Noshtopia

Different Breakfast: Plantains and Red Quinoa

My parents are visiting this week, and I'm very excited that they are here with me, but I'm really excited that mom is here to cook me all my favorite dishes. I shall share some of those dishes as the week goes on.

I've come to the conclusion that this week I'm just going to let myself have a totally guilt-free week with the food and let my mom spoil me. Mom's cooking is good but some Filipino dishes are just not low in fat. In fact, the fat is what makes the dishes so delicious.

I once tried to make adobo with white chicken breast - no skin, low sodium soy sauce, and organic vinegar. All I can say is um no! There is a reason you use the chicken skin, some dark meat, full sodium soy sauce, and Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar. It's better to eat smaller portions of the real stuff, than bigger portions of the "healthy" version.

 

For breakfast today, after a morning 4-mile walk, I ate some odd combo but it was good. From Whole Foods, I had some Red Quinoa salad made with cucumber, carrots, cilantro and red onion in a orange ginger dressing.

 

Mom had fried some plantains, and I dove in. I love fried plantains. For some reason though, mom likes to cut the plantains long wise versus in circle slices. But whatever, it's all good and made with mom love.

Tried Something New: Instead Of Eating A Cookie, I Ate...

 

Night time is when I get the worst sugar cravings and often I will satisfy my sweet tooth with things like cookies, cake, ice cream, or rice krispy treats. Since starting this sugar wean in January, I've noticed that besides wanting the sugar, I'll eat the sweets at night just out of pure habit.

So, the other day, when I was up late blogging and wanted to eat a granola bar or a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich bar, "I tried something new" for the #foodrevolution and cracked open a can of tuna to get some protein and Omegas.

Awhile back, I remember my ND telling me to eat protein instead of a sugar at night because the body is dropping blood sugar and what it actually needs is protein and not sugar although that is what we crave. Of course, did I follow that advice? Um-no.

But for one day, I did, and it was fine. Eating the tuna certainly wasn't like eating a cookie but my cravings did go away, and I felt good that I made a conscious effort and took a tiny action to break one of my sugar habits. We'll take a win for any little victory we can get :)

Coolio: Vertical Caprese Salad

 

Aren't those pretty? I saw them @wfmscottsdale. The designer in me loved the look of this basically vertical Caprese salad. I've never seen the salad done like this before. I wanted to reach in and take a bite.

5 Things To Make From Artichokes

 

I saw these ginormous artichokes at the grocery store the other day and all of a sudden I got hungry for some. This sugar wean is doing weird things to me like making me crave veggies particularly green ones.

I mentioned yesterday that I woke up one day and craved kale. It's fascinating how going into the third month of weaning off sugar, my body is now hungering for the greens on its own without me having to make myself eat the stuff. The body really is an amazing thing!

So, without adieu with the help of some very creative food bloggers, here are 5 things you can make with artichokes:

• Millet Stuffed Artichokes [Fat Free Vegan Kitchen]

• Potato Salad with Home Marinated Artichokes and Tarragon [Cooking Books]

• Quinoa and Pancetta Filled Artichokes in Tomato Sauce [Lucullian Delights]

• Eggplant & Artichoke Heart Galettes w/ Rosemary, Garlic, Chili & Goat Cheese - Gluten-free [Just Making Noise]

• Roasted Artichokes with Lemon Persillade Crust [Pham Fatale]

Weaning Sugar Wednesday #9: The Taste Buds Have Really Changed

 

I'm going into my third month now on this going sugar little journey, and I can tell you this, my taste buds sure have changed quite a bit. In fact, there are some sweet foods I used to eat/drink all the time, and now I take a couple bites or sips and it's just too sweet for me. My taste buds are literally reacting to all the sugar, and it's making me cringy. I find it utterly amazing how the body can acclimate once you start working with it...and in my case, slowly doing a wean versus going cold turkey.

