Green Noodles

Since going Paleo, I've been on the lookout to replace my favorite but forbidden carbs. I've missed noodles so much that I decided I must find a substitution or failure would be eminent. I did it! These noodles are so yummy, you will gobble them up without missing the conventional starchy ones...

Ingredients:
3-4 zucchini, peeled with a vegetable peeler, then the remaining core chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
1 pack of mushrooms, sliced
12 green olives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 oz fresh basil, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

Directions:
In a large pan, heat olive oil on medium. Toss in the mushrooms and let cook while you mince the garlic and jalapeño. When ready, add the jalapeño and garlic and let cook while you peel the zucchini. Toss in the zucchini and add a sprinkle of salt a pepper to taste. Let simmer while you chop up the olives and basil. Add the olives and basil and top with the fresh squeezed lemon juice and let simmer a minute, then toss in the pine nuts, remove from heat and serve. Mmmmm....noodle-y!

From Vegan to Paleo: Week One

So I've been at it for seven days now. Beyond the joy I've had in making new things (it's a whole new ballgame now, searching for things to do with meat products instead of the bean-and-grain centered world that I'm used to) I have been experiencing an incredible, wonderful shift in my mood. I feel MUCH more stable now. This is by far the best side-effect of eating this way. Also, I have more power in my body. My husband and I are installing wood floors in our house, and I just have way more energy, stamina and strength now, which we both noticed during this process. My husband commented on my body as well, noticing that it's getting nice and firm. He has lost 5 or 6 pounds, and he is surprised by this, because he is not hungry all of the time, like he was when we were eating vegetarian. Food is more satisfying, and by this I don't mean the taste(although it does taste magnificent!), I mean I get full faster. And that fullness lasts longer. Also, I haven't been having weird, random pains or muscle spasms that used to happen quite frequently.

I do smell different, and noticed that right away. :) My bowel movements are still very regular, which I was worried that all this meat might "clog me up", but that hasn't been the case. Funny thing, I am eating more vegetables now that I did when I was vegetarian. Veggies are required with each meal, whereas eating vegan, you could just fill up on grains and legumes and just skip the veggies. I could have a peanut butter bagel for breakfast with beans and rice for lunch and lentil soup for dinner...not much veggies there. Now I have salads topped with grilled chicken or fish, spaghetti squash with tomato basil chicken sausage and spaghetti sauce, eggs and bacon with sautéed greens or a side of asparagus and some fresh fruit...

I still worry about my cholesterol and stuff like that. But if I just go off of how I'm feeling, I am happy to keep at this for three more weeks. We'll see what the numbers say at the end of it all... I'll keep you posted.

Paleo Chili

Who doesn't love a nice, spicy pot full of chili during the cooler months? I was craving it so...and yet, my go-to recipe involved 3 different kinds of beans, which are not part of the paleo plan. So I tried to find a veggie that would give a nice, soft feel like a bean, and not be too flavorful or overpowering. And it worked! This chili is easy, delicious, and everyone went for seconds and thirds...


Ingredients:
1 pound grass fed lean ground organic beef
2 green peppers, chopped
1 serrano chili pepper, minced
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 large rutabaga, diced into small cubes
2 parsnips, diced into small cubes
2 large cans of diced tomatoes
1 large can of tomato sauce
chili powder, cumin, a dash of white vinegar, a sprinkle of salt and pepper

Directions:
In a large stock pot, brown the beef. Remove from pot to drain. While the beef is draining, add the onions and peppers to the pot. Saute over medium heat until onions are translucent. (About 5 minutes) Add the rutabaga, parsnip and beef back to the pot. Sprinkle the chili powder over everything, about 2-3 tablespoons. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of cumin on top, then mix and let cook for a minute or two. If you wish, add a dash of salt and pepper. Stir in all 3 cans of tomato stuff, top it with a quick splash of white vinegar, and let simmer at least until the veggies are tender (about one hour), although the longer you let it simmer,the tastier it gets!

Going PALEO????

(I am sharing this with you because I want you to know that you should never be afraid to change or try something new, especially if you aren't feeling at the top of your game. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.")

This diehard vegan is changing her ways. Just for 30 days. It's all my little sister's fault. She challenged me. Repeatedly. Having studied nutrition so long and in such depth, when she first went Paleo, I worried about her. I thought, "she's killing herself!" After all, meat is the big taboo, the big no-no...all those studies show how it increases heart disease and maybe even cancer and everything. No, I knew better and I wasn't going to fall for the hype. So I kept on eating my precious beans and rice, my lentils, my split peas, my peanut butter bagels and veggie wraps. I kept on working out every day. And yet, there is this slight bloat to my belly. There's some jiggle in my thighs. Even on the day I ran my marathon. How could this be, for the girl who eats so well and works out so much?

And then there was the whole mood thing. My life is totally awesome now, and yet I battle depression and anxiety. I have crazy, weird things going on in my body...acid reflux, strange pains, my tongue would swell slightly and get sores on it. And the fatigue...tired all the time! My brain is cloudy, my vision blurry, my thoughts muddled. How could this be when I am doing everything I am supposed to be doing to be healthy?

