Sentiments by Denise

More Gnocchi, Please

About a year ago, I posted about sweet potato gnocchi with a recipe for a cheesy sauce. It was very good and I've made it several times since.

However, now that I am totally plant-strong (no dairy, especially cheese!) I needed to find a new sauce recipe to go with the sweet potato gnocchi that I enjoy so much!
I read several blogs that are plant-strong based and I often try out some of the recipes I find, so after perusing a few blogs I found a sauce recipe on Angela's blog. 

Nutritional yeast is condiment-like powder (or flake) that is a great source of protein and vitamins - a favorite among those who follow a plant-based diet. The recipe that I found on Angela's blog is called Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce and it was quick & easy to prepare for lunch today with my gnocchi!

First, I gathered all the essential ingredients:

Next, I measured and mixed, heated and whisked...

And the result:



LUNCH!
(Oh, and I added some edamame to the gnocchi and sauce for added protein, plus it adds a pretty green color to the dish!).
The gnocchi was a pre-made brand that I purchased from Whole Foods Market. Drop into boiling water for 2-3 minutes, drain, and serve with sauce plus edamame or another green veggie. I also had a small salad with romaine, radishes, red pepper, and grape tomatoes.

Just a little side note: I started eating a vegetarian diet over 2 years ago and gradually gave up dairy over the past year, but was still holding onto cheese. It had an addicting force over me and I knew it was holding me back from achieving my health and weight-loss goals. So, at the start of 2012, I decided to stop eating cheese in any form, becoming totally plant-strong! (Since Jan 1st, I've already lost another 15+ pounds!).

It's working for me!

Juicing - on a Regular Basis

Most people enjoy a glass of juice. Fresh-squeezed is usually preferred. How about juice made through a juice machine?

         (the above juice contains carrots, apple, celery, orange & ginger root)

Last year we bought a Waring Pro juicer. It's not the top-of-the-line juicer, but it works for our needs. We try to juice at least twice a week.

I've been trying some new combinations lately, with more vegetables, to get a better balance of nutrients in my diet. For example, this is the juice combination I made this morning:

I combined one Fuji apple, broccoli stems (save those - they are great for juicing and have a slight sweet taste!), 4 carrots, 1 grapefruit, 1/2 cucumber, and some swiss chard.

This is a great little machine - easy to use and easy to clean up (though it is a bit messy, I won't lie!).

Ed helped while I took photos.

Here's my "green juice" with a little tinge of orange! I like the overload of the vegetables, yet it's a taste you have to get use to. I don't particularly care for a sweet juice, as Ed does. His looked like this:

He combined a Golden Delicious apple, Barlett pear, navel orange, and carrots. He prefers his juice to be heavier on the fruit side.

My juicer cleans up easily and goes back to its home above the refrigerator.

If you're thinking that it's just as easy to grab a bottle of juice at your local grocery store, take a few minutes to read this article on what you actually get in those commercial juices.
And if you really want to learn how juicing can benefit your health, there are many resources out there to help - starting with the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead (which can be viewed on Netflix).
Knowledge is power. Consider these things when giving attention to your health.

Love my juice!

Stuffed Roasted Red Peppers

Food is never boring since I started eating a mostly plant based diet more than a year ago. I can honestly say that I've discovered some wonderfully interesting foods that have definitely enlightened my taste buds!

Recent recipe discovery: Ancient Grain Stuffed Red Bell Peppers.

 
Some foods that I eat these days I had never even heard of, or at least wasn't familiar with a year ago. I found this recipe in the sale flyer from Whole Foods (Jan/Feb 2011) and it sounded so impressive, yet very simple. It also gave me the opportunity to try something I've never eaten before: a sea plant.
Arame is a mild sea vegetable, very similar to kelp. Arame is high in calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, and Vitamin A. It does take some getting use to, but if you're a fan of sushi or other seafood, you'll probably like it.

Stuffed Peppers

1/2 c. uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/4 c. uncooked amaranth
1 c. frozen edamame, thawed
1 c. arame seaweed, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes, drain well
6 green onions, thinly sliced
3 carrots, grated
1/2 c. roughly chopped fresh cilantro, dill, or parsley
2 T. brown rice vinegar
4 red bell peppers, tops removed and reserved, cored and seeded

Preheat oven to 350deg. Put grains and 1-1/2 cups water into a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to medium-low; cover and simmer until liquid is gone and grains are tender, about 15 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.
Toss edamame, arame, onions, carrots, cilantro, and vinegar.
 
