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29
Apr
2012
 Food Obsessions



I go through phases of things that I am obsessed with. OK, it’s not healthy to have food obsessions–more like here are a few of my favorite things.

#1: Espresso
Not really a food… I have stopped getting coffee and milk-filled lattes at Starbuck’s and coffee shops, and now just getting shots of espresso. It’s cheaper anyway. Sometimes with  a tiny bit of soy milk. Starbuck’s also sucked me into their rewards program. I have 21 points to go to get their gold card. So silly, but it will end up saving me money. This is what I tell myself.
Their protein snack plate is pretty good. Although, it’s more like a lunch pack. Natural peanut butter, boiled egg, apple, grapes, muesli bread thing, and 2 wedges of cheese. The fruit was surprisingly fresh tasting. The entire thing is about 380 calories. I like that it is mostly all natural (although I am sure there are a few preservatives for the egg). Love it.

#2: Almond Butter
I have been eating almond butter almost every morning. Usually on some toast, a wrap with banana, or a spoonful, and then grab some fruit on the way out the door. I highly recommend almond butter to those who haven’t tried it yet, but enjoy natural peanut butters. It is a great way to get some clean healthy fats in your day!
Don’t forget to store it upside down so that when you stir it, the oily part is on the bottom, and it makes life easier. And stock up! You don’t want to run out and be forced to pay for the expensive $10 almond butter at conventional grocery stores. Trader Joe’s sells it for about $4.99/pound and Costco sells it for about $7 (?) for a larger jar. However, I like the taste of the Trader Joe’s brand and I can get the raw unsalted crunchy variety.

#3 Wine
OK, this is not an obsession like you might think. It is more of an obsession with trying out different wines and seeing what I like best. I drink wine only every couple nights and usually just a 4-5 oz. portion.  Portion control, people. I guess you could call it an increasing fascination. I am my Dad’s daughter, after all. I would call my Dad a wine connoisseur.
Stocked up anyway since Mr. Non-Cycling Cyclist is going to come home soon from the dry wine land that is Thailand and India. He can help me enjoy some of these.

#4: Trader Joe’s
I got way too much food at Trader Joe’s this weekend. Probably because I went grocery shopping after a spin class. NEVER do this. If you must, make sure you have eaten some food on your way over or you will double your grocery bill like I did. Hehe.
Tried these new chicken skewers:
They are so easy to cook. I make one and then eat it with some veggies, or cut up and put on a salad.
 Made a taco chicken salad… sort of.

I mostly like shopping at Trader Joe’s because there are so many options for the health conscious shopper. There is a focus on more whole foods and less preservatives. It’s a way to buy more convenient food items that have fewer processing steps.

OK, well, time to start the new week!

Here are some more meal ideas for the week:

27
Apr
2012
 Scandals of the Week



Not much new to report this week. Except, I have started reading this scandalous book which shall remain nameless for now, but those of you who are big best seller readers will know what I am talking about. Highly recommend.

On to other scandals…
People are starting to think I am anti-vegan which is ridiculous. It all came after a review I did on diet-blog.com about the children’s book called, Vegan is Love, and I commented on how I don’t think adults should let children read the book. So, the public had this big outrage on this topic of veganism in children.

Let’s be clear. It can be healthy and safe for a child to be vegan. All for it. However, the child can not eat pop tarts and crackers and pasta all day long. They have to eat a balance of different proteins like beans, nuts, seeds, quinoa, etc. The parents have to be responsible.

Anyway, it was just that particular book that I had a problem with. Not the concept of veganism for children. The book was instilling fear in children. Children should never ever be taught to fear food no matter what the issue is. We already have enough people with food issues in the world.

So, all of you who are asking me what I think, here is some insight. The end.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Off to do a step class, and then to see The Lucky One.

25
Apr
2012
 Easiest Falafel Recipe Idea



Have you tried falafel yet? It is ground up chickpeas with spices, and then formed into patties and usually fried. It is a great vegetarian or vegan protein option. They are super tasty. Reminds me of a hush puppy, but health-ified version.

I recommend to check and see if your grocery store carries this Fantastic World Foods brand which is a dehydrated chickpea powder. All you have to do is add water, stir, and form into patties.
Then, coat  baking sheet lightly with olive oil, and bake the patties for about 15-20 minutes until that start to brown. Very easy!

Another option would be to buy plain dehydrated chickpea meal at a health food store like Whole Foods. You can then add your own spices, and add water to form a paste. It is easier to do this than use whole chickpeas/garbanzo beans.

I had some this past week on top of a salad and used a light natural vidalia onion and dill dressing.
Another idea is to stuff the falafel in a whole wheat/whole grain wrap or pita with some veggies.

This is much lighter than restaurant falafel which is likely fried (and soaks up a lot of oil since the beans act as a perfect sponge). And it can be healthier because you can use olive oil, and watch your sodium when at home. One serving of falafel gets you 5 grams of fiber, too!

Love Your Humps Wednesday:
via Pinterest

22
Apr
2012
 Go Green with Foods on Earth Day



Happy Earth Day! Time to think about how we can help the planet by choosing sustainable foods.

