Nutritional Knits

My Bionic Edge Taffy

With my new work out and eating plan I'm trying to get a bit more protein in my diet so I'm back to having Bionic Edge added to my day.  Like before, I still have dairy sensitivities so I'm not having it every day.  More like four or five time per week.  I've been mixing this up and packing it to take with me to class on Saturday mornings for a snack.  I have this and a banana during my 10-min break.

Bionic Edge Whey is great shaken with water (and easy!) but I like it the most when I blend it with ice, mellow greens (like baby bok choi or romaine) and a banana.  Unfortunately, I don't have a blender in my office and was looking for new ways to have my Bionic Edge and came up with Bionic Edge Taffy.

Bionic Edge Taffy

Put a scoop of Bionic Edge Whey powder in a cup and add 1 heaping T of your choice of nut butter*

This is a mix of vanilla and chocolate whey and a Brazil/macadamia nut butter:

Mix these two together with a spoon until you have a cup of grainy powder, like this:

Then add teaspoon of hot water and mix it all together.  It won't come together easy but it will come together.  Add a touch more water if necessary.  If you add too much then you end up with a slurry - which is fine, but not taffy.  Mix, mix, mix and it will start to come together and look like a ball of taffy, especially as it cools.

Eat with a spoon and then have a glass of water :))  [see below] 

This recipe can be doubled easily.

I didn't add a picture of the finished product because as yummy as the taffy is, it's not the most appealing looking thing.  :))

*to make your own nut butter: add 1 container of nuts (or a mix of your favorite nuts) into a food processor and give it a whir.  Scrape down the sides as necessary.  Feel free to add a touch of agave nectar or honey and a pinch of salt if so desired.  Refrigerate and enjoy!

IMPORTANT NOTE: There have been questions regarding if too much of a certain kind of protein is taxing on your liver and/or kidneys so it's important that you consume at least 12oz of water with/after the protein intake to help your body digest it.

Not pretty, but it's quick and lean. And yummy too.

Bison burger over romaine salad w/Galeo's Ginger Wasabi Miso dressing, and broccoli and brussel sprouts.  This is a quickie meal - it's not pretty but it's yummy, lean and full of green veggies!

Isn't it plated so nicely? Ha ha ha!  Actually know all those "nice" photos of food that I show you?  I actually only usually show you half of the dish.  Once I take the photo I then pile the rest on and make a big old mess.  Not usually as bad as the pic above ...but close.

I do want to start plating my food better - it really is more enjoyable when it looks pretty.  Well, I think so anyhow.  My husband gives me the 'raised eyebrow, yer kinda nuts' look whenever we eat out and the plates are set on the table and I exclaim "Oh! Look how preeeeeety!" and because I'm hard of hearing [and a nerd] I practically yell it.

Green Lemonade

originally uploaded by Jess McDougall.

Don't say ewww... it tastes like lemonade only with the added nutritional benefits of celery and cucumber juice.  Actually, I make mine pretty tart and those lemons were bitter so I added a bit of agave nectar to mine.

Yesterday's juice: 2 lemons, celery stalks, 1 handful cilantro (why not?), 1/2 cuke, 1 apple, agave nectar.

Today's juice: 2 lemons, celery stalks, 1/2 cuke, handful of cilantro (can't taste it) and a large handful of baby spinach.  Plus agave nectar.  As you can see, today's juice is much greener - that is due to the baby spinach. 

If you are looking to add greens to your juice or smoothie then try baby spinach.  It is very mellow in flavor and most often you don't even taste it.  The other ingredients typically take charge with flavor.  If the color is too much then add blueberries to your smoothie and it will turn purple.  Or use baby bok choi as your greens. Again, very mellow and very little color.  Smoothies are my #1 choice to add additional greens to your day.

Please note that my making juice does not replace eating veggies and fruit - it's supposed to be supplemental to my daily veggies and fruit.  I also tend juice more when I have veggies or fruit that are starting to wilt or go soft.  It's a great way to use up what you may normally throw out.  Rubbery celery? Not going to eat it but it's great when it's juiced up!  Same with soft apples and wilting cilantro or parsley.

