Nutritional Knits

Review: Vega Vibrancy Bars

At the end of last year I was contacted by Kelly from Sequel Naturals who wanted to know if I would be interested in reviewing some of Vega's new Vibrancy Bars.  Since I'm a fan of all thing Brendan Brazier I decided to give them a try. 

In case you don't know, Brendan Brazier is a Ironman triathlete.  And he's a vegan.  His book, The Thrive Diet, was one of the first nutrition books I read.  It really hooked me into reading more about the acidity and alkalinity in our bodies.  I was intrigued to learn how drastically we can improve our bodies by what we eat.  If you haven't read it and you are interested in nutrition then I highly recommend you pick it up.

If you are familiar with Vega's products then you will not be surprised by my review.  Their products are the real deal - whole foods sweetened by natural ingredients with the focus first and foremost on packing a nutritional punch.  Their bars do not taste like candy bars - they taste like health food bars.

The bar comes in three flavors: Wholesome Original, Chocolate Decadence and Green Synergy.  All three flavors seem to have the same base, with a few ingredients added to the particular flavors/focus of the bar.  The Green Synergy bar has Vega Green Food Blend added to it, while the Chocolate flavor lists 70% cocoa dark chocolate. 

The Green Synergy bar tastes the way you would think it tastes: green.  It's not a bad taste, but I never would have guessed that dates would be listed as the second ingredient.  The Chocolate Decadence doesn't really taste like chocolate but like the Original flavor with a hint of cocoa added.  All three of the flavors have the Vega Antioxidant EFA Oil added to them and that is the underlying flavor of all three bars.   Again, if you are familiar with Vega then you won't be surprised by that.  What did surprise me was how disappointed I was when I realized I ate all my samples.  That is when I realized how much I liked them.  I like their healthy flavor, the size of the bar and the fat content per bar.  I love reading the list of ingredients, knowing how healthy the bars are and that I'm eating sprouted foods and healthy oils.

Don't be scared to try these bars because of their green flavor.  I plan on adding them to my meal plans on the days that I am in school and only have a 10 minute break to eat.

Other reasons to try the Vega Vibrancy Bar:

• Vegan
• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• 95% organic ingredients
• 85% of ingredients are raw
• Highly alkaline forming
• High in those healthy Omegas!!

At approximately 9g of fat (omegas!) and 200 calories these bars are a great post-workout snack or on-the-fly treat in between meals.

The nutritional data for all three flavors can be found here. 

Please Note: I received no payment in exchange for this review.

 

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.

Food Allgery Cards for International Travel

from the  Go Dairy Free website:

"This new website is dedicated to people suffering from food allergies who travel abroad and need to explain their condition in a foreign language.

Allerglobal is a free on-line service that conveniently translates food allergies in almost all Central and Eastern European languages. It automatically creates a customized, accurate passport-sized card with the user's allergy information in the chosen language. Users just need to print it, slip it in their wallet, and show it at restaurants, hotels, or wherever needed. This service is intended to contribute to a safer, more comfortable travel for people with food allergies and intolerances."

If I ever travel overseas I'll need a 'dairy-free' card as well as a "I'm hard of hearing" card.  Sometimes I feel like I need the 'hearing' card in this country.

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!

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!

Have I Mentioned today How incredible my husband is?

My remarkably awesome husband has taken such incredible care of me while I've been down and out with this surgery.  He's been literally waiting on me hand and foot (har har) for almost a month.  That is a long time!  I never have to ask for anything - he's always one step ahead of me, filling my water bottles to keep me hydrated, making my breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, among a gazillion other things.  I'm so lucky because I am literally useless right now. 

Today he came in with a cardboard box that was just delivered to my house.  It was full of dairy-free chocolates for me!!  There was a card with a nice note on it and a box of coffee dark chocolate truffles and a bag of Halloween candy!

How awesome are those skull lollipops???  We immediately ate a coffee truffle (my husband's favorite) and I tried a few of the halloween candies - it was a little dark chocolate owl.  So awesome!

The chocolates come from Premium Chocolatiers and they are dairy - nut - lactose free.  YUM!  This definitely put a smile on my face and reinforces how incredibly lucky I am to have Joe in my life.  :-)

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!