So my sister made me read "The Paleo Solution" by Robb Wolf. After months of urging, I finally caved. There are so many concepts in this book that I never heard of, and a lot of the stuff challenges my education as a nutritional therapist. Most of my beloved foods, my "superior" foods, might be causing my problems! ??? The stuff in the book makes perfect sense. I figured that one month wouldn't kill me, so I might as well give it a try.

Let me tell you...I am on day 3, and already I feel better. Not perfect, but much, much better! I have more power when I workout. I'm not hungry all of the time. I'm not really craving much sugar or "bad" food today either. I drink and enjoy my coffee black, and I fill up on all of these foods I haven't bought in years....for instance, yesterday morning I sautéed 2 cups of spinach in garlic and oil, scrambled it up with 3 eggs, and chowed on 4 pieces of bacon, and then topped it off with some fresh berries. I was so full! I didn't even get hungry until 3pm. (I think I overdid it a bit!) So I had a nice, green salad for lunch, with some avocado, green onion, toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, green olives and mushrooms with a squeeze of lemon on top. Yum! And then I made homemade chicken vegetable soup for dinner. I woke up this morning feeling amazing, no, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! And...I lost 3 pounds already. My belly isn't bloated and I have a lot of energy.

I'm excited to see where I end up at the end of 30 days. I think I'll even get my blood drawn to see if my notoriously high cholesterol (yes, veggie girl has high cholesterol!) has budged in any direction. All I know is so far, I feel like a kid again...eating bacon and having energy. Who ever would have thought???!!!

Chick-Choy-Chow!

This recipe is for my brother, who is trying to make his lovely girlfriend a satisfying, (easy), vegetarian meal. This is one of my absolute favorites, because not only does it fulfill all of those demands, but also because it doesn't have a large ingredient list, which can get expensive, and it is so filling. I hope you like this, Kim!

Chick-Choy-Chow

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (find this in the produce section. It's a brown root. Just peel off the outside and chop up one inch of the root until it's as small as you can make it)
1 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos (by vinegars and salad dressings)
1 tablespoon mirin (in the Asian food section)
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 head of bok choy (here's a picture), chopped
1/2 cup toasted cashews

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium heat, saute ginger in olive oil for a minute. Add liquid aminos, mirin and chickpeas and saute 2 minutes. Add bok choy and saute another 2-3 minutes or until greens are just tender. Remove from heat, top with toasted cashews and serve.

Vegan Spanikopita

My husband and I have been eating a completely vegan diet for the last month. I must admit I am quite surprised about how much there is to try! We have not felt the least bit bored, deprived or malnourished. In fact, after a month we have noticed a change in our body shapes. We are definitely slimming down, while we have actually been eating MORE! Since I am a girl that LOVES to eat, this is fantastic news! On top of that, I have more energy, my head is clearer, and I just feel terrific!

So last night, I was in the mood to try something I have never tried before. I found this recipe in Vegan Fusion, and tweaked it a bit. I have never worked with phyllo sheets before, and they were quite tricky and fun, because they just want to fall apart when you touch them, and I'm not sure I put enough oil on each sheet to make them all brown up, (so they weren't all crunchy and oily, just the top layer was) and even so, this 13X9 casserole was almost completely devoured by us in one sitting! Talk about tasty! You don't even notice that there's tofu in there, and you don't miss the heart-clogging cheese either. This is a fiber-filled, nutrient packed home run. And if you don't want to mess with the fresh herbs, feel free to throw in 2 Tablespoons of Italian seasoning instead. I just toss mine into a small food processor and chop them up all together in seconds...


Vegan Spanikopita
Ingredients:
1 package phyllo sheets
2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups onion, diced
1 entire bulb of garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb extra firm tofu, crumbled
3/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1/4 cup shoyu
2 Tablespoons Italian parsley, minced
2 Tablespoons basil, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon oregano, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon thyme, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, minced
1 Tablespoon nutritional yeast (found at health food stores)
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and mashed with a fork a bit
6 cups baby spinach

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pot, place 2 Tbl olive oil and heat to medium. Add onions and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain tofu and crumble into the pot, cooking for 10 minutes. Add the olives, tahini, shoyu, and all the seasonings and spices and the nutritional yeast, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the slightly mashed garbanzo beans and cook for another minute. Fold in the spinach leaves and remove from heat.

Lightly oil a 9X13 casserole dish. Place about 7 sheets of the phyllo dough, one at a time, in the dish, oiling each sheet lightly with olive oil using a brush. Place half of the spinach mixture on top. Layer the next 7 sheets of dough on top of the mixture, one at a time, oiling each one lightly. Place remaining mixture on top of that. Layer the last sheets of phyllo on top of that, oiling each sheet individually. Put dish in oven and bake until phyllo is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Smoky Guacamole

I think if I had to choose just one thing to eat for the rest of my life, it would be guacamole. It's creamy, delicious and so satisfying! And it's main ingredient, the avocado, is a nutritional powerhouse! Whenever you are craving something creamy or fatty, reach for these green gems. Unlike cheese, mayonnaise, or other creamy, fatty things, the avocado gives you healthy monounsaturated fats and a whole slew of nutrients, making your body happy while fulfilling your craving. Here's the details:

Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements. After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol.

