Unprocessed: Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli

I just watched the season finale of Top Chef: All Stars. Even though the food cooked on the series is nothing like the food I want to or would eat right now (my mouth waters regardless), I totally and completely connect with the passion and the personalities of the contestants on the show. I was bawling like a baby when they announced the winner, Richard Blais.

Today I present you with the second of Chef A.j.'s recipes from her new cookbook, Unprocessed. Light on calories, this dish is not. Heavy on flavor and texture, this dish delivers. Bring this to a party and you are sure to wow your family and friends. After preparing two of Chef A.j.'s recipes, her disappearing lasagna and now her Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli, I can say that she should be competing on Top Chef! And by preparing Chef A.j.'s recipes, I feel like I can bring the magic of great tasting, special food into my own home, even as a no-added-fat vegan.

Chef A.j.'s Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli

Printable Version

1 pound brown rice noodles (spaghetti or linguine)
1 pound broccoli florets
3/4 cup peanut butter, unsweetened and unsalted
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp low sodium tamari
2 Tbsp date syrup*
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4-1/2 ounce piece of fresh ginger, pressed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
8 scallions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Sesame seeds or chopped unsalted peanuts for garnish (optional)

*To make the date paste: soak 1/4 pound of dates in 1/4 cup of water for several hours until much of the liquid is absorbed (you can do this overnight). In a food processor fitted with the s blade (I used my mini Cuisinart), process dates and liquid until completely smooth. Store extra date paste in the refrigerator.

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Run under cold water when done. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Blanch broccoli and run under cold water when done. Drain and add to pasta bowl along with the scallions.

To make the sauce, combine peanut butter, water, rice vinegar, tamari, date syrup, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk until smooth and cook for about 10 minutes until thickened, turning heat down to low if necessary to prevent overheating. Pour dressing over noodles and broccoli and thoroughly combine. Chill until it becomes cold.

This dish was spectacular, but rich. I was too lazy to make a salad to eat with it, so I know that I overindulged. But how could I not, it tasted so darned amazing!

I don't know if you've noticed but I've been a little distracted lately from blogging. I have something pretty big to report, but that announcement is going to have to wait until my next blog post!

Do you watch Top Chef or other cooking competition shows? If so, which ones?

Is it hard for you to watch t.v. like this when you are trying to protect your own health and waistline? Or can you watch regardless of the types of food being cooked on the show?

Addicted to Food Premiers on OWN on April 5th

Did you hear that on the new Oprah Winfrey television network there is going to be a show about food addiction?

Thanks to my friend Lisa M, I'm now anxiously awaiting the premier of Addicted to Food. Why? Well, because personally, I'm an emotional eater. I would hardly have qualified to be a subject on this show, even in my heyday, but I am certainly one of the zillions of emotional eaters out there. I would even venture to say that anyone who struggles with excess weight is addicted to food to some degree.



My disorder never got to the darkest place it could have gone, and I'm very grateful for that. I'd qualify more as an abuser than an addict. What I have found is that learning everything I can about why I emotionally eat and what I can do to combat it has been an effective healing method for me. Working with the people at http://www.peertrainer.com/ was key to my success.  It was there that I found answers to why I was using food in this way, both from the emotional perspective and the physical/nutritional perspective (it was there that I was introduced to Dr. Fuhrman's Nutritarianism).

Watching television shows like The Biggest Loser and You Are What You Eat (a British TV show on BBC America) taught me so much, about food, exercise and how to fight this addiction. I hope that if what I am saying here resonates with you, you get a chance to watch Addicted to Food.

Have you been helped in your recovery by watching any television on the subject? If so, what show was it and why did it resonate with you?

Are you going to TiVo or DVR Oprah's Addicted to Food?

Easy Everyday Mujadara and Moroccan DIY Spice Blend

A few months ago I mixed up a batch of chai spice blend to liven up my green smoothie making. There really isn't a simpler or more economical way to wake up your food than to make your own spice blends. You probably already have tons of individual spices if you are preparing your own healthy meals. And those little dashes of spice used in each recipe mean that oftentimes jars of spices need to be replaced before they ever get used up. Why not mix up spice blends for yourself and even for gifts?

The second homemade spice blend to scream my name was a Moroccan Spice Blend. I made it at 5 am this morning. Sad, I know.

Moroccan Spice Blend

makes 8 Tbsp

5 tsp ground nutmeg
5 tsp ground cumin
5 tsp ground coriander
2.5 tsp allspice
2.5 tsp ground ginger
1.25 tsp cayanne pepper
1.25 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and store in an airtight container.

What to do with this you ask? How about a big batch of Mujadara? It's a Lebanese dish that, if you make this way, is extremely low in fat, is full of fiber, protein and iron, AND is exceptionally delicious! If I have frozen brown rice and packaged cooked lentils on hand, it's the easiest thing I can cook up for dinner when I'm tired and I just don't feel like cooking. In fact, this dish has become quite a staple in my house for just those reasons!

Ridiculously Easy Mujadara
Makes about 10 one cup servings

Printable Version

2 large sweet onions, diced
vegetable broth
2 1/2 cups brown or green lentils (Not red lentils or french lentils! I used one package of Trader Joe's cooked lentils.)
4 cups cooked brown rice (Trader Joes and Whole Foods sell frozen brown rice)
2 Tbsp Moroccan Spice Blend
salt to taste

Heat the largest skillet you have over medium heat and cover the bottom with vegetable broth. When broth starts to bubble, add chopped onions and saute, stirring every few minutes, for 35-45 minutes or until onions are very, very soft. Reduce heat and/or add broth to deglaze the pan as onions start to stick too much. Do not let the onions burn. Buy the end of the process, your heat will likely be on low and your onions will be very soft.