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.

Julie's Cheesy Broccoli Bowl

The yumminess in front is a Sunshine burger wrapped in a just barely blanched collard green, topped with avocado and mango peach salsa.  The yumminess in the back is Julie's Cheesy Broccoli Bowl.  I found Julie via the Vega community website.  That is a great page with lots of nutritional experts, athletes and fun video blogs (vlogs).  I've enjoyed watching Lyzabeth Lopez training vlogs.

Here is the recipe with my modifications. 

INGREDIENTS:
a few shakes of wheat-free tamari
1 Tbsp raw tahini
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
¼ tsp paprika (I used half-sharp, yum!)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1½ tsp lemon juice
3 cups finely chopped fresh broccoli florets
1 or 2 Tbsp hemp seeds
water, if needed

Mix the nutritional yeast, paprika, and garlic powder together. Stir in the tahini , tamari, lemon juice, and coconut oil and whisk thoroughly with a small fork. If a thinner sauce is desired, add a little water, a tablespoon at a time. This was pretty thick but I thawed out my frozen broccoli by dumping it in the leftover collard water that was still on the stove.  The water wasn't on, but it was still warm and thawed out the broccoli.  Then I drained the broccoli and tossed wih the sauce.  The water in the broccoli helped thin the sauce out a bit.

This supposedly last in the frige a couple of days but I wouldn't know because I ate it in one sitting.  OH! and it also supposedly serves 2.  Again, I ate it all. Good stuff!

Here is the link to her original recipe.  Go check out Julie's site.  She's super cute and has all kinds of great nutritional tips.

Farmers Market haul, and a recipe

click to embiggen

I scored big time at the farmers market on Saturday.  See those collards?? They are huge!!  I brought the bread (in the front) to my MIL's beach house for breakfast toast and the other is for me.  And it's just about gone.  The fruit wasn't as sweet as I would have hoped but it's local and that makes me happy.  Also pictured there is (left to right) arugula, collards, kale, black leaf lettuce, bread, garlic scapes (see them??), cherries, strawberries and bread.

I get so excited when I see garlic scapes! I love the garlicky chive flavor and put them in everything (my apologies in advance to my co-workers and my husband for my breath, haha).  Tonight I sauteed up some garlic scapes, carrots and zucchini in sunflower oil - very lightly -just to take out the garlic punch and then I threw a scoop of cooked quinoa in to soak up all the garlicky goodness.  That will be my post-workout dinner tomorrow night.

Lunch tomorrow will be some really fresh zucchini hummus over arugula and lettuce topped with sprouts.  You can make hummus out of anything but this zucchini hummus is fresh and summery, flavored with basil and lemon.  If you don't have garlic scapes then you can use garlic, scallions, shallots - whatever floats your zucchini boat.

Zucchini Hummus

2 zucc's, chopped up
1 T raw tahini
5 large basil leaves
juice of 1/2 lemon
handful of raw cashews (makes it creamy)
two garlic scapes, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

Throw it all in the food processor and let it whirl!  Taste for seasonings, whirl until almost smooth.  It will be a beautiful light green color.  I love to use fresh hummus over my salads instead of salad dressing.

Enjoy!

Saturday's Menu

Susan V's Baba Ganoush recipe is fantastic - and low in fat.  I had it today, wrapped in lavash with leftover roasted carrots, onions and sunflower sprouts.  Aren't those sprouts perty??

...continue reading...

Blueberry Chia Breakfast Pudding

Superfoods!  There are so many (acai, chia, coconut water...) and I'm trying to make my way through them.  First was fresh young coconut.  Now I'm on to chia seeds.  This is from The Raw Food World website:

The seeds have twice the protein of any other seed or grain, five times the calcium of milk, boron which is trace mineral that helps transfer calcium into your bones, omega 3 and omega 6 which are essential oils for the body.

