitute dried mangos for half the dates, but you have to soak them in the soy milk overnight. I'll stick with the dates.

Creating a passion for health & nutrition today!

Eat for Health

noreply@blogger.com (Christy) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:19:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Health-Weight-Younger-Longer/dp/097996671X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269389778&sr=1-1

I've been experimenting with recipes this past month from Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, Eat for Health. I wish I could cook and blog my way through the entire book in 21 days like Jana and Haze did.... blogging Julie/Julia style. You can see them here. Such a great blog. http://janadrjoel.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, shopping, prepping and cooking new meals on top of still cooking standard American meals for the rest of my family aggravates and causes my pain levels to skyrocket. Actually, cooking, which means standing on my feet for an extended period of time, aggravates my pain, period. Fuhrman claims that becoming a nutritarian has freed his patients from all sorts of ills from heart disease to diabetes, preventing cancer, strokes, obesity, the list goes on.

I'm willing to take him up on this. Give it a try. I like his babystep approach. I'm trying the recipes when I can and hope to soon be acclimated to cooking and eating his way, the nutritarian way, as a way of life. Second nature, so to speak. He says it takes three to six months for the micronutrients to build up in your skin, tissues and organs. Makes sense. Just wish I had the stamina to implement more right now, but I'm doing the best I can, so insert me patting myself on the back right now.

Here's what I've cooked up this past month:

Fuhrman Phase One/Day One

Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal

I've never been a big fan of oatmeal and wasn't even looking forward to this one, but I loved it and have been eating oatmeal and fruit ever since. Yum!

Russian Fig Dressing on Whole Wheat Pita Stuffed with Romaine, Tomato, Cucumber & Avocado

I used a La Tortilla whole wheat wrap versus a pita because the tortilla is high in protein and fiber. Hard to beat a La Tortilla. Ole'! The wrap was delish. The Russian fig dressing on the other hand was odd. Not bad, just different, and odd. It's a combination of pasta sauce, almond butter and vinegar. Weird, eh? In all fairness though, I couldn't find black fig vinegar, so I substituted wild berry vinegar. Maybe that's why it tasted not quite right? Maybe not? Don't know. Need to order the vinegar from Fuhrman.

Fuhrman recommends strawberries on the side. I had another idea. I know Fuhrman wants me to have the almond butter for the protein and micronutrients, so why not sub a banana for the berries and use the almond butter as a dipping sauce. Mmmm, it was like a dessert and looked like this.

I figured I wasn't missing out on anything but the vinegar, as I still had berries in my morning oatmeal and tomatoes on my wrap. Voila!

Chunky Sweet Potato Stew w/ Braised Bok Choy

I know what you're thinking. That stew doesn't look very chunky, does it? Well, that's because I was done eating and dear hubby was wolfing down his second large bowl when I realized I hadn't taken any pictures.  This realization hit me while I was in the bathroom, so I started yelling, "Dave, stop eating! Stop eating!" He eats hard and fast, you know. My son heard me first and chimed in, "Dad mom's yelling, 'Stop Eating!'" So, what you see is what you get...basically all that was left of the stew. Heh.

My friend, Jenn, and dear hubby, Dave loved the stew and gave it rave reviews. I, on the other hand, found it to be, er, just good. That's all. Plain and simple...good. What I did love was how nourished I felt afterwards though.

The 1/2 cup of beans that Fuhrman recommends was not enough for me, so I went back and threw the rest of the can in . Yum.

Now on to the braised bok choy. Dr, F says to add 1/2 an inch of water to the pan that you're braising the bok choy in. Do you know how big a skillet you have to use for eight baby bok choy?  Big. Those babies take up alot of room. I opted out of using mushrooms as I don't like their texture and I used soy sauce instead of Braggs. What I discovered is that bok choy is like a sponge.  As it cooked down, it became water logged. I had to press the water out of it and I was so exhausted and in such pain at that point, that I did not even attempt to reduce the sauce to a syrup that I could pour over the veggie.

Plus, I totally forgot about the brown rice and green salad that I was supposed to serve alongside of it. But really, Dr. F? A large green salad and steamed bok choy in addition to a heaping bowl of chunky vegetables? Not a great combo, but I'm a newbie at this so my tastes may change in time. For now, I would have preferred a nice warm whole grain bread with my steaming bowl of stew.

   Poached Pears with Raspberry Sauce

There is only one word to describe this. Divine! I felt like I was eating in a gourmet restaurant. It was oh-so-easy to make too.

More to come later!