Juice Fasting Days 1 & 2

In October 2010 I watched the film Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It was an eye opener for me, and I decided that I would try to do a juice fast just like Joe in the film. I went on the website: www.jointhereboot.com and read as much as possible, and I ended up doing a 30-day all juice reboot from 11/25/11 - 12/24/11. I lost 30lbs in those thirty days, and it was the best I've ever felt. During those thirty days, I learned as much as I could about vegetarian nutrition.I also took that time to find as many recipes as possible that I would try once I was "eating" again.

While I was doing the thirty days, I realized that I was ready to make the commitment to a plant-based diet. January was definitely an exciting month for me. I got to try out new vegetarian recipes, and I was especially excited about the fact that I was able to maintain the weight loss.

I still have about 15-20lbs left to lose, so I decided to do another 15-day reboot. I started yesterday, but I wasn't able to post about it, so here goes...

I have to say that it was more difficult for me to stick with it this "first" day than the first time I did the Juice Reboot. I guess it's because I've been eating new foods every day for the past month. It's hard to go from that kind of excitement to a more structured eating--or rather drinking--plan. 

The one big motivator that keeps me going is an innocent picture that a friend took which kind of shattered my self-image. After losing the 30 lbs, I felt thin...I mean I knew I was still overweight, but compared to what I used to look like, I thought I looked pretty good. THEN, I traveled to Tampa (I wrote about this trip in a previous post) where my friend Amy lives. She was at the workshop that I presented, and she took a picture of me at the front of the group. 

The picture was hilarious because I was making a crazy face, but I actually didn't even recognize the person in the picture when I first looked at it. In the few seconds that it took me to realize that it was me in the picture, my brain kind of went like this, "Hey that lady has the same shirt I'm wearing...wait a minute...that's ME."  I couldn't believe how big I actually looked. The picture that I had of myself in my head definitely did NOT match the picture I was looking at in front of me. 

As I looked at the picture, I re-evaluated my self-image. I definitely look A LOT better than I used to before, BUT I was ignoring the fact that I am still overweight and that I still need to lose weight. Before you judge me for being vain, I want to explain why this wasn't a vain reaction. My shock wasn't so much about looking bad or good, it was about looking fat and unhealthy. Because of all of the changes I had made, I was convinced that I was in a good place, weight and health-wise, and that simply isn't the case.

Soooo, I deleted the picture because I hated the person in the picture. I hated that person because she wasn't honest with herself. I want to be true to who I am with both the good AND the bad. The truth is that I have made a lot of positive changes for my health; but, it's also true that I am still at an unhealthy weight, and I still have unhealthy habits.

So, that's where the reboot comes into play. I'm going to approach these two weeks with my health in mind and with my true self in mind. I've been overweight so long that I had forgotten to care about how it was affecting my health.

And, even though it shouldn't be about how I look, I keep thinking about that picture, and it keeps me going.

Tomato-Basil Risotto

Tonight, I made a sun-dried and basil risotto. It was my first time ever making risotto, and I was terrified of messing it up, so I didn't walk away from the pot once. 

I found the recipe online at: 

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/ricerecipes/r/sundriedrisotto.htm

The original recipe would have been too much for me, so I made half, and it worked really well. I had just enough left over to take with me for lunch tomorrow so that I can share with a friend.

The one thing that I really paid attention to with this recipe was that having the extra stock on hand was absolutely essential. I kept watching and stirring, and the moment it started to get too dry, I'd add more liquid. I kept doing that until the rice was fully cooked. Hats off to the recipe writer! The instructions were very easy to follow.

Again, no pictures :(

Lost Days

I made a great coleslaw yesterday. It wasn't a mayonnaise type of coleslaw. I used apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper, and I used both green and purple cabbage. I served it on top of a big salad, and it was delicious.

I didn't take pictures, unfortunately. But, that's not what I want to talk about today. See, even though I made the salad and coleslaw yesterday, I don't truly remember what I did...not really.

Do you ever come out of a stupor and realize that you've lost a few days???

...not a few minutes, or even hours, but entire DAYS?