There is also a good article here, on the living-foods.com website which explains how the seeds turn into a gel and how the body slowly coverts the carbohydrates into suger -- slow conversion into sugar is what gives our bodies energy, thus chia is a great endurance food.  I'm going to read more about using chia as an endurance gel and maybe incorporate it into my workout days.  It also talks about the great Omega properties and how important essential fatty acids are for our body.  I highly recommend you read the article - so much good information there.

Blueberry Chia Breakfast Pudding
2 T chia seeds*
cinnamon (just give it a few shakes)
grated fresh ginger (I like mine spicy so I use 1T grated ginger)
3/4 C of hemp milk (my "milk" of choice)
1/4 C frozen wild blueberries
handful of fresh berries
agave nectar to taste (this is optional - I don't use any agave or sweeteners)
topping: small handful of your favorite nut or seeds, banana

Make this the night before: mix all ingredients except walnuts in a bowl until combined.  Cover and put in fridge.  If you remember to do so then give the pudding a stir after five or ten minutes -- I always forget and just have to give it a good stir before I eat it the next morning.  Let pudding sit overnight. 

The next morning the chia seeds will have soaked up the liquid and become more like tapioca pudding.  Sprinkle with chopped walnuts and enjoy!  It's really amazing and tastes delicious.  Very filling too and full of good nutrition.

*chia can be expensive if you plan to get them at your local Whole Paycheck Foods store so I purchase orgainic chia seeds from The Raw Food World.

[another chia information packed site here]

Sausage, White Bean and Kale Ragout

Delicious!  Perfect for this cool June afternoon (what the hell is going on with the weather?).  Didn't have sausage/boca so I added a small container of mushrooms.  I like the flavor of sausage but just don't like the texture of the gristle (what is that anyway? ew.) so I usually use Boca in place of real sausage.

I also added Italian spices and cayenne pepper to make up for the no-sausage flavor. To thicken up the texture a bit I smashed up 1C of the white beans.  Yum yum!!

It's delicious and the kale is perfect with the white beans.  I just realized that I forgot the zucchini but that is ok. This time of year when they are local and fresh I like them raw anyhow.  You can find the link to the recipe on Stacey's page.

Enjoy!

Spicy Salad Greens w/Summer Berry Dressing

Adapted from Jenny Ross's
Compressed Summer Berry Salad (dressing only).

Berry Dressing
1/4 C strawberries
1 C cashews + 1T sunflower seeds (original recipe called for one cup of pine nuts)
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 C young coconut water (fresh is best but you can use packaged)
1/2 tsp vinegar (apple cider or red wine)
1 T agave nectar
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
pinch of salt

Let the cashews soak in the coconut water for 10 min's to 1/2 hour (not necessary, but the long soak helps make them creamier).  Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender or food processor.  Test seasonings.

Chill, then devour.  

Best served over spicy greens and sliced berries.

Today's Menu

I'm starting back on an Eat to Live plan...

Breakfast (I had two b'fasts today because I was up at 4:am): 
6:00 Ezekial sesame toast with Teddy unsalted peanut butter & banana
8:30 Chia Pudding: chia seeds, hemp milk (hemp is my choice of "milk"), ginger, cinnamon and fresh blackberries

Lunch: baby spinach with curried cole slaw (homemade), mung bean sprouts and sunflower seeds (the curried slaw acted as a 'dressing').  Huge salad, lots of raw - very filling.

Dinner: green smoothie: baby spinach, cooked pumpkin (had some leftover), frozen pineapple, frozen peaches, ginger, dates and hempmilk.  Normally I put a banana in my smoothies but I had pumpkin to use up and already had a banana for breakfast.
and
homemade hummus on a sunshine burger (may put in an ezekial tortilla, not sure yet... having my smoothie now).

For those of you who don't know, the emphasis on Eat to Live is low-fat, low-sodium and very heavy on the dark leafy greens.  Very little to no meat and dairy. My plan is to do it 80-100% of the day.  A day like today is a bit heavy on the grains but I only had the toast w/peanut butter & b'naner because I was up super early.  That isn't normally on my breakfast plan.  I need to lower my cholesterol ...a lot.  And lose weight. 

Here are some yummy Eat to Live meals I've enjoyed inthe past.

Now is the time to do it... produce is fresh, local and especially delicious.