Chocolate Banana Chia Seed Pudding, It's What's for Breakfast

Chia seeds. A year ago I didn't even know what these little buggers were. Now I can't live without em.
For everything you ever wanted to know about this superfood click here. Chia seeds make an amazing pudding, creamy and crunchy at the same time. 

For this breakfast pudding, mix 2 Tbsp chia seed with 1/2 cup nut milk (I use unsweetened almond milk). Let sit for a few minutes and then stir (a must!). Then, mix in 1 scoop of Amazing Grass Green Superfood Chocolate Drink Powder. Cover and refrigerate until ready for next step.

Make banana softserve. In a high speed blender or food processor, place 1 1/2 frozen bananas, cut into chunks. Drizzle in a little unsweetened almond milk and blend, tamping down and scraping down sides until banana becomes smooth and creamy. Scoop out of blender and put it on top of the chocolate chia pudding. OMG

You could top the chocolate chia pudding with fresh berries or just about anything you like if you don't have the time to make the banana softserve.

Plant Strong or Plant Perfect

I just came back from the most amazing weekend in Amish Country with a bunch of great friends. I was more relaxed than I have been in over a decade. Was I able to eat a 100% vegan diet on my trip? No. What I ate was less than my ideal and could definitely be described as plant strong, but NOT plant perfect. There was cow involved.

I was so looking forward to the trip and now that I am back, I can't believe that it came and went in a flash and now I am back to reality. The reality of fighting kids and potty training and stressful work situations and never enough hours in the day.

And back to Healthy Girl's Kitchen. Yeah! Keeping this blog is what I do for me, and if I can participate in helping others and repairing the world just a little bit, well, that's an amazing bonus. So I was so thrilled when I turned my computer on this morning and found, amongst a long list of e-mails, some real gold.

First, an e-mail from a reader that I want to share in it's entirety.

"I subscribed to your website. I visit it every once in a while, and have loved hearing about the popcorn deal. You go girl.


May I vent to you for a minute....

Well, I've been falling off the wagon with this whole vegan thing. (well at least my very partial vegan thing!) I went to Florida for a week and stayed with my mom. My simple request was fresh vegi's, fruit and whole grains. Well that didn't happen. She bought me some canned vegi's and some enriched wheat bread. Thank god she has a mango tree in her backyard, because that was my only thing going. Oh, she did buy my almond milk.

It's amazing that now that I am so aware, and my eyes are open - the crap that the rest of the world is eating. It's the way I grew up, it's the way they still eat. I opened her fridge and cabinets and wanted to take a big garbage bag and throw everything out. All my mom does complain about how she has heartburn and is constipated, and how she is overweight. Hello - get rid of the processed crap....

We would be making dinner and I would be steaming some vegetables, (which I had to go out and buy ) and I would turn my back, and she would put margarine or cheese in them. As soon as I went to try to say stop, she would say stuff like - Oh Michelle, I just put a little in there. Or we would be sitting out at the pool and she would bring out a plates of salami/cheese, potato chips, and crap.

I feel bad, because my parents eat so crappy and complain about their health. I tried to tell her some tips, and she didn't want to hear about any of it....

This was the first time in my life, I am worried about them - and there is nothing I can do. They are caught up in the American way of eating. Its so scary that that was me, too.

So thanks Wendy, for helping me to stay focused and continue this lifestyle. I am very lucky to be surrounded by friends who live a healthy and enjoy life doing so.

So, I'm trying to get back on schedule and get back to healthy eating. As of today - no dairy for me!!!"

Wow.

And now for Part II. My Uncle Bob (isn't it funny how everyone has an Uncle Bob?) from San Diego who is home recovering from MAJOR, scary surgery on his head sent me the following link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/business/22stream.html?ref=health It's totally worth reading the entire article, but in case you don't have the time, I'll summarize it here.

