Broccoli Cashew Quinoa

Last night I tried a recipe from Green Smoothie Girl's book 12 Steps to Whole Foods.  I'm looking for more meatless dinners that my family will actually eat.  I think I found one here.  Only one kid refused to try it! :)

Broccoli Cashew Quinoa

1 TB coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 small red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped*
2 cups vegetable broth
1 TB white wine vinegar (I used red because I didn't have white)
1 TB agave
2 TB fresh lemon juice
1 Cup quinoa, rinsed well (soak for a few minutes, then drain with a fine strainer).
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Cups broccoli, cut into small pieces
freshly ground black pepper
1 Cup cashew pieces, toasted in oven

Heat coconut oil over medium heat and saute onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable stock, vinegar, agave, and lemon juice. Bring to boil. Stir in quinoa and salt, then put broccoli on top. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20-25 minutes. Remove from heat when broccoli is tender. Add the ground pepper and cashews and toss.

*The one change I would make to this recipe is the sun-dried tomatoes.  I would use 1/4 cup. Original recipe called for 1/2 cup.  The sun-dried tomato taste was a little too strong for me.  The kids picked them out and asked why there were raisins in the dinner. So next time, I'm doing 1/4 cup and chopping them much smaller.  I think you still need them, just not so much.

Nutrients in
Quinoa
42.50 g (42.50 grams)

Nutrient%Daily Value

manganese43%

tryptophan21.8%

magnesium20.9%

folate19.5%

phosphorus19.4%

Calories (156)8%

I Need More Phytochemicals ~ And So Do You

photo courtesy diseaseproof.com

I've been reading a lot about the Standard American Diet (the S.A.D.) - That 85% of us will die of heart disease, cancer or diabetes. - That our children's generation will be the first generation who won't outlive their parents. - And that we are causing this by what we're eating.  Does this freak anyone else out?  Or is it just me?

Don't you think it's time we look at what's wrong with the way we eat and do something about it?

We already know that most of the food out there is high in calories, but low in nutrients.  We're hungry so we grab something to eat.  If that food doesn't give our bodies the nutrients we need, we aren't satisfied and we eat more food.  The cycle continues.  We end up eating way too many calories and we still haven't satisfied our need for nutrients.

Waste products build up in our cells when we eat foods that lack antioxidants, vitamins and phytochemicals.  Without nutrients, our cells don't function normally.  Our bodies can't remove normal cellular waste. Our poor diets lay the groundwork for obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other diseases that will eventually kill us.  The crazy thing is that this is something we can change!

"When consistently consumed in adequate quantity and variety, phytochemicals become super-nutrients in your body.  (Phytochemicals  are plant compounds that have a huge effect on human cell function and the immune system.) 
They work together to detoxify cancer-causing compounds, deactivate free-radicals, protect against radiation damage, and enable DNA repair mechanisms.  When altered or broken strands of DNA are repaired, it can prevent cancer from developing later in life."  (Dr. Joel Fuhrman in Eat For Health)

So how do we get these phytochemicals?  We eat lots of good real food like green vegetables, berries and seeds.  Dr. Fuhrman recommends setting a goal of eating at least 3 fresh fruits with your breakfast. I do this by having an apple, blueberries, strawberries and raisins in my oats every morning. When I'm eating a lot of good food I naturally tend to eat less of the bad.  It makes me happy to eat this way knowing that I'm treating my body right and strengthening my immune system.  I've also noticed that my tastes and cravings have truly changed.  When I've just had a huge delicious spinach strawberry salad and a smoothie, I have no desire for a donut or a Coke.

Over the last few weeks I've been a little lazy about feeding myself and my family good food, so I'm rereading "Eat For Health".  It motivates me and gets me back on track. My kids and I will be running a 5K in a couple weeks, so I'm going to need all the help I can get just to keep up with them.  My kindergartner will be running it for his first time.  It should be fun!

What Made the Difference? Nutrition.

photo courtesy: vitalityskills.com

Here is my food journal from a random Sunday in December 2008.  It may not look like it, but I was trying desperately to lose weight!