That happened to me this weekend, and it seems to be happening to me a lot recently. My daughter says that weekends aren't simply long enough to recover from the work week. Maybe she's right. I spend Friday night and Saturday mornings in a vegetative state. Saturday night, it starts to hit me that the weekend is almost over and that I should clean the house and do laundry because my parents come over on Sundays, so I won't have time to do anything else. Sunday morning there's more cleaning and getting ready. Sunday afternoon with my parents ends around 4pm, and then...oh yeah....I never went grocery shopping...thank God the grocery store doesn't close until 10pm...where did the time go?

I can't even remember anything that happened after coming home Friday afternoon. I mean, I remember the basics that I just listed, but nothing of the details...I must have had conversations with my kids and my husband...I must have listened to music, watched something on TV, or read a book or magazine...but...I just can't remember any of it. What a waste.

I don't want to miss out of the living part of life, you know, the interaction with humans...especially the ones I care about most. If all I can remember is what I'm doing for work, then my priorities are really screwed up. I want to spend time with my family. I want to soak in those moments. **sigh** I need to figure this out before the kids grow up and all they can remember from their childhood is a mom that was there but absent at the same time.

Couscous with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Green Onions

Well, this is embarrassing...I wrote this a few nights ago and never posted it...

I'll add the picture soon :/

Tonight, I was tempted to just have a snack and be done with it, but I was responsible after all and I cooked a good meal for myself. I followed the directions on the box and the couscous turned out really well. Then again, I've never had couscous before, so for all I know, they could have been all wrong.

I put 1 cup of water, some salt, and a bit of olive oil in a sauce pan and brought it to a boil. I stirred 3/4 cup couscous in the water, took it off the heat, covered it, and let it sit for 5 minutes. When I uncovered it I fluffed it with a fork. At first, I thought it might have not cooked right because it looked like it was all stuck together. But, once I started "fluffing" it looked just like the picture.

In a separate pan, I sauteed 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes, diced, and 1/2 c. green onions, chopped, in a bit of olive oil and water.  I stirred this into the couscous and let it sit in the pot, covered, while I prepared the rest of my vegetables.

In the same pan that I had sauteed the sun-dried tomatoes and green onions, I heated some broccoli florets, diced onions, and sliced grape tomatoes. I melted some veggie slices shredded "cheese" on the broccoli mixture.

The chips on the side are actually baked wonton wraps. I cut the wonton squares into triangles and arranged them on a baking sheet. Then, I sprayed them with spray canola oil and sprinkled them with some sea salt, rosemary, and thyme. I baked them in the oven at 425 degrees until they were golden brown. **Careful with the salt--a little goes a really long way.

I realized something this week. As the days went by, it got more and more difficult to spontaneously choose recipes. I'm going to have to look through my books and magazines on the weekends and plan my grocery shopping with those recipes in mind.

Lazy Dinner

Tonight I made a quick dinner. I didn't follow a recipe. I just made it up as I went along because I was so tired by the time I got home that I gave up on finding a recipe when I was looking through my books. 

This meal is really more like a picnic/barbecue type lunch, rather than a dinner, but it was yummy, comfort food that I enjoyed very much. So, here's what I did.

1. Thinly slice a baking potato, and arrange slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil on the potato slices. Sprinkle with coarse salt, ground pepper, and chives. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until crispy.

2. Heat one veggie burger in the microwave (following package instructions). Cut the burger in half.

3. Cut one slice of pumpernickel bread in half. Spread some fat free mayo and grain mustard on one side. Add lettuce and tomato on that half.

4. Place one burger half on the other piece of bread. Sprinkle some cheddar flavored grated Veggie Slices "cheese" on one half of the burger and heat in microwave until melted. 

5. I used canned vegetarian baked beans that I just had to heat in the microwave.

This wasn't exactly a gourmet meal, but it was good enough for tonight. If I could redo the dish, I'd probably want to have used leftover homemade beans. Yum!

Bowties with Sweet Pepper Sauce

Tonight I made this recipe for the first time. I found it in a set of books that my mother-in-law gave me when she moved, called Eat Up Slim Down Annual Recipes 2009. I hadn't looked through the books since she gave them to me three years ago, but I am so glad that she gave them to me. They are indexed nicely, and the recipes are pretty easy to follow.