Avocados are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help to guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Association has authorized a health claim that states: "Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke."

One cup of avocado has 23% of the Daily Value for folate, a nutrient important for heart health. To determine the relationship between folate intake and heart disease, researchers followed over 80,000 women for 14 years using dietary questionnaires. They found that women who had higher intakes of dietary folate had a 55% lower risk of having heart attacks or fatal heart disease. Another study showed that individuals who consume folate-rich diets have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke than those who do not consume as much of this vital nutrient.

Promote Optimal Health

Not only are avocados a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids including oleic acid, which has recently been shown to offer significant protection against breast cancer, but it is also a very concentrated dietary source of the carotenoid lutein; it also contains measurable amounts of related carotenoids (zeaxanthin, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene) plus significant quantities of tocopherols (vitamin E).

In a laboratory study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, an extract of avocado containing these carotenoids and tocopherols inhibited the growth of both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells.

But when researchers tried exposing the prostate cancer cells to lutein alone, the single carotenoid did not prevent cancer cell growth and replication. Not only was the whole matrix of carotenoids and tocopherols in avocado necessary for its ability to kill prostate cancer cells, but the researchers also noted that the significant amount of monounsaturated fat in avocado plays an important role. Carotenoids are lipid (fat)-soluble, which means fat must be present to ensure that these bioactive carotenoids will be absorbed into the bloodstream. Just as Nature intends, avocado delivers the whole heath-promoting package.

Increase Your Absorption of Carotenoids from Vegetables

Enjoying a few slices of avocado in your tossed salad, or mixing some chopped avocado into your favorite salsa will not only add a rich, creamy flavor, but will greatly increase your body's ability to absorb the health-promoting carotenoids that vegetables provide.

A study published in the March 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition tested the hypothesis that since carotenoids are lipophilic (literally, fat-loving, which means they are soluble in fat, not water), consuming carotenoid-rich foods along with monounsaturated-fat-rich avocado might enhance their bioavailability.

Not only did adding avocado to a salad of carrot, lettuce and baby spinach or to salsa greatly increase study participants' absorption of carotenoids from these foods, but the improvement in carotenoid availability occurred even when a very small amount-as little as 2 ounces-of avocado was added.

Adding avocado to salad increased absorption of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein 7.2, 15.3, and 5.1 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these carotenoids absorbed when avocado-free salad was eaten.

Adding avocado to salsa increased lycopene and beta-carotene absorption 4.4 and 2.6 times higher, respectively, than the average amount of these nutrients absorbed from avocado-free salsa. Since avocados contain a large variety of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, as well as heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, eating a little avocado along with carotenoid-rich vegetables and fruits is an excellent way to improve your body's ability to absorb carotenoids while also receiving other nutritional-and taste-benefits.

Avocado Phytonutrients Combat Oral Cancer

Oral cancer is even more likely to result in death than breast, skin, or cervical cancer, with a mortality rate of about 50% due to late detection, according to Great Britain's Mouth Cancer Foundation. Avocados may offer a delicious dietary strategy for the prevention of oral cancer. Phytonutrients in Hass avocados, the most readily available of the more than 500 varieties of avocados grown worldwide, target multiple signaling pathways, increasing the amount of free radicals (reactive oxygen species) within pre-cancerous and cancerous human oral cell lines, that leads to their death, but cause no harm to normal cells. ? Semin Cancer Biol. 2007 May 17. Earlier research by UCLA scientists also indicates that Hass avocados may inhibit the growth of prostate cancer as well. When analyzed, Hass avocados were found to contain the highest content of lutein among commonly eaten fruits as well as measurable amounts of related carotenoids (zeaxanthin, alpha-carotene, and beta-carotene). Lutein accounted for 70% of the measured carotenoids, and the avocado also contained significant quantities of vitamin E. J Nutr Biochem. 2005 Jan;16(1):23-30.

So are you ready to whip up some deliciousness? Your guacamole will be done faster than you could read this blog!

Smoky Guacamole
Ingredients:
4 avocados
1 pack of green onions
1 lime
Penzey's Ground Red Chipotle powder (to taste)
Salt to taste

Directions:
Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and scoop out the meat into a large bowl. Chop up the green onions and add to the bowl. Squeeze the lime right into the bowl. Sprinkle in the red chipotle powder and salt. Mash up the avocados and mix everything together. Adjust the seasonings to your liking. If you don't have the chipotle powder, don't fret! This will still be delicious, just not smoky. You can also add some chopped cilantro, if you like. Or diced tomatoes, or diced red peppers, or minced jalapenos. Play around with it and change it up. You can't go wrong!