Raw Chocolate Mint Grasshopper Cake

There is a wide, wide world of raw dessert recipes out there on the WWW, so I don't know how I got so lucky to happen upon this one from Diana of http://www.soapandchocolate.com/. I love the flavor combination of mint and chocolate (Junior Mints? Peppermint Patties? Come on!) so I knew I had to give it a try. Well, the little effort that it took was worth it. It looked pretty and tasted WOW! My husband and I gave it a 9 out of 10. You would never guess that there is spinach in it!

It was originally posted on http://www.choosingraw.com/guest-post-scs-diana-on-making-raw-desserts/ so check out that entire blog posting for an amazing primer on making your own raw dessert creations. The only change that I made was to put it in an 8" springform pan instead of an 8" x 8" square tray. I think it's more elegant this way.

Raw Chocolate Mint Grasshopper Cake

Ingredients:

CRUST
3/4 cup almonds
5 dates, pitted
10 prunes (or more dates, if preferred–replace 2 prunes with 1 date)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (raw cacao powder if you have it)
pinch sea salt

FILLING
1 1/2 cups soaked cashews
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp mint extract
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp xanthan gum (available at Whole Foods)
pinch sea salt
1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (raw cacao powder if you have it)

Directions:
1. Lightly oil a square baking dish (8″x8″ or so). Set aside.
2. Combine all CRUST ingredients in a food processor and pulse/blend until crumbly, but sticky enough to stay put when pressed against the side of the work bowl.
3. Empty crust mixture into the baking dish and press evenly onto the bottom. Set aside.
4. Combine all FILLING ingredients EXCEPT coconut oil and cocoa powder in a blender and blend smooth. Add coconut oil and blend again. This should yield about 4 cups of cream filling.

5. Pour half of the filling mixture into the baking dish and spread evenly across the crust layer. Place baking dish in the freezer and allow to freeze until firm to the touch (probably at least an hour or so).
6. Meanwhile, re-blend the remaining filling with the cocoa powder. Add a drizzle of water to thin, if necessary. I probably added nearly 1/4 cup water to get the texture similar to the pre-cocoa consistency.

7. Once the green layer has hardened in the baking dish, pour the remaining, chocolate-ized filling overtop, creating a new brown layer.
8. Freeze again until firm to the touch. Cut into small rectangles and serve. Store in the refrigerator (or keep in freezer for more of an ice cream cake effect).

No Oil Salad Dressing: Green Salad with Tempeh and Orange Miso Dressing

Okay, this dinner isn't rocket science, but it exemplifies how you can make an extraordinary salad dressing with NO OIL. Tom at Organic Energy ( http://www.organicenergy.com/ ) was kind enough to finally share the recipe with me and I am so grateful. While I am not publishing the ratios of ingredients for it here on my blog (I figure that's kinda proprietary for Tom), I am showing you what goes into this delectable, guilt-free salad dressing. I was a little concerned about whether or not my husband would like this salad and I am happy to report that he loved it!

Green Salad with Tempeh and Orange Miso Dressing

For the salad: romaine lettuce, baby spinach, pepitas, craisins, black beans, tempeh (sliced and heated up in a pan coated with cooking spray)

For the dressing: oranges, white miso paste, raw honey, raw onion, raw carrot, raw ginger, raw garlic (optional) all blended up in a high powered blender.

I would LOVE, LOVE,  LOVE it if you guys who are reading this have any NO OIL salad dressing recipes that you have tried and liked. Please post them to the comments section so that we can all share! And if you would like the ratio of ingredients for the Orange Miso Dressing, please contact me at wendysolganik@yahoo.com. I will get it to you by e-mail. Thanks!

Great Strategy: Healthy Water Sauteing

Yesterday I blogged about hearing Dr. and Mrs. Esselstyn speak about the dramatic impact that nutrition has on our health.  My friend and I left the lecture feeling like we had picked up some really big "nuggets" that we could incorporate into our everyday lives. "Nuggets" is the term we like to use when we get hit over the head with some new information that we know right then and there is going to change the way we do things.

The idea of using a liquid (any liquid, be it broth, water, wine, juice) to saute with instead of oil is something that I have to admit I have been exposed to. But I never tried it until yesterday because up until I heard the Esselstyn lecture, I was under the impression that olive oil was good for my health. So even though oil adds an inordinate number of calories to any dish you are making, I thought I needed the oil, or at the very least, it wasn't hurting me and, well, it did taste good.

But doesn't olive oil lower your cholesterol? Only when substituted for unhealthy fats, such as butter, hydrogenated oils (Crisco), and palm oil, olive oil can lower your cholesterol levels. It is false to say that olive oil lowers your cholesterol level; it just doesn't raise it as much.

http://www.examiner.com/x-672-Disease-Prevention-Examiner~y2008m12d9-Olive-oil-Not-as-healthy-as-youd-like-to-think

Wow, that's REALLY different than "olive oil lowers your cholesterol." It just doesn't raise it as much as other oils. So really, all oil raises your cholesterol.

After hearing the Esselstyn lecture, I decided it was time to give water sauteing a try. The following is the Water Saute method as described on the Whole Foods website:

"We usually start with onions in our Healthy Sauté because they release their own oil, allowing them to be sautéed without adding any oil. The little bit of liquid we start with gives the onions a chance to start releasing. By the time they start releasing, the liquid is usually cooked off, so you get a great sautéed flavor.

Don't worry if your onions start to stick to the pan. Just keep stirring, and when you add liquid to your pan, it will release what little is stuck to the pan. This actually adds extra flavor to your dish. If the onions look like they are burning, simply turn the heat down and continue to cook.

