Clean Eating

A friend of mine at church told me yesterday that she was amazed at how healthy I look and wanted to get my entire eating plan. I haven't been running in forever and I have to nap way more now that I have MS, but whatever. Most days I feel pretty good. I haven't weighed myself since early January...so, I'm kind of curious how much weight I've lost. 

Here's what I'm not eating:

• sugar
• dairy
• grain (wheat, rice, corn, oatmeal)
• gum (or anything) with aspartame 

So, my diet is somewhere between the Whole30 (if you're not familiar with that, read this: http://whole30.com/step-one/) and paleo (if you're not familiar with that, read this.

I think how I eat is closer to paleo because I do have the occasional bit of sweet, like honey and maple syrup. On the Whole30, you don't have any of that for 30 days. 

So, here are my go-to meals:

Breakfast: eggs and avocado or this great frittata done in a muffin tin recipe or this awesome muffin recipe or these awesome waffles. I throw in some almond butter if I'm feeling super hungry. 

Muffin recipe: I seriously make these nearly EVERY week. They taste phenomenal out of the oven with almond butter on them. 

Frittata recipe: These can be refrigerated for a week of meals—economy is the scale here, people. 

Waffle recipe: This is a Saturday morning treat for me, usually. I go to this website a lot for paleo recipes. She is a bit wacky...but, the recipes are wonderful.

Snacks: nuts, beet/ginger/greens/orange/apple/carrot juice/banana smoothies, more nuts, carrots, fruit, avocado

Lunch: leftovers from the day before, large green salad (mostly with this easy dressing), avocado and other random veggies.

Dinner: something paleo (I plan two weeks at a time...and I'm still fine tuning what I like and what my family will tolerate or like). 

Here are a few websites I found great recipes and the websites have useful info:

http://paleomg.com/

http://detoxinista.com/

http://www.elanaspantry.com/ (I believe this woman has MS)

http://paleopot.com/

http://nomnompaleo.com/ (AWESOME recipes here)

Also, I never cook or reheat my food in plastic containers. Storing them in plastic is fine.

I try to get organic meats, but my budget often doesn't allow for that all the time. Maybe once I am an empty nester or something I'll switch to all organic meat...or maybe I'll move to a farm in the country and raise my own. Wouldn't that be awesome? My city boy husband would be a great farmer.  

Exercise, you ask? I do lots of yoga (like 4x/week), walk and swim. Seriously...I'm not the same person I used to be with exercise. For me and exercise, less is more and my body is feeling stronger than ever...it's weird. 

Has clean eating helped you? Are you a fan of clean eating? 

How to Make Popcorn on the Stove

While I was making popcorn on the stove top for my kiddos, one of my friends told me I should post that action...apparently this skill I am so used to doing isn't one that many people know how to do.

Popcorn is both healthy and tasty...so, make some today to snack on or enjoy in front of a movie.

What you'll need:

Coconut oil
White popcorn kernels
Stainless steel deep soup pan with clear glass lid
Salt

Steps:

1. Put your pan on a burner at medium high heat. 
2. Scoop out enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of your pan.
3. Drop one kernel into the pot once all coconut oil is melted (there should be about a 1/4" of cocunut oil in the base of the pot). Put on the lid.
4.  Wait for that one little kernel to pop.
5. Once the kernel has popped, pour enough popcorn in to coat the bottom of your pan in a single layer. I use 1/2 cup.
6. Shake the pot back and forth to coat all the kernels.
7. Wait for it all to start popping. 
8. Once the popping slows down or stops, pour the contents into a big bowl.
9. Salt to taste.
10. Enjoy!

Here's a quick video to show how it's done:

Green Smoothie Recipe

Today, I'm a guest blogger on my friend, Emily's blog, Is This Really My Life. She's doing a whole week of blogs on green smoothies. I'd bookmark that site, if I were you. My smoothie featured on her site was one a friend shared with me. He and I share the same aversion to processed sugar, but love a sweet smoothie once in a while.