The original recipe is called Rotelle with Sweet Pepper Sauce, and it's on p.214 of the book, but I didn't have the rotelle pasta, so I used bowtie pasta instead.

Ingredients

1 t. olive oil

1 c. chopped onions

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. reduced- sodium chicken broth

 (I used vegetable broth)

4 cups chopped red or yellow bell peppers 

 (I used 2 cups of each)

1 c. chopped tomatoes

1/2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. salt

8 ounces rotelle pasta

 (I used bowtie pasta)

1/4c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown.

3. Add the broth.

4. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the peppers. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the peppers begin to soften.

5. Add the tomoatoes, basil, and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the peppers are very soft.

6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well and keep warm.

7. Pour 1 cup of the sauce into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Return the puree to the skillet and mix well. Serve the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the cheese.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 314 calories, 12g protein, 58g carbohydrate, 4g fat, 1.5 saturated fat, 4mg cholesterol, 263 mg sodium, 6g fiber

I only made a few changes to the recipe. I used vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth. I liked the idea of having both yellow and red peppers, simply because I thought it would look nice on the plate. I used bowtie pasta because it's what I had on hand. I also had to add a bit more of the vegetable broth during cooking because it was getting too dry. The last and final change I made was that I didn't use the Parmesan cheese, at all. If you've read my previous posts, you know that dairy is not my friend, so I omitted it for obvious reasons.

Here's a picture of the dish. I got a little carried away with the serving, lol. I just thought it looked pretty on the plate, but I wasn't able to eat it all. 

If you are going to make this recipe, I'd like to offer a bit of advice. This recipe is a little bland. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable. I was in a hurry to finish up with dinner because it was late, so I didn't take my time developing flavors. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably add a some rosemary. I think it would go well with the peppers. As I was cooking, I also thought about adding some jalapeno or hot sauce, but I was too chicken. Next time, I'll follow my instincts.

Terry-fying Travels

I'm back home today and my stomach is not happy with me. Waking up at 2:45am was not ideal...so I figured I'd wing it and find something suitable to eat along the drive up to Tampa.  My first presentation was schedule to begin at 9am, and there were two people to stop and pick up before we could be on our way. We didn't leave the last pick up until 5am, so I knew at that point that my food was going to be an issue. So, here is a list of my mistakes.

Mistake Number 1: NEVER wing it when it comes to food AND you are traveling with other people. No one on the trip was picky out food, so I didn't want to make things difficult for the others. McDonald's was our first and only stop on the way up. McDonald's....really? How was I supposed to make that work? Granted, it was on the side of the highway, and it was fast, AND we were in a rush to get to Tampa on time. I know that they offer oatmeal now, but I've seen it and it does NOT look like it does on TV commercials. I love oatmeal, but I need it to look...appetizing. I decided to go with one of their breakfast burritos because I really wanted something warm.. I asked to have the meat taken out. I haven't had eggs in over two months, so I knew straight off that this was going to be bad for my stomach. The cashier asked me to pick a meal number, so I asked her what the difference was between each meal. As she described each one, I realized that the only difference was the kind of meat they put in the burrito, LOL. I reminded her that I wasn't going to have any meat, so it really didn't matter which number I picked. She still insisted that I had to pick one. I thought that was funny, so I took a few seconds to pretend that I was really thinking about it, and then I chose number 4. I had orange juice with my number 4, and as I drank my OJ, I realized how gross store bought orange juice really is! I've been drinking fresh juices for only two months now, and I had already forgotten what store bought juice tastes like. I'll tell you what it tastes like....it tastes like YUCK!

Mistake Number 2: Don't assume that a variety of healthy food options will be provided by your corporate host, especially when the food is free. I should have planned better for yesterday. I should have made my breakfast and lunch at home and taken food with me. The school site that hosted the workshop provided a typical lunch that would have been fine by my old standards. This time, it wasn't OK for me. They served deli sandwiches, chips, sweet tea, fresh bananas, and cookies. I took a few of the sandwiches and pulled the meat out. I left the cheese in, which was bad for my tummy (dairy is not my friend). I also had a bag of Sun Chips, a banana, and confetti cookies. I drank water. At the end of it all, I felt bloated, yet still hungry---unsatisfied really, but it was my own fault for not having planned better.