My arch-nemisis. Little balls o'cake.

originally uploaded by Jess McDougall.

OK, holiday party ovah... onto the next phase of my nutritional plan, asap!

No gym for me today. :(

originally uploaded by Jess McDougall.

So last nights cake balls (or 'little balls of cake' ha ha) don't seem to be a complete disaster.  The chocolate cake with chocolate frosting is a mess because I added way too much Godiva liquor to it.  Really, though... how can you not?

I also made a set of mint chocolate chip and a set of chocolate hazelnut.  The chocolate hazelnut was made by mixing 3T of the hot chocolate mix pictured above with 1/2 of warm milk, then mixed in with the yellow cake and chocolate frosting.  Oh, by the way... vanilla frosting is nas-tay.  Couldn't bring myself to use it.  The mint chocolate cake balls are yellow cake w/chocolate frosting and melted Andes candies.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) they all have dairy in them so I won't be having any -aside from the final taste test. They are for a fun party tonight at my husband's cousins' house.  I'm not big into parties -especially Holiday parties- but this tends to be a fun one.

Somehow the week went by without me doing my Aaron exercises at all. I'm supposed to do them at least once a day, more if I have time, but I let the week go by with nothing!  My Aaron exercises are what keep my back and hips inline and keep me from injuring myself... So no gym for me today.  My body is still too wonky and I don' t trust it not to get hurt. 

I'm off to go dip the rest of the remaining cake balls into melted chocolate.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Diet, what diet?

originally uploaded by Jess McDougall.

Also, a link party.

I recently joined Tasty Kitchen which I knew was going to be a problem.  I mean, how do I stay on my diet while looking at recipes that are associated with this hot little redhead??? I mean, really.  I baked these cookies and then I was all (to quote the beautiful and super talented Jasmine Star) "Get behind me Satan!"  Unfortunately it didn't work.  Maybe I should pray more?  Or just have a stronger will.  I don't know what is with me lately.  I suddenly have the Sweet Tooth from Hell.  I ate about eight of these babies before I came up for air, muttering something about "my preciousssss...".   Dang these cookies and whatever made me bake them.

Weird recipe (or the recipe was normal and I screwed it up- which is the most likely scenario) but the cookies were still sweet chocolaty goodness.  They were not chewy and didn't flatten when baked but stayed in the shape I put them on the cookie sheet.  The outside had a slight crisp to them and the inside was dense. They had a slight (god help me) donut resemblance to them which was a nice surprise.  Again, I don't think they were supposed to have this texture but hey... it's a chocolate chip cookie that kind of tastes like a fresh donut.  That ain't too bad. [Ha!  Tell that to my waistline.]

Oh, and P.S. I went to the gym today.

My new favorite Holiday cookie recipe.

 

These are so delicious that I won't make them again until next year.  I could have kept this whole pan to myself.  I ate two of these even though they aren't dairy free.  The really are my new favorite 'cookie.'  They are the Pear, Pistachio and Candied Ginger Blondies from Martha Stewart.

They are cakey - which is apparently how a blondie is supposed to be.  They do firm up a bit overnight but I was happy with the texture both days.  The original recipe calls for dried pears but I grabbed dried (sweetened) cherries instead, which I'm very happy about.  The pistachios are a must.  The candied ginger flavor is almost lost in these so next time I wouldn't chop it up so small.

I also liked these better in squares than in the wedge shape that the recipe called for.  They only made an 8x8 pan's worth so cut into small squares means there are more to go around.  Make these for your next holiday party - especially if I'm invited to it, ha ha. 

You can find the recipe for these here, on the Martha Stewart website.

Orange Quinoa Salad

No real recipe here... I make a batch of quinoa on Sunday and take scoops of it through out the week.  This day I sauteed some apples then added a T of apricot marmalade, zest and juice of 1/2 fresh orange and then threw the quinoa in with it.  It would be extra delicious with a dash of honey and some pistachios but I was pushing my dietary boundaries by adding the marmalade. 

