Esselstyn's Blueberry Muffins

I tried a different muffin recipe last night since I was out of bananas to make the mighty muffins. This one is from Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, which I still haven't started reading, but am avidly looking through the recipes. I didn't have applesauce but I made a quick substitute by cooking up a chopped apple in the microwave and then pureeing it in the food processor.

While I overcooked the mighty muffins, these were the opposite! They were moist, but maybe too moist. I cooked them for the time specified (25 minutes) but they were on the mushy side and stuck to the liners pretty good. Also, there is more sweetener in this recipe (1/3 cup maple syrup for 8 muffins versus 1/4 cup for 12 muffins in the mighty muffins) and these didn't taste as sweet to me. Not sure I would make them again.

Crispy NO-OIL Potatoes

I was reading the McDougall board when I read some posts about crispy no-fat tater tots. They claimed the potatoes got very crispy in the over without any oil. I've been making roasted potatoes for a while, but it's usually necessary to use oil so I was intrigued. Plus the Husband LOVES crispy potatoes.

The actual recipe takes some time, because the potatoes are first peeled, then par-boiled, and then cooked at a high temperature for an hour. When dinner is supposed to be ready in 30 minutes, a quoted time of over an hour isn't going to cut it. I decided not to peel the potatoes and to cut the chunks of potatoes fairly small (about 2" cubes). I also used lots of seasoning in addition before they were baked.

Since the chunks of potatoes were smaller, the baking time for me was about 40 minutes instead of 60. They really WERE crispy and very tasty! I wouldn't say they resembled tater tots at all, but they were delicious crispy (healthy) potatoes.

Recipe can be found here.

The reluctant eater experiment begins...

The husband is now 2.5 days into his healthy eating plan. Unfortunately, I will still be stuck cooking separate meals for the two of us since I'm trying to make his meals as palatable and not as "weird" as possible. This may include things that are normally not used in strict ETL such as salt and sweeteners, which I am trying to avoid.

For the first meal (breakfast), I tried to make a delicious bowl of oatmeal. It was steel-cut oats with vanilla soy milk and maple syrup, topped with blueberries and chopped, toasted pecans. I would have loved to have eaten this.

Oh the faces he made.

"It's sooooooooo mushy!!!!!"

It was like trying to feed a child. He could only stomach about half of it before he turned it away. That was unfortunate. I thought this might be a nice step between fat-and-sodium-laden breakfast sandwiches and the funky green smoothie. Luckily, I had also made mighty muffins that morning as snacks and he ate one of those instead, despite having over-baked them and being dry.

Lunch was slightly better. I made him a whole wheat wrap consisting of fat-free refried beans (I didn't tell him they were beans -- I just told him it was a "sandwich spread"), sauteed mushrooms for the meaty texture, and chopped raw spinach (one of the few greens he eats) wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla. I don't think he loved it, but it was acceptable and he ate the whole thing.

Since I wanted to reward him by at least trying everything, I opted to make a dinner with foods he liked. He loves anything BBQ-flavored, so I found a recipe for BBQ lentils and made this. It was served with a side of cooked broccoli and crispy oven-baked potatoes. He looked at the plate I made him and said he was happy to recognize potatoes and broccoli (the other veggie he'll eat) but didn't know what to make of the lentils. He ate the potatoes and vegetables first and tentatively tried the lentils.

"Not bad," he proclaimed.

He even went back for seconds.

I would call that a win!

I'd say he did pretty well the first day, having eaten no animal products. He complained a lot, but did try everything, and didn't run to McDonald's when I went out in the afternoon (I really did fear this).

Today was worse.

Breakfast was a mighty muffin and a PB+J sandwich. Lunch was another veggie/bean wrap. But we had to go to a family BBQ that afternoon. He picked up a cheese and prosciutto appetizer that he consumed claiming he didn't know it was cheese (an unlikely story) and had one rib and a brownie. Then we had a dinner to go to at a Mexican restaurant where he had a chicken appetizer and fish as his main entree. No dairy at least, but not exactly high on the health scale.

I'm hoping today will be better. I imagine it will be hard to break those habits and not let the car gravitate toward the fast food joints, but I'm hoping sending him away with plenty of healthy options will deter that.