Mistake Number 3: Don't order food when you are hungry and cranky. My last group had a handful rude attendees. You know the type, they play with their cell phones and talk to their neighbor the whole time you're up there. At one point I felt like walking over and ramming the phone down the person's throat. I fantasized about doing that more than once during my presentation, lol. I swear it's the only thing that kept me going at that point.  Anyway, after the workshop, we stopped for dinner. I was tired, cranky, and HUNGRY, so....I ordered a veggie pizza made on a tortilla with Alfredo sauce and cheese (more dairy, ugh!) and I also had a baked potato with butter and sour cream (again, more dairy). I was so gassy and bloated that I thought I was going to throw up during the entire car ride back. When I woke up this morning, the toilet bowl became my best friend :(

The idea of having to do this again is terrifying.

Leftovers Aren't Always Bad

Before I get to the leftovers, I want to talk about the great juice I made this morning...

My Breville Juice and Blend has been the Christmas present that hasn't lost it's pizzazz. Every time I look at it I get as excited as I did the first time I took it out of the box. I decided that this would be a good time to take pictures, too. I've gotten comfortable enough with juicing that I can make it up as I go. My first few times were complete disasters. If you've ever tried juicing an entire orange, you know what I'm talking about, lol. I remember drinking half of it between gags because I was determined not to waste. Now I know what not to do, and I've also learned how to work with the flavors.

Today's breakfast juice consisted of:

4 leaves kale
1 granny smith apple
1 red gala apple
2 pears
3 large carrots
1 medium beet root
1 cup strawberries
1 cup red grapes
2 oranges
1 lemon


It all went in the juicer except for the lemon, simply because I forgot. I squeezed the lemon juice in at the end. I love how the beets give the juice a really nice color.

After breakfast, the day just seemed to get away from me. I'm traveling on business tomorrow, so I spent the day cleaning and getting all of my presentation stuff together. Before I knew it, lunchtime had come and gone. So, I had left overs from yesterday's potato salad. This time I remembered to take pictures :)

The bagel chips were an extra treat/cheat since I'm trying to stay away from processed foods.

After lunch, I continued working, watched a cooking show with my son, went back to work, and before I knew it, I was late for dinner, ugh! My husband and kids wanted fast food, so I was incredibly hypocritical and picked up Burger King for them. I hate myself for it. How can be taking such good care of myself and let my family continue eating this kind of junk? I told myself that it's just a "treat," that I've been incorporating more vegetable dishes for my family, that I've been buying less processed foods for them...but in the end I still took the easy way out and went for the convenience of fast food.

What I feel the most guilty about is that I didn't have any of it, myself. I quickly put some veggie pita pockets together for myself with the left over dressing from the potato salad. I just cut up some vegetables, threw in some of the leftover wild rice, and mixed it all together with the dressing and stuffed the pita pockets.

So, as I sat there with my family, watching eat this greasy, unhealthy food, I ate my veggie pita pockets that took me all of 5 minutes to prepare from leftovers. I've never really liked eating leftovers before, but I guess leftovers aren't always bad, after all. Here's a picture of my openly-shame-faced pita pockets--They were delicious, but I didn't write down a recipe for it.

I'll be out tomorrow, so I won't be able to try any of the recipes, but when I get back, maybe I'll be able to share what vegetarian friendly dishes I was able to find in restaurants while I was traveling on business.

Potato Salad & My Parents

My parents are not too thrilled about my vegetarian "conversion". They try to be supportive, but I know they think I'll end up malnourished. I see them every Sunday, and although I'm not trying to start a vegetarian crusade...I do want to show them that vegetarian foods can be nutritiously complete AND delicious. I decided to ease them into this by including at least one vegetarian dish for our Sunday meals. I think they still see these dishes as "side" dishes, not worthy of being called a main course. My husband says I shouldn't try to "change" them, but it's not about changing them. I guess I just want them to approve of my choice to be a vegetarian. Yikes! How old am I??? I thought being over 30 meant I would outgrow this kind of thing. Ugh!