How To Healthy Sauté

Start your Healthy Sauté by heating 1 to 2 TBS of broth in a stainless steel skillet over medium heat. Once the broth begins to bubble, add onions and sauté stirring frequently. After the onions have cooked for about 5 minutes, you can then add other ingredients, such as garlic or fresh ginger. Once they have had a chance to cook together for just another minuteor two, add other vegetables. This method enables you to have flavorful sautéed vegetables without heating oil."

For the full article on healthy sauteing, go here:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=whfkitqa&dbid=6

I have to report that the method was a success.  I made the Caribbean Black Beans with Mango Salsa over Brown Rice for dinner last night, straight out of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, so I cannot reprint the recipes here.

You will have to get the book to get the recipes. It's so worth it as the book is full of really quick and easy dishes that fit all of the Healthy Girl's Kitchen requirements. It's like a goldmine of recipes for us. And if you purchase the book through the link below, part of the profts go toward supporting Healthy Girl's Kitchen!

And please, if you haven't voted for me, Wendy Solganik, as the best mommy food blogger on babble.com or if you can vote again, here is the link:
http://www.babble.com/babble-best/top-50-mommy-food-blogs/nominate-a-food-blog/
Much appreciated!

Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D.

It's been a little while since I have last posted, but I've had a lot to process and think about, so I hope you'll excuse me.  You see, last week I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn speak live.  I had heard of Dr. Esselstyn, he's mentioned in many of the books that I have read on diet and nutrition. In fact, a good friend of mine is friends with his daughter and he and his wife live right here in Cleveland.  But he really wasn't on my radar until I saw a Facebook posting about this lecture that he was giving. Because his name was really familiar, and because I view hearing authors speak live about their work as one of life's greatest pleasures, I signed my friend and myself up for the talk.

I'd say the lecture drew a surprisingly small crowd, about 75 people. The doctor, all maybe 6'5" and 175 pounds of him, was a gentle, quiet man. But his message was loud and clear: heart disease, the greatest killer of Americans, is, without a doubt, 100% preventable.  How does he know this? Well, for one, heart disease doesn't exist AT ALL in a few cultures. What are they doing that's different from Americans? I'll save that for later.

Secondly, he's done quite a bit of research on the subject as a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic.  And because I'm no scientist, I won't even try to go into the details here. What I am going to do is tell you what his conclusion is: the only way to prevent heart disease is to eat a vegan diet. Yes folks, I'm not shittin' you. Vegan. Nothing with a mother, nothing with a face. Not just that, no added fat either. That means no olive oil, no canola oil, at all (bet you thought olive oil was "heart healthy" too!).  And avocado and nuts? That's only for people who don't already have a heart condition. So you can say it's a "fat free vegan" diet that he is recommending to prevent and reverse heart disease.

What about a little chicken or a little cheese once in a while? That can't hurt me, right? Wrong! "Moderation kills" he says. No amount of animal derived food is safe if you want to protect your body, he says.  That's how the cultures that have no heart disease eat.

"That's crazy" you say, "too radical for me!" Well, to be honest, that's probably what I would have been saying if I hadn't seen the evidence myself, presented live by the doctor that did the research. Now that I've seen it folks, I just can't ignore it. Sorry!

If you'd like a summary of his findings, I highly recommend reading this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/heart-disease-a-toothless_b_334285.html

And here is a recipe that I made tonight for dinner, based on a recipe in his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, which is, in fact, 50% a cookbook (how fun!). The recipes are REALLY quick and easy, and all fit my high volume, low calorie requirements (yeah!). Served with a side salad or soup, this would make a filling lunch or dinner.

Roasted Portobello Mushroom, Spinach and Roasted Red Pepper Sandwich
serves 1, 3 or 4 WW Points per serving (depending on your hummus)

2 slices Ezekial Bread
2 Portobello Mushrooms
Balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp hummus
2 roasted red, yellow or orange peppers (I used ones from a jar that I got at Trader Joe's-they're fabulous)
fresh spinach

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place portobello mushrooms on it, top up. Spray very lightly with cooking spray. Turn over and drizzle underside with balsamic vinegar. Spray lightly with cooking spray.  Roast for 15 minutes, turn over and roast for another 15 minutes.

Toast ezekial bread. Spread 1/2 of hummus on each toasted slice.  Top with roasted pepper, then a roasted portobello mushroom cap and then as much fresh spinach as you can pile on.  It's a bit messy to eat, but totally worth it. Enjoy!

And in case I have peaked your interest about Dr. Esselstyn's work, or you are looking for a mess of low calorie, healthy recipes, here's a link to purchase his book on Amazon. A percentage of the profits go to supporting Healthy Girl's Kitchen if you order using this link.

Minty Green Smoothie

OMG! That's the only way to describe this yummy green smoothie. I happen to be a big fan of anything with mint, especially sweet things with mint. And I was inspired this morning by a blog posting on http://www.soapandchocolate.com/ that was a guest post on http://www.choosingraw.com/ today about creativity with food. Check it out, it's really funny and inspiring.

Superfantastic Mint Smoothie

1 1/2 small or 1 large banana, frozen, cut into large chunks

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk

2 large dates, pitted

about 7 ice cubes

3/4 cup frozen spinach

1 Tbsp flax meal (aka ground flaxseed)

a drip of peppermint extract-be careful, you can always add more once you taste it!

Place all ingredients in a blender (preferably a high powered one) and blend until smooth.

My love of mint goes so deep, that this smoothie will become one of my staple smoothies. What are your thoughts on mint? Love it or hate it?

I also want to make you aware of another great blog posting that I read this morning. If you have been following Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, this will be of particular interest.