After reading Yoga Journal for two years, I finally tried one of their recipes and fell in love with it. The reason it's green is because of the honeydew and mint...so, I guess it's more a mint green smoothie than anything else. This tasty drink cools you off on a hot day and tastes exotic and fresh, like you're vacationing on Tahiti.







Here it is:
1 to 2 cups of fresh honeydew melon
1/2 to 1 cup of water
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp coriander
2 Tbsp lime juice
8 to 10 fresh mint leaves

Blend everything and enjoy.
By the way, Yoga Journal has a great article on their site right now on how to build a great smoothie, along with recipes. Check it out!

Mmmmm, Bread

I still don't eat white sugar...but, I recently rediscovered a bread recipe given to me by my older sister. I tweaked it a bit to make it a bit more healthy (but, it's still bread and it uses white flour, so it will still pack on the pounds if you eat too much). If you haven't closed your window from that last parenthetical statement, here is the recipe. This works best if you have a Kitchenaid or another mixer with a powerful dough hook.

This recipe makes enough to make all or several of the following:

bread
cinnamon rolls
pizza crust
bread sticks


3.5 cups hot water
1 Tbsp yeast
1/3 cup agave
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup canola oil
7 cups unbleached flour
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 flax meal

1. Dissolve yeast in 2 cups of the hot water. Make sure the water is about bath-water warm, not too hot.
2. Add remaining ingredients one by one, while mixing (including the 1.5 cups of warm/hot water), until they form  a ball. The dough will still be slightly gooey and may stick to the sides of the bowl.
3. Remove dough hook, cover with a towel, and let it rise for 40 minutes.
4. Punch down and let it rise for 20 minutes.
5. Divide into fourths.

Each fourth is good for cinnamon rolls, pizza dough, a loaf of bread, bread sticks, etc. Freeze dough or store in the fridge.

Bake at 350 degrees.
Bread sticks and cinnamon rolls: 20 minutes
Pizza dough: 17 minutes
Loaves of bread: 1 hour

Fresh, warm-out-of-the-oven, homemade bread. Is there anything better on a cool, rainy fall day? Maybe if you have no where to go, no kids to corral or fetch, and a quiet house, you could even eat your warm bread in peace. This is what I wish for all the busy mommies out there.

Nutritional Heretic

When I tell people I don't eat sugar, I get a mixture of reactions. Some people are astounded that I have that kind of self control. (Anyone could do it, if they really wanted to do it.)  Some people are incredulous, saying that I really am eating sugar if I'm eating fruit. Some people just downright think I'm crazy, like I'm a nutritional heretic or some sort of puritanical food snob.

Deep down, I think, most people I talk to about my decision understand why I want to avoid processed sugar. Sugar is addictive, it wreaks havoc on your body's metabolism, immune system, and appetite. Those who can't control themselves around a plate of brownies, frothy root beer float, bowl of icecream, bag of chocolate covered almonds, or a display of pretty little cream-filled donuts/cupcakes know the feeling. Those things, while indulgent and sinfully delicious will never fill you up, at least not completely. Sure you could eat them until you feel full (done that), but you always feel bad after you eat them. Right?

A recipe I wrote in fourth grade (I think) — sugar was my life!

I got to the point where I'd eat sugary stuff until I felt bloated and sick. (Like the time I polished off a whole dish of brownies. Myself.) Then, I'd feel guilty. Then, I'd want to go to the gym and work it all off. Which never really helped, because I'd always manage to wander over to the scale and feel even worse that the scale's numbers were going the wrong direction. Or, all that sugar had given me a headache, which made me not want to work out in the first place. If I actually got to the gym, my workout would be both sluggish and pointless.

So, sue me. Call me a food snob. Look down on me while you savor your sweets. Mock me if you must. I have to do this for my own sanity, health, and waistline. I can't go back to how I felt when sugar was a part of my life. I was a beast on the stuff...and I'm beastly enough without the help of sugar's weird control over me.

