Energize Your Day!

I have a lot to do today.  First I plan to hit the gym this morning for an hour of step class.  Sometimes I let my schedule crowd the gym out and I need to stop doing that.  Especially because I need to compensate for all the time I spend sitting on my bum writing!  I'm strictly a morning exerciser... if I don't get it in before noon its not happening. 

Secondly, I need to make a quick stop at the one and only pitifully inadequate health food store I can find on Cape Coral to pick up a tub of Vegan Protein powder.  I will say this about the place...even though they barely have anything, they DO carry a fabulous brand of vegan protein powder made from hemp, chia and pea blended with brown rice protein.  It's gluten-free, soy free, whey and egg free, non-gmo and no sugar (or fructose which is a big issue with a lot of cheap protein powders).  This stuff is called Life's Basics and I get the natural vanilla flavor.  It blends well with everything.  If you are a vegan (or if you just don't want to consume a bunch of soy junk and cheap whey), I encourage you to try this stuff.  I bought a couple of sample packets at first to see if I was going to like it.  Here's what they look like.

rich in omega 3-6-9 , calcium and fiber...this stuff is terrific.

I actually don't use  a whole packet all at once unless I just want a straight protein shake.  Usually I encorporate a few tablespoons into my Superfood Raw Green Smoothie.  Yeah yeah... I know it's got spinach in it but honestly, you can't taste it.  It just tastes good.

Here is the recipe: 

Superfood Raw Green Smoothie

1 cup raw almond milk (I will post directions for this later)

2 Tablespoons Life's Basics vegan protein powder (vanilla)

1/2 large banana

1 teaspoon pure acai fiber

1 tablespoon raw wheat germ

1 1/2 cups or two handfuls organic baby spinach

1/2 cup young coconut meat **

1 cup frozen papaya

Put everything in the blender and buzz until thick and smooth. 

**I always buy fresh organic Thai Coconuts for the water inside.  I love the meat too but I don't always eat it at the time I drink the juice.  I generally crack them open, scoop out the meat and freeze it in containers for later use.  This works great for smoothies.

If you happen to be sprouting any sunflower seeds, a handful of those won't hurt this drink either!

Anyway, that was breakfast and it really energized me for my workout.  I did stop and pick up a new tub of protein powder along with a couple of other faves from the healthfood store...namely raw cacao nibs, dried cherries, wheat berries and something new.  I found something called raw coconut tree sap.  It's supposed to be low glycemic and pure tree sap...not refined like most of the agave is.  I'm anxious to try it out.

Today is co-op pick up day as well so I have that stop to make.  Every monday my organic produce order comes in and I have to run over to Ft. Myers to pick it up.  I did come home after the healthfood store though to make myself a bit of lunch.  I've decided I need to use my juicer more and get back to a primarily vegan diet.  I will continue to cook both vegan and non-vegan foods because I write cook books and articles and not everyone who reads them is a vegan or vegetarian. 

My lunch today was a big glas off carrot apple juice that had a handful of kale thrown in for good measure.  Don't panic...you can't even taste the kale.  But since I already had kale washed and torn, I did decide to make a batch of kale chips to go along with it.  This is about the easiest thing in the world to make.  Place the torn kale on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer, spritz with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until its shriveled up and crisp.  It's just so delicious!  I had a big fat, sweet medjool date for my dessert.  I'm really TRYING to eat mostly raw foods for the next few weeks because I feel...oh what's the word I'm looking for?  It's not exactly toxic but certainly not optimum health.  I've really eaten too much grain products lately. 

Here's some pictures of my energizing lunch.

one of my favorite snacks...crispy Kale "chips"

I still  have a couple of articles that I really need to get written today and I'd like to mop the floors before we leave for our poker game tonight.  I'm thinking about making another glass of juice for some more energy!

(c) Jill Anderson

The Homegrown Gourmet

A Salad by Any Other Name

For those who follow my facebook fan page and see what I have for lunch everyday, a common thread emerges.  No matter how I dress them up, or change up the ingredients and artfully arrange the plates...my standard lunch is basically a salad.  Somewhere along the way people fell into this rut of thinking a salad is this giant bowl of iceberg (bleccch) with a couple of dry carrot matchsticks and a lonely radish slice (bag'o salad right?) topped with the most ridiculous amount of ranch dressing and shredded cheese.  Lets not forget the bacon bits, ham cubes, hard boiled egg, fried onions, fried croutons and heaven only knows what else.  That is fairly typical salad bar accoutrements.