Not looking forward to the Monday Weigh In. I'm afraid it will be over 150 lbs.

Food Journal:
2 shredded wheat biscuits w/skim milk
1 whole wheat toast w/butter
1 small hot chocolate (skim)

1 small baked potato w/butter, low-fat sour cream
a 2-3 oz piece turkey breast (made it in the crockpot)
1/3 cup broccoli and cauliflower
1/3 cup spinach w/ tiny bit dressing to dip it in
1 cup skim milk

1 bowl Honey Bunches of Oats w/skim
1 1/2 clementine oranges
microwaved 1/3 cup plain popcorn, w/butter buds and a little parmesan. I was tempted to have coke with this, but then I remembered the weigh in coming up!
1/2 cup cran raspberry juice

It wasn’t working for me. Why not?  I should have been losing weight.  I was eating fewer calories then than I am now.

I was exercising:  I walked 3 miles six days a week (at 4 mph).  I was burning calories.  But I was not losing weight!

It wasn’t until I started nourishing my body that I saw results.  This was not a healthy way of eating! A small potato and less than a cup of green vegetables for the whole day? 1 ½ Clementine oranges for my fruit?  I was only looking at fat grams and calories in vs. calories out.  Until I understood what good real food is, I didn’t change.

As soon as I started eating a lot more fresh vegetables, especially green ones, more fruit, more water and less processed food I started to feel so much better.  If you’re struggling I know you don’t want to hear how easy it was, but at times I wondered if it was too good to be true: How could the weight be coming off so easily?  I’m feeling so good about my efforts but what if I’m actually wasting away from some deadly disease.  I really did think that a couple times. But it turns out I'm healthy.  I just had a hard time believing after all these years of trying to lose weight, I had finally figured out what worked for me!  When I started giving it what it needed, my body was more than happy to just let go of those extra pounds.

I still had my days or weeks where the scale didn’t budge, or it actually went up a couple pounds even though I was doing everything right. But this wasn’t a big deal because I wasn’t focused on the scale.  Instead I was trying to see how healthily I could eat each day.  That’s what made the difference.

Bread Facts ~ Which Bread is Best?

Which Bread is best?

Before 1900 most people made their own bread with freshly ground whole wheat flour.  In the late 1800’s, food processors found that if they sifted away the bran and the germ from the flour, they’d get flour that wouldn’t spoil.  That's great right?

In 1910 white flour became available to everyone. White flour is made only from the endosperm of the wheat kernal.  The bran and the germ, which contain the vitamins, are removed and discarded.  Immediately, people starting developing vitamin B deficiencies and other health problems.  Around the 1920’s they figured out the cause of their problems, but instead of adding the bran and germ back in, they decided to “enrich” the flour by adding only iron, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and later folic acid back in.  What about the other 30+ nutrients which were lost?  How do we get them back?  We eat 100% whole wheat bread.

Here are some helpful definitions:

Whole Wheat Flour - flour made by grinding the entire wheat berry including the bran. It is more nutritious than white flour. 

Enriched White Flour- flour made from the endosperm of the wheat berry. It has a longer shelf life than whole wheat flour because it does not contain the oils found in the wheat germ.

Bleached Flour – enriched flour which contains bleaching agents.  The white color is achieved as the chemical bleaching agent oxidizes the surface of the flour grains. Most people can’t taste the chemicals in bleached flour. Bleaching changes the texture and stiffens soft flour.  This explains why my cookies spread too much when I use whole wheat flour.  It’s commonly used in prepackaged cookies, bagels pancake mixes, pie crusts, and waffles. 

Unbleached Flour –Enriched white flour that hasn't been chemically bleached. As flour ages, it softens.  Unbleached flour bleaches naturally as it ages. Unbleached flour contains more protein than the bleached flour.  It is used most often in yeast bread.

Have you made the switch from white bread to 100% whole wheat?  