Eat less meat. Even if the average person reduced meat consumption by just 20% we would see a difference. And we could save money :)

Why? Excess animal waste pollutes the earth (cows produce about 18% of greenhouse gases) and raising the animals requires many more resources, water, land (hundreds of acres of forests have been cut down to grow food for cows).

This also requires the use of more pesticides and herbicides.

Did you know fact: Much of our tax dollars are helping to provide resources for meat production.

How to eat less meat: Pick a few days out of the week to eat no meat. Try joining in with Meatless Mondays. Remember to choose other high protein foods like quinoa, beans, peas, lentils, and nuts.

Choose Sustainable Foods. This means the foods have been produced to try to work in harmony with natural resources and the environment.

  • Try to choose more organic foods to support better farming practices when you can.
  • Go to the farmer’s market or join a CSA to get food as local as possible.
  • Try not to choose “at risk” seafood. Find out what to choose here.
  • Buy foods that are in season.
  • Choose fair trade foods and products to help the farmers receive fair pay and conditions. You can find a guide here.
  • Get rid of plastic packaging and bottles. I like these glass water bottles from LifeFactory that have a flip-top.
  • To read more go to Sustainable Table here.

Happy Earth Day!

19
Apr
2012
 Hot Yoga for the First Time



I typically do not like the heat, so I have always stayed away from hot yoga. I just always thought of it as a bad idea. But, the gym I go to offers hot yoga, and there seems to be a lot of people who do it. So, I thought, I am active, and know how to do yoga, I can do it.

My Steps to Getting Through Hot Yoga:

  • I psyched myself up.
  • Drank about 64 ounces of water during the day before going at 5:oo pm.
  • Made sure not to eat anything 2-3 hours before the class.
  • Wash makeup off face before class as not to clog pores.
  • Get to class early to acclimate to the temperature.
  • Focused on breathing the entire class to distract myself from the crazy heat and sweat.
  • Bring large towel to mop up sweat and foot sweat so I wasn’t lunging around and sliding all over the place.
  • Drank about 8-20 oz. water during class.
  • Drank 21 oz. fluid immediately after class and on the way home with an Emergen-C pack for electrolytes.
  • Clean face again with a natural facial cleansing cloth to again avoid clogged pores.
  • Eat and cold shower!

So many steps! The class went really well even though I thought I was going to die at about  the 20-30 minute mark. Sweat was dripping everywhere. I expected the class to be smelly, but it wasn’t. I left feeling calm, like I got an excellent workout, and proud to display my sweaty face since I made it through.

One other negative: My face still broke out the next day. I asked the aesthetician I work with and she said to make sure I cleanse my face better before and after, and that the air is filled with moist bacteria. Great.

The instructor was excellent and treated the class like a true yoga class and not a gym aerobics class. I truly appreciated this. She also came around with cold scented towels for everyone at the end in final relaxation.

Most people say you burn almost double the amount of calories in hot yoga as you would in a regular hatha yoga class. Who knows. I don’t quite understand how that works. But, I think I was hungrier after.

What I liked best about it was that it got me back into doing yoga again, helped my posture, was calming, and helped me push my limits. I will be back again!

17
Apr
2012
 Turmeric Supplement



I was watching a bunch of TED Talks the other day on Netflix. And one of them was explaining how we may be able to prevent and reduce cancer by eating certain foods.

Yes, I understand this. Eat plenty of whole foods and plants and I will get plenty of antioxidants. But, what this TED Talks was saying is that by eating foods that may contain anti androgenic properties we can prevent cancer and other health issues.

Androgens are hormones that are essential for the function of various body processes (includes testosterone). The whole science behind this is pretty complicated and involves many factors. So, I will send you here: to the TED talks video about this instead of having you read my less scientific explanation.

There is absolutely no medical nutrition therapy for this type of food or concern at this time. But, it is an interesting topic and we may see more on this topic in the future.

So, I went ahead and bought some turmeric which is packed full of antioxidant properties. I thought, hey, why not, it couldn’t hurt.
Possible Turmeric Benefits:

  • decreased Alzheimer’s risk (populations that use a lot of turmeric in cooking have the lowest rates!)
  • reduced cancer risk (most research on turmeric surrounds cancer prevention/reduction)
  • decreased body inflammation
    • reduced arthritis
    • reduced IBS
    • reduced skin inflammation and psoriasis
    • reduced cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis
    • reduced eye inflammation (uveitis)
  • may be beneficial to autoimmune conditions
  • detoxifies the liver (and help prevent liver disease)
  • improved body metabolism

Make sure to ask your doctor before supplementing with turmeric, especially if you have a sensitive health condition, are pregnant, or have history of any gallbladder conditions.

Have you tried turmeric supplements before?