Meanwhile, cook the rice and lentils separately according to the package directions. If you have the TJ's packaged lentils, just open the package! If you are cooking your own lentils, they should be tender but not smushy or soupy, they should retain their shape.

When onions are ready, add brown rice, lentils and Moroccan spice blend and mix well.  Heat everything together until fragrant, warm and combined.

You can serve Mujadara with some toasted pine nuts or chopped parsley.

Have you made any of your own spice blends lately?

What do you make for dinner when you want some good food but are too tired to make a complicated dish?

High Fiber Follow-Up



Great responses to my post the other day about eating enough fiber to keep you healthy. I thought I might respond to some of the questions in this follow-up posting and also ask for a few of the commenters to get more engaged over here at HGK.

Can You Go Fiber Overboard?

A few people were wondering if there was such a thing as eating too much fiber (over 50 grams of fiber a day). Hmmmm . . . that's a lot of fiber. I don't think if I stuffed myself silly I could ingest that much fiber. I hope that your high fiber intake is not from Fiber One bars or cereal, high fiber tortillas, fiber pills or powders or really anything that is a PROCESSED, high fiber food. Although I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, the fibers in those food are just more fake crap and they don't count. The fiber that comes from real food is what I'm talkin' about. Read about my experiences with isolated fiber in a blog post I did in December.

Are you experiencing any negative side effects of the high fiber intake? Bloating, overly large stools, abdominal pain, gassiness? If not, why are you concerned?

Here's what I found out about potential adverse side affects of a very high fiber diet: there's just not that much scientific info about it. Someone on the Internet even commented "I went through all of webmd's articles on fiber and could find nothing about too much [fiber in the diet]."

"Some health care experts believe that eating more than 35 grams of fiber per day may adversely affect vitamin and mineral absorption. While this is technically true, rarely does anyone eat near that amount of fiber. Most of us don't eat even the small amount we need. While it is true that some fibers may absorb calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium, and while the presence of fiber in the intestines may inhibit the absorption of certain nutrients, these effects are present only under extreme conditions. In other words, don't let the fear of becoming nutrient deficient stop you from boosting you fiber intake. This particular phenomenon does not pose a significant threat. The marvelous benefits of fiber far outweigh the remote possibility that you will eat quantities large enough to pose any problem."  http://vitanetonline.com/library/Can-You-Get-Too-Much-Fiber?/

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if those of you who commented that you are eating 50+ grams of fiber every day let all of us know JUST HOW ARE YOU GETTING THIS MUCH FIBER INTO YOUR DAY? Please log or attempt to type out your food on typical day and e-mail it to me at wendysolganik@yahoo.com. I would love to give HGK readers real life ideas about how to increase their daily fiber intake.

Go Slowly and add Water, Water and more Water

Lori asked for a good simple solution to eat enough fiber without getting tummy aches? An anonymous commenter suggested (thank you!) the following: "what about taking a complete digestive enzyme supplement also containing cellulase."

"Remember to add fiber gradually, drink plenty of water and chew your food thoroughly so that the necessary digestive enzymes will be activated in the saliva. Some people believe that taking supplemental digestive enzymes right before eating fiber can cut down on the formation of gas." http://vitanetonline.com/library/Can-You-Get-Too-Much-Fiber?/

Personally, I 'm Really Curious About How Much Fiber I am Actually Ingesting Daily

I finally broke down and got myself a smart phone. I actually having a lot of fun with it. And now I have a cool app called MyFitnessPal that allows me to track and accumulate the nutritional information of all of the food that I'm eating. I figure that I am going to learn a heck of a lot in the process, and if I can lose 10 pounds, all the better! I am going to attempt to track my food to see how much fiber I am eating, on average, every day and see if I can get my fiber up. I figure if I focus on fiber, there's way less room in my tummy for sugar and all of the other nonsense that gets in my muzzle on an average day!

P.S. I just got the results of my first day using my fitness pal. I'm pretty happy because I have learned a few things:

I consumed approximately 1332 calories (the program recommended a net caloric intake of 1260/day in order for me to lose a pound a week for 10 weeks). I ate one very green smoothie with apple and grapes, two bowls of bean and vegetable soup, one salad with tempeh (whew-that really packs in the calories), and one banana/cherry/date/cocoa soft serve with Uncle Sam cereal sprinkled on top. I had a VERY full feeling in my stomach for most of the day. The numbers are approximate because I had lunch in a restaurant and did my best to recreate what I ate with the program, but it's not that perfect. All daily recommended numbers are in parenthesis.

25 grams of fat (42)
0 cholesterol (300)
2028 sodium (2500)
240 total carbs (173)
53 dietary fiber (15)
sugars 91 (25)
protein 61 (47)
iron 199% of rda

I'm stoked about the fiber and the protein, but wondering what to do about the sugar being so high. The only sugar I ate came from fruit. Less fruit I guess!

This program made it so blatantly obvious when I needed to stop eating for the night!!!! Eating after dinner is probably the single reason that I am carrying around these 10 extra pounds. And I might just be able to lose them with the help of this type of tracking (it's just basic calorie counting, duh!) because it's so clear that if I eat more I can't lose. Not rocket science.

Fart or Be Fat

The following is a guest blog posting that I did for the PeerTrainer blog. Thank you for the opportunity PeerTrainer! In case you didn't catch the early showing, here it is . . .

