Forks or Tortilla Chips

My Forks over Knives Cookbook arrived on my Kindle a few days before the labor day holiday. As we traveled about I was able to peruse it while the kids snoozed in the van.

Ah, the simply joys. 

If you haven't already seen the documentary, I suggest you do!  The entire theme is simplicity!

As we have transitioned between summer and the school year, that is certainly all that has been on my mind.  Our world can get hectic, busy and overwhelming in a flash.  That usually leads to tired and stressed out kids and parents, and inevitably bad food choices in our haste.

As with every new school year, I'm determined to keep our schedules simple, and our food too!

Plus it's football season!!!!!  We are ALWAYS ready for some football in this town.  That in itself can present a whole new world of temptations and obstacles in Titletown, where the daily eats suddenly becomes all things meat, cheese, fried and beer - all in support of our Packers of course!!

So I was tickled to find a simple, healthy, game friendly food in my new cookbook featuring EDAMAME!  Just what I needed for my next Meatless Monday A-Z!
 

Don't you just love when everything false in place?

So first things first - what is Edamame? Here is what wiki said: Edamame is a green vegetable more commonly known as a soybean, harvested at the peak of ripening. 

Ahh...good simple.

 

 Some more simple ingredients. Excuse the fake lime.  It's handy in a pinch.

 

 

 Taken for a spin.

 

 

Then boiled edamame, cooked for 5 minutes get a whirl too.

 

Put it all together, and get your fork ready. 

 

Or some chips. 

 

I prefer tortilla chips as my eating utensil of choice.  Or tortillas...its a latin thing.

 

Because now you have Edamamemole! Edamamole? Edahuh? ....well you get it. A bowl full of yum is what we have!

 

Need a closer look?

 

One last end of summer deck party? Perfect.

Healthy tailgate potluck option?  Why yes thank you, this will do nicely.

 

This stuff is good.  It is as I-can't-stop-eating-this-stuff good as the full fat avocado version. 

 

The real test?  The hubster.  Would he like it?

 

Answer:  He loved it! Success!

 

This was the up and up version right out of the cookbook.  Shocking I know, from the master at straying from every recipe I've ever attempted!
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  Not-So-Fat Guacamole

Makes 2 cups

1 c shelled edamame
1 c broccoli florets (yes, that's right. this is hard core green eating)
zest of 1 lime and juice of 2 limes (or 2 tbsp here)
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, peeled and diced small
1/2 c finely chopped cilantro
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced (about 1 tsp)
Salt to taste
1 pinch of cayenne pepper, or to taste.

Boil edamame in medium saucepan, add water and boil 5 minutes.  Drain and rinse until cool.
Stream broccoli for about 8 minutes.  Drain and rinse until cooled.
Add edamame and broccoli to food processor and puree until smooth and creamy.  Add water if needed to achieve creamy texture.
Add pureed mixture to bowl and add remaining ingredients. 
Mix well,  chill until ready to serve.
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Other options I have seen remove the broccoli and add 1/4 - 1/2 avocado if it just seems like too much of a shame not to include it.

For guiltier-free ....or guilt-freeER? ...snacking, I like you just the way you are edamamemole, edamole, ..uh...ed.

Forks over knives to heavy for you?  There's also a little documentary on the Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue which I actually got hubby to watch with me.  I think he was convinced, seeing as this big fire fighter, still seemed manly eating this green food.





But if you're ready for the full story, watch Forks over Knives. It could change the way you eat ...for the better.



Both are available on netflix!

So you tell me now. 

What healthy eats do you put out for the gang during football season?

The Nitty Gritty

So how do you do it?  That is always the question I get.  The answer rarely satisfies. 

No one wants to hear: there's no formula, just good old fashioned healthy eating and physical activity.  And honestly, what works for one person doesn't always work for another. 

But for what it's worth, here is my list.  What has worked for me.  I have tried other things before and even during.  And I find that the following is my "formula" if you will.  Most of is probably common sense for you.  For me, it took me a bit to put these things together until I had my epiphany:

• Have a Plan.  Take the time to set some guidelines.  Be specific. Are you cutting out processed foods? Are you going to eat "X" calories each day.  Are you eating 2 cups of vegetables every day? Having a basic plan helps stay on track when the unexpected occurs.
• Get Physical.   Be brave. Walk into that gym.  I was so afraid that I would stick out, the lone out of shape and overweight person in a room of extreme fitnessista's.   Truth? Not even close!  No one cared about me! And there were all shapes and sizes in those classes.  I have tried so many new things: Zumba, Cardio Kickboxing, Piloxing, Bootcamp and returned to a few favorites like Hiking and Cycling.  Variety has been key to keeping me on track.
• Get in the Know.  I keep health and fitness forefront.  The more you know the harder it is to go back to unhealthy living.  Blogs, books, documentaries, they've all helped me to learn that not all food is created equal.  In fact, some food can barely be called food!  I turned to labels, nutrition stats and ingredient lists and decided that I needed to know what was in my food before I blindly inhaled it.  Establishing some food morals helped me to get my priorities straight.
• LOVE your food.  I use to think despising food was the key to losing weight.  I LOVE food.  I love eating food.  But all the skinny chicks seem to snub food.  "I'm not hungry" was a phrase I rarely have said.  But now I've learned I can LOVE my food.  I just don't waste my time with food that I don't LOVE!  Food that gives me the most bang for my calories - tastes great, high in nutrients, fresh, pleasing to the eye and palate - THAT'S food worth loving!  If it's going to cross my lips it better reeeally be worth it.   Clean your plate? Not if it doesn't taste good. Listen to me:  It's OKAY to push away a plate of crappy food.  I KNOW what your momma said.  Do it anyway!
• EAT MORE!  I can't finish this post without a shout out to the book that catapulted my weight loss.  Eat to live!  After trying calorie counting, weight watchers, Atkins, cabbage soup diet - you name it -  I didn't have any real lasting success until I read this book.  Primarily a plant-based diet, with no calorie counting, good food, and consistent weight loss without feeling deprived.  Here's the secret:  When you eat nutrient dense food, you can eat MORE! And who doesn't want to do that AND lose weight?  Seriously! It literally changed my life. 

So that's it.  That's the practical part of my journey - the nitty gritty, the old how to.  No, not quick, not easy.  It's taken some real investment in time, effort and commitment.

But today? It's just my normal.

What new normals have you worked into your health/fitness journey?

Skinny berries!

Hope you all enjoyed a great 4th of July!  Besides fireworks, what gets me excited at this time of the year is blueberries!  It's National Blueberry Month!!

Each year I pre-order blueberries from a local farm that actually grows strawberries.  They exchange strawberries with a Michigan blueberry grower so that we can enjoy the best of both worlds.  These blueberries are hands down the best I have ever had.  Once I had these plump and juicy berries, blueberries from the grocery store are a big disappointment.

Blueberries are a recent love for me.  About 3 years ago I started drinking smoothies when I ran into my health problems.  With depleted vitamin stores and the negative consequences on my body,  I needed some restoring!

I read that blueberries had superstar antioxidants which combat free radicals that damage the structure of your cells.  Blueberries, along with iron rich spinach, bananas for potassium and almond milk became my staple smoothie for months. 

Check out these nutrition stats!: 

Nutrients in
Blueberries
1.00 cup (148.00 grams)

Nutrient

%Daily Value

vitamin K35.7%
manganese25%
vitamin C23.9%
fiber14.2%
Calories (84)4%
source
They did the job.  The benefits of the blue/green smoothie - amazing.  Low cal and filling, they are my skinny berries! When I am drinking smoothies, and snacking on these lovelies regularly I am losing weight.  Fact!

There are a lot of other ways to enjoy blueberries of course, and seeing how I am currently surrounded by 40 lbs of berries (did I go too far?), I will be scouring foodie blogs to find some fun new ways to experiment! 


So in the tradition of Benjamin Buford Blue, some blueberry recipes on my radar:

• Greek yogurt blueberry muffins from No sugar sweet life
• Blueberry crisp from Mama Pea
• Blueberry Vinaigrette over at Fat Free Vegan
• Berry Bliss Oat Squares an adapted version of FFV's recipe by Oh She Glows - very berry!
• Blueberry and Feta Salad over at We Are not Martha
• Blueberry Ginger Ice Cream from Choosing Raw

The possibilities are endless!  In the meantime, I am keeping it simple and clean! Blueberries, CHO and granola - yum!

Have a phenomenal blueberry recipe? Share! Tell me about it!

Protein Puzzle

There is a lot to figure out the past few days for the fitmixer bootcamp.   It's been a challenge. Like putting together a puzzle.  I like puzzles. Good thing, cause I might have given up already. 

Let's talk meal plan.  So here are the goals I was given by the registered dietitian:

Calories: 1200-1300

Carbohydrates:  150 grams

Protein:  90 grams

Fat: 27 grams

Calories are no surprise for me.  It's consistent with every other plan and weight loss tool I've used.  Carbs are in line too.  Protein on the other hand is much higher than what I have been eating.  I've been in the range of 45-60g eating a plant based diet.  So I've had to work at getting to that mark. 