We are in a health crisis of epic proportions. Obesity and it's related diseases has got to be stopped. But, as individuals, we are almost powerless against this beast. The easy availability of cheap, fatty, and unhealthy food, combined with our sedentary lifestyles spent in front of computer/tv screens is the cause. But the solution does not lie in individuals changing their habits (read the article to find out why). It will take a collective and mass movement to alter our world (for the better I think) so that healthy food is available in mass and that together we can reverse this trend.

So to my friend who shared her story about her visit to her parents home I have this to say: Stay strong! This journey is not going to be easy. The type of collective change that we need to achieve is going to take years, if not generations. But the fight is worth it. Some people need to be the pioneers, the warriors, the town criers. Your mom may not hear you right now, or ever, but your children will thank you for it. Society will thank you for it.

And don't even think twice about what you ate last week. Let it go. We cannot control what we eat all of the time, just most of the time. This weekend in Amish Country I had very little control over what I ate. I did my best, but my best certainly wasn't what I consider very good.  This will happen in life, unless you become a hermit.

Which is why I have so strongly attached to Rip Esselstyn's expression, "plant strong, not plant perfect." The world is not easy to navigate when you are trying to eat a no-added-fat, vegan diet. But it is more important to just let it go, get back on the wagon and keep trying after a "fall" than to spend time dwelling on it and berating yourself.

What does it mean to be "plant strong?" To me, it means that every time I eat, I focus on finding or preparing vegetables, both fresh and cooked, fruit, beans and real whole grains. Avocado, young coconut, nuts and seeds to a far lesser extent.  As long as I am filling up on those three food groups, I don't have much room left in my belly for other stuff.  You will be totally surprised if you try it. It works! You absolutely can be plant strong, but few people can be plant perfect every day for the rest of their lives in the real world that we live in today. Maybe someday in the future, maybe in our lifetimes, maybe not.

So to my friend who spent the week in a far less than ideal environment, and to myself after this weekend, I say, "Just let it go." Today is a new day, a day that we can be plant strong. Have a great day everyone!

Update on the Puffed Corn Controversy

Okay, I just had to let you guys know the next chapter in the Honey Puffed Corn controversy. I was at the farmer's market on Saturday morning and I made a b-line for the Amish farm that was selling the Honey Puffed Corn. Interestingly, they had made a huge display of the product this week. Were they expecting to sell a lot of it? Nothing about the label had changed. It still said that each bag had one serving and that one serving was 25 calories.

So I went right over, excited to get my stash of this low calorie yummy crunchiness. I was like, "I'll take 10 bags please. But, oh, by the way, do you really think that this entire bag has only 25 calories? It seems like it might be mislabeled?"

To which one of the people from the farm chimed in, "Oh, yes, it is mislabeled and we have the corrected nutritional information right here."

"Can I see it please?" I responded.

And there it was, in all of it's horrific glory, the correct nutritional information. 140 calories. Not bad, huh? Well, it is when you hear the rest. Each bag has 3 servings. That's 420 calories per bag folks. NOT 25 CALORIES per bag! OMG!

"I'll take my money back," I said, "you can have these Honey Puffed Corn bags back."

Why, knowing that the bags are mislabeled are they still selling them without informing people? What do you think? Is it their responsibility to not sell any more bags until the labeling is corrected? Or at least take a pen and cross out the incorrect calorie information? Seriously, what do you think?

Vegan Italian Vegetable Casserole

Last week I was asked to prepare a vegetable side dish for a dinner party that we were attending. In my enthusiasm for vegetables, I decided to prepare two. One tried and true and one new and untested.

So I went to a handy-dandy website, http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ and decided to try Susan's Italian Layered Vegetable Casserole. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2009/05/italian-layered-vegetable-casserole.html I adjusted the proportions of the ingredients from the original recipe. I was totally surprised at this casserole's awesomeness. I'm inspired too. Inspired to make it again and try out my own unique versions of it. It would be fabulous with even more vegetable layers, maybe fresh tomato and basil or portobella mushrooms. You could even add precooked whole wheat lasagna noodles and make it into a vegan lasagna. You really can take this thing wherever you want.