When I started to blog a year ago about my weight loss a few friends of mine who I haven't seen or talked to since long before high school graduation got wind (no pun intended) of what I was doing. They were very supportive, interested and inspired by how I had lost weight.  So they too started to incorporate a lot more vegetables, fruits and beans into their diets (a la Eat to Live, Volumetrics, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, The Peer Trainer Cheat System and The Engine 2 Diet . . . talk about a fusion!).

Immediately, reports of digestive changes started to roll in. Let's just say their systems started to work a lot better. They weren't used to that with the Standard American Diet. But I wasn't sure if they were comfortable with the changes in their body brought about by their increase in fiber.

The amount of dietary fiber in the average North American diet is really very low. It ranges from about 9-18 grams of dietary fiber per day. This diet is however, very high in fat and processed foods that have been depleted of much of their original fiber and nutrients. As a result, we consume about 80% less of the fiber our ancestors consumed just 100 years ago. Current recommendations from the United States National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine suggest that adults should consume 20–35 grams of dietary fiber per day. But I would hardly consider those recommendations a "high-fiber diet."
 
The benefits of a high fiber diet are so well known that they hardly bear repeating here. But just in case you are not on the up and up about fiber, just do a Google search for "benefits of a high fiber diet" and read until your eyes glaze over! Fiber is amazing.

A few weeks ago I posted a YouTube video of Dr. Lustig  about the science of sugar.  It was awesome. It made me think long and hard about my sugar habit. One of the most fascinating things that came out of Dr. Lustig's mouth was the following comment, which I memorized (it wasn't too hard) and can frequently be heard repeating:

"Fart or be fat."

Immediately, I thought of my old friends and how they had reacted to their change to a high fiber diet. They kind of acted like flatulence and bowel movements were weird. And even I thought flatulence was bad, a signal that you've overdone something or that a certain food doesn't agree with you. That same Google search on "benefits of a high fiber diet" will also yield you endless results on how to tame the gassy monster.  So gas must be a bad thing, right?

Well, not so fast. What if what Dr. Lustig said was true, and what does "fart or be fat" really mean? What if it means "if you are not farting, you are not eating enough fiber" (you can quote ME on that!)? Maybe that's the angle we should be looking at this from.

What Is Dietary Fiber?

Dietary fiber is found in the structural components of plants and cannot be digested by humans in the small intestine. Because it passes through the small intestine undigested, and then into the large intestine, it is not used for energy, but plays an important role in digestion and disease prevention.

Dietary fiber is divided into two categories, soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Most foods that contain fiber have a mixture of the two types. "When mixed with liquid, soluble fiber forms a gel,” says Lanah J. Brennan, RD, a dietitian in Lafayette, La. “In your digestive tract, this gel helps to keep you feeling full and slows down digestion. Insoluble fiber does not form a gel. Instead, it passes through the intestinal tract intact, keeping things in motion."

Soluble fiber comes mainly from the insides of fruits and vegetables. Insoluble fiber comes from the skins of fruits and vegetables, and from whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Why does fiber consumption cause flatulence?

Your body does not digest and absorb fiber in the small intestine because of a shortage or absence of certain enzymes there. So this undigested food then passes from the small intestine into the large intestine, where normal, harmless bacteria break down the food, producing hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and, in about a third of all people, methane. Eventually these gases exit through the rectum.

Everyone has intestinal gas and that is a good thing.  The normal amount of flatus passed each day depends on whether you are male or female (men fart more) and what is eaten.  Foods that can cause flatulence (gas) in some people may not produce flatulence in others. It all depends on the amount and type of bacteria each person has in the large intestine. Some types of fiber are digested to a greater extent by colonic bacteria than other types of fiber. The better-digested fiber produces more gas.

"All fibers, no matter their source, can cause flatulence; however, since bacteria vary in their ability to digest different types of fiber, different sources of fiber may produce different amounts of gas. To complicate the situation, the ability of bacteria to digest one type of fiber can vary from individual to individual. This makes the selection of the best type of fiber for each individual (i.e., a fiber that improves the quality of the stool without causing flatulence) more difficult. The choice becomes a matter of trial and error." Dr. Jay W. Marks

How does this all affect weight loss?

Fiber alone contains no calories, and it provides the bulk to your diet that gives you the satisfaction of chewing. Fiber gives us the feeling of a full stomach sooner and stays in our stomach longer than other substances we eat, slowing down our rate of digestion and keeping us feeling full longer. Foods with fiber are satisfying so you don't feel hungry between meals. Click here to see the fiber content of a large variety of foods.

Be sure to drink plenty of fluids when adding fiber to your diet. While fiber is normally helpful to your digestive system, without adequate fluids it can cause constipation instead of helping to eliminate it.

What's the moral of the story?

Don't fear the fiber! And if it does cause flatulence, embrace it. Like Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing!"

For the truth about whole grains and their relationship to a high fiber diet, catch this phenomenal post from The Sweet Beet.

Unprocessed: Chef Aj's Disappearing Lasagna Recipe



In the past few weeks, Chef Aj and I have struck up a nice little friendship on Facebook. I have been reading her new cookbook Unprocessed and been really blown away by her personal story, which is the first 52 pages of the book. I couldn't put it down.

When she asked me if I would like to blog about and publish some of the recipes from the new cookbook, I was like, absolutely! To be honest, I was going to make a bunch of her recipes and then write a review of the book anyway, so getting her permission to publish the recipes along with the review is amazing.

Me: "I would love to start with your favs. I did hear that your lasagna is out of this world!"

Chef Aj: "I think the lasagna (especially the bean/kale variation) is the best recipe in the book. I also recommend the Sweet Potato Nachos and the Spicy Peanut Noodles!"