The problem with all that is...by the time you add three or four HUNDRED calories worth of ranch (and somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 or 40 fat grams and a whopping 1000 mg of sodium) you might as well have had a cheeseburger.  Then there is the 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar which packs on another 350 calories and 18 grams (at least) of fat and around 600mg of sodium.  The bacon bits can hit you up for around 300 calories for a couple heaping spoonfuls, 12-15 grams of saturated fat, and an obscene amount of sodium.  PLUS...with these nasty little boogers...you're getting a good dose of nitrates/nitrites, artifical smoke flavoring, caramel coloring and usuallly sulfites too.  I mean...come on...you may as well have had the DOUBLE cheeseburger with a large chili cheese fries and a milk shake!  Its outta control!

Years ago I worked for TGI Fridays and we used to joke about these uhm (how do I say this and be politically correct...ok there is no way so Im just saying what I think..as usual)..redneck families that would come crawling out of the hills on Friday and Saturday nights to get a "faincy dinner at that there TGI Fridees" (imagine how it would sound if said by Larry The Cable Guy).  They often came with the entire clan...grandma, ma, pa, all 7 of the youngun's, mama's cousin Bubba twice removed on her uncles, sister's brother's cousins nephew's side and of course the coon hound was tied up out front.  Im being silly of course but there is some truth in the humor.  They were typically an ENTIRE family of obese people...right down to the one in the highchair.  They ordered the highest caloried foods on the menu and LOTS of them...AND they requested ranch dressing in SOUP CUPS.  There were MANY families like that.  I actually heard a lady tell her kid one time...."if you eat yer salad, I'll git you them tater skins."  She gives this kid a plate with 4 or 5 pieces of lettuce on it and 3 ramekins of ranch dressing.  He dipped that lettuce in there and used it like a SPOON to ladle ranch dressing into his mouth.  When he got "done"...all 3 ramekins were empty and there were 3 of the 5 pieces of lettuce still on the plate...limp and greasy from being used as utensils and sucked clean of the last drop of ranch.  She did indeed order him a half order of potato skins and requested we leave off the sour cream and "just gimme one of them soup cups with some ranch dressing."  The kid was maybe 4 and that was 10 or 12 years ago.  I wonder if he's even alive and if so...how advanced is his atherosclerosis by now?  He'd be...oh..about 17 maybe...with the arteries of a 80 year old. 

I usually have a rule or two about salads whether they are classic lettuce salads or comhbinations of chopped veggies, legumes and whole grains. 

Number one is...you get ONE fat!  Let me repeat that...ONE FAT choice.  If you just gotta have ranch dressing...you MEASURE out the proper portion and make it go around but you must forego the cheese, egg, meats, croutons, etc.  If you can't eat a salad unless you have some cheese...at least go with reduced fat and you need to learn to like a sqirt of lemon or lime juice and cracked black pepper as a dressing. 

Number 2...protein.  Everyone should had some lean protein at each meal but you need to choose wisely.  I eat mostly vegan so my protein choices are lentils, black beans, garbanzos...whatever legumes I have around.  To round them out and complete the proteins I typically add a whole grain like cooked cooled kasha, triticale, brown rice, farro, wheat berries, quinoa, bulgar etc.  Whole eggs can fall into both the fat AND the protein category but if you opt for Egg whites alone...you don't have to count them as your one fat.
Even though cheese is also a source of protein...it's fat content (even in lower fat cheese) is high enough that you would need to count it as both.  Now...you may add additional protein WITH the cheese if it is lean enough..like egg white or poached skinless chicken...but lay off the deli type meat (for MANY reasons), fried bits of breaded chicken, bacon, ham etc. 

Number 3....carbohydrates.  I know this one is gonna hurt.  If you have followed the first two rules and kept your protein lean and your fat limited to one choice you can afford a limited amount of carbs.  Is there anyone who knows what ONE serving of carbohydrates is?  It's 1/2 cup of a grain (and don't waste it on white junk), ONE slice of bread.  If you've chosen a vegan salad and used say Kasha or quinoa or whatever with some beans...you're done with the carbs!  These are double duty ingredients.  If not...you can have a serving of croutons but you need to take care that they don't bleed over into the fat rule.  Making them yourself is best.  Dried fruits would fall in this category.  These are your fast carbs...they are more or less like mainlining sugar.  *Legumes and whole grains are slow carbs (see next paragraph)

Number 4....the veggies.  Aim for a minimum of 6 different veggies preferrably in different colors because each color has its own unique set of antioxidents, minerals and vitamins.  My favorite is what I like to call the "Twenty Veggie Supreme"....it's just what the name implies; twenty (yes...2dot0) differnt raw vegetables.  I usually make a huge bowl and nosh on it for two days.  There are carbs here as well but they are slow carbs...carbs that the body must digest and break down into sugars to burn for energy. 