 Stuff peppers with mixture and arrange in a baking dish, pour 1/4 cup water into dish. Place tops on peppers, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until tender, 20-30 minutes more.  Serves 4.

**I only used 2 bell peppers cut in half, so I had extra "stuffing" leftover. This might be good in a wrap or pita for a portable lunch. I also left out the cilantro because I didn't have any, but added black pepper and a couple dashes of curry powder for some extra flavor.

I shared this meal the first time with Emilee. Tonight I had a leftover pepper and topped it with some crumbled goat cheese - even better!

This meal was loaded with protein (about 20g per serving) and so colorful!
 
It's great to try new foods - new flavors!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Pear Feta Sauce

Before I get to this awesome dish I wanted to share something disturbing I heard tonight at the gym - a conversation between two teenage girls in the dressing room.
When I went in to retrieve my bag from the locker after my walk I overheard two young ladies discussing "diets" and weight. One of them was lamenting that she was too fat and that her mom told her she wasn't. She said she's trying everything to lose weight, including only consuming 900 calories a day, like another friend had suggested to her. The other girl asked her what she ate to only get 900 calories a day and her reply is what shocked me. She said that she bought the "100 calorie" snack packs and counted out 9 packs a day and ate only those along with water! I wanted to say something to her, but didn't want to intrude on their conversation. Besides, would they really listen to an old gray-haired lady over their friends?
Overhearing this conversation and realizing the impact of an impending eating disorder can have on these girls' future bothered me greatly. How do we get the message out about healthy eating, balanced exercise, and nutritional knowledge? So sad... I wish I had more influence in this area.

 
I bought some sweet potato gnocchi at Whole Foods the last time I went and have been excited to try it. I've eaten regular gnocchi, which is similar to a dumpling most often made with potatoes. It can also be made with squash, cheese, polenta, or even sweet potatoes!

 
I found this brand in the area where the special cheeses are sold.

 
This package contains two servings and I shared it with Stephen, as he stopped by on his way home for a short visit.

For sweet potato gnocchi, I knew that this dish needed a special sauce - more fruity or sweet than savory. In browsing the internet and searching through blogs I found the following recipe a few months ago (but didn't record where it came from - I'm horrible about that :(

 
Sauce ingredients. Now, the soy milk and spelt flour can be substituted if those are not to your liking.

Pear Feta Sauce

1 T. Olive oil
1 medium Bartlett pear, cored & diced
1 c. plain soymilk
2 tsp spelt flour
2 T. butter
8 oz Feta cheese, crumbled

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add pear and cook stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes or until pear begins to carmelize.
 
This was one of my favorite parts - the aroma of the pear and olive oil as it cooked!
Remove from heat; set aside.
In same pan, heat milk and flour over medium heat, whisking together until well mixed. Add butter and stir until melted. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until liquid starts to bubble and reduce.
Add cheese and pear - cook, stirring occasionally until heated through.

 

Serve over gnocchi.

 
The sauce recipe made more than two servings (and it's also a little higher in calories than a basic marinara sauce would be).

This would also be good served over a butternut squash ravioli dish, too!

Let me know if you try this and what you think!

Spicy Salad!

Today would be a perfect day for a bowl of piping hot soup since I'm hunkered down at home admist an ice storm in central Indiana!

But, I decided a salad was a good choice - for one reason only...

Emilee's homemade Smokey Chipotle Zucchini Hummus! You must go to her blog, follow the link and create this wonderful condiment yourself!

I started with an assortment of mixed greens:
 
Baby spinach, red kale, romaine, and leafy lettuce - rinsing and spinning to make them clean and crisp!

Then I rooted around in my fridge, digging out a menagerie of vegetables: mini sweet peppers, broccoli, broccoli slaw, mini plum tomatoes, cauliflower, sugar peas, and 1/2 of a small avocado. I also tossed on some raw sunflower seeds. And then the crowning glory that made this decision a really good one:

 
The hummus, thinned with a bit of water so I could drizzle it over the top. The chipotles in this hummus give it such a great kick! I think this might be a regular salad addition!