Typically I would add the baby spinach to the warm pan to wilt it slightly but I thought it would look better for the photograph this way.

Enjoy!

Garlicky Shrimp Goodness (with pasta, too).

Just your basic shrimp scampi with one little twist - I added 1 T breadcrums to the pasta to give it some texture.  Sometimes I like it dry -with texture- and sometimes I leave them out and revel in the oil+garlic goodness.  This is a messy recipe, just wing it - but don't over cook your shrimp!

shrimp
olive oil
butter (or fake butter)
garlic
1 T seasoned breadcrumbs (optional)
salt & pepper
dash red pepper flakes
pasta of choice (or leave it out if you are SUPPOSED to be eating on plan, ahem).  I used a gluten free Quinoa/corn blend.

Smash two large cloves of garlic with the side of a chef's knife.  The peep will pop off and the clove will be mostly attached, but smashed.  Pour olive oil (2-3T or more, depending on how much your making and how much fat you can allow) in a small dish and put the smashed garlic in it.  Let the garlic soak in the oil for a while. 

Start the pasta water boiling.

Clean and de-vain shrimp if necessary (I didn't realize I bought shrimp that wasn't de-vained yet until I started to cook so I had to shut everything off while I de-vained them).  Pour garlic oil into saute pan/non-stick skillet.  Heat the oil slowly until the garlic just starts to sizzle.  Increase heat and remove the garlic as soon as it starts to smell like it may burn.

Pat shrimp dry, season with salt and pepper.  Add shrimp to pan and cook on one side until it starts to firm up, then flip.  Cook until no longer opaque.  Remove to another dish and put the cooked pasta into the pan.  Swirl around to pick up the garlic oil flavor.  Add the red pepper and a dash of butter if you want to be decadent.  Return shrimp to the pasta and mix together.  Enjoy!

I added 1 T of seasoned breadcrumbs to the pasta while it was soaking up the garlic oil goodness from the pan.  Adding sweet baby peas to this would be delicous too, but I didn't have any.

Sorry for the messy recipe but I'm exhausted (and full of yummy garlic shrimp!).

Losing two more pounds suddenly makes egg whites taste FANTASTIC!

Return of the Green Smoothie, the diet approved version.

In the beginning stages of my diet there is no fruit or soy/hemp/almond milk allowed.  (I'm in the weight loss stage).  Because of this I had to pare down my usual green smoothie recipe and add in my [favorite] protein powder.  I had this for breakfast this morning on the way in to work:

Diet approved Green Smoothie:

1 small head of baby bok choy, washed & rough chopped
I handful of ice cubes
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
2 heaping scoops of RTN powder (I used peanut butter +chocolate, bananna)

blend well (a high speed blender is worth the $), enjoy

230 calories, 2g fat, 50g protein, 6g carbs

This made a light avocado colored drink.  The more water you add the thinner it is. It had a touch of a green taste to it, which I personally don't mind.  Baby bok choy is very mellow and blends up to a nice color (not to mention it has a fantastic nutritional profile).  RTN powder is whey so it makes the shake creamy.

If you are not watching calories/on a diet then feel free to add some yumminess to the shake:

banana 108 calories
tablespoon of almond butter 98 calories
cup of cherries 90 calories
tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder 15 calories

Play with the ingredients and flavors.  See what combination you like best.  Green smoothies are a great and easy way to get an additional serving of greens.  Another mild green is baby spinach (makes a darker colored smoothie).

Lemon Mustard Chicken.

lemon mustard chicken & garlicky green beans

Many years ago I was invited over for dinner by a man I was dating (that man is now my husband, Joe).  He lived in an apartment in Salem and promised to cook me supper for our next date. 

For dinner he made this delicious chicken recipe with a side of asparagus w/ hollandaise sauce (and I'll just mention that the hollandaise sauce was even better the next morning when he made me eggs benedict, hubba hubba).  Yes I said 'the next morning'...but I'm no floozie - I married the guy!  Haha... 

