Monday, January 07, 2013
WhooHOOO!!!!!
my first week as a non animal eater...I've done this before, so it's not exactly new, but it's still an accomplishment. I celebrated with a Diet Coke, I resolved to drink only water, tea, and coffee, so a week without my favorite soda was more difficult than I thought....What wasn't difficult was avoiding meat products... I eat out a lot, but being meat free is not that bad. Nearly all restaurants have a meat free option and i am very grateful, it makes this journey a lot easier.
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Kale chips!
Need a salty/sweet snack? Try some Kale chips!
I am obsessed with two things right now. One I will blog about later--the other is KALE CHIPS! They are so easy to make and are so very good for you. What is nice about kale chips is that what you put on them is up to you. So far I prefer them with olive oil and lightly salted but you can really do anything you fancy.
If you are shopping at a regular grocery chain, chances are you do not have a range of kale to choose from. The one that is usually available is slightly curly/bunchy at the ends. The best for kale chips is dinosaur kale--but so far I have only found that at Whole Foods.
I consider this a salty sweet snack because the spice that I put on it is aromatic and tricks my taste buds and senses into thinking it is sweet. Thanks to my sister for the idea!
Kale Chips:
One bunch of Kale, rinsed and completely dried
up to 3 tbsp of olive oil depending on taste
salt
1-2 tsp garam masala
Pull the leaves off the main stems and rip into pieces--anywhere from 1 inch or bigger. If you make them too small they will shrink to much in the process.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.
In a large bowl, drizzle oil and mix with your hands to get the leaves coated. Then add the garam masala and mix again.
Line some rimmed baking sheets with foil. Arrange kale in a single layer on the sheets. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Place in oven. So this is where it gets tricky. The crispiness is going to depend on your oven, the moisture content of the Kale, and how much stuff you coated the leaves with. Generally, they need to be in the oven for at least an hour. For the first hour, check on them every 30 minutes. After that, check every 15 minutes until you get to the crispness that you desire. This can take up to another hour, so be patient!
I store them in a big gallon bag after they cool and keep the bag slightly open at one end so that the oil doesn't make the chips get soggy.
One word of advice when eating these: Check you teeth afterwards! I often chew gum right after I eat a handful.
Enjoy!
I am obsessed with two things right now. One I will blog about later--the other is KALE CHIPS! They are so easy to make and are so very good for you. What is nice about kale chips is that what you put on them is up to you. So far I prefer them with olive oil and lightly salted but you can really do anything you fancy.
If you are shopping at a regular grocery chain, chances are you do not have a range of kale to choose from. The one that is usually available is slightly curly/bunchy at the ends. The best for kale chips is dinosaur kale--but so far I have only found that at Whole Foods.
I consider this a salty sweet snack because the spice that I put on it is aromatic and tricks my taste buds and senses into thinking it is sweet. Thanks to my sister for the idea!
Kale Chips:
One bunch of Kale, rinsed and completely dried
up to 3 tbsp of olive oil depending on taste
salt
1-2 tsp garam masala
Pull the leaves off the main stems and rip into pieces--anywhere from 1 inch or bigger. If you make them too small they will shrink to much in the process.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.
In a large bowl, drizzle oil and mix with your hands to get the leaves coated. Then add the garam masala and mix again.
Line some rimmed baking sheets with foil. Arrange kale in a single layer on the sheets. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
Place in oven. So this is where it gets tricky. The crispiness is going to depend on your oven, the moisture content of the Kale, and how much stuff you coated the leaves with. Generally, they need to be in the oven for at least an hour. For the first hour, check on them every 30 minutes. After that, check every 15 minutes until you get to the crispness that you desire. This can take up to another hour, so be patient!
I store them in a big gallon bag after they cool and keep the bag slightly open at one end so that the oil doesn't make the chips get soggy.
One word of advice when eating these: Check you teeth afterwards! I often chew gum right after I eat a handful.
Enjoy!
a natural sweetener?
Agave “nectar” is not made from the sap of the yucca or agave plant but from the starch of the giant pineapple-like, root bulb. The principal constituent of the agave root is starch, similar to the starch in corn or rice, and a complex carbohydrate called inulin, which is made up of chains of fructose molecules.Technically a highly indigestible fiber, inulin, which does not taste sweet, comprises about half of the carbohydrate content of agave.
The process by which agave glucose and inulin are converted into “nectar” is similar to the process by which corn starch is converted into HFCS. The agave starch is subject to an enzymatic and chemical process that converts the starch into a fructose-rich syrup—anywhere from 70 percent fructose and higher according to the agave nectar chemical profiles posted on agave nectar websites.-----Ramiel Nagel
The bottom line is that refined agave sweeteners are not inherently healthier than sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup, or any other sweetener. Nutritionally and functionally, agave syrup is similar to high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose (Karo) syrup. It does contain small amounts of calcium, potassium, and magnesium, but not enough to matter nutritionally per WebMD expert Kathleen M. Zelman.