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/healthy-food-jamie-olivers-food-revolution.html

Raw Banana Coconut Ice Cream

Happy Monday! Well, just in case you are not so excited about it being Monday, I am here to cheer you up. How? By letting you know that you can have "ice cream" and feel good about it. Now, I am pretty certain that this is best done in a high powered blender such as a Vita Mix, but if you don't have one, go ahead and try it and let me know if it works in a regular blender. It is creamy and sweet and chewy and oh-so-yummy . . . everything you want in an ice cream.

Raw Banana Coconut Ice Cream with Cacao Nib Crunch

serves 2

3 frozen bananas (they should be very ripe when you freeze them and be frozen for at least 24 hours)

1/3 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut

approx. 3 Tbsp. almond milk or soy milk, or even cow's milk if that's all you've got

sprinkling of cacao nibs for each serving

Break or cut each banana into 4 chunks. Place in Vita Mix blender with coconut and almond milk. Turn on blender and let it do it's magic. Serve with cacao nibs sprinkled on top.

Rawsome Spagetti and Marinara Sauce

One of the popular ideas in the world of raw food recipes is that of vegetables substituting in for noodles.  It was an intriguing concept to me and I was able to taste it for the first time at the Raw Food Meetup that I attended a while back.  My suspicions were right! It was really yummy.

It inspired me to purchase a "spiralizer" ak.a. "spiral slicer" through Amazon, but I was too scared to use it at first, hearing that it was a little tricky to figure out this Japanese gizmo.  So I went on YouTube and surely enough there were many videos posted about how to use a spiral slicer. And do you know what? It was soooo easy! So easy and so tasty that I am already making it again  for some friends that are coming over tonight for dinner.

I am not kidding, this stuff tastes like spagetti!  Now of course your raw zucchini noodles need an amazing raw sauce.  And famous raw food personality Ani Phyo lived up to her reputation and provided a recipe for the most amazing marinara sauce I have ever tasted--raw or not.

Ani was kind enough to share her INCREDIBLE recipe for raw spagetti with marinara sauce with the world:

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-ribbons-with-raw-tomato-marinara

You can find this an other great raw recipes in her cookbook that I have featured below.

I wish you could be here tasting this with me, it's mind expanding . . . and delicious!

And please don't forget . . . you can vote every day!
I have entered a contest for the best mommy food blog. If you are a fan, just scroll down the list until you find me, Wendy Solganik, and then give me the thumb's up. Thanks! Your effort is much appreciated!

http://www.babble.com/babble-best/top-50-mommy-food-blogs/nominate-a-food-blog/

Show Healthy Girl's Kitchen Some Love!

Greetings all Healthy Girl's Kitchen fans!

I have entered a contest for the best mommy food blog. If you are a fan, just scroll down the list until you find me, Wendy Solganik, and then give me the thumb's up. Thanks! Your effort is much appreciated!

http://www.babble.com/babble-best/top-50-mommy-food-blogs/nominate-a-food-blog/

Chewing Gum for Weight Loss

My awesome friend Karen from L.A. was so kind to share with us a strategy that has been helpful for her. Let us know what your thoughts are and if you have an interesting strategy that is working for you. Thanks Karen!

"I have found that chewing gum has been helpful for my weight loss plan this time around. In addition to using the Weight Watcher's point system and moving more and more toward a vegan and nutrarian food plan, I am also chewing gum.

I enjoy chewing gum, especially right after a meal when I want something sweet, when I am working on the computer and when I am driving. I live in LA so I spend a lot of time driving, for work and in my personal life (chauffeuring my kids around.) I used to snack on low point foods at those times, like rice crackers, sea weed and fruit. But I have found that chewing gum is just as satisfying and perhaps more so because there is no guilt (i.e. eating when I am not hungry) associated with it.

I spoke to my dentist, and she said that chewing sugarless gum with Xylitol is actually good for your teeth and helps to keep them clean and white. I have had to experiment a bit to find gums that work for me. I started with good ole' Trident in my favorite minty flavors (wintergreen and cinnamon.) What I found was that there were two unexpected side effects that were not at all pleasant. One is that I chewed so much that my jaw got sore. Really sore. And two, the minty flavors did something to the inside of my mouth and tongue that I find difficult to explain. It made the inside of my mouth sort of raw and affected my ability to taste foods. So I talked to a friend who is an occupational therapist and she suggested other possible techniques (i.e. chew on a straw, chew on a plastic bottle cap, chew on a piece of plastic tubing, find a softer gum). So through trial and error, I have discovered softer gums that work better for me (chewing on plastic didn't do the trick!).

Trident has a gum called Layers in Strawberry/Citrus and Apple/Pineapple. They start out very soft and have a lot of flavor for quite a long time. When the piece of gum starts to get at all tough to chew, I get rid of it and start over with new, softer pieces (I like to chew two pieces at a time). The other thing is that I take breaks from chewing. I could chew all day if it didn't mess up my jaw. But I have a history of TMJ (I realize this may be too much information), and so I have to be careful to take breaks from chewing.

Orbit also has some nice flavors of gum like Sweet Mint. It is not quite as soft as Trident Layers, but I use it for variety sometimes and am mindful not to chew it for too long. Sometimes I embarrass my teenage kids by "chomping on my gum," (you know, the thing your mother told you not to do when you were a kid.) I just figure it is a small price to pay for my personal health and fitness. Overall, they have been very supportive and proud of my successes and I also notice them asking for pieces of gum when we are in the car!


:)

Karen"

Creamy Broccoli and Potato Soup

Everyone who tried this soup today loved it! Bright green broccoli florets float prettily in this hearty soup, but it's broccoli stems that do the real work. They're cooked with the potatoes and then pureed to form a creamy base. A optional final touch of Parmesan gives the soup an Italian feel.