So yesterday morning I set out to make this famous Disappearing Lasagna. I do want to warn you, this is not a recipe to start when you are in a time crunch. I recommend a lazy Sunday morning for this one! The smells that will permeate your kitchen are delightful.

So without further adieu, here is the first recipe from Unprocessed.

Chef A.j.'s Disappearing Lasagna

Printable Recipe

2 boxes of no boil rice lasagna noodles (I used 1 box of whole wheat from Whole Foods and followed the directions on the box, boiling them for 4 minutes and then rinsing each noodle well in cold water)
6 cups oil-free marinara sauce

Filling No. 1:
1 box extra firm tofu, drained and wrapped in paper towel to remove excess moisture OR 2 15 oz. cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 oz. fresh basil leaves (I used 2 Tbsp dried)
1 cup pine nuts, raw cashews or hemp seeds
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup low-sodium miso (I used regular miso)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 pounds frozen chopped spinach or 1 pound frozen chopped kale

Filling No. 2:
2 pounds sliced mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup tamari
1 large red onion

4 oz can sliced olives, rinsed and drained (optional)

Faux Parmesan:
In a food processor, grind 1 cup raw cashews or almonds, 1/2 cup nutritional yeast and 1 Tbsp of salt-free seasoning, until a powdery mixture is achieved. If you like it more chunky, process less.

Make the filling in a food processor fitted with the "S" blade, by adding tofu, basil, garlic, lemon juice, miso, nutritional yeast, nuts and red pepper flakes. Puree until smooth. Add drained spinach or kale and process again.

In a large non-stick saute pan, saute chopped onion in 2 Tbsp water or broth until translucent, about 8 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Add garlic, mushrooms and tamari and saute until browned. Taste mixture, adding more garlic/tamari according to your taste. Cook until mushrooms appear to be glazed and there is no more liquid left in pan.

Pour 3 cups of the sauce in a 9"x13" lasagna pan. Place one layer of noodles on top. Cover noodles with half of tofu/spinach mix, then with half of mushroom mix. Place another layer of noodles on top and add remaining halves of tofu and mush. Place one more layer of noodles on top and smother evenly with remaining sauce. Sprinkle olives on top of sauce and sprinkle with faux parmesan. (I put black olives on top of half of the casserole for my husband and put thinly sliced red peppers on my half).

Bake uncovered 375 degrees for one hour. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I decided to add a layer of extremely thinly sliced zucchini, 'cause I had one in the fridge that I needed to use up. It was a great addition! Next time, I'd make sure to have two zucchini around so that I could add it as two layers. The more veg, the better. 

When we ate it for lunch my husband exclaimed, "This is the best lasagna ever!" I told him to get on Facebook and send Chef Aj a message 'cause he owes it to her!' I will definitely be making this again, most likely for special occasions when I want to feed a crowd. It really is that delicious!

Check out Chef A.j.'s book and the reviews over on Amazon . . .



Got the Facts on Milk? The Documentary

I can't sleep. My son fell out of his bed at 3:30 am and now I'm up. But I don't mind, I've got so much to do!

Like read e-mails, where there is usually something to get really excited about. And tonight is no exception. It seems there is a new and awesome documentary about food. This one covers milk and the dairy industry. It's titled Got the Facts on Milk and is a comical partly animated feature documentary that questions the health benefits of milk and all dairy products.

Four friends cross the Bible Belt of America on a Road Trip to examine all possible about milk, from top notch scientists and researchers to dairy farmers, hormones and train robbers, in an attempt to meet with the USDA’s Nutrition Information Center to get the facts.

As John McDougall, MD says,"This is the most hard-hitting documentary I could ever imagine attacking the dairy industry. And they deserve it all. I have seen the entire documentary and you will want to own it."

As far as I can tell, the way to see it is to purchase a pre-release copy on DVD (by making a donation on this website which I will be doing TODAY!). Here's the trailer and a clip of the movie:





What are your thoughts/opinions these days on dairy consumption? Are you sticking with it or eliminating it altogether?

I Could Never Give up McDonalds and Follow a Plant Based Diet!

Did I get your attention?

Okay, now please go here and read this blog posting from Disease Proof. You'll be glad you did!

Making Food Choices from a Place of Love and Awareness

The theme of my life this week seems to be awareness. First, I was asked to write a guest blog posting for a friend's spirituality blog, which I did, and chose the topic of awareness. Next, my sister-in-law (thanks Caroline!) sent me a link to a beautiful article on awareness and food choices from http://www.dailyom.com/. It's a short article, you can read it here if you'd like.

We've never talked about spirituality here. Politics and Religion are not something I'm comfortable blogging about. Way too controversial.

But what if "spirituality" is a key component in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight? And what type of spirituality am I talking about? A sense of faith that there is something other than yourself that is going on? The thought that you are not in control of the universe? A connection to a community outside of your immediately family?

In AA there is a popular expression "Let Go and Let God." Taking a deep breath and letting go of the junk that is going on in your life is certainly a powerful tool against emotional eating. But you need a certain amount of awareness even to be able to get yourself to a place where you can take that breath. Me? I'm always wanting to increase my awareness, take more of those deep breaths and eat less emotionally. And I'll embrace whatever tools are at my disposal!

What do you think?

Is there a connection for you with food choices and spirituality?

Or does this conversation make you uncomfortable and want to run for the hills?

Jeff Novick/Barbara Rolls Volumetrics Review and a Volumetric Recipe from Clean Food

Volumetrics. It's a concept that revolutionized the way that I eat, but something that I haven't talked about that much here on HGK. I was first introduced to the concept by Bethenny Frankel, you know, that famous New York Housewife who writes those books about being "Naturally Thin." She's got some interesting ideas in her books, but none so powerful as the one I am focusing on here today. It's such a worthwhile topic and there are quite a few new readers of HGK that might not be familiar with it that I am dedicating this post to it. (Please forgive me if this is review for you.)