There's leftovers (I always over-prep my veggies when making a salad so it doesn't take as long the next day...):

 
The spicy Hummus/Salad dressing sure warmed me up on this icy cold day!

 

I think the homemade veggie soup will still be perfect for dinner tonight!

Stay warm!

Trying New Foods

Emilee and I walked into Whole Foods Market last Saturday morning and saw something "new" (to us) on their citrus display!

We saw pummelos advertised on sale, and since we've never tried this fruit before, decided that we needed to take one home for a taste test.

 
Pummelos have a green outer skin and a very thick rind. Here it is in comparison to a normal sized navel orange. It's huge!

The guy at Whole Foods who helped bag my groceries was commenting on it, telling me what I might expect when I cut into it.

 
As you can see, because of the thickness of the rind, the fruit inside is nearly the same as a regular sized grapefruit. The pummelo is considered an exotic citrus fruit and, as with most citrus, it is high in vitamin C. Our bodies crave citrus during winter months and if we eat lots of it we can keep colds and infections to a minimum. Citrus = Superfoods!

 
The taste is very much like a grapefruit, but just a bit sweeter, in my opinion. I really liked it! Even though the fruit seemed slight after cutting away all the outer skin, I feel like this big ol' pummelo yielded about 2-3 servings of fruit.

What new or different foods have you tried lately? 

A Healthy Breakfast - Plan Ahead!

You may have heard a rumor about my love for oatmeal :)

Oatmeal, in any form, is a favorite breakfast food of mine. I especially enjoy steel cut oats because of their least processed form and their mega health benefits (fiber, lowers cholesterol, immune system booster, contains phytochemicals that fight cancer, and vit/min: iron, zinc, selenium and Vit E).

About a year ago I wrote a post about overnight oats and soaking the oats (rolled oats, in this case) in a combination with other healthy ingredients to create an awesome breakfast meal the following morning.

Over the past several months, I've been using muesli (a dry combination of oats, dried fruit, nuts, seeds) as a substitute once in awhile for my oats. I like to use the muesli in my overnight oats soakings and it turns out quite well.  I enjoyed this combo on Saturday morning and posted about it on my Facebook status, which prompted some interesting comments. I'm sure there are people who view the way I eat as "strange" or different, but for me, it works just fine and in line with my healthy agenda!

For muesli overnight goodness, start with this line up:
 
1/3 cup dry muesli
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 T. chia seeds
1/2 cup kefir (I used coconut kefir)
1/3 cup almond milk
sprinkling of dried cranberries and cacao nibs (opt.)

Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, heat for one minute in microwave (or can be eaten cold, but I prefer hot!). Add toppings and enjoy. (makes one serving)

 
Here's what it looks like after the overnight soak. The liquid melds wonderfully with the chia seeds, which swell, and makes a thick cereal base.

 
I love adding a tablespoon of nut butter (almond butter shown) and stir it in with a bit of almond milk to top it off. This is such a hearty breakfast and keeps me full for several hours. So much better than cold cereal. You can substitute the pumpkin for mashed banana or chopped apple or pear. If you're not a fan of kefir, but prefer yogurt, you can substitute that. And of course, use regular milk if that is your preference also. The above recipe is the vegan version, which I like to follow now and then.
Invest in the chia seeds, though - they are marvelous additions to many foods (baked goods, smoothies, oatmeal, yogurt, etc). I've posted about these several times and continually sing their praises as a healthy boost to my diet!

Instead of grabbing a pastry with your morning beverage or rushing through a bowl of cold cereal, give this hearty, healthy meal a try and see if it doesn't change your mind about one of the best ways to start your day!

Restful Sunday

We slept in this morning (I got 10 hours of restful, glorious sleep!) and relaxed the morning away. We went to church last night again and I really enjoyed Pastor Chris' message conclusion on Philippians - which he has preached from the past four weeks. The 4th chapter of Philippians is my favorite chapter in the Bible, as it contains my life verse (Phil 4:8). God used the sermon last night to speak to me on several things I'm struggling with in my life right now and I know God is really coaching me on my faith-walk these days. Lots of opportunities coming my way to stretch my faith and trust fully on Him!

 
Breakfast this morning was an amazing green smoothie made with frozen banana, 2 handfuls of raw baby spinach, frozen mango, kefir, chia seeds, and almond milk. Served with an oatmeal breakfast cookie topped with almond butter. Good flavors loaded with protein, healthy fats, veggies & fruits, and even whole grains! See - this breakfast has it all!