Creamy Broccoli and Potato Soup

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

12 cups vegetable (or chicken) broth (3 boxes)

4 large potatoes, peeled and medium diced (I used Russet because that's what I had on hand)

2 bunches broccoli, stems removed and rough chopped, reserve the florets

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large soup pot.  When oil is hot, add chopped onion. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until onions are translucent but not brown, about 10 minutes. Turn down heat a bit if onions start to brown.

Add vegetable (or chicken) broth, chopped broccoli stalks, diced potatoes, 1.5 tsp salt and pepper to pot. Cover pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, turn heat to low and let simmer, covered, until potatoes are easily broken with a spoon.  Using a hand (immersion) blender, puree contents of pot.

Remove from heat and add broccoli florets. Stir and let sit for a few minutes until florets are soft. Taste soup and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.  Serve immediately or refridgerate and save for later. 

I served the Creamy Broccoli and Potato Soup for dinner tonight with a salad that I made out of Dr. Fuhrman's Eat for Health cookbook. It is called Quinoa Bean Salad, and according to my husband Randy, it is "extraordinary" and "out of control," which is what I'm finding with all of the recipes from Eat for Health.  It's got currants, carrots, quinoa, walnuts, goji berries, tomatoes, peppers, garlic and chili powder.  I'm pretty sure that Dr. Fuhrman wouldn't be too happy with me if I started publsihing his recipes to the web, so if you are interested, you'll just have to buy the book!

P.S. I served the Quinoa Bean Salad over a large bed of chopped romaine lettuce and arugula. I find that serving a higher calorie, albeit nutritious, grain/bean salad over a bed of lettuce is a better way to go to fill me up on fewer calories while still being amazing and delicious.

My Friend Chantal's Story--Cut Out Sugar, Lose the Weight

Will Rogers said, "A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet." Well, this weeks story comes from a stranger to me, but I'm sure she is a friend I haven't met yet. Thank you so much for sharing your experience and wisdom Chantal. I look forward to meeting you someday. Enjoy!

I struggled some with my weight when I was in high school and after graduating. I probably was not that overweight – maybe ten or fifteen pounds. I don’t remember weighing myself and my clothing was around a size twelve. My mother would often remind me that after a 12 didn’t fit I would have to shop in a “fat store”. I tried a couple diets in those years with limited success. Food was always a fun thing to do with friends – get ice cream, go out for pizza, parties with lots of food.
In my first year of college I put on about ten pounds and then took it off the next year. When I got married I weighed about 160. After I got married I was busy learning how to cook and bake. We entertained regularly and I loved to impress our many guests with my culinary talents. Every year my weight kept going up and up. I joined Weight Watchers when I weighed 200 pounds and took off 50 pounds. I think I stayed at that weight for about 10 minutes – the time it took me to drive myself back home! I thought that the diet was over and I could get back to eating whatever I wanted. Boy was I wrong! Several years later I was at a new all time high weight. Again, I took off some of that weight. When I became pregnant I weighed 190 pounds and was feeling pretty good. I had a healthy pregnancy and managed to lose about half of the weight I had gained. The joys of motherhood kept me pretty busy and I didn’t really think about what I was eating. I didn’t have time for exercise, either. When my son was five years old I was at a new high weight of over 250 pounds. Whenever I would look at pictures (which wasn’t very often) I didn’t even recognize myself. I didn’t have much faith in diets anymore and felt I didn’t have the willpower to try a structured plan of any kind. My family kept reminding me of the health risks I was subjecting myself to.

I finally decided that my answer lied in gastro bypass surgery and made an appointment to talk to a surgeon. Thank G-d I met with this doctor and not another one. This surgeon was used to seeing people who weighed upwards of 300 pounds. He didn’t really think I should go through with the surgery and he recounted the various risks involved. Finally he stated that this surgery is the second most life-altering procedure possible. “What is the first most life-altering?” I asked. He replied, “a sex change.” Something about his comments really affected me and I gave up on the idea then and there. Soon afterwards, I made an appointment with a physician who was working with a couple people I knew and giving them a low carb diet. I wasn’t excited about the whole idea, but I figured I was out of options.

The first few days were tough. I did not eat sugar, starches, fruits, and only had limited amounts of vegetables. The longer I stuck with it though, the easier it became. The weight came off quickly, too. The first month I was down 18 pounds and averaged about a 8-10 pound weight loss each month. After a year and eight months, I was at my goal weight of 133 pounds.

I remember speaking with a friend who was really working out a lot. She inspired me to get to the gym. I felt embarrassed to go being so overweight. Today she remembers when I told her that I didn’t even have a t-shirt big enough to wear!

I did join the gym and started out slowly – walking the track for 15 minutes. Next, I tried the elliptical machine. I remember trying so hard just to stay on for 7 minutes! Then it became 11, then 15, 20, 30, and finally 45 minutes.

Recently I was walking into the gym and someone kept looking at me. She approached me and lamented, “If only I had started to exercise when I was your size!” I laughed and told her my story!

Today I don’t think that much about food. Eating a moderate or low carb diet has freed me from cravings and being tempted by foods that aren’t good for me. For breakfast I might have two eggs or a sugar free yogurt with some high fiber cereal. Lunch is always a big spinach salad with tuna, cheese, or smoked turkey. Dinner might be chicken, salmon or veggie burgers with vegetables as a side dish. I snack on almonds, fruit, cheese and iced coffee. I never particularly enjoyed fruits or vegetables and now I love them! I have discovered all kinds of interesting ways to prepare vegetables that are really delicious (portabella mushrooms with marinara sauce and swiss cheese; spaghetti squash salad, asparagus teriyaki, etc.)