I decided to plan my meals as usual, then see what I need to add to ramp up the protein.  My go to meal is a veggie bowl.  This particular one was:

1/2c brown rice

1/2c broccoli

1/2c chickpea salsa

Usually I would stop there, but that only got me to 11 grams of protein.  Goal for dinner is 20 grams.  What to add?  I would have loved to add more chickpeas, but alas I had to keep it to 350 cal's too.  Since the chickpea salsa had a Mediterranean flare, I took a peek at the protein in some fat free feta cheese crumbles: 8 grams in 1/4c and only 40 cals in a serving.  CHEESE! Perfect!  Cheese completely makes a meal seem indulgent.  And here is what I ended up with:

I could have completely loaded up on more broccoli to get the additional 8 grams I had with the cheese.  Usually in trying to get volume in my meals I would have.  But 6 meals a day in this plan has been working well at keeping cravings at bay.  It feels like I'm constantly having to jump up to grab the next round of food.

People always ask me if I get enough protein.  And the answer has been yes.  And with awesome products like fitmixer protein drinks, I can ramp up on protein when I am working out bootcamp style.

There is plenty of protein in vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, with soy and legumes coming in as the heavy hitters in protein for vegetarians.  Soybeans weigh in at 29g of protein - completely keeping up with 3.5oz of chicken breast which has 30g, and lentils come in at 18g per serving, most legumes come up in the teens.

Check out sparkpeople.com which has a great article for more plant based protein sources.

And speaking about those workouts.  Wow!  New terms on day 2 and 3:  Isometrics and Tabata.  It is a test in patience, and an investment of time for me!  Not only am I learning what these are, I have to take time to watch the videos a few times and practice the motions as these are totally new to me and I have to really watch and work on form.

Nevertheless, I know it's only the first week, so I am taking the time to do it, and am DEFINITELY getting good workouts.  I know because I am becoming AWARE of muscles in my body that I didn't know EXISTED before this week.

AND I am soooo tired! 

Anyone else a newbie at all of this?  How are you doing Week 1?

Why veggies?

Source

Vegetables.  Its like a bad word to some.  Add green vegetables and you may downright offend some people.  How do I know?  That was me!

Growing up my parents only bought canned vegetables.  Is it any wonder why I never grew affectionate?  All we had at home was green beans, corn and peas.  And all from a can.  I hate to admit it, but I think they warmed them in the juices from the can.  Ugh.

If we were lucky, they'd be swimming in butter and salt. 

It didn't help.

So  how did I come to start munching on veggies?  I'll tell you the secret.  Ready?

Brace yourself.

NUTRIENTS.

Turns out that vegetables have nutrients!  Can you believe it? And when you eat the stuff, your body gets FED, and has an amazing ability to HEAL itself.  And, let me tell you about RAW veggies.  They are awesome at:

DETOXIFYING!

That means, if I wanted to clear out all the crap I had been eating, I had to incorporate veggies.  So if I wanted to flush out all the processed, preservative, non-organic who knows what the heck is in it, food I was consuming, and that was making me sick (see my About page), munching on veggies was my answer!

Know what I found out? Eating veggies, even just a little bit at breakfast then at lunch for snacks AND also at dinner,

REDUCED MY CRAVINGS

Yes, it's true!  I mean, I had heard quiet whispers that this could happen.  But I certainly didn't know anyone personally that had experienced it.  Come on, filling up on rabbit food?  But it did! And soon I was:

LOSING WEIGHT!

I mean who would have thought.  I swear I was eating volumes more than any diet I had ever been on, and yet the pounds were melting off?!  I was literally eating this stuff until I couldn't anymore. Stuffed! Full!  I mean, I do have a big appetite that I had been feeding liberally for a LONG, long time.  How could it be?

I FEEL GOOD!

I feel lighter.  I don't get indigestion, gas - not one belly ache. Not even when I eat BEANS!  Seriously, my digestive system has never worked like the clockwork it was intended to be since I started eating my veggies.

and YUM-O! 

My world is full of color now.   I've discovered strange and exotic foods like: 

KALE, ArTiChOkES, BRUSSEL SPROUTS and arUgula.

I honestly didn't think I would come to love veggies the way I do now, or the way I crave them when I wander away from them.  There are so many great dishes that I had never imagined, all with veggies.  Now when I make veggies for friends and family they are always amazed how great simple, pure ingredients taste.

Sounds like their veggie history was like mine.

How about you?  Is it time to venture into the beautiful foodie world of munching on veggies?!

In case you were hesitating, the answer is:  YES.