Anyway...back to the chicken.  It was so delicious!!  It was Joe's recipe from a low-cholesterol cookbook that is now out of print.  There are only a few ingredients so I thought I'd alter it to get as close to my diet as possible (the original recipe calls for 1/4C margarine).  I used regular dijon mustard (what we had on hand)  but I'm going to try and find one that doesn't have any sugar in it next time I make it.

Next time I think I might double the sauce (but not the olive oil), which would be easy enough to do.  A touch of honey would bind it very nicely and help it brown at the end of cooking but honey isn't on my plan. 

Here is my version of that sexy man's Lemon Mustard chicken: 

2 whole chicken breasts

3 T dijon mustard
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 T olive oil (or melted butter)
1 tsp dried tarragon
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all sauce ingredients in a dish and blend together.  Put chicken in a pyrex dish and pour sauce over it.  Cover with foil and cook for 20 minutes.  Take foil off the dish and turn the oven up to 375.  Cook for an additional 25 minutes, uncovered.

That's it.  My breast were large (heh heh) so you may not need to cook it for the whole 25 minutes - check it after 15 minutes.  Also, if you leave it uncovered the sauce will dry up a bit, which is actually yummy, but covering it for the first half of cooking keeps the chicken moist.  I'm having leftover tomorrow for lunch, over raw baby spinach and brown rice.  YUM!! 

It's lean and it's yummy.  I hope you enjoy it!

Sometimes Simple is Better.

scrambled eggs whites w/salt, pepper, evoo

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Small meal ideas.

Often I have 4 oz protein as a "snack" or 2nd/4th meal of the day.  On some days I can also have 1T of almond butter with it. Eating so much meat tends to get challenging so I try to have something interesting and different for my "snacks" than whatever protein I had at lunch.  The easiest thing would be to turn to the protein powder but Bonnie warned me of drinking too many meals and encourages us to find a food source instead and only use the protein powder when convenience is an issue.

One favorite is to have 4oz of "sloppy joe" which I make with ground turkey + bison.  I add the usual spices, chopped onion and pepper and a small amount of low-salt tomato sauce.  Thats it. This is also good with just turkey - which is leaner, and therefore, a bit drier.  I like to make a large batch of this and have it for supper a few times as well as for a few snacks.

My new favorite 4oz protein snack is to warm up the T of almond butter with a splash of water and mix in 4 oz of chicken in with it.  Add some salt and pepper (or pepper flakes) and you've gone your own version of chicken with peanut sauce.  It's really yummy and I can make it on the fly since I usually have the cooked chicken and a jar of almond butter on hand.

Both of these ideas can be made into full meals by adding a side salad or cup of broccoli (or your choice veggie) and increasing the number of ounces to the required amount for that day's meal (usually 5-6oz). YUM!

Breakfast: Egg Whites. Every day.

Egg whites cooked in a skillet with zucchini, onions, summer squash, salt and pepper. Topped with a scoop of salsa. 

On the weekends I have time to cook the egg whites in a pan on the stovetop.  My egg breakfast isn't  really aren't that bad cooked in the microwave but since I have eggs almost every day it's nice to change it up.

Egg whites cooked in the microwave with broccoli, tomatoes, spices and topped with a scoop of yummy salsa.  [do you see a theme here?  Salsa is key.]  Also, two slices of Ezekial Sesame toast.

These are egg whites cooked in the microwave with spinach and spices.  Sometimes I cook it in the glass pyrex measuring cup and it comes out in that shape.  I then slice it in half and have it on toast with ... you guessed it, a scoop of salsa on top.

Egg white omelet with chicken sausage, spinach, fresh basil and scallions.  Using some meat for the protein source means I can cut back on the ounces of egg whites.  Per the norm, it's topped with a scoop of my favorite salsa.

As you can see... it's a lot of egg whites.  Typically it's 6 - 8 oz  - and yes... that is a CUP of egg whites.  I do have other options (have a meal instead of eggs - meaning protein and veggies) but I'll save that for when I'm really sick of eating the egg whites.  Which will happen. 

