Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Nutritionist update

Things are progressing along nicely.  Last week my homework was to lift 4 pounds of butter at the grocery store, because that is how much fat I lost.  So, I went to the store and lifted a pound up to my bicep and put 2 on my stomach and pretended that is where they came from.  After awhile they do get heavy, so no wonder I do feel tired so often- a lot of work carrying around all this extra weight.  I've always known that, but I guess never wanted to really admit that was the reason.

In the last year and a half or so that means I am down 20 pounds, so a nice number to reach and I am heading in a positive direction.  Today I bought 2 new books to help me out, Clean Eating for Families and Kids and Deliciously Deceptive.  We will see if they help me or confuse me?  Right now I am in the middle of watching a documentary called Food Inc. and it is... I guess what you would expect.  Most of us have ideas of how our food is prepared, but you don't necessarily like to see it in action.  They really show you the steps and I have to say I was pretty sad when all the little baby chicks were being swept down a metal slide and shoved around like potatoes :(  It talks a lot about salmonella and E. Coli, things I have heard of enough times, but don't really know that much about, so it is interesting to learn more.  This week we talked more about perservatives in the deli meats, she really doesn't like that we eat deli meat (I just find them so convenient) So, for now we are going to try and go mostly without, tomorrow we are making a roast and will have leftovers for sandwiches or salads all week.  

We have tried a few nice recipes, here are a few:

Grain Free Crumble

6 cups choppe fruit of your choice (we used apple)
1/2 cup honey

Preheat oven to 350 and mix together in glass baking dish

2/3 cups nut or seed flour (we used almond flour, but she also listed coconut flour, pumpkin seed flour, or sunflower seed flour - whatever you could find I guess - I got mine at Bulk Barn)
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup pecans
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup honey
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
1/4 coconut oil (this is my absolute new favorite item, even spread it on toast  - it is semi-soft like shortening, but tastes yummy, can be used in baking, cooking, etc. - I got mine at Bulk Barn, but any natural food pantry type store would have it)

Mix topping until slightly crumbly and spread over fruit
Bake for 40 minutes - very good, Devin ate 3 helpings!

Mexixan Bean Casserole

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup water
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 1/2 cups mushrooms
1 red pepper chopped
3/4 cup brown rice
1 can kidney beans
1 can tomatoes
1 tbsp chilli powder
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
grated low fat mozza cheese (my nutritionist would say organic, but I haven't got that far yet)

In skillet heat oil and water.  Add onion, garlic, mushroom and peppers, simmer until tender about 10 minutes.
Add rice, beans, canned tomatoes, spices and cover and simmer for 25 mintues or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed. 
Transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees until cheese is melted. 

We ate this with homemade guacamole (avocado, lime juice, garlic and a bit of salt and cilantro if you like it) and I'd like to say organic whole grain tortilla's, but it was multigrain tostitoes, oops!  Plus a big side serving of sugar snap peas to add the extra veggies in there and help fill us up!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Laura,
Were you lying on the grocery store floor when you put two pounds of butter on your stomach and a pound of butter on each bicep? OR did you buy 4 lbs of butter?

Just checking, because if you are looking to get rid of butter, I will take it!

Pamela

bprous said...

Laura,
You might want to check out Michael Pollan's books ...they certainly got me thinking!

"The Omnivore's Dilemma"
"In Defense of Food"
"Food Rules" (this last is a rehashing of the end of the previous, but a shorter read)