E2's Mighty Muffins

Mighty Muffins

3 cups oat bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sweetener
Juice of 1 lemon
1 large apple, grated
6 brown bananas, lightly mashed (leave some chunks)
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped or halved
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 375º. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon onto the combined apple and bananas. Add walnuts, raisins, and water. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl. Pour into sprayed muffin tins and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Variations:
Bake the batter in a loaf pan, and enjoy hearty slices instead of muffins.
Add three thinly sliced pears or 1 cup of 70 percent pure cocoa chips to the batter.

I found this recipe on the Engine 2 website. It was easy to put together but the baking time quoted was too long for me so they came out dry. They taste like a "healthy muffin" and I don't think I'd be able to sneak this by any regular SAD-eater, but my plant-fearing husband has been eating them, probably because he doesn't have any other sweet options and they resemble "normal" food. I think I'll try making these again but baking them for less time.

BBQ Lentils!

Recipe is here.

This recipe is excellent! I was looking for something to make that would be "meaty" and have good, but not too unusual flavors. Also great was that I had most of the ingredients (I ended up skipping the allspice which I didn't have and leaving out the vanilla because it seemed weird).

I didn't have to bake this as long as stated (maybe 30 minutes total) because I put it in a glass 9x13" pan and it looked like it was going to burn if I left it in there longer. It had a great tangy flavor without tasting overly sweet. I would serve this to SAD-eaters and am actually thinking about bringing it to the next work potluck!

Can I reform a SAD-Eater?

I don't think it's any secret that one of the most important people in my life -- my new husband -- is a SAD eater. If I am on the "extreme" spectrum (his words) of eating, then he is pretty close to the other extreme. This was quite a contentious point while we were dating and before we got married, and still is an on-going battle to some extent. For now, he is mostly respectful that I want to eat this way, but until recently has shown zero interest in joining me. That was fine with me for a while. Early on, I had tried to push and persuade, but that just seemed to backfire and alienate him even more. So I gave up and decided that he had to make his own decisions as an adult and I could just try to set the best example I could.

Well, he got his cholesterol checked earlier this year and it was bad. Very bad. Plus he has been dealing with these cold/flu-like symptoms that haven't been going away for weeks. It's not quite a full-blown illness, but it's enough to make him have coughing fits, congestion, and complain of no energy. He thinks maybe he has suddenly developed "allergies", despite never having them before. And he has been doing nothing to help his health but feed it fast food sandwiches at breakfast AND lunch. Sometimes with fried potatoes and always with soda. Last week, he discovered a blood pressure machine at work and decided to try it. His BP, which had been normal in the past, was in the "hypertension" range! I freaked out a bit.

So late last week we had a long talk about his health. VERY reluctantly, he has agreed to allow me to prepare all meals for him for the next three weeks. It's going to be tough. He is an incredibly picky eater. He doesn't like soups, stews (this includes chili), tomatoes, most vegetables, oatmeal, cereal, most ethnic foods, beans... the list goes on and on. He also likes his food HOT and sometimes travels for his job which means he doesn't have access to a microwave. I've been racking my brain all day already wondering what I'm going to feed him.

We start on Saturday.

Revived

The chaos (for now) has ended. I am now married and living with my husband. That still sounds weird. :) It's been an interesting transition living with a SAD-eater. Before, in my single days (heh), I avoided most temptations by not bringing them into the house. Now, they are everywhere. However, I feel the need to be a good example to the Husband and so I am usually good about avoiding them and I haven't been "falling off the wagon" as much. I'm still not perfect (who is?) but I committed to a plant-based diet for life.

I've found the biggest motivator so far has surprisingly been education. Not that I didn't understand the science before. I've read ETL. I've read The China Study. I've watched Forks Over Knives. But it's this continuous delving into these subjects through books, movies, and other media that has been helping me. One interview in particular with Dr. Esselstyn resonated with me. It's from a podcast called Powerful Living that I recently found online:

http://www.wellnessforum.com/Audio/DONWALKER_061709_DrCaldwellEsselstyn.mp3

If you haven't listened to this, it's excellent and motivating. Like Esselstyn says, "[No one] with a brain in their head would ever continue to eat this way which is going to guarantee them all these chronic killer diseases." I also liked that he addressed the "everything in moderation" question, asking why anyone would ever want to have a small amount of "grass-fattened stricknine" or "organic arsenic"? Hmm, yes, why would they??