Here's my first version of this vegan, low calorie yummimess. More versions to follow in the near future!

Italian Layered Vegetable Casserole
makes 8 servings, 2 Weight Watchers points per serving

2 large eggplants
2 medium-large zucchini, sliced thinly (or 2-4 cups sliced vegetables of your choice, such as mushrooms)
chopped parsley, garnish
28 ounces of your favorite pasta/tomato sauce

Filling:
16oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 lb tofu (firm, reduced-fat recommended–not silken!)
1 tsp. salt (optional)
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy taste)
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. rosemary, crushed
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Peel the eggplants, if desired (this makes the casserole easier to cut). Cut into 1/4-inch slices. Pre-cook the slices until they are partially dehydrated: To pre-cook in the oven, place on a silicone baking mat or parchment-covered baking sheet. Bake at 450 F until slices are shriveled but not brown or crispy. About 25 minutes. Remove immediately from baking sheet and place on a plate.

Prepare the filling by placing all ingredients into a food processor and processing until smooth.

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a mid-sized rectangular casserole dish (I used 9x13-inch) with canola oil or non-stick spray. Put a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the dish–just barely enough to cover the bottom. Arrange 1/3 of the eggplant slices over the sauce. Spread 1/2 of the filling over the eggplant, and put half of the zucchini or other vegetables over the filling. Drizzle lightly with sauce. Repeat eggplant, filling, zucchini, and sauce. Place the final layer of eggplant over the top, and pour the remaining sauce evenly over it, spreading it to cover the eggplant completely.

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes. Check to make sure that zucchini is cooked and sauce has thickened; if not, add more time. Remove when done and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped parsley as garnish.

So what's been going on in your kitchen lately? Let me know!

Vegan Sushi Salad

I'm getting more and more ambitious in the kitchen.  I just read The Skinny Girl Dish, Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life by Bethenny Frankel and actually, I have been really inspired by the author's style of cooking. And it is not a vegan cookbook. It's very focused around ingredient substitutions that make cooking in your home more practical and more economical. She's even got a chapter called "Channeling Your Inner Chef" and, well, I'm starting to do that.

You see, I didn't go to culinary school and I have never worked in a restaurant.  Everything that I know about food came from watching and helping my mom in the kitchen, a little bit of home ec in 7th grade, a shit ton of time in front of, yes, The Food Network (and now, my new cooking resource, The Cooking Channel) and my own trial and error. So you'll have to excuse me if I am slow on the output of original recipes. I just don't have that level of kitchen confidence . . . yet. 

But the absolute best thing for me about Bethenny Frankel's new book is a sub chapter entitled "Your Fix-It Guide." It explains very simply how to season food with the three basic flavors: salt, sugar and acid. I won't give away her tricks, but I will tell you that I have saved many recipes now with her guidance.

Last night was one of those ultra-busy nights where I had to prepare dinner, feed my family and race into the car to get to my oldest's play performance by 6:45. No sweat though, because I had a moment of culinary genius earlier in the day when I knew just what to do!

In my refrigerator sat a bunch of leftovers from the sushi that I had made a few days ago, including cooked short grain brown rice, spears of cucumber, carrot, and mango. I also had a ton of roasted beets and some avocado. It was a risk, but I threw it all together and dressed it with rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds and agave syrup and BAM! a winner was born. My husband said it was one of the best things he has ever tasted.

Healthy Girl's Leftover Sushi Salad

All quantities are approximate and can be easily tailored to your tastes. Just throw in whatever veggies you want to use up.

6 cups of cooked brown rice

1 1/2 ripe avocados, diced

3/4 cup small diced carrots

3/4 cup small diced cucumber

1 cup diced mango

1 cup small diced roasted beets

1/4 cup raw sesame seeds

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp agave syrup

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy!