That's pretty much it for Jill's Crash Course on Salads.  Now...you're probably saying...uhm BORING!  It doesn't have to be though.  Let me give you an example of how to "work" the rules.  Divide your serving so that you CAN have a little salad dressing AND a sprinkle of cheese.  Have a half serving of whole grain (1/4 cup quinoa or whatever) so you can add a couple small wedges whole grain pita.  Half a serving of sunflower seeds (fat) and half a serving of dressing or olive oil (fat).  This gives you the variety but doesn't break the rules. 

Use salad making as a means to clean out the fridge too.  You know..I don't care if you had double coupons, buy one get one free AND it was on sale too...if you end up throwing it away...it was expensive!  You still wasted your money.  Consider using green bags to extend the life of your produce.  They WORK and they are reusable up to 10 times!  What a great resource.  I got an herb keeper from Pampererd Chef and it's awesome.  I put a bunch of cilantro in it and it was still good 10 days later.  I hate spending money on herbs and having them go bad in 2 days. 

Just keep in mind...a salad by any other name is still a salad.  You don't HAVE to eat lettuce to have a salad.  Be creative, innovative and even if it's just for your...make it look pretty!

Here are a few of my salad lunches........

a twist on a greek salad, with a couple shards of feta and 3 greek olives

notice the variety of color and texture of the veggies

and the half serving of homemade lemon tahini dressing is strategically placed where it will taste the best..in other words, drizled on the veggies that go best with the dressing.

this is my take on a thai noodle salad with crispy cukes and radishes.  There are far fewer noodles than you think because I cut the noodle serving in half so I could enjoy the agave I used to make the sweet and savory dressing.  I cut the veggies into "noodle like" shapes (long shreds) to give the illusion that there are more noodles.  The entire salad was tossed in the dressing and marinated in the fridge for half an hour to let the dressing soak in.  The dressing was a serving of fat divided between olive oil and sesame oil (for authentic flavor).

Even though I call these "Spring Rolls", closer inspection reveals they are basically a salad wrapped in rice paper.  Cute huh?  A colorful array of fresh raw veg, my fast carb is the rice paper, my fat is the coconut milk dipping sauce.  But look how impressive it plates up?  Whose going to look at that and say...ugh, raw veggies AGAIN!

here's the close up...nature is amazing isn't it? You can wolf down the whole plate sauce and rice paper wraps included for less than 300 calories!

Here's an example of a good high protein lunch.  A simple salad of white beans mixed with chopped veg and dressed with a lime juice vinaigrette (olive oil is the fat) served with a side of black rice.  The beans and rice were actualy a half portion each (because of the carbs..not the protein) and the other veg helped fill it out.  I used an edible cup of Radiccio Leaf for the salad.  It was delicious by the way!

This was a fun one...a bento style (fancy Japanese lunches in laquered boxes) lunch without the box.  Im endlessly fascinated with Bento but usually don't have the time to fuss this much.  ONce in a while it's fun though.  The protein and fat are in the form of roasted red pepper hummus that I decoratively piped into a radiccio cup.  It serves as a dip for all the veggies.  I used some watermelon for a sweet carb boost and as you can see...a myriad of colored veggies.  Isn't is stunning?

close up...see the hummus?

These are just a few examples of sophisticated and healthier salad making.  Play around with it and come up with your own creative ideas.  I look at the salad bowl/plate as a blank canvas and wonder...what can I create today?

(c)copyright Jill Anderson

The Homegrown Gourmet

Protein - From Fiction To Facts

Undeniably, protein is an important part of a healthy diet. Many Vegans and to some degree, Vegetarians worry about getting enough protein in their diets. This vital building block can be found in MANY food sources and many of those ARE plants. Do you really even know how much protein you SHOULD be eating?

Protein actually comprises about 16% of out total body-weight. Certain things like our hair and skin, muscle tissue (and connective tissue) are primarily made up of protein. It also plays a vital roll for our cells and bodily fluids. Even your DNA is partially protein. The same can be said for the enzymes, neurotransmitters and hormones.