I liked this interview so much I recently picked up a copy of Dr. Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and am looking forward to reading it. I've also picked up the King Corn and Fast Food Nation DVDs from the library. It is going to be an educational week. :)

The quick update

Because I said I was going to be accountable, but I am finding I have less and less time for myself, here is the quickest update: Down 1.5 lbs (should be a little more, but got slightly side-tracked). Doing really well this last week and going in for blood work next week to see if my cholesterol has gone down (I'm not quite in the range I should be).

I'm also finally FINALLY back into a good running groove. I'm only running 20 mpw but hey, it's been 20 mpw for 3 weeks now with TWO group workouts (one track and one tempo-ish). After 1.5 months of solid running, I'm finally feeling like myself and getting the slightest bit of speed back.

Unfortunately, no cycling as it takes too much time and there is a wedding to plan!

6-week Challenge Wrap-up

I didn't exactly post daily like I originally wanted to. Honestly I just have so much going on right now that it's difficult to get on the computer in the evenings. However, I did want to report that I think the 6-week challenge was successful. My goal was to stick to only Eat-to-Live approved foods and I mostly did this. I would say that I strayed from this goal about 5 different days total. 5 out of 42 isn't horrible and is certainly better than my average before!

My next goal is to see if I can improve on that and to actually look like I've been ETL-ing. I've been stuck with about 15 lbs to go until I reach my "ideal weight" according to Dr. F. It's hard to convince anyone that my diet is healthier than theirs when I'm still overweight surrounded by thin people. Also, my dress is supposed to come in a few weeks and I have my first fitting in exactly one month. I'd love to be "almost there" at the first fitting. I know better than to set unrealistic expectations so I'm just going to aim for 5 lbs in the next month. I can't promise that I'll report daily (I know I won't), but I will promise to check in weekly on my progress for accountability.

"You've ruined me for smoothies."

Best line I've heard all week:

"You've ruined me for fast food smoothies."

That line was straight from the boyfriend's lips, who claims my delicious, 100% whole-fruit, HEALTHY smoothies actually taste better than the smoothies he's been trying at McDonald's. He said when he tried the McDonald's "fruit smoothie", he could taste the chemicals in it!

Now, I don't know whether there are chemicals in their smoothies since I couldn't find any ingredients lists online, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were. Anyway, I am thrilled! One baby step in the right direction...

6WC: Day 29

I had a harder run workout this morning and was hungry most of the day. I overate on some dates in the evening, which was not good at all, but on the bright side, it wasn't chocolate or the junk food coffee cake that is sitting on my counter as we speak.

Breakfast was another green smoothie with 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 banana, 1/2 orange, kale and flax seed. I had made 2 yesterday which is why it might look familiar. It was still just "okay" -- maybe I accidentally pureed a seed in there. I was still hungry and had about 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds to feel just about satisfied.

Lunch was a salad made from collards, green leaf lettuce, romaine, carrots, pinto beans, and casinera's caesar dressing. 2 large pluots and 1 passionfruit with about 2 tablespoons of sunflower seeds for dessert.

Dinner was some steamed broccoli with tomato sauce. I also had a kale salad with fresh cucumbers. And lots of dates.

Calories: 1909, Carb: 357.7g (66.6%), Pro: 68.6g (12.8%), Fat: 23.g (20.6%), Fiber: 76.4g

6WC: Day 28

I dare say I might, just might, be getting the hang of this nutritarian living. My cravings haven't gone away yet, but I am developing good habits and building a nice daily routine. It is getting easier which is great!

Breakfast was a green smoothie made with 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 banana, 1/2 orange, flax seed and kale. It was just okay.

Lunch was a big salad made with green leaf lettuce, arugula, broccoli, carrots, pinto beans, and casinera's caesar salad. A whole cantaloupe and passion fruit for dessert.

Dinner was a simple saute made with beet greens, broccoli, radish greens, Swiss chard, garlic and onions. I had 3 pluots with almonds shortly after.

I am honestly scared I will "fall off the wagon" but I keep promising myself not to think that far ahead and just take it one day at a time. For that reason, I haven't been weighing myself either but my pants seem looser.