Sugar-Free Cheesecake

Most gatherings involve food. This can be tricky when you don't eat sugar of the processed variety. Your options get pared down to next to nothing when dessert is part of the menu. But, you don't have to be relegated to fruit and fruit smoothies for the rest of your sugar-free days. There are some alternatives you can make when the need arises. Arm yourself with ideas for what to cook when it's your birthday or when you get asked to bring a dessert, so you don't end up with an empty fork and a whole lot of trying-to-find-something-to-talk-about-while-everyone-else-is-eating situations.

Note: Although this doesn't contain white sugar, it sweet. As with anything sweet, limit yourself to one piece per day. I usually only make this dessert about twice a year. Once on my birthday (in the summer) and once for Thanksgiving or Christmas.


Sugar-Free Cheesecake
Reading The 7 Principles of Fat Burning by Eric Berg DC was the precursor to my decision to get off refined sugars and refined flour. I noticed my body having an easier time shedding pounds and I would recommend the book to anyone who has tried just about everything to lose those last 5-10 pounds of stubborn post-baby weight. The original version of this recipe appeared in the book. I've adapted it only slightly.

Crust:

1 1/3 cups ground nut-meal (I put about 2 cups of almonds, cashews or pecans in a blender and make my own. If you have time, soak them for a few hours first.)

1/3 cup melted coconut oil, melted
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter (I like Adam's best, but Costco has a healthy natural peanut butter, too.)

Mix crust ingredients together well and spread in a pie dish (glass is best). 


Filling:
2 packages of 1/2 fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 whole eggs

Combine all filling ingredients together until well blended. Pour filling into crust and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until slightly golden brown on top.

Enjoy!

Sugar Addiction — Why I Went Off Sugar

Crazy cola ad. Look closely. Mind control.

Tonight, I did a quick presentation at Ignite Salt Lake, entitled "Who's Your Sugar, Fatty?" See, I've been off sugar (and I'm talking about refined sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup and any other processed sugars) for almost two years and plan on staying off for the rest of my life. Why? Let me tell you.

My daughter sorting her loot.

1. Sugar is a drug. You can get addicted to it. In fact, most Americans are addicted to sugar. This addiction starts at a young age, too. Parents feel they need to "reward" their children with candy and goodies. I'm no different with my kids. Halloween is one of the biggest binge-fests of the year (although, most holidays have enough sweets accessible to send anyone into a diabetic coma). I have memories of sorting out the candy, counting it all like a pirate who has just returned from a plunder. It's fun! Candy is bright, colorful and tasty. Plus, you get this rush when you eat it.

2. Disease. There are too many people with diabetes in the world who could have avoided getting the disease. My family is included in that group of people. My paternal grandmother and her sisters all had adult-onset diabetes. I don't want to get it or even get close to getting it. So, I avoid sugar and exercise regularly. Germs actually feed off of sugar. That's why many people get sick around holidays — when people are eating more sweets.

3. Sugar makes me crazy. I literally feel like I can't control myself if I get a taste of it. Maybe you feel that way too? Well, it's not unusual to feel a little wacky when you eat sugar. Both sugar and the taste of sweet activate beta endorphin receptor sites in your brain — the same receptor sites that are activated by heroin, morphine, and cocaine. How else can I explain making and eating a whole pan of brownies by myself and washing everything so my husband wouldn't see it. I was a junkie!

Some people might say that if you eat fruit, you're technically eating sugar. Sure, you can argue that point. My point is that it isn't refined and hasn't been through anything other than the growing process in nature. There's no question that a balance of fruits and veggies (plus a lot of nuts) is great for your health. If you have to substitute sugar, I use agave. I've found that it doesn't make me feel crazy and a little goes a long way.

Watch for my recipe for sugar-free cheesecake in the next few days. Yum!