"The Volumetrics Eating Plan is based on a basic fact: people like to eat. And if people are given the choice between eating more and eating less, they'll take more almost every time.

Unlike diets that are based on deprivation, the Volumetrics diet doesn't try to fight this natural preference. Its creator, nutritionist Barbara Rolls, PhD, argues that limiting your diet too severely won't work in the long run. You'll just wind up hungry and unhappy and go back to your old ways.

Rolls' approach is to help people find foods that they can eat lots of while still losing weight. The hook of Volumetrics is its focus on satiety, the feeling of fullness. Rolls says that people feel full because of the amount of food they eat -- not because of the number of calories or the grams of fat, protein, or carbs. So the trick is to fill up on foods that aren't full of calories. Rolls claims that in some cases, following Volumetrics will allow you to eat more -- not less -- than you do now, while still slimming down.

Rolls doesn't ban food types as part of the Volumetrics diet. She doesn't divide foods into the good and the bad. But she does urge people to evaluate foods based on their energy density. This concept is crucial to the whole diet.

Energy density is the number of calories in a specified amount of food. Some foods -- especially fats -- are very energy dense. They have a lot of calories packed into a small size. Water is the opposite, since it has an energy density of zero. If you eat foods with high energy density, you rack up calories quickly. If you go with less energy dense foods, you can eat more and get fewer calories." http://www.webmd.com/diet/volumetrics-what-it-is

Very low-density foods include:
Non-starchy vegetables
Fruit
Unsweetened nut milk like almond milk
Soup broths

Very high-density foods include:
Crackers
Chips
Cookies
Chocolate/Candies
Nuts
Butter
Oils

If you are a more visual learner, than the next two Jeff Novick videos are for you.

A note about the blender/blended food issue: I drink a green smoothie almost every morning. Mr. Novick questions the benefit of that when the goal is weight loss. He brings up a very interesting point. Whole unprocessed foods are clearly the best as far as weight loss goes. Eating a whole apple is better from a weight loss perspective than a blended up apple.

But, the reality of that is another story. The contents of my morning green smoothie these days are spinach, celery, apple, grapes, kale, parsley, almond milk, ground flax seed and ice. Would I ever sit down to a bowl of spinach, celery, apple, grapes, kale, parsley in the morning? What dressing would I have to put on that bowl to make it palatable for me? Would I have the time and energy to chew all of that food given my incredibly rushed mornings?

My conclusion is this: even a blended green smoothie is healthier for me than any other breakfast I could consume. And it does fill me up until lunch. So, on that scorecard, even if eating the contents of the smoothie in their whole form would be BETTER for me than in their blended form, I would never be able to do it. So, in balance, a green smoothie is the best, most realistic option for me. I'm sticking with it.

But, if you are trying to lose weight, it is worth your while to consider what you are putting into your smoothies. Would you eat all of that food if it wasn't blended up together? It might just be something worth thinking about.

Here's a good example of a recipe that would be included in a Volumetric way of eating:

Cabbage Saute with Tart Cherries and Crisp Apples

from Clean Food by Terry Walters

get the recipe here

I served this over brown rice and both my husband and daughter loved it! The only changes to the recipe that I made were eliminating the oil and using broth instead and substituting maple syrup for the agave.

If Volumetrics is a new concept for you, you might want to investigate it even more. You can read reviews of Ms. Rolls' book here on Amazon:

Were you familiar with the Volumetrics concept prior to reading this posting? How has it impacted your diet?

Do you think about it when you choose food off of a menu in a restaurant?

Do you think about it when doing meal planning at home?

And the Winner is . . .

Thank you so very much to everyone who submitted a contest comment for my blogger giveaway. You have no idea how fun this was for me to have so many of you actively engaged on the blog. And you know what that means? More giveaways to come!

Thank you also to Terry Walters and her assistant Blanca who made this giveaway possible.

 I am going to spend some time pouring over the statistics of salt vs. sugar cravings and it's impact on weight maintenance. But, in the meantime . . .

the winner of the Clean Food/Clean Start set

by Terry Walters is . . . 

Karen a.k.a. morganguiney

congratulations!

I will be contacting you by e-mail to get your address.

I hope everyone had fun!

GIVEAWAY! The Clean Food/Clean Start Set by Terry Walters

I have some uber-exciting news for everyone! Terry Walters, the author of Clean Food and Clean Start, has sent Healthy Girl's Kitchen a copy of both of her cookbooks for a blogger giveaway right here! I'm so totally sure that you are going to submit an entry for this giveaway after reading me go on and on for months about how much I totally LOVE Terry's  recipes.

Seriously guys. Her recipes pack all the flavor and satisfaction into healthy vegan recipes that one could ever hope for. The only changes I ever have to do to her recipes are omit the little amount of oil that Terry calls for and viola! Gourmet no-oil vegan food that is easy to make. No fuss and you're completely satisfied.



This is Terry. Isn't she gorgeous?

So here are the entry rules:

(1) Leave a comment here and answer all of the following questions (this has something to do with my last two blog postings, I promise! I'm testing a theory . . .):

• your name
• Sugar or Salt? your food craving preference
• Are you now or have you ever struggled to maintain a healthy weight?  