Calories: 1262, Carb: 247.8g (71%), Pro: 49.6g (14.2%), Fat: 23.g (14.8%), Fiber: 64g

6WC: Day 27

Nothing interesting to report today. It was almost a repeat of yesterday. I had too much fruit though. I got home and immediately had to get to an appointment so I quickly at my dinner and when I got back, I was hungry so I had an entire melon! Better than chocolate, I suppose.

Breakfast was a mixed fruit bowl, which I ate on the way to work in the car. It had an orange, strawberries, a pear and an apple with some sunflower seeds.

Lunch was a big salad made with green leaf lettuce, arugula, carrots, broccoli, 1 cup kidney beans, and casinera's caesar dressing. Also a bowl of vegetable soup.

Dinner was the leftover Late Summer Veggie Medley from yesterday. Then about 2 hours later, I had an entire medium-sized melon. Not sure what type it was but it came in the CSA this week.

Calories: 1275, Carb: 270.7g (77.1%), Pro: 48.5g (13.8%), Fat: 14.1g (9%), Fiber: 64.3g

Late Summer Veggie-Medley

Someone posted this Late Summer Veggie-Medley recipe on the Yahoo ETL group. I just happened to have most of the ingredients on hand from my CSA box so it was easy enough to make it tonight. I didn't have leeks so I used an extra onion and of course, I omitted the oil and salt. I steamed some Swiss chard (also from the CSA) and served the medley over that, with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Very good. Solid B.

6WC: Day 26 - Haven't disappeared, just got busy

Oops, I let too long of a lapse go again. Thankfully, I haven't fallen off the wagon or given up, I just got busy with some other projects (can we say "wedding"??) that I haven't been able to post. Or rather, I keep getting on the computer late at night working on other things and finally think about posting, but then decide to go to sleep instead. This is good for my health but not good for my audience of one person. Hah.

I've been doing well so far with the CSA boxes. They've forced me to be a bit more creative in my recipes and to try things I don't normally eat. I made some raw tomato sauces from all of the tomatoes I've gotten and I'm trying to figure out something else I can make with all of the tomatoes I got this week. I also have a few long green eggplants that I'm not sure what to do with yet.

Today was a fairly normal day with my food. I had a fruit salad containing melon, strawberries, passion fruit, grapefruit, and sunflower seeds over finely chopped lettuce and broccoli. For lunch, I had a bigger raw salad made with lettuce, collards, broccoli, carrots, kidney beans, tomatoes, and casinera's caesar dressing (a favorite standby) with more fruit for dessert. Dinner was this veggie medley that I made with tomatoes, eggplants, and onions I had from my CSA. I had a cup of a spinach soup as well. For dessert, it was strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, and some almonds.

Calories: 1439, Carb: 276.2g (69.9%), Pro: 60.8g (15.4%), Fat: 25.9g (14.7%), Fiber: 74.1g

6WC: Day 16

Uneventful day today. I'm still having cravings. The desires to eat are especially bad around 4 pm until dinner and again after dinner. I am used to lots of sweet eating after dinner.

Today's food was pretty much the same as yesterday. Breakfast was 2 nectarines, a plum and two passion fruits. Lunch was a big salad of collards, carrots, heirloom tomatoes, kidney beans, broccoli, scallions and Not Cheese Sauce (I swear I'm almost done with the container). I forgot to bring more fruit with me so no fruit with lunch.

For dinner, I had the leftover raw zucchini "noodles" with tomato sauce that I made last night and then the leftover cauliflower / onions / scallions / mushrooms / radish greens mixture (I added no-salt seasonings to this). For dessert I had 3 small apples that I cut up and warmed up. I sprinkled some cinnamon and topped with 1/2 oz of walnuts.

Calories: 1218, Carb: 229.7g (68.3%), Pro: 53.2g (15.8%), Fat: 23.6g (15.8%), Fiber: 59.8g

6WC: Days 14 and 15

Yesterday was a harder day because I was out for both lunch and dinner. I always do better when I have planned ahead and am eating my own food. I know exactly what's in it!

For breakfast I had some fresh figs, sunflower seeds, and two nectarines. Lunch was out at a fish place and I had a salad with lemon squeezed on top with a cup of minestrone soup (definitely too much salt). We were out doing "wedding stuff" last night and at 8 pm were famished, so we ended up at a Japanese restaurant. I was ate some edamame, rice, and what I thought were steamed vegetables, but I think they had some oil on them). I came home still hungry and had some dates after that.