Here's a good example of what is too sweet to me now. Back in January, every day I would drink 1-2 16oz bottles of Sweet Leaf Tea. I love the tea because they have organic versions, the flavors are awesome, and admittedly, I find the picture of the sweet granny on the label endearing. I'd actually call it Sweet Grandma Tea.

One bottle contains 2 servings, so that comes to a total of 32g of sugar for the Plain Original Flavor. The Raspberry and Peach have 36g, and my former favorite the Half & Half (lemonade and tea) has a whopping 48g of sugar per 16oz bottle. If I stick to my, 25g/day of sugars goal, then just about half that bottle of the Half & Half is my entire day's worth of sugar.

Cutting back 12g/day just in drinks

I have a hard time even drinking the Original flavor Sweet Leaf tea now. In fact, I got a bottle the other day and had to add some water to it to help make it taste less sweet. Whole Foods had a sale on organic Steaz iced teas, and so I got a bunch because one can at 16oz is also 2 servings, but the sugar content is 20g of sugar for the whole bottle. Cutting back from 32g to 20g for 16oz of flavored iced tea is a significant change. So now, I've moved from Sweet Leaf to Steaz for teas. The folks at Steaz are really nice too. I wrote about them back in 2008 because I liked how they focused on diversity and fair trade.

I've also been drinking more sparkling waters because I love the carbonation minus all the sugars. The hardest part for me in this whole sugar weaning thing has been cutting down the sugars in my drinks because in the 80g/day of sugars I used to consume, more than half of those grams came from drinks alone. I'd rather be eating my sugar than drinking it.

 

Going into month 3 on the sugar wean, I've also noticed some odd but good cravings. One morning I woke up and craved kale. I've been on a bit of a kale binge lately. On another morning, I woke up and craved fiber. Yeah, I actually craved fiber, and honestly, it was the weirdest thing because normally I'll crave bready sugary things like pancakes or muffins. So to satisfy my morning fiber craving, I went and got a box of Whole Foods 365 brand High Fiber cereal. I threw in some walnuts and dried cherries to the cereal for added protein, MUFAs, and some sweet.

 

My desire for cookies and cakes has dropped too. The cravings are not totally gone but I'd guess they are over 50% gone which is much better progress in 3 months than I expected. I believe this sugar wean is going pretty smooth now because I'm doing it slowly over time, and working with my taste buds as they change. It's really exciting to get to a point where you know your body is enjoying the changes for better health.

So, how has your sugar weaning week been going? Notice any changes in the taste buds too?

Simple & Green: Kale Salad With Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Onion, And Toasted Walnuts

 

For Tuesday's "I tried something new," #foodrevolution, I made this kale salad that was so easy to make that it took more time to buy the ingredients than to make the dish itself. In fact, the dish was made even more simple because I could get most of the ingredients from the salad bar at Whole Foods, and not have to do much cutting which is grand in my book of lazy.

If you have not tasted kale yet, you should give it a whirl as the green is gaining popularity as a super food packed with nutrients. Here are some of the health benefits of kale. I like kale because it has a slight crunchiness to it. I've eaten kale many times before but I usually eat it plain or in soup like this chicken sausage, red lentil, potato, carrot and kale soup I made awhile back. This is the first time I've ever made it mixed with stuff in a salad.

You can make this kale dish either raw or slightly cook the kale. Raw kale is too bitter for me, so what I like to do is steam it for one minute, and not a minute more. With the one minute steam, the kale loses its bitterness but it's still slightly crispy. Cook the kale more than a minute and it starts to get wilty like chard.

 

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 cups of fresh kale cut into bite sized chunks
• 1/2 a small avocado cut into cube chunks
• 10 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
• 1 tbsp toasted walnut pieces
• 1 tbsp sliced red onion or more if you like onion
• 1/4 fresh lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• garlic salt

 

Let's get cooking:

• Like I mentioned you can either use the kale raw or steam it for one minute. I prefer to steam to take away some of the bitterness. If you eat the kale raw, you'll get the most enzyme impact of this vegetable.
• Put the kale in a mixing bowl, pour in the olive oil, and squeeze the lemon juice all over the kale. Sprinkle a couple shakes of garlic salt and thoroughly mix all three ingredients.
• Toss in the cherry tomatoes, onion, avocado and toasted walnuts, and give it a nice mix all together. Add a little more garlic salt for taste.