Exercise is probably the single most important factor in my weight maintenance regimen. I go to the gym before work almost every day. I alternate between the elliptical and treadmill machines. Currently I mostly run on the treadmill. The first time I tried jogging, I couldn’t do it for more than two minutes! Now I run for about 30 minutes. Saturday is my one day off. I reserve this day for stretching and resting. I have a personal trainer and working out with her has totally changed the shape of my body. I do most of my strength training at home with free weights. I also practice a few different yoga poses daily.

Recently I started a course in Fitness and Nutrition and am working toward becoming certified as a personal trainer. I am currently working at home as a weight loss coach. The first thing I tell my clients is that “If I could do it, you can do it!” I did not possess any special willpower or abilities over the next person. Losing weight is a conscience decision to make certain sacrifices for a specific goal. Believe in your ability to become a thin person and you will succeed!

Today, about six years later….

I am happy to say that I am still at a healthy weight… I did regain some weight after the birth of my second child (he’s now four) and was able to take it off. I would still like to lose 5-10 lbs. and can accept that I probably won’t get back down to that very low number.

My eating has changed a little bit. I am not quite as strict about avoiding sugar. Certain foods which contain small amounts of sugar fit into my lifestyle and help keep things simple. For example, I eat a South Beach meal replacement bar almost every single day (for the last three year) for lunch.

For some people variety is key but my experience has shown that basic and routine is the best strategy. I have spent many years studying weight loss and here’s a startling fact: America is blessed with far more food products than any other nation; we also have the highest rate of obesity in the world! These two points go hand in hand.

The name of my business in N.E.W. You which stands for Nutrition + Exercise = Weight Loss. That pretty much sums up what I believe works. Some days I am more inclined to exercise more and sometimes I am more inclined to watch my eating. Right now I believe that nothing can help a person lose weight more than cleaning up the food. I have seen too many people lose huge amounts of weight who have never exercised a day in their lives! Recent research is supporting this idea. Exercise is really about staying healthy, physically and mentally and helping maintain weight loss.

I do the best I can and try to be patient with myself. Let’s face it some days are better than others. I am so grateful to be battling ten pounds and not 50 or 100! I stay very goal oriented and that always helps me (i.e. get to the gym 5 times this week; wear a certain skirt for a future event; run a mile in 10 minutes, etc.)

Remember, being thin may not make you happy, but being fat will make you unhappy.

Do You Love Indian Food Like I Love Indian Food?

I'm a really big fan of most ethnic food, but my favorite by far is Indian food. Perhaps I was Indian in a past life, that's how much I love it.  And of all the Indian food I have had, one specialty tops my list.  Saag Paneer. A.k.a. Palak Paneer. It's a creamy, flavorful spinach puree with chunks of Indian cheese. So last year when I set out to lose weight, I immediately set out to find or create a low calorie saag paneer recipe. And you know what? It wasn't that hard.

I would serve this with Trader Joe's naan (frozen section-3 points per piece) and TJ's frozen brown rice (1 point for 1/3 cup) and raita (very low point value if made with non-fat yogurt).

Low Cal Saag Paneer
13 Weight Watchers points for the WHOLE recipe, plus each light cheese stick adds one point

1 Tbsp canola oil
6 medium or 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 Tbsp minced ginger
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce (I like Trader Joe’s Three Cheese)
3 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed or 2 (16 oz.) bags frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 bag fresh baby spinach
1 cup whole milk or coconut milk
1.25 Tbsp garam masala
1.25 Tbsp coriander
1.25 Tbsp cumin
1.5 tsp salt
Cayenne pepper to taste--add this at the end--be careful, there is already a lot of heat without this
Optional: For the paneer-1 or 1 1/2 Light Mozzarella String Cheese stick per person, each stick cut into 8 slices

Heat oil in a large pot on medium heat. Heat garlic and ginger until golden brown.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in tomato sauce, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt. Partly cover and simmer for 8-9 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in thawed spinach. When spinach is hot, add fresh baby spinach. When baby spinach has wilted, using a hand/immersion blender, puree mixture until it has as smooth of a of consistency as you like. Simmer 8-10 minutes until spinach turns olive green. Stir in milk. Taste mixture. If you like your Indian food spicy, now is the time to add some cayanne pepper.

Remove from heat. If serving immediately, stir in 1 to 1 1/2 sliced mozzarella cheese sticks per person.

If you know you will have leftovers, I recommend not stirring in the sliced cheese stick to the saag mixture that you will be refrigerating.  When you reheat the leftover saag, add the cheese as you heat and eat servings of this. The cheese is not supposed to be overly melted or stringy.

Raita

2 cups plain greek low fat or non fat yogurt
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeds removed, finely chopped or shredded
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch sugar
Pinch cayenne

Place the yogurt in a medium bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine. Stir well and serve. Keeps well in the refridgerator for a few days.

Don't Be Afraid of the Potato

So it turns out that until recently, I didn't know anything about how to bake a potato. Then all of a sudden I had a massive pile up of baking potatoes from my organic vegetable share and I just had to deal with it. So I got out my trusty copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (which, by the way, really should be titled, How to Cook Everything the Best Way Possible) and I followed his instructions. And I learned that a simple baked potato is a wonderful thing.

Perfectly crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, potatoes have gotten an unjustified really bad rap. But it's all about what you do to a potato. They are actually rather low in calories, very high in fiber and protein with virtually no fat.  A 3 ounce (weighed after baking) baked potato is 1.5 Weight Watchers points, a 5 ounce is 2 points, and a 7 ounce is 3 points. Not bad at all.  If you treat them this way, you don't have to be scared of a potato.

And don't even get me started on the sweet potato . . .

Perfectly Baked Potatoes

Baking potatoes, such as Idaho or Russet, well scrubbed and trimmed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poke holes in the potatoes with a fork or knife. Place potatoes in the oven directly on the rack (not in aluminum foil) and bake for 1 1/4 hours, or until you can easily poke a thin-bladed knife into them.