Vegan Spinach Zucchini Soup and Puffed Corn Calorie Controversy

This is Baby Kitty. We got her last summer at the North Union Farmer's Market.  She's a wild and lovable lap kitten. Don't worry, we washed the soup pot before making this:

Healthy Girl's Best Friend Soup

In my opinion, there is just no easier way to lose weight than by adding low calorie, high nutrient, soups to your daily diet. Here's the recipe for one of my favorites.  2 cups=1 Weight Watcher point

1 large onion, peeled and diced

6 cups vegetable broth

6 regular sized zucchini, diced large

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp seasoning blend of your choice

8 ounces frozen spinach

1 box frozen winter/butternut squash

1 cup unsweetened almond milk 

Heat soup pot on medium. Pour in a few tablespoons of vegetable broth. When the broth is bubbling, add onions and saute them until translucent. Adjust temperature on pot to prevent onions from burning.

Add the remaining vegetable broth and all of the zucchini  to the pot. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp seasoning blend of your choice.  Bring soup to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to low and simmer until zucchini are cooked through and soft.  Add frozen spinach and stir. Using a hand/immersion blender, puree soup.

Add frozen butternut squash and stir until squash is defrosted. Add almond milk and stir. Taste soup and adjust seasoning if necessary.

A bowl of vegan yumminess!

Ever wonder if the calorie count on a particular package is correct? Yesterday I ran into Holly, one of my Pilates buddies, at the Farmer's Market. She and her friend were excited about a product that was being sold by one of the Amish vendors. It was a pretty sizable package of Honey Puffed Corn and the label said that 1 bag is 25 calories. Imagine my excitement as I tasted some and it was crunchy, lightly sweet and really delicious.

Then I got to thinking, can this big bag of deliciousness really be only 25 calories? I hunted down the vendor and started asking questions, but all I got was a "Yes, it's 25 calories." I asked how that could be, if the other packages of puffed spelt and other puffed stuff had a lot more calories for the same volume.

So I went an little further in my exploration and found unsweetened puffed corn in the supermarket. Imagine my surprise when I saw the nutritional label. One cup is 60 calories! But the bag of Honey Puffed Corn from the Amish vendor had about 4 cups in it and it is sweetened, so how could it be only 25 calories? It's likely that the label is incorrect and the package probably contains over 240 calories of puffed corn.  

That's a serious calorie difference. Too bad, I though I had found the most perfect TV watching munchie food!

From High to Healthy Cholesterol and a Field Trip to Candle Cafe

The proof is in the vegan pudding . . .

I've got some fantastic news. The results of my blood work came back this week and over the course of the past year, my cholesterol has gone from 231 (considered borderline high) to 147! Wow! You can't believe how happy this makes me.  After years of thinking that I was doomed to taking cholesterol lowering medication because my mom has high cholesterol (incidentally, she is NOT overweight) and takes medication for it, I now see that cholesterol level is within my power to manage.  Thank you Esselstyn family!

Here are some of the details about cholesterol: total cholesterol above 240 mg/dL is considered “high risk.” Total cholesterol below 150 mg/dL is the total cholesterol level seen in cultures where heart disease is essentially nonexistent. www.heartattackproof.com/ There are two types of cholesterol, HDL ("happy" cholesterol) and LDL ("lousy" cholesterol).

LDL cholesterol can build up on the inside of artery walls, contributing to artery blockages that can lead to heart attacks. Higher LDL cholesterol levels mean higher risk. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is known as "good" cholesterol because it helps prevent arteries from becoming clogged. Higher HDL cholesterol levels generally mean lower risk.

My HDL cholesterol remained virtually unchanged over the year. It went from 50 to 51 (60 mg/dl is considered "best", I am in the "better" range). The enormous change came from the lowering of my LDL, from 181 all the way down to 96 (I went from being "borderline high" to "ideal").