I can also have rice cereal + a protein instead, which so far has been rice cereal + egg whites + baking powder + spices + stevia  = weird, but good, crepes.  

It's something different, which is nice.  With lots of cinnamon, cardamon and ginger it's actually yummy.  The only downside is that it makes about 10 small crepes.  I can post the recipe for the "crepes" if anyone is interested.

So. Much. Food.  This diet is working though.  I am slowly breaking my sugar/white flour addictions and am losing weight at a consistant pace, which is good.  I'm also getting some of my energy back - yay!!!

Meat.

Turkey burgers and salsa, with a large salad 

I have to be honest and say I'm pretty much enjoying the meat I've added back into my diet.  The portion sizes are small enough to not be concerned and it's only twice a day (not including if I add eggs in the a.m.).  I'm getting my red meat from the farmers market (organic w/o hormones - sustainably raised and grass fed from a local farm). It is not cheap but if you read Time magazine you'll see why I spend my money on this. Ew.  It is expensive however so I'm rotating ground white meat turkey, fresh fish and chicken breast (I like chicken much better when it's covered with batter and deep fried, heh heh).

Ground turkey is a good alternative to chicken but to keep the fat content down I'm using ground white turkey meat.  Since white meat can often be dry I made flavorful and moist turkey burgers by mixing in spices, chopped mushrooms and shallots.  The mushrooms release juice when they get cooked and the shallots release a ton of flavor!  I then cooked them with a very short spray of olive oil and once they brown up I cover them to steam/cook them completely.  This helps keep the fat content down by not adding anymore spray/oil to the pan.  Once cooked I topped it with a scoop of fresh salsa. 

A bowl of raw veggies (tomato, carrots and baby spinach) finished this meal off nicely.  It's really important to me that I add lots of fresh veggies to each meal.  Either a baby spinach salad, chopped raw veggies or a large bowl of lightly steamed broccoli - it needs to be there.  

Seriously, what kind of healthy body would I have if I was only eating meat, brown rice and protein shakes?? Bodies need alkalizing foods! They need dark leafy greens (calcium!), vitamin C and fiber!  And not in supplement form either.  Supplements are just that... supplemental.  Start with your vieggies then take your supplements.

Fish supper!

wild fresh/local cod, broccoli and salad

Am I not supposed to be eating cod now? Is it the newest over-fished fish? I noticed that Chilean Sea Bass was back in the case.  I can't keep these things straight - buying fish can be so tricky!  It's supposed to be wild, local, fresh, sustainable, low in mercury, and so many other standards.  All this is running through my head when I'm standing at the counter and I'm thinking it through, "ok the salmon is farmed, not wild, so skip that...  the tilpia is wild but from Argentina so no to that one..." and so on.  I ended up with local, wild, fresh caught Cod.  Then I got home and remembered that Cod is currently over-fished in New England.  Or that is what my very tired brain is telling me.  Maybe it was haddock? I guess I should look it up.

Anyhow - in keeping with the low-fat theme I used a small amount of oil in a hot pan, added the fish (which was seasoned with cajun seasonings, adobe chili powder, salt & pepper) skin side down.  Then I added lemon juice, lowered the heat and covered the pan so the fish could steam and cook through.  It was really good - and only took a few minutes.  The side dishes were steamed broccoli (frozen which I steamed in the microwave) and a salad of mixed greens w/fresh local tomatoes (so juicy!) and my favorite dressing.  What an easy meal.  Not to mention that it was delicious, filling and low fat!

Kabobs & grilled Veggies

Kabobs! Aren't they pretty! The squash, zucchini and little eggplants came from Saturday's farmers market.  They were marinated in balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  The eggplant were put on the top shelf, indirect heat and left on the grill a lot longer than the rest of the veggies. This will last at least three meals.

Look at these beautiful salad turnips I got at the Farmer's Market.  Salad turnips are really delicious.  They are similar to radishes but not so spicy.  I've been having them in my salads - they are crispy and tasty.