Emilee came over this afternoon to have lunch with us and, as she usually does, made something delicious! Homemade vegetable soup - with a lot of the great veggies we picked up at Whole Foods Market yesterday during our grocery shopping outing!

 
She came bearing edible gifts, too! Homemade corn muffins - the recipe from her vegan cookbook that we gave her for Christmas. Em loves to bake and has been doing a lot of experimenting in the kitchen lately. So much so that she has resurrected her blog and has begun posting about all her great creations! Check her out here. (She's actually putting me to shame with all of her posts lately...I need to get busy and start blogging more!).

 
The homemade vegetable soup is loaded with some great vegetables like carrots, onions, cabbage, zucchini, celery, mushrooms, red pepper, broccoli slaw, and some fabulous aduki beans! This was tasty today - it will be even better tomorrow when I have it for leftovers! I enjoyed the corn muffin with a couple squirts of honey. The muffins were dense and flavorful, just the way I like them! Perfect with a bowl of soup!

 

It's All About the Vegetables!

People often ask me what I eat since I don't eat meat anymore. My reply?

"Vegetables! Lots of vegetables!

Tonight when I came home from work I knew I needed to use up some food in the fridge to make room for my CSA delivery tomorrow.

I chose some crimini mushrooms, mini sweet peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, red onion, and broccoli slaw. I cut up these vegetables and tossed them into a pan with a bit of grapeseed oil (great for sauteing or stir-frying, as it's suitable for high heat).
Then I added a few wheatberries that I had cooked the other day (these are a great source of fiber), some red kidney beans (more fiber and protein), and about a 1/4 cup of brown rice that was leftover from Ed's stirfry. I seasoned this with a bit of black pepper and my staple favorite - szechuan sauce!

 
Doesn't it look great!?  This is enough for two servings - I'll have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I love mixtures like this - they are quick to make, very nutritious, and fill me right up! Vegetarian cuisine can be so easy and I find now that I don't center my meals around meat, I am much more creative in my cooking and how I put my meals together. I like them to be colorful (vegetables give me that). I like them to be healthy - choosing a variety of vegetables, legumes, and grains make it so. And I like them to taste great and all of these flavors combined (or combining other flavors - veggies with beans or veggies with grains) really satisfy my taste buds.

Tonight it's cold outside so I think a cup of hot tea might just hit the spot.

 
I'm rockin' the Green Tea - extra special since it tastes like candy canes and is decaf! Love that!

Healthy Reflections of 2010

A little over a year ago (Dec '09), I sat in my doctor's office and cried. I was overwhelmed with how poorly I felt. I was not getting enough sleep. My skin and hair were dry and unmanageable. I was extremely overweight. I had no desire to exercise. I was irritable, sad, and weepy.

I was a mess.

Fast forward to two weeks ago (Dec. '10). I was in the doctor's office again, waiting to see her. She peeked her head in the door and mentioned that she needed to check with the nurse who measured my weight/vitals, as she thought there was a number recorded wrong. I asked her about that and she said that the chart showed I had lost a significant amount of weight. Then I stood up, twirled around and said, "Does it look like I've lost a significant amount of weight?"  Sixty pounds are gone! No more cholesterol medications (since Mar.'10)! Sleeping so much better! I'm exercising on a regular basis and eating a primary plant-based diet. My doctor was beyond pleased with my hard work over this past year.

There's something to be said about making your health a priority. I've learned so much over the last twelve months on how my body works, what is best for me in terms of food and fitness, sleep and managing stress. I've read many books on nutrition and health. I'm learning the best way to manage the diseases I have (past and present) so that I can live a low-maintenance life.