I think the numbers speak for themselves. You can call this way of eating "fat free vegan" (a misnomer really) or "plant strong." I call it "miraculous"!

And on a less scientific note, I dragged my family to Candle Cafe in New York City a few weeks ago. We were in the tri-state area for a wedding and I was jonesing to go there after reading the incredible reviews of this restaurant and knowing how beloved it is. If you are already a vegan, you know what a relief it is to eat at a vegan restaurant as opposed to a standard restaurant.

It was hot as heck in The City and my kids were acting up, but we made it through the experience alive. Thank the universe that my friend Lisa from college met us there though, or I would have thought the whole trip was a waste. It just wasn't that good. And I am not a picky or extremely discerning eater.

Our waitress recommended the Cajin Seitan Sandwich, which I ordered and which was very tasty, but I was disappointed that it was served on a giant white bun. I mean, come on! But in the interest of fairness, the wrap sandwich that Lisa ordered and the Shepard's Pie that my daughter had were also good.

The truly disappointing dish was the Indian Plate (sweet potato curry, chick pea masala, yellow basmati rice, date-raisin chutney, cabbage salad and parata bread). I was so pumped up to taste how the Indian food at the restaurant would compare with the Indian food that I prepared at home using the Candle Cafe recipes.  I was shocked at my experience. The whole plate of food just looked and tasted like bad leftovers. What a bummer. At least I know that I don't have to travel to New York for great vegan food--it's accessible right in my own kitchen!

Vegan Bean, Corn and Broccoli Enchilada Casserole

This summer I have developed a confidence in the kitchen that I never had before. I am finally starting to develop my own recipes.

So this morning when I was flipping through my arsenal of healthy cookbooks looking for something to make for dinner, but not finding anything that seemed easy enough and satisfying enough, I happened upon an enchilada recipe. But instead of transcribing a list of ingredients from the cookbook onto my grocery list, I just started pulling out cans and jars from my cupboard.  Cilantro and broccoli were the only two things that I needed from the grocery store.

Healthy Girl's Kitchen Vegan Bean, Corn and Broccoli Enchilada Casserole
Serves 8, 4 Weight Watchers Points per serving

1 large head broccoli, washed and cut into florets (this would also be great with a big bag of frozen spinach, defrosted or any other combination of steamed veggies--the more the merrier!)
1 can fat free refried beans
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 jar of your favorite salsa, in this case I used Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa
1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped
1 package (6 count) Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas
1 jar or can of your favorite enchilada sauce

Fill the bottom of a large pot with two inches of water. Place a steamer basket into pot and put broccoli florets into the steamer. Let water come to a boil and steam broccoli until soft but not mushy. Remove pot from heat and let sit.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine next 5 ingredients and stir to combine. When broccoli is cool enough to handle, rough chop it and add it to the bean and corn mixture.

Spray a 9x13" casserole dish with cooking spray. Place two tortillas at into the casserole, letting the edges go up the sides of the dish a little. Place half of the bean, corn and broccoli mixture on to the tortillas and spread the mixture evenly.  Layer two more tortillas and the rest of the bean, corn and broccoli mixture. Place the last two tortillas on top. Finally, pour the entire can of enchilada sauce over the top and spread it out.

My husband said this was "excellent," my 10 year old daughter loved it, and I agreed with them both!

Getting Over My Aversion to Counting Weight Watchers Points . . . Again

I confess, ever since proclaiming on Saturday that I was going to get right back in to planning and tracking my food, things have not gone smoothly or well. I thought I would be able to jump right back in where I left off with my planning and tracking of what I ate every day, but that hasn't been the case. A combination of simply not remembering the points values for most foods and the sheer volume of eating that I do that is not done in my controlled home environment (restaurant eating and being a guest in other people's homes) has made it a struggle. How many points is a tablespoon of raisins? Heck if I can remember! Uuuugh, I've realized that I have to start all over.