(2) Become a fan of Healthy Girl's Kitchen on Facebook (if you haven't already)

• go to Facebook

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Pure, White and Deadly, Part II

ON THE FREQUENCY OF DESSERT INDULGENCE, THE QUESTION OF HEALTHY SWEETENERS AND THE RAW/VEGAN BAKING CRAZE

I just want to say that this subject is very controversial, and there are a wide range of opinions on it. When it comes to desserts, there are really three components/ingredients that pose the problems--sweeteners, flours and oils. For the most part, I believe we can get away with healthy substitutions for white flour (whole wheat and many, many other whole grain flours as well as oats) and for oil (apple sauce, pumpkin). Where the sweetener is concerned, however, things get more complicated.

When it comes to the question of "Is there such a thing as a healthy sweetener" you will get a wide range of complex answers. But is this really so complex? Might it be that the answer is really all very simple and that we (humans) are making it such a complex issue because we want to justify eating sweet food? I know that is the case for me personally. I try to make it okay in my own head because it's what I love, that sweet taste. Some say that the term "healthy sweetener" is an oxymoron. And I'm not even talking about the artificial sweeteners here, just the "natural" ones.

I decided to go to the vegan baking/raw dessert experts for some input and healthy debate. Here's what a few of them had to say:

Chef Aj (http://www.ajsrockinfoods.com/)

Me: "Chef Aj, I am loving your book! I am very interested in your thoughts on a blog posting that I did. I know that you only make desserts with dates, and I am wondering about the healthfulness of them and also how often should a person struggling to be healthy "indulge" in one of your treats? Daily? A few times a week? Once a week? Once a month? Please contribute your opinions and experiences to this discussion.'

Chef Aj:  "I can't really say how often a person SHOULD eat dessert. In reality, probably never or only on their birthday. But that probably ain't gonna happen for most people. I stopped eating dessert, even the date sweetened ones (which at least are made with a WHOLE FOOD that contains fiber, etc.). I am now bananas for bananas!

 I think my desserts are like the meat substitutes, a great transition food. And for people who eat dessert, the best choice out there. I don't know if you read my book, but I have been a sugar addict most of my life. And I have found the only thing that really works for addiction is TOTAL ABSTINENCE. I have eaten many lifetimes of desserts for the first 50 years of my life. I'm gonna try something different for the next 50 years. What I like about my date/nut desserts is that the are actually made of FOOD, whole food. Sugar, oil, flour - NOT FOOD! (Dr. Campbell says 'That's a donout'. Would you like to blog the recipes in my book?"

Fran Costigan (http://www.francostigan.com/)

Me: "Fran, I am very interested in your thoughts on a blog posting that I did. I would love your input on how often a person struggling to be healthy can "indulge" in one of your treats? Daily? A few times a week? Once a week? Once a month? Please contribute your opinions and experiences to this discussion."

Fran: "Hello! . . . In my former life, days (this was days) like these, would ...have had me running to the fridge or freezer or pantry for a slice of cake, a pint of ice cream, a 3 ounce piece of chocolate. These days are different. While I am constantly testing and writing about one kind of sweet or another, and tasting bites, since I must, I tend to run more for a veg juice, a smoothie made with greens and berries, a piece of fruit. In the days before I became a vegan (over 20 years ago), I ate sweets like everyone else in my family did-which meant, full= no more left. I tell the real story in both of my cookbooks, Great Good Dairy Free Desserts and More Great Good Dairy Free Desserts Naturally.

Wendy, your original question: how many times a week, a month, a whatever, can a person struggling to be healthy indulge in sweets has no one answer. It is personal.

Desserts are discretionary. We do not need to eat them to be healthy. BUT,... we do need them in other ways. I made a no fat added (that's no oil) chocolate cake with a low fat cocoa glaze for Dr. McDougall's Celebrity Chef Weekend. I prefer to steer people to some of the naturally wheat free, sugar free recipes in my books, when fat or wheat is an issue.

For VIP reception for Forks Over Knives, I served mandarin orange segments dipped in bittersweet chocolate and The Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse in small cups (all Engine 2 approved).

I know what you all mean. I was not fat, but I struggled with too much weight and yo-yo - you know up, down, eat a lot, eat nothing until I started eating whole foods-plant based. Organic, delicious. At some point, when my son was about 14, he said, mom, don't think you can put a candle in a sweet potato and call it my bday cake. And so I began to look into vegan desserts made with wholesome real ingredients that taste great. I had worked for many years as a traditional pastry chef. It took a long time, but I cracked the code.

I do not believe in the holy grail of sweeteners. But some are better than others.

My criteria: real, not processed, or processed less and w.out chemicals, organic, fair-traded. And used historically as sweeteners. I don't use fake sugars.

I don't believe in agave as low glycemic. It is fructose, metabolized in the liver, can be harmful, and it is not fruit. I like maple and organic whole cane sugars, sorghum, coconut sugar, rice syrup and a few more, but-in moderation, what ever that means to you. My whole foods diet is what keeps my cravings at bay so I do not binge. If I did, it would be a disaster, with 25-30 lbs of chocolate in my apt meant to taste. For work.

Use your heads and be a smart consumer. Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. And remember, marketers love to market.

Today and for many years, I have been satisfied with a smaller piece of dessert, vegan, often chocolate made from a recipe in my book. My cupcakes are smaller, my cake slices are thinner, my gels and creams are loaded up with fruit.

And that's my take. I hope it helps! Deprivation does not work, but eating healthy whole foods plant strong does create a balance. So if you are healthy, eat green and save room for a healthy vegan desserts, sometimes, and in moderate size. If that sets up a bad situation for you, drink water, take a walk, don't eat any sweets. I'm happy that I can indulge many days of the week. But again, it might be 1-2 cookies, a chocolate truffle, a small slice of cake."

