With Dr. Fuhrman, the Salad Really is the Main Course

Greens and Strawberry Salad with Cashew Currant Dressing

recipe adapted from a recipe courtesy of  http://www.drfuhrman.com/
Serves: 2-4

Printable Recipe

CASHEW DRESSING

1/4 cup raw cashews or 2 tablespoons raw cashew butter
1/3 cup unsweetened soy, hemp or almond milk
1 peeled apple, sliced
2 tablespoons dried currants or raisins

SALAD

1 head (about 6 cups) romaine lettuce
5 ounces (about 5 cups) organic baby spinach
8 med-large strawberries, washed, destemmed and sliced 

To make dressing, blend cashews or cashew butter with soy milk and sliced apples in a high powered blender until smooth. Add the currants and blend well.

Place the lettuce, spinach and strawberries in a large salad bowl. Drizzle dressing over the greens and berries and toss to coat.

How often is salad the main course of your lunch or dinner?

Do you consciously try to eat salad with every meal? As the meal?

Has salad as the meal helped you to lose weight or maintain your weight? 

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Cultivating a New Level of Awareness: Trigger Foods

Salty or sweet? You know the answer. (If you're not a compulsive overeater, go read some other blog and come back here tomorrow! We love you too, but this just ain't for you.)

For me, it's sweet. Take some good old refined sugar, pair it with fat, and I've got me a big old problem. Take birthday cake for example. If it's in my house, it's all I can think about, but only after I've tasted it. Put a big bag of potato chips in front of me and they will sit there untouched. Salt has no power over me. God help you if you say both!

Is that a vegan birthday cake I see?

Why yes, it is! Not only that, it's tasty. But I only knew that after I had a small slice (er . . . two) last night. Before that it was just sitting in my basement refrigerator and I might have even forgotten it was there. Now that it's half eaten, all I wanna do this morning is have some more. What does that mean? It means I need to THROW IT AWAY.

So here's what I want to talk to you about right now: Your level of awareness when it comes to your problem, a.k.a. trigger, foods.

That vegan birthday cake, it was good, but no where near as satisfying as Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls (hint-the only ingredients are dates, nuts, vanilla and chocolate chips). I ate one of those yesterday and it was enough. They are sitting in my refrigerator right now and I don't want one desperately. What does that mean? It means that for me, these are a safe food. Surely not something that I want to eat all of the time (they are very high in calories and fat), but something that is perfectly appropriate to make and serve once a week at our Friday night dinner.

Want the recipe for Mama Pea's Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls? Get it here.

You're probably wondering why I even brought the birthday cake into my house. I wonder that too. Here's what I was thinking: It's my son's third birthday. This compulsive overeating thing is my problem. It may end up being my children's problem too as they get older, but me being super crazy strict and not having any sugar in the house ever is not going to . . . to . . . what?

Am I scared that not having junk in my house is going to contribute to having kids that can't control themselves around junk when they are older? Being a compulsive over eater, I know that if my mom had been filling our house with sugar when I was young (which she wasn't) I would not have been able to control myself any better back then or today. My taste buds and psychology were determined before she had any shot at shaping them. No amount of intervention by her could have saved me from this disorder. I believe you either have it or you don't and there is a certain amount of genetics involved. I definitely see patterns in families.

So what should you do if you want to be healthy, lose weight and not let this compulsive overeating thing take you down? You could develop a set of tools for yourself that if used, would make the situation a lot better. The following are a list of ideas that have worked for me:

(1) Remember the motto "Plant Strong, Not Plant Perfect." Let go of the expectation that you are never going to compulsively overeat again. Just forget about it. It ain't gonna happen. The key is to be aware of it when you do, and then to make the necessary adjustments so that you don't keep repeating the same behaviors over and over again. What's the definition of insanity? Not making mistakes, but making the same mistake over and over again.

