Let's Start a Resolution!

Okay, I am not a fan of New Years resolutions. I usually set an unrealistic goal and get angry at myself for not accomplishing it, feel like I'm too busy to do something like read a book a month or finish a sewing project a week, realize that planning on doing something like making my own cheese isn't super practical, or just forget what I set out to do. Instead, I always want to be moving forward and setting reasonable and attainable goals for myself all year long.

The biggest issue I seem to face in my pursuit of becoming a size 4 artisan bread making, master seamstress, book worm, runner, cheese-maker is not just lack of time (or realism), but not having the resources I need.

Here are the sites I go to for healthy recipes, nutrition advice, fitness tips, etc:

http://www.eatingwell.com/ Eating Well has fabulous and tasty recipes. I'm kind of a foodie, and I don't want to sacrifice flavor for health. They don't make me do that. Sometimes I can find that I can make their recipes a little healthier, and make the necessary substitutions.

http://www.terawarner.com/ Tera is the "Green Smoothie Girl". Her site is an excellent resource for anyone interested in cleanses and raw food. She makes health fun!

http://jointhereboot.com/expert-blog/ If you haven't seen the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead...DO IT (it's on Netflix, and I think you can watch it for free on Hulu). It was such an inspiration. Joe Cross and his nutrition experts post recipes, articles, and such on this blog.

http://www.biggestloser.com/ I am OBSESSED with this show. I'm actually watching an episode right now. This site has wonderful recipes, tips and tricks.

http://www.runnersworld.com/channel/0,,s6-242-0-0-0,00.html As a wannabe runner, the word on this site is law to me. They have training and nutrition tips tailored for people who run or are trying to run, but mostly do the "fat girl shuffle" (yo!).

http://livingcultureonline.com/ My cousin Nate does an incredible job on this site and his show to highlight the amazing food that comes out of Oregon's Willamette Valley. You can find information on where to buy quality local food. I prefer knowing where my food comes from, and nothing beats being able to go to the farmer's market or fruit stand and meet the person who tended my food.

Here's to hard work and attainable goals!

My New Favorite Lasagna

Vegetarian, Lightened up

I LOVE a good lasagna. Lots of cheese, a zesty meaty sauce...wonderful stuff. Unfortunately they're also calorie bombs. My grandma found this recipe in Woman's Day Magazine and wanted me to make it for her (I work as a caregiver for my grandparents, and a big part of that job is making sure they eat well). I became hooked on it. Not only does it have a reasonable amount of part-skim (not 2 lbs, sorry dear husband), but it has squash and my new friend spinach.

The recipe calls for frozen squash. I used roasted local butternut squash that I drizzled with a little olive oil. When pureeing the squash I added a couple dashes of cayenne pepper and three pinches of dried sage. Flavor is HUGE for me. That has been key for me to get in the habit of regularly eating vegetables. I always play with recipes to get them to where I will enjoy them most, that usually involves extra garlic or herbs.

http://www.womansday.com/recipefinder/winter-squash-lasagna-recipe-125153

Try this lasagna with a nice salad, and eat the salad first. Eating fresh fruits or veg, and drinking water, before a meal helps you fill up faster.


Enjoy!

Low-Fat Christmas Bread!

Merry Christmas Eve, friends! Every year I try to make one new thing on top of the usual treats I serve to family and friends. This year, I majorly changed up a lemon bread recipe I always use and created a ridiculously moist orange cranberry bread, and had to share. It isn't terribly healthy, it has a fair amount of sugar, but it IS low-fat. Enjoy!

Low-Fat

Orange Cranberry Bread

Bread:

Dry:
1 C Flour
3/4 C Wheat Flour
2 t Baking Powder
1 Pinch of Salt
1/4 t Ground Clove
1/2 t Ground Cinnamon

Wet:
1 egg
1 C Non-Fat Milk
1/4 C Applesauce
3 t Orange Zest
2 T Fresh Orange Juice
1/2 C Cranberry Sauce, or Fresh Cranberries--I used Truitt Brothers Cranberry Orchard Cranberry Sauce I saved in the freezer from Thanksgiving

Glaze:
1/4 C Fresh Orange Juice
2 T Powdered Sugar

Combine dry ingredients in bowl large enough to use a mixer (or standing mixer bowl). Create well in the middle. In separate bowl add wet ingredients. Mix. Add slowly to dry ingredients and mix on low until combined. Pour in 1/3 of mixture in to greased loaf or bundt pan, add cranberries, top with the rest of the batter.

Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes, or until toothpick (I never have them, so I use a chopstick.)

Add juice to powdered sugar. Prick top of warm loaf--while still in the pan, to save yourself a mess--and pour glaze on top. The bread will be extra moist if you let it stand overnight. *HEAVENLY* Next year I'm trying out ways to make it a little healthier, and handing out mini-loaves.

Merry Christmas!

Pin It

The Intimidating Green Smoothie

Raw, Vegan, Gluten-Free

When I first heard of green smoothies, they sounded like my worst nightmare. Everything I tried to avoid, green vegetables, blended in to a drink. To me, they looked like pond scum and I thought they would taste the same. Then, one sunny summer day, I was feeling brave (and fat) and decided to give them a shot. Something that healthy looking had to be worth it. That first smoothie was more fruit than vegetable--it was more of a reddish-brown than green, but it didn't kill me. In fact, it was pretty good. I started having them for breakfast every morning. Slowly, I started adding more spinach and less fruit. I couldn't go head-first in to liquefied spinach land, I had to ease myself in to it and worked beautifully.