You're done. Put in a nice dish and enjoy!

I loved this kale salad so much that after I made it and took pictures for this blog post, I tweeted about how I almost ate the whole thing. So yeah, very glad I tried something new!

Nourishing My Nature With Pooh and Piglet

 
 

I believe that as important as it is to nourish the body with fresh vibrant foods, it is equally important to nourish your mind and sense of purpose with nutritious content. This weekend, I feasted on The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet which unbelievably I have never read until now. I know! I do however believe that the Universe timed my reading of these books perfectly and I attracted exactly what I needed at this time.

On Saturday, I was feeling a bit unsettled and discombobulated if I may use a supercalidocious word. In the overall scheme of things, I am very glad that I left corporate America, and became an entrepreneur because as Pooh would tell me, working for myself is my true nature.

But there are stretches of time that go by particularly when the bank account looks like it's going to be wearing red instead of black, where I feel like, I should just go get a job. When it gets really tough and I have those tormented writer cocktail days ala Hemingway, I even start to think that life would be so much easier if I just go find myself a wealthy husband. I could be one of those Housewives of Scottsdale...Yeah, okay, I know, not me...but maybe?...Okay, got it, let's get back to Pooh.

Tried Something New: Putting Takeout Food On A Plate

To some of you this is going to sound ridiculous, and to some others of you, you will be like, "OMG! I do that too." I don't mind admitting some of my oddities because 5 years of blogging has taught me that many of us are more alike than we think.

So okay, whenever I get takeout meals besides pizza and Chinese because that food usually comes in individual dish containers, I eat right out of the to-go container like this. I don't bother with plates mainly because I'm lazy and hate washing dishes.

 

I know many people find it surprising that I have lazy tendencies because in many areas I am somewhat disciplined. When it comes to food though, I got all kinds of lazy going on which is why I'm all about finding shortcuts, doing semi-homemade, and using as little dishes and silverware as possible because I hate washing dishes.

In fact, another dirty little secret of mine is that at home I eat mainly with disposable forks and spoons so I can just throw them away instead of wash them. I'm either saving water or creating more landfill, two ways to look at it.

In an effort for, "I tried something new" for the #foodrevolution, I decided this time to put my Vietnamese Bun #3 dinner out of it's to-go container, and put it on a plate. Now, why this seemingly small action actually is a big deal is that it made me realize that when I eat straight out of the to-go container, I will be inclined to eat the whole thing because some of my, "Clean the plate" mentality will eek in. Eating a whole to-go container of anything is just way too much food as some of those containers can fit 3-4 servings.

A simple way to cut down calories

A very significant yet easy way to cut down our calorie consumption is simply cutting down portion sizes. I no longer deprive myself of any foods any more. If I want something, especially if it's a sweet or a fat like pizza or cake, I'll just eat a small portion of it. My Inner Resistance Monster is satisfied because to him even two bites of something is better then telling him, "No way Jose." Whenever, I do that, oh boy, the cravings intensify until I break down and then end up eating way more had I just taken the couple bites in the beginning.

 

I have these plate/bowl dishes I got at World Market, and I like them because they are flat yet have edges and can hold in food like a bowl. So, I put my takeout food in one of these dishes, and as you see here, I have only one egg roll instead of two, only 1/3 of the noodles, and about 75% of the meat. I don't mind eating more meat because it's mostly protein, and the dish didn't come with that much meat in the first place, so we're good.

I actually didn't eat everything on the plate because I got full, so I stopped and put the rest back in the to-go container for lunch the next day. I think we can often underestimate the power of visual queues when we eat. When you take take-out food out of its to-go container and put it on a plate, you can have better control over the portion size you eat, and help keep on track for your health goals.

