back to the garden

Each Monday, I receive an email from the Meatout Monday folks. Honestly, I don't always open them but I did this morning because the word "kale" caught my eye. Just happens I have some kale that needs to be used today. This email offered a recipe for White Bean & Kale Stew. Sounded good except for the fennel bulb. Did a quick search of the internets for other recipes with kale and white beans as main ingredients. What I found is they are mostly a variation on a basic theme. Going to try my own variation tonight and see what happens. May even make some kale chips.

Guess what?! I have a renewed interest in trying new clean eating recipes. Do you have a current favorite? I'm also putting together a list of blogs focused on clean eating. Do you have one or know of one to suggest?

For those of you catching the "back to the garden" reference: click here.

Monday weigh in: 137

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stuffed peppers

News flash - I made dinner the other night using a new recipe! As usual it was a simple dish. It turned out pretty well, although I think the flavoring could be amped up. Do you have a favorite recipe for stuffed peppers?

Here's a link to the clean eating recipe I used. The only change I made was to add brown rice to the stuffing mixture. Will use fresh garlic in the saute next time and will parboil the peppers before baking them.

* This is not a photo of what I served but it's pretty, no?

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Mmmm, soupy

For dinner last night, I tried a new recipe for Winter Squash and Red Pepper Soup. We liked it but would not be in any hurry to have it again. John, while liking the overall taste of the soup was disappointed that he couldn't taste the red peppers more. This was probably my fault as I didn't measure the amount of squash I used and may have used more than the recipe suggested. When I have a cup of leftover soup for lunch today, think I'll add some thyme.

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I did it!

It's been a quiet week here in P-ville. Some yard work, some catching up on reading, some netflixing*, and some time spent riding Bykasandra**. Weight seems to be maintaining at 132.8ish. Challenged myself to ride 100 miles and amazingly I surpassed this goal and rode a total of 120 miles. Surprise! My legs feel stronger with each ride -- it's a great feeling.

This week my challenge is to make four new dinners (clean eating style). I've really slacked off on this and we're in a rut. If you have some recipes to recommend, I love 'em.

Have a terrific week -- smile, persevere, and use determination to make progress toward your goals whatever they may be...

* Loved "Billy the Kid." "Local Hero" was pretty good, too.
** name for my bike suggested by Roxie.

[Photo: Probably the last bloom of the zinfandel daylilies for the summer.]

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wheying in

Recently, MizFit tackled the topic of protein powders. As we've come to expect, she provided a throughout examination of the topic. The comments were very informative as well. Apparently, there are many forms of protein powder, all with a unique set advantages and disadvantages.

I bought some whey protein powder several weeks ago. I sometimes add it to oatmeal along with chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and chopped fruit (mostly berries). When I hit a plateau, I stopped eating oatmeal every morning and when I did have oatmeal, I skipped adding the protein powder. I added a teaspoon of ground flax seed meal instead - less calories.

Do you use whey protein powder or any other type of protein powder? If so, how do you integrate the powder into your diet?

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cauliflower power

Turns out I love roasted cauliflower. And, there's an added benefit -- munching on the bits that don't make it on to the baking sheet for roasting. It's tasty raw, steamed or roasted. Yum.

Here's the recipe I've been using:

1 head cauliflower, chopped up bite-size
1/4 cup EVO
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
red pepper flakes (to taste)
kosher salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp dry thyme leaves (or 2 tsp fresh when in season)

Put the cauliflower in a bowl and pour EVO over. Toss. Add everything else and toss again. Spread on baking sheet. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes. Easy peasy.

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organic foods too big a deal?

Read an article in today's NYT by Mark Bittman that's very interesting. He's really turning out to be a solid writer/thinker about the macro and micro issues surrounding how we, as Americans, eat. Here's an excerpt:

No matter how carefully I avoided using the word “organic” when I spoke to groups of food enthusiasts about how to eat better, someone in the audience would inevitably ask, “What if I can’t afford to buy organic food?” It seems to have become the magic cure-all, synonymous with eating well, healthfully, sanely, even ethically.

But eating “organic” offers no guarantee of any of that. And the truth is that most Americans eat so badly — we get 7 percent of our calories from soft drinks, more than we do from vegetables; the top food group by caloric intake is “sweets”; and one-third of nation’s adults are now obese — that the organic question is a secondary one. It’s not unimportant, but it’s not the primary issue in the way Americans eat.

[...]

But the questions remain over how we eat in general. It may feel better to eat an organic Oreo than a conventional Oreo, but, says Marion Nestle, a professor at New York University’s department of nutrition, food studies and public health, “Organic junk food is still junk food.”

I'm gradually adding things to the list of foods that I prefer to be organic. Number one on the list is organic apples. This last time shopping, I bought organic, natural peanut butter to go with the apples. Do you buy organic foods?

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day tripper

NY Times food writer Mark Bittman changed his diet, lost 35 pounds, nipped some troubling health conditions in the buds and wrote a book about it. Now he's in book promotion mode and is talking about the wake up call to change his diet and how he became a vegan, sort of.

Mark made the changes after developing high cholesterol, borderline high blood sugar, bad knees and sleep apnea, and realizing he was about 35 pounds overweight. A doctor suggested he adopt a vegan diet, which means no animal products. But for a food writer, Mark said, becoming a full-time vegan was both unrealistic and undesirable. Instead, he came up with a compromise:

"I decided to do this sort of “vegan till 6” plan. I didn’t have huge thoughts or plans about it. I just thought it was worth a try. Within three or four months, I lost 35 pounds, my blood sugar was normal, cholesterol levels were again normal … and my sleep apnea indeed went away. All these good things happened, and it wasn’t as if I was suffering so I stayed with it…. I have not eliminated anything completely from my diet. I haven’t had a Coke in a while, but I didn’t drink that much Coke to begin with."

Those are some terrific results after only three or four months! Here's Bittman's Day Tripper approach to a healthier way of eating:

My arrangement with myself is that from the time I wake up until dinner I eat only fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. I don’t even eat white bread during the day. And then starting at dinner, I do. I have one meal a day when I do pretty much what I want, which is normally quite indulgent.

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Why does it take wake up calls to change our lives?

Watched this film last night. I've often wondered why most of us wait until we (or someone we love) receive a huge, scary wake up call like a cancer diagnosis, or diabetes, or stroke/heart attack, to face up to the results of our unhealthy stress levels, the impact of pollution in environment and our day-to-day diet (not just what we eat but how much of it too).

There is a way of eating, not a diet, but a day to day way of eating that will not only promote weight loss, but may help to increase prevention of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. It's also anti-inflammatory and anti-aging! If you try to purchase most of your fresh fruits and veggies from local or regional sources, it's also good for the environment. It's called clean eating.

Anyhoo...this film is not a tear-jerker. It's a well-made, life-affirming documentary of Kris Carr's journey of seeking healing and health that was set into motion with her cancer diagnosis. Why do we wait to make the change to eating clean? Maybe we all have a delusion of invincibility to some degree. Perhaps it's most strong when we're in our twenties but I think we, regardless of our age, like to believe that our bodies can handle everything. I guess that's why it sometimes takes something really dramatic and threatening to compel us to make changes that really aren't so hard to do.

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protein smoothie

I've not yet gotten in to the smoothie craze but this type of clean eating looks fantastic. I know nothing about whey protein. Any tips? Can hardly wait for the local Farmer's Markets to start back up.

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