The bottom line is that refined agave sweeteners are not inherently healthier than sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup, or any other sweetener. Nutritionally and functionally, agave syrup is similar to high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose (Karo) syrup. It does contain small amounts of calcium, potassium, and magnesium, but not enough to matter nutritionally per WebMD expert Kathleen M. Zelman.
and here i thought could just walk up to a desert plant, break off a branch, and dip it into my soy latte.....pipe dreams, all pipe dreams.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
an introduction....
Hey, I'm Juny and I'm almost 44 years old....After seeing an episode of Dr. Oz one afternoon, I decided to try out this new program by a Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Basically, he believes that food is medicine and the wrong foods can be poison...I eat okay...I avoid fast food restaurants, but I eat out a lot. I have a sweet tooth and a salt tooth and I'm very fond of diet Coke. I have a BMI of 31.
I did a vegetarian summer about 3 years ago, for 3 months, no meat...my body loved it, i felt lighter, i lost weight, my skin was at its' best, but i hated it....I'm not a huge beef eater but i missed steak, i missed the taste, the smell, the texture. So, I quickly went back to a regular diet and I quickly gain back the weight I lost.
So, what's going to help me stay on this diet...Well, for one thing, I decided to go "natural". I am an African -American woman who is no longer using a heavy chemical to straighten my hair. I went natural two years ago and only recently it became clear that it didn't make sense to have natural hair and not a natural body. I decided it was time to clean up my culinary act. One day, while talking to Rebecca about her hair loss, it occurred to us that not one of her medical doctors suggested a change in diet...voila, we're going crazy, I mean, uh, vegan.
Dr. Fuhrman's diet boils down to this: GBOMBS. Greens, Beans, Onion, Mushroom, Berries and Seeds.
For the next month, I am basically going to bombard my body with these foods with the hopes of detoxing my liver and making my immune and kidney functions stronger, and oh yeah, make my hair look great. Vanity, thy name is woman, what of it?
today for breakfast I had a smoothie that i made using the Ninja blender. Kale, Spinach, frozen berries, almond milk and a small amount of agave....blended to the consistency I liked.
lunch at my mom was squash soup with yucca and potatoes
and for dinner: steamed veggies and a microwaved sweet potato.
and tootsie rolls. Ok, so it's a work in progress.
I did a vegetarian summer about 3 years ago, for 3 months, no meat...my body loved it, i felt lighter, i lost weight, my skin was at its' best, but i hated it....I'm not a huge beef eater but i missed steak, i missed the taste, the smell, the texture. So, I quickly went back to a regular diet and I quickly gain back the weight I lost.
So, what's going to help me stay on this diet...Well, for one thing, I decided to go "natural". I am an African -American woman who is no longer using a heavy chemical to straighten my hair. I went natural two years ago and only recently it became clear that it didn't make sense to have natural hair and not a natural body. I decided it was time to clean up my culinary act. One day, while talking to Rebecca about her hair loss, it occurred to us that not one of her medical doctors suggested a change in diet...voila, we're going crazy, I mean, uh, vegan.
Dr. Fuhrman's diet boils down to this: GBOMBS. Greens, Beans, Onion, Mushroom, Berries and Seeds.
For the next month, I am basically going to bombard my body with these foods with the hopes of detoxing my liver and making my immune and kidney functions stronger, and oh yeah, make my hair look great. Vanity, thy name is woman, what of it?
today for breakfast I had a smoothie that i made using the Ninja blender. Kale, Spinach, frozen berries, almond milk and a small amount of agave....blended to the consistency I liked.
lunch at my mom was squash soup with yucca and potatoes
and for dinner: steamed veggies and a microwaved sweet potato.
and tootsie rolls. Ok, so it's a work in progress.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Welcome to the blog of the year! .....Just kidding.
But, welcome all the same. There are two of us doing this healthy change. I'd like to introduce myself:
My name is Rebecca. I am a 27 years old wife, mother, daughter and PICU nurse. In 2010, about 6 months after I married my high school sweetheart, I had a bald spot appear on the back of my head/base of my neck area. I visited a Dermalogist and hair transplant specialist to see if there would be remedies for the diagnosis of Alopecia Areata. The next couple months involved countless labs, steroid injections and eventually losing all of the hair on my head. People kept giving me sympathetic eyes/encouraging words but I was sick of hearing it. After getting through my own grieving process I decided something: IT IS JUST HAIR. Yes...it sucks. I had A LOT of hair. Beautiful, long, brown, luscious, coveted hair. But otherwise? I was healthy. And soon after coming to this conclusion, my husband and I were pregnant with our daughter who was born April 2012.