Here are a few things I've discovered the past year that have been helpful to me:

• I am what I eat. If I eat highly processed, sugary, saturated fatty foods - then I'm going to feel listless, fat, angry, sad, slow, and tired.
• Reading books on health, nutrition, and fitness have provided me with the right tools to make the best decisions for improving my health. Books such as: The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Foods to Fight Cancerby Richard Beliveau, In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, The Cancer Survivor's Guide by Neal Barnard, Clean Food and Clean Start by Terry Walters. I've read many others, but these have had a definite impact on many of the changes I've made over the past year.
• Strive to get a minimum of seven hours of sleep each night. I'm not going to lie - I struggle with this one on a regular basis. My job is such that I must commute over 45 minutes each way and I work a minimum of nine hours each day. This makes for a crazy long day! And it doesn't leave me much time during the week to do the things I need and want to do. So often I sacrifice sleep. Not good. I notice how much better I feel overall when I sleep those full seven hours (or more - usually on weekends!). This translates into more energy, more alert thinking, less irritability, less baggy-looking eyes, and remembering to think before I speak ;) The body does a lot of recovering/healing while you sleep, so it's important to make this healthy habit a priority.
• Exercise gets easier the more I do it. Until I had lost the first 30lbs, I was not able to move very well, so I didn't exercise much. Then after I had lost some weight I started slow, using Leslie Sansone's walk at home DVD programs. These are great for beginners, but I still use them on a semi-regular basis to supplement my fitness workouts. Thirty minutes in the morning is a great way to start my day. Then, if for some reason I can't make it to the gym or get outdoors to walk, I know I've done something healthy for my body in the way of exercise that day. Our Church has a fitness center with an indoor track, fully-equipped weight room/cardio equipment, assorted fitness classes, and a personal trainer available. Taking advantage of these opportunities this past year has helped me so much in my journey towards wellness. I'm already setting goals for the new year in this area (I'll share those in another post).
• Thinking outside the box when it comes to food. I'm learning to combine foods that I would never have put together in the past. For example: roasted vegetables (like squash or brussel sprouts) over leafy greens, different whole grains added in unusual places (wheatberries or quinoa on salads, stirred into oatmeal or as a yogurt topping), green smoothies (raw spinach teamed with banana and other fruits make an amazing smoothie!), a veggie omelette with goat cheese, or even raw cheddar slice on whole grain seed bread with pumpkin butter. Some of these combinations may sound crazy to you, but I've been using a little bit of creativity to make sure I get my daily allowances in and the tastes that I'm experiencing are really fabulous. I try to make my meals as colorful as I can by incorporating different fruits and vegetables. Yellow peppers, green zucchini, red onion, orange carrots, brown crimini mushrooms, and purple cabbage all add great nutrients and wonderful color to a veggie saute mixed with red quinoa and brown rice. Who says cooking vegetarian can't be adventurous?
• Not focusing so much on my weight (as an end goal), but pursuing wellness and good health. Losing weight (and it continues) has been a great benefit to the changes I've made over the past year, but it hasn't been my only goal. Sixty pounds is nothing to sneeze at, but I think I'm even more encouraged by the other things I see happening in my body that are benefiting me in the long run. Surviving cancer twice in my life, and dealing with an incurable kidney disease, along with hypothyroidism, has made me focus on my overall health and not just losing weight for the sake of being a certain size or seeing a certain number on the scale. I have more at stake in my wellness journey than just fitting into a certain size pair of jeans. For that reason, I only weighed myself every two weeks throughout this past year and every weigh-in day I either lost weight or stayed steady. I can honestly say that I have not gained any of the weight back that I've lost so far. In the past when I participated in other weight-loss programs (Weight Watchers, etc.) I would see-saw back and forth in my weight loss until I made my "goal" weight. Personally I think it was because I didn't really understand my body or nutrition and how it impacted my body, so losing weight became more of a game. I went clothes shopping today (desperately needed!) and found that I have dropped four clothing sizes in the past year! I still have weight to lose to get to a normal weight and BMI for my age and height. I don't stress about it - I know it will happen as I continue this journey that I'm on. (Fun fact: this past Christmas season is the first one that I can remember that I didn't gain any weight nor over-indulge in eating as I have in the past. That is an accomplishment in itself, as I realize that so many of the things I've learned this past year have helped me make the best decisions for ME!).
  ****************************************************************
  This post is getting extremely long, so I should close, but I want to leave you with a couple photos. The first was taken back in Oct. '09 at my 30th high school reunion. I like to think of it as my "before" photo. The second photo was taken a few days ago by my husband (sorry for the blurriness). This photo is my transition photo, as I still have a continuation of this journey to wellness that I'm pursuing.

 
(photo taken by David Hubbard)

 
(Photo taken by Ed Foxworthy)

Excited to see where 2011 leads me on my path to wellness!