Serve immediately as is, or with salt, pepper, greek yogurt, veggies and tomato sauce or other healthy toppings!

Do You Know What is in the Restaurant Food You are Eating?

I call them "Weight Watcher Moments."

They go something like this: You have a favorite restaurant that you go to regularly, feeling really good about eating the healthy food that is on their menu.  Or maybe the restaurant doesn't have many healthy choices, but you scour the menu and make the best choice you can to spare your waistline (a la California Pizza Kitchen). Then, at some point in the near or far future, you are privy to the nutritional information from the menu items that you have been eating. You see exactly how many calories are in "that" food. And it's not pretty. And you wished you had known how high in calories that thing was before you so happily put it in your mouth. Regret.

One of my standout Weight Watcher moments came after years of choosing the "Fatoosh Salad with Chicken" at my favorite local Lebanese restaurant. It's a salad. Lots of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and well, a few toasted pita chips. And two small pieces of grilled chicken. And a dressing that isn't creamy. I totally believed this was a good choice for my health.  Then one day I rejoined Weight Watchers and I needed to log all of my food and account for it. So I did a quick online search and easily found all of the nutritional information for that favorite local Lebanese Restaurant. 

990

That's the number of calories in that salad that I was choosing to eat over and over again thinking I was doing myself a favor.

5

That's the number of minutes it would have taken me to find out before I went to the restaurant how many calories were in that salad.

So the next time you go out to eat, give it a shot. Look online and see if that restaurant posts their nutritional information. Lots and lots of restaurant nutritional information is posted on the Dottie's Weight Loss Zone website. http://www.dwlz.com/ Go ahead and ask the waitress or manager if they have it available at the restaurant.  We need to take care of ourselves, because clearly the vast majority of restaurants aren't taking care of us.

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/49512/unhealthiest-coffee-drinks-in-america/

Can Watching TV Actually Help You Lose Weight?

If you watch the right shows it can!

Do you know who Jamie Oliver is? Chances are at this point you do, but just in case you haven't caught wind of this, I'm here to spread his gospel. 

He is a British chef who's been on the Food Network for some time.  He recognized that the situation with obesity in England was out of control.  He made a big stink about the food that was being served to children in school breakfast and lunch programs and got England's schools to switch from processed food substitutes to real, actual food.  And now he's here in America trying to do the very same thing. Bless his heart!
http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution
The show airs on Friday nights and is totally worth TiVo'ing!

Sign his petition too . . .
http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

And if you are struggling with your weight, know that watching shows like this can actually help you to up your motivation level just by watching. They have a way of brainwashing you to want to eat healthy and exercise. If you would like to explore this furthur, search your television/internet for another British show called "You Are What You Eat." The host, Dr. Jillian McKeith, along with her staff, make it really, really easy for viewers to have a complete mind frame shift away from unhealthy, processed foods and towards healthy, real food. 
http://www.gillianmckeith.info/gillianmckeithtv/youarewhatyoueat.php

And of course, a dose of "The Biggest Loser" is very motivating.  They worked for me!

My Friend Jodi's Strategy--Muscle Up, Eat Whole Foods, Lots of It

Good Morning Readers. I'm so glad you are here! Today I would like to introduce you to my friend Jodi, who happens to be my Reformer Pilates instructor. I met her about one year ago, and all I can say is that hanging out with her actually inspires me to want to be more fit. Not a bad quality in a fitness instructor! Thanks for sharing Jodi.

My Relationship to Food

My family is mostly Polish, which means we come from meaty, bigger boned stock who survive on meat and potatoes. I was always told to finish my plate and had to politely ask ‘may I please be excused from the table?’ every night at the dinner table. My parents did not work out, and therefore did not enforce a fitness regimen onto me or my four brothers. This doesn’t mean we were lazy, we still all went through little league (myself included) and running and swimming around like mad as kids do. We drank whole milk, ate hostess snacks, Dorittos, Velveeta cheese, Microwave popcorn with extra butter, and the list of terrible processed food goes on and on. Basically whatever my mother could get in bulk from BJ’s, we ate. She made waffles for dinner, and we put salt on everything including pizza.

So when my overweight father would vocally notice the extra pounds on me or my mother, it’s no wonder in highschool I became weight conscious and obsessed. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, so I would run for miles without stretching. I would eat only labels that back then were the thing to boast “FAT FREE”, not knowing the jargon was code for “extra sugar and salt and other unnatural processed chemicals”. If you saw my prom photo you wouldn’t recognize my chubby face and big arms. I was not popular either, so trying to be thin and pretty was a way to find acceptance.

In college I had a meal card, which to me meant free food, and so my first year of school I used it as though money grew on trees. By the end of my freshmen year I weighed about 140lbs. Now that’s not a huge amount in this day and age, but on my 5’3” smaller sized, yet big boned frame, it was. My first summer of college I went away to perform in shows that consisted of me dancing and singing in 20-minute long shows, 10 times a day at a theme park in New Hampshire. Dancing your butt off in 90 degree humid heat will take those extra pounds off in three short months! So will a really obsessed girl in the cast who introduced me to more fat free tricks and vitamin supplements, not to mention behavior that border-lined as neurotic. I became obsessed with food and with being skinny. No, not just skinny, but bone thin. I wanted people to be able to see my ribs. I wanted people to hug me and feel a frail thin bean pole underneath my clothes. Again, I looked for acceptance and attention.