I have finally reached the point where my smoothies are TOTALLY green. They still have fruit, but I can actually taste the greens now. And, what's even more exciting, I love it. It's delicious, super healthy, and is an excellent alternative to a green salad.

Here's our cast of characters:

2 Leaves of romaine lettuce
3-4 Handfuls (I have small hands) of spinach
1/3 C Pineapple
4 Strawberries
1/2 Banana
1 T Flax meal
1 Inch bunch wheat grass

Cover 1/2 of ingredients with fresh orange juice, 1/4 with coconut water, 1/4 water. (If you aren't ready to taste the greens, substitute the waters with apple juice, or more orange juice.) Blend until smooth.

About these guys:

Flax - High in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, which are important for everyone--and especially people with heart problems or diabetes.

Wheat grass - Full of vitamins, amino acids and enzymes that help oxygenate blood, lower blood pressure, and helps your body absorb important nutrients.

Spinach and romaine lettuce - Excellent sources of anti-oxidants, magnesium, Vitamins K (which helps with bone strength), C and A, and beta-carotene.

Strawberries, orange juice, and pineapple - All loaded with Vitamin C--essential during cold and flu season.

Bananas -- They're well-known for their potassium content, but also have plenty of B6 and fiber.

Orange juice -- We all know how good fresh OJ is for you. Vitamin C and calcium are our friends.

Coconut water - Contains nutrients that help lower blood pressure, helps body replenish electrolytes, and has tons of potassium.

All of that in one glass? SOLD. Most of these ingredients are fiber rich, and fiber = FULL. The great thing about smoothies like these is that they don't need milk or yogurt. They're fine to add if you really want to, but you get enough calcium and protein from the other ingredients. If I feel like I want it to be a little more filling I'll add a tablespoon or so of oats or crushed almonds before I blend and it more than does the trick.

Give green smoothies a try, even if you start using more fruit than spinach. I DOUBLE DOG dare you.

Pin It

Soup and Sandwich Goes Vegan

Vegan, Light, Easy to make gluten-free

This is my favorite lunch on my vegan days-- a veggie wrap with curried red lentil soup. It's quick, easy, and SO GOOD. (Side note: a great trick for eating healthy foods is to plate it the way they would at a restaurant. You feel like you're having a treat.)

Here's how I make the wrap: 1 96% Fat Free Whole Wheat Mission Tortilla (they make the tortillas with vegetable shortening, no animal by-products) or a gluten-free tortilla, 1.5 T hummus (my favorite is Tribe 40 Spice), about 3 torn-up leaves of romaine lettuce, 1/2 C julienned carrots, 6 slices of cucumber. I spread the hummus on the tortilla, place the lettuce all over the hummus, arrange the carrots and cucumbers on one side, sprinkle with black pepper, roll, and slice. I love it because it has tons of flavor, plenty of fiber (so important) and vitamins, whole grains, and great texture. Today I ate half of a wrap with my soup and grapes and was satisfied. I'll have to remember that.

I buy Pacific Naturals Curried Red Lentil Soup at WinCo as often as I can. It's smooth, I can't get enough of curry, it's $2.18 a carton (about 4 servings), annnnd it's only 140 calories. Drooling yet?

Pin It

45 Pounds Down

Until recent years I haven't been a veggie fan. I hated them. I would pick out the most common vegetables out of everything. I thought lettuce tasted like dirt, I didn't like textures, etc. Tim has helped me get over a lot of my hang-ups with them, thank goodness for that man.

Over the last few years I have seen people I love suffer from a variety of health problems, most of them related to poor diet. My dad is having a quadruple bypass in a few weeks because three of the major arteries to his heart are 100% blocked. If I had donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast I would be on the road to the same problems. My mom has been struggling with Type 2 Diabetes, care to guess how you control it?

I decided that I need to treat myself better and set an example for my kids. After research, watching several documentaries, doing a 7-day raw vegan cleanse (another post for another day), and talking to some wonderful and knowledgeable friends, I put an eating plan in place. Since having my second child, Emmy, 5 months ago, I have lost 45 pounds. I am now 10 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with her. I still have a journey ahead of me, another 30 until I reach my goal weight, but it gets easier every day.

Since my friends have been asking what my "secrets" are, I have decided to share them with anyone who cares to read them here.

Here's the low-down of what I am doing: 2 days a week I eat vegan, 2 days a week I eat vegetarian, 1 day a week I include lean meat, and I take weekends off (within reason). Eating mostly vegetarian has helped me not only lose weight, but feel SO MUCH BETTER. And I want my friends to, too! Don't get me wrong, I still love eating meat. I have two beautiful steaks in my freezer that I intend to cook on a free day. I just don't eat it nearly as often, and I like it that way. In this blog I will include the recipes that people have been asking for (and those they haven't), where to get things that I'm eating, and the occasional update on my weight loss progress.

I haven't been perfect with my diet, I'll readily admit it. Full disclosure: I have eaten about half of a smaller Ziploc bag of homemade caramel corn and a frosted sugar cookie today. And I LIKED it. But I vow to make my next choice a better one, and I will.

Healthy Holidays!

Love,

Mary