Anyway, this week, I made potato salad. Now, I know that potato salad is pretty common, even for non-vegetarians. But, hey, I've got to start somewhere...

I found the recipe for Potato Salad  in The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook by John and Mary McDougall.

Here it is as it appears in the book

2 pounds small red potatoes, cut into chunks

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped green onions

Dressing:

1/2 cup fat-free mayonaise

1T. prepared mustard

1 T. soy or rice milk

1 T. parsley flakes

1/2 t. honey

1/4 t. dill weed

1/8 t. salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place the potatoes in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over medium heat until just tender, about 20 minutes (Don't let htem get too soft)

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Set aside.

When the potatoes are done, remove from heat and drain. Add the onion, celery, and green onions.

Poor the dressing over the vegetables and mix well. Serve warm or refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving.

Believe it or not, I actually practiced making this recipe before making it for my parents. Approval issues, anyone? Anyway, here's what I learned.

The original recipe needed a little oomph...I like to feel that I'm chewing on something substantial. So, I added finely chopped raw carrots. They worked well with the crunchy celery. I also increased the salt, to taste. I don't need a lot of salt, but the recipe need a bit more since the mayonnaise and honey made it kind of sweet. I used rice milk, and I used raw honey instead of regular honey because it gave the dressing a thicker consistency. I found out--the hard way--that 30-60 minutes in the fridge is best. I kept leftovers in the fridge overnight for lunch the next day, and the dressing started to separate, which was not pleasant. It got all watery and gross. This is definitely the kind of recipe that works best when you eat it right away.

Most of the recipes in the book do justice to its title: it is a good introduction to quick and easy vegetarian recipes. The list of ingredients for most recipes is not too long, and the actual instructions are also short and to the point. I appreciate this since I'm not ready for long and complicated recipes just yet.

If I had any criticism to share about this book, it would be that many of the recipes rely on convenience/processed foods, which I'm trying to stay away from. I also find that many recipes are quite similar. This is good for starting out, but I know I'll outgrow this soon. I want to be exposed to many different flavors. I also find myself thinking about ingredients that I would either add to the recipe or substitute all together. I guess, in a way it gives me the liberty to play with recipes to suit my taste.

I had the potato salad for dinner with a few other things. I wish I would have taken a picture of the plate so I could post it here. I'm going to have to keep my camera with me when I'm cooking. Anyway, I put a bed of arugula on my plate. On top of the arugula, I had some wild rice. And, on top of the rice, I had the potato salad. It was a very, very, very satisfying and yummy dinner for me.

So...how did it go with my parents....Well, we never actually ate the potato salad together. during lunch. I ended up giving them some to take home. My dad called after dinner to let me know that he had liked it, but I didn't get to talk to my mom. He always tries to be nice about things like this, though. So, if I want to get a completely candid answer, I'll just have to wait until my mom gives it to me straight.

Getting Started

This is my first attempt at blogging, which is very exciting. I tried being a vegetarian when I was a teenager. It lasted for a pretty long time before my parents put a stop to it. They were right to do it. I wasn’t a true vegetarian; I was just a kid that wasn’t eating meat. I was still eating a lot of junk, and I wasn’t getting the right nutrition. Now that I’m older and smart enough to educate myself, I’m having another go at it.

I’ve done a lot of research, and I’m ready and willing to eat right. I’ve learned how to keep track of my protein and iron intake, as well as various vitamins and minerals. My one problem is that I’m not familiar with vegetarian cooking. Soooo…I’ve found every cookbook and magazine that I own, and I’ve gone through them searching for vegetarian recipes that sound interesting. I’ve also found traditional recipes that I think I’ll be able to doctor up into vegetarian meals. I tabbed and labeled every single recipe—this process took me a few weeks. I’ve even tried a few of the recipes, with some success…and some disasters.

Now comes the fun part. I am going to try one new recipe each day for the next year, and I want to document my journey on this blog…in the spirit of Julie and Julia, except without all of the trying-to-find-myself drama. I just want to learn, learn, learn and have fun sharing what I learn along the way.

I suppose somewhere along the line I’ll learn how to make this blog look exactly the way I want it to look. For now, I’ll be content putting my thoughts down in writing.