I have been intrigued with the vegan lifestyle ever since seeing the movie Forks Over Knives and reading Skinny Bitch. With about 40-50% regrowth of my hair since the birth of my daughter, I was wondering what else I might be able to try in terms of changes/remedies to my life. That is where my friend Juny comes in. In December she told me she going to give me a mixture of essential oils to try using topically on my head. Then, during another conversation, she asked if I had ever considered going vegan. I said I had some interest in it and Vegan January was put into motion.
Now--some things have been modified for my needs. I am still consuming eggs. As I get better at using plant proteins, I will eat less eggs, but until then we did not want me to go into a relatively low protein state with the situation of my hair. Otherwise--no dairy or meats. I'll leave it to Juny to explain the GBOMBs diet we are to use as our guide to our meals.
Today--Day 1:
Breakfast: oatmeal with 1tsp organic vanilla sugar and dried tart cherries. Coffee with vanilla almond milk.
Snack: handful of mammoth pecans, blackberries and a carton of dark chocolate almond milk
Lunch: My husband got up late and wanted to have a go at almond milk pancakes. They included 1 egg in the batter. Real maple syrup.
Snack: Found someawesome beet chips and dried edamame at WholeFoods when I went today!
Dinner: Vegan Collards (see link for recipe) for Money and Black eyed pea cakes for luck (Happy New Years)
I've made black eyed pea cakes over the years and just kinda threw things together.
2 cans Black eyed peas (organic, low sodium, whatever tickles your pickle)
1 small onion diced small
1 red pepper diced small
1 egg
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup or so of cornmeal
salt and pepper
Rinse the black eyed peas and put in a bowl. Use a fork or potato masher and rough mash the peas.
Saute the onions and pepper in a slash of olive/coconut (your choice) oil until onions are translucent and peppers are softened.
Mix all other ingredients into the black eyed peas. Heat some oil in a pan--maybe around 1/4 cup. I used an ice cream scoop to get a paddy together but you could shape them by hand. Place in oil and flip to brown both sides--about 3-5 minutes per side.
Serve with fresh salsa on top and garnish with cilantro. YUM! Enjoy and Happy New Year!
But, welcome all the same. There are two of us doing this healthy change. I'd like to introduce myself:
My name is Rebecca. I am a 27 years old wife, mother, daughter and PICU nurse. In 2010, about 6 months after I married my high school sweetheart, I had a bald spot appear on the back of my head/base of my neck area. I visited a Dermalogist and hair transplant specialist to see if there would be remedies for the diagnosis of Alopecia Areata. The next couple months involved countless labs, steroid injections and eventually losing all of the hair on my head. People kept giving me sympathetic eyes/encouraging words but I was sick of hearing it. After getting through my own grieving process I decided something: IT IS JUST HAIR. Yes...it sucks. I had A LOT of hair. Beautiful, long, brown, luscious, coveted hair. But otherwise? I was healthy. And soon after coming to this conclusion, my husband and I were pregnant with our daughter who was born April 2012.
I have been intrigued with the vegan lifestyle ever since seeing the movie Forks Over Knives and reading Skinny Bitch. With about 40-50% regrowth of my hair since the birth of my daughter, I was wondering what else I might be able to try in terms of changes/remedies to my life. That is where my friend Juny comes in. In December she told me she going to give me a mixture of essential oils to try using topically on my head. Then, during another conversation, she asked if I had ever considered going vegan. I said I had some interest in it and Vegan January was put into motion.
Now--some things have been modified for my needs. I am still consuming eggs. As I get better at using plant proteins, I will eat less eggs, but until then we did not want me to go into a relatively low protein state with the situation of my hair. Otherwise--no dairy or meats. I'll leave it to Juny to explain the GBOMBs diet we are to use as our guide to our meals.
Today--Day 1:
Breakfast: oatmeal with 1tsp organic vanilla sugar and dried tart cherries. Coffee with vanilla almond milk.
Snack: handful of mammoth pecans, blackberries and a carton of dark chocolate almond milk
Lunch: My husband got up late and wanted to have a go at almond milk pancakes. They included 1 egg in the batter. Real maple syrup.
Snack: Found someawesome beet chips and dried edamame at WholeFoods when I went today!
Dinner: Vegan Collards (see link for recipe) for Money and Black eyed pea cakes for luck (Happy New Years)
I've made black eyed pea cakes over the years and just kinda threw things together.
2 cans Black eyed peas (organic, low sodium, whatever tickles your pickle)
1 small onion diced small
1 red pepper diced small
1 egg
1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup or so of cornmeal
salt and pepper
Rinse the black eyed peas and put in a bowl. Use a fork or potato masher and rough mash the peas.
Saute the onions and pepper in a slash of olive/coconut (your choice) oil until onions are translucent and peppers are softened.
Mix all other ingredients into the black eyed peas. Heat some oil in a pan--maybe around 1/4 cup. I used an ice cream scoop to get a paddy together but you could shape them by hand. Place in oil and flip to brown both sides--about 3-5 minutes per side.
Serve with fresh salsa on top and garnish with cilantro. YUM! Enjoy and Happy New Year!
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