Motivation Today: Heart Disease Infographic

I want to thank everyone who contributed their thoughts to our last discussion about what to do when hosting carnivores. If you missed that post, it's a hot one, with plenty of room for more discussion, so please stop on by.

That post is a good reminder that many of us are struggling to remain true to what we know is the right way to eat (for us at this time, no judging!). Just because I blog about healthy eating/living doesn't mean I don't struggle to make good choices for my health each and every day. I'm always open to motivation, and the following infographic provides me with an immense amount of it to keep going. I hope it helps you too!

It wasn't created by people who are promoting a plant-based diet as a preventative measure against heart disease. It was sent to me by a company trying to sell reduced cost prescription drugs! How funny is that? But it's still an awesome reminder.

Reader Advice Day: When Carnivores are Coming for a Visit

I received the following e-mail this morning. I've spent a lot of the day trying to figure out how I would cope in the following social situation. I'd like to say that I have all of the answers, but I don't. This is a very complicated issue. Please take the time to read this letter and, after careful consideration, share how you would handle this:

Dear Wendy,

I desperately need your help and perhaps you've written on this issue. Can you direct me to one of your blogs or give some advice?

My husband's cousin and her husband are coming for a two week visit. She's my husband's only living relative so we are trying to be kind. She and her husband are trying to determine if they want to move here.

We have explained in detail that we follow a plant based diet and that our doctors tell us not to bring into the house foods that are tempting. I have sent her links to your website, Fuhrman, Happy Healthy Long Life and McDougall for recipes. She picked out some recipes and I am experimenting. At her request, I sent her the list of foods that we regularly enjoy:

baked potatoes with grilled onions and mushrooms or salsa and guacamole + a salad
rice pasta with marinara sauce
spinach salad with boiled potatoes
regular salad with sweet potatoes on the side
grilled portabella mushrooms on sprouted grain rolls
roasted winter vegetables or "rockin' potatoes" with salad
bean soup and salad
Veggie burgers
Morrocan stew with quinoa
Smokey Chipoltle Chili

Then, she responded with: "Could we do pancakes, quiches and eggs and low fat sausages" and on and on...things we do not want to eat. I responded we don't eat those foods. However, we like those foods and they are tempting.

Now, as her visit is two weeks away she has written the following:

Planning Now for our Plant-strong Superbowl Party 2013

Two years ago I hosted a Plant-strong Superbowl Party at my house. If you've been reading HGK for two years and you remember that party, thank you!

Our Plant-strong Superbowl Party was a big success and I had a lot of fun blogging before and after the party about the delicious potential in that day. Last year we were invited to our neighbor's home, and while it was a lovely event (Lynn is the best home cook ever and she just started culinary school this year), I really missed doing it myself and making it as close to Plant-perfect as I could make it.

Superbowl Sunday is kind of like Thanksgiving to me, I figure that if you cook enough years in a row for the  holiday," over time one can really refine the menu into something that everyone enjoys and looks forward to. Doing it one year and not the next was kind of a buzz kill for me. I realize that most people would be, like, "Phew! Thank heavens that's off my plate!" But not me . . .

Winners of Fast Food Shopping School Announced. Didn't Win? Don't Despair!

Before I announce the 3 winners of Jeff Novick's Fast Food Shopping School, I want to tell you all how much I believe that this video is a MUST SEE for every one of us.

Jeff Nelson at VegSource has graciously offered to sell HGK readers this video at a discount until Monday, January 28th, so don't wait a second.  Just go and order it here (if you didn't win, of course!) and get your very own Shopping School video.

Normally sold for $29.95, which includes shipping (it's $5 more than the other Fast Food programs because it's about an hour longer -- nearly 3 hours or info total), with the discount it is $24.95 (includes shipping). You will save so much more than that because you will easily walk away from all of the packaged junk in the grocery store aisles because you will be educated.

Jeff Nelson has also offered to sell us a set of Jeff Novick's video "Should I Eat That? How to Choose the Healthiest Foods" along with "Shopping School" for $43.90 (a savings of $10 if they purchased each separately).