When looking for whole wheat bread make sure it lists "whole wheat flour" as the first ingredient.  If it says “wheat flour” or “enriched” or any other flour, it’s not 100% whole wheat.

My family likes Nature’s Pride 100% Whole Wheat bread.  It is the only brand I’ve found that doesn’t contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.   And it’s soft and it doesn’t taste like cardboard- always a plus. 

Or if you're feeling domestic, make your own.

Which lettuce is healthiest?

Go with Romaine! The greener the better! It’s loaded with more Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Potassium and other vitamins than iceberg, green or red leaf lettuces.

Iceberg is the most popular lettuce in the United States, most likely because it ships well and it has a crispness that other types don’t. If you look at the USDA chart below you can see the comparison.

The most nutritious is Romaine, followed by Green Leaf, then Red Leaf, then Butterhead with Iceberg coming in last place.

At my house, we eat Romaine, but we don’t like its giant veins, so I throw those out. If you’re an Iceberg fan, try mixing in some other types. That way you still get the crunch, but you won’t miss out on the nutrients. After all, that’s why you’re having a salad right?!

This chart only rates 5 types of lettuce, but don’t forget arugula, radicchio or endive. You can try those out in the prepackaged lettuce section.

Personally, when I make a salad it always has spinach in it. Spinach beats any type of lettuce for nutrient density, but that’s a post for another day.

Eat The Rainbow

Do you want to do the 5 A Day Challenge with me?  You've heard that you should eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, right?  Well this challenge is even better for you- to eat one fruit or veggie of each color daily.  The National Cancer Institute and the Utah Department of Health have this handy flier.  They've divided the fruits and veggies  into 5 color groups.  Each group contains different phytonutrients which of course have different health benefits.
For example:
The Red Group (think tomatoes and strawberries) contains phytonutrients like lycopene and anthocyanins.  Lycopene reduces breast and skin cancer risks, while anthocyanins reduce your risk of heart attack and Alzheimer's Disease.
The Green Group (broccoli, kiwi & spinach) supplies you with lutein for good vision and cancer fighting indoles.  Carrots and oranges contain beta-carotene and bioflavenoids, both powerful anti-oxidants.  Then there's the Blue/Purple group that can slow the effects of aging and reduce memory loss.  The White Group will boost your immunity and help lower cholesterol and blood pressure because Onions and Garlic contain Allicin. You can click here to download your own nifty copy.  I have one hanging inside my pantry door.  My kids are learning this all with me.
Click here for a pdf of the Colorful Choices Log to help you (or your kids) keep track of your food color choices each day. 

What is Good Real Food?

It seems like we are so concerned with fat grams or carbs or calories that we don't even think of nutrition. OK, so it's low fat and low calorie. Does that mean it's good for you? Not necessarily. What makes a food healthy is the amount of nutrients it delivers to your body.
It's a way of thinking that will take some getting used to.
There are 2 kinds of nutrients: Macro-nutrients and Micro-nutrients and our bodies need them both.
Macro-nutrients are fat, carbohydrates and proteins. Macro-nutrients are necessary, but we should limit how much of them we eat.
Micro-nutrients are vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. (Phytochemicals are plant based chemicals that have disease preventative properties, like lycopene or beta-carotene.)
For a healthy body, the goal is to increase your micro-nutrients without going overboard on calories. So you need to choose the most nutrient dense foods and limit your macro-nutrients. How do you do that? You eat vegetables and fruits! They are naturally low in calories and saturated fat and contain all kinds of good for you phytochemicals that scientists are still discovering and haven't even named yet.
If you're going to eat for maximum health, you should be eating:
* Lots of high-nutrient, healthy foods like green vegetables, berries and seeds.
* Few, if any, animal products.
* Avoid things like HFCS, sugar, white flour, artificial sweeteners and processed foods in general.
The more I learned about nutrition, the less I focused on losing weight. I became more interested in being healthy and the weight loss just came naturally.
Dr. Joel Fuhrman calls this way of eating "Nutritarian". To learn more about it and to find out which vegetables are the most nutrient dense, read his book titled "Eat For Health".