I returned to school and people could hardly recognize me, though they flattered me with many compliments of how great I looked. So I pressed on. I was learning to dance in a musical theatre program around bean pole ballerinas who lived on apples. Our bodies were our temples, our instruments that people paid money to watch on stage. By the end of my sophomore year I weighed in at a scary 110lbs. That still sounds normal to some people, but on my smaller 5’3”, bigger boned frame, I looked like I had just survived a holocaust. My diet had almost 0 fat in it. There were days I didn’t eat until dinner time, thinking I was doing my body a favor. My mother had had enough when she saw me at the end of the year and to top it off with severe diarreah issues. She sent me to a nutritionist, where I learned about the 40-30-30 system of balanced eating. (40 protein, 30 fat, 30 fiber, I think it is) I danced in more shows that summer and soon became a healthy 120lb girl who stayed within that range for the next 10 years.

After college I worked at a health club where I had free nutritional counseling simply for working there. It was there I started to understand weight vs. body fat %. I looked ok at 120lbs, but with little muscle. My fat % came in at 36%, which was unheard of and considered too high for a 22 year old. I became obsessed again. I hired a trainer at half off (because I worked there) and joined a “lose fat %” contest, and won 6 months later, coming in at a lean 22%.

Through out my 20’s I fell in and out of love with exercise and dieting. I ate what I wanted, and drank what I wanted, almost never ate breakfast, thinking coffee or sugary lattes were enough to sustain me through the mornings. I did not pay attention to food labels, except for the calories, fat, protein, and sugar values. I didn’t care what was in the food, as long as I was full and didn’t gain weight from it. Lean Cuisine meals were cheap and tasted ok, so I ate one every day for lunch. I walked 4 miles about 3 times a week in the summer. I saved up all my “bad foods” and alcoholic drinks for the weekends, where I binged, and made up for it the following week…and so the cycle went on.

Skip ahead 10 more years. I am now 32 years old, between 15 and 18% body fat, and could come close to winning at arm wrestling with most of my brothers. What brought me back from the nutritional dead was my constant type A personality to be the best at everything. I was not very pretty in highschool, but I could sing better than anyone. It wasn’t enough. It never is. I would walk around the gym in my 20’s and look at the beautifully sculpted women and ask them how they got to be so strong and fabulous. I learned by watching and reading.

Then Pilates entered my life, and I was able to focus on the inside. Finally something that made sene. I was able to build up my back muscles and abdominal muscles so that I could carry my posture and stand taller than anyone. When I ran, or lifted, or practiced yoga, all the pieces and parts came together because I was tough, and had the abdominals and back muscles to prove it. Then the foodie in me began to take shape, just as my body had. Suddenly eating a processed meal didn’t sit as well. Fresh vegatables and good old fashioned butter and olive oil felt better than fat free vegetable oil. Real grass fed meats sat better in my stomach than overly salted cold cuts from subway. If I am hungry and have no time to eat, I would never in a million years stop at Wendy’s, no matter how terrible I felt. I would stick it out until a Whole Foods was in sight.

To sum up, I still drink, sometimes too much. I still eat French fries and a pub burger every other month or so. I love food and I almost always still finish my plate. I work out almost 10 times a week and my body is constantly craving food, so I listen to it and feed it. Now I just feed it consistently with whole foods, not partially hydrogenated fructose saturated corn syrupy unnatural chemicals. Raw, wholesome foods.

I could die tomorrow in a car accident, or live to be 103, all I know is no matter when that day inevitably happens, doctors will cut me open and be amazed at how healthy my instrument has been maintained.

Big Family Dinner #4

We had so much fun hosting our friends and their kids this week at dinner.  If I say so myself, this was one of my best dinners yet! Got rave reviews from all of the men at the dinner.  No original photo's this week, Sophia has her camera in Washington, D.C.  Here was this week's menu:

Grape juice
Matzoh
Celery and Potato Soup (recipe below)
Green Salad with Hearts of Palm, Avocado, Pepitas and Red Peppers
Perfectly Roasted Catalina Chicken (recipe below)
Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with a Hint of Honey (recipe below)
Brazilian-Style Kale
Soy ice cream from Trader Joe's

Celery and Potato Soup

Based on a recipe I found on The Daily Green. Read more: http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/recipes/2544#ixzz0jgTOXw0X  Creamy and rich, yet low calorie and healthy, this nourishing celery soup took center stage.  Makes12 servings-enough for dinner and leftovers!

1 large bunch celery with leaves (about 2 pounds)
2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
8 cups vegetable broth (2 boxes)
5 medium all-purpose potatoes (about 2 3/4 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 cups water

Trim ends from celery stalks. Slice celery stalks and leaves crosswise into 1-inch pieces; transfer to colander. Rinse and drain well.

In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add celery and leaves, onion, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook 20 to 25 minutes or until celery is soft but not browned, stirring occasionally.

Add broth, potatoes, and water to saucepot; cover and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.

With a handheld immersion blender, blend very well until pureed.  If serving immediately, ladle soup into a tureen or bowls. Or refridgerate soup and save for later!

Perfectly Roasted Catalina Chicken
This is one of those incredibly easy and fast crowd pleasing dishes. I can't say that it qualifies as a "Healthy Girl's Kitchen" recipe, but as long as I'm serving it with lots of other healthy dishes, I'm okay with it.

1 large bottle Catalina Salad dressing, non-fat if you prefer
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 jar apricot preserves
as much chicken as you need for the crowd you are feeding--skin on/bone in chicken breasts and thighs/legs (1 pound of chicken per 2 people)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash, prep and dry chicken. Place chicken onto aluminum foil lined cookie sheets or a roasting pan or glass baking dishes. Rub olive oil onto chicken and season liberally with salt and pepper. Bake chicken at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

While chicken is baking, in a bowl, mix dressing, soup mix and cranberry sauce.  After chicken has cooked for 25 minutes, remove chicken from oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees.   Pour sauce over chicken (if there is leftover sauce, you can heat it and serve it like a gravy).  Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Roasted Parsnips and Carrots with a Hint of Honey
lots of carrots
lots of parsnips
olive oil spray
salt
pepper
honey

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Peel carrots and parsnips. Cut carrots and parsnips into long strips of roughly equal size. Onto a cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil spray, arrange cut veggies in a single layer. Lightly spray veggies with more olive oil spray and then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Roast veggies for about 45 minutes, but keep turning them over and moving them around every 20 minutes. They are done when they start to get crispy and brown on the edges.