And it's difficult to start all over.  My mind is playing tricks on me, making me question whether or not I want to put in the effort it takes to lose these 10 pounds again. I'm wondering if I'm okay with myself at my current weight. Scared that if I don't do something about these 10 pounds that the other 40 will creep back on before I even know it's happening. Not my shining hour, but not the worst place I have ever been either.

So this morning as I was deleting old e-mails, I came upon one from PeerTrainer's Tip of the Day program. And as I read it, it spoke to me in a new way, and I thought that I would share it with you in the hopes that it will inspire you too. It was written by Joshua Wayne who is a trained psychotherapist and the co-creator of the PEERtrainer Point Of No Return Program.

"Good Morning-

There was a great mythologist named Joseph Campbell who studied literally thousands and thousands of myths and great stories from all over the world. Campbell said that all of these stories were always about a heroic character who was fighting for truth or justice, or to find her passion and true purpose in life.

Campbell's greatest contribution, though, was the realization that the tales of all of these great heroes were ultimately just metaphors-metaphors for your life and mine. He said that each of us is the hero on our own journey- a journey (and granted, often a struggle) each of us is on to find our truth, our passion and to create what we really, really want in life.

Here's the catch though: in order for the hero- meaning you or I- to have the life we deeply desire, we inevitably come upon a threshold. Campbell calls this "The Threshold of Adventure" and in order to really claim the life we want, we have to get across it. This can be tricky, though, because in order to get across it we have to change. To at least some extent, we have to leave behind what is comfortable and familiar. Think about this a bit. What is comfortable and familiar is exactly what has gotten us to exactly where we are today. It's not what is going to get us the new result we want.

Campbell says that when every hero gets to his or her threshold of adventure it's always scary, because what lies on the other side is the unknown. The hero almost always experiences the desire to retreat, quit and seek comfort in what is more familiar.

Think about this in terms of your struggle with food. How many times have you tried to make changes, but you keep bumping into that same threshold over and over again? Maybe you do great for 3 or 4 weeks, but
then you have a stressful week at work, your focus slips through your fingers like a 7 year old spends $20 at Toys R Us, and you go right back to your uncontrollable night snacking. Maybe you do great for a few months, lose 15 or 20 pounds, but then for some inexplicable reason you just start sabotaging your success and find yourself back at square one.

We often like to think of the battle with emotional eating and night snacking as a classic Hero's Journey scenario. Why do we say this? Because there is something you deeply, deeply want. We know this, because you wouldn't be reading this if it wasn't true. Maybe you want your health back, or a sexy body and to start dating again; maybe you just want to feel 'normal' again and not constantly plagued by the fear that you'll binge and eat all night. Maybe you want to go home for the holidays and not be anxious about what your parents and sister are thinking.

Whatever it is, you wouldn't be reading this if there wasn't some major change you really wanted to make in terms of your body and health. And yet, you keep bumping into that threshold.

So how does the hero finally get across this threshold? By having the courage of a warrior. Many people think being a warrior means being aggressive or exploitative of others. However, if you look at the image of a warrior as it shows up in classical stories, the opposite is actually true. A warrior stands for truth and justice. A warrior fights for what he or she wants and deserves.

So, as a warrior, you have to decide what you are going to fight for. You have to decide what you will allow to define your life: your fears or your dreams. You deserve the health and the happiness you want- but you have to claim it. That's the warrior's work.

As a warrior, your job is to claim your power by being at your best,pursuing your happiness and being as healthy as you can be. This requires the courage to change. It requires the courage to fully commit to ourselves and our highest good; to commit to breaking out of this little jail cell we created. It requires the courage to face our fears, "slay our dragons" and fight for what we want!

Your issues with food are the "battle" you must fight as the hero on your own journey. You CAN shed the limitations and challenges that have kept you stuck in the same rut with your emotional eating for perhaps several years. You have the ability to become a new person in many respects.