Video Review and Giveaway: Jeff Novick's Fast Food Shopping School

The envelope please.

And the Academy Award for Most Useful Film goes to . . .

Jeff Novick's Fast Food Shopping School!

 

Yes, it's THAT good. But what exactly is Fast Food Shopping School?

Well, it's the third video in Jeff Novick's series called, you guessed it, Fast Food.

That's the same series which freed me from the shackles in my brain that had me thinking that good, healthy, tasty food just "took a long time to make." Sometimes it does, but it doesn't always have to. You can read about that here, here and here.

Moroccan Veggie Burger Wraps

I'm gearing up this week to post a review of Jeff's Novick's latest video, "Fast Food Shopping School." I'm so excited to tell you about it, complete with a giveaway and promotions for those who don't win. Jeff, a nutritionist who also went to cooking school, is quickly becoming my biggest plant-based diet hero. I have learned so much from him and we've never met! He has really changed not only the amount of time I spend in the kitchen, but also my level of confidence.

A few days ago on Facebook I saw Jeff posting a recipe for a new "Fast Food" burger of his with a Moroccan flair. I totally dig any veg'n Middle Eastern type food (I really have never met an ethnic food that I did not at least like), so I excitedly scribbled down the instructions. I prepared them a few days later and we have been enjoying them ever since (they keep well in the refrigerator). Not my favorite Fast Food burger of his, but certainly good.

Then inspiration struck. I had some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and grape tomatoes hanging around that I wanted to use up. Added to fresh sprouted grain tortillas and salad greens, and, well, the rest is history! The acidy pop from the warm tomatoes, the little bit of sweetness from the currants and the sweet potatoes, the creaminess from the hummus; it all just works wonders together.

Designated Flatulence Area

Is anyone watching the TV series "Portlandia?"

A while back I wrote a blog posting called "Fart or Be Fat" I was somewhat new on a plant based diet and passing a lot of gas on most days. Fast forward two years and I have to think that I'm no gassier than I was pre-plant based eating, in fact, I might even be less gassy.

Regardless of my personal gassy past, I know that for most people starting out on a plant based diet, excessive gas can cause great alarm. Enough to want to make some people throw in the towel.

Utopea Giveway Winner Announced and New Recipe (Finally!) Italian White Bean, Kale and Potato Stew

"Every time you make stuff with Cannellini beans I just wish there was more stuff with Cannellini beans," Sophia Solganik, age 13.

It's been a while since I have blogged a new recipe, and I do have to apologize for that. Time is my enemy and photographing the delicious Plant-strong food that I have been cooking up lately has been a real challenge. Today I just happen to be home caring for sick family members, so I pounced on the opportunity to make and photograph this dish that I have been conjuring up in my head for the past week.

It came out far better than even I expected it to, so I'm thrilled to share it with you after my long dry spell.

I also want to announce the winner of my last giveaway, the Utopea prize package. The winner is 

One Grain More? One Laugh More! And How to Replace the Oil in Any Recipe

Mondays can be really hard for me. I'm always a little bit sad that another weekend has passed by. My favorite place to be is in my kitchen, in my pajamas, but becoming a full time blogger just isn't in my cards.

So if you're like me, you are in need of a good laugh at the beginning of the week. Well, look no further than this video.

I may not have food allergies, but being "No-oil," "Nutritarian," "Plant-strong," "Plant-perfect" or a "Vegan" sure comes with its fair share of difficult situations. We can look at them and be annoyed, or, like this group of amazing singers, we can try to find the humor in it.

New Year, New Resolutions? And a Utopea Chickpea Crisps Giveaway!

Greetings Folks!

I hope I'm not too late in wishing everyone a Happy New Year! I have such a great feeling about 2013. It's going to be the BEST YEAR EVER.

Did you make any resolutions? Or did you resolve to never make another resolution as long as you live? Or was it something in between, like me?