Remove from oven and very lightly drizzle honey over the carrots and parsnips.

Transfer to a serving bowl but do not cover or they will get soggy. Can be served immediately or later at room temperature. Great cold as a leftover too!

Brazilian-Style Kale
at least 1 1/2 pounds kale, washed, dried and removed from tough stems
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Chop the kale into fairly small pieces (about 2 inches).

Heat a large skillet over high heat.  Add the oil to the skillet and let it heat for a few seconds.  Place the kale and garlic into the hot skillet.  Cook over high heat, stirring and turning almost constantly, until the kale begins to wilt and brown (anywhere from 3 to 8 minutes).  The kale will substantially reduce in size.

Season with salt and pepper and add the red wine vinegar.  Serve immediately (I did prepare this a little ahead of time and put it into a covered serving bowl--it was great).

It's Easy Being Green

If you aren't a Nutrarian yet, what are you waiting for?

Leafy Green Vegetables, The Fountain of Youth
By Dr. Joel Fuhrman
http://www.examiner.com/x-36995-Philadelphia-Family-Health-Examiner~y2010m3d31-Leafy-green-vegetables-the-fountain-of-youth

Green leafy vegetables are the most nutrient dense of all foods, and are extremely low in calories. Unfortunately, leafy greens are consumed only in tiny amounts in the typical American diet. To stress the importance of eating raw leafy greens daily for good health, I advise my patients and readers of my books to consider salad to be the “main dish” of their meals.

Raw green salad contains less than 100 calories per pound - people trying to lose weight can consume virtually unlimited quantities of raw leafy greens. The majority of calories in green vegetables, including leafy greens, come from protein. This may sound surprising since our culture usually associates protein with animal products. But if we look at nature, most of the biggest animals – elephants, gorillas, giraffes – eat primarily leafy green plants. Unlike animal products, the protein in leafy greens is packaged with beneficial phytochemicals rather than disease-causing substances like saturated fat and cholesterol.

Disease protection. Consuming more plant protein and less animal protein is an excellent tool both for weight loss and for overall good health. In fact, adding more leafy green vegetables to the diet was found to decrease the risk of diabetes, and raw greens provide powerful protection against cancer.1

Plant fiber, present in plentiful amounts in leafy greens, is also extremely important for good health. Although humans are not capable of digesting plant fiber, the bacteria in our intestines are. When these bacteria digest small amounts of plant fiber from our diets, they produce beneficial substances that we can then absorb, such as vitamin K and vitamin B12. Plant fiber also holds water in the digestive tract, which is beneficial for bowel health and protective against colon cancer.

Green leafy vegetables provide us with countless protective micronutrients and phytochemicals – here are few examples:

Carotenoids. Leafy greens are rich in antioxidant pigments called carotenoids, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin, which are the only carotenoids known to be involved in vision. These pigments promote visual function and protect against age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of blindness in older Americans.2

Folate. Folate, the natural form of folic acid, is abundant in green vegetables, including leafy greens. Folate is crucial for women because it prevents certain birth defects, and also may prevent cancers of the breast, prostate, and colon.3 Consuming plenty of folate-rich vegetables can also help to prevent cognitive decline with aging.4

Calcium. We are often led to believe that dairy products are the best sources of calcium, but many plant foods such as leafy greens, nuts, and seeds are calcium-rich foods. Certain leafy greens, such as kale and bok choy, have a uniquely high level of calcium availability. Over 50% of the calcium in kale and bok choy can be absorbed by the human body – compare this to only 32% in milk.5 We can much more readily absorb calcium from kale and bok choy than from dairy products.

Omega-3s. Leafy greens and green vegetables provide omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for heart and brain health, and help to maintain an anti-inflammatory environment in the body.

If you’d like to add more raw leafy greens to your diet, blended salads are a great method for enjoying these foods. A blended salad, or green smoothie, is a combination of raw leafy greens and other foods like fruits and nuts, blended together to make a smooth, creamy drink. When the leafy greens are blended, the plant cell walls break open, releasing valuable nutrients - chewing alone cannot break apart most of these cell walls. Eating raw leafy greens in salad form provides numerous nutrients, but we can absorb even more nutrients from the greens when we put them in the blender. Also there are many people who have difficulty digesting intact raw greens – blended salads are an excellent way for these people to reap the nutritional benefits of raw greens without the discomfort.

Green leafy vegetables provide us with a broad spectrum of micronutrients in a low-calorie package, and should be eaten in large quantities for excellent health. Remember – the salad is the main dish.

References:

1. Bazzano LA et al. Diabetes Care. 2008 Jul;31(7):1311-7.

Link LB et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004 Sep;13(9):1422-35.

Tang L et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Apr;17(4):938-44.

2. Stringham JM et al. J Food Sci 2009

3. Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Apr;83(4):895-904.

Figueiredo JC et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2009 Mar 18;101(6):432-5.

Fife J et al. Colorectal Dis. 2009 Oct 27

4. Tucker KL et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005; 82: 627.

5. Weaver CM et al. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;70(suppl):543S–8S

A Blogger Award?

Wow! Thank you to the two wonderful ladies over at the Diet Buddy Girls blog for awarding me my first ever blog award!  http://dietbuddygirls.blogspot.com/  That was really, really nice of you!