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Thursday, October 23, 2014

Banana Blueberry 'Nice'cream with Rawnola

This is my FAVORITE food lately. Loni Jane's banana nice-cream with rawnola. I don't have a link for her recipe but you can find her on instagram. So simple and yet so delicious, filling, and loaded with nutrients. 


All you need is...

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup coconut flakes
10-12 raw dates (I used dried ones for the above photos and it was still really good)
1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen blueberries

Pulse oats, coconut and dates in a food processor until mixed well. I recommend using raw dates because the mixture will be more pasted together and have a chewier texture/richer flavor. 
Next pulse bananas and blueberries in a blender or food processor until creamy (add a little water as you go if needed). Short on berries? I frequently eat this with bananas only and it is still to die for! Top nice-cream with rawnola and enjoy!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Corn Potato Chowder

Here's a dinner I thought wouldn't stand a chance without a couple key meat ingredients I usually make it with...milk and bacon. But guess what, it turned out so good that no one missed the meat products and it passed my toughest critics with flying colors! Straight from the hubby's mouth "This is better without bacon." Sweet music to my ears! This is also a great last minute recipe since it is made out of staple ingredients I usually have in my house. Perfect for the cool fall weather we've been enjoying too!
Vegan Corn Potato Chowder

1-2 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Large Yellow onion (or 1 whole small one), finely diced
1 Large Carrot, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2-3 Cups Vegetable Stock
6-7 medium sized potatoes, diced
1 can creamed corn
1 Cup frozen corn kernals
1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
1-2 tsp onion powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot sauté onions in the EVOO until they start to turn translucent and caramelize (about 5-6 min). Then add carrot, celery and garlic and sauté a few minutes longer. Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling reduce to medium low and simmer for 30 min. You want this soup to be thick so don't add too much vegetable stock. If you add to much though you can always simmer it for longer so the liquid reduces more. Likewise if it is too thick you can always add more stock or keep a lid on the pot to trap in the moisture. Also note that I think the nutritional yeast is a key ingredient that made the soup extra yummy because it replaces the savory bacon flavor. Serves 4-6.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

I Love Fruit

It's not unusual for me to come home from the groceries store with a huge load of fruit like this (actually banana wise this is a small load).
Since becoming vegetarian 3 months ago I've developed a slight irrational fear of running out of fruit. That's because we eat so much of it! To my amusement I always get comments from the cashier about my 10-15 bunches of bananas. Last week the lady said lightheartedly "so you have all the monkeys fed now?" The week before that a different lady curiously asked "what do you do with all the fruit?" Well, we eat it! I freeze most of the bananas once they are ripe and use them for smoothies but whether they are fresh or frozen we eat several bananas a day in this house.

Fruit gets a pretty bad reputation and I think most people are scared to eat too much of it because of the sugar. I've read several articles about how overconsumption of any sugar (including fruit) is detrimental to health and prevention of disease. However the more I've researched a plant based lifestyle, I've seen the opposite to be true as long as the sugar is whole raw fruit. Based on everything I've read it is clear that sugar in a whole piece of fruit is not the same as other sugars and it is different because of the the way the body processes it. Refined sugars like high fructose corn syrup, white table sugar, or basically anything that is not in the form of whole fruit, is rapidly digested, which spikes blood sugar levels giving the body a quick surge of energy. If that energy is not used right away, the body stores it (potentially as fat). Once that burst of energy is gone you are also left feeling unsatisfied because there was no fiber to slow down the digestion process and sustain the energy. On the other hand, raw whole fruit contains vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and FIBER which slows the digestion process down. Fruit is also rich in carbohydrates made up of glucose, whose digestion depends on having the plant cell wall intact. In other words it does not digest the same as refined sugars nor are its nutrients absorbed by the body in the same way and the body actually uses real fruit efficiently, even for diabetics! Here is an excellent article that covers more about this topic by one of my new favorite health experts Dr McDougall.

Back in June 2013 I did a post all about sugar and how bad it was. I still agree that too much refined sugar is bad but I don't think sugar is the enemy anymore. Sugar/carbs only become the enemy when combined with FAT. Separately carbs and fat do ok, hence why opposite diets like Atkins (high fat low carb) and plant based (highcarb low fat) both still achieve weight loss results. However weight loss is not the perfect indicator of health, and I think the plant based diet higher in nutrients (among other reasons) is the better choice long term. Additionally I've seen a huge amount of research about how much more satisfying a high carb diet is. The human body runs on glucose and the more carbs (aka glucose) you give to your cells, the less cravings you have and the more satisfied you feel. Moral of the story... whole unprocessed foods are best, fruit is your friend, and carbs from plants make me happy! Eating plant based is really easier than you think and I can't wait to share some of the best recipes I have found so far!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

First Chiropractor Visit...EVER

Wow it has been over a month since my last post! I actually have a few recipes I've been wanting to share but life just gets so busy. However today I couldn't wait to jump on here and record my amazing experience of a visit I had with a chiropractor/naturopath. I went in for a pinch in my back that I've had for a week and got the recommendation for this particular guy from my trusty Dr. Lucy. Aside from getting help with my back I couldn't wait to talk with a health professional who has been helping people for over 30 years. A little bit daunting considering I have some very strong views that don't exactly match up with what the majority population thinks but I knew if Lucy recommended him we would probably see eye to eye. I couldn't have imagined how well I would connect with this wise, lively, 60 year old fit triathlete. Talk about practice what you preach. How refreshing it was to speak to someone with his knowledge and experience and be validated in every single one of my opinions. How comforting to be given a high five when I told him I stopped vaccinating my kids. We even talked on a very deep personal/religious level (not on purpose but somehow the conversation went there, holistically its all connected right) and agree 100%. The one thing I thought we would disagree on is being vegetarian. I thought for sure he would advocate eating meat everyday and I was ready with my defense. Not even close! As he confirmed to me that animal protein is an inferior protein source, it is a very small percentage of nutrients that need to be met on a daily basis and can easily be reached through eating plants only. Even taking it a step further acknowledging I should stay away from dairy (which is my one weakness that basically holds me back from being vegan). Our enthusiasm was mutual as I'm sure he wasn't expecting to meet someone like me today. In his own words, "You are the perfect patient, it's rare I get to just fine tune someone." I know how self absorbed this post must sound and I'm really not trying to toot my own horn. It just feels good to connect with an experienced health expert who totally understands me and basically validates all these "crazy" ideas I have, including everything I have shared on this blog thus far. I certainly don't need his validation, I know how good I feel with my lifestyle choices and I am confident in the knowledge I have gained about how the body functions and how to best maintain it, but it still feels nice.

He also practices Iridology which I have been so interested in since I heard about it several months ago. So I had my eyes read and he pinpointed a few areas that can be the most problematic for me. It was really interesting to learn how the eyes tell all.

Oh AND he fixed my back haha! I've never been to a chiropractor in my life! I was a tiny bit scared getting cracked in all these places I didn't know could crack, but boy did I feel good walking out of there. The pinch is all but gone and I just need to follow a few recommendations to keep improving it. I really can't say enough good things about this guy and it is such a relief to know that there are other people like me that exist but with 30+ years of experience and perspective. You can tell he really does this job to help people. If the old run down office they operate from, or the additional half hour he spent with me while other patients waited didn't give that away, his kind and loving spirit certainly did. Thank you Dr. Johnston!