After my last resolution to become "plant perfect" completely flopped, I've decided this year to try a much kinder approach. My number one resolution is to be nicer to myself, especially in how I self-talk. I'm trying to be aware that I should talk to myself the same what that I would talk to someone else. I find myself saying really nasty things to myself about my body and my weight, but I am making an effort to stop and think, "Would you say that to another person?" And of course the answer is absolutely NOT. So I stop right then and there.

Next on my list is to put on my oxygen mask first. As most of you know, being a caretaker, whether it be of children or elderly parents, is a daunting task. Add in trying to exercise and put healthy food on the table and just about any one could have a nervous breakdown. Just ask me, I've been on the verge of it many, many times. So I'm going to make an effort to take care of myself a lot more this year, even if it means that I have to say no to some other stuff that I could be doing. I'm going to be a little more selfish this year, and I'm going to try to not be apologetic either.

And lastly, I'll be working on self-awareness. To that end, I have started a food/exercise/to do log in a fun notebook that I picked up over the holiday. I know it won't be perfect, but I'll forgive myself for that and start right back up again once I realize that I have slacked off.

What about you? Resolutions or no resolutions? If you've got em, what are they? What's your plan for accomplishing them?

Leave your answer in the comment section for a chance to win a fantastic treat from my friend Ilana at Utopea. Ilana is what I'll call a "kitchen entrepreneur." She is constantly concocting new and healthy treats made out of chickpeas and other stuff. I raved about Ilana, Utopea and her roasted chick pea concoctions last year in this post. Everything she makes is absolutely divine, and her newest creation is this:

These crisps are crunchy and, well, wonderful. All of Utopea's crisps are made with organic dry-roasted chickpeas and her special blends of add-ins. Her delicious flavors include:

Sweet-n-salty chickpea/carrot: organic dry-roasted chicks, carrots sweetened with organic maple syrup and sea salt.


Asian sesame chickpea/carrot: scant amount of toasted sesame seed oil, fresh ginger, toasted sesame seeds, spices, sea salt.

Baba chickpea: organic dry-roasted chicks, eggplant, scant amount of olive oil, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, fresh squeezed lemon, spices, sea salt.

Spicy chickpea/carrot/sweet potato: organic dry-roasted chicks, carrots, sweet potato, scant.amount of olive oil, spices, sea salt.

Thai curry chickpea/carrot/sweet potato: organic dry-roasted chicks, carrots, sweet potato,organic lite coconut milk, fresh cilantro, fresh lime juice, spices, sea salt.

Sweet Pea: organic dry-roasted chicks, sweet potato, spices, sea salt. These can be made sweet, spicy, or original-with a variety of spices.

Chickpea/kale crisps: variety of creations including a) Thai curry with kale/carrot/sweet potato; b) kale/spinach/carrot; c) spicy kale; d) kale/sweet potato .

Ilana is a genius. These crisps are incredible. I wish I had some right now to munch on as I write this blog posting. Whoever wins this giveaway is one very lucky person.


Utopea chickpea crisps come in 3oz. containers. Each 3 ounce container retails for $6.00. Ilana also sells a trio pack (choice of three different flavors) for $15.00. Referring a friend/family member who orders Utopea chickpea crisps gets you one 3 oz.container free in your next order.* How nice is that? You can get in touch with Ilana at tasteutopea.com, her website that is currently under construction.


Here's what's in the Utopea giveaway goodie pack:
1) chicks on a trail-trail mix
2) chicks on a date-chicks and date clusters
3) chicks on a coffee buzz-chick clusters of espresso coffee beans and non-dairy dark chocolate chunks
4) 3 varieties of chickpea crisps-mixed kale/carrot;sweet carrot/apple ginger; spicy garlic/sweet potato.

So leave your comment here answering this:
Resolutions or no resolutions? If you've got em, what are they? What's your plan for accomplishing them?

If you hate 'em, why?

One winner will be chosen at random. Contest will close on Wednesday, January 16th at noon, EST. Winner will be announced shortly after that. Good luck and please make sure to check back in at HGK after Wednesday to find out if you are the winner. Otherwise I will gobble up all of these goodies myself!

*Friend has to specify name of person that referred him or her at time of order to receive credit.