15
Apr
2012
 Coconut Milk Ice Cream



I don’t like a lot of coconut flavors, but I decided to give coconut milk ice cream a try. I had steered away from it in the past because I thought I would hate it, but it is actually quite tasty! (And no, I was not paid to write this and did not receive anything from the company)

Found this So Delicious brand. They make regular and no sugar added varieties that are sweetened with stevia. I decided to try the stevia sweetened one because I had never had a stevia ice cream before, and it seemed like the healthier option.
I would highly recommend this (especially the toasted almond chip one). It does not taste like a super creamy ice cream, it taste like what it is–coconut milk blended and frozen with  chocolate, almonds, and stevia. It has a strong coconut flavor, but reminded me of an almond joy.

All coconut products have high saturated fat, but what research has been showing is that this saturated fat is not “bad” for us. Actually, it may help us burn fat! The important thing to know is where your fats are coming from. If it is plant-based, you are probably doing well.

Most no sugar added products have tons of artificial ingredients, additives, and sugar alcohols that can upset the digestive system. This doesn’t, and only has 4 g sugar alcohol per serving (not too bad).

Ingredients: ORGANIC COCONUT MILK (WATER, ORGANIC COCONUT CREAM), GUM ARABIC, CHOCOLATE FLAKE [COCONUT OIL, ERYTHRITOL, INULIN, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, CHOCOLATE LIQUOR, VANILLA, REB A (STEVIA EXTRACT)], ALMONDS (ALMONDS, COTTONSEED OIL, SALT), VEGETABLE GLYCERIN, CHICORY ROOT EXTRACT, ERYTHRITOL, NATURAL FLAVORS, SEA SALT, LOCUST BEAN GUM, GUAR GUM, CARRAGEENAN, MONK FRUIT EXTRACT.

Anyway, I am not sure why they added so much fiber. One bad thing is the price. Costs about $5 for the pint.

Overall, I would rate this ice cream product as one of the healthiest that you can buy because of the very low sugar, and natural ingredients. Next, I am going to try the cookie dough flavor!

12
Apr
2012
 Eats of the Week: Shrimp Salad and Greek Yogurt Dip



Made a lovely salad with seasoned shrimp and avocado slices:
And it takes only 10 minutes (or less!) to put together.

And lots of baked sweet potato wedges:
Perfect alternative to traditional processed or fried sweet potato fries.

Tried out this new Greek yogurt dip made by Sabra. I was a little hesitant because I have only liked one other Greek yogurt dip before (from Costco).
I loved it. It’s my new favorite healthier vegetable dipping sauce.
I got the onion one, but there are other flavors like sun-dried tomato.

Ingredients: Yogurt (Pasteurized Skim Milk, Pasteurized Cream, Milk Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Skim Milk Powder, Tapioca Starch, Pectin, Xanthan and Cultures), Sauteed Onion, Canola Oil, Salt, Parsley, Natural Flavors, Onion, Garlic, Pectin, Locust Bean Gum, Citric Acid, Brown Sugar and Xanthan.

The ingredients look healthy since they do not contain any nasty preservatives, and they use canola oil (which is better) instead of a cheap, less healthy soybean oil. And a 2 Tbsp serving is only 35 calories, and 1.5 grams of fat! This product gets an A+ from me :)

Got a few new supplements this week, including turmeric. More on that on another post!

10
Apr
2012
 Leftover Boiled Eggs? Make Egg Salad!



I didn’t boil a lot of eggs at Easter, but after eating some deviled eggs I had a craving for some egg salad. Weird, I know. Anyway, I tried to make the healthiest egg salad I could without sacrificing the flavors I enjoy.

Healthier Egg Salad Substitutions:

  • 6 boiled eggs (3 with the yolk removed), chopped
  • 3 Tbsp. olive oil mayo (less calories, and uses olive oil as the main fat)
  • 2 tsp. mustard
  • 1-2 Tbsp. sweet relish and 1-2 Tbsp. dill relish (dill relish has no sugar)
  • celery seed or celery for more flavor

Combine all together, and serve atop a bed of salad! Half of the above recipe is less than 300 calories–a perfect lunch addition!

A variation on this is to use avocado instead of mayo. This works as long as you are going to eat it right away. I couldn’t do this because I was going to make a bunch for the week, and didn’t want brown salad.

Have a healthy week!

8
Apr
2012
 Artichoke Dinner for Easter



My Mom makes the best stuffed artichokes–she learned it from her Mom and I am sure my Grandmother learned it from her Mom as well.
My Grandfather was the one who told me how to eat them as a child. You scrape off the inside of the leave’s meat with your teeth, and as you get closer to the inside of the artichoke, you can eat the whole thing.
 An added nutritional bonus is that artichokes are packed with fiber and plenty of antioxidants if you eat the center heart of the artichoke.

We also made some green beans, asparagus, potatoes and I had a little chicken while others had ham.

And my Mom made me this amazing Easter “basket” turned into a reusable bag full of healthy treats and even some paraben free body wash!
 Coffee, Trader Joe’s goodies, dark chocolate… so sweet.

Psycho Holiday Baker also made some cute Easter cupcakes with Trader Joe’s baking products:
Super cute and trans fat free (probably…).

 Hope everyone had a healthy and happy Easter weekend! Until next year…

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