Kathleen at Kats Health Corner (http://www.katshealthcorner.wordpress.com/)

"Hey girlie! I got your comment, and I just "explored" the post.

Hehe, I love that Lecture: Sugar-The Bitter Truth (I think there is a link on my blog to it already)! I watched it last year (one of my health-mother-friends sent me the link). I when I watched it, I took so many notes! I think I need to watch it again when I get the chance. When I watched it, I hadn't had Chemistry yet, but since I am taking Chemistry right now, I'll be able to understand more the the Chemistry that he talks about. Have you watched it?

I personally don't drink anything but water. Fruit Juice is just sugar. If I do drink juice, I want it whole, like homemade orange juice with the pulp! :) That lecture has changed my life! :)

That's why I use fruits (apples, bananas, dates) in my baking instead of sugar. I don't use date sugar -- I use the dates-the whole fruit. I use stevia too when I can. If I have to have some sweetener, I use maple syrup or molasses because they actually come with nutrients. I also use honey because it has anti-oxidants. :) I avoid HFCS, "corn sugar," and I myself don't eat cookies and cakes that have sugar in them. Since I have cut out sugar from my life, everything tastes better, and thing with sugar in them are too sweet for me. I also check the ingredient list on foods and avoid as much added sugar as possible."

Nutritional data on maple syrup:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5602/2

The truth about Agave syrup:
http://veganascent.blogspot.com/2011/03/just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to.html A must read!
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/agave.html

For a comprehensive guide to ALL sweeteners:
http://www.splendaexposed.com/articles/2005/03/your_healthy_sw.html

I guess I'm not ready to give up on dessert just yet, 'cause here's what's going on in my kitchen these past few days:

An amazing, creamy, chocolaty dessert if you are looking for something that has no sweetener other than the real fruit.

Healthy Girl's Double Chocolate Raw Banana Soft Serve

serves 1, if you would like more than one serving, just multiply the ingredients

1 1/2 ripe frozen bananas, broken into chunks

4 walnuts

1 tsp cocoa

splash of almond milk (or soy milk)

1 tsp cacao nibs

Place first 4 ingredients into a high powered blender or food processor and blend until mixture becomes the consistency of soft serve ice cream, tamping down/scraping down the sides of the container as needed. Add cacao nibs and blend for a few more seconds. Serve immediately.

Kat's Pumpkin Pecan Pie Oat Squares

Kat's Pumpkin Pie Oat Squares are my first real attempt at uber-healthy vegan baking. Want to see how to make these? Take a peek at that recipe here. I'm not sure if they would qualify as a dessert. They have the slightest hint of sweetness and are extremely moist, but might leave many people looking for that sweet desserty quality. They would make a great breakfast on the go if you don't have time to make a green smoothie. Kat's Squares are full of really healthy ingredients, like apples, pumpkin and loads of oats, but do call for a little maple syrup (the jury is still out on that one!).

What are you using as healthy substitutions for oil and processed wheat flour in desserts? So far, I know of applesauce and pumpkin for the oil and whole wheat and other whole grain flours for the white flour. Can you contribute more suggestions?

Or are you able to eat dessert in moderation and just go for either a standard vegan dessert or a standard nonvegan dessert?

Do you not give a damn because sweet food holds no interest for you?

Pure, White and Deadly, Part I

THE REALITIES OF SUGAR AND THE HEALTHY VEGAN BAKING CRAZE

Sorry that I've been in communicado for the past 5 days. I've missed you and I'm excited to be back. I took a girls' trip, just me and my two daughters, to a big Northeast Ohio indoor water park/hotel called Kalahari. While I was there I had more time to myself than I've had in years, just me and my laptop, surfing the net, while my daughters were having a ball in the lazy river. Me? I'm not the biggest fan of public water.

I had time to think. And mull some stuff over. And it wasn't lost on me that the majority of the patron's of said water park were overweight. No, not overweight. Obese. Call in "The Biggest Loser" on NBC obese.

That kinda thing gets my heart breakin' and my brain workin'. Just what the heck is going on here? No one wants to carry around extra weight, I'm totally convinced of that!

It took some serious creativity on my part to find food at this place that would even remotely qualify as plant strong. We did our best, it wasn't my most proud food moment. But we were there for the fun, not the food, and the time away to think . . .

One thing I've been thinking a lot about lately is what appears to me to be an Internet phenomenon: "Healthy" Vegan Baking and Raw Vegan Desserts. Simply put, I'm very confused by this phenomenon. We've got all of these seemingly healthy, mostly women, bloggers spending countless numbers of hours concocting, photographing and writing about baked or raw, rich and sweet goodies. All in the name of good health.

It's very easy for someone like me, someone with a sugar addiction, to get sucked in by the promises of "healthy" desserts. Here's what really went on in my mind, "Maybe that's where I've been wrong all along . . . my sweets weren't the healthy sweets, they were the run-of-the-mill old fashioned kind . . . maybe that's why I have this extra weight. If only I had been eating these raw or vegan treats all along I wouldn't have gotten fat in the first place. I should start making lots of raw and vegan goodies instead."

But it didn't work like that at all. Raw and vegan desserts packed on the pounds just like the old-fashioned kind of desserts did. I was puzzled. How do the raw/vegan dessert bloggers "indulge" in these treats (yes, they are "treats," because even though they are made from many wholesome ingredients, they are still very high in calories and not at all necessary for human survival!) in what appears to be a regular fashion and not get fat? Or are they making all of this food just for show and not actually consuming it themselves? Pawning all of the baked goods off on some unsuspecting coworkers or family members (munching by proxy)? Are they eating these treats every day, as it appears from their blogs, and maintaining their svelte figures? What is going on here?