 

This is the actual lunch after all was cooked and ready:

This was actually too much food so I only ate one of those two kabobs.  It's a lot of food.  The meat, brown rice and dressing is only allowed in certain amounts, depending on the day but the veggies are unlimited.  That dressing is delicious!  It's very low fat, made from miso and super tasty so you don't need a lot of it.  See the salad turnips in my salad?  Yummy!!

I'm never hungry on this diet plan.  I am having trouble eating on time thought... because I'm never hungry.  Overall I'm dong fine.... except for the protein powder.  I'll talk more about that later.

Breakfast

Inspired by a few new books I've been eating fruit for breakfast every morning.  I've really liked how full I am without that bloated feeling I used to get from oatmeal.  Each morning I have:

2 C watermelon
1 C cantaloupe

1/2 C frozen blueberries
1 peach
topped with cinnamon and 1/4 C hemp milk

followed by 1 C of cherries.

It's a lot of fruit but to get enough calories you really have to eat a lot.  What's listed above is about 380 calories, 3g of fat, 11g of fiber and 8g of protein. 

I prepare all my breakfast the night before (so much tupperware!).  Then I make my avocado smoothie, which I have at lunch with a small salad.  I freeze it in my Kleen Kanteen the night before and then let it sit at room temperature until lunch time at which point it's still cold, but not frozen.  This smoothie is so delicious - don't be turned off by the color, which is pretty much the color of my Kanteen in the picture. It's so pretty and delicious.

Avocado Smoothie

1/4 fresh avocado
1 small banana
1 handful of lettuce or kale
1/2 -1 C hemp milk (or preferred milk)
1 T flax meal
1/2 T chia seeds (optional)
1 T maple syrup (or agave or pitted dates - I like a mix of syrup & agave)

Mix everything in the blender, taste and add more sweetener if desired.

If you are not freezing it then you will need to pre-freeze your bananas or add ice cubes to the blender.  I like my smoothies real cold! 

This smoothie, with 1/2 C hemp milk and chia seeds included (but without the pulp) is 512 calories, 19g of fat, 17g of fiber, 11g of protein.

Additionally, I have begun adding a scoop of the pulp from the morning's green juice to the smoothie as well (a tip I learned from Gena at Choosing Raw).  It adds fiber and nutrients to the drink and with my high-powered blend-tec you can't even tell it's there.

Refreshing Cantaloupe Smoothie

Simple ingredients...

1C fresh frozen cantaloupe, two very ripe bananas, 1C hemp milk, 1T flax meal and 1/2 scoop of Vega Health Optimizer powder (regular flavor). The Vega powder turned it that slight green tint.

Very delicious, fruity and cold - perfect for a summer afternoon!

Productive Weekend.

This weekend was a real "summer" weekend for me.  I spent Saturday by the pool with Joe, soaking up the sun and cooling off in the water.  It was such a great day to "do nothing."  Later we indulged in some Chinese food and I even had a beer (ok, I had two!).  Since our usual Chinese food joint doesn't have sushi we decided to order from another place in our town.  I had veggie sushi and some raw kale salad that I made earlier in the day topped with sunflower and sesame seeds.  Everything tasted good but unfortunately today both my husband and I have sour stomachs.  I think it's a given that we won't be going back to that restaurant any time soon.

Today I did my last long training walk, then cleaned the house, moved around really heavy furniture and cleaned some more. I even cleaned out those "catch-all" kitchen drawers that everyone has.  Everything looks so clean and organized... I almost don't recognize the place, ha ha.

By the way, that kale salad from Saturday is a pretty standard recipe - it's very easy to make and I like having it in the fridge as a quick side dish.  I make it without the fixings and then add to it before I eat it (like with the sunflower and sesame seeds). 

Basic Raw Kale Salad

1 head of kale
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Remove the thick stems from the kale and tear or chop the leaves into pieces.  Discard the stems.  Put kale in a large bowl and add the olive oil and lemon juice and massage the kale for at leat three minutes or up until five.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add your fixings or put the kale in the fridge to have later.  Add your fixings when you're ready to eat. 