(2) Know that just because it's vegan doesn't mean it's healthy or a safe food for YOU. Again, you have to know yourself and really observe how you react around that particular food or food group. You could compulsively eat brown rice. You certainly could compulsively overeat "healthy" vegan desserts, baked or raw. If you try it and have a compulsive experience with it, make it either an "off limits altogether food" or develop rules about eating it like "I will only have that food when I am with other people" and "I will not have that food in my own kitchen/pantry/freezer/refrigerator but I can have it in a restaurant or at someone else's home because in that situation I don't overeat it." Again, you have to really be aware of your own behaviors and develop a sense of what is safe for you.

(3) Eat a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories. "What does that have to do with it?" you ask. I'll share with you my experience. When I was eating whatever I wanted to, attempting to control portions and choose foods that I thought were healthy, I was overweight and unhappy. Eating was a colossal battle for me. I wanted to eat enough to feel full, but I knew that if I ate enough of those foods to actually get full I was eating too much to lose weight. It was a mess!

Fast forward to now. I've been eating a whole foods, plant based diet, high in volume and low in calories for over a year. My taste buds have COMPLETELY changed. I am not making this up. A green smoothie tastes better to me now than a hamburger and french fries. An apple is so sweet it's criminal. Nuts and beans are the new foods that I have to be careful not to overeat. I'm laughing at myself as I write this. It's amazing!

The foods I used to eat taste like garbage to me now. It's not even a struggle to eat this way or to say no to processed food. It tastes like s#*!, why would I eat that?

(4) When your trigger foods make their way into your house, which they will, no matter how hard you try, get rid of them. As soon as you become aware of the situation, throw them out. You have no power over them. That's why they are YOUR trigger foods at this particular time. And they will change over time, that's why you can never rest. When foods that once would not have been a big deal to you suddenly become a big deal when you have eliminated all of your other trigger foods. Just tell yourself that it is normal for this to happen and get rid of the new trigger food.

It's either trash in your body or trash in a landfill. Where do you think it belongs?

Don't feel sorry for yourself. Get excited that you have a new level of awareness that will make you life much more manageable and happier. Never dwell on your past mistakes. Don't let a slip up become a give up. That's your old heavy person's mind doing the thinking for you. Let your new thin person's mind take over. Thin people slip up, they never give up. That's how they remain thin.

(5) The big one. The doosey. Here it is: When you are eating, do nothing else.

Oh boy, I know this is true, but I struggle with it. Have you ever tried just sitting at a table by yourself with food on a plate and a fork and knife and just eating? I thought so. If this were your regular practice, you wouldn't have read this far into this post! It's not something that I am proud of, but I love to eat and read, eat and watch TV, eat and talk, eat and do anything!!!!!

When it comes right down to it, it is almost impossible to compulsively eat if you are sitting down and doing nothing else but eating. Why? Because eating this way is BORING. It's the opposite of numbing yourself. It brings you into the moment. Whenever I do this I can barely eat what I have served myself. It really is that simple. Most of the food that I have eaten in my lifetime I never would have eaten if I wasn't distracting myself at the same time. That's the drug effect of food--the distraction from feeling and emoting.

Are you aware of your trigger foods?

What types of adjustments have you made or are you trying to make regarding these foods?

What happens to you when you sit down to eat without doing anything else?

Could you commit to just eating for one meal? One day? One week?

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What To Do When You've Gone on a Food Bender and a New Recipe

I received a question from a reader a few days ago and I thought that it was such a great topic to share with you. "hey there food guru. i am looking for some motivation/inspiration/support/someone to yell at me. the past 2 weeks or so have been less than ideal moving quickly towards, and now arriving at, very very bad. having a hard time staying on track at the moment. any words you can share? maybe a song and dance number??? thanks so much."

Here's what I have learned:

1. Let it go. Becoming a healthy eater/achieving a healthy weight is not a perfect race to the finish line. In fact, there is no finish line. You may get to a healthy weight, but maintaining it takes more work than getting there did. Beating yourself up about not eating perfectly is perfectionism coming out and that is not going to work over the long haul. Slip ups happen, how you handle them is what counts.

2. Do not use a slip up, no matter how big or small it was, to convince yourself that you should just give up on this whole eating healthy thing. That mentality is quite common amongst food addicts, myself included. But I don't think like that anymore and you don't have to either. Again, the past is the past and you can't change it. And oftentimes what we think was such a horrific food bender really wasn't that bad. We make it worse by beating ourselves up about it. What are you going to do right now? That is what matters.