Eating at the table

Along with putting the food on the plate, I also ate at my dining table. Normally, I'd eat my take-out in its to-go container on the couch and watch TV. Besides the food looking nicer in a plate, eating at the table made me feel like I was having more of a food experience like what you have at a restaurant versus feeling like a couch potato.

I did have to wash the plate, but I figured washing one plate in an effort to help me cut down on my food portions was well worth it. Glad I tried something new!

So what new thing did you try this week?

Does Your Relationship With Food Reflect Your Relationship With Yourself?

 

Kelly with @cookingwcaitlin and I the most awesome lunch last week, and one of the dishes we both had was this Red Quinoa with edamame and tomatoes. If you are ever in Phoenix, you must go to St. Francis and nosh on some. It's amazing! Here you can gawk at the rest of our lunch.

I love Quinoa in general because it's a power packed food with fiber and protein, and most importantly, it tastes good. 10 years ago though, I would never have eaten this stuff because I was knee deep in my corporate road warrior days flying all over the place eating mainly airplane food, Chinese take out, and strip mall restaurant food.

Yes, when I wined and dined customers, we ate at fancy restaurants but I mostly stuck to spinach salad, some chicken dish, Tiramasu, and of course the bread basket and a cocktail...or three. I drank a whole lot during my corporate days in hindsight because I was trying to numb myself from a life I hated living. I called it Corpse-rate America for a reason.

Mirrors are not just for checking our look

After going on medical leave, one of my healers really got me to start looking at my relationship with food as a reflection of my relationship with myself. She told me that our outside world, what's going on in our lives, is merely a reflection of our inside world - mirroring. To change the outside, you must start with the inside. My first reaction was, "If that's true, I'm so messed up, I don't even know where to begin." As messed up as I was at that time, I did have a starting point, granted not a pretty one, but it was a point. That day with my healer was important because it led me to where I am here today.

When the healer talked about mirroring, it's not about exact replicas like someone stole my gym bag so where did I steal something. It's about the energy involved, where is it similar, like for example, the boyfriend broke up with me like amputating a limb, just cut me off, so where in my life have I amputated, cut something off or removed something, whether it be people, place, thing, belief, or emotion?

Starting to see the connections

I had never thought about mirroring before and that my relationships with food and myself were mimicking each other. The problem-sover in me thought this mirroring concept was really eye opening because when I switched my brain over to start comparing, I could immediately see some similarities. Later on, I'd start to see a whole boat load of connections.

The amputation example really struck me because I know that throughout my life I had performed many amputations with friends and jobs. If a friend hurt me, I would just cut them off and no longer talk to them. No explanation, no communication, I just cut off all ties. With jobs, I would just quit and never speak to anyone there ever again. I was a pro at the silent treatment.

Today, I'm all about talking and dealing with problems as they arise. I no longer run away from friction or conflict because this is how we grow, and besides, the universe won't let you get very far, so I figure I might as well get it over with while the problems are smaller versus bigger if you keep putting them off.

Words I would use to describe my relationship with food

10 years ago, some words I would use to describe my relationship with food would include: antagonistic, depressed, controlling, guilt-ridden, and disconnected. Joy was fleeting and what joy I did feel around food was related more to the high of sugars and fats like donuts, pizza, and ice cream. I would binge on foods and then purge either literally or I'd exercise for hours on end.

When I looked at my outside life, all of those words that I used to describe my relationship with food could be applied to what was going on with me at the time. For example, depression got so bad for me that my doctor put me on the "happy pills" as I used to call the anti-depressants.

I had an antagonistic relationship with my job and work environment. I mostly hated the corporate world and had even given up love for money. I was so caught up in the image of being the hot, successful, rich marketing woman that I became completely disconnected from the real me. I had a terrifying dream one night where I realized I didn't even know who I was any more.

With food, I ate things that numbed me versus nourished me and thus kept me disconnected from my body and my emotions. I was a serious emo eater, mostly binging when I didn't want to or could not handle my emotions. I would eat the "bad" foods and feel so guilty afterward, but not guilty enough to stop just guilty enough to feed my self-sabotaging need to feel not good enough.