Some of the many toppings I use are: chopped red pepper, raw carrots, cucumber, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, olives, mandarin orange slices, nuts.  Use whatever suits your fancy for that day!

Lori Harris' recent contribution to the Art of Strength Women's Page included a yummy raw kale recipe that I love.  Give it a try!

Exhausted.

Wow. I am absolutely trashed today.  My legs feel like lead.  I think it's a combination of taking a Benedryl last night, walking 12 miles on Tuesday, not eating enough on Wednesday and then going to the gym.  I had my breakfast late yesterday (fruit), which means I hardly ate any of my lunch and by the time I got to the gym I didn't have enough calories in my to sustain my 1500 burned from the day before plus what I needed for energy for my workout. We combined one-legged squats with 26-lb kettlebell renegade rows and while I did ok with the squats it was a poor showing with the rows.  The first set I did 8 reps, the second I did 5 and the last set was a whopping 4! Ha! I think we were supposed to do 10 reps per set.  I can't believe how sweaty I was - I don't think I've ever sweat that much (ok, maybe once)!  I may not have had enough calories but I obviously was well hydrated.  Anyhow, I'm glad I went to the gym and did what I could.  I always have fun and there are such great people there.  Actually, yesterday was a great snapshot of the different levels of fitness in my gym.  When I got there Stacey and Jenn were both working out - both ladies are insanely strong and very fit.  Seeing them in action really makes you want to work hard and push yourself.  Anyway, I was partnered up as usual with KB and we were working so slow that Angus was pretty much on his own and Kevin really worked him hard.  Redemption for all that vacation eating! ha ha

While I was having my breakfast this morning I stumbled upon a new (to me) food site: Foodbuz.  It's kind of a collection of blogs, articles and recipes.  They post a Top 9 Recipes each day which is neat and is great exposure to the many different types of blogs out there.  In today's Top 9 I followed a recipe which ended up bringing me to the blog Almost Bourdain.  This blog is great!!  Many of the recipes are simple, yet elegant - although some do have some of the less familiar ingredients, like tapioca starch, etc.  I don't eat very much soy, but this particular recipe caught my eye: Agedashi Tofu with Chili, Basil and Crispy Ginger Shreds Recipe.  As did the Lacy Malaysian Pumpkin and Coconut Pudding Recipe.  So pretty!!  There are a lot of recipes, some are gluten-free, some are dairy free and some are completely full of fat, dairy, gluten and look absolutely delicious ( Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream anyone).

I happen to have some apricots that are yummy but slightly mealy so I think I'll use this recipes to crank out some apricot preserves (my favorite!).  YUM!!  OK, off to finish my breakfast, have some coffee and start my work day!!

Farm Fresh Local Eggs

This is one of my favorite ways to eat eggs.  Fried eggs (used olive oil spray) with lightly sauteed grape tomatoes and local zucchini, topped with fresh avocado and pepitas - all wrapped up in a tortilla.  Some beans thrown in the mix is also very delicious!  That is a flour tortilla (didn't have any sprouted or wheat ones on hand) but I've also had this same meal wrapped in a blanched (and stemmed) collard green.  I also love the 'no tortilla' version of these eggs served over sauteed beans and veggies.  All of the previously mentioned wraps are delicious but my favorite is the one picture above!!  I'd have to say my favorite egg dish is a toss up between this meal and soft-boiled eggs with a very small amount of "butter" and black pepper.

I absolutely love fresh eggs and know that they are one thing I will never give up.  I would - and sometimes do- eat them every day.  I eat a mostly meat-free diet so I'm not concerned over cholesterol plus new studies are showing that eggs don't have the negative effect on cholesterol that we used to think. In fact they can help make a healthy heart! 

More reasons to enjoy those local farm fresh eggs:

• high in lutein, good for the eyes
• fantastic source of protein
• contain choline, helps with brain function
• good fats/Omegas!!
• naturally occurring vitamin D

But all eggs are not created equal!  Eggs that come from over crowded chicken farms where the animals are not allowed to roam or feed on their natural food sources do not contain the nutritional profile as eggs that come from free range, organically fed chicks.  During the summer I have more access to farm fresh local eggs due to the lazy fact that the farmers come to me (via the Boston Farmers Markets) as opposed to me going to them. This is one of my during off-season goals: to find a local farm that raises their chickens to my standards so I can have yummy and healthy fresh eggs all year.