Today was MUCH better. I had some organic carrots, nectarines, a plum, and some sunflower seeds for breakfast. For lunch, it was a big salad of collards, romaine, carrots, heirloom tomatoes, kidney beans, broccoli, scallions and Not Cheese Sauce (I swear I'm almost done with the container). For dessert I had another nectarine and 2 passion fruits. This nectarine was a little dry, so I scooped out the passion fruit flesh and poured it over the cut up nectarine pieces and ate the whole thing together. It was lovely.

For dinner, I made some raw zucchini "noodles" with tomato sauce as a first course and then had a small bowl of a concoction I threw together that included steamed cauliflower, onions, scallions, mushrooms, and radish greens. For dessert I had 2 pluots and 1 plum with 1/4 oz sliced almonds on top.

I'm pretty full and am again surprised at these numbers:
Calories: 1127, Carb: 203.5g (65.6%), Pro: 48.3g (15.6%), Fat: 26g (18.9%), Fiber: 55g

6WC: Day 13

Went out last night with some friends so I didn't get back home until late and I was too tired to post. I was able to stay away from eating the non-ETL foods while out, but I did snack substantially yesterday, although on ETL foods.

Breakfast was a green smoothie made with oranges, passion fruit, flax and bok choy. I also had an entire small "mystery" melon that I got from the CSA. Mystery only because I didn't know what type it was.

Lunch was a cup of spinach soup with dill and basil plus a big salad again with kidney beans, fresh tomatoes and Not Cheese sauce. I also had a plum and white nectarine for dessert.

Around 4:30 pm, I started to really have desires to eat. Not sure if I was actually hungry. I ended up eating a lot of raw sunflower seeds.

When I got home for dinner, I wasn't very hungry (how surprising!) and had a few pieces of fruit before meeting my friends.

6WC: Day 12

Oops, didn't get a chance to post last night so here is what I ate yesterday.  For breakfast, I had a green smoothie made with flax, bok choy, oranges and passion fruit.

Lunch was a delicious salad with heirloom tomatoes, collards, romaine, carrots, kidney beans and some Not Cheese sauce, plus a bowl of spinach soup with dill and basil. 2 white peaches and a plum for dessert.

I was definitely hungry in the afternoon but was able to hold off until I made dinner at 7 pm. Dinner was a bunch of things thrown together, that just tasted "okay." It was some mushrooms, cauliflower, radish greens and radishes with some no-salt seasoning over raw kale. I am not sure I like radishes. They are a little too "spicy" for me. What else can I do with them?? I need suggestions!

I ate the rest of the fresh figs from the CSA for dessert. About 7 of them! So good.

I've decided it might be interesting to track caloric intake as Barb has been doing on her blog for a week.

Calories: 1416, Carb: 292g (73%), Pro: 63.7g (16%), Fat: 18.6g (11%), Fiber: 79g

I'm amazed I can eat this much food and the numbers are so low.

6WC: Day 11

Had a great day today! First, I got up early and exercised. That always puts me in the right frame of mine for the day. Sometimes I feel like it's the only time I have to myself and is great for clearing my head and organizing my thoughts for the upcoming day/week. I only ran for about an hour but it was enough to get the endorphins running.

I had two white peaches and a plum for breakfast, before meeting up with my sister-in-law to go to the farmer's market. We had a great time sampling lots of fresh fruit and talking to the growers. I ended up signing up for a trial at a CSA. I really like the ideas of CSAs, but I didn't think I could do one by myself since I wasn't sure if it would be cost-effective for me and if I would finish all of the food by myself. After I saw the box though, I was sold.

Here is the box they made for me today:

Of course, after I got home and researched all the CSAs in the area, I discovered I chose one of the higher priced ones. I figure if I do like it and use up the produce, I may do trial periods at a couple others I found online (one that was notorious for being mostly greens) to see which one I like the best.

When I got home, I had lunch, which was a huge salad of bargain greens (a whole bag for 99 cents!), a nut-based dressing, a tomato from my sister's yard, and about 5 figs from the CSA box.

Dinner was a huge amount of roasted vegetables (broccoli, onions, carrots) with some tomato sauce and a piece of garlic bread (whole-grain).