Our bodies are pretty efficient at reusing or recycling protein but we use great quantities of it just to LIVE. Protein is made up of Amino Acids; sixteen of them to be exact. There are nine that our bodies cannot make so we have to get them elsewhere. Meat and animal by products (eggs, dairy, cheeses etc.) actually have all sixteen amino acids. But vegetables and plant bases food such as whole grains need to be eaten in combination to achieve "whole" or complete proteins.

If you eat the S.A.D (Standard American Diet) it is virtually impossible for you to be protein deficient unless you have an underlying medical condition. The dairy consumption ALONE would put most Americans at 2 or 3 times the necessary daily intake. Protein requirement is also dependent upon factors such as age, activity level and size. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight each day. That means that a person weighing 150 pounds should be consuming 55 grams of protein per day. This formula can be used to determine your requirement based on your own weight.

There are some situations in which we may require more protein added to our diets such as pregnancy and lactation. Growing children, the elderly, post-surgery or severe stress (trauma) often need additional protein.

As you can imagine, there are supplement manufacturers SALIVATING at the thought of all the people they can convince of the benefits of protein powders, bars, pills etc. There are so many people seeking convenience in their busy lives that these preparations seem to make sense. I suppose if the choice is a quick protein shake or skipping breakfast, the former is the better choice. It may be beneficial immediatly after a workout (one needs to actually SWEAT during this session) when the body will absorb and use the protein rapidly. Protein supplementation may be beneficial to Vegans and Vegetarians as well. However, if you pay careful attention to your vegetarian diet and include a wide variety of plant protein sources you can guard against muscle loss from lack of protein. Remember: the first "fuel" the body uses when it thinks it is being starved is muscle.

Now, if you should chose to supplement your diet with protein shakes, bars, powders or pills; you are faced with the daunting task of selecting from an overwhelming number of products. You could always ask your doctor; assuming he/she has any idea whatsoever about nutrition! You can also pop onto the internet and research some of the ingredients on the labels (which is what I do for just about everything). The most widely used source of protein used in mixes and powders is WHEY. You may also see RICE, SOY or PEA. A lot of mixes actually contain a combination of protein sources.

WHEY protein is derived from MILK. That lets it out for the Vegans! It is the most commonly used supplement. Whey protein is easily absorbed and used by the body. However, if you have lactose intolerance or dairy allergies these products are not for you. Read the label to see which type of whey you are getting. The concentrated whey is the most widely used and least expensive. It can have anywhere from 30 to 85 percent proteing. You can see that is a very wide range. A good rule of thumb when choosing a protein powder is, the less expensive it is, the lesser the amount of whey protein you may be getting. Whey Isolate is the other form and is higher in quality. Containing 90% protein, it is VERY easily absorbed by the body. It generally contains less fat and lactose as well.

Rice protein is a great choice for Vegans, Vegetarians and people with allergies because it is hypoallergenic. It is derived from brown rice and actually is a complete protein with all essential and nonessential amino acids.

Pea protein is an excellent choice for Vegans. I has no gluten, lactose, cholesterol or anti-nutritional by products. It is a highly soluble protein which makes it very easy to digest. Pea protein is vegetable based since it is derived from yellow split peas. This form of protein is also hypoallergenic. Not to get overly technical but analysis of this protein reveals a "high biological value" of 65.4% which indicates the amount of protein actually absorbed by the body. High bilogical value proteins are also excellent for nitrogen retention and immunilogical support.

Soy protein is made from Soy flour. Similar to whey in that it comes in two forms; concentrate and isolate, there are some noteable differences as well. Soy protein mimics estrogen. Three cancer studies have found "estrogen dependant tumor growth increased as the amount of soy isoflavonones increased." These studies were conducted by the National Institutes of Health. There are also studies published in 2000 by the American Association of Cancer Research which compare soy to whey. "Whey appears to be at least twice as effective as soy in reducing both tumor incidence and multiplicity." When taken with the fact that soy protein seems to disrupt thyroid function, these factors are scaring a lot of people off soy proteins. For good and valid reasons!

Whether you choose to get your protein from animal or plant-based sources there are many options available. Even though animal proteins are concidered to be of "higher biological value", plant protein sources CAN be combined to achieve the same standards as an animal-based diet. Personally, I recommend avoiding soy but you need to make that decision for yourself.