Find a local farm near you.  Read more about the benefits of eggs here: WHfoods, purehealthMD, themedicalnews. 

Raw Kale & Shiitake Salad

Recipe from Elana's Pantry.

I've been wanting to try a massaged kale recipe for some time and this particular one really jumped out at me.  Elana has a beautiful site with lots of recipes.  I suggest you take a cruise over there and check them out - they aren't all vegan or raw but they are gluten free, 

My husband eats a pretty healthy version of the Standard American Diet (SAD) so I don't try to force anything on him.  Often I'll leave leftovers of some raw veggie dish out and he'll pick at it while cooking his own meat and veggies supper.  I had my serving of this dish and when I went back into the kitchen he had finished the leftovers (quite a bit).  I'm pretty sure that was the first time he's had raw kale and I'm ABSOLUTELY sure that was the first time he has tried umeboshi vinegar.  His take on it?  "Really good" was how he described it - which I figured since he the bowl was empty.

This recipe was easy and delicious. I used dinasour (lacto) kale and was really happy with it.  I didn't have any sesame oil (I'm not a fan) so I sprinkled some black sesame seeds on top.  I also added a splash of fresh lemon juice and black pepper and then marinated the shiitake's in it before mixing it all together.  I had it along some some take-home sushi but I think this would have been a great side dish to the maple grilled salmon from the previous post.

raw kale salad topped w/ black sesame seeds

Overall, this recipe easy, delicious and had my husband eating raw kale - it will most definitely stay in my repertoire.  You can find the recipe here.

Maple Glazed Salmon & Moroccan Pesto Quinoa

sorry for the poor lighting, I was hungry!

This weekend I got to try out a few new recipes.  One of which was brought to my attention by Stacey's blog and the other was from my the book The Raw Food Detox Diet by Natalia Rose.

I have to admit that any title with the word "detox" or "diet" in it usually makes me cringe.  Diet is surrounded by such negativity and detox is so overused.  That and cleanse.  It's like "clean" ...everyone is clean eating now.

Natalia's book uses food combining to ensure the quick-elimination of food through your body.  Now, while I'm not personally overly concerned with quick-elimination (trying to not get too graphic here people) she did touch up on something I have trouble with: bloating.  Some days I feel (and look) like I'm going to give birth to an adult.  I'm going to read more about food combining and pay attention to what combination of foods make me feel bloated.  Then I'll build from there.  Even if this is not something that I want to do I still have learned some great tips and great recipes from the book.  As you can see the meal I had was not properly "combined" - I just really wanted to make both recipes.  [Also, side note: maple salmon and olives aren't the best tasting flavors together so I ate my salmon first, then the quinoa].

OK, back to the food!!! Her maple glazed salmon was delicious! If you love the taste of salmon you might not love this because the maple slightly masks the flavor of the fish.  I'm not a huge salmon fan so this was perfect for me.  The recipe calls for shouyo but I used wheat-free tamari instead.  I also grilled it stove top instead of putting it in the oven.  Yum yum.

The quinoa, however, was my favorite part of the meal.  Tangy, tart, sweet and full of spices, olives and pistachio's - it was so flavorful!  My  modifications were minimal - I even used the parsley (not my favorite) and the really really really expensive pistachios.

My modifications:

• I gave the pistachio's and olives a rough chop before adding them in
• upped the spices a bit (I like spices!) and added a splash of red wine vinegar
• also added one sweet onion that I had sliced and grilled along side the fish, as well as one red bell pepper (the recipe calls for it to be broiled - grilled is yummier!).  
• used water in place of the chicken broth (the dish is salty enough with the olives in it!!)

You can find the recipe here or here.

You can read more about food combining at these sites:  Choosing Raw, Ayurvada, Detox the World.