I felt controlled by food because in my head food and exercise determined my self worth because it was tied into my weight. The scale definitely was the real boss of me in my life, and each step on that scale either determined a good day or a bad day. The scale was my ball and chain.

Thank goodness for my prosperity peeps

Back then, the only way I was going to be able to create a healthier relationship with food and myself was through help from people I like to call, "Partners in Prosperity" because health is wealth. These are people both professional and personal who care about and help me in my success and rebuilding.

I say rebuilding because in some areas of my life, I literally had to demolish and rebuild kind of like what they do with new casinos on the Strip in Las Vegas. They have to blow up and destroy the old casino to build a new fabulous one. At that time, some of my Partners in Prosperity included nutritionists, chefs at cooking classes, therapists, energy healers, a naturopathic doctor, fitness trainer, and chiropractor. On a personal level, I made new friends in a running club and at a gym where the environment was fun. And through 5 years of blogging, I've met so many incredibly supportive folks. I enjoy the fact that social media can help bring us together and help us help each other.

The last 10 years has definitely been quite the journey in rebuilding my relationship with food, and part of that journey was creating Noshtopia so that I could give my own learning lessons a voice and to use that to help others in similar circumstance. Today, the words I would use to describe my relationship with food would include: vibrant, real, fun, nourishing, creative, brings out the best in me, and connected.

And yes, as below so is above :)

Weaning Sugar Wednesday #8: Cutting Down The Sugars In Breakfast Food

 

To start off with something sweet, that is not a food because we can have sweetness in our lives without cookies or cupcakes, here are some beautiful pink tulips. Spring is here and the weather in Phoenix has just been heavenly with crisp fresh air and blue skies. If you're thinking of doing a spa or golf weekend, come on down because it is literally perfect weather now. Soon, it will get Africa hot.

Now that I and many others have gotten absolutely clear on exactly how The American Heart Association defines added sugars, it really has changed how I look at foods because now when I read labels, I look at what is added on top of the natural stuff like say jam for example. Fruit on its own should be sweet enough, but apparently it isn't because added sugars are still combined with the fruits. Locally, I found Made By Bees, who makes these awesome fruit butters like this Apricot butter with no added sugars. They just use other fruits for added sweetness.

Yesterday, I dropped my car off at the shop to get fixed and then walked over to Whole Foods to get some breakfast. I get to the hot foods bar and immediately my nose gets a whiff of this creme brulee french toast. 

 

Now, of course I'm drooling because the smell of this decadence is literally igniting all my senses. But fortunately, because I have noticed that my taste buds are acclimating to less sugars, the desire to actually taking a bite of this french toast doesn't even come up because I start thinking of the ginormous amounts of added sugars in this dish, and I ask myself, "Is this how you want to start your day?"

Easily, I'm like, "Uh no, not really." Because, I know that eating something like this at 9am is going to make me feel sluggish and heavy. But, I don't say no either because I know my Inner Resistance Monster will kick in. I just ask myself which choice will satisfy what I need at the moment, and make me feel good.

Fortunately, I'm satisfied with just inhaling the smells. Who knew? Back in January, I would have definitely at least gotten a very small piece and called it breakfast dessert.

 

So, what I do end up getting for breakfast is a cup of mixed fruit made of cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, mandarin oranges, and bananas from the salad bar, and then topping it with So Delicious brand Pina Colada coconut-milk based yogurt, and topping it all with my favorite maple pecan granola. I felt good. My body felt good, and this is the way I like to start my day...feeling gooood!

And how's your sugar weaning week going? Discover any new tips or try anything new to eat less sugars in the day? If you blogged about it, please share and tag your post, #triedsomethingnew and #foodrevolution as I'm collecting and highlighting anyone who tries something new in their efforts to eat healthier for our new "I tried something new" movement inspired by Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

I'm very passionate that no one should die or be ill because of a diet related disease because it's preventable! We can all help each other eat healthier in ways that are fun and adventurous!