3. Speaking of the past being the past, you should not skip the next meal in order to try to make up for a past slip up. That is setting yourself up for more disaster. Make a commitment that the next meal will be a healthy one. If you try to skip a meal, chances are extremely high that when you finally do eat, you will be like a crazed lunatic and all of the calories that you skipped will be more than made up for when you do eat again.

4. What about the future? Make a commitment to have one good day. That's it right now. Just one. I suggest having a solid plan for this one good day, i.e. write down exactly what you are going to eat for the whole day and make the commitment to not waiver from this plan. If other food magically shows up, just say to yourself, that is not on my plan so it's out. No mental debate about it. Not on your plan. One good day can change your whole attitude and set you on a better course.

5. Speaking of plans, all of the great intentions in the world are meaningless without a plan, so make sure you have one that is comfortable for you. For me, this started out with Weight Watchers, progressed to a combination of Weight Watchers and Eat to Live, and short dabble with Raw Food and now a comfortable, mostly vegan, mostly no-added-fat diet. What is your plan?

6. Clean house. Get rid of all of your trigger foods. I'm not joking. Get a big black garbage bag and fill it up with anything that might give you a problem and throw it in the trash. Let go of any guilt about this. It's either trash in your body or trash in a landfill, so where would you rather put the trash? It's amazing how much easier and simpler it is to stay on your plan if you are not surrounded by your trigger foods. When these foods make their way back into your home, as they inevitably do, get rid of them as soon as you can. Never have them hanging around. You know what happens when they are there!

7. Breathe. It's amazing what a few deep breaths can do for your well being. Breathe deeply, slowly, in and out through your nose for 30 seconds. If you can remember to do this under times of stress or aggravation, you will be far less likely to turn to food in these situations.

So there it us, my advice for slip-ups. I hope it helps! And if anyone out there has thoughts to add to this list, please leave a comment following this post.

Here's a new recipe that I tried last night. I thought it was incredible. My husband wanted more heat, so that part optional depending on your taste buds.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Corn Enchilada Casserole
Based on a recipe from Clean Food by Terry Walters
serves 8

Cashew Cheese
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbsp canola oil

Casserole
3 large sweet potatoes (more is better than less), washed and poked with a fork
juice of 2 limes
1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 bunch of scallions-sliced thin and separated white bottom part from green top part
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup corn kernels, defrosted if frozen
2 tsp sea salt
14 soft corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups prepared salsa
optional: 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place sweet potatoes on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet and bake for one hour or until soft. Remove from oven and carefully slice in half to let heat escape. Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, as sweet potatoes are in the oven, prepare cashew cheese. In a food processor (a mini one works fine for this), grind cashews to a fine meal. Add nutritional yeast and process briefly to combine. Add oil and process until you have a moist meal. Do not over process or meal will become dough like. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place the black beans, white part of scallions (sliced), diced tomato, and corn.

Peel sweet potatoes and mash with lime juice and salt. Combine sweet potato mixture and bean mixture. Optional: if you like heat, now is the time to add a dash of Cayenne pepper to this mix.

Turn your oven up to broil.

To assemble, spray a 9"x13" casserole dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the dish with 3 whole tortillas and 3 tortilla halves. Place 1/2 of the sweet potato mixture onto the tortillas and gently spread to cover. Repeat tortillas, sweet potato mixture, and tortillas. Spoon salsa over the top and spread with the back of a spoon. Place in oven a broil for 3 minutes.

Remove from oven and place cashew cheese in clumps evenly on top. Broil for 2 more minutes, watching closely to keep from burning.  Remove from oven and top with the green part of the scallions (as much as you want--you need not use the whole bunch) and, optionally, chopped fresh parsley. 

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Carrot Pineapple Cake with Cashew Date Frosting

A friend of mine and I got into a brief discussion yesterday about whether or not I post the recipe and pictures for everything I cook in my kitchen, regardless of whether or not the recipe is a "success." She had assumed that because she made one of the recipes that I posted  (Aduki Bean Stew with Millet Mash) and didn't like it, that I didn't like it either but was in the business of blogging about everything that I make.