Then, as if right on cue, Debby at Happy Healthy Long Life did a very interesting blog posting about sugar. More specifically, the evils of sugar. I certainly recommend reading her post here if you haven't already. I did, 'cause you know I love me some sugar. And like I said, I had a lot of time to myself on this vacation.

I had the time to watch Dr. Robert H. Lustig's 90 minute YouTube video (I did fall asleep once in the middle, but then picked up again the next day), which Debby turned me on to and which I have embedded below. If your food issue isn't somehow connected with the over consumption of sugar or sugar+fat, you are officially excused from this post. But if you, or someone you love, can't put down the cookie, this is worth your while.

"A high sugar diet is a high fat diet."

Yes, that's what Dr. Lustig said. But I was confused. I thought a calorie is a calorie is a calorie and it's a simple equation of calories in and calories out? Don't tell me now that my favorite calorie, the sugar calorie, is even worse for me than I had ever imagined!

Yep folks, it just might be the worst thing that you can feed your body. Eat sugar, get fat.

Dr. Lustig argues, very specifically and scientifically, that fructose (the sugar in fruit, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and yes, the healthy blogger's beloved agave syrup) causes obesity. He details out how the body metabolizes fructose in a very unusual way, by turning it directly into stored body fat. Not only that, sugar overrides the body's natural hunger regulation signals, so when you consume sugar your body sends off signals that it is hungry even though it has plenty of calories to burn.

Yuck. A vicious cycle of consumption, weight gain and, inevitably, disease. Sugar turns into fat and makes you want to eat more food? Kinda explains how I got fat to begin with, doesn't it?

Luckily for us, this is not the case when the fructose is consumed with fiber, the way nature packaged it--in real fruit (not fruit roll ups). Fruit juice=really, really bad. Whole fruit=safe. Here, you can watch the whole thing if you've got 90 minutes and you're not sleepy:


I know what you are thinking. Moderation. Yes! Moderation! All of these "healthy" treats the bloggers post about are being consumed in moderation. Perhaps they are. But somehow I suspect that if you are here reading my blog, moderation is not your strong suit. So what's a sugar addict to do?

The only thing we really can do, I say. Educate. Yourself. You know that 90 minute video embedded above? Watch it. It just may be the thing you need to see today.

Peace out!

Get Real, Get Right with Yourself

On of my favorite television shows of all time is the makeover show TLC's What Not to Wear with Stacy London and Clinton Kelly. I actually think I have seen every episode, which is no small feat. But I really love experiencing the physical and emotional transformations of the subjects. Maybe it has something to do with wanting my own physical and emotional transformation. I certainly could stand a little help in both of those departments and I suspect that's a shared feeling amongst most of their viewers.

You can imagine my excitement last night when they aired a new episode and the subject was a popular blogger who goes by the name Dumb Mom at Parenting by Dummies. And her BIG issue, which, believe it or not, is not shared by every subject of the show, was her post childbirth weight that she carried around her middle. This spare tire was the source of much mental anguish as this professional photographer cried onscreen about how terrible she felt about her physical appearance.

photo http://parentingbydummies.com/

I was so excited to go to her blog after the show was over and share my experience and strength with her. I mean, why not? She was practically crying out, "Help me, I hate my body." Yes, she was TRANSFORMED by the show, both physically and emotionally, but I was worried about her. I mean, how long could the good feelings last from the nice clothes, the new hair and the pretty make-up when ultimately the good feelings have to come from treating yourself to healthy food on a daily basis (wow, how that spare tire would disappear once and for all!), exercising in a method that you love, and positive self-talk.

Isn't she beautiful? photo http://parentingbydummies.com/

And then I read her "about " page in her blog. This is how she describes herself:

"Dumb Mom is not your everyday mom blogger.  She doesn’t craft (not well anyway).  She doesn’t share many healthful dinner alternatives (because she likes bacon, and bacon flavored products)."

So I started to wonder whether or not introducing myself would be such a good idea afterall (NOT!). And then it hit me.

Dumb Mom can complain all she wants to about her spare tire and the body parts that look less-than-ideal, but when it really comes down to it, is she willing to make the choices that she needs to, over and over and over, that would result in the body that would give her better self esteem and the best body that she can attain given her heredity and life experiences (read "havin' babies")?

Am I willing to make the right choices? I really need to think about that, because I'm one who incessently cries on about the way my stomach pouch protrudes, but I'm not always making the best choices (can anyone envision two scoops of Ben & Jerry's in a waffle cone after the kindergarden concert last night?).

Who am I going to be? The one who complains and lets her self image suffer or the one who makes the right choices to get the body that she thinks she wants? Even more importantly, the HEALTH that comes along with making the right choices?

Who are you going to be?

Dr. Fuhrman Segment on FOX5 News and GOMBS

This really isn't worth me talking about until you have seen the segment, so here it is:

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Cancer-Prevention Diet: MyFoxNY.com

This is definitely the first I have heard of Dr. Fuhrman's very specific "GOMBS" list, but hey, there's a first time for everything. And if it assists people in remembering what foods are best to eat, I'm all for it.

As for the idiotic things that the newscasters say after the interviews with the two doctors, all I can say is that media can be disturbing. Without knowing anything about Eat to Live, these public figures say a lot of extraordinarily stupid, uneducated things about it. Like Dr. Fuhrman really just wants you to eat his recipes and purchase his cookbooks? Has anyone out there ever felt this way? Who cares what recipes you use as long as you are consuming the most nutrient dense foods. Oh vey . . .

Thoughts? Reactions?