Please understand this: the only thing that can hold you back is your unwillingness to grow and learn. The only thing holding you back from stepping onto your Hero's Journey is your own fear, limitation and procrastination.

The truth is, you don't even have to know every step involved in getting there- you just have to be willing to commit to that first step across the threshold. It's really something worth doing, because on the other side is that life you've been wanting for years-maybe even decades.

Voltaire wrote: "Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew."

So, will you come meet us at the edge? Life is short and time is precious, so please don't delay.

Have A Great Weekend,
-Joshua"

My particular life battle is this: I can lose a decent amount of weight but I have never been able to keep it off for very long. I can actually see this pattern repeating itself.  Yes, a little differently this time as some of my healthy eating habits do appear to be permanent, but it is happening right before my eyes.

Reading Joshua's words was a great reminder this morning that I can do this, I can keep this weight off and probably even lose what I have gained, but I have to be a warrior. And "life is short and time is precious" so I cannot delay. I will do this. Will you join me?

Snack Attack! Whole Dried Strawberries

Today, after having a delicious lunch salad from the Whole Foods salad bar, I was full but craving something sweet. Hey, it happens. In the past, I would have found some treat for myself, not caring what the ingredients were or how many calories were in it. Thank you universe, now things are different!

I decided that I would give in to my snack attack, but only with something truly healthy and not too caloric. So I started to scour the Whole Foods market for something that fit the bill. And do you know what? There was almost NOTHING in the entire store that qualified. I think I looked at labels for over 30 minutes, never wavering from my plan. Everything that I could find had either non-whole wheat flour, sugar, eggs, oil, and lots and lots of calories.  Finally, I found it . . .

Whole dried strawberries. Not the freeze dried kind (although those are yummy too). These were in the bulk aisle. Really sweet and really chewy, they came in at 100 calories per ounce, which was the lowest calorie treat I could find. I almost stopped at the coconut covered dates, but even they were high in calories.  I think I have found a new staple item in the Healthy Girl arsenal!

Blog Subscriptions and a Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

When you are trying to lose weight, or even trying to maintain, there's just something really nice about subscribing to a variety of healthy weight loss/eating blogs. This has probably occurred to you, but in case it hasn't, I'll suggest it here. Subscribing puts each new blog entry into your e-mail inbox from all of the blogs that you have happened upon that really speak to you. And it's really easy to unsubscribe if you just don't love that blog that you thought was so cool at first glance.

Here's what subscribing to blogs does for me: it keeps me motivated and it keeps me inspired. How? Well, I'm going to my e-mail multiple times a day and I'm guessing you are too. New blog postings from bloggers with the same goals as mine are a great and positive reminder to stay the course. And I need that reminder continually. There are positive thoughts and things to aspire to. Most people with food issues can connect with each other on a deep level, even if they don't know each other. These blogs are a way to tap in to that energy.

In addition, healthy recipe blogs are a zaftig foodies best friend. There's just no excuse to fall back into bad eating habits when the world of healthy eating and recipes is so available to everyone right now. Just this morning I was reading a new posting from a blog called Loves Veggies and Yoga (http://www.lovesveggiesandyoga.com/) and a recipe for Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse caught my eye. I happened to be going over to a friend's house for dinner tonight and I thought it would be fun to try it out on the crowd. I tweaked the original recipe a little by adding 25% less agave syrup than the recipe called for and it was plenty sweet for me.

This dessert is incredibly rich and decadent tasting, and highly caloric, but is made with nutritious ingredients. A little goes a long way, so you don't need to eat a lot to satisfy a sweet tooth, chocolate tooth, or cream tooth!

Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse

4 ripe avocados

2/3 cup organic cocoa

1 cup real maple syrup

1.5 tsp vanilla extract
 
Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.  Put mousse in refrigerator until time to serve. Any extras can keep in the freezer for a frozen chocolate treat.

I plan on serving the mousse with strawberries. Here's to hoping it's a success!