Ironically, she then mentioned that she made said Aduki Bean Stew a second time, but added both olive oil and salt, and substituted Quinoa for the Millet Mash, and loved it!

I'm here today to clear up some myths and shed some light on this very, very interesting subject: Just who will love the recipes posted here at Healthy Girl's Kitchen? I do have to admit, for most people that are accustomed to eating SAD (the Standard American Diet) jumping into Healthy Girl's Kitchen recipes could be quite a shock to the taste buds and the system.

First, I do not post everything that I make. I consider my kitchen a test kitchen of ultra healthy recipes (remember, I am less into creating my own original recipes and more into testing and tweaking other people's recipes). I have had high hopes for many of the things that I have chosen to test, only to dump them down my garbage disposal, and you never hear about any of those experiences. 

Case in point: the following cake recipe from Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. I made the cake and the icing that was suggested in the book and ended up dumping the icing. It was tofu based and the flavor of the tofu was too strong in the end. I thought it would ruin any chance that people would like the cake, so I threw it away. It is subjective! Maybe some people would like the tofu icing, but I didn't, so I whipped up an icing that I had made in the past from Eat for Health by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and the cake was a smashing success! Well, at least I thought it was . . . remember it is subjective. But my three kids loved this cake, and that is a pretty great sign!

Carrot Pineapple Cookie Cake

makes 12-16 servings

3 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup grape nuts cereal

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup maple syrup, honey, or agave nectar

egg replacer for 4 eggs (4 tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 12 tbsp pineapple juice or 2 tbsp Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 8 tbsp water)

2 cups shredded carrots

1 16 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix first 4 ingredients well in a large bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and mix.

Scrape batter into two 9-inch round cake pans and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Carefully slice each cake in half horizontally with a long serrated bread knife. Frost cake.

Cashew Date Frosting

2 cups raw, unsalted cashews

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1 1/3 cups pitted dates

2/3 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a high powered blender and blend until smooth.  Spread on cooled cake.

To make a chocolate frosting, simply add 4 tbsp cocoa powder before blending.

But does that mean that you will love, or even like, any and all of the recipes that you decide to try from Healthy Girl's Kitchen?

From real life experience I can tell you that not everyone likes what I like. It's as simple, and as complicated, as that. The following are the factors that I believe account for a person's taste preferences when it comes to healthy eating:

1. Are you trying to lose weight? How serious are you about that goal? It might be that the more serious a person is about weight loss, the more open they are to enjoying a dish that they know is going to get them to their goal. At first, you just can't afford to be so picky if you want to lose weight. In time, those healthy foods that were once "not your favorite" taste better and better. This happened for me with lentils. I used to hate anything with lentils. Lately, I have been eating a soup at a restaurant that is so delicious to me, just amazing, and it is made with red lentils.  And all of a sudden, I just can't get enough lentils. My battle with lentils is over!

2. How recently have you been eating SAD? It takes some time for a person's taste buds to adjust from enjoying a McDonald's hamburger to loving Aduki Bean Stew.  This reality is talked about a lot in places like http://www.diseaseproof.com/ where many people are dramatically changing their food habits. Inevitably, a person eating ultra healthy begins to taste real, whole plant food in a way that they may never have tasted it in their life. Something as simple as a raw spinach leaf can be an incredible taste sensation that a person savors. Sound crazy? You should watch me eat!

3. Different strokes for different folks.  Everyone is unique. I pick and choose recipes to try and ultimately post based on my own unique taste preferences (I love ethnic food, not too spicy). I'm pretty sure that readers can easily discriminate amongst the recipes that I post based on their own taste preferences.

4. Salt. Salt can make almost anything taste good. It's also something that we Americans over consume to a scary degree.  Over time, if you are seeking great health, you definitely want to watch and restrict your salt intake. But limiting salt in a recipe will have a dramatic effect on the way any savory food tastes. It is just another thing that your taste buds will adjust to if you give them a chance.

Did I answer my own